The Bare Minimum!

It's been a while, no?

I find myself immersed in the work, for it is something that can help me achieve that 4 hour workweek balance of dreams, life and work. Every second that I put in this thing is gonna pay of in future - of that I as certain as the air I breath. But yes, I do find myself wondering how soon the days and weeks pass by. Remember, I have always talked about "Passion is when days become hours and one achieves the seriousness of a child at play";P

I get to hangout with the designers and to ask as much as I want about the various sketching techniques and things like aspects of figure sketching, discuss ideas about Sketchnotes. Plus, in near future I'll get to speak languages with and more importantly be able to make all the mistakes which essentially pave the way towards mastery. I think, that the most  blissful thing about this entire thing is the fact that I am under no pressure what so ever to do something I don't want - rather I am absolutely free to try out new things and to think creatively.

You know, I made a commitment to myself that I'll learn a few languages this year so that I'll focus exclusively on the languages which have "value" from a business point of view, which, as it happens are often the same as the ones which are the most prominent ones in the fields of Technology and World Economy as well.

I have never liked the herdwalk nor the herdtalk - I'll focus on the ones which get overlooked and appeal to me as a person. So, whenever I find the time from the StartUp I'll focus exclusively on these languages, which can broadly be divided into three geographical categories, the fourth one being independent from nationalities

1. European - Finnish, Dutch, Polish and Icelandic
2. Asian - Chinese, Japanese, Korean
3. Middle East - Farsi and Hebrew
4. Esperanto

For the next couple of years these Ten languages are the only ones which I shall study in and engage in any manner whatsoever.

It does mean a lot to me 'cos I am gonna have to "give-up" the languages which I spent so much time working on for the last couple of years and begin from scratch again. I ask myself whether this is a "sane" decision, then there's this smile on my face and a single thought on my mind - When have I ever done something "sane";P

So, yes! This is the big "freeze" that all language learners talk about when they talk about focusing on a limited number and keeping them active.

Life is so fun when it's lived at a place that flirts with Insanity)

SketchNotes

Ah, this is my favorite time of the year - Winters;P

I am in the middle of this dark and stormy night, which people affectionately call "Exams";P - there are a few holes here and there in my longboat but I see the shores ahead! 

And, like any self respecting student in the middle of exams, I find myself procrastinating, hehe. But, hey I thought that I'd share the excitement with you guys about having made my first SketchNote. Nah, I won't share it over here just yet 'cos the technical side of Uploading things need to be taken care of but, I think that I near future I'll definitely be using this method A Lot. I love this way of learning things, being a Huge fan of Learning Organically and Quickly. So, through my other passion Sagematics I came across Sacha Chua's website and lOvEd her way of doing things. More on this later;P

It's been a great year so far and as December closes in, I am beginning to reflect on my goals I set for myself this past year. Beginning to Blog was an important one, not necessarily 'cos of a need to do it but rather for motivating myself for doing things which does worry me a lot - Actually speaking any of the Languages which I have gained a certain Proficiency at. I still am a bit anxious about it.

I know that the next couple of months might be the most busiest ones so I won't be able take strides regarding languages but, languages are like the One Good Obsession. I keep coming back to them no matter how busy I am, these days I am back to the Wonderful Anki Chinese deck which I was doing everyday a couple months back - about 1500 of a total of 14000! Long looong way ahead - happy about it;P

My life has taken an pleasantly surprising turn with the StartUp experience so there is Tons of learning to come and I am actually looking forward to it eagerly but how can I make most of what I learn?

After being  mesmerized by this SketchNote techniques, which came my way via Sacha Chua's wonderful ways of doing things. There are many examples over here at SketchNotes Army

I doodled my very first Sketchnote only yesterday and it was initially with a Pencil and today I finalized it with a Pen. Isn't this a wonderful way to revise what you have learnt, I literally could remember every word of the TEDtalk I SketchNoted. 

Three programs which I felt compelled to have a good command are Inkspace, Krita and GIMP which will help me digitize my notes and sketches.

I do love sketching and I am definitely looking for ways to use it effectively to learn languages. I am intrigued with the idea of using Visuals to learn languages and all the other Technical stuff which I'll be covering over the months to come. And I am happy to tell you that I have started to really improvise with tunes on the Harmonica as well.

Wonderful the way that Languages actually helped me explore and understand more about my own Learning Style. I'll tell you more about how it all came about in the next post or so.

Till then,

Strong Winds and Safe Waters)

Anime Season

I have definitely realized that, if I am to learn about Japan properly - then the entire facet of Manga/Anime can't be overlooked. It's a really really big thing, not only in Japan anymore but all over the world. So, I thought why not watch the unfinished Anime series back from my childhood days.

After all, why not?

Anime uses the Japanese language with it's subtleties in as natural a way as in real life - often with exaggerated graphics though;P

I kinda obsessed over theses whenever I could salvage the time for myself and in those little windows of time I managed to slog through

> About 180 episodes + 4 Movies of Inu Yasha.

> Wolf's Rain

> Death Note

> Ghost in the Shell
                     ( If you thought Matrix/Inceptions ware Awesome, you are gonna Love this)


Of course, there is Dragon Ball Z which is still left - but I don't find it as interesting as I used to, nearly a decade ago, same goes for Pokemon or say Astroboy. Too child-like for my taste, I find.

I now have a lot better understanding of [[  さま,  ちゃん,  さん,  くん  ]] and the numerous Interjections and Imperative statements which I found to be a bit of a slog before. So, there's passive learning at it's best. Actually, I have used this method before as well, with Russian. I went through all the screen adaptations of the Russian Classics - I learned a ton from those as well. Of course, nothing beats, actually speaking the language but, hey, there's so much amazing stuff which people have been doing in their own languages, I find it better to embrace it.

Sure, I understand the fact that the language/situations used in Anime or Manga can't really reflect the real world as such, so I have been exploring various Japanese movies to watch. I liked Okuribito a lot, quite an interesting concept and screenplay. Of the other real world material I have focused on are Gokusen series like sitcoms.

I definitely prefer watching comedy in any language and as soon as I get a whiff of News-like material my brain decelerates to { Bored } level.

As you know very well by now- I experiment a lot and I try my best not to confuse, Activity with Improvement. 

The reason for my interest in Manga and Anime has another dimension as well, I wish to understand Drawing/Sketching better. I mean, I often have trouble making human shapes on the paper but is sketching only about Sketching Figures ( Portraits) - not really?

For me, it's a mode of expressing a storyline or even an idea;P

So, instead of fidgeting over what I don't find interesting at the moment I'd much rather focus on the Human-like shapes of Manga/Anime characters and focus on the finer details of the Art form like Perspectives, Shading Patterns, Dresses. Till the time I have matured enough for handling actual figures, I seriously believe that this MangaSketching is a good approximations for the "Real" Stuff.

