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    Your Elvenar Team

Anyone speak a different language?

MaidenFair

Chef - Head Philologist
Fiction. I'm an editor and have some great clients, but I occasionally dabble in my own novels just for fun. I don't market them, so I'll never make the kind of money on them that my clients make on their books, but it's enjoyable. Now that I'm semi-retired I have a BIT more time for it (I'm the editor of the Arizona Authors Association and put out a publication 6x a year, so that takes up a good deal of time). One of the books that required linguistic research was my Elf novel, Doonal's Kin.

I agree with you on the German-English connection. My son is currently learning German; I learned it years ago but forgot a great deal, lol. Still, it's much easier for an American to learn than, say, Spanish.
Oh, fun! I'm currently working as an editor but it's almost all academic papers, with the occasional CV or cover letter for variety. I enjoy that but I've always thought it could be interesting to edit fiction and so many books that I see getting published these days really could have used a good editor, lol!

One of my favourite classes on college was an introductory etymology class. The textbook was the full 24-volume OED, and it was a lot of fun to trace the roots of words and see the transition as the Celtic languages collided with German and Scandinavian, with bits and pieces of Arabic (hello Ottomans, thank you for the coffee) and others added in over time.
That class sounds like such fun! I've always wanted to get my hands on a copy of the OED, but it's soooo expensive. I envy Tolkien getting to work on it; talk about a dream job. :D

I didn't have a foreign language requirement in college (if you call that "adult"), but I tried to sign up for Japanese to try something different for fun. Then the Universe intervened again. The Japanese 1 time slot I signed up for, they changed it from a 3-credit course to a 5-credit intensive. I think instead of twice a week for 1.5hrs, it turned into 4hrs, once a week so I said, oh HELLS NO! Ain't got the mental stamina to handle 4hrs of anything. I was also supposed to be working on my Senior Project so no time to be taking 5-credit intensives for fun!
Ouch. Poor @crackie . You really haven't had good luck learning (I guess I should say "trying" to learn!) languages.
 

Darielle

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, and Buddy Fan Club Member
Oh, fun! I'm currently working as an editor but it's almost all academic papers, with the occasional CV or cover letter for variety. I enjoy that but I've always thought it could be interesting to edit fiction and so many books that I see getting published these days really could have used a good editor, lol!

I know what you mean. I have an acquaintance who is a bestselling author, but he doesn't think he needs an editor (and by his sales, I suppose he doesn't). I'm shocked that his stuff makes it into the top 10 on NYT or 1st in category on Amazon. His topics are great, but his grammar is that of a middle school student. Of course, I won't tell him that, lol. I only see him a dozen times a year in casual conversation or meetings; not well enough to have the nerve to drop a truth bomb. But one of my clients who knows him well has recommended me, so maybe some day he'll think about it. Of course, by the time he comes around I won't be semi-retired ... I'll be completely retired and it will be too late for me, hehe. But I agree with you 100 percent on what is published nowadays, particularly since the stigma of self-publishing has now been eradicated (out of necessity, since most publishers are now living on razor-thin budgets and can't take chances on unknowns). Self-publishing is wonderful and has led to some fantastic successes, but it's also led to a proliferation of people who believe they can write and will put anything on Amazon.
 

Darielle

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, and Buddy Fan Club Member
Did you publish on Kindle??
Yes, among other places. It's so easy nowadays even for casual writers to publish. I must warn you, though, most kindle self-published offerings are garbage (not mine, of course, LOL).
 

AtaguS

Well-Known Member
I took ancient greek in college, to avoid having to take another math class. Turned out to love it and took 2 years of it. I could read and write, read the Iliad. It was a blast. 20 years later all I can say is "Dikeopolis was a farmer". :p
 

DeletedUser27062

Guest
I know what you mean. I have an acquaintance who is a bestselling author, but he doesn't think he needs an editor (and by his sales, I suppose he doesn't). I'm shocked that his stuff makes it into the top 10 on NYT or 1st in category on Amazon. His topics are great, but his grammar is that of a middle school student. Of course, I won't tell him that, lol. I only see him a dozen times a year in casual conversation or meetings; not well enough to have the nerve to drop a truth bomb. But one of my clients who knows him well has recommended me, so maybe some day he'll think about it. Of course, by the time he comes around I won't be semi-retired ... I'll be completely retired and it will be too late for me, hehe. But I agree with you 100 percent on what is published nowadays, particularly since the stigma of self-publishing has now been eradicated (out of necessity, since most publishers are now living on razor-thin budgets and can't take chances on unknowns). Self-publishing is wonderful and has led to some fantastic successes, but it's also led to a proliferation of people who believe they can write and will put anything on Amazon.
After 50 Shades of Blah I completely lost faith in the publishing market lol. It's heartbreaking to see such trash writing make millions when truly gifted writers are sidelined.
 

Moho

Chef
It's heartbreaking to see such trash writing make millions when truly gifted writers are sidelined.
It's not much different in music, or art.

And our ability to still produce technological advancement is preventing us from realizing that science has reached a paradigm crisis. Cosmopologists have already relocated to Laputa.
 

crackie

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, Buddy's #1 Fan
@AtaguS I am your foil and would rather take another math class to avoid taking another English/Literature class!
 

Myne

Oh Wise One
Yes, among other places. It's so easy nowadays even for casual writers to publish. I must warn you, though, most kindle self-published offerings are garbage (not mine, of course, LOL).

I borrowed yours. :) I have had Kindle Unlimited since it started. Besides that I have 3000 books I own on there. I HAVE read a lot of garbage...pardon me....I have started reading a lot of garbage and then returned them or deleted them if they were free. I have come up on some good authors in the process.
 

Myne

Oh Wise One
I took ancient greek in college, to avoid having to take another math class. Turned out to love it and took 2 years of it. I could read and write, read the Iliad. It was a blast. 20 years later all I can say is "Dikeopolis was a farmer". :p

I know enough to get me in trouble. lol However, I could get the gist of my boss' conversations when he spoke greek, so I guess that's something.
 

Myne

Oh Wise One
@AtaguS I am your foil and would rather take another math class to avoid taking another English/Literature class!

I don't do math but love the written word and clepped senior and freshman college english. Can't do math for shhheeet though.
 

Myne

Oh Wise One
It's not much different in music, or art.

And our ability to still produce technological advancement is preventing us from realizing that science has reached a paradigm crisis. Cosmopologists have already relocated to Laputa.

agreed
 

ajqtrz

Chef - loquacious Old Dog
@Darielle

I, too, had to learn Old English and Middle English for my MA translation of the poem "The Pearl" The OE so I could find how certain words and phrases migrated into ME. It was tedious and I've forgotten most of it even as we speak. I can still read ME, and I suppose OE would come back faster than when I first learned it, but it's buried deep in my minds filing system at the moment.

In addition, I do wish I were an editor. I love language and am fairly good at it....at least my English degrees say so..LOL. I'm working on about 5 novels (2 done) in a series and will probably put the first out there this summer. I've completely re-written it three times and each time it's gotten better. Now I'm just letting it stew before doing a final edit. Then we'll see.

@crackie I did have a foreign language requirement in HS. 5 colleges, and 2 universities. I never took a course but they passed me anyway. All the languages I know I've taught myself, usually because I just wanted to know the language. I'm working on Korean at the moment.

Now, here's something for the rest of you. Most languages are taught via conversations, in small, incremental steps. And they are taught via the written word. Almost all languages courses follow this method. Another method, I'm trying with Korean is the oral method. It should take about a year of consistent work to get there. Here's how it goes: Turn on Netflix and listen to the language you wish to learn. That's pretty much it. If you want the written component, once you begin understanding the dialogue, you can then slowly learn the phonics and their representative symbols. This, for me, happened after a couple months.

Don't worry that you don't understand a thing at first. Keep going. Pay attention to the visual ques. When people meet they greet eqch other....what's that sound like? Listen to the same show until you can at least follow the plot and have a pretty good idea of what people's attitudes toward each other are -- and how they address each other. Again, listen to the same show over and over. It took me about six months to get enough that I can now turn to other shows and if not follow precisely along, at least follow what's going on and who the good guys and bad guys might be.

It's a different method, that it seems to work on the "immersion" principle.


AJ
 

Darielle

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, and Buddy Fan Club Member
@Darielle

I, too, had to learn Old English and Middle English for my MA translation of the poem "The Pearl" The OE so I could find how certain words and phrases migrated into ME. It was tedious and I've forgotten most of it even as we speak. I can still read ME, and I suppose OE would come back faster than when I first learned it, but it's buried deep in my minds filing system at the moment.

In addition, I do wish I were an editor. I love language and am fairly good at it....at least my English degrees say so..LOL. I'm working on about 5 novels (2 done) in a series and will probably put the first out there this summer. I've completely re-written it three times and each time it's gotten better. Now I'm just letting it stew before doing a final edit. Then we'll see.

