Tumgik
#language is hard
curiosity-killed · 6 months
Text
between wiping out, getting super light-headed/shaky/nauseous, and generally being extremely smangry for 75% of it, rehearsal was, shall we say, less than great today, but mostly im very annoyed with the way a) it hurts to put any weight on my heels and b) it feels like there's a chunk of bone loose in the back of my right ankle
9 notes · View notes
persnickety-peahen · 2 years
Text
i saw a post talking about how wild the human brain is, and in the comments, someone mentioned aphantasia, which made me feel things and i just have to talk about it so here ya go all seven of my followers and people interested in whatever tags i end up using:
if you don't know what aphantasia is, no shame at all. although it's becoming more widely known and researched, it's still a fairly obscure neurological condition. heck, i only know about it because i read an article on it once about six years ago and realized, hey, i have that!
essentially, aphantasia is the lack of a mind's eye, an inability to voluntarily produce mental images. sometimes it's acquired after a brain injury, but it's predominantly just something folks are born with. estimates about the number of people it affects vary pretty significantly—i've seen everything from 1% or less to as much as 5% of the global population! that's wild! statistically, that means you might probably know someone with aphantasia . . . or maybe you have it yourself but, like me, didn't even know it was a thing until someone told you it was and now you've got a little mini existential crisis on your hands where you realize that the brains of at least 95% of the people you know work in a fundamentally different way from your brain and you're missing out on an experience they all have in common and aaaaah
i don't know anyone else irl who has aphantasia, so when i find someone online who does it's like that moment when a dog sees another dog and recognizes that they're a dog and just goes absolutely crazy. i am consumed by the desire to overshare infodump about all the ways aphantasia has affected my life and then compare notes like, do you also have such a bad autobiographical memory that more than half of your childhood memories are actually reconstructions based on stories other people have told you about your own life? do you also sometimes get unreasonably anxious about being a victim of a crime someday and getting a good look at the perpetrator but not being able to describe them to police later because you can't picture what they look like and even a sketch artist wouldn't help and would probably only make things worse as whatever they draw would slowly replace what little memory you do have? are you one of those aphantasiacs who never got into reading because you couldn't picture things? or are you like me and loved reading anyway, but a) got really bored and pulled out of it when authors spent time describing what something or someone looked like because it didn't do anything for you and b) got really confused when your friends would talk about how they didn't like the movie adaptation of something because it "wasn't how they pictured it when reading" and you didn't know what the hell they meant by that? and then you went on to become a creative writer obsessively concerned with imagery and if you have enough of it to satisfy those people who actually like when things are visually described? do you want to get into drawing but give up in frustration every time you try because of the lack of direction you experience from not having an image in your mind's eye to that you're trying to draw in the first place? do you need visual aids to really understand certain scientific and mathematical concepts? were you frustratingly bad at making and interpreting graphs for school projects and presentations? and now you hope you picked a career path where you won't ever have to do that ever again?
are you also terrible at estimating distance and length and height because words like "foot" or "meter" mean nothing to you, much less bigger measurements like miles and kilometers? do you also need google maps to get anywhere despite living in the same city your whole life because lacking a mind's eye also means you lack the ability to make mental maps? were your inability to navigate and difficulty with measurements something people made fun of you for the same way they made fun of me for it? and now that you know you have aphantasia you can snap back at them and be all, actually the reason i can't navigate or understand measurements is because of a neurological condition so you're basically making fun of me for being disabled, how about that? do you also sometimes get sad and think about how you don't really remember anymore what your loved ones who've passed away look like? or even what your loved ones who aren't currently in the same room as you look like? how you rarely notice if someone got a haircut or new piercing or tattoo or otherwise changed their appearance because you can't visually compare it to how they looked the last time you saw them?
when you try to picture a loved one's face, what happens? me, i run through a list of traits in my head, oftentimes more focused on personal attributes than physical ones because that's what i'm actually capable of remembering consistently. i don't just know what someone's hair or eye color is—i have to memorize it, like a fact for school. mom and dad have blue eyes. my husband has hazel-ish green eyes. my best friend is blonde, but her hair is darker now than it was when we were kids, and she got glasses while we were going to college in different cities, i should know that by now and stop being surprised when i see her wearing glasses. her mom, my second mother, has straight brown hair and a long face, but i can't remember what color her eyes are even though i've known her for twenty years. i think they're blue, but i can't picture it. i don't know for sure, and if i think about it too long it kills me. when i have kids, will i remember their eye colors? or will i have to ask my husband if he knows?
i take a lot of pictures. all the time, of everything—of people, of scenery, of my food, or myself, of pets and cools animals i see strolling around the city. boomers criticize me for not living in the moment, and it makes me feel awful, like i have to choose between experiencing something and remembering it. cause yeah, without the pictures, i would forget. i keep movie stubs and playbills and fair tickets and museum handouts and even fucking hospital bracelets, and i cherish them the same way other people cherish religious items.
it's lonely sometimes, having aphantasia.
the people close to me know about it, so they know how to accommodate me in relation to it, and they're supportive and interested in learning more. but they don't live with it themselves, so even though they know what it is, they don't know what it is, ya know? their knowledge is all second hand. as wonderful as my people are, when i'm really feeling my aphantasia and getting into those sad thought spirals, talking with them about it just isn't the same as it would be to talk with someone else who has aphantasia and has dealt with the same issues and feelings about it
i guess in the end i just want what we all do: community. when i find someone else with aphantasia, i don't wanna be like a dog seeing another dog because i'm so starved for contact with other folks like me; i wanna be like someone recognizing another member of a long distance club i regularly participate in, like hey! same hat! and then go about the rest of my day because i'm satisfied with the community i have. ya know?
anyways yes this is a free invite to message me if you have aphantasia or think you might have it and you wanna compare notes and chat about shared experiences, or alternately if you know someone who has aphantasia or are just curious about it and want to learn more about it :D
73 notes · View notes
cologona · 2 months
Text
Thinking about how Cassandra didn’t have the words to define her thoughts or feelings for the first nearly 2 decades of her life. What is it like for her to have to squeeze her life and experiences into a new language? A new understanding of the world?
