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>:0!!!!

#why do bad things happen to good people

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Sometimes people ask the best questions on Reddit:

What does Yoda’s syntax look like in non-English versions of Star Wars? For those who aren’t familiar with Star Wars (all two of you), Yoda is an alien who, when speaking English, uses what seems to be an OSV syntax instead of the traditional SVO syntax.

So how do foreign translations of the script handle this? I am particularly interested in what it looks like in non-SVO languages. Are there any translations where Yoda’s incorrect syntax is emulated by using an English-like syntax? Or are other languages’ syntax so free that mistakes in the use of case or verb conjugations must instead be used to emulate Yoda’s “alien” speech?

And some answers so far: 

Czech: Free word order. Yoda speaks consistently in SOV. