A linguist, who can code!

You know, I've always found the intersections, the sweet middle points to be the driving force of innovation. The extremes are too far apart to acknowledge and appreciate each other's point of views but the real magic, it happens at the boundaries, the melting pots.

To me, the Language arts and the Computer arts are two such extremes. I find myself wondering, where do I stand in this dichotomy. Often, it was the case that when I was studying language I'd become really immersed in the language and would neglect my another one of my great love, Science and when I was fascinated with something from the ever-broadening world of Science, I'd find my language learning to be slower than what I'd really like.

You've been reading these musings of mine for a long time now, nearly a year I guess. Thank you for you time, time is beautiful isn't it. The only thing that matters for Time beings ;p

So, by now you really know how I tend to combine my interests together, create contexts which make me learn as much as I possibly can and as fast as I can. Yup, that's me) So, these days what I've been really doing is to understand how the Web Technologies really work so I may create tools for myself which can help me learn languages better, remember more and to connect to people who are of the same tribe as mine, language learners. I think, I'm already friends with every language learner I just need to meet them now, hehe. A bit perplexing, maybe;p

I can't, in all my honesty say that I'm studying languages with the same intensity as I used to, right now but I'm still satisfied that I'm working towards my goals of being a good language learner, someone who is code-literate and I wish to make meaningful contribution to the community as well. Yes, there are small bouts of depression when I realize that a certain whim of my heart can't be pursued anymore and I have to accept that, although it can be done but it's not really my priority for now.

Right now, I'm absolutely in Love with Kazakh, I've made so many wonderful friends in Portuguese! I absolutely love it!! But for the rest of my languages, I need to wait)

I am facing certain problems with Kazakh, not because of the language itself but there aren't many resources to learn the languages sadly. So, I'm building something using my Programming skills ( and learning loads ) that'd help me solve the problem for many people - once and for all. 

Now that's something worthy of my time, it is that wonderful philosophy of "Doing Good and Doing Well"

Stay Tuned for more ( exiting! ) updates,
stay awesome,

- A Talking Ape;p

Language Learner's Lab

How to learn languages? 
How to keep them active?

These are the two thoughts that I'd like to scribble down today. You know, I've tried so much, so many things!

I've read books in languages I'd only understand a little ( at the front cover) and understand quite a lot by the time I reached the other end. I have heard sooo many podcasts, movies that my ears were sore for weeks! You know, it's a general theme with me, with anything that I do. I tend to obsess about thing.

And in this obsession I'm likely to study for long slogs, without any plan and hoping desperately that it'd somehow all be useful in the end. That all this confusion I have in my
mind is eventually seeping inside that wall of resistance.

But then again, since when does learning a language needs to be painful or even obsessive? I don't really believe that, you know that learning involves a lot ( a Lot! ) of drills

Just learning endless vocabulary lists and listening to audiofiles which you understand only a little. Rather language learning should be a personal experience and we should really seek text which is related to our lives, related to our hobbies and to our very own self.

I am really zeroing in on a tool which might answer this "personalized learning" mode of learning languages and takes it to a whole different level. Obviously, all ideas seem super-awesome at first and only later do we understand the impractical aspects, the hairy parts of an idea reveal themselves only slowly.

You see, right now I need to learn the Kanji ( like really! ) and doing the drills over and over again seems to be so boring. Even Heisig's kanji books and memrise/anki techniques seem to be too much timetaking for me.

But I've obviously started using the language for communication and have made friends from Japan. Boy, if there's one thing that Esperanto does for you - it makes you a friend magnet. Every single one is just so friendly with you, within the Esperanto community. Btw, I've started writing my journal only in Esperanto now ;p

Oh, have you seen this wonderful tool - ClearText? 

Here's an article on LifeHacker for ClearText!

Trust me, this thing can be a God-send for a language learner.

And as I'm learning the WebLang ( i.e. about Web technologies ) I've been trying out my hands with the various ways I can recreate or even innovate in this direction. I'm making progress for sure but it's a bit slow. The Web is just so baffling, so much to learn ;p

But it can potentially be really really useful for every language learner. Will keep you posted on the progress I make with this thing!!

Hey, did I tell you guys that I'm now involved in making a Manga version of the Yoga poses, they aren't good as of now but the friend I've teamed up with, really is a good artist.

And thankfully, she has agreed to be a teacher of mine, to review my sketches so that eventually I become expressive in my Sketching as well. I'd really love to listen to the Mangakas
( Manga-artists) in Japanese.

Till next time ( じゃまた）
 

Finally out of the Language-labrynth?

Hello Tribesmen ;p

This new found freedom, the post-college life does has a certain responsibility with itself. It's called earning-money-fast!

I think it's beautiful the way time-limits clear up our priorities, shelves a few far-away whims and makes us focus on the minimal that we must do to keep our dreams alive, every single day. For me, it's the choice about the languages I wish to be fluent in, within the next six months.

I know that, this wouldn't be the first time that you'd hear me say that in the last few months but trust me the ECG of my last few months was like ( _-_-_#%$^@#_-_) ;p

So, here's what I'm gonna focus all my efforts on.

1. Portuguese
2. Russian
3. Japanese
4. Kazakh
5. Chinese
6. Esperanto
7. Arabic

These languages which I've already had some exposure to, are definitely related to the newly-discovered financial needs. Being a systemic thinker I've obviously combined them with my publishing/translation todo lists and, of course, I know for a fact that these languages would perfectly augment my technological skills which are gonna get a Huge Level Up in these months.

From August, it's like learning to walk all over again. Fun ;p

I literally learned to run, before I could walk!

Blazing Speed and Deep Seas ahoy, Captain ;)

Returning Home!

Hi people! Wow, these past couple months have been such a ride, I've seen much - so much good and the harsh truths of life, that it ends - inspite of all the illusions we create to fill up that sense of dread and the inevitable. But, it's not all bad.

In the meantime, I completed my dream college project, "Language, Space and Mind" and it was such a joy. The end day was screwed up, I guess but I'd relive every single moment if I could.

Language learning has always been with me and I've re-evaluated many of my methods and hopefully built upon the experience I've gained over there.

My StartUp experience was put on a pause because of University exams and all, honestly I'd still be a bit surprised if I made through that storm scratchless. But hey, while everyone I know ( okay, almost ) is oh-so-nostalgic about the University life, I'm quit the contrary - Now, I'm alive. The StartUp experience has groomed me for competing much higher than what I would have thought possible. Everything is full mistakes and mishaps but we defines us is what we take away from it. My StartUp is still healthy  and alive but the progress in near future seems a bit slow - so is the gruelling test of Entrepreneurs.

On a whim, I decided to learn Portuguese, a language which never really took seriously - what I fool I've been to overlook the friendliness of people. I really love Brazil. I have had a wonderful friend from Brazil, we met through Esperanto and he's been an absolutely fun person in my life through these couple of years. We both are, of course, language lovers.

While I touch this point, I have found something that truly describes me - A.Tribal.Nomad ! Yes, I am as proud and as happy, I possibly could be for I belong to this tribe of language learners. You'd be amazed how quickly I've made friends from so many far off places in the world.

From talking to actual Russian native speakers over at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, New Delhi to practicing Harmonica while commuting to office - every little thing I've learned  and the reasons I-love-life-every-single-moment owes itself in a big way to this quirk of mine - learning languages.

This little quirk of mine has drilled into me the difference between "Laws" and "Rules". Respect the law but rules are often, self-limiting and all-too-comfortable.


Of course, I'm learning languages but now it's real world! Healthy dose of real-life communication is involved and I find myself thinking in Portuguese subconsciously even. I know writing expressively is still a mirage for me, but I'll get there soon, only because of the changes I've made to my learning style.

