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

Music - The Saviour

As you very well know that I have been learning, mmm no, memorising songs in Finnish and Japanese - something that is not really in my comfort zone. I have learned loads about how to break-down the complexity and basically how to approach the entire process.

I started with the two Finnish songs -

1. Jos sä tahdot niin - Samuli Edelman
2. Hetken tie on kevyt  - Laura Närhi

And basically I heard these songs over and over till I got the rhythm set in my mind. Of course, there was a lot of hit-and-trial experimentation involved in the process.

I was quite frustrated with the process in the beginning and I kicked-off my memorization project with the target of learning 5 songs in the first week. Didn't happen;P

Then I thought if I write it enough times then it will eventually stick - made little progress!

And then I realized a couple of days ago that if I listen to the song and read the lyrics at the same time, I can remember more and the words even seem quite natural with the rhythm of the song. Even better of a techniques is to sing along - something I have never done really. I mumble songs yes, not never really sang them out loud like that. So, it's obviously out of my comfort zone and I love this opportunity to be able to step out of this tiny comfort zone and make a bigger one around myself. This is one of the most important things that I care about while doing something - It must help me improve as a person, help me grow.

One reason why it is taking so much time in my case is that I am not learning the meaning of the song, not making sense of the words in a context but, well, I am all into experimenting with how much progress I can make relying only on raw memory and training my ears. A worthy experiment, I believe.

Besides, I was obviously getting bored of doing the same two songs everyday so I decided to start with the Japanese songs as well. Luckily I came across the famous lullabies in the language which just are quintessentially Japanese.

* Sakura
* Furusato
* Toryanse

As is the case with lullabies, the length is small and the rhyme is also quite easy to grasp as compared to a song by Hideaki Tokunaga ( my favourite so far in Japanese ). Though, I do keep in mind the fact that these lullabies might contain some "outdated" words as well so I keep that in my mind while memorizing them. But, just imagine how much of a surprise it would be to just wonderful to be able to charm some Japanese person - my own way of testing whether Japanese really don't show surprise much;P

But then again, this is an external motivation factor so the deeper pleasure would be to see the world through the eyes of Japanese Culture. That would help me learn the society and people better. And the biggest plus point being that once I understand the songs and know the words, it would be so much easier for me to focus on the Kanji for these words. 

Now, I think why I didn't focus on Songs before? It's fun and almost as good as Reading and Listening with the added opportunity to speak the words in a more natural and rhythmical flow.

In the past couple of weeks my ability to hold rhythms in my head has sky-rocketed and I find myself murmuring these songs and lullabies while doing something else. Isn't that Good - a song filled mind. The most amazing feeling is to have an utter silence in one's mind or have it sing songs.

I do feel that if I were able to play out these songs on the Piano or Harmonica - I would progress far more faster but as of now my skills with either one are too elementary. Long road ahead;P

On a slightly less exiting note - 

I recently finished a Chinese Podcast which absolutely was the longest podcast show I ever heard but I absolutely loved it. It had so many songs and most of the words that I had learned via Anki in the last month have been thoroughly integrated into multiple contexts via Movies and Podcasts.

I have made no progress what so every with the Japanese Words apart from breaking them down into more approachable groups and giving them similar-sounds in other languages like English, German and Chinese etc. So, what really remains for me to do is to sit down with the charts and just imagine-them-out.

I have changed my Google interface to Finnish and I make silly mistakes like Reporting something rather than Sharing it, so that's that)

No, other language has been touched apart from a bit of Polish and Russian. I have so lazy these past weeks I tell you. I will improve, I need to;D

I have this feeling that it's only gonna get better and I would be able to memorize songs in about 5 repetitions. So, that's the target.

