Reflections on March 2018: Fijian, Lao and Starting Fiji Hindi – How Did I Do?

2018 is nearly a quarter-done and I could barely believe it given that it seemed as though only a few hours ago I was welcoming in the year by jumping off a chair, Danish-style.

After the pure euphoria that was the 2017 Polyglot Conference (and my presentation at it), I expected to rake in victory after victory this year, but so far I don’t think that it has happened. For one, I developed a partnership to develop “Nuuk Adventures” as soon as their new game comes out and it was postponed from January to April. I found myself losing a lot of motivation, burning out and just “wanting to take a break”—from game making, from language learning, pretty much everything, to be honest. I continue to feel detached and suspicious.

This month I had two challenges, one for Fijian and another for Lao. Fijian, no big surprise, made the largest share of gains. I feel that I could navigate my way around the countryside in Fiji without using English now. In a few days begins April, and then my focus will shift to Fiji Hindi with most of my efforts with Fijian focused on education and the Memrise course I’m working on.

With Fijian, every single one of my weak points has been significantly dealt with, in part because of a YouTube series that I made that you can watch here. I figured that if I were having trouble with some things, other learners of Fijian would as well:

The grammar I have practically mastered, thanks in part to the 30-Day Speaking Challenge when I successfully completed (I’ll post it during April).

I’ve noticed my pronunciation is better but I certainly don’t sound like a native speaker at all.

Lao was interesting. I devoted 30 minutes a day to it (much like I did Fijian, and often this resulted in later nights and earlier mornings). This included the following activities:

• Actively listening to my YouTube Series:

 

 

• Actively reading out loud phrases from my Lonely Planet Phrasebook (this time I got the Lao exclusive one and it has been going by very well, although some aspects of the proverbs mentioned in the blurbs still confuse me).

 

• Listening to Lao music while walking on the street. (Look for “Lao Contemporary Music” in YouTube if you’re an absolute beginner, by the way!)

 

• Teaching some phrases to my friends (especially people from East Asian countries such as China or South Korea that want to know why on earth Lao is my strongest East Asian Language—yes, now even stronger than Burmese, which I haven’t been putting effort into).

 

Am I fluent? No. Am I making progress? Yes, but I sidelined it because for April I’m focusing almost exclusively on Fiji Hindi as well as Fijian.

 

Already Fiji Hindi is opening doors for me, given that it is sometimes mutually exclusive with Hindi and Urdu. The differences between these languages also make for good conversation points. Sometimes I’ve been told that I “speak like a white guy” but above all most people with whom I have used it have been appreciative.

 

In addition to that I’ve now been learning about Indo-Fijian history, which makes me appreciate the overall Fijian story in a new light.

 

So goals for April:

 

• 30 minutes a day on Fijian, focusing more on making my personal Memrise course.
• 30 minutes a day on Fiji Hindi, focusing on the 30-Day Speaking Challenge and writing to my friends who speak standard Hindi.

 

I’m also ALWAYS open to the idea of finding more iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) and Indo-Fijian music. So if you know anything you’d recommend, let me know!

April makes the third month of my 3-Month Fijian Challenge. I intend to make it a great one!

Tips and Resources to Help You Begin Learning Yiddish

Virtually every American knows something about Yiddish whether they know it or not. 100 years ago, Yiddish newspapers were so mainstream and respected that they often received election results before ENGLISH newspapers. The Yiddish literature rush that occurred from the 19^th century up until some decades after the Holocaust is considered by some the largest outpouring of human thought in all of history, anywhere.

Yiddish has changed countless lives, and not just those of Jews. Isaac Bashevis Singer spoke of it as a language never spoken by people in power (you are welcome to debate this accordingly). In comparison to languages of nobility and large, established countries, Yiddish established itself as “mame-loshn”, a mother’s language, not necessarily tied to any earth or ground, but transcending the Jewish experience wherever it may go.

In online Polyglot Communities, there’s one Yiddish-speaker or Yiddish learner that seems to get everyone enchanted with one Yiddish phrase, or at least cause others to take another look at it.

Well, today we’re going to teach you exactly how to BEGIN that journey.

Before we begin, however, let’s outline exactly how Yiddish is different from High German (with which it shares a lot of words):

• The pronunciation of words is different. Yiddish has a distinctly more Slavic lilt to it, and those who speak languages from that area of the world can often just use their “home accents” and be passable (e.g. Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Ukrainian, etc). There are vowel shifts that are followed with great consistency. German au becomes Yiddish oy. In many Yiddish dialects, the German ei sound is pronounced like “ey” (to rhyme with “hey”).

 

• The grammar is also closer to that of English or even that of a Slavic language at times, although it can also follow German conventions. “Du herst?” (are you listening?) makes complete sense as a question, even with the subject first…much like the casual English “you hear?!!?”

 

• Some common words in German have vanished completely and replaced with Hebrew / Aramaic or Slavic equivalents. Surprisingly I’ve noticed that linguistic borrowings from liturgical languages follow similar patterns in language throughout the world (e.g. Tajik uses Arabic loan words in many of the same places that Yiddish would, such as the word for “maybe” being an Arabic work in Tajik (Mumkin) and a Hebrew one in Yiddish (Efsher).

 

• Using too much German pronunciation and / or Germanic loan words in your speech results it what is called “Deitschmerisch”, which was a variety used by some Yiddish speakers in more enlightenment-related spheres to make it more acceptable. Throughout most of its history Yiddish was deemed the language of “women and the uneducated”.

 

• German can help, but using too much German influence in your Yiddish can have negative effects. Knowledge of Jewish Liturgical Languages definitely helps, especially given that “Yeshivish” exists (or, roughly put, English spoken amongst some Orthodox Jews with the Hebrew / Aramaic Loanwords from Yiddish intact). Knowledge of Slavic Languages can also prove helpful, especially given that some gendered nouns in Yiddish can lean more towards Slavic than Germanic (not also to mention many Latinate loan words end in “-tziye”, which shows obvious Slavic influence).

 

Keep in mind that there is also a lot of incomplete and flawed material out there, but you probably knew that.

 

Yiddish also has no centralized academy. Among secular Yiddishists, the prestige dialect will be Lithuanian Yiddish (which I speak). Among many Hasidic communities, the prestige dialect will vary depending on the sect. For example, among the Satmar Hasidim, Hungarian Yiddish will rule (which sounds slightly more like High German and a very, VERY distinctly Finno-Ugric rhythm to it. In areas of Williamsburg you can hear it spoken on the street with regularity. Did I also mention that you can order your MetroCards in Yiddish in various subway stations in New York?).

