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Blog 5: Masterpost McGonigal
A Field of Links- By Julia McGonigal
I’m planning on taking an ASL class while at SDSU. I would love to become fluent but it might be a bit hard if this is true
My parents have always pushed me to learn a language besides Spanish, and every time they do I like to pull out this bad boy !
I’ve always heard that once you speak one latin based language you can learn others easily.
Who know’s if that’s true though? It always seems that languages can be easily learned when you are a baby, not as a young adult
Another suggested language that was suggested for me to try and learn is computer programming language. It seems a bit challenging to me, but I think it could be really cool if I was learning stuff like this
I love that movie Avatar, and I’m totally going to geek out here but there’s tons of different ways to learn the language!
I’ve been trying to figure out if the language itself could be taught as an elective, I’m pretty sure some people have attempted it…
But I mean I know that the individuals who created the Na’vi language studied many different linguistic aspects
Some even go so far as to figure out the specific phonology of the language!
But enough about the already existing Na’vi language…I think it would be interesting to see what goes into developing your own language
It’s the strangest blog I’ve ever found…and yet it is extremely fascinating. I think if I were to create my own language it would just be a bit of confusion.
The best thing for me to do is to find a language that I find interesting, and follow a passion. In this case it’s definitely going to be the Na’vi language! And here’s how I’m going to learn it
LFL: Student, Athlete, Linguist, do-gooder
About me:
I was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. I speak both English and Swedish. I play hockey and soccer. Die hard Wild fan.
My Language:
I’m a middle class white male from Minneapolis, MN. I am an artist and athlete. I lived in Sweden for a year. I picked up the language very quickly and became nearly fluent. Since this time I’ve lost a lot of my vocabulary but have maintained a good ability to understand and communicate in Swedish. I’ve been back several times to visit family and friends.
Favorite Music:
I can listen to anything depending on time place and mood. I love live hip-hop concerts. I also like to listen to indie-type music. Fink, Bombay Bicycle Club and Cage the Elephant are primo.
Favorite Word: Lagom
This is a Swedish word that means “Middle” or “Moderate” or “Just right”. The word doesn’t translate directly into English because it is used differently. I like the word because it describes a lot of the things well. I’m feeling lagom: relaxed, content, good.
Ideal Linguistic Adventure:
I meet a cute Swedish blonde girl. We alternate from speaking Swedish and English. We date for a few months. She wants me to meet her billionaire parents. I fly into Stockholm in a private jet and meet her parents at their mansion. Her mother speaks Swedish and French. Her dad offers me an executive position at his graphic design firm in France. The mother teaches me French and I soon become fluent in both French and Swedish.
How is linguistics like a pine cone?
Linguistics is hard. It’s a spiky and rough on the outside. But pine cones come from trees; there is a larger meaning and use. Linguistics is complex but paramount to our understanding of the world.
Language on the internet bruh
I’ve noticed that the way people use language differently on the internet. Different sites have a different required mannerism. Linkedin is the most formal because of the prospect of a job. Facebook is more “family” like; formal but still room for humor. Twitter and Instagram are probably the most playful because of the constant need to post and appeal emotionally to others to get likes on posts.
San Diego Museum of Man
As we first step into the Museum of Man, we can see a big wall full of words in different languages that translate to beer in English. This is where I found most of the languages that we were supposed to look for. I had trouble finding the “Yahi Language,” but other than that everything else was pretty easy to spot. Most of the words that were in different languages were names and places.
I enjoyed this experience because if it wasn’t for this class, I would not have a chance to go to this museum. I found the torture exhibit to be the most interesting part of the trip because it is crazy to think about what people had to go through back in the days. I kept imagining what it would be like if I were to live during that time period… hm… I probably would’ve been tortured for saying something stupid. I find it so strange and terrifying that the inventors actually came up with these ideas of torturing people.
Overall, I had a great time with my friends, even if it meant sacrificing my weekend to stay in the dorm instead of going back home. The highlight of my day was seeing the huge boxes of pizza and… of course, receiving a souvenir pencil from Professor Bigham.
Also, I drew my name in Maya Glyphs… which took forever… so glad the English alphabet is easier to write.