The Mystic Far East!

If you are Passionate about Languages and for some incomprehensible reason, you don't plan on learning one of the Big Three in Asia ( Chinese, Korean and Japanese ) then, my fellow journeymen, you are missing out on a lot!

Lately, I have been getting quite interested in the Korean language and the Korean history - don't you wonder sometimes too about the Twin States as in "What do the people in South Korea think about North Korea?" and vice versa, how different the life over in these two countries really is; how do people in these countries look back at history and more importantly how do they interpret it all.

Besides, if you get interested in the Asian Far East, there is no way that you won't learn about other countries as well. The histories of China-Japan-Korea are intertwined so deeply, needless to say that there is (my favorite) Mongolia as well in the mix but considering that only about 3 Million people are there in the entire country ( 2 Million of whom live in the Capital Ulan Bator itself ) and being surrounded by such Population juggernauts, Mongolia often gets overlooked.

But I digress;P

The point being, if you too are crazy about languages and "figuring out people" then the Far East can satiate your curiosity for a lifetime. Of the three languages, I think Korean is the easiest as the letters are phonetic ( like English or Esperanto) and thus you can gain confidence and have a taste of Asia through Korean itself. Later on move to Japanese and Chinese as you feel comfortable with the various narratives that you'd find interesting.

Say, if you like Buddhism and history of Ideas and Wars ( talk about Irony) then why not understand the languages within these contexts. For me, reading Harry Potter over and over again in different languages works perfectly for most non-Asian languages but when in the Far East, I better start reading more of it's Long history.

Lately I have been listening to History of China and History of Japan podcasts, both of which I would definitely recommend to get anyone started in the Asian History and then slowly start expanding one's knowledge base from there onwards.

I have already been gripped by these two, I think I have covered about 20 hours ( of 50 hours ) in History of Japan and about 10 hours ( of 40 hours) in History of China. In addition to these I am flirting slightly with Topics in Korean History and The Korean Society podcasts, though only a couple of episodes which seem interesting enough to take break from the other two.

Hmm, being obsessive is a useful trait to have;P

Mental Translations - How to avoid it.

It's frustrating when you find yourself mentally translating all the stuff you hear in your target language in your mother tongue. I know, that it makes us feel dumb when we don't understand what is being said but for languages it is the only way forward - Just do it!

Even if it doesn't make sense  - Just do it!

Even if it seems so so childish  - Just do it!

Even if your cheeks redden 'cos of sheer embarrassment - Just do it!

Even if your methods seems insane  - Do it anyway!

Continue to move your body around in this river and eventually it's gonna start making sense and One Fine Day, without you even noticing it - you'll be swimming like a natural.

It takes a while before our ears start responding to the various sound and speech patterns of any language. My trick for getting myself beyond this initial mental parsing ( translation ) state is by using Massive Listening. Which is to say, that I'd keep listening to the Music in the language, watch a movie or two even if it doesn't make any sense to my mind what so ever.

I'd put on my Google-skills hat on and type away all my questions over the internet, sometimes a blog shows up and at others some Video. But it all moves me towards the language I want to learn.

Recently, I have really come to appreciate the Value of Podcasts! Seriously, once you change the Coutnry Flag down at the bottom right corner of iTunes Store - you can see the magic unfold. You can discover your own interests in any language using this Podcasting revolution that's been going on. 

Don't fret if things don't make even the slightest sense whatsoever, stick with it anyway. You know, with all the interesting stuff you expose yourself to in a Language is Like watching a river flow by, try to enjoy the moment rather than worrying about controlling the river. Personally, I don't remember much of anything I hear in podcasts and that's the reason why I repeat them all over again after a while and this time I pay more and more attention.

Well, this works wonderfully for me and I use this method to just expose myself to new and interesting things in the language - temporary ignorance mustn't come in the way of constant exploration. That's the only way we Grow!

My advice to any one who wants to learn a language is Just-Do-It. Ideal conditions don't exist, rather you create them yourself.

On a sidenote, I wonder why I don't find Iran in the Flags menu! I mean, come on - Farsi is such a beautiful language and there are no native Iranian Podcasts listen over at iTunes. Though I still managed to find the Chai and Conversation Podcast through my surfing excursions.

P.S. This Mental Parsing might actually be a blessing in disguise! How, you ask?

If you are learning multiple languages and you wish to keep most of them active at the same time, then instead of translating a target language to your mother tongue, why not try translating it to another language you have learned in your journey.

Learning a language is not so much the ability of a person, rather a Universal feature of the Human Mind - Just Do It;P

The Visual Word

A couple months back, I joined Anthony Metivier's Free video course and over the next few days I received links for various Private videos on YouTube, letting me in on the Magnetic Memory Method.

Apart from long advertisement towards the end of the videos, I'd say the course was worth the time. I have already been following his Podcast for a couple of months now, so I thought why not explore his website and videos as well. What he has to say about memory is quite sensible - especially the fact that Memory is just a Muscle, the more we use this muscle; the stronger it becomes.

At the same time, I was exploring various visualization libraries for Programming and somehow the idea got came together that " What if I could make a random bunch of journeys/palaces using programs and then use them for my practice?". 

I did make progress with the libraries and the memory practice ( about the time when I bought the Pack of Cards ) but my rhythm came to a halt with being caught in the Dengue wave that was going on in the country, plus after that I got involved with the StartUp I mentioned in the previous posts.

Fast forward a month, I made little graphical representations of Japanese sentences which I wanted to memorize - as I haven't mad any active progress with the Memorizing Songs Project - I thought why not experiment with something else. This week I plan to make progress with actually putting those key-phrases Visualets in an actual Memory Palace.  The Idea being that I'd be able to remember more by making all these associations and organizing them in a particular order - this promises awesome skills.

Hopefully, this technique that I am working on, will make the entire Memory Ability thing more appealing for me. To be honest, I know it's gonna benefit me immensely but so far I have been quite resistant to the Idea of actually putting in all that work. That's the reason why this-post came about.

All I have to do is to be creative and make it Fun!