 

Oh, and one more thing! With the exception of Yiddish texts from the Soviet Union, the Hebrew and Aramaic words will be SPELLED the way they are in Hebrew and Aramaic, but the pronunciation is something you’ll need to MEMORIZE! And I bet you’re wondering, “oh, if it’s the Hebrew word, I could just memorize its Hebrew pronunciation, right?”

 

Nope! Because Israeli Hebrew uses the Sephardic pronunciation (precisely so the Zionists could detach themselves from the “Diasporic” pronunciations of Hebrew words) and Yiddish’s Hebrew and Aramaic components use the Ashkenazi Variety (which is still used by some Orthodox Jews in prayer). The Yiddish words “Rakhmones” (mercy) would be “Rakhmanut” in Hebrew, although they are spelled the EXACT SAME WAY.

 

The meanings aren’t necessarily the same either. A normal word in Hebrew can be a profanity in Yiddish (I won’t give examples here).

 

So here are various resources you can use to begin:

 

For one, Mango Languages is put enough together with good accents to the degree that you can begin using Yiddish with your friends RIGHT AWAY. The Hebrew alphabet can be learned accordingly with writing out the words on the screen. (Also! Words that are not Hebrew or Aramaic in Origin are written phonetically, exactly as they are spelled. If you are a reading a Soviet Yiddish text, ALL words will, much like Lao standardized Pali and other foreign loan words. Communism did the same thing to two completely different language families).

The book I started with nearly ten years ago was Sheva Zucker’s Yiddish textbooks, which were very well put together and also outlined the differences between Yiddish and English / Hebrew / German. Between dialogues there were various songs and the grammar was explained clearly in a way that you can begin making your own sentences in no time!

 

Uriel Weinreich’s immortal classic “College Yiddish” is also a fantastic choice, given that the stories themselves are extremely topical and cover a wide range of secular and religious topics. Some of the topics include: Chelm Stories (the equivalent of Polish Jokes in the US and Swedish / Norwegian jokes in Norway and Sweden respectively), sociology, songs, Jewish holiday origin stories, and even a quaint piece about moving furniture.

 

The book is mostly in Yiddish although glossaries are provided with English translations.

 

Routledge’s Colloquial Yiddish also covers usage of the language in classroom situations, ordinary conversation, as well as stories about Hasidic Masters and the aforementioned Chelm stories (which you can never truly get away from when you know enough Jewish people).

 

The Yiddish Daily Forward is also very well put together, with topical articles that would be equally at home in its English edition (and sometimes featured in both). What’s more, the articles will come with an in-built glossary function where you can highlight any word and have it defined.

 

If you choose to get it sent to your inbox, the titles and summaries will be bilingual in English and Yiddish, which makes for good practice even as an advanced student because then you can see how the translation changes things.

 

Lastly, SBS Radio Australia has its archives of Yiddish programming, given that Yiddish was discontinued (I believe). That said, a lot of interesting interviews with fluent Yiddish speakers from throughout the world are provided as well as “snippets” of English that can also provide context clues for the beginner. If you want to know how to discuss politics in Yiddish, THIS is the place to find it.

Yiddish will change your life. It provides a huge amount of untranslated literature that you can spend several lifetimes with. Your other languages will be enhanced with new idioms that possess the story of a people who have been everywhere and continue to be everywhere. You will become more theatrical, you will become cooler and, best of all, all Yiddishists everywhere will pretty much be willing to become your friend.

Zol zayn mit mazl! (Good luck!)

How to Anchor Your Languages to Your “Mentors” So as to Avoid Mixing Them Up

A friend of mine, an English / German / Spanish / Japanese / possibly other languages I forgot / possibly I taught him a few words of Hebrew once asked me to write this post. Thank you, Mitch, with great wishes for your continued success!

Do YOU have a topic you’d like me to write on? Let me know!

I’m recovering from an illness so I hope that this will be good nonetheless.

Many people have told me that they sometimes intend to say one thing in one language and end up saying something in another, or otherwise the general mix-up that many polyglots, even veterans, know all too well.

Believe me, even native speakers sometimes suffer from this. This is why code-switching is a thing, as well as the fact that many people from India / Oceania / Israel / Northern Europe / American Hispanics mix in English with their native languages. Even in the Arab world this is common with French words instead (in various Arabic varieties spoken in former French colonies, such as with Lebanese Arabic).

That said, there are some people who feel as though they have an “unhealthy dosage” of it, to the degree in which they want to speak Hebrew or Japanese and then Spanish comes out instead, not also to mention those who study similar languages may also suffer from this as well.

Here comes the solution:

Among “dialect continuum” areas (in which the boundaries between languages are unclear and there is a large amount of variance between a language as spoken in a particular country or geographical area), as well as areas of the Internet dedicated to the culture of these areas, you’ll notice something: some people flaunt their national flags with what could almost be described as aggression.

There’s a reason that Norwegian flags are commonly featured on clothing (especially coats and winterwear), and that’s to distinguish their wearers from Swedish or Danish people (the former of whose language closely resembles spoken Norwegian and the latter of which closely resembles the written variety).

In Crown Heights, which I believe is the largest Afro-Caribbean expatriate community in the world, I see Jamaican, Trinidadian, Grenadian and Barbadian flags (among others) VERY commonly. The reason why? So that people don’t mistake them for one from belonging to one of the other nations (despite the fact that many of them share many aspects of culture).

Listening to music from Melanesia, I’ve noticed that a lot of music from Vanuatu tends to show the Ni-Vanuatu Flag in the thumbnail and Solomon Islands music does the same. Bislama and Pijin (their national creoles) resemble each other very closely.

What’s the point I’m trying to make here?

The same way that these people anchor their native identity with imagery and mementos, YOU need to be doing that with the languages you speak as well.

The first time, which is the easiest one, is find “mentors” for each of your languages. No, I’m not saying “go find a private tutor for each one”, but rather a certain native speaker or a set of native speakers whose voice you tend to imitate most. These could be friends, radio hosts, YouTubers, or even voices from an online app.

