#bilingual

[catchymemes]

#lol #bilingual #funny #haha #humor #meme #memes

[heavenlydolly]

If you want, you can let me know the language(s) in the tags, and whether or not you speak it fluently!

#my mom acts like it’s super weird to enjoy music in another language so i got curious about how many of you do! #i’m not sure what to tag this #polls #kpop #jpop #cpop #music #spotify #bilingual

[writingwithcolor]

Not all Second-Language Speakers are Made Equal.

@waltzshouldbewriting asked:

Hello! I’m writing a story that features a character who’s first language is not English. He’s East African, specifically from Nairobi, Kenya, and is pretty fluent in English but it’s not his primary language, and he grew up speaking Swahili first. I’m struggling to figure out if it’s appropriate or in character to show him forgetting English words or grammar. From what I’ve researched, English is commonly spoken in Nairobi, but it wouldn’t be what was most spoken in his home. For context, this is an action/superhero type story, so he (and other characters) are often getting tired, stressed, and emotional. He also speaks more than two languages, so it makes sense to me that it would be easier to get confused, especially in a language that wasn’t his first. But I’m worried about ending up into stereotypes or tropes. For additional context: I’m monolingual, I’ve tried to learn a second language and it’s hard. A lot of how I’m approaching this comes from my own challenges correctly speaking my own, first and only language.

Diversity in Second-Language English

You seem to have an underlying assumption that second language acquisition happens the same for everyone. 

The way your character speaks English depends on so many unknown factors: 

Where does your story take place? You mention other characters; are they also Kenyan, or are they all from different countries?

Assuming the setting is not Kenya, is English the dominant language of your setting? 

How long has your character lived in Kenya vs. where he is now? 

What are his parents’ occupations? 

What level of schooling did he reach in Nairobi before emigrating? 

What type of school(s) did he go to, public or private? Private is more likely than you think. 

Did his schooling follow the national curriculum structure or a British one? Depends on school type and time period. 

Does he have familiarity with Kenyan English, or only the British English taught in school? 

Is this a contemporary setting with internet and social media?

I bring up this list not with the expectation that you should have had all of this in your ask, but to show you that second language acquisition of English, postcolonial global English acquisition in particular, is complex. 

My wording is also intentional: the way your character speaks English. To me, exploring how his background affects what his English specifically looks like is far more culturally interesting to me than deciding whether it makes him Good or Bad at the language. 

L2 Acquisition and Fluency

But let’s talk about fluency anyway: how expressive the individual is in this language, and adherence to fundamental structural rules of the language.

Fun fact: Japanese is my first language. The language I’m more fluent in today? English. Don’t assume that an ESL individual will be less fluent in English compared to their L1 counterparts on the basis that 1) it’s their second language, or 2) they don’t speak English at home. 

There’s even a word for this—circumstantial bilingualism, where a second language is acquired by necessity due to an individual’s environment. The mechanisms of learning and outcomes are completely different. 

You said you tried learning a second language and it was hard. You cannot compare circumstantial bilingualism to a monolingual speaker’s attempts to electively learn a second language. 

Motivations?

I understand that your motivation for giving this character difficulties with English is your own personal experience. However, there are completely different social factors at play.

The judgments made towards a native speaker forgetting words or using grammar differently are rooted in ableism and classism (that the speaker must be poor, uneducated, or unintelligent). That alone is a hefty subject to cover. And I trust you to be able to cover that!

But on top of that, for a second language speaker, it’s racism and xenophobia, which often lend themselves to their own ableist or classist assumptions (that those of the speaker’s race/ethnicity must be collectively unintelligent, that they are uneducated or low class due to the occupations where they could find work, or conversely that they are snobby and isolationist and can't be bothered to learn a new language). Intersections, intersections.