Will keep you posted on the progress! 
Auf Wiederschreiben;P

The Bards - Farsi

Farsi Poets and Authors :-

1. Forough Farrokhzad                           --                   فروغ فرخزاد

4. Rumi                                                  --                   مولوی

5. Omar Khayyam                                 --                     خیام

6. Iraj Mirza                                                     --        ایرج میرزا

7. Mohammad- Taqi Bahar                              --               محمدتقی بهار

8. Mohammad Farrokhi Yazdi                         --          محمد فرخی یزدی

9. M. Hossein Shariar                                      --          سید محمدحسین شهریار

10. Parvin E'tesami                                          --              پروین اعتصامی

11. Sadegh Hidayat                                         --             صادق هدایت

12. Sadegh Chouback                                     --             صادق چوبک

13. Simin Daneshvar                                      --             سیمین دانشور

14. Nima Yooshij                                          --             نیما یوشیج

15. Ahmad Shamloo                                      --          احمد شاملو

16. Simin Behbahani                                     --        سیمین بهبهانی

17. Mehdi Akhavan-Sales                             --              مهدی اخوان ثالث

18. Sohrab Sepehri                                       --               سهراب سپهری

19. Ferreydoon Moshiri                               --               فریدون مشیری

20. Siavash Kasraie                                     --                سیاوش کسرایی

21. Houshang Golshiri                                --                هوشنگ گلشیری

22. Nader Naderpour                                  --               نادر نادرپور 

23. Hafiz of Persia                                      --                حافظ

24. Ali Alizadeh                                          --                

25. Robab Moheb                                        --        

26. Saadi Shirazi                                        --             سعدی

27. Mehrdad Bahar                                    --           مهرداد بهار

28. Attar of Nishapur                                --           عطار نیشابوری
29. Rahi Mo'ayyeri                                   --          رهی معیری

30. Sanai                                                   --          سنایی

31. Vahshi Bafqi                                       --          وحشی بافقی

32. Qeysar Aminpour                               --          قیصر امین‌پور

33. Houshang Ebtehaj                              --          هوشنگ ابتهاج

34. Rahim Moeini Kermanshahi             --          رحیم معینی کرمانشاهی

35. Ardalan Sarfaraz                               --          اردلان سرفراز

36. Nosrat Rahmani                                --           نصرت رحمانی

Bastard Tongues? - Scene 2

In Scene - 1, I argued against the notion of "Bastard Tongue" with as rational an argument as I could think of and in Scene - 2, I am gonna use the other end of the spectrum i.e. the Emotional argument. So, let's start with that question again.

"But you agree that English is a Bastard-Tongue, right?" !!!

Nope, I think Hindi is!

Yup, you read it right. If the ability to adopt and assimilate words from different languages is how you define a "Bastard-Tongue" then by all means Hindi is a Bastard Tongue. The most elegant flavor of Hindi is spoken in Pakistan ( Urdu ) and in Eastern U.P. ( a neighbouring state of Delhi, with the Taj Mahal). The sheer politeness in any general discourse is quite otherworldly, but then again the same with English, New Yorkers speak fast whereas the people down South don't like to talk in a rushed manner.

But the reason that those flavours of Hindi are considered polite is that the language has been deeply influenced by the Mughal Empire legacy and if one has the wisdom to learn some History, one realizes that Mughal Empire wouldn't have been possible if not for the Mongols ( Above China, Mongolia) and the sheer influence of Islamic etiquettes through Arabic and the prestige of Persia ( modern day Iran). The "classic" songs are written in a mixture of Urdu and modern Hindi, if not some obscure dialect.

Hindi, as a language didn't exist a thousand years before, only dialects did. But don't believe me about the language being an "impure" one, "Name me one famous contemporary author in Hindi?"
.
.
.
.
.
.

Yeah, right. None!!

Nope, you can't count the authors who won the Booker 'cos they wrote in English, brilliant works by the way like all Booker's.

If you judge a language by it's literature, trust me, literature in Hindi is awfully weak, 'cos there is absolutely no reason why the entire movie industry would be working on non-Hindi literary works ( which in itself is a relief from the usual drudgery! ). Instead the movie industry and the theatre would always be trying to stand up to the legacy of Good ol' literature.

Now think comparative literature as in French, Russian and German et cetera. I still see documentaries being made about The French revolution, lives of it's famous authors and their works echoing through the works of other authors.Russian classics are being made again and again, with ever more beautiful direction and amazingly( read - thankfully) free from "communist" adaptations with it's "ideologically correct" interpretations.