Here are some of the “mentors” I’ve had:

• The Irish Language Transparent Language Voice
• My Welsh-Speaking Friend named Ivan
• The Vincentian Creole Bible-Redux Narrator (from a set of mp3’s I got from a Bible site that one time. Yes, a lot of them mention Jesus; no, I am not Christian nor do I have any intention of being un-Jewish).
• A number of Swedish-Language Let’s Play-ers who deserve an entire post written about them (coming soon! And no, PewDiePie is not one of them. I’m glad that he’s brought awareness about the Swedish language and culture to many fields of popular discussion but he crossed the line too many times last year. Also, he uses a lot more English than Swedish in his videos.)
• Too many of my Yiddish-speaking friends to count, but if I had to pick one it would be Baruch, probably the one I spend the most time with (we attend a lot of the same events).

For your native language, you sort of don’t have any choice for your mentors—they were your parents or guardians. But for languages you learn in adulthood you’ll need to find “adoptive parents” for them.

Obviously if you have a LOT of friends who speak the language (as is the case with languages like Yiddish and Polish for me), your “mentor” will be sort of a blend of all of them although mostly the influence of one or two will overshadow all of them.

I couldn’t imagine Baruch speaking Vincentian Creole English (although maybe one day he’ll learn it, I have no idea). Similarly, I can’ t really imagine the “Vincy” narrator speaking Yiddish or even standard English for that matter (although the latter I would imagine he certainly would know).

Another thing that you very much can do is have different vowel and consonant textures for your languages. Once you get a mentor for any language and start imitating him or her, this will come naturally. Think about the automated voices in your language course—how do they pronounce “a” or “l” differently from the way you do in your native language? Investigate these feelings in detail and mimic them accordingly.

People who are often praised for their accent often do exactly this, and note the differences as to what they hear between speakers of various languages. Once you get good at it, you’ll even be able to keep extremely close languages separate. While I encounter with dogged consistency people who mix up Spanish and Portuguese way too often (precisely because they haven’t gone through this), I can keep straight German and Yiddish, the Scandinavian Languages, and very similar Creole languages—granted there are rare occasions in which I mix them up, but overall I’m in a good place because my “mental discipline” is very honed.

We all have separate identities. Jared the teacher is very flamboyant but he has to tone it down when he’s Jared the student. Similarly, you’ll have to do the same with your languages—allot each one a different set of feelings and a role, as well as, most importantly, ways of talking.

Happy learning!

Why is There a Huge Online Culture Accusing Polyglots of Being Fake?

Probably one of the more painful pieces I’ve had to do “research” for, and another for which no other writings out there existed already. This is, very sadly, a necessary piece.

On Reddit and in many YouTube comments there is often an idea that almost ANYONE who posts videos of him/herself speaking many languages online is almost guaranteed to be a fake and that they “don’t understand how much work goes into a language”.

Benny Lewis seems to get the brunt of a lot of this, but the truth be told is that all of us online polyglots get accused of being fake—it is just that some of us do a better job at hiding it.

It has sometimes gotten so bad that many of my friends just REFUSE to post videos or, if they do, will shut off the comments. What’s worse is the fact that people who are complete outsiders to this craft will say nonsensical things like “you should expect to get criticism if you put yourself out there” (which is just as stupid as an excuse as saying that wearing certain clothing means you were “asking for it”—both serve to absolve the wrongdoer of any fault.)

This toxic energy of internet culture is holding innovation back and it NEEDS TO STOP. IMMEDIATELY.

At first glance it seems that this battle is actually between (1) hyperpolyglots and (2) HATERZ but there are actually two categories in (2). The first one consists of jealous bilinguals and the second one consists of the no-less-jealous struggling language learners.

For the best of the hyperglots (and I’m getting there), we’ve been so desensitized to being called fake and all sorts of names that a lot of just don’t care anymore (and this indifference occurs naturally with age).

But I’m going to reveal something that very few people on both sides realize:

Usually the most admired polyglots online are actually more admired for their ability to act natural in front of a camera AND speak the languages rather than just speak the languages alone.

I in NO WAY mean to say “all polyglots prepare scripts / read from the screen” or ANYTHING OF THAT SORT. But video making is not just a “point and shoot” variety of deal, and some people have had experience making videos and others, not so much. (And experience doesn’t necessarily correlate to the ability to look and speak naturally in front of a camera, although it does help).

When I made my first polyglot video a year ago, I was FRIGHTENED.

Part of me still is frightened to do something like make a Let’s Play video in Tok Pisin even though I would really like to do that in part because of, yes, some people telling me that a white person has no business speaking this language (which is, frankly, ridiculous—because in the contemporary world, all cultures belong to everyone). Even for “Kaverini: Nuuk Adventures” I was told that maybe some Greenlanders wouldn’t particularly LIKE the fact that I was making a video game set in their country (although everyone I spoke to about it, both inside and outside of Greenland, was enthusiastic about the idea).

Okay, where was I?

There are multiple types of anti-polyglots and each one tends to have different motivations:

 

• The one who claims “this one internet polyglot is good, but almost all of the others are fake”

What this person doesn’t necessarily realize is that it isn’t the person they’re actually admiring (or not) but actually the presentation of the person.

People accused the 4-year-old hyperglot Bella of being fake and only memorizing a few things but my friends told me that she conversed in all of those languages with other kids readily—something that couldn’t have been captured on video.

There is a lot of sadness in the world, and people can be very good speakers in person but may not show it ideally on the Internet. With a master presentation a lot of the polyglot community would be more “equalized” than most people give them credit for (and when meeting in person, we realize exactly how similar we are to each other skill-wise, something that I’ve seen again and again at polyglot conferences)

 

• The one who claims that most polyglots overinflate their abilities

 

I have a feeling this one comes from a misunderstanding that some languages are more easily picked up than others.

Mandarin Chinese may be the work of many years but a Creole Language could be picked up readily in a month.

Those who accused me of being fake when I said in Ari in Beijing’s video that I spoke seventeen to eighteen languages fluently didn’t realize that I had multiple sets of very similar languages (and in the case of the creoles of Melanesia, ones so close that even classifying them as separate languages may be debatable!)

There’s no way you can generalize about a group of so many people, and saying “people can only reach C1-C2 in 2-3 languages tops” is demonstrably false.

This comes with frustration with one’s own progress and the cruel road of projection. Nothing less.

 

• The one that says that all polyglots memorize a few sentences and judge themselves fluent

 

What exactly are we supposed to do, then? An eight-hour video?

Also, especially after the whole Ziad Fazah thing, do you really think most of us would be naïve enough to lie about our skills? Especially in this time of human history? Especially when any one of our readers or fans could evaluate our skills in PERSON and write home about it?

I am professionally held accountable for the image of me projected. If I don’t live up to that, it is a liability on my reputation and I’m fully aware of that. Maybe you might want me to downsize my skills so as to upsize your ego, but I am who I am and I intend to OWN IT. My haters (and the haters of other polyglots), not so much, actually…

 

• Particular Criticism about the “Fluent in 3 Months Thing”

It’s a challenge, not a promise. Even if he fell short in his missions, honestly, who cares? Benny Lewis has inspired millions of people, far more than people who write nasty things about him on the Internet ever will.

 

• Accusing all polyglots of being a “jack of all trades, master of none”

 

A simple case of confirmation bias (which is selectively choosing data or experience to suit your conclusion that makes you feel better about yourself / confirm your existing beliefs).

 

Most hyperpolyglots that I know have a “core” of languages that they know very, very well and others that are all over the map (my core would, no doubt, be the languages of Scandinavia, Yiddish and the Melanesian Creoles. With time I’d like to bring at least some native languages of Oceania into that core as well.)

 

What people who say this ACTUALLY mean is “I’d like to think that this person is terrible at all of their languages so I can feel better about myself”.

 

Once you realize that pretty much everyone who espouses the viewpoints on this list does so from a sense of personal insecurity, you actually learn to not take them seriously anymore. In fact, you might actually…have pity on them.

 

• The one who accuses polyglots of reading from the screen or using translation devices

 

Again, we polyglots are aware that mis-portraying ourselves or overinflating our skills can get us into trouble in our in-person interactions. If we use a language in one of our videos, we either have to be prepared to use it with other people or explain that we’re learning it or that we forgot it. There is not fourth option

This accusation is just another form of the generalized hate for the polyglot community which is, essentially, a security blanket for insecure people.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. People always have the chance to fulfill their language dreams, whether it be learning one language to near-native fluency or twenty languages okay.

I hope we live to see a day in which this internet toxicity that is holding our community back dies out for good. We all can do our part by putting the effort towards making our OWN dreams a reality.

You can start TODAY! And don’t believe ANY pessimism! Not now, not ever!

Go Go Go!

Who’s Afraid of Swedish ‘n Friends? The Culture of Discouragement from Learning Scandinavian Languages and its Implications

Polyglot Facebook groups exploded last week with countless debates and personal stories about learning languages of Scandinavia via on-location immersion (or, in simpler terms, learning Swedish in Sweden very much like I did [even though I did the majority of the work after I left]).

The vast majority of the stories were discouraging for a multitude of reasons. Icelanders who wanted to use English no matter what. Danes telling study-abroad students that learning their language was a waste of time. Nearly a HUNDRED stories about people had given up learning these languages because of these attitudes.

I’d like to say two things.

First off, there’s tunnel vision at work in a lot of these. Looking back at my time in Sweden, I was met mostly with ENCOURAGEMENT to learn Swedish from native-speaking friends (especially since I told them that I was doing it for heritage reasons). But again, there were times that I screwed up with in hesitating (which WILL get you answered in English) and unnaturally slow speech (same result).

I had frustration, no doubt. I called up my parents for encouragement and sometimes was nearly on the verge of crying, wondering how I could ever learn the language of my family to read the letters of my ancestors who had passed on.

But there were also people like the learners I met in Heidelberg, staff members at stores who would use Swedish with me even if I was speaking English to my family members within earshot, and those who were pleased when I switched from ordering my groceries in English to Swedish and told me that I was going a good job.

Keep in mind that during all of this I was at a BASIC level. And another thing to keep in mind (with all of these internet horror stories hopping around) is the fact that using a language is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GAME depending on what level you’re on.

That’s the first thing.

The second thing is, yes, the attitudes need to improve. As far as the west is concerned, the day is not far when NO ONE will be impressed by good English spoken by non-natives anymore. The flipside to this is that as fewer and fewer people in the Anglophone world see a reason to learn languages, especially those outside of the mainstream, the more you’ll stand out and the more people will want to engage you because of that.

If you are a speaker of a language other than English, you have a MORAL IMPERATIVE to not switch to English unless absolutely necessary. This isn’t up for debate anymore in an age of mass language death.  No one is impressed, no one thinks it fun, and it just makes you look insecure. If you don’t like the fact that I said that, get over it. Learn to have some pride in your identity and your native language and realize that throwing away your identity for some cool American-esque one only serves the corporations destroying the planet. (And did I mention it makes you look insecure? I did. Also using multiple languages with English is okay, as no doubt I may encounter in places like Fiji should I go there later this year).

The good news is that most people are changing. The polyglot communities seem to be getting more powerful and with the Internet people are being exposed to other languages and cultures more quickly than before and realize that machine translation isn’t going to solve everything or make everything accessible.

When I was reading a lot of the Scandinavian discouragement stories in groups, I kept on thinking “why did none of this really happen to me?” In Greenland when buying things in stores, it was usually in a mixture of Greenlandic and Danish even though sometimes they might have thrown some English in their in the off-chance that they thought I was from somewhere else. (Disclosure: with the exception of speaking with friends [in which we took turns hopping between various languages], I didn’t take the English-thing personally and just continued using whatever language I was without flinching).

Then, of course, the fact that I’ve met speakers from the Nordic countries in New York and they’ve all been super-appreciative of my efforts to learn their language and with CONSISTENCY they’ve told me that they’ve been impressed. Sometimes some of them wanted to learn other languages from me, in which case I was willing to switch (I gotta do my part to keep languages alive too, y’know). But nowhere NEAR the variety of stuff along the lines of “people told me to stop wasting their time, people rolled their eyes, I needed a perfect accent in order to not get English used with me”, yada yada yada.

It has nearly been one year since I was in Myanmar and I could have easily blamed the fact that I got answered in English fairly frequently on the fact that I’m WHITE. Or I could do the mature thing and realize that I’ve encountered fluent Burmese speakers of all races and that I should have worked on my general fluidity and sounding natural rather than expecting to get answered in Burmese with simple phrasebook material.

Looking back at my time in Sweden and Iceland, I saw it as an added challenge. Getting answered in Icelandic in a restaurant was so elusive in polyglot groups that it almost never happened. I had it done consistently (with public transport it was another story because they expected me to be a tourist. Keep using Icelandic and they’ll switch, trust me on this. Again, with personal conversations = completely different game). That said, I also hear that Quebec and Senegal make Iceland seem like “the first level in the game”.

At the end of the day, I want you to read this piece with nothing but encouragement.

Getting fluency in the languages of the Nordic countries AND getting L1 speakers to use it with you IS VERY MUCH POSSIBLE. Don’t believe ANYONE who tells you otherwise. Sure, there may be some people who discourage you but they’d exist for any language community and are always in the minority.