If you want to explore your experiences in your writing, give a monolingual English speaker in your cast a learning disability or some other difficulty learning language, whatever you most relate with. And sure, multilingual folks can occasionally forget words like anyone else does, or think of a word in one language and take a second to come up with it in the other language. But do not assume that multilinguals, immigrants, or multiethnic individuals inherently struggle with English or with multiple languages just because you do.

~ Rina

#asks #accents #speech #language #languages #bilingual #bilingualism #ESL #immigration #east africa #african #writeblr

[incognitopolls]

"Second language" is used here to include any language you've learned that was not your first language.

–

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

#polls #incognito polls #anonymous #tumblr polls #tumblr users #questions #language #thoughts #inner voice #internal monologue #esl #bilingual #multilingual #polls about language #submitted oct 28

[todayontumblr]

Wednesday, September 27.

Langblr.

If ever you're in France, accompanied by your kitty cat, and you find yourself unintentionally (and quite unexpectedly) projecting intestinal gas produced within the body by bacteria that has broken down food, and said kitty cat looks a little alarmed, and you don't know what to say, well. Fortune smiles upon you this day. Consider #langblr your knight in shining linguistic armor. Chat, j'ai pété.

It really can happen to anyone. But langblr is here for all your polyglot needs: learning how to say chai tea in Czech, the frankly adorable etymology of peninsula, Greek paleographic fonts, for words of support for those underway with their language-learning adventures, or if you're in need of some support yourself. It is a particularly wholesome corner of Tumblr, for those with an interest in the slow-burn magic of learning another language. 

#today on tumblr #langblr #french langblr #language learning #polyglot #foreign languages #learning languages #french language #language #language blog #languageblr #languages #langblog #bilingual #studyblr #catblr #cat #i farted #cat i farted #farty cat #linguistics #etymology #language stuff

[gayvampyr]

+ tag which ones if you answer yes? ^-^

#polls #languages #bilingual

[k-wame]

Pol Granch  'No Pegamos' · Music Video [2021]

#pol granch #homoeroticism #queer #elite cast #music #lgbt #music video #bilingual #phillipe von triesenberg #queer media #beautiful men

[jupiterslifelessmoons]

Nick in Paris: “I’m bilingual, actually”

#nick nelson #heartstopper #heartstopper series #netflix heartstopper #netflix #hs #heartstopper comic #kit connor #heartstopper season 2 #bilingual #bi #bisexual #bisexuality #text post #text posts #heartstopper shitpost #paris #paris trip #heartstopper volume 3 #incorrect quotes #heartstopper incorrect quotes #heartstopper incorrects #narlie

[zzzzzestforlife]

increasingly "useless" reasons why i like learning languages

@studentbyday said i should re-define "useless" in my mind. instructions unclear. made a shitpost instead 💩

💌: inside-my-phone format is back!🍃 do you agree/disagree with my MTL rankings? what motivates you? 👀

i can be a more empathetic, understanding, and supportive person who makes sure to only cuss people out in languages they don't understand so that their feelings aren't hurt ❤️

i can talk to more people who will probably think i'm an idiot because of how badly i speak their language 👄

i can nurture my self-confidence/-esteem as long as i don't think too hard about how much i don't know 🥰

i can read more books, articles, people arguing on the internet, etc. 📚

i can travel to foreign countries more easily until someone asks me to translate something important and i mess up and land us both in prison or something ✈️

i can unlock new work opportunities until someone asks me to translate something important and i mess up and land us both in prison or something 💼

i can multitask better even though i shouldn't even be doing it in the first place 🤹‍♀️

i can watch my favorite shows/listen to my favorite songs without subtitles/translations so that my brain rot can continue in peace 📺

i can, on the other hand, stop losing brain cells?? 🧠

i can eavesdrop on more people, probably at the grocery store 🙉

i can show off at work and other places where it is appropriate to show off irrelevant skills ✨

sex appeal?? 🥵

#langblr #studyblr #study motivation #study inspiration #korean langblr #chinese langblr #japanese langblr #korean studyblr #chinese studyblr #japanese studyblr #learning languages #language learning #language lessons #duolingo #zesty's life #languages #multilingual #multilanguage #bilingual #motivation #humor #shitpost #self development #self improvement #study blog #study aesthetic #light academia #dark academia #chaotic academia #polyglot