Oh, and my favourite ones, The Germans - I still see the echoes of Faust and many other important works - Grimm Brothers in stories , sometimes a pun sometimes a reference to the myriads of greats who used German language as their medium of creativity.

Yes, I do realize that the reason Chinese language is not included is that it is nigh impenetrable for a person who has been raised with the belief that "alphabets" are the language. So, for the sake of brevity, let's commit the folly of overlooking that wonderful library of books that Chinese language is, and continue on with the "Bastard Tongues".

Well, the language you consider to be a Bastard Tongue, is the language of power in India*. Don't believe me? Try switching to English when you have an argument with someone next time, perhaps you disagree with your teacher or someone else, notice how the dynamics change when you switch. The language you seem to be so proud of, has idioms ascribing superiority to English ( both people and language). If not for English, India would not be able to talk to each other - 700 languages in the Sub-Continent and 22 in the constitution, which one would you like to use?

I, for one, consider myself extremely lucky to be able to communicate in English and that I assimilated it rather than learning it. It's one monster of a language for learners but an amazing one for it has the DNA of so many other languages, you learn them along simultaneously. But tell me, are you interested in Urdu or Haryanvi, Maithili or Bihari? I am not, until I need those languages for my bare survival in the community.

Urdu is my personal favourite in terms of dialects - though I find the script to be beautiful I would only like reading it for Farsi ( as of now!).

The history of languages and, particularly, the reason why English is so prevalent is a mixture of Admiration and Horror. Admiration for the simple reason that as prodigious activity and in terms of its' usability - it surpasses every language in the world. Horror, because it is not independent from Human foolishness - Slavery, Racism, Superstition et cetera**. Of course, I don't blame anyone - I am utterly convinced that had any other people had such an Empire all of the bad-effects would have been there too. It's not "them", it's "all of us" - we are such utter idiots. But, we are talking about Bastard-Tongues, right?

But if India has one competitive advantage over any other country ( excluding Philippines perhaps), which is not Natively Anglophone, it's precisely what you call a Bastard-Tongue. English accomplished a miracle of communication, it enabled people to, at least "try to understand" peoples and cultures, who are so different from their own. Perhaps, this is what it must have felt like in our Eden, when we would have all been able to talk to each other.

English - A Bastard Tongue? Grow Up!

######################

So Padawan, if you liked this argument better then perhaps you still have a long way to go. My argument still had accurate facts and common observations but the essential core of the argument is still the same as the more Rational one in Scene - 1. Emotions, are good when put to use in a constructive way but one must master them so that one doesn't become irrational and allow people to push one's buttons.


I think, like masons we can either choose to look at the mundane wall we are building right now and bicker all we want, or think about the beautiful central piece and how glorious it would be when it is completed and people come from far and wide to witness the glory of something that we worked so hard upon, and still work with all the more enthusiasm and dedication. Live in Future man, the present will set itself right.

My answer about that question of English language is - Nope it's a language of the Kings and Bards and people all over the world whom I would love to know.

I am definitely learning how to put up arguments and how to adapt the talk as per the audience. I hope you enjoyed reading the twin aspects of the arguments.

Regarding a neutral language for the world, I am all for Esperanto.

Yes, I know it's not perfect. But since when have We been perfect? It's Good Enough.

You know, as I really grow as an individual and hopefully have become more mature, I realize that Reason is not what governs our lives. Life is not Mathematical in nature - sciences are and they are beautiful that way. I Love Sciences.

But Life, it's chaotic even irrational, and of all the worlds Mother God could have made, this is the one I would like to born in, perhaps even, again and again - Ewige Wiederkehr;P


* And many parts of the world - a colonial legacy. But not only limited to English, for example - In Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungarian bilingual adults would instinctively switch to German to inspire a sense of Superiority. A fascinating field of Socio-Linguistics and a natural consequence of Human Nature, man - plain and simple.