The Bards - Chinese ( Act 2 )

The Chinese Poets and Authors -

1. Bai Juyi

2. Du Fu

3. Du Mu

4. Han Yu

5. Li Bai

6. Li Shangyin

7. Li Yu

8. Liu Zhongyuan

9. Mei Yaochen

10. Meng Haoran

11. Ouyang Xiu

12. Su Shi

13. Tao Qian

14. Wang Wei

15. Yue Fu

16. Meng Jiao

17. Cao Jhi

18. Wang Zhihuan

19. Li Qingzhao

20. Wnag Bo

21. Li Shen

22. Chen Ziang

23. Feng Gan

24. Yu Xiuhua

25. Yibing Huang

26. Gao Xing

27. Xiao Xiao

28. Mo Mo

29. Yu Jian

30. Shi Zhongren

31. Shuihu Zhuan

32. Sanguo Yanyi

33. Xi You Ji

34. Hong Lou Meng

35. Sun Zi

36. Jiano Rong

37. Yu Hua

38. Ma Jian

39. Amy Tan

40. Zhuang Zi

41. Confucius

42. Mencius

43. Lu Zi

44. Linji Yixuan

Zuckerberg's 22 min speech - In Chinese!

Hey guys, even if you don't speak another language and are struggling with Motivation - check this video out!

I mean, there's this guy - one of the richest on the planet, leading one of the most globally expansive company and even he finds time to learn language and what a language Chinese;P

Anyway, there are subtitles in the video and I'd still recommend it to everyone even if you don't plan on learning Chinese - the message that he conveys is Great. What I take home from the talk is that " Giving back, Creating Value for people is the Greatest Service"

I recently heard this quote, " Your level of success is the same as the level of your Personal Development";P

Rings a bell in my head=)

The Bards - Chinese ( Act 1 )

The Chinese Poets and Authors -

1. Bai Hua  ( 柏桦 )

2. Bei Dao ( 北岛 )

3. Chen Kehua      

4. Duo Duo ( 多多 )

5. Duo Yu  ( 朵渔 )

6. Fang Xianhai      

7. Gu Cheng ( 顾城 )

8. Guo Jinniu                    

9. He Xiaozhu                  

10. Hsia Yü ( Xia Yu )    

11. Hu Xudong  ( 胡续冬 )

12. Jiang Hao   ( 蒋浩 )

13. Jian Haishu                            

14. Yan Jun                                  

15. Jun Er                                      

16. Jismu Langge                          

17. Lai Waitong                            

18. Lo Fu                                      

19. Che Qianzi                              

20. Qin Xiaoyu                              

21. Shang Qin                                

22. Sheng Xing                              

23. Shuijing Zhulian                      

24. Song Xiaoxian                        

25. Sun Wenbo                              

26. Wang Xiaoni                          

27. Xi Chuan  

28. Xiao Kaiyu

29. Ya Shi      

30. Yang Li    

31. Yang Lian

32. Yao Feng  

33. Yi Sha      

34. Ouyang Yu

35. Yu Jian

36. Zhai Yongming                                  

37. Zhang Zao

38. Zheng Min

39. Zheng Xiaoqiong    

P.S. Have a look at the following awesome links
Chinese Poets  and Xihuan Poetry

The Bards - Hungarian

The Hungarian Poets and Authors - 


1. Endre Ady

2. Janos Arany

3. Attila Jozsef

4. Győrgy Petri

5. Sandor Petofi

6. Győrgy Faludy

7. Péter Nádos

8. Szablocs Várady

9. István Kemény

10. Alexander Petőfi

11. Joseph Eőtvős

12. János Pilinszky

13. Peer Krisztían

14. Vaskó Peter

15. Mónika Masterházi

The Festival Season

As you might be aware, it's The festive season over here right now. Dussehera recently went by and now I eagerly await Diwali - I love the Lights.

But, it's for the Exam Season that I've been given a "Sabbatical" from the StartUp;P

Now I find my life to be moving at the same subtle speed once again, now I can enjoy the scenery outside the windows once again - I have reviewed all of my commitments and I have ended up pushing Piano onto the Winter Vacations and to become all the more dedicated to master the Harmonica.

I have made progress in Harmonica but I am still far from actually playing a song - but no worries! I've had the pleasant experience of carving out the time to practice even while working and trust me, I went to a nearby park while "working" and just started doing my thing.

The thing being, it's an Industrial Complex which essentially means that people are paid to stay inside the buildings and fined if they are late. And there I was playing music in the park. 

A Good Memory.

Food for Thought...!

7 Reasons we procrastinate, when the task at hand is 

1. Boring

2. Frustrating

3. Difficult

4. Lacks Meaning

5. Has no Intrinsic Reward

6. Ambiguous

7. Unstructured

The 3 things we need to really know whether we are in a position to do something properly

1. Energy

2. Time

3. Attention

The Bards - Russian

Russian Poets and Authors :-

1. Anna Akhmatova                              --                 Анна Ахматова

2. Alexander  Pushkin                         --                 Александр Сергеевич Пушкин

3. Boris Pasternak                               --                  Борис Пастернак

4. Sergei Yesenin                                 --                Сергей Есенин

5. Ivan Turgenev                                 --                 Иван Тургенев

6. Osip Mandelstam                           --                   Осип Мандельштам

7. Vladimir Mayakovsky                  --                    владимир  маяковский

8. Bella Akhmadulina                       --                   Белла Ахмадулина

9. Vera Pavlova                                --                   Вера Павлова

10. Eduard Limonov                        --                   эдуард Лимонов

11. Vladimir Kostrov                      --                    Владимир  Костров

12. Veronika Dolina                        --                   Вероника Долина

13. Mark Kharitonov                      --                   Марк Харитонов

14. Gennady Aigi                            --                   Геннадий Айги

15. Regina Derieva                           --                 Регина  Дериева

16. Ivan Akhmadiev                          --                Иван Ахмедиев

17. Genady Alexeyev                          --              Геннадий Алексеев

18. Sergey Biryukov                          --               Сергей Бирюков

19. Vladimir Earle                              --              Владимир Эрл

20. Dimitri Grigoriev                          --             Дмитрий Григорьев

21. Arvo Mela                                     --            Арво мела

22. Elena Katsuba                               --            Елена Кацуба

23. Konstantin Kedrov                        --           Константин Кедров

24. Igor Khalin                                    --          Игорь Халин

25. Victor Kudryavitsky                     --           Виктор Кудрявицкий

26. Alexander Morakov Krotkov        --      

27. Arvo Mets                                     --          Арво А. Метс

28. Vselovod Nekrosov                      --          Николай А. Некрасов

29. Rea Nikamova                              --

30. Genrikh Sapir                               --

31. Asya Scheneiderman                   --           Ася Шнейдерман

32. Sergej Stranovsky                        --          

33. Alina Vitukhunovskaya               --

34. Lev Rubinstein                             --           Лев Рубинштейн

35. Bakhyt Kenzyeyev                       --           Бахыт Ш. Кенжеев

36. Vladisław Nikolaev Vlanes

The Bards - Icelandic

Icelandic Poets and Authors :-

1. Didda Jónsdóttir                

2. Gerður Kristný

3. Sigurbjörg þrastardóttir

4. Anna Svanhildur Björnsdóttir

5. Jón óskar

6. Linda Vilhjálmsdóttir

7. Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson ( Sjón )

8. Gyrðir Elíasson

9. Einar Már Guðmundsson

10. Eiríkur örn Norðdahl

11. Einar Kárason

12. Snorri Hjartarson

13. Steinunn Sigurðardóttir

14. Sigurður Pálsson

15. Einar Hjörleifsson

16. Hannes Pétursson

17. Ingibjörg Haraldsdóttir

18. Kristín ómarsdóttir

19. Bragi ólafsson

20. Stefan Hördur Grimsson

21. ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson

22. Steinar Bragi

23. Matthías Johannessen

24. þorsteinn Frá Hamri

The Bards - Basque

Basque Poets and Authors :-

1. Rikardo Arregi                          

2. Bernando Atxaga

3. Felipe Juaristi

4. Miren Agur Meabe

5. Kirmen Uribe

6. Joseba Sarriosandria

Been a while, no?

Hey, guys!

Finally, I found some time to post on beloved blogs. I would definitely be lying if I don't confess that I really missed putting up my thoughts and updating you guys on what I am up to, these days. Though more importantly what I am doing to make this language learning journey fun and making a little progress everyday. As I write this, I am so happy to be sharing this part of my life.


I truly hope that with all the crazy experiments that I do, there's someone who would find them to be useful and figure out one's own way of doing things. That's the only value that I seek to create, to Inspire people to be Amazing is one of the best things I can think of)

I have sort of, become a co-founder of a StartUp and the last month and as Great an opportunity that is, I would not consider it worth my time and effort if I don't get to improve and actually use the languages which I have been learning so far. Apart from the technical side of things, I have offered my skills to help the StartUp grow in a wonderful  tree that genuinely provide value to people.

So, there are 4 languages which I find that would be immensely amazing to make humane relationships, for business is all about Honest relationships for me. I have chosen them quite carefully and I think it would be a tough and fun experience to actually make silly mistakes and learn new things then and there.

Polish, Dutch, Hebrew and Japanese are the languages which I believe somewhere between my own Curiosity and the Need that the call of Duty;P raises. Two of these are obviously Indo-European languages and I think, the simplest one is Dutch for I have a certain familiarity with German and of course, English;P

The other one is Polish, apart from the fact that it's just as beautiful as Russian I feel a certain mystery in the Polish people and history. I'd love to meet and talk to Polish people and wouldn't it be amazing if I am able to understand the Polish poetry! Yes, it was a tough one to choose amongst Polish and Russian but, I feel that if I don't really go forward with Polish then I won't do it for a long time. I LOVE Polish for sure but then there's Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian and Korean to learn as well, no?

"Make big decisions with your Heart, small ones with your Mind", they say. And, to be perfectly honest, I have to tell that my Intuition has never lead me wrong;P

And then there's Hebrew and Japanese. I don't know anyone who loves languages and wouldn't learn these two, absolutely breathtaking languages. Be it the fantastic ( often sad, though ) History or the brilliant contributions in Literature and recently Technology! I'd love to be breathing these languages on a daily basis.

Of course, I am sure there would be many depressing days but if we dwell too much on the Wall, we are never going to build the Castle;P

I am gonna do my best to contribute and to learn to the best of my abilities=)

Art of Learning

Art, Music, Minimalism, Projects, and of course Languages ( with a lot of Frustration mixed in;P ) has been the main paragraphs of my story for the past month or so.

You know, when I come to think of this experience. I think, I have been out of my comfort zone the entire time, which is definitely a good thing. I am learning tons about Myself and about what works for me. To put it poetically, I am learning more about the Mind, Body and Soul.

My very own Whys, Whats and Hows. Experimentation is certainly becoming a part of my being, a good thing, I know. 

I think, it's all about Learning and it all definitely started with languages and overtime it has revealed itself as being one of the most important thing that I can invest my time in. Time - the only true measure for us is becoming more and more precious with so many things that we should/would/need/might do. Funny, I read somewhere that in the ages past we only had an average life of about 30 years and that's all the time we needed to do what we needed to do.

I think, it's something that I didn't anticipate when I wrote down all my goals a few years back and then slowly and surely things started falling into the right place - something that's becoming all the more frequent as time goes by. I love this feeling!

The thing being that Learning is the way we grow! Isn't growing for the Living.

I have been struggling with a lot of things, indiscipline, moodiness, not giving enough time to languages, not making enough progress with my Projects, not being organized enough. But somewhere deep down, I know that it's all coming together. I am still improving myself constantly and one day, the pieces of this Jigsaw will become a beautiful work of Art, just like that.

For the ProgressLog part of it, here goes what I have been doing in the meantime.

Languages

Been watching a lot of Anime, Inu Yasha being the latest one - 70 episodes done already. Dragon Ball Z being the main one that I purely in Japanese, I use the Russian subtitles in Inu Yasha;P Then there are many other Anime, Serials and Movies that I'll be watching over and over again to become more and more accustomed to the various nuances of the Japanese Language.

Of course, it's not about the Anime as such but it's only the same principle of " You can only learn what you already know". I used to watch these Cartoons when I was little so I have a certain level of Nostalgic affection for them already and I use this as a motivation for carrying through with the parts I don't understand and there are a lot of Dialogues which just fly by, without me learning anything.

Regarding Finnish and Hebrew, I haven't made any progress with Hebrew apart from listening to Hebrew songs and I think, I almost have them in my sub-conscious now;P

In Finnish, the progress has been slow but I can definitely see the end of the Tunnel, the tipping point coming close when I have enough vocabulary under my belt to be able to read and understand even what I already know. Takes patience though;P

Arts and Music

I haven't made any real progress with either, if you count making random tunes with the Harmonica - then I might still have some points in this department but otherwise no real progress.  The shift in Mindset i.e. noticing patterns, imagining the world as sketches has been immense. And now I appreciate Feynman's words even more " What I can't create, I don't understand". Even if it's done passively, Music and Art teach us to really Notice things around us.

Memory

The pack of cards awaits my visit! I'll get around to it soon, I hope. Though, I am still working on the Memory Palace technique for language learning materials.

Organizing

This is one place where I am happy with the progress made. Actually, it's about figuring out how to automate things in computers, in physical spaces or even the way I approach things, all the while acknowledging that it will never be full-proof method of taking care of everything.

From Email to actually arranging the way I store the information, which podcast to hear, how to gain and put into practice all the wonderful things and. of course, reading books, I have gained tremendous insights about myself. The main setback is becoming judgmental when it turns out I have been taking it easy. I try to remind myself that it's a gradual process but it's frustrating more often that not.

The Happiness Muscle;P

Oh, so the title made you curious?