As always, there's a list of languages I wish to learn, I know that often I just plan too much and then life reminds me of it's beauty in her own ways, but Portuguese is literally re-defining my learning style, re-calibrating my preferences and it is the first language in which I'm really out there, into the wild.

Always loved this movie - Into The Wild!

Endlich, Freiheit!

Finally the entire exam thing has gotten over. I've had soo many ideas and wrong turns but I could not write anything. Just didn't want to.

Finally, my mind is free from all the college worries and now my two lovely blogs will come alive!

...but with a whimper!

Today, a few moments ago, I witnessed Death of a being.

I saw the entire thing happen. It was fast. The  voiceless mouth moving, yearning for the sound of the living, only silence was there.

The eyes, half closed when the heart gave out, no longer running in a race. Perhaps at peace.

The warmth leaving the body and embracing cold. No more, one of the living but a stiff stone.

"This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper" - Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot

Sobering, yes.

Habitica

Hey, guys.

Recently I discovered Habitica! And I can't tell you how exited I am about this one, Gamify your Life it says. After all, who didn't love games as a child - many still do. It's a billion dollar industry and surely, they must be doing something that really clicks!

Habitica, as the name suggests is something that is based on Habit formation and Self Improvement drives. It is designed to bring the same level of experience and engagement to our own self improvement which we spend being glued to the screens. 

Want to for a Habit, be it 21 days or 66 days?
Want to feel great after completing your task list?
Wish to discover fellow community members with similar interests?

Habitica has a solution for you! It's Open Source, so if you've got an idea or something you can actually build the system and gift the community with a creative improvement as well. Man, I'm definitely gonna contribute to Habitica.

You know, if ever I am to really go look for a Job - Gaming industry is where you'll find me having the greatest fun at work. Yes, I know it's not all what we think it is but still the freedom of roles we can play in building a Game, from being a Designer to a Programmer, to being an actual Tester. Man, you've got to love this.

College Troubles

This is a bad time in my life. Being sorry and being sad - to hell with it)

I've met some serious trouble over at the college and the StartUp as well. It's not going well and, honestly, it's not the difficulties of coming across something new every single step but the sheer amount of talking that's involved!

I don't know but talking has always sapped my energy, I really need some time to spend alone, doing something I really enjoy. Everyone around me recharges by being with people and that's something I admire but it's not really my kind of thing. Well, I do need to figure out something to reduce the amount of "talking" ( really, confirmations etc ) that are required of me, of course, that's not to say that I don't like the exchange of ideas but sometimes, as they say, "Activity is mistaken for Improvement"! I look forward to finding new ways to minimize the time of these meetings and to make them all the more effective at the same time.

Sleep deprived, one of the side effects of working hard and having a long commuting time! Oh, usually I sleep a lot, it's a good thing but yes, I could really do with the art of mastering powernaps. But as someone who still is very much of a learner, sleeping can't really do me harm can it? In fact quite the opposite as all evidence points.

Oh, the college troubles...right;p

Actually, it so happened that the flunks I've had over the last couple of years are coming back to bite me in the pants and my degree really is on the line. I wouldn't have cared much were in the first or second year. But being so so close to the mythical end, I'd rather have the thing completed first

I seriously have a severe nervous breakdown, atleast on the edge whenever I see the ExamStorm approaching. I really don't like this entire exams things and honestly this is the same reason why in all the interview I'll be taking in future would be open book interviews. Trust me it's not so much as the knowledge that counts but the attitude and approach. Oh, that's still a bit further ahead in future though.

Well, it's gonna be fine - I know;p 
It's always fine, Seasons come and pass us by. Sometimes all one needs to do is just to sit by with patience and admire the view. Beautiful, isn't it?
I've recently come across these two wonderful quotations, which cross my mind time and again.

"There are no victims in life, only volunteers"
 
" Pain is inevitable - Suffering is optional"

A Slow Dance;p

The Last Chapter - Slow Dance:

Have you ever watched kids, On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain, Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance too fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day, On the fly?
When you ask: How are you? Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
With the next hundred chores, Running through your head?
You'd better slow down,
Don't dance too fast.
Time is short,
The music won't last.