** I recommend that you read Niall Ferguson's books on the English Empire.

Bastard Tongues? - Scene 1

"But you agree that English is a Bastard-Tongue, right?" !!!

Something that I heard only yesterday from an old friend of mine, obviously my passion for languages is showing up like the Green Hulk stuff in Bruce Banner;P

Needless to say, I not only disagree with this but am obviously of the opposite opinion - I think what English accomplishes is something of a Miracle. In what other language ( apart from Esperanto and few others) can I communicate with people from all over the world? I am not saying that everyone in the world knows the language, nor am I saying that we speak "perfect" English ( No such thing btw!)

Their reason for saying such a heresy(!) is that English accepts words from just about any language. And I am like, seriously, you Really think that?

Which language hasn't adapted and adopted terms from other languages? 

Each and every language on the Planet is a "bastard" as per this definition. You know, I have been quite deep into this language stuff and I have put into words my belief in an earlier post that I think that "Languages are like the footprints of cultures" and absolutely none of us is gonna re-invent the wheel, we build upon things which we inherit and which we learn for ourselves. This is how it has always been. And ALL languages are man-made, aren't they.

Besides, I would like to explore this topic in two ways - First one a rational argument and Second one, an emotional argument. Mmm, yeah I am obviously fascinated by the various ways of expressing something - I hope you notice yourself and your own reactions. Yes, Padawan -  be mindful of your thoughts;P

The Rational Argument

Universal Grammar - This is the most basic hypothesis of Modern Linguistics and it focuses on the fact that be it any language say, Chinese or Finnish the underlying principle which converts the thought into words is common to each and every individual regardless of our culture, mother tongue. It's the most fundamental aspect of Humans, like the DNA.

Translation - We all have the same Language hardware regardless of the fact that we have grown up with XYZ language and in XYZ culture. As simple as that.

Another important fact that we must consider is that Languages are the only thing that separates us from "animals" and it is not peripheral to our lives but Central to our very existence. Padawan, meditate on that thought;P

When our ancestors decided to explore the world and started moving out from our common Eden - Africa, the languages started to change, slowly but surely and over time the vast surface-differences evolved which helps us identify that a particular person is speaking Chinese, the other one is speaking Finnish and the other ones still are different Navajo.

English has obviously shown us what a common language can do to improve our understanding and help us out-evolve our narrow identities based on superstitions like "All xyz are zyx" et cetera ( well, we are still a long way to go). English has made possible collective efforts like never before. To overcome ever more challenges, we as people need to work together and what better a way than to be able to communicate with each other. 

And when we talk about English itself, the language has been influenced by so so many different language strands by violent and subtle influences. Saxons, Celts, French, Vikings et cetera have left their legacy in the language. And on top of it all - All languages are the same in their beauty, regardless of the fact that they have that "prestige", "written literature", "culture" or any other arbitrary abstract variable like "flag" and an "army". They have all come from one source - Humans and all humans, if we go far back in time, are from one place - Our Eden, Africa.

Personally, I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to communicate in English and that I assimilated it rather than learning it with a conscious effort. The downpoint of English being that, it's one monster of a language for learners but once you get through this initial hurdle you will find that It is an amazing language for it has the DNA of so many other languages, you learn them along simultaneously.

I hope, you won't be a Language-Racist, my young Padawan;P

And if your are still adamant at "purifying" English, well then, you can always ask for all the books you wish to read, in "pure" Shakespearean English ( Even this is arbitrary, though). Whether it's gonna happen, I Really doubt it.

