The Wind Is Roaring...

December winds are roaring, melancholic Christmas tunes are sounding. The words written by Aleksandr Blok over a hundred years ago still manage to stir, to move, to touch. Ante Lucem.

#NaBloPoMo May 2: Your Passion

Does everyone have a passion? It feels like I have spent a lifetime seeking a passion, without finding one. Does that make me abnormal? Dear Reader, what is your passion? On my journey I have found loads of things that interest me: learning languages, travelling, learning in general, reading, working out. But there is no flame burning within me. There is nothing I could not live without. 

Taking a photograph of my passion seemed to be a task of the tougher kind. Until it hit me - a word. No thing would reflect my passions - or object of interest, but a word would.

So, ladies and gentlemen - the word that sums it all up:

Aiming.

Dear fellow language-learners. 

As you may have noticed, this month is all about habits and promises and resolutions and whatnot. Let's make a short summary of how to say these things in the languages spoken at the Playground.

• English: Habit. Goal/aim. Motivation. Success. Failure. 
• Finnish: Tapa. Päämäärä. Motivaatio. Onnistuminen. Epäonnistuminen. 
• Swedish: Vana. Mål. Motivation. Framgång. Misslyckande. 
• Spanish: Costumbre. Meta. Motivación. Éxito. Fracaso. 
• Polish: Obyczaj. Cel. Motywacja. Sukces. Porażka.
• Russian: привычка. цель. мотивация. успех. неуспех.
• Slovak: Zvyk. Cieľ. Motivácia. Úspech. Zlyhanie. 
• Hungarian: Szokás. Cél. Motiváció. Siker. Kudarc. 

Second-hand Time (Время секонд хенд)

There are all sorts of books in this world. The best ones are those that teach us something, or leave a trace in our heart. They shock us, shake us, but do not leave us feeling indifferent. 

I have read quite a bit about Russia and the Soviet Union in my time. I have spoken to people, who have given me their first- or second hand accounts about their lives during the Soviet times. Svetlana Alexievich's collection of stories - those stories lived by former Soviet citizens - does shake me. It raises questions about the good, the bad, and the fact that it is sometimes very different to draw a line between those two. The same goes for love and hatred, empathy and indifference. These narratives paint the picture of a very complex society, where little was as it seemed. A society, whose fall was harsh indeed. 

The narratives, and the way they are told, are humane, cruel, beautiful, all at once. They are the stories about a society that was built - and destroyed - at a great cost. 

Just Another Day at the Office Or the Day That Putin Made My Day

I think it was Tuesday this week , October 14 to be more precise. 

That typical day at the office will be remembered for two things. Armed robbery and bomb threat in Stockholm again. That's the third time there was a bomb threat in Stockholm since I started working there in May. Those days it's not so fun to work right in the centre of the city, because where do you think the bomb threats are?

And then there was that fabulous piece of news that Putin owns land in the Åland Islands. Firstly, there is something called Hembygdsrätt on the islands, which means that it is very difficult for non-Åland citizens (and therefore Finnish citizens) to own land on the island. Secondly, after reading these very exciting reports, it turned out that it wasn't actually Vladimir Putin who owns the land. No, it is the Russian Federation. Since 1947. In 2009 the ownership was transferred from the Russian Foreign Ministry to the President's Office. That's something entirely different.

Three things came to my mind after this fabulous story: 

1. Why, in the case of Russia, is it so easy to blur the lines (in this case between the state and a the president as a private person)? I don't think that this error would be made with any other country. Somehow it feels like Russia has become a kind of entertainment news (a bit like North Korea), people are fascinated by the speculation. 
2. The current situation between Europe and Russia concerns me.  Both Finland and Sweden seem to consider Russia to be an enemy of huge proportions. And the media is playing along. People have opinions that are rarely based on any facts at all. Instead, it seems like Russia is an easy target for fear. Now voices are being raised about a new Cold War. Really? 
3.  Point 3 is a continuation of Point 2: why now? That piece of land has belonged to Russia since 1947. There must be something behind this great revelation - and this "something" probably has something to do with point 2. 

Sources in Finnish & Swedish + a lot of funny photos of Putin. 

• DN (Dagens Nyheter): http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/putin-har-sjotomt-pa-aland/
• Expressen: http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/darfor-ager-vladimir-putin-en-tomt-pa-aland/
• Hufvudstadsbladet:http://hbl.fi/nyheter/2014-10-14/668186/keskisuomalainen-putin-ager-strandtomt-pa-aland
• Ålandstidningen: http://www.alandstidningen.ax/nyheter/putin-ager-strandtomt-pa-aland
• Iltalehti: http://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/2014101418744063_ul.shtml
• Helsingin Sanomat: http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/a1413252574970
• And the original article, Keskisuomalainen: http://www.ksml.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/maanmittauslaitoksen-entinen-paajohtaja-putin-omistaa-rantatontin-ahvenanmaalla/1913789

Скажите мне.. .

Вижу, что у меня здесь много посетителей из России.  Это очень интересно. Вы здесь, но ничего не говорите :) Иногда я пишу что-то о русским языке, но это не случается так часто. О чем я могу писать? Что вас интересует? 

Mango & Peach Smoothie

This mango & peach smoothie is refreshing and the lovely color is energizing. [Oh. Let's learn languages the smoothie-way..] The following ingredients are needed for 2-3 servings:
1 mango
1 apricot
Some orange juice
Skimmed milk.

Just throw everything in a mixer and enjoy.

Prísady: mango, broskyňa, pomarančový džús a mlieko bez tuku

Składniki: mango, brzoskwinia, sok pomarańczowy i mleko beztłuszczowe.

Ингредиенты: манго, персик, апельсиновый сок и обезжиренное молоко

The Multiple Language Experiment - Summer 2014

A while back I wrote about picking up some of my old languages.  I have given this some thought and have decided to do a little language project as I finally have the time to do so. I spend a total of 80 minutes on a train each working day, so why not spend the time efficiently.

3 languages. 5 days a week. 5 weeks for each language. 15 weeks.

The languages are Slovak, Polish and Russian. And this is how I'm going to do it:

• Day 1: Read from a book or other text
• Day 2: Read an article on current affairs
• Day 3: Translate the article into English
• Day 4: Translate a poem into English
• Day 5: Write a short story

I will be starting with Slovak because it is the weakest of the three languages. The goal is to be able to produce something in the language, a written text.  We will see how it goes.

Dissertation: the Topic

Natalie wanted me to write a little bit more about my dissertation, so I have decided to dedicate a few posts to it.

I will start by introducing my topic.

Law and Society in Post-Communist Central Eastern Europe: Poland, Slovakia and Russia .

As you know, I’m studying sociology of law at the University of Lund in Sweden. Sociology of law deals with the relationship between law and other institutions and actors in society. I’m personally mostly interested in the interaction between people, law and politics.

When reading an article* written by one of my professors, I stumbled upon the following paragraph;

”The transition from a communist to a capitalist oriented industrial society in Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Republic represents the same kind of tensions between the old rules of the game and a new play with a new script. These countries might face a situation where the society, the horizontal dimension, has shifted while the legal logic in the vertical dimension has not undergone the same changes.” (p. 20).

And the little nerd in my head rejoiced. Eastern Europe – yay. Former Soviet Republic – yay. This was a way for me to combine the study of the societies I like the most with a nice mix of sociology, some law and some politics. Why keep it simple?

This is a complex topic because on the one hand I need to find out what the people think and on the one hand, I need to know what the law says. And none of these two is simple. But it is very, very fascinating.  Basically – what I want to find out is whether the law fulfills the expectations that society places upon it. The reason I picked these specific countries is that they all share a piece of common history even though they are very different.

Stay tuned for more

 

* Contributions in Sociology of Law: remarks from a Swedish Horizon. Lund Studies in Sociology of Law; 29. Lund: Sociology of Law, Lund University. 2008 – available here https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/publication/1177637

Dnes. Je sobota.

Today I have spent the afternoon reading constitutions. It is actually rather fascinating. I finally decided on a topic for my thesis (Law and Society in Post-Communist Central Eastern Europe: Poland, Slovakia and Russia) so now I’m conducting surveys and reading legal acts and constitutions and what not. In case you live in one of the countries in question and would like to respond to the survey, please let me know (susankaaa at yahoo dot co uk) and I’ll send you the link.

Apart from that we (the boyfriend) have been packing and tonight we are having a farewell party. So sad.

Wishing you all a cheerful Saturday!

jar sa blíži [the spring is approaching]

The Slovak word for spring, jar, is quite interesting as it reminds of few other Slavic languages. In Polish spring is wiosna, in Russian and in Ukrainian it is весна. In the Balkans the word for spring are quite similar: in Bulgaria one speaks of пролет, in Serbia it is пролеће and in Croatia – proljeće. The only version being close to the Slovak version is – not so surprisingly - the Czech jaro.
My point? There is none – except that it is a lot of fun comparing languages.

One thing I’m often thinking about is the mutual understanding between languages and where to draw the line. Say, I am fluent in Swedish – does that mean that I’m capable to function in Norwegian? My initial reaction is no! Even though I might understand some of the things the other person is saying - I might be able to read a book even – the risk of being misunderstood or to misunderstand is too great! It is very often, however, that I find myself alone with this view. In general I think that the limits of languages knowledge are too fluffy. It is often the case that a long list of languages on the CV looks great, the higher the level the better. Insight into one’s own skills is often forgotten. Countless are the times people have claimed to be fluent in English – until they had to write a piece in advanced English or talk to someone from Ireland. Fluency – to me – means that one is able to communicate fluently no matter the context.