Good - It should!

Haven't you wondered why is it that sometime we just don't feel sad when everything everyone seems to believe that we should?

No, I am not talking about your Guilty-Pleasure. I am talking about those rare moments when we managed to glimpse the Matrix!

Perhaps we don't always have to be sad when the inevitable happens and maybe we don't need to pretend that what we can't control is just Out-of-control. It's not!

This is kinda hard for me to put in words but I hope that by making you curious about it, you can find your own answer for there is no one-size-fits-all for the Big Questions. But I am starting to believe that Happiness and Success is a State of Mind and we can choose to be happy anytime of the day, any season of our life.

Of course, you see the Buddhist thought-base here but when we really think about it, hasn't this always been the message of each and every religion and philosophical inquiry? That we can choose to be happy, sometimes through passivity and sometimes through activity but it's our choice nevertheless.

To be sure, this realization came to me during these exam-storms that repeatedly strike our peaceful coasts;P 

But, seriously the first time I felt that I don't "have" to feel ashamed regarding a question I don't know the answer to was during the last end-semester exams, especially during the Viva voce. You know My Story, right so it's quite natural that what made me make an escape to the World of Languages would be the same thing that makes me understand what Learning and Being Learned really means!

Why do we learn?

Learning, for me, is a way of self-realization. 

It is to improve our understanding our the world and of ourselves. 

Learning to be employable is more like a certification course, just a small aspect of Learning. Think of it in organic terms. Perhaps these few certification courses are like fruits which make the tree interesting and "useful" for certain things but does it mean that once we have the fruits we are done with the tree. 

Nope, Change is for the living. Growth is for the living. 

During those Viva Voce experiences the only thing is stressed upon is the Guilt of not-knowing! 

Now, should it? I now know for certain that I don't "have" to know something just because people seem to expect me to or 'cos this is the purpose of the course. What I "know" is a matter of my values, my needs and my dreams. 

I know plenty more about Languages than say "Compilers" or "Search Engines" but that's only because Languages sparked my Curiosity whereas the latter ones are based on Utility. So far, I have managed to Live without "Compilers" and use the "Search Engine" just fine! 

But somehow, at that moment. This thought crossed my mind that I don't have to feel Guilty about it - something that this system seems to be founded upon. Learning is meant to be a Magical Experience, not drudgery. I read somewhere that it's not really the fault of the Student that one "failed" to learn but rather the Teacher "failed" to inspire one's curiosity, 

And as funny it may sound, I actually was smiling during the viva voce;P Something that, I am sure, was hilarious to everyone who saw me there hehe.

But, it's not only limited to Learning and Exams et cetera. Rather it is our choice about how we see the world, it's all a matter of perspective and how much should we be willing to go along the "accepted-truth". Are the things really Sad or are they just "supposed" to be sad? 

No matter how helpless and inevitable things seem to be, our greatest strength is to find a meaning and really See what the Matrix presents us with. I believe that my thoughts are still quite unformed on this matter but Victor Frankl seems to have said the same thing about Our Greatest Strength - Choice. 

My Friend, if there is one thing that you should take away from this entire Blog - forget languages, forget all the crazy experiments but please follow through this line of thought. To check out this link to Victor Frankl Institute and learn as much as you can about his life and more importantly his Beliefs about Life.

Strengthen you Happiness Muscle and choose to be Happy.

NOTE - "Compilers" and "Search-Engine" are the easy and still interesting parts;P. However the questions that the education system seems to stress upon are more along the lines of Establishing Hierarchies rather than establishing Curiosity.

The Bards - Japanese

Japanese Poets and Authors :-

1. Anzai Hitoshi                              --                    

2. Shiraishi Kazuko                         --                     白石 かずこ 

3. Tonikawa Shuntaro                     --                     谷川 俊太郎

4. Heiichi Shugujama                     --                        

5. Gozo Yoshimasu                        --                     吉増 剛造

6. Yosuke Tanaka                          --                      

7. Ryuichi Tamura                         --                     田村隆一                       

8. Chimako Tada                           --                     多田智満子

9. Toshio Nakae                            --                        

10. Kiyoko Nagase                         --                      

11. Masayo Koike                          --                      

12. Matsuo Takahashi                    --                     高橋 睦郎   

13. D.T. Suzuki                              --                     鈴木 大拙 貞太郎                       

14. Tian Yuan

15. Shuntaro Tanikawa

Zen Habits!

I am quite certain that by now you guys have a fair idea  about my admiration and affection of Buddhist principles of simplifying life and making life more meaningful. Oh, btw Buddhism for me, has nothing to do with "Saffron" or any other religious connotation - I live in India and trust me, I have had enough of Saffron preachers and fake Godmen.

Rather Buddhism is like the common denominator of religions and at it's very core the belief and purpose of every religion is the same - just the way it is achieved differs. I find this topic to be immensely interesting!

For me, the following phrase sums it all up pretty nicely -  "Religions are like the colors of tradition and culture on the blank canvas of spirituality"

Coming back to languages, I am an avid reader and what I seek most from books are ways to make meaningful addition and changes to my life, to explore the possibilities of improvement. To live more with what I have - that's good enough a pursuit for me.

I am obviously frustrated by the slow progress I am making with languages this year, especially with Japanese - the one language which I truly want to master. Perhaps, my motivation isn't high enough. Yesterday, I was just surfing the net for some documentaries regarding Buddhism - Zen always comes up as one of the most prominent "sects". I have decided that if I am ever to learn more about Buddhism it's going to be in Asian languages or not at all. Perhaps this is the push that I need to really get going.

Why the Silence?

For the past week or so, I haven't really been doing much regarding Languages - I deeply yearn to make progress though.

To be brutally honest, I find it quite embarrassing to confess that I have made no progress with Japanese, Finnish or Hebrew apart from occasionally listening to Songs and Podcasts for Ear Training - a name I learned from the world of Music.

Regarding the Memory Palace techniques that I am working on right now ( on and off ) I think, apart from adding Linear Journeys to convey a sense of continuity I can also include the tenses and the nature of the activity as in is it done, being done, about to be done and visually represent them on paper.

Obviously, being somewhat familiar with programming I do gravitate towards making this Memory Palace using a Program but, of course, that would make the entire thing be quite complex! I think that it's best to be able to do it with a pencil and a rubber.

Less is More;P

Will get back on track starting now.

Earning Superpowers!

Oh, this University project is keeping me quite busy these days. But I am definitely going deep with the entire Getting-Organized thing. It is crystal-clear to me that if I am gonna do everything that I love - I need to free my mind from things which can be automated and of course, become more Mindful in the process.

Don't you want to experience being free from the nagging reminders of all the things that need to be taken care of?

