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languages/index.html
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<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>Languages</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css">
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</head>
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<body>
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<main>
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<header>
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<h1>Languages</h1>
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</header>
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<article>
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<p>I've got quite a lot in general to say about languages, although I'll try to keep my thoughts as focused as
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possible on this page... In any case, I absolutely love languages, and have a long-term goal of learning
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as many as possible to a level of total mastery.</p>
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<p>With such things as social media as popular as they are, I've seen LanguageTubers and such other influencers
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go a long way to market their skills in a dozen or more languages, but the disillusionment that hits when you
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actually speak one of them to great fluency and realize you're spellbound by the good ol'
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<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gell-Mann_Amnesia_effect#English">Gell-Mann Amnesia effect</a>, unaware just how far they are from truly hitting the mark of perfection, is saddening to say the least.
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Perhaps akin to the feeling you get when you look at a bodybuilder "enhanced" beyond human limits by scary
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amounts of steroids.
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In that regard, I want to reach the same level... but for real. I realize that might be a vain pursuit, but...
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for now, I'm serious, and I do think it can be done. For some serious examples of linguistic athletics, read on,
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I've got quite a few stories to tell.</p>
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<h2>Tryharding</h2>
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<p>Unsurprisingly, putting in mad hours into language-learning will produce mad results, and it couldn't get
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much clearer than a seriously revelatory post I read the other day in a Discord server I'm a part of.
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This server has a channel dedicated to study-related achievements-in other words, a place to showcase your
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progress-and in that channel, a passing user posted the following single line:
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</p>
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<p>today marks 1 year of learning japanese and 300 days of <a href="https://jpdb.io">jpdb</a></p>
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<img src="/static/japanese_learning.png">
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<br>
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Yes, 30,000 words. Not 3,000.
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<p>This was the result of over 100 new words daily over the course of a year.
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This person achieved the "N1" qualification in Japanese, which in a word is the usual intermediate goal
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that most learners pursue for several years. I myself took about 3 years to get to that kind of level.
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When I saw this, I just felt so deeply humbled, knowing that that's what I would have looked like - if I'd
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put in even a fraction of the effort that that person did. Instead, I could only curse the fact that
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I'd gotten complacent as usual and let myself slip into unproductive waste and basically convince myself
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I didn't need to study anymore.</p>
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<p>The lesson I derive from this is the need for constant progress and desperation; if you let yourself
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slacken, you'll stop going anywhere and deprive yourself of your full potential.</p>
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<p>On this note, I've been reinvigorated to put some elbow grease back into German, and hopefully make it
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to C2 within another year (currently it's the 11th of June 2024). After having studied Japanese, I've been
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harrowed beyond what the vast majority of German can scare me with anymore - which just leaves a tremendous
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vocabulary grind to bring me up to speed. But now we've seen it can be done; and it shall.</p>
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<h2>Evgeny <s>Onegin</s> Uskov</h2>
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<p>Evgeny is another testament to the ability of a language learner to attain insane peaks totally unthinkable to
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the average learner; he achieved a pass on the 'Kanken' level 1 exam, which, in stark contrast to the
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JLPT 'N1' above, is orders of magnitudes harder. Even native Japanese struggle for years to earn it.
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Evgeny makes the third foreigner to obtain it, making it honestly look and sound totally trivial
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when you look at his YouTube videos describing the process. Even though the exam is virtually the most
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elite of its kind in Japan, he proved in practical terms that the formula for passing is really very simple;
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you just study words till the cows come home, and everything falls directly into place.</p>
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<p>Just like that Discord user, the path to success is the one that no one's watching you take, which
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presents the umpteenth clarion call that what's needed in such times of egotistical infatuation is a total
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ego-death, a detachment from any aversion to the pain of struggling, because the goal will vindicate itself
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in time.</p>
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<p>Thus I am reminded, yet again, how truly little effort I have dedicated, considered against the effort
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I very well could have. Thanks, Evgeny. One day I'll be able to call you a peer, at least in terms
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of the certificate; even though you'll always be the king ;)</p>
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<h2>Emil Krebs</h2>
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<p>Emil Krebs is a peerless master when it comes to languages. He attained an almost divine level of language,
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able to acquire a new language in a matter of weeks from nothing but reading in it; it's a truly
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nutty story, so I can only recommend you check out his Wikipedia page, but at any rate, this man is my
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role model in language-learning. I know I'm unlikely to reach even half the level he attained by the end,
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and I won't likely have even half the time for it that he did, but I suppose it's better to shoot for the
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stars and reach the moon than the moon and land on Everest. (Is that too ambitious...?)</p>
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<h2>My goals</h2>
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Well, anyway, enough motivational stories. Here're the languages I'm trying to learn! (Eventually!)
