Well the Title says it all, actually;)
I am fascinated by languages, the way they differ and the way that they are the same and over the past couple of years I have explored languages far and wide ( though not deep enough !).
I am not really sure whether anyone really learns a language completely, not even the native speakers but merely our usage of the language decides our proficiency and how eager we are to make a language a part of our lives, it doesn't depend upon anything else. Not even Age and definitely not "Intelligence" !!
I am going to combine this blog with another one Nutro-Marka , the idea is to use this blog to document my progress by using the languages within a context, to understand the culture better. I am gonna make my amateur attempts to write and express myself through these languages, I hope to be able to talk about the individual character and the immense beauty of each and every one of these languages. Though that doesn't mean that the languages which are not mentioned in the blog have any less of a personality, but just that, given the internet based resources, accessibility of these languages coupled with my interest and curiosity in these languages was enough to Compel me to explore them and understand them.
Though there is no denying the fact that "practicality" of these languages did play a part in deciding which one I should focus upon more, prioritize more but as Blaise Pascal said « Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point » The Heart has its own Reasons that Reason does not Know !
Whereas The Talking Apes ( this blog !) is for passive reflections and to use the blog as a journal, keeping track of what's working and what's not, how can I overcome that challenge. And more importantly this is where you will find the links for all the Great and Amazing Language Learning Blogs and People out there and even more importantly the resources that I have found over the years.
At the same time this blog is where you shall find a gradually increasing amount of Grammatical understanding, for this is perhaps the best way to figure out how languages differ and yet they express the same thing, serve the same function in our lives.
My interest in the Theoretical Linguistics sparked during the this recent semester in the University. I had the opportunity to explore the Theoretical side of Linguistics and combine them with computational methods so as to check for the regularity in the structures. Basically it was based on X-bar structure and Esperanto, but I am getting ahead of myself;P
I will dive in deeper into the details of my journey and experience so far, in the coming posts, as I write this, there is this thought at the back of my mind that is it all truly expressible ?. In all honesty, perhaps not ! But I can do my best to express the pleasure and beauty that I experienced ( still do;P ) through languages and hopefully, convince you to give another language a try as well. If this happens then, one of the two goals of this blog would have been achieved. I would have rid you of the school-drilling habit and perhaps rediscover your own childhood, hopefully this time you would keep it with yourself forever;)
The other goal is to explore languages and get myself actually using them on a daily basis, so far, they are like that amazing secret place where we can really be ourselves, where we can go only when we can mange to get away ( think Hogwarts or Narnia, maybe;P ).
Have Fun !!
I think that a language is the footprint of a culture, it reflects how far and wide it has explored, both the outside world and the the world inside. You know, there is a saying in Czech which goes as following in English, " You are as many times a person as the number of languages you speak ". I am inclined to believe this 'cos a Language is to the brain what a Gym or a physical exercise is for the body. This is the only truly human element in us by learning more we can appreciate this state, this existence in a much more aesthetically pleasing way. Not to mention all the "practical" advantages of learning a language.
So, stay tuned !!
I am fascinated by languages, the way they differ and the way that they are the same and over the past couple of years I have explored languages far and wide ( though not deep enough !).
I am not really sure whether anyone really learns a language completely, not even the native speakers but merely our usage of the language decides our proficiency and how eager we are to make a language a part of our lives, it doesn't depend upon anything else. Not even Age and definitely not "Intelligence" !!
I am going to combine this blog with another one Nutro-Marka , the idea is to use this blog to document my progress by using the languages within a context, to understand the culture better. I am gonna make my amateur attempts to write and express myself through these languages, I hope to be able to talk about the individual character and the immense beauty of each and every one of these languages. Though that doesn't mean that the languages which are not mentioned in the blog have any less of a personality, but just that, given the internet based resources, accessibility of these languages coupled with my interest and curiosity in these languages was enough to Compel me to explore them and understand them.
Though there is no denying the fact that "practicality" of these languages did play a part in deciding which one I should focus upon more, prioritize more but as Blaise Pascal said « Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point » The Heart has its own Reasons that Reason does not Know !
Whereas The Talking Apes ( this blog !) is for passive reflections and to use the blog as a journal, keeping track of what's working and what's not, how can I overcome that challenge. And more importantly this is where you will find the links for all the Great and Amazing Language Learning Blogs and People out there and even more importantly the resources that I have found over the years.
At the same time this blog is where you shall find a gradually increasing amount of Grammatical understanding, for this is perhaps the best way to figure out how languages differ and yet they express the same thing, serve the same function in our lives.
My interest in the Theoretical Linguistics sparked during the this recent semester in the University. I had the opportunity to explore the Theoretical side of Linguistics and combine them with computational methods so as to check for the regularity in the structures. Basically it was based on X-bar structure and Esperanto, but I am getting ahead of myself;P
I will dive in deeper into the details of my journey and experience so far, in the coming posts, as I write this, there is this thought at the back of my mind that is it all truly expressible ?. In all honesty, perhaps not ! But I can do my best to express the pleasure and beauty that I experienced ( still do;P ) through languages and hopefully, convince you to give another language a try as well. If this happens then, one of the two goals of this blog would have been achieved. I would have rid you of the school-drilling habit and perhaps rediscover your own childhood, hopefully this time you would keep it with yourself forever;)
The other goal is to explore languages and get myself actually using them on a daily basis, so far, they are like that amazing secret place where we can really be ourselves, where we can go only when we can mange to get away ( think Hogwarts or Narnia, maybe;P ).
Have Fun !!
I think that a language is the footprint of a culture, it reflects how far and wide it has explored, both the outside world and the the world inside. You know, there is a saying in Czech which goes as following in English, " You are as many times a person as the number of languages you speak ". I am inclined to believe this 'cos a Language is to the brain what a Gym or a physical exercise is for the body. This is the only truly human element in us by learning more we can appreciate this state, this existence in a much more aesthetically pleasing way. Not to mention all the "practical" advantages of learning a language.
So, stay tuned !!
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