Being Organized, for me, is about being Free from thoughts which need not be thought again. Rather, I would focus with all my Concentration and Creativity on things which really matter and solve the problems that I come across.

Regarding the Memory Technique, I am experimenting with the Memory Palace/Journey Method which basically involves making use of the spatial memory to make links to information that is being memorized. I pick up a paragraph and then I focus on the Keywords which help me remember the gist of the sentence and then as the next sentence comes up I make a turn in the MP and then repeat the same process with the next sentence. Yes, I do find it all to be a bit slippery still, but I think that's only because I am learning what kind of Images stick in my mind and what level of detail do I need to keep them there.

I am using various visual symbols to help me remember the Tense of the sentence and, as I make progress with the Grammar portion of Languages - I'll make more of these glyphs. 
I'll put up an example of these Memory Palaces in upcoming posts;P

As soon as I have a bit of time on my hands I'll start the two  blogs Superhomadi is gonna contain all the progress log regarding the things I am trying as per the Getting Things Done phase as well as the Memory Palace experimentation. The other blog, which is  En Route to Fluency is gonna have posts in Japanese, Finnish and Hebrew - These three are the ones which are on my Active-Learning list till December this year.

Regarding Nutro-Marka - I have no idea what to do with the blog that I so hopefully created. Perhaps some idea still is there, waiting to bounce up when I am  ready;P


<< Edit - 14 Sept 2015 >>

As Niharika reminds me, there is another blog that I use, to express my progress and try to make sense of all the experiments I keep playing with is Sagematics . It's my expression and my views on the way "Hard Science" are treated by our Education systems - they need not be like a death sentence. They are meant to be quintessentially human - just like languages.

The way, I see these two projects is that " If Languages are my charm, then Programming is my Magic Wand" 

^_^

Need Superhuman Abilities - Earn them!

Yup, you heard me! Superpowers do exist - call it Magic or the work of "Genius" - there are people who are able to accomplish unbelievable things little by little and one step at a time.  

I believe that the only thing that makes the few "Geniuses" stand out is the sheer amount of time they put into it, Quality Time not the number of hours. Even if we pick up something which we'd call "dry" might inspire someone to be as creative as they can be - this is how diverse we really are as people.

As you know very well by now, I have been doing so much over the past couple of years and honestly, I don't see it changing. How can this change - I have just learned how to really live rather than just being alive. Learning is like Ambrosia for me.

Especially Languages!

I love the Realms they have opened up for me and by constant experimentation I have realized what I like and what skills I would like to Grow With Me. Music is definitely in, but I'll talk more about that in an upcoming post;P

Apart from Music - People, Poetry, Memory, Literature and just becoming More Organized and learning how to really use the Time that I have, focusing Quality rather than the Quantity - something that I used to overlook a lot when I began learning languages, in fact I was quite deep into Quantity-Time as in No. of Hours spent learning a language or just recording the time I put in everyday! 

In retrospect, I guess I took it to an extreme 'cos I would literally record every minute which I spent learning languages, so much so that I actually made a journal to record just that, bought a proper stopwatch!! 

Yeah, I guess I do have a thing to take thing to an extreme but I believe it's a part of Good Experimentation and when I know whether I love it, I would make it a Habit and if I got bored of it then perhaps it's not really worth keeping up with.

As of now, I am totally into Minimalism and Becoming Organized!!

I think that the best shot I have got to achieve everything that I want ( and I want A Lot) is to become Disciplined and Organized. Of Course, I have absolutely no doubt that Creativity and Chaos are quite related and I cherish the quirky ability to make connections which just baffle people;P

But perhaps there is a better way to take care of the chores that we must inevitably do. And when you think about it, there is just so so much that we can do de-clutter our lives and improve the quality of life we live. Health is another thing we erroneously overlook in our modern lifestyles. 

Where do you Really live - Where's your Only Home?  

It's your body, this organic thing that helps you engage with the world passionately.

It's your body, not the piece of space that you pay taxes for - but your very own body!

It's our bodies that's the Only True Home we have got, it's the Most Beautiful Gift that we have. 

By taking care of the daily chores, I wish to free my mind to focus on things which Really Matter rather than things which just Seem to Matter.

I just want To Live More;P

Who wants to live forever, that'd be sooo boring. I truly believe that if learn how to Live than one lifetime is enough - there's the cultural echo coming from a background of Re-incarnations;P

If the words which you read resonate with you, do follow through all the resources which are listed below. 

To refine your WHY, I definitely recommend following through these blogs which explain Minimalism in a wonderful way and when you have gone through them, I have listed the iTunes podcasts which I myself am listening to at the moment.

AWESOME BLOGS

The Minimalist

Becoming Minimalist

PODCASTS

The Productivity Show - Time Management

The 5 AM Miracle

Get-it-done Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips

Life Habits

Keeping You Organized

Got Clutter? Get Organized!

Organize 365 Podcast

The Joy of Organizing

Organize Mindfully

Getting Things Done!

Beyond the To-Do List

GTD - Virtual Study Group

Dear Friend,
Explore - Ceaselessly and Fall in Love - Hopelessly;P

Studying All-the-Time - You Must be Kidding!

Given the kind of things that you come across on this blog - You don't really believe that I work  all the time?

Well, that'd be boring no?

Actually, I try to make my work as playful as possible and I don't think I ever get bored doing what I enjoy - no one does really. But apart from this I would definitely call myself, as of now, quite undisciplined!

Yup, I sleep a lot, I largely am unable to meet schedules ( I keep making them anyway - Hope;P) , I am quite disorganized and though I do like to exercise ( running basically) - I think I can improve a lot more and take it to another level.

I am certainly making efforts to organize myself and to let my mind be free from trivial stuff which can easily be put on paper or some reminder system and just to be able to focus completely on the task at hands.

As you know by now, I make big decisions by my Heart and small ones by my Mind , I find that it's vital to be organized and to be able to do things with as little overhead as possible. I have a BIG Bucket List going on with many many things that I am to do during my lifetime. Being organized is the way forward for me.

But it's so hard to make sudden changes, no?

You remember that Planting a Seed analogy that I often use for Long Term Changes, that's the reason why I have come to appreciate letting the sub-conscious mind assimilate a particular Idea or an Intent in it's own time. For example I wanted to start a blog right through the beginning of this year ( 2015 )  and I did make a couple of blogs on Tumblr and WordPress et cetera but it didn't work out. My motivation wasn't strong enough, though the intent was definitely there but the Will wasn't strong enough.