The Bards - French

The French Poets and Authors - 

1. Alphonse de Lamartine

2. Charles Baudelaire 

3. Paul Verlaine

4. Arthur Rimbaud

5. Stéphane Mallarmé

6. Alfred de Musset 

7. Guy de Maupassant

8. Voltaire

9. Tristan Tzara

10. Jacques Prévert

11. Max Jacob

12. André Breton

13. Jean-Baptiste Rosseau

14. Hédi Kaddour

15. Pierre Alferi

16. Claude Esteban

17. Véronique Pittolo

18. Jacques Rouband

19. Claude Royet-Journoud

20. Amina Saïd

21. André Schmitz

22. Valérie Rozeau

23. Maurice Carême

24. Michelle Grangaud

The Bards - English

The English Poets and Authors - 

1. Tobias Hil

2. Catherine Smith

3. Jean Sprackland

4. Amanda Dalton

5. Matthew Francis

6. Pascale Petit

7. Leontinna Flynn

8. Sophie Hannah

9. Gwenyth Lewis

10. Owen Sheers

11. Paul Ferley

12. Nick Drake

13. Henry Shuckman

14. Wystan Hugh Auden

15. Jacob Polley

16. Jane Draycott

17. Alice Ostwald

18. Dreyn-Pees Jones

19. Shakespeare

20. Maurice Riordan

21. Robin Robertson

22. William Blake

23. William Wordsworth

24. Percy B. Shelly

25. Lord Byron

26. T. S. Elliot

27. Sylvia Plath

28. Edgar Allan Poe

31. John Keats

32. Robert Frost

The Bards - Polish

The Polish Poets and Authors - 

1. Wislawa Szymborska

2. Czesław Miłosz

3. Andrzej Tadeusz

4. Adam Zagajewsky

5. Joanna Kulmova

6. Joanna Papuzinska

7. Katarzyna Krenz

8. Bohdan Zadura

9. Piotr Sommer

10. Zbigniew Herbert

11. Tadeusz Różwicz

12. Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz

13. Stanisław Barańczak

14. Ewa Lipska

15. Justyna Bargielska

16. Marcin Sendecki

17. Jacek Dehel

18. Agnieszka Kuciak

19. Anna Piwkowska

20. Tomasz Różycki

21. Darius Suska

22. Maciej Wożniak

23. Ewa Chruściel

24. Bill Johnston

25. Karen Kovacik

26. Antonia Lloyd-Jones

27 Mira Rosenthal

28. George Szirtes

29. Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese

The Bards - German

The German Poets and Authors - 

1. Bertolt Brecht

2. Ingeborg Bachman

3. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

4. Gunter Grass

5. Michael Hoffman

6. Heinerich Heine

7. Ernst Meister

8. Friedrich Schiller

9. Hermann Hesse

10. Rose Ausländer

11. Rainer Maria Rilke

12. Leisel Müller

13. Friedrich Hölderin

14. Heiner Müller

15. Nelly Sachs

16. Durs Grünbein

17. Georg Trakl

18. Barbara Köhler

19. Richard Wagner

20. Erich Kästner

21. Gottfried Benn

22. Kerstin Hensel

23. Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff

24. Hilde Domin

25. Eduard Mörike

26. Paul Celan

27. Marion Poschmann

28. Enzenberger

29. Inge Müller

30. Ludwig Steinherr

31. Alexios Shandemani

32. Anise Koltz

33. Charles Bukowski

34. Eva Strittmatter

35. Sarah Kirsch

36. Volker Braun

37. Katherin Schmidt

The trouble with songs!

This is a progress log summarizing what I have done along the lines of my two current project which are - Learning Finnish songs and Japanese Verbs.

Finnish Songs 

To be with, it took me some time to figure which singers I really like but thanks to a friend I had a quick start with the music scene in Finland. At the moment I definitely like Cheek, Laura Närhi, PMMP, Värttinä  and of course Samul Edelman. There are many bands which are from the 80's and 90's but right now I thought that it would be easier to find lyrics for contemporary songs.

I am focusing on 4 or 5 songs right now and after much hit and trial I have made some progress with the lyrics of << Jos sä tahdot niin >> by Samuli Edelman. Probably because it's shorter and more rhythmical than << Timantit on ikuisia >> by Cheek but the rap songs are where my heart leads inevitably. I just loved the video of the latter. I think, videos might be much more useful if we need to hook up images in a Memory Palace but then again I am trying singing-along method right now, will stick to it.

