#i was not blessed with the polyglot gene.

[moregraceful]

yet another writing ask: 23 and 32 if you would like to <3

Thank you 🙇🙇

23. Dialogue or description? Why is the other one so hard?

GOD. Dialogue is so hard. I get soooo stressed in rpf bc I often want or am including multi-lingual players who do not speak like a generic Californian, and I get real in my head about like...capturing that authentically and sensitively. Like description is easier to deploy meaningfully and if I fuck it up, I find that way more forgivable in myself than like writing a multilingual player and accidentally leaning into stereotypes about speech patterns or ways of expression that aren't True To Nature. and like to be clear this is specifically about non-Canadian/American players, like if I fuck up some American NCAA white jock who gives a shit but if I leaned to stereotypes about like how idk Russians speak, I would just die. and I have done this!!! I look back at some of my old sidgeno works and I'm like this is unforgiveable lol.

I'm poking at a concept with Radim Šimek, who is from Czechia, and I'm stressing sooo bad about his speech patterns and how he expresses himself in interviews vs teammates, particularly after I noticed how obvious it is that he learned in English in the Bay Area, which is not like...a particularly unique version of English, but I've noticed that sometimes the way Bay Area ppl inflect words is absolutely deranged. and like how does that affect how you express yourself yk, and like I'm basing all of this off getting lectured for being lazy in five years of French classes in high school and college, which is not even remotely the same thing

Also. At least once per fic, I have to go through a delete an instance of "hella". That man from Ontario would not fucking say "hella".

32. Do you have a word/expression that you always use in your writing?

Well I absolutely overuse "like" in speech which is what happens when you grow up in California and write primarily in a fandom of white jocks. Also tend to use "sounding strangled" with regularity, but I have never been able to figure out how to execute that specific emotion any other way (I have not tried very hard)

Thank you!!!

#i was not blessed with the polyglot gene. #i was so bad at tests in arabic class that my professor eventually adapted the weekly quizzes #FOR ME SPECIFICALLY so i could just scrape through the class. and then we did the final exam and i BOMBED IT so he gave me #like MASS amounts of extra credit for all the cultural fluency stuff we did. bc i was very good at the engaging with arabic cultures #stuff when it was in english and like a huge part of the class for him was getting all these like affluent liberal arts school kids #who came of age during the iraq war to have broader view of the middle east #he was like you try so fucking hard. i have watched you take pages and pages of notes in class. i have watched you #work studiously in the workbook. but you're so bad at the language. how can someone applying themselves that hard be so bad at it #i'm giving you like 50pts in extra credit on the cultural stuff to make up for it but like. keep trying i guess? #and he gave me a solid B- lmfao he really wanted me to pass #anyway tl;dr on these tags i am not multilingual bc i am so stupid. and that affects how i write ESL/ELL characters. bc i worry so much #i mean maybe the lesson here is apply the facial expressions my french professor would make when i start stringing together sentences #haphazardly and whimsically and eventually getting what i meant across but not in a way that really sparked joy for a parisian yk #cage replies #selkiefinalist

[ofherstory-blog]

will you do all those multimuse questions i reAliZe it"S a lot BUT

not even gonna bother linking this bc SOMEONE wants the WHOLE MEME. basing everything on their main verses, or else shit’ll get wild!!

Which muses have their driver’s license?

teddy probably has one because hermione urged them to teach him just in case! spencer, aria, and alison (though she got hers later, thanks to being on the run for years) also definitely have theirs! aida and sophia are nyc brats, so they probably didn’t get theirs until the summer before they had to leave for college – before that, it was public transportation all day every day. and last but not least, so do juliet, kimberly, and aurelia!

And how many can drive stick shift

spencer definitely learned “just in case.” so did aurelia. they’re the only ones.

Which muse would make the best parent?

i mean, narcissa is canonically, for all her other flaws, a fucking incredible mother. so.