But any language journey, no matter what language you choose, is no simple process—you need to be dynamic, inventive and persistent.

And keep in mind that, in all likelihood, you’re not reading a whole lot of success stories about language learning in the polyglot groups. But those success stories are out there and you can start writing your own!

Have fun and don’t give up!

What the Irish Language Revival Needs

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh! (Happy St. Patrick’s Day to All of You!)

Having spent my adolescence in New England and the week before my freshman year of college in County Kerry (including walking through areas of the Gaeltacht), Ireland has always had a warm place in my heart (including countless attempts to learn Irish with mixed results and yes, conversations in Irish throughout the year. )

I myself am of Irish-American heritage (although sadly I don’t know which county my ancestry stems from). The Kerry Way and rural Connecticut clearly have similar architectures and layouts, much like rural Sweden and rural Wisconsin seem eerily similar to each other.

My parents, having met in New York City, never found Hiberno-English foreign or even strange. When I began my studies of Irish in 2014 (with the Duolingo course and Transparent Language, for better and for worse, guiding me through the pronunciation), I realized exactly how much influence this language had on English as well as the American brand thereof in particular. (Yiddish also had a similar feeling as well, not also to mention when I studied Italian before my “polyglot awakening” in 2013 / 2014).

As an Ashkenazi Jew I realize how the Irish-American and the Jewish-American stories are so SIMILAR. Large diaspora communities and profound influence on American culture as a whole, systematic discrimination throughout the 20^th century as well as having ceased to be a minority in many respects (as far as the United States was concerned), having posters of our holy lands throughout our classrooms, mixing our ancestral languages with English, prizing our music and our religious traditions and, of course, the debate about to what degree our victimhood narratives really serve us and cultural intricacies and narratives so deep that most foreigners will never understand how much of a “minefields” our internal politicking really is.

The Irish Language, despite being increasingly accessible with each coming year, is also a point of many, MANY heated debates, including alarmism of “the language is dying!” and some people saying “why keep it alive anyway?” not also to mention countless, COUNTLESS debates with a lot of hurt feelings and confusion.

That said, I think that, contrary to what many scholars think, if there is a future for ANY language, it will likely be in part because of L2 Learners. I think that Irish-Language learners the world over have the possibility to provide the salvation this language needs. The fact that the Duolingo Course, warts and all,  became the SECOND language course to be released from the community (ahead of languages like Russian, Swedish, Japanese and even Mandarin Chinese) and also reached more than FOUR MILLION learners deserves to be celebrated.

The most likely reason, however, that I haven’t become fluent in Irish yet, despite all of this time, is…well, my self-discipline actually.

But I think that if the Irish language were easier to rehearse, then we would NOT have a system in which place in which people learn Irish and school and then forget it.

How many people have you met that learned English and school and then forgot it entirely? That’s because the MEDIA in which English is used are readily available. And in addition to creating Irish-language resources (of which there are plenty), there also need to be a multitude of ways to engage with the language.

Here are some ideas:

• Cartoon Dubbings (with various degrees of being learner-friendly)

 

Yes, I’ve used TG4 before, but often a lot of the sentences eluded me. I think that if there were the possibility to add subtitles (as, for example, is common and REQUIRED in Norway) and possibly even vocabulary lists (as what the Yiddish Forward does—you can highlight any word to see its English meaning), these TV shows would become VERY accessible and people would flock to learn the language and try it out with cartoon shows.

 

• A Richness of Music in Many Different Styles

 

No doubt it already exists, somewhere, but often what is readily available when one searches “Ceol as Gaeilge” in YouTube is a number of covers of English-Language pop songs. I’m EXTREMELY grateful for that, but the world of Irish music also needs to expand into re-interpreting old classics in novel ways (much like Faroese music has done), and also venture into realms like Gangsta Rap and Techno (Burmese music got me hooked just because of the sheer variety—also because the albums were about $10 for 100+ songs, but that’s another story).

The music should also come with translated lyrics as well as, yes, you got it, vocabulary lists for learners.

• Less Alarmism in Journalism Discussing the Irish Language

There IS a threat to the language, and no one is denying that in the slightest. However, playing it up for clicks is not helpful nor does it even motivate most people to learn the language (except for altruists such as myself).

• More Richness of Learning Materials

 

Believe me, if the Irish Language had material that was even one-fifth of what a language like Spanish or even Turkish had in regards to websites and books and apps to learn it, no one would be fretting about its future.

More games, more interactive materials, more unique ways to engage with the language for ALL levels of learners, and we’d be in for many, many problems solved.

 

• Fewer People Calling It “Useless”

 

Do I really need to discuss this point any more than I already have on this blog?

 

• Making People Realize that Irish-Speakers REALLY Want to Help You Learn!

 

This was even referenced on Ros na Rún several times. Only today did I read a post decrying the idea that many Swedes seemed to be discouraging of people wanting to learn their language (I’m addressing this in a point next week—don’t worry, it is VERY encouraging!). With most Irish speakers, you won’t encounter this at all.

 

Much like secular Yiddishists helped me learn Yiddish at every opportunity and in every possible way, Irish speakers have given me very much the same. (I have a feeling that the rest of the world, especially in the west, will be on track for that as English continues to expand in its usage. I don’t mean to imply that languages of Northern Europe will be endangered much like Irish or Yiddish is now, by the way).

 

• Encouraging Fluent Speakers to Make Their Own Media on YouTube (with possible monetary stipends)

A language like Finnish or German was easy for me to learn in comparison to Irish (despite the grammatical difficulties with both) given how EASILY I could find videos related to pretty much any topic in either. That, and also a lot of very popular videos would have Closed Caption Subtitles in these languages. Irish doesn’t even come close to having that luxury. Or, at least, not yet.

Within the past few years I’ve noticed Welsh-language gaming channels popping up and even some in Irish (although sometimes they fall out of use after some times). We need to get these projects going (and given YouTube’s new monetization guidelines instituted in February 2018, it is more of a battle).

I’ve seen it over and over again with people choosing their languages – the more opportunities they have to use it in some capacity, the more alluring that language is. Every video, post or song in Irish helps!

• Making More Social Opportunities to Use Irish in Ireland, the other Celtic Nations and in Big Cities Throughout the World.

New York City has a lot of Irish speakers. I know because I’ve met many of them. But sometimes the Meetup groups fall out of usage because their owner can’t pay the fees anymore, or if they do exist they post events about once a year.