What was it like for everything to change so suddenly when the psychic man gave her language? She may have understood but I think the words still would’ve feel like molasses in her mouth.
Does she talk to herself the way a dancer goes over the movements of their performance?
2 notes · View notes
draconic-ichor · 2 years
Note
Accidentally used my English degree to overanalyze a video game character. I'm itching to share this, but you're the only person I know of who may be interested. Disregard of you want. Also, love your content! It's truly some of my favorite on tumblr 💜
So the archaic language Morgott uses is Early Modern English. There are several second-person pronouns in EME (such as thou and you), and the one you use depends upon the difference in social standing between communicator and receiver. For example, if a noble were to talk to a servant, they would use forms of "you". You is a formal pronoun used to refer to someone you perceive as below you, authorizer speaking to the authorized. If a noble were to speak to another noble, however, they would use forms of "thee" to show they are on the same level since it's more informal. Throughout the game, Morgott refers to the Tarnished using forms of thee, putting us on the same level as him. While this could be seen as flattering since the King of Leyndell is putting us on his level. However, it's important to remember Morgott's own self-image. He's an Omen with cursed blood, a stain upon the Golden Lineage, and unfit to take the throne even though he's the most worthy. Morgott, through his language, isn't raising the Tarnished up to his position. He's dragging them down to where he sees himself. They are both unworthy of the title of Elden Lord, and he's more than happy to prove that point. In short, this man needs several hugs.
That is both very interesting and super sad…That poor man needs so much love.
And I’ll be honest I have the most basic understanding of how his speech works, so I apologize to anyone that knows the rules of EME and reads my works 😅
Very happy you like my content! It means a lot hearing I’m one of your favorites •///•
61 notes · View notes
mechorrhizae · 4 months
Text
I need a word to describe the living nature of the soil. Describing the bacteria and worms and fungi and everything else that eats a corpse that did not let itself go, but instead just went.
Describing something that is alive but not as one entity. As alive, but its constituent pieces do not all have the same goal in mind. It's something that shouldn’t need to have uniform goals but is still expected by some to be perfectly congruent.
I need a word that describes what (I was told) I should expect disgust about, but brings a deep solace instead. I think it might be decomposition but the pieces of that word feel too sterile to build what it’s describing.
2 notes · View notes
perplexingluciddreams · 11 months
Text
In order to communicate a memory or past experience in words, I had to have been actively translating (or attempting to translate) my abstract thoughts into language at the time.
If I wasn't or couldn't do this at the time it was happening, those experiences, thoughts, emotions, etc. are almost impossible to describe in language now.
And translating my brain takes so much energy and effort, and relies on me being able to understand what is happening and what I'm thinking and feeling. I more often than not don't comprehend my own mind - if this is the case, then of course I can't explain it to someone else.
14 notes · View notes
kodrevas · 1 year
Text
I forgot the word for crumbs in both English and Dutch. Told Dutchstache I needed to vacuum up the bread dust. How's your day going?
7 notes · View notes
itstimeforstarwars · 1 year
Text
Figuring out what is normal to understand vs what would probably need translated in the Galidraan au re: Anakin, Ahsoka, and Derry is very difficult because despite being bilingual and working on a third language I do not know if the gaps in my language skills are normal or if I am just an idiot.
10 notes · View notes
emwallas176 · 2 years
Text
Guys help!
Had to tell me host mom that I couldn't make it to dinner because I wanted to watch MCC, but I don't know the words for gaming or championship so I was just like "it's an important event!" so that happened. But it's all good now. I'm ready to see Red Rabbits win MCC! WOHOO!!
6 notes · View notes
naoko-world · 2 years
Text
When you search a word for a drabble you're writing, try thinking about the word in your language so you could then remember how you say it in english... Realising you found the english word instead.
Like:
"Sh... Wait in french we would say..."
"Empty! Yes and in eng... Wait it's the english word... Wait what's the french word then?"
5 notes · View notes
oobbbear · 3 months
Text
I want to post this here too because I’ve seen it happen a few times
Tumblr media
Please understand that there are cultural differences and language differences, if you see this happening let the person clarify what they meant, that person might just not be familiar with words the western side of the internet use
8K notes · View notes
livingblurr · 6 months
Text
Sometimes English not being your mother tongue means that people won’t be able to place ur accent, and ask if you’re from Illinois. And you don’t know if that’s supposed to be an insult, a compliment or something in between.
1 note · View note
-fae
11K notes · View notes
incognitopolls · 5 months
Text
We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.
6K notes · View notes
aeide-thea · 1 year
Text
on principle opposed to describing art i dislike as 'masturbatory' because even though it's an alluringly contemptuous word to sneer it's impossible to reconcile with my pro-masturbation stance
30K notes · View notes
gallium-spoon · 1 year
Text
So, I'm trying to learn Spanish, and my boyfriend is actually fluent, if a bit rusty according to him. So he's been helping me but I'm still new and pretty bad at it so most of our attempts at conversation sound like:
Boyfriend: *question in Spanish*
Me: Otra vez por favor (again please)
Bf: *question again*
Me: Despacio! (Slowly!)
Bf: *question again again*
Me: Nope, still didn't catch it
Bf: *laughs at me and then says the question in English*
This is usually followed by me repeating the question to myself over and over in a desperate attempt to not forget it 😅
1 note · View note