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<h3>German</h3>
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<p>German was the first foreign language I ever learnt, but I learnt it at just 10 years old, so I approached
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it with about the expected level of enthusiasm for being forced to do it: indeed, virtually none.</p>
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<p>The consequence was that although I did very well reach a roughly C1 level after 5 years of study,
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it did cost a lot, and I was extremely, extremely inefficient in learning. I did do a bit of reading (reading
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Winnetou most notably, a childhood classic of my dad's), and a good bit of listening to boot,
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but I had a total dearth of vocabulary, and by the time I quit, I still hadn't remedied the matter before moving
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onto alternative pastures (Japanese).</p>
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<p>All told, having now grown a great deal in my language wisdom (though still far from fully mature), I think
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I'm much better prepared to finish acquiring German to a truly advanced level. My goal, as with all
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languages I learn, is the top, which may well mean C2, or even higher. I would judge my level of English
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as being a good yardstick for the desired level of attainment, and as yet my German level is nowhere
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near such heights. At the very least I lack a great deal of natural expression, which may well never
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be remedied, considering how universally entrenched English is in my life, but I still believe I can
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get to nearly the same level given a truckload more reading and vocabulary cramming.</p>
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<h3>Japanese</h3>
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<p>My goals in Japanese are Kanken level 1 and Nihongo Kentei level 1. If these mean nothing to you, let it
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just be known that there oughtn't be any higher level (of exam) to attain than them; I can quit in good
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conscience when I get there!</p>
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<p>Rather, if I don't get to a level at least commensurate with these exams, I cannot convince myself
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I've truly reached an acceptable standard that I can feel secure in. Until I reach such a level, I don't
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dare say I truly "speak" Japanese; even though I suppose the truest sense of fluency doesn't depend on
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one's literary trivia, but one's ability to string normal sentences together, I still have no interest in
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"studying" everyday speech in its place, so this shall have to do.</p>
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<h3>Latin</h3>
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<p>I love Latin, but I've not been able to learn it yet in much depth because I've had other languages on my mind,
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namely German and Japanese, but there's no chance I can pass up learning it.</p>
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<p>I picked up a dictionary in Latin a few weeks ago, and I intend to eventually learn that thing front to back
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(maybe skipping the English-to-Latin section and focusing on Latin-to-English...); the beauty, in any case,
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of the Latin language, is the wealth of wisdom penned by our ancestors that has since been effaced from the
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public consciousness because of our going illiterate in the Latin language. It feels like you get to reconnect
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with the shared heritage of all Europeans learning Latin, despite the lack of real people to talk to once you do;
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perhaps the ultimate vanity it may be, but the idea of learning Latin is deeply romantic for this reason.
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I also dream of making new content in Latin, which would be super hype, lol.</p>
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<h3>Ancient Greek</h3>
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<p>Much like Latin, Ancient Greek (Attic or Koine I suppose, but I've not figured out which) is another language
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I'd much like to learn, but don't dare to whilst already learning another language; I triage it a good bit lower
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than my other priorities right now though, as it's mostly only really good for a select few ancient texts,
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and the Bible, since a great part of Ancient Greek writings have been lost to time.</p>
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<p>Indeed, the Greek language is also incredibly beautiful, and exceedingly mystical compared to other
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Indo-European languages: it has a quite unique feel despite technically falling into the same language family as
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our own, maybe because of its pre-Greek substrate lending it a lot of insular character... in any case, I love it,
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and will eventually endeavour to learn it. I've got a Greek New Testament (translations of which Emil
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frequently employed to study, btw!) and a textbook so far, so I hope to eventually supplement these both with a
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hearty dose of spaced repetition.</p>
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<h3>Korean</h3>
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<p>Okay, this one's just to flex on my friend.</p>
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<h3>English...</h3>
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<p>Embarrassingly, my level of English has actually probably significantly declined over the years,
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on account of a decreasing use of any florid language in my daily affairs; I used to use it much more when
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I needed it for English essays in school, but as of graduating from that obligation, I've neither continued to
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read much fiction, nor made any effort to learn literary or fanciful vocabulary, leaving me a little poor in
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terms of thesaurus-power... I'm sure my 14-year-old self would've massively trumped me in a battle of words
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if we were to do it today, which is a matter to be cried at. I therefore want to eventually do the same thing I
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do for foreign languages - study English! I used to have an Anki deck like that, but on account of not treating
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it with respect, I stopped doing it, and am still languishing a little English-wise. Sometime in the future
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that'll change, though.</p>
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<h3>Bulgarian</h3>
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<p>Despite being my mother tongue, I'm not awfully proficient in Bulgarian, to a degree where I might
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even well be called illiterate by Bulgarian standards. By no means does that word really apply, but
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I definitely don't possess even a high-school level of knowledge, which is pretty poor.</p>
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<p>I've done a lot for my language ability from my contributions on Wiktionary, but these are only a fraction
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of the language, and a tiny contributor to my overall ability compared to what a good healthy can of reading
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would do if I were to make an effort in that direction.</p>
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<p>To that end, although it's not particularly high on my priority list, I do intend to pick up my native
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language for a bit of traditional study. Hopefully my ancestors will then be proud and smile at me
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from the skies :)</p>
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<h3>Others...?</h3>
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<p>Well, I've probably had many idle fantasies of learning loads of other languages, but I won't deign to put them
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all here, since doing so so prematurely would divert my focus more than it already is; I can't be getting so many
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simultaneous priorities up in here!</p>
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<p>Something about chasing two rabbits, but catching none...</p>
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</article>
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</body>
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</html>
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