With apps like Amikumu and HelloTalk in the fray, it seems that we can create these opportunities. Sometimes we as individual language learners are held back. We don’t need to be scared. The world needs us. Now more than ever!

Have YOU ever learned Irish or any other Celtic Languages? How did it go? Let us know in the comments!

Three Months of Fijian – Half-Way Reflection

In late January I heard that I might be spending the summer in Fiji (or, at least, a part of it).

As a result of being lightly disappointed with the fact that I put off studying Burmese until I got my visa to Myanmar for my Spring 2017 venture (something I should have NOT done, I should have begun studying Burmese as soon as the idea became entertained), I decided to do the opposite this time and invest in Fijian (and Fiji Hindi) as QUICKLY as possible, despite the fact that there is a possibility this trip may not happen at all.

One Lonely Planet book, many songs, and one-half of the 30-Day Speaking Challenge later, I find myself in a good place with Fijian, one that significantly surpassed what I was able to do with Burmese in May 2017.

Granted, part of this is likely due to the fact that (1) Fijian isn’t the first Austronesian language I’ve studied (I did some flirtation with Tongan in 2017 and committed myself to Gilbertese in January) (2) the fact that there is no new alphabet to learn and (3) the fact that there are more English loan words in Fijian than in many languages dissimilar to English.

Within the past week I’ve done away with my problems with numbers, leaving dates and time to be my biggest weak point, not also to mention getting vocabulary to “stick”.

I’ve also had issues in getting a steady stream of Fijian-language material.

For one, English is the lingua franca of Fiji (given that there are the iTaukei, the indigenous Fijians who speak “Na Vosa Vakaviti” as their first language, as well as the Fiji Indians who speak Fiji Hindi as their first language).

Second, SBS Australia (Special Broadcasting Service, in case you were curious) discontinued its Fijian-language programming last year, leaving me with the archives and nothing else.

Third, even on those broadcasts there sometimes is a significant portion of dialogue that can happen in English.

Fourth, it’s easier to find material from languages spoken in the developed world for too many reasons to count (The sheer rich variety of material in languages Finnish and German seemed to make their difficulty almost vanish, in a sense).

I’ve noticed that my accent in Fijian is getting better despite the fact that I’ve made no deliberate efforts to improve it. That said, I do have some issues with the r (which is rolled deliciously in Fijian). Another thing to keep in mind about Fijian pronunciation is the fact that the s is pronounced with extra spice. The word “boys” spoken by a Fijian speaking English would be pronounced like “boyce”.

My listening comprehension does need to improve (and I’ll go on recording say that Lao was the easiest dissimilar-from-English language to comprehend as a beginner. I honestly have no idea why.) Fijian, much like many other languages of Oceania, is spoken quickly although it did not leave me as “flattened” by its sheer speed the way that Gilbertese did. I have no intention on slowing down my audio but instead celebrating my small victories in listening to broadcasts (“Wow! I know what they’re talking about!”)

Where do I go from here?

My new CleartheList for Fijian:

– Dates and Time (new video coming soon, most likely!)
– Possessive suffixes and pronouns FULLY MASTERED
– Create Memrise Course with vocabulary from the Lonely Planet Phrasebook
– Get more music! (All music is appreciated!)

ALSO! Important for learners of Fijian! If you are looking for music, broadcasts, material, etc, don’t forget to use both “Fijian” in some searchs and “iTaukei” in others.

“iTaukei” literally means “indigenous”, and as a result of Fiji’s most recent constitutional changes it refers to the indigenous inhabitants of Fiji, whereas Fijian refers to all inhabitants of Fiji. Hence, Fiji Indians would be Fijians but not iTaukei.

(If you know anything about iTaukei / Findian relations, let me know!)

I’m so grateful I’ve decided to do this.

But not so complicated it can’t be done, mind you!

Next week for Lee Morrow’s Project Polyglot, I’ll be presenting on a self-learning!

Read more about it / register here!

Things I’ve Learned from Making Online Videos Since my First Polyglot Video Last Year

 One year ago today I filmed  my first polyglot video of me narrating my life in 31 languages (and I uploaded it the following day). In my opinion now, it isn’t the best video, but still an accomplishment nonetheless give that I was fairly new to video-making and was still (at that point) too nervous to even film a Let’s Play Video, yet along a Polyglot Video.

I’ve gained not only wisdom, several newspaper articles written about me, and many interviews and friends since then, but also things I need to know about making videos in the future.

For one, a lot of people aren’t going to really know about what makes a video good or not, even if they’ve filmed something viral themselves. The algorithms continue to not only confound me but also change regularly.

However, one thing I’ve consistently gotten feedback on in the fact that more emotion and voice musicality is good, not also to mention sound quality. Sometimes I’ve been capable of delivering this, other times I haven’t.

Also keep in mind that no matter what you do, people are going to accuse you of being fake somehow. Believe me, this happens to ALL of the online polyglots (some do a significantly better job at hiding it that others). One viral video had several nasty comments accusing the speaker of using Google Translate (something that I literally COULDN’T have done with my most recent Valentine to Oceania video from February 2018, given that literally none of the languages in the video were in Google Translate at the time of filming [and still aren’t, as of the time of writing]).

I know I’m genuine. Sometimes I have bad moments, sometimes I “knock it out of the park”, but most of the time I’m good if not great. This isn’t up for debate, because otherwise I wouldn’t be friends with well-known polyglots and have conversations with them in their various languages. No amount of Internet hate can take that away from me, and it shouldn’t take it away from you either.

I wasn’t reading from a script in any of my polyglot videos (although I did outline beforehand “things to talk about”, for example, and go through a practice run of talking about those things with recording software to see if my accent[s] sounded good enough). Nonetheless, given that I didn’t show emotion in my video (due to fear) I got that accusation leveled against me by multiple people.

Even if you have difficulty showing emotion, I would recommend trying to smile (even though yes, this is something I’m trying to work on myself). Also I think that while short videos can be helpful if you’re trying to get some feedback on your accent (which was one point of the Oceania video from last month AND the Jared Gimbel Story from last year), keep in mind that many people may be looking for a solid 30 seconds – 1 minute per language you speak.

But again, feel free to experiment with the formula (very much like I have).