Ever told your child we'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die,
Cause you never had time, To call and say Hi?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.
Hear the music,
Before the song is over.”

― Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

A Shadow of a Poem

I look for profundity
I seek the profound
Is it in the people
Is it hidden the rock-like people
Is it beyond the meadow
Is it in the rain, the breeze on the face
The snow at the mountain top,
Is it in the nest
Has it flown away?

I seek the profound
I look for profundity
Have I lost you?
Or have I become insensitive to the presence?

The profound, is it in friends - the people
Is it in sceneries,
or in the deepest of miseries

I look for profundity
I seek the profound
Is it in the oceans, in the depths
In the skies, so high?

Is it a sweat, a tear or a sigh
Is it born afresh, or is it decaying by
Have you seen it, met it, experienced it ?
Have you found it yet?

I look for profundity
I seek the profound
Have you too sought for it long?

I search for it all year round
Is it really all around?

Is it a mistake?
A false ideal?
Or a long forgotten memory?
Is it a dream of a future of hope?
I look for profundity
I yearn for the profound

- You know who;D

The Beautiful patience of a Sloth

I feel a certain level of improvement in with languages. It's small but it means a lot - I am definitely feeling an improvement in my Listening comprehension skills in Finnish ( it's no longer scary), Chinese and Japanese.

Oh, btw do you remember I made promise about learning various memorization techniques so that with time I can use these skills to improve the I live, you know. Remembering more has it's perks and I love the idea of always relying on my memory to remember the wonderful songs I hear, the poems I read and the phrases which resonate with me.

Soon, I'll be starting with using my programming skills to make Games and Design a few Interesting ones for various Editors ( Like Atom and Emacs )  and being someone who loves combining goals and taking things up to a certain Complexity and Challenging level ( often failing to keep up though I am getting better at Getting Things Done ) - After a while I'll rely exclusively on making my own Card-games and Card related Memory practicing techniques.

One of my deepest wish, perhaps one of the most ambitious ones as well is to improve my Memory as best as I can. I wish to be able to memorize songs and poetry as soon as I hear them. I love the words - beyond words;p

Happiness in the Steppes

You know, I am not that big on travelling but everytime I think of spending some time in another country purely for the fun of it - Central Asia is the most mysterious place for me. It calls me like no other place)

Maybe it's the history, maybe the architecture or perhaps just the people and the lifestyle - there are these two countries which I'd love to live in, for a while. The first one being Mongolia and the other one being Kazakhstan.

Of course, it's needless to mention that the languages are fascinating to me as well but it's just the feeling of being physically there that makes me happy the most. Don't know, but I have a feeling that I'd surely find myself in these countries sometime soon=)

A Novice Editor)

  Ah, I've the opportunity to become an in-house editor these days. The SEO ( i.e. the person who is responsible for increasing one's presence on the Internet ) focuses on the exact "business" oriented words whereas I believe that documenting the development processes of the any project is a good way to showcase the work we have accomplished and the work we are doing at any given moment.

I think, that this gives us a better alternative to involve everyone who has participated in a project plus, it's an opportunity for everyone to add a new skill to their lives and, believe me, there are few things as fulfilling as learning how to use the words and how to express yourself in precisely the words you choose.

As far as the ground level details are concerned it's a good way to recapture how we tackled the particular problems we face in due course, even better at forcing us to develop good habits of documentation and keeping tabs on the workflow. By projecting all our experience out there, we do what helped us overcome challenges in the first place. People who put their experience for the world to see, opening oneself up to people and making a move towards a community of like-minded and engaged people rather than surfers.

So, everyone in the place has been asked to do a write and then it will be funneled through a couple of people ( including me). I am sure this way is likely to make the SEO a bit uncomfortable Seems to be a battle between words and ratings? But tell me - when have good words failed to make a difference?