It's important to let one's mind become one with an Idea, to let Time prove that it's gonna be a worthwhile investment of one's time 'cos after all Time is the only true currency we have - I'd say that we are TimeBeings. Btw read the book by Ruth Ozeki while you are at it;P

And regarding the Memory Techniques and the Becoming more Organized, I have been listening to various Podcasts as well as reading a bunch of books on these topics before I felt motivated enough to apply them actively enough. Yeah, I am quite slow to start but once I have built up the steam - there's no stopping me;P

Next Up, I am gonna give you a bunch of links for various Healthy advice from people who Walk-the-Talk. The resources would obviously be free ( in fact all on iTunes ) so, people, if you are serious like me about getting your act together then you better start learning from the Good Will of all these awesome people who share valuable and meaningful advice and are willing to go that extra mile so that people like you and me can benefit as well. Respect, man!

Dreams that don't let you sleep!

Today, I happen to get up at 3:28 AM in the morning!

Which is wayy earlier than what happens usually, the "norm" is about 9-10 A.M ;P

But this isn't really unheard of as it does happen with me when I am quite exited about something, say on to something which is, of course Japanese Language these days. So, I went straight to study after waking up ( and basically giving up on falling asleep again ) and opened my song register up to learn the Japanese Verbs and the songs lyrics I am trying to memorize these days. I have made loads of progress in understanding the rhythm of lyrics and how to notice the various ways it is made to sound more rhythmical as well, not to mention the wonderful way the words and the music complement each other.

But apart from that bit of Progress, I have noticed something about my motivation - I fall in Love a lot!

Yup, that's true with every language ( or anything)  I do. I exaggerate, I make-believe and even make it look insanely awesome but I am hopelessly in love with whatever I am giving my time to.

Say, I am studying German then I would love everything about the language, would look up every little cultural reference and would definitely imagine myself being a part of that legacy. I would romanticise the entire culture and the little peculiarities of German and Germans - there a pride in my heart;P. Same is true for Russian, French et cetera. I would even start dreaming in that context;P

Right now this is my Japanese phase and I am absolutely curious like a child about finding out everything about Japanese history, famous men and women of Japan right through the ages and how mysterious it still is to me!

I think, learning languages has changed the wiring in my brain a bit 'cos I don't really seem to mind acting weird ( or natural;P) when it comes to learning new things without judging them much. I just look forward to assimilating them. Say, the Japanese Anime, the first time( quite a while back) I came to know that even adults enjoy Anime and Manga, I kid you not - I was baffled!

I thought that's something you don't get to hear everyday but with time I have come to relish that, probably because I don't find it unusual in any way as I would read a good Manga myself to improve the language skills besides Anime is fun!

Which reminds me that these days I am watching Dragon Ball Z on the net and my parents have started to give me weird looks;P And man, how can I explain it all to them - makes me smile a lot though. I am definitely enjoying the language a lot.
\
Well, I just focus on Supersaiyans!

When the Jester becomes the King!! - Act 2

Now, coming back a full-circle to the topic of Memory;D

It took me a lot of time to really come around to it. I guess, it's probably because of the care that this sapling needs in order to really grow. I read Joshua Foer's book in January this year, watched his TED talk a year before and of course, a couple of years back when I was researching various ways of remembering new words and expanding one's vocabulary - I came across variants of Memory Techniques a lot.

Yeah, I started with a good amount of Literature Research, at the time it was on a full time basis for a month or so, as opposed to looking up aids during the process.

For the past couple of months I am listening to the following podcasts. Do check them out - you'll love them all. Guaranteed!

Anthony Metivier's Podcast - Magnetic Memory Method

Master of Memory Podcast

Becoming Superhuman Podcast


This need to improve my languages have led me to constantly strive to improve my abilities and question my assumptions of what can be done if one works hard ( and smart) enough - be it my Reading Speed, my understanding of Creativity, made me realize the pleasure of making new friends, or my understanding of Music ad infinitum.

I thought that memory palaces would help me learn Songs and Poetry - not really. I think, for me it's about rhythms - one needs to have a good sense of the rhyme and the flow of music and then then the words just fit together seamlessly. It's not much of a memorizing work 'cos the lyrics and the rhythms carries the song all the way through.

I have definitely decided to use Memory Techniques as actively as possible to aid my Japanese Learning process. I have absolutely no doubt that Japanese is gonna be my greatest triumph in this Language Learning Odyssey. It's tough, it's different, it's breathtakingly beautiful and it's Awesome - A challenge and an Opportunity.

I plan document these the progress made in these two realms - Memory and Japanese using blogs.

Yes, nutro-marka didn't work out so well previously. I think it's because of the fact that my goal wasn't clear enough and not to mention the laziness on my part to actually put the work in the blog. But this time I am gonna keep web-journals. The first one is named Superhomadi which would be completely in Esperanto and the nutro-marka blog is gonna be the Progress Log of Japanese language. Hopefully, I'll become more organized now that I have my hands full - I find it to be a Great skill to have. Being organized and thus being at peace.

Besides I have been so Lazy - something that I'll definitely elaborate on in a future post. This is so that you don't have a shred of doubt that I don't work like crazy all the time and anything that I do ( have done! ) can easily be done by you as well. It is my sincere hope that you'll improve on it and would share with me the improvements you have made.

Sure, much work is needed to really construct these Memory Palaces and to Master these Memory Techniques. I am definitely all-charged-up and ready for it. It's worth my time to invest in this skill as they offer me many delicious fruits in future. It's gonna make me better at at many levels - I am certain of it now.

So, recently I went to the shop and bought a good looking pack of cards. An interesting fact about the Pack, it doesn't have a King of Hearts! 

How fitting, no? 

I find it to be strangely suiting, poetic ... feels right;D 

When it comes to memory  - The Jester becomes the King of Hearts!

When the Jester becomes the King!! - Act 1

After a long long period of motivating myself enough, convincing myself enough that investing in Memory Techniques would help me get more organized and would help me keep all my languages well and alive - I bought a pack of cards!

Yup! That's how it's supposed to begin - a pack of cards. I mean the entire thing is based on imagining things and organizing them in a particular way. I believe that I do the imagining part quite naturally, I am perhaps the most naughty person you'll ever meet. Seriously, my mind is just so full of "wouldn't it be funny if such and such happens " !

One thing reminds me of the other and I already link the words that I have learned in a language to the ones which I have learned before. And to be honest, I am a little worried about keeping up with my languages 'cos it gets frustrating when I know that my vocabulary isn't good enough in any one really! Sure, I can read through a book without a problem without any guess work involved but if say I need the word "Stomach", then I don't have a clue what's the word for it in many languages. Germanic ones are easy enough in this regard, so are the Romance Languages but what's the word for "stomach" in Polish (or Russian), in Chinese ( or Japanese) ??

I won't lie - I have no idea. Yes, I would be able to guess it once I have read it in context but my on-the-fly vocabulary is quite weak in most languages.