I am playing the songs on the background and learning the lyrics by reading them alongside or writing them out on a paper;P 

I had a target of 5 songs by the end of this week, I have only completed One so far. I hope my speed increases with time and once I have them down in my register (ya, good ol' fashioned ) it won't take me much time to memorize them in future.

Japanese Verbs 

Once I wrote them down on paper and made up some approximate sounds ( in English ) it has become easier to come up with relationships between the Verb-Meaning-Approximate triad.

Initially, I tried to memorize these verbs in the exact order but then I realized that it's not really important but rather I have divided them in various alphabetical groups within each of the tree groups. And all that remains is to form images for the triad and then put them up in a Memory Palace. None of the sub-groups exceeds 16 so, it shouldn't be much difficult.

I am not sure whether it would boost my study later on ( it should though) but I am willing to give this method a try, this time. It's important to experiment.

Regarding Chinese, I haven't paid any attention to Anki sets for a while now, can't juggle this along with heavy focus tasks like the Songs and Verbs memorization.

And I am still onto various Finnish courses on Memrise, though I am doing the selective portions, as in verbs first so that it might complement my Finnish songs knowledge. I was able to guess the meaning of a few paragraphs though.

No other languages has been touched during this time. Haven't found the time to do it, apart from a short reading in Icelandic.

So, that's the progress log with not so good progress this time.

The Bards - Turkish

The Turkish Poets and Authors - 

1. Orhan Pamuk

2. Bilge Karasu 

3. Elif Shafak

4. Selçuk Altun

5. Inci Arsena

6. Malisa Gurpinar

7. Ayten Mutlu

8. Lale Muldur

9. Nazim Hikmet

10. Senmur Sezer

11. Bejan Matur

12. Ahmet H. Tanpinar

13. Roni Marguiles

14. Cevat Çapan

15. Birham Keskim

The Bards - Dutch

The Dutch Poets and Authors - 

1. Bertus Aafjes

2. Gerrit Komrij

3. Simon Cormiggelt

4. M. Vasalis

5. Gerit Achterberg

6. Lucebert

7. Ilja Leonard Pfeuffer

8. Jules Delder

9. Hans Verhagen

10. Hukib Oosterhuis

11. Judith Herzberg

12. Toon Tellegen

13. Gerrit Krol

14. Abel Herzberg

15. H. H. ter Balkt

16. Jacques Hamelink

17. Anneka Brasinga

18. Jake van Leeuwen

19. Ramsey Nasr

20. Anna Blaman

21. Willem Fredrik Hermans

22. Willem Willmink

23. J. Bernlef

24. Harry Mulisch

25. Gerrard Reve

26. Leo Vroman

27. Cees Noteboom

28. Rutger Kopland

29. Jan Wolkers

30. Ida Gerhardt

31. Gerrit Kouwenaar

32. Tannus Oosterhoff

33. Bert Shierbeck

The Bards - Norwegian

The Norwegian Poets and Authors - 

1. Henrik Ibsen

2, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsten

3. Hauge

4. Strønsted

5. Vesaas

6. Trond Fausa Aurvåg

7. Camilla Collet

8. Cecilie Løveid

9. Knut Ødegård

10. Thorbjørn Agner

11. Amalie Skram

12. Sigrid Undset

13. Henrik Wergeland

14. Jan-Erik Vold

15. Knut Hamsun

16. Friedrich von Bodenstedt - En drøm

17. Aslaug Låstad Lygre

18. Rune Christiansen

19. Inger Elisabeth Hansen

20. Steinar Opstad

The Bards - Swedish

The Swedish Poets and Authors - 

1. Selma Lagerlöf

2. Anna Hallberg

3. Maria Lundkvist

4. Werner Aspenstrom

5. Kristina Lugn

6. Johanna Ekstrom

7. Katarina Frostenson

8. Eva Strom

9. Barbro Dahlin

10. Elisabet Hermodsson

11. Margareta Ekstrom

12. Elisabeth Rynell

13. Artur Lundkvist 

14. Dan Andersson 

15. Gunnar Hansom

16. Mattias Alkberg

17. Talima Nasrin

18. Thomas Tidholm

19. Tomas Transrömer

20. Torgny Lindgren

21. Ann Jäderlund

22. Lennart Sjögren

23. August Strindberg

24. Maria Lundkvist

Making Stories for Japanese Verbs

I started off with trying to memorize the names of the verbs in a rhythm, as in various ups and downs in music and then I just fell back upon my basic "practising" skill - Writing things out.