What I’m trying to say here is that one’s language skills are often judged based on what a subjectively written piece of paper says. Sometimes there are such things as language testing, but if these tests are not carried out by professionals, then what kind of a result do you expect?
And then there are those who have worked hard to acquire a foreign language and speak it like a native. That should be the goal and you who have done it, you are a great inspiration!

(this post was supposed to be about the wonders of wearing a leather jacket after a long winter, but oh well – I got a bit carried away)

Ночь, улица, фонарь, аптека, Бессмысленный и тусклый свет.

Look what I found on Wikipedia: one of my favourite poems by Aleksandr Blok!

***

Night, street, lantern, drugstore.

Meaningless and dull light.

Live another quarter of a century -

Everything will be the same. There is no way out.

 

You will die – then start again from the beginning.

And everything will be repeated like before:

Night, the channel’s icy ripples,

Drugstore, street, lantern. 

****

blizkie ,'the close ones'

This week I have entertained myself with reading reports on poverty in Russia and Bulgaria. The perception of poverty in these country makes an interesting read, but it will not be the main topic of discussion today. Instead, it will be the words близкий – near, close.

This word appeared in the Russian report and there was something similar in the Bulgarian one, so of course I needed to do a little comparison between my main three: Russian, Polish and Slovak to look for similarities.

	Russian	Polish	Slovak
	близкий	blizki	blízky

 

While we are at it. Say hello to my new friend - привет моему новому другу:

Russian	Polish	Slovak
сова	sowa	sova

Dobré ránko!

Favourite shopping from Prague: the book, not the coffee.

 

It’s never too early to make faces – at least the coffee is starting to kick in. Once done with the coffee, it’s time to walk to work. Today I’m bringing the camera, yesterday’s sunrise was absolutely amazing and I don’t want to miss it!

“You’re Crazy”

…that’s what my friend J told me today when I was getting *slightly* too excited about Czech writers and their ability to write beautifully.

I believe it was said with affection.

So I took it as a compliment.

And in order not to let such a great compliment go to waste, let’s train our language skills.

 

Finnish: olet hullu.

Swedish: du är galen.

Spanish: estás loco/loca.

Slovak: si blázon.

Polish: jesteś szalony/szalona.

Hungarian: te őrült.

Russian: Ты сошел с ума/ Ты сошла с ума

French: tu es fou

Ты и вы, ja i ty, teba a vás

Пустое вы сердечным ты
Она, обмолвясь, заменила,
И все счастливые мечты
В душе влюблённой возбудила. 
Пред ней задумчиво стою,
Свести очей с неё нет силы;
И говорю ей: как вы милы!
И мыслю: как тебя люблю.

- A.S. Pushkin -

Today I had an interesting discussion with a Slovak colleague of mine (who also speaks Swedish really well) about how to address people. 

In Finland and in Sweden, we tend to be very informal. I would never address anyone formally in Finnish or Swedish, unless it were an elderly, grumpy lady. 

In Slovakia – as in most of Europe – people are a lot more formal. No stranger would say “ty” to me (resulting in me feeling like that old grumpy lady). 

This topic led my thoughts to Slovak declension of personal pronouns. I copied the table from Wikipedia (yes, shame on me). 

As you can see (you Slavic speakers), there are similarities with both Russian and Polish. Also note that Slovak, very much like Polish, has a locative case.  

Personal pronouns

Nominative
ja
ty
on, ona, ono
my
vy
oni, ony

Genitive
ma (mňa)
ťa (teba)
ho (jeho, neho,-ňho, -ň), ju, ho (jeho, neho, -ňho, -ň)
nás
vás
ich (nich), ich (ne)

Dative
mne (mi)
tebe (ti)
mu (jemu, nemu,-ňmu), jej (nej), mu (jemu, nemu,-ňmu)
nám
vám
im (nim), im (nim)

Accusative
ma (mňa)
ťa (teba)
ho (jeho, neho, -ňho, -ň, -eň), ju, ho (-ň, -eň)
nás,
vás
ich (nich), ich (ne)

Locative
mne
tebe
ňom, nej, ňom
nás
vás
nich, nich

Instrumental
mnou
tebou
ním, ňou, ním
nami
vami
nimi, nimi

There is also the reflexive pronoun sa, which is declined as follows: N: -, G: seba, D: sebe /si, A: seba/sa, L: sebe, I: sebou

You know where this will be leading us, right? To the exciting world of… tadadda… cases. You have been warned

úžasný vs. ужасный

Definition of false friends according to Wikipedia: False friends are pairs of words or phrases in two languages or dialects (or letters in two alphabets)^[1] that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning.