If I had to prepare another video tomorrow, here’s what I would do:

• Each language I’d like to feature, 30 seconds each MINIMUM.
• Multiple takes is okay with good editing.
• You could have a thread that ties all of the narratives spoken in each language together or just simply say “I learned language X. I liked it because XYZ”. Either way, there are going to be some “haterz” angry with you regardless of which you picked. (The former may accuse you of being scripted, the latter may say “why do you just say the same thing over and over again?” You can’t win with some people)
• Announce a plan to my friends beforehand (on Facebook) to give me positive feelings going in.
• Set aside a good hour to rehearse speaking beforehand (that is to say, good diction, eye contact, etc.)
• Film with the best device I have (smartphone is good).
• Use languages I really like.
• Do some recording practice beforehand for some self-assessment
• Give it a title that doesn’t mention you by name but DOES mention you by name in the description or video itself.

 

Some Miscellaneous Thoughts

 

One neutral, and one thought that may vex some of you.

Let’s start with the neutral one.

The fact that I focus on lesser-known languages is likely to work against me in the algorithms, if it hasn’t already. Someone speaking Romance languages from Western Europe may be more likely to get millions of views than my videos featuring languages from the Pacific (despite the fact that my Oceania video was actually the first-ever of its kind!)

I’m okay with that because it is true to who I am, and who knows? Maybe a video featuring me and my rarer languages WILL actually go viral, contrary to my expectation now.

Lastly, I’m not going to lie, I feel as though the online polyglot community needs to diversify away from the official languages of the U.N and the “Duolingo Five” (of Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian). It’s okay if you like them, it’s GREAT if you like them, even. I may even choose to focus on one of them in the future in more depth than I already have if the need comes up (Spanish and German I have well enough already, but I don’t really “love” them the way I do languages like Greenlandic or Fijian).

To that end, I will be omitting languages like Spanish, French, German and even ENGLISH from my polyglot videos until I feel as though the YouTube collection of polyglot videos diversifies considerably beyond that.  If you speak one of these as a native language, please do not construe this as me holding your culture is less regard, because we ALL have value. This is just my way to ensure that this world gets “spiced up a bit” (and also to see how people react when I have Kiribati and Lao in my video and no Spanish. It should be an important lesson on how most people ACTUALLY value linguistic diversity)

I need to set an example. I think that a lot of people are focusing on very powerful languages with very little motivation without realizing that so many cultures need to be explored. That’s why I do what I do. And it is okay if you disagree with me, because communities are all about mature disagreement.

I have to use my position of power and influence to create a world I need to see. And that world includes linguistic diversity from ALL of our cultures, not just the ones that were and are dominating the globe.

 

I’d like to thank all of my watchers and readers for the support that I’ve had since my first polyglot video was filmed. I truly appreciate it and it is because of you that I continue to work!

I’m running out of pictures and I should probably upload new ones. Sometimes I can’t believe how shamefully open / honest I am. 

On to your dreams!

The Polyglot’s Guide to Dealing with In-Person Haters

I’m pleased to announce that my post about how to deal with online hate (again, NOT criticism, as some people may incorrectly call it) was EXTREMELY well-received, and many language enthusiasts all over the world confided in me that having that in writing had a therapeutic effect.

Here’s a significantly smaller problem, however. You develop a reputation for being able to speak many languages and sometimes some people may not choose to believe you for a number of different reasons.

The more your reputation as a polyglot grows, the more you constantly feel under pressure to perform–in a sense, it feels like permanent stage fright, especially if you come from a place where not a lot of people speak many languages (the United States would definitely qualify, and this also has a negative effect on people who DO speak more than one language natively because they don’t expect you to be good AND will probably judge you to very high standards, especially if the language is commonly offered in schools)

Again, hate is not criticism. Criticism is done lightly and with a hope that you’ll improve. Hate is a desire to knock other people down.

Here’s one type of hate that can be sometimes innocent but sometimes harsh:

 

“There’s no way you speak all of those”

Obviously more common online, this is a relatively easy fix because usually a lot of people who say these tend to not speak many languages.

They may ask you to translate random things in the room (that you may not even know the name of in your NATIVE LANGUAGES), but don’t feel as you’re struticized very much. If someone is “testing” you, you need to deliver your sentences with confidence and with a believable accent and you’re good. Believe me, they probably won’t be judging you or remembering everything you say or secretly recording it. Ordinary people aren’t spies.

Also keep in mind that some people may not actually mean ill when they say this, they really want you to show what you’re capable of, especially if you know languages that a lot of people have never heard of before (God knows how many times I’ve been asked to speak some Greenlandic, Icelandic, or heck, even languages from Oceania).

Especially with Americans, you’re more likely to impress them as long as you have a relaxed a smooth feel to your sentences.

If you do get asked to speak a more commonly spoken language that American students usually study at one point in their lives (e.g. Spanish), be prepared to use something more idiomatic. I save my imitation of El Rubius OMG for occasions such as that, but given how commonly Spanish is learned in comparison to Fijian, you can guess which one people ask me to speak more often.

 

Getting the Native Speaker to Test You

One of my personal favorites (especially since a lot of “in-person haters” usually choose Swedish people for this expecting it to be one of my weaker languages when it is one of my strongest).

There’s no way around this, you need to have something prepared for this. But fear not, even if you’re an absolute beginner, you can pull it off:

For beginners: song lyrics, simple phrases, pickup lines (if you’re feeling bold), jokes, Bible verses (if you’re feeling EXTREMELY bold), tongue twisters, or saying “I love (insert language or country)!” and / or “I want to speak (language) better!”

For intermediate learners: mention names of bands or songs or YouTube channels you like (or even places in their home country that you liked). Ask your native speaker friend for recommendations.

For advanced learners, this is an non-issue but whatever you do, DO NOT OVERANALYZE IT. You’d be surprising how forgiving a lot of native speakers really are, especially if they come from places where there are many immigrants that learn the language (e.g. Sweden, Israel, Germany, etc.)

Given as most human beings (in-person, at least) are actually decent human beings, you’re probably not going to hear your skills insulted, yet alone insulted harshly.

 

The Native Speaker Who Only Wants to Use English

 

This is a toughie. It just simply shows an extreme sense of insecurity on their part. It also shows close-mindedness and an unwillingness to experience new things or help people. Not much I can say. Move on and realize that this is most likely a reflection on THEMSELVES, not on you (same way that people writing nasty comments about you [or me, or anyone else] online is ALSO a reflection of their toxic mindsets).

 

The Person Who Insults Your Language Choice

 

I like Fijian (the language I’m focusing on right now, in fact). French, not so much. Not right now, at least, but who knows what I’ll like in the future? Maybe if I end up in Polynesia I’ll be crash-studying it again.