And I am slowly but surely moving towards activating them all, as in using them all in actual conversations with real people on a full time basis.

I think, my decision to stick to the Written and the Spoken word was based on two factors, a passive approach towards learning languages - there being no external motivation for me and the amount of work it takes to really bring up one's knowledge to a conversational level. I was being Lazy, when it came to putting in the work to activate a language. Sure, I used a few languages with people around the world and have met awesome people through my passion for languages but eventually, we end up communicating more in English. Not Good, I should put in more effort to really use the language. Will do;P

The time for Language Learning as a goal in itself has come to pass, as I wish to use them more actively now. In fact, after Graduation I don't really plan to learn any new language at all! Rather, I would just like to improve my knowledge and to be able to express myself in the languages I already know. That's all I intend to do till age of 30 or so!!

Yeah, I plan a lot for the Future. Nope, I can't predict the wonderful twists and surprises that Life brings along and in hindsight, I have failed miserably ( HAPPILY) in my initial goal of Mastering 5 languages -  German, Esperanto, French, Russian, Japanese.

But on the bright side ( insanely bright side) -

* I can read Alcoholics Anonymous in Icelandic ( it's free;P )

* I can read Henrik Ibsen in Norwegian,

* The Girl who Played with fire in the Original Swedish version.

* The Diary of a Young Girl in the Original Dutch.

* The wonderful literature of Poland.

And that's not even including Music, Movies, People and so so many other wonderful things - the worlds that languages open up for you!

This year I shall have included Finnish, Japanese, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew in the list as well. Not to mention the passive knowledge of Chinese language;P

So, yeah I might have lost a battle here and there - I am gonna win the War!

The Bards - Hebrew

Hebrew Poets and Authors :-

1. Agi Mishol                                                 --                        אגי משעול‎


2. Orit Gidali                                                  --                       אורית גידלי

 

3. Gili Haimovich                                           --                       חיימוביץ 'גילי

4. Dan Pagis                                                    --                      דן פגיס 

5. Marcela Sulak

6. Amir Gilboa                                               --                       אמיר גלבע

7. Hayim Nahman Bialek                              --                       חיים נחמן ביאליק

8. Lea Goldberg                                             --                      לאה גולדברג

9. Yehuda Amichai                                        --                     יהודה עמיחי

10.  Dahlia Ravikovitch                                 --                    דליה רביקוביץ'

11. Johnny Spector

12. Almog Behar                                           --                    אלמוג בהר

13. Tsipi Keller                                             --                  

14. Asher Reich                                            --      

15. Ruth Ramot                                            --      

16. Shin Shifra                                             --                          

17. Israel Haar                                             --          

18. Nurit Zarhi                                            --                       תנינה מאת

19. Yona Wallach                                       --                       יונה וולך

20. Sachar Mario Mordechai                      --  

21. Admiel Kosman                                    --                       אדמיאל קוסמן 

22. Yonadan Kaplaun                                 --          

23. Yair Hurwitz                                         --        

24. Yael Globerman                                   --      

25. Anna Herman                                       --      

26. Isreal Pincas                                         --      

27. Rafi Weichert                                      --     

The Bards - Spanish

The Spanish Poets and Authors - 

1. Pablo Neruda

2. Sandra Laura Cisneros

3. Jorge Luis Borges

4. Garcia Lorca Frederico

5. Adolfo Gustavo Bécquer

6. Paz Octavio

7. Augstini Delmira

8. Aurora de Albornoz

9. Gabriela Mistral 

10. Antonio Gamoneda

11. Ángel González Muñiz 

12. William Agudelo

13. José Manuel Arango Pérez

14. Horacio Benavides

15. Margarita Cardona

16. Mirta Resenberg

17. Amparo Osorio

18. Andando Orozco Tovar

19. Lauren Mendinueta

20. Julian Malatesta

21. Orietta Lozano

22. Eva Durán

23. Luz Helena Cordero

24. Fernando Korman

25.Victor Rodriguez Nuñez

Old and New - Somewhere in Between

I have discovered the Waggaki Band in the Japanese language. Seriously, I have been searching for Fusion bands in the language for a long time now. I don't know why, but I just love the Fusion of the Old and the New.

The same thing happened with Mongolian, I found the Hun Huur Tu and then I definitely looked up a fusion band, found Hanggai - That's really all it takes to make me happy;P

Of course, I don't understand a word of Mongolian but I definitely understand Music, who doesn't(?). I fondly recall about a couple years back I would be reading some book, doing something on the computer or just be on a walk out there somewhere with Mongolian songs in my mind and certainly in my headphones. I just love fusions.

I mean, Music is Music.

Besides, I had a real tough time finding out something closer to my taste as far as Japanese language is concerned 'cos it does have the privilege of being the second largest music industry after the US. There was so so much that didn't really agree with me, when Japan is concerned there are many faces to everything. Think about the profound and yet subtle aesthetics sense for which Japan is world renowned and then there is the other Anime, overwhelmingly bright colours everywhere and "weird" stuff that just shocks when we come across it for the first time.

I am learning how not to judge things (getting better everyday;P) and rather just to accept that as they are - something I am realizing is quite due to languages that I have been learning so far. Language is a Gateway to a culture and a Culture is the context to express various elements of Human Creativity. It's bound to be different and it's meant to be a shock for someone who's been raised in a different culture. It's like learning how to install a completely new software to your mind, so to speak. In more aesthetic terms, I'd say adapting to a new culture is like getting used to a new body.

It takes time to get used to it, judging doesn't help!

Back to music, I actually found Joji Hirota, Hideaki Tokunaga early on and I have been exploring much. It took me a long time to find something again to my liking, owing mostly to the fact that I was learning other languages.

Apart from Waggaki band I have found a couple more like Ningen-isu and Bugy Craxone. I hope to find a few more before I just rely on You Tube for the famous ones. It's a great resource to find the most loved songs and movies.

Yes, I do find Japanese to me wayy out of my comfort zone and I knew that I want to learn the language for the longest time. To be honest, it took me so long to come around to actually making progress in it was because of my procrastination due to which I stayed with the European ones, learning another "Dialect" of the languages which I already was comfortable in. So, that's how Japanese got pushed back and back in my list of <<Actively Learning>>.

Anyway, I solemnly promise, Japanese is gonna be the one language that I am giving my 100 percent to. I am definitely learning all my experience with the entire process and still experimenting with new ones. Though, I can't write everything down the way I used to - so I have to rely on technology to do that for me. Which is quite okay 'cos I am not learning the language in a "Course" or something for a couple of years. I wish to make great progress in the language in the shortest time possible.

Will keep you posted, how I make it happen;P

Gonna eave you with a taste of Fusion