Which muse cries the most?

juliet, probably. my werewolf baby is a big softie!! though she’s probably the type to cry when good things happen more than bad ones - like at emotional scenes in movies, hearing good news from someone she loves, etc. etc.

Which muse never cries?

narcissa. never in public, anyway. i imagine she did more often as a child, but now even in private she’s the foundation of her family, so she rarely – if ever – breaks down.

Which muse is the most ticklish?

to be honest, i just really want louise to secretly be suuuuper ticklish. it’d be a riot.

Which muse is the best singer?

i headcanon that sophia has a similar voice to one of her fcs’ (kim yongsun), so i guess it’d be her! she’s also the one with the most formal music training, so there’s that too haha.

Which muses live on their own? (Don’t live with their parents anymore.)

 making “parents” into “guardians” bc some of their parents ARE DEAD, but anyway!! all the liars as of their tv canon, narcissa, gabrielle (though when she is technically home she’s with her parents, but she’s mostly on the road with xena so it counts), aida, sophia, and aurelia!! i think kimberly lives with the other witchy babes?? though aurelia’s kinda sorta her guardian i guess so idk how much it counts.

Which muse is the bravest?

consistently brave? i’d say gabrielle. i mean, the series starts with her picking up and following after xena – and she never runs and hides after that. not even once that i can remember. she’s bleeding-heart, idiotically brave, and i love her for it.

Which muse is the biggest scaredycat?

probably juliet, which is ironic given that she’s my only muse literally born supernatural lol. but none of them are huge scaredycats so it’s not saying too much, she’s just the softest child.

Which muse is best at sports?

spencer is basically my only athletic one, and she’s damn good at every sport she does too.

Which muse is the smartest?

it’s a toss-up. i’d say spencer has the strongest book smarts, sophia is the most well rounded (book smarts + artistic prowess + social smarts), and louise just has these insane genius plots ALL THE TIME. imagine if she put that effort toward something else, damn.

Which muse is the dumbest?

she’s not actually dumb by any stretch of the imagination, but… bless her lil heart, riley sometimes reminds me of a puppy chasing its own tail.

Which muse has the biggest dick?

i mean, teddy is the ONLY one with a dick (even if only some of the time), so he kinda wins by default lmao

Which muse has the biggest breasts?

i guess alison?? which feels weird to say because sasha was actually like twelve when she started working on pll, but she’s not any more and it definitely shows lmao.

Which muse is the strongest?

physically? juliet, definitely. she never uses it, but being a werewolf gives her an immediate edge over everyone else. after her, probably gabrielle! and mentally, i’d say narcissa.

Which muse is the weakest?

physically louise, just because she’s a tiny child! but at (almost) adult size, probably riley. mentally… possibly dawn?? as a teen anyway, i think she fortifies a bit as an adult lmao. and louise can definitely dish it out but not take it, so there’s that too.

Which muses need glasses to some extent? (All the time/for reading, etc.)

i headcanon that louise ends up taking after the other belcher girls later on, and needs glasses for nearsightedness (though more mildly, like linda) as an adult. she probably fights the notion until she finds herself squinting to see basically EVERYTHING, and tina gives her a pep talk about it too lmao. spencer needs them for farsightedness, but ends up switching to contacts in high school. sophia has extremely mild nearsightedness, and only ever uses her glasses during lectures/meetings to read the board. dawn spends so much time squinting over ancient text in dark rooms that she ends up needing reading glasses before hitting thirty.

Which muses have sent nudes before?

alison sent a lot when she was younger, but hasn’t really since she had to flee. aria sends tasteful ones, like with flowers over the nipples and artsy farsty shit like that. aida sends the most of the bunch, including to jordan for opinions on them! kimberly and spencer both have, but to only a select few people. dawn’s probably “sent” one or two to be rebellious, but just to janice.

Which muses are left-handed?

in my ideal world THEY ALL ARE (can you tell i’m a lefty?). but in reality, only kimberly is.

Which muses prefer bathing over showering?

alison never could relax for anything longer than a quick shower while she was on the run, and spent more days grimy than she’d live to admit. she definitely doesn’t take bathing for granted any more. juliet particularly enjoys bubble baths. aurelia also enjoys baths, but she can’t always find the time between watching over three rebellious witches to draw them.

Which muses belong to a religion?

alison and spencer were both raised christian. alison still somewhat believes (though her faith has diminished quite a lot over the years), spencer doesn’t. riley’s family is loosely christian. sophia’s family is a mix of catholic and buddhist, and she finds them interesting from a philosophical standpoint, but doesn’t really believe either one. kimberly and aurelia are both pagan witches. gabrielle has literally met the greek gods, so… i guess that makes her kinda polytheistic?

Which muses bite their nails?

it’s a bad habit of spencer’s, for sure. it’s a stress reliever that she mostly curbed as she got older, but sometimes when she’s not paying attention it still slips out.

Which muses can’t ride a bike?

louise only rides a tricycle, so there’s that. i feel like she’d be in denial about ever having to switch to a bike too, so it’ll likely stay that way for a while! gabrielle also can’t, but i don’t think bikes were really a thing in ancient greece anyway lmao.

Which muses can change a tire?

aida. teddy also can (thanks again, hermione) both magically and manually.

Which muse is the clumsiest?

dawn, definitely. it gets better as she ages, but as a teenager that girl really is all limb.

And which is the most elegant?

100% narcissa. that girl was literally bred to be elegant.

Which muses are parents?

narcissa, and alison if you count her current pregnancy. gabrielle technically has her weird half-demon daughter (and kinda eve too), but i like to pretend that arc never happened.

Which muses speak another language than English? Which language(s)?

sophia was born in korea, so she actually learned korean before english! she also knows french, minimal spanish and asl, and some japanese. spencer is a crazy polyglot who knows french, italian, german, and some mandarin chinese. aida grew up both signing asl and speaking since her sister is deaf. she also knows a little korean and some spanish! juliet was born in canada, and knows decent conversational french from her mother. kimberly was raised speaking some japanese, so she can also hold a decent conversation. she knows some latin as well! aurelia’s more advanced than kimberly, so her latin is basically fluent. dawn also learns latin as a junior watcher, but in her main verse she only speaks english! in theory, gabrielle’s technically only speaking greek, but she’s still monolingual.

Which muses can cook?

spencer, alison, aria, sophia, aida, juliet, AURELIA, GABRIELLE, kimberly. i don’t know if dawn���s weird-ass concoctions count as cooking, per se, but they’re certainly something edible.

Which muses rely on frozen dinners and take-out?

teddy, probably. louise and riley on the rare occasions that their respective parents aren’t around. narcissa eats classier than that, but house elves have made her food for literally all her life, so she’d probably flounder a bit at first on her own.

Which muses can play an instrument?

sophia literally went to school for this, so let’s start with her! her major was for the piano, so that’s what she’s best at. but she’s also dabbled with some other instruments, including cello, flute, french horn, and guitar! spencer also plays the piano, as well as aria very occasionally. jessica made alison take piano lessons up until her disappearance, but she hated them and never plays any more. teddy’s tried multiple instruments, but none of them ever stick. louise can play a mean cup-and-straw solo alongside gene’s keyboard.

#ineveryvein #( answered. ) #( save. ) #i left out like... three #that i was stuck on #but this is a majority of them fam!! <3 #not including test muses

[fluentlanguage]

What Gets Easier When You Study More Languages?

When you are learning your first foreign language, everything feels bizarre. Somewhere in your mind, it seems nuts that you might know that language confidently one day.

You start to look around at multilingual people, you watch a few YouTube videos, read a few blog articles. There's clearly people out there who are learning languages. They seem to know more than just one or two - some people know more than 10 languages!

Like most polyglots, people often ask me how many languages I speak. But recently, I was asked one question that made me think more deeply about why and how learning more languages works for me:

Does it get easier when you are learning more languages?

The short answer is "yes". It definitely does.

Here are the things that are helpful, relevant, and different when you are learning your 7th language.

1) You Know What Language Learning Strategy Works For You

When I first started learning languages, there was one source of information that told me how to learn languages: my teacher. No one told me about the Goldlist method and Anki and even the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Sounds like I had all the chances to mess up, right? But my language isolation bubble had a silver lining: I had the freedom to develop a learning strategy that works for me. I simply discarded the things that waste my time, and perfected those that I need. I amused my mum with vocab sheets taped to the bathroom mirror. I tried, tested, and grew my own masterplan, learning to trust my instincts.

If you follow language learning blogs, you know that there are many methods out there. Bloggers like Benny Lewis advocate speaking very early in the process, others like Gabe Wyner talk about pronunciation above all things. What you discover over the course of many language learning years is that you are always doing it right. The doubt of whether you are using "the best method" simply goes away.

The big secret to learning any language is this: Just don't stop.

2) You Become Confident About Your Language Learning Skill

When people learn a language in school, they often experience languages in a box. They're are on the curriculum, so they're taught inside a classroom and rarely used outside of one. The idea that there are whole communities in the world actually living their lives in different words seems kinda nice...but what's it got to do with you?

Even at exam times, you're tested on theory and abstract skill. The exam papers are about correct grammar and vocabulary. That's undoubtedly important, but it misses out on the greatest part of learning a language: realizing that you can make an amazing connection, right now.

When you start out with your first language or even your first 2 or 3, there is that lurking question inside:

"Am I really able to do this?"

But as you stick with the process, here is what changes: It stops being a classroom exercise. No one who is learning a 5th or 6th has got there without finding a spark that brings their language out of the box. The spark is different for all of us, but once you've got it you know that "good performance" isn't the point. It's all about connection and trusting the process.

I no longer ask myself if I can do this. I know that, given time and dedication, I can learn any language to a very high level. And the reason I know this is because I know that it doesn't matter - I will always be doing this for myself, too. That's what the spark did for me.

3) You Realize There Are Always More Languages to Learn

No matter if you have learnt one language, or seven, or 20: There will always be more languages to learn. Being a prolific language learner is a lifetime commitment, a little like a lifestyle change. I have now realised that I am never going to learn all the languages that are on my list, because that list is forever going to grow.

Our planet and the human race are so wonderfully diverse. We are blessed with thousands of languages, communication systems and scripts. Once you dive into learning one or two of those languages, you enter this amazing world of human communication. And by language number 7, you'll have caught the communication bug.

Even the most multilingual people in the world know fewer than 100 languages. They're certainly not done. I stilll have to work hard to learn a new language, and I still feel like I know nothing. Achieve fluency in many languages - it will open your mind to what you don't know!

4) You Know Being a Polyglot Ain't Special

Learning foreign languages is an unusual hobby, and in monolingual cultures like most of the UK, it's even more of a rarity. At the same time, most people have touched a bit of a foreign language - enough to know that it can make your brain hurt. So the conclusion people draw becomes that it takes a special language gift (perhaps a different brain?).

I believe that learning many foreign languages is a wonderful and incredible achievement. The work, commitment, focus, and dedication of prolific language learners are incredible.

But know that there is no language gene, or polyglot brain. Someone who knows many languages is just as capable as you are. When you are on language number 5 or number 10, you're more efficient, knowing more about your own favourite methods. But it's still hard work.

So here's my bottom line: You should learn a language because it will show you incredible things about your own capabilities. There's nothing to it, really. Nothing you've not got already, anyway.

Which Good Lessons Can You Add?

I'd love to hear your stories in the comments below. And of course, stay encouraged and keep going. You can totally do this.

For more information about coaching and access to lots of free toolkits and worksheets, check out my book The Vocab Cookbook and hop onto the Fluent Language Newsletter today - can't wait to say hello to you on there!

#polyglot #experience #experts #language learning and studying abroad #learning skills #learning for the future