God knows how many people I’ve encountered asking me why I choose to focus more on languages from Scandinavia and Oceania rather than Romance Languages or Chinese Languages. I don’t have a good answer, except for the fact that I like what I like and I’m not ashamed of it. What’s more, I’ve had contact with local celebrities from small countries because of these choices, not also to mention the fantastic red carpet treatment I get (in both Sweden and Iceland I was told that I spoke the language better than most immigrants, especially recent immigrants. I’m a lot better now in both).

I explain the reasons why I learn languages from these places (I’ve had a childhood fascination with the Pacific, I have Swedish ancestry myself that I wanted to connect to, etc.). Most people will usually understand that reason. Or, at least, they will pretend that they do.

 

The Person Who Insults You For Not Focusing On Their Language

 

I get this almost exclusively from French and Spanish speakers (sorry…)

Same as the above. By doing so, you’ll have people realize that being a good example is the best way to get someone interested in your language (Danish was a language I chose to learn because I had positive interactions with native speakers, even before I knew Danish. I’ll say this: it is easier to use Danish with them than you think, don’t believe the hype on the Internet that says “Oh! They’ll use only English no matter what!” Trust me, it isn’t true.)

I’ve also met mature speakers of these languages who also realize that, ask questions and general don’t have any INCH of this language chauvinism.

 

The Person Who Thinks that His or Her Native Language is Useless and That You Shouldn’t Be Learning It

 

Probably the rarest of them all.

Example: Swedish person in Sweden tells me that I didn’t really need to know Swedish because yada yada high English proficiency rates. (This was before I was “any good at it”)

My response was pretty much (a politely version of): “Oh, yeah? Well, I have letters written in Swedish written by my DEAD FAMILY MEMBERS. And those letters aren’t going to translate themselves”.

After something like this, they almost invariably keep quiet about it permanently.

Again, this is a RARITY (and in some cases, a test. They may want to find what it is that you like about their culture. Any reason is good enough. It doesn’t matter if it is heritage reasons or becuase you like watching Let’s Play videos in your target language, as long as you show an appreciation of some sort, you’re good).

 

Conclusion: Haters exist because a lot of the world is hurting.

The contemporary world in the west thrives on making people feel insecure. One result of this is that a lot of people walk about the world dejected and desperate.

You, oh Polyglot hero(ine), are not one of those people. But on going through a great journey, you’ll encounter many people. Some of them may be wise and want to help you and gain your wisdom, others will seek to put you down in order to make them feel good about themselves. Don’t blame them, they’re victims of a system that most are truly unaware of.

But there’s a clear way to win. And that’s to move forward to your dreams, come what may.

Happy dreaming!

 

Ajoraluaqaaq! (Really Bad!) How My Greenlandic Mission for February 2018 Crashed and What I Need to Do

First off, I should say that 22 out of 30 days isn’t bad. The fact that I was capable of doing SOMETHING is indeed an accomplishment. But, it’s time for me to reflect on what I did wrong and how I can learn going forward.

For one, I should realize that there was possibly something outside of my control. The fact is, I got ill in the middle of February (right when the slump started happening) and I should learn to “have mercy” on myself accordingly.

Similar timetables in my life got scrambled as a result of that illness (e.g. for the video games I’m working on, etc.) Luckily now that it has been detected, I’m on an upwards trajectory and it shouldn’t last any more than a few days.

Anyhow, let’s go ahead and show you the video, which is almost half the size as the one I did for the November 2017 30-Day Challenge I did for Lao:

Some thoughts: I really start out enthusiastic but I lose steam very quickly. My recordings also tend to become shorter.

After having reached 22 out of 30 days, I decided that I’m going to “end this one early”.

Here are the probable reasons why I did this:

 

• My illness.

 

No denying that and I should have taken it into account. Now that I’m almost recovered, I’m seven days into the Fijian challenge and it is going GREAT!

 

• I needed the “Temple of Greenlandic” in my life in more earnest.

 

I spoke about the “Temple” theory with Ari in Beijing last year. The fact is, to learn a language, you need a dedicated “temple” to its usage within your time schedule. Not a physical one, mind you, but a time in your weekly tasks which you devote to either learning or using the language (depending on how fluent you are and / or how much you can understand).

Back in 2013 / 2014 when I began with Greenlandic, I found no shortage of music or TV shows that I liked. It was refreshingly new and it was like a first love, in a sense.

 

Now the relationship has aged and I need to somehow “spark it up” a bit.

 

I probably need new music, new shows and also a likely return to it on Memrise (Greenlandic and Finnish are the two languages that I’ve plugged the most time in on memrise, actually. I believe Greenlandic by itself accounts for several million points on my end. I’m not even joking!)

 

• Between two languages, one seems to hog a lot of the spotlight.

 

And for February that was Fijian, which contained the spark of something new and a place I still have yet to explore. I still very much love Greenlandic. I have to be aware of this dynamic in the future and realize that MOST of my gains are going to be made with only one of the two languages I choose to focus on at the moment.

 

Part of me considered even using March for all-in Fijian, but I decided that I really, REALLY needed something Southeast Asian and that I would suffer without it (in a sense). So Lao got in, and I’ve been making SOME progress with Lao, but not as much as I have with Fijian.

 

• Burnout / Maybe I need a break from active study

 

I noticed that with some languages, like Icelandic or Polish, that I studied actively on and off for a while, that when I returned to them intensely after “pauses” (in which I did maintain them but usually for a tiny bit each week), my knowledge of them was oddly…refreshed and somehow enhanced.

 

I hope that this month will be some helpful time for my Greenlandic to simmer as well. No doubt when Nanook’s new album comes out (likely later this year), I’ll want to turn to Greenlandic again. The same goes for the company joining the Kaverini team as soon as their current project is finished (their game, which I tested, is scheduled for a release later this month).

 

• Exhaustion and Pressure

 

With this blog and with several interviews with me online, I now have the pressure to keep up and improve my languages like never before.

 

That, in addition to my Kaverini-related projects as well, not also to mention several of my YouTube series AND my freelancing.

 

It’s tough and I think the sheer weight of it can be stressful at times. This, on top of the sickness, was probably what dealt me a losing hand for this last month’s 30-Day Speaking Challenge.

 

Still, I’m glad I did it.

 

Every hour I plug into Greenlandic-related everything is true fulfillment in my life, given how much of my outlook, optimism, and warmth I owe to this culture of unbelievable fortitude and strength.

 

Perhaps it wasn’t a defeat after all.

 

YOU can try to the challenge for yourself come months in the future at the following link! http://hugginsinternational.com/30dayspeakingchallenge/