But it's not the creative writing rather just scribbling mechanically on paper, basically rote learning. In the past I did that a lot (A Lot ) - I filled up those A4 sized sheets one after another and I would always have a delight at having to change my pen once it had it's run. I emptied about 6-7 sets of pens doing this. One of these days, I'm gonna post up a pic of that paper tower. Hmm, I am such a nerd when it comes to keeping memorabilia;P

Of course, there is absolutely no benefit doing this - Okay, maybe it helps us to get the sounds and the alphabets right. But I think it is most suited for "easy" alphabets - Latin, Cyrillic and if you wish to be more ambitious ,then Persian or the Japanese Kana. But the main point is to make a conscious effort in learning the words and the flow. I doubt whether this would be beneficial for Chinese characters when I don't really plan to learn the stroke order.

To be honest, I would just open up a book and read the word and just mechanically write it down on the paper. Not a good strategy, when I look back but then again, I think it was my need to "see" the word. I am realizing more and more everyday that I respond naturally to Visual stuff.

Anyways, back to the Japanese verbs;)

The thing is, after doing that mechanical scribbling for an hour or so then it slowly dawned on me that I really need to come up with something clever and use my brain actively. So I moved on to the finding some word which rhymes with the Verb. I noticed something about myself.

Initially, all the connections that I was making were more along the sounds of Hindi and English but then slowly I made connections with German, Russian and Chinese as well. I think, it is quite curious from Cognitive Linguistics point of view. I need to think more about it - Will elaborate on it later;)

I am thinking about writing them out on a digital file as well and then record the entire process of changes and improvements while I memorize them. I will eventually make an Anki deck and upload it up here and at the Anki site but I need to organize things better 'cos I found many similar verbs/ rhythm words in Group - 1 Verbs and Group - 2 Verbs. Will upload a PDF in a day or two;P

The Bards - Finnish

Finnish Poets and Authors :-

1.  Kari Aronpuro

2. Arto Paasilinna

3. Pentti Saarikoski

4. Bo Carpelan

5. Mirkka Rekola

6. Eeva Kilpi

7. Anni Sinnemäki

8. Juice Leskinen

9. Jarl Hemmer

10. Arto Melleri

11. Eeva - Liisa Manner

12. Mikko Rimminen

13. Kirsi Kunnas

14. Paavo Haavikko

15. Arja Uusitalo

16. Arvid Mörne

17. Bartel Gripenberg

18. Leena Laulajainen

19. Veikko Antero Koskeniemmi

20. Olli Heikkonen

21. Risto Oikarinen

22. Sirkka Turkka

23. Vesa Haapala

24. Janne Numella

25. Henriikka Tavi

26. Juhana Vähänen

27. Katariina Vuorinen

28. Matilda Södergren

The Bards, the Words and the Magic

Now that you know of the big secret about me desire to learn poetry, I thought you might as well make use of the names that I have combed from all over the net for most languages which I have studied or plan to study sometime off in the future.

I have collected the names based on my own knowledge (limited, for sure) and upon the fact that these bards seem to quite famous on the Internet. So, if you too wish to improve your memory as well as knowledge of language then you might as well save these names and explore their poetry to your heart's content. I am having a go at the Songs memorization at the moment - Finnish and Japanese ones.

I will repeatedly refine these names, as in, add more to the list and remove a few whose works I don't feel inspiring to the extent as to go on memorizing them. So, watch out for those additions later on and keep an eye out for changes;P

Edit - And, just to be clear about it - I don't care about their political ideologies, scandalous lives ad infinitum - I don't give a damn. I value their words and an opportunity to read them, enjoy the words. For me, it's the excitement of the meaning and the way the Bards convey it, they are the Creatives of the language.