“Jia Xu” in Maya Glyphs
Weee~ Field Trip
During my trip to the Museum of Man and Balboa Park, I noticed how many languages there were in the museum. When I first walked into the museum there was a whole section dedicated to beer. In that area, there was a whole wall with “beer” written in different languages on it and that was where I found most of the languages we were told to find such as Star Wars language, Greek, French, Lithuanian and Latin. Afterwards, I moved on to the area devoted to Mayan exhibitions where I found signs of the Mayan language. There was also a section dedicated to the Kumeyaay language on the second floor. Then when I went to the mummy exhibits I saw carvings and writings of Egyptian on the tombstones and coffins which I thought was pretty interesting. The only one language I couldn’t fine was the Yahi Language even though I walked around the whole museum but it was probably because I didn’t look careful enough. Other languages I found throughout the museum were Spanish of course, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. From this trip, I learned to saw beer in a lot of different languages but mot importantly I learned how linguistically diverse the world we live in is.
(Untitled)
So as amazingly cool as the museum of man was and as slightly terrifying as the torture exhibit was I really don’t feel like doing this write up about it. However, since I have to I will say that I learned a lot and really enjoyed myself. The pizza was amazing, which definitely makes up for the fact that I didn’t find all the languages Doug told us to. (Sorry P.Doug) Anywho it was fun and I definitely want to go again.
Museum of Man- Balboa Park
Last Saturday, our dorm went to Balboa Park to be exposed to different languages and cultures in the museums. In the Museum of Man, there was an exhibit on Mayan culture and there were many places where the Mayan language was displayed.
There were also exhibits that had to do with Egyptian culture. There were mummies on display and there were tablets that showed hieroglyphics and Mesopotamian language.
Not only this, but there was an area of the Museum of Man devoted to beer and how it is made. There was a wall with the word “beer” in many different languages and a bar with bottles of beer from around the world all over the shelf.
After going to the Museum of Man, we went to the Instruments of Torture Exhibit. Most of these instruments were used in Europe, and were used for even the smallest crimes. It was interesting to see how punishment has changed over time and I am glad it changed so it is less harsh. There was a map of the world that showed that in most of today’s world, it is illegal and immoral to torture people the way they were tortured in the past.
Going to Balboa Park has made me realize what a diverse world we live in. It was eye-opening to learn about different cultures and languages and their history. I admire how so many cultures are represented all in one place.
-Meg Collier
Trip to the Museum of Man part 2(:
Paula Soto
Kiara Grant
Mission to the Museum of Man
October 11, 2014
The day started slow. No energy to move. No desire to get out of the uncomfortable bed provided by a college education. However, we found the strength to make it out of bed. The supplement of coffee helped. With our fellow neighbors, we walk ourselves to front of the hall residence. Paula ran (being late, as always). We will fast forward the day until we get to the museum. To our surprise, Balboa Park is humongous. There are different museums. The exciting part was the people that were selling items, drawings of people, and face paintings. The Museum of Man was the first museum we visited–reason for that was because Torture Exhibit was full. The first object we see is a wall full of words. The words are all written in different languages. Noticing all the various languages, it was overwhelming. In the big wall of languages, we discovered languages like: Lithuanian and Galactic Basic Standard( Star Wars language). There were some type of Asian languages, but we did not catch their names. Moving on from the wall, we encountered the section of the Mayans. There were many artifacts of their writing on the walls. Going upstairs, we entered the exhibit of the mummies–Egyptians. We saw their hieroglyphics. Through the rest of the museum we did not find other languages. Well, only Spanish and English. Beyond on that, we only found the languages above.
The second part of our day was spent in the Torture Exhibit. That was intense. It was very interesting. The exhibit showed various instruments of punishment throughout centuries. We are not going into the objects that we saw. Just be aware, that it was thought-provoking. The day turned out to be a good day, by exploring different languages.
Pictures of our day:
Global Linguistics
During our time at The Museum of Man, I was able to find many different languages used throughout the exhibits. It made me realize how integral communication and language are on all cultural developments. For every single item in display, there was a concept that was mentally described using language, and then there was a discussion about this idea, and then the idea was able to take shape. Without language there would never have been any human advancement in history.
Dialect Quizzes
So i took about 3 of the dialect quizzes. I dont think they were accurate. I was born and raised here in San Diego though it seems im say things like people on the the east coast do. well, like Boston and such. im always asked where im from because people i say i have a accent. strange. All in all i found the quizzes very interesting and fun.
D5 Creation