@crackie I did have a foreign language requirement in HS. 5 colleges, and 2 universities. I never took a course but they passed me anyway. All the languages I know I've taught myself, usually because I just wanted to know the language. I'm working on Korean at the moment.

Now, here's something for the rest of you. Most languages are taught via conversations, in small, incremental steps. And they are taught via the written word. Almost all languages courses follow this method. Another method, I'm trying with Korean is the oral method. It should take about a year of consistent work to get there. Here's how it goes: Turn on Netflix and listen to the language you wish to learn. That's pretty much it. If you want the written component, once you begin understanding the dialogue, you can then slowly learn the phonics and their representative symbols. This, for me, happened after a couple months.

Don't worry that you don't understand a thing at first. Keep going. Pay attention to the visual ques. When people meet they greet eqch other....what's that sound like? Listen to the same show until you can at least follow the plot and have a pretty good idea of what people's attitudes toward each other are -- and how they address each other. Again, listen to the same show over and over. It took me about six months to get enough that I can now turn to other shows and if not follow precisely along, at least follow what's going on and who the good guys and bad guys might be.

It's a different method, that it seems to work on the "immersion" principle.


AJ
That's fascinating. I wish you great success with your book. And yes, the written word is the easiest way for most adults to learn a language. As they always say, reading comes first, then listening, and finally, speaking it yourself. My son is watching Deutsche Welle news in order to get a feel for the spoken word and to eventually feel confident enough to speak it himself. He's more worried about sounding foolish in a language than I am. I'm not the least bit embarassed, lol .... I will speak with anyone even though I don't speak it well. I once met a German at an Essen street fair who told me, "You speak as well as the average seven-year-old native-born German." I laughed and said I'd take it! Some seven year old American children speak English as well as some adults do, lol, so I wasn't the least bit insulted. :)
 

CrazyWizard

Oh Wise One
I know what you mean. I have an acquaintance who is a bestselling author, but he doesn't think he needs an editor (and by his sales, I suppose he doesn't). I'm shocked that his stuff makes it into the top 10 on NYT or 1st in category on Amazon. His topics are great, but his grammar is that of a middle school student. Of course, I won't tell him that, lol. I only see him a dozen times a year in casual conversation or meetings; not well enough to have the nerve to drop a truth bomb. But one of my clients who knows him well has recommended me, so maybe some day he'll think about it. Of course, by the time he comes around I won't be semi-retired ... I'll be completely retired and it will be too late for me, hehe. But I agree with you 100 percent on what is published nowadays, particularly since the stigma of self-publishing has now been eradicated (out of necessity, since most publishers are now living on razor-thin budgets and can't take chances on unknowns). Self-publishing is wonderful and has led to some fantastic successes, but it's also led to a proliferation of people who believe they can write and will put anything on Amazon.
Sounds like me, on the other hand I wonder if I even get trough middle school grammar roflol.

It was my biggest mistake when I started to learn korean, the aphabet was great. you could red it in like 5 minutes.
But an alphabet has 1 huge downside, it's the basis of grammar. and korean grammar is a bitch.

I should have learned chinese lol so much easier, no grammar at all.
 

crackie

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, Buddy's #1 Fan
I should have learned chinese lol so much easier, no grammar at all.
This is the first time I have heard Chinese described as “easier”. One of the arguments I used to eventually get out of Chinese school was “It’s so hard that even the people using it are trying to simplify it!” They hadn’t fully gone through the simplification process when I was forced to learn it so I was still learning Traditional Chinese, which I think is now only used in Taiwan and Singapore.
 

Darielle

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, and Buddy Fan Club Member
Sounds like me, on the other hand I wonder if I even get trough middle school grammar roflol.

It was my biggest mistake when I started to learn korean, the aphabet was great. you could red it in like 5 minutes.
But an alphabet has 1 huge downside, it's the basis of grammar. and korean grammar is a bitch.

I should have learned chinese lol so much easier, no grammar at all.
Lol, after seeing your posts on the forum, I would definitely not say that about you. But I wouldn't know about Korean or Chinese. The most I know about languages in that part of the world is when my translator son tries to teach me some Japanese, but I'm hopeless with it, lol.
 

AtaguS

Well-Known Member
@AtaguS I am your foil and would rather take another math class to avoid taking another English/Literature class!
You might have liked it. Not a single English book, phrase, word or letter in sight. Also the way the ancient greeks constructed their sentences and conjugated their verbs did at times feel like being back in calculus class o_O
 
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