As you know, in my Slovak studies, I have been focusing on comparing Slovak with Russian and Polish. One of the funniest pair of false friends I’ve come across this far is úžasný vs. ужасный.

Don’t let the letters fool you, these two words are very similar in pronunciation, not, however, in meaning. The Slovak word úžasný means wonderful or amazing, whereas Russian ужасный means terrible.

Boldogság

Right now I’m feeling so happy – there are so many exciting things going on right now and I’m surrounded by great people – is there anything else one could possibly need?

Today I did some shopping. Surely it’s not a reason for my happiness, but having a proper coat does make life a little more bearable in wintertime.

The colour of this dress is lovely.

Let’s see if that Learning-Slovak-Project will start now. Do note that Slovak uses the preposition “pre” for “for”. Oh no, this is going to be confusing. In both Russian and Polish it’s “dla”. (sometimes “do”).

It’s Saturday and I’m home. Somehow I’ve managed to go out for wine three times this week and it has been a blast. Tonight was time for rest, though. This evening my best friend and I have been looking for flight tickets and in two weeks she’ll be here. I can’t wait!

Oh, Spring!

 Rainy Saturday mornings are a good time to confront the Russian language. Translation, accompanied by a big yellow cup filled with black coffee somewhere nearby, is a highly satisfying task. However, I feel my English isn't sufficient for this.

*****************'

Oh, spring – endless and limitless -
endless and limitless is the dream!
Life, I recognise you! I accept you!
And welcome you with the sound of a shield.
 
Misfortune, I accept you,
And luck, I greet you!
There's no shame in the enchanting land
of crying, nor in the mystery of laughter.
 
Sleepless disputes, I accept you,
The morning lingers in the dark window curtains,
So the spring appears annoyed, drunken
To my bloodshot eyes.

I accept the deserted villages!
And the wells of man-made cities!
The bleached vastness of the skies,
And the longing of the working labour! 

I meet you at the threshold,
With the wild wind in your serpentine locks,
And the enigmatic name of God,
On your frozen, pressed lips.

Before this hostile meeting
I never throw away the shield ...
And you never turn your back...
But above us – there's the intoxicating dream! 

And I look, and measure the hostility,
while hating, cursing and loving:
The torment, the death - yet I know -
That all the same: I accept you!
 
[translation: my own]


Original poem by Alexander Blok 

О, весна без конца и без краю -
Без конца и без краю мечта!
Узнаю тебя, жизнь! Принимаю!
И приветствую звоном щита!
 
Принимаю тебя, неудача,
И удача, тебе мой привет!
В заколдованной области плача,
В тайне смеха - позорного нет!
 
Принимаю бессонные споры,
Утро в завесах темных окна,
Чтоб мои воспаленные взоры
Раздражала, пьянила весна!
 
Принимаю пустынные веси!
И колодцы земных городов!
Осветленный простор поднебесий
И томления рабьих трудов!
 
И встречаю тебя у порога -
С буйным ветром в змеиных кудрях,
С неразгаданным именем бога
На холодных и сжатых губах...
 
Перед этой враждующей встречей
Никогда я не брошу щита...
Никогда не откроешь ты плечи...
Но над нами - хмельная мечта!
 
И смотрю, и вражду измеряю,
Ненавидя, кляня и любя:
За мученья, за гибель - я знаю -
Все равно: принимаю тебя!

The Most Entertaining Thing A Language Learner Could Possibly Think Of: Irregular Verbs

Yay, such fun.

I was recommended a good website for learning Slovak (in Finnish), so I have spent a couple of hours investigating the grammar and making observations. Making observations is easy because comparison as a method really seems to work (for the time being). I decided to start with verbs because they are essential for understanding a language and expressing oneself.

Hands up anyone who hates irregular verbs!! (and why oh why do they always have to be the most common ones? )

Here we’ve got three irregular verbs in the present tense. Again in table-form

English	Slovak	Polish	Russian
To be	byt’	być	быть
	som	jestem	N/A
	si	jesteś	N/A
	je	jest	N/A
	sme	jesteśmy	N/A
	ste	jesteście	N/A
	sú	są	N/A

 

English	Slovak	Polish	Russian
To eat	jest’	jeść	есть
	jem	jem	ем
	ješ	jesz	ешь
	je	je	ест
	jeme	jemy	едим
	jete	jecie	едите
	jedia	jedzą	едят

 

English	Slovak	Polish	Russian
To know	vedieť	wiedzieć	знать
	viem	wiem	знаю
	vieš	wiesz	знаешь
	vie	wie	знает
	vieme	wiemy	знаем
	viete	wiecie	знаете
	vedia	wiedzą	знают

 

Also attempted some verb conjugation. All in all, there seems to be a pattern, especially when comparing Slovak to the Polish language.