[moji]

出XIT        vanishingage

#bilingual

[compotemkin]

Living in a bilingual country means that names for places are often just transliterations between the languages. This is cool, as names you are used to thinking of as just words with no meaning turn out to have really obvious, even quaint etymologies, three simple examples:

Pori – Björneborg ~ Bearcastle

Porvoo – Borgå ~ Castleriver

Helsinki – Helsingfors ~ Narrow rapids

But my favourite is the pair of Lahti and Viikki.

Lahti is literally just "Bay" in Finnish, and the city has a Swedish name, namely Lahtis. So they have just appended an s to make it feel like a Swedish word.

Vik is literally "Bay" in Swedish, and the area also has a Finnish name, Viikki. Once again, the long vowel is just marked and -ki has been appended to make the word feel Finnish.

#finnish #language #bilingual #etymology

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

Where could one buy the English version of the Europasaurus book? I am very interested in reading about this dwarf sauropod.

totally not asking for another wish

I'm glad you ask!

The Europasaurus graphic novel is bilingual, available in German/English. So no matter what copy you get you should be able to read it ;)

When conceptualizing this book we were aware that it would be a very niche subject, but we still wanted to reach a international audience. Since we didn't know if we would be able to print two editions we decided to go for this approach from the very start.

It can also help people to learn a new language, my biggest problem with learning English was that I lacked the motivation and didn't have any interesting literature at hand to motivate me.

#paleoart #sciart #dinosaurs #jurassic #sauropod #europasaurus #europasaurus graphic novel #bilingual #palaeoblr

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

#polls #incognito polls #anonymous #tumblr polls #tumblr users #questions #english #languages #esl #bilingual #multilingual #polls about language

[nepttunnee]

hc/au where ancient greek is annabeth’s first language. i mean she comes out of athena’s head right? who probably thinks in greek? she constantly defaults to it, and doesn’t even process she’s doing it half the time because most people at camp dont bat an eye. hc that when percy and annabeth are studying and trying to explain something to the other they unconsciously switch to greek (especially where annabeth and english class is concerned. my girl canonically hates english books). the majority of the time they’re only really speaking in half english half greek. annabeth says something in greek, percy responds in english or latin and vice versa. the first time paul blofis witnesses them do it, it’s before he finds out percy’s a demigod, and as an english major, is like. what the fuck did that kid just speak in greek. sally is like yea his dad is greek haha…and paul is like?? ancient?? greek?? yes paul, yes.

#pjo #pjo hcs #percy jackson show #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percy jackson hc #headcanon #ancient greek #bilingual #multilingual percy and annabeth my beloved

[gayvampyr]

multilingualism poll because im curious

& feel free to specify in the notes which ones!

edit: i meant to write *and, not “or”

#polls #languages #bilingual #i consider myself bilingual but i can understand 4-5 written languages #including english (duh) spanish italian portuguese and sometimes french #in the sense that they share a lot of roots and conjugations #and i’ve studied 4 #spanish french italian and swahili

[belle-keys]

— On losing your language

Babel by RF Kuang // @metamorphesque // Rejecting assimilation in 'You Sound Like a White Girl' by NPR // Sir Elijah Impey with his family in Calcutta, 1783 by Johan Zoffany // Israel's Forgotten Arabic Language // Love in Translation by Lauren Collins // Lola by Camila Cabello // All That Angrezi by Kandala Singh // La Malinche by Jesús Helguera // Estrangement as a Lifestyle by Svetlana Boym // Can You Forget Your Native Language by TLD

#langblr #langspo #web weave #web weaving #foreign languages #polyglot #bilingual #languages #light academia #poc dark academia #books and literature #babel an arcane history #colonization #studyblr #latino