What is it about Languages?

I haven't had the time to even open the Anki decks or revisit the Memrise courses I spent so much time skimming and selecting the ones which suited my needs well. As of now it's just the audios and the podcasts, the music which keep me in touch with this passion of mine.

I even think about putting all of the language learning to a hold - but then almost inadvertadly I find myself in the midst of some podcast in Chinese or Japanese - it's either this or some podcast in English about Chinese and Japanese History. Btw have I told you that I recently complete the History of Japan podcast till about 122 episodes ( " The Fall of the Samurai - Part 7"), told ya, I'm a bit obsessive by nature.

For the "History of China" podcat I am still about 70 episodes deep. I feel it's high time I get started with the Korean Society podcasts. Needless to say that whenever you study anything in Asian history it's almost inevitably involves a large correlation with the Chinese History itself.

Trust me, when I say that I find myself yearning to have some free time - to relax, to practice Sketching and for my Harmonica. But, I don't see any way out - after we all have the very same 24 hours in a day and it's up to us to take responsibility.

 "They say there are no Victims in life - only Volunteers" - That's what the Extensialist in me echoes through and through;p

The reason I am deep in the podcasts these days is of course 'cos I love reading history and how things came to be the way they are, after all whom can we learn from if not the people - who she deemed important enough- who made themselves important enough- by deed or folly - by whim or by  fate - the rest are forgotten. Rings deep - doesn't it?

Shuffling the Deck

So, after having "matured" about 2220 cards (only!), 352 in the pipeline and with 13712 more to go in the Chinese Anki Deck, I am getting a bit uneasy with the monotinicity of the process. It's a wonderful deck of Anki cards to be sure and I really wish that there we more such cards for various languages for, decks like this cover so so much of the everyday language! 

I haven't been doing the Chinese characters per se, only the English and the Pinyin to learn the structures and to memorize the growing vocabulary that the deck gradually introduces. Anki, has become one of the reliable resources for me, even more so than Memrise. Maybe it's the privacy and individuality of the Anki interface which appeals to me more and I am definitely looking forward to be able to use the software programmatically - I think, it uses JavaScript, which is the language of the Internet. Well, who knows?

I am doing my best to keep up with my language learning commitments every day, life has not become busier maybe just alot chaotic and I feel I'll be able to reclaim that peace of mind which is just so important for learning. 

So, the choice is between Korean, Finnish and Hebrew for now. I have been reading a couple books in Dutch and Polish and having a certain familiarity of similar languages ( German and Rusian resp.) they already make a lot of sense to, it's this or I am able to grasp much of the meaning somehow. So, Dutch and Polish don't present much of a steep learning curve for me as compared to the other three. Ofc, I am always keeping up with Japanese and the progress is slow and steady but whatever language I am learning with at the moment, Japanese is always on the cards. 

For Hebrew, I know it shouldn't present much of a trouble once I have understood the basic patterns and about 500 common words, but I wish to learn the language through songs or rather should I say that I prefer to memorize songs in the language to learning the language itself, as of this moment. So, the dilemma is really between Finnish and Korean.

Finnish is tough but I have been learning it passively for a couple months now, it seems familiar to me already. And I have read a book in the language already, maybe skimmed-a-book fits the description better;p Korean is the "real" challenge I face. Not 'cos of the Grammar (somewhat similar to Japanese ) or Alphabets ( which are quite easy!) but due to the length to time it's gonna take before I feel like I've made any real progress in the language.

The plan for January, is to focus on Finnish and listen to more podcasts, while learning a few Hebrew songs and then to go forward with Korean from February onwards. 

Now, I have come to appreciate and respect the "adult" learners even more 'cos it's the time they have to steal from so many responsibilities and things which they "ought" to be doing which 

discourages most people from learning languages.

!! Cheers to 2016 !!

I wish you all a very very Happy New Year and may this year be melodious note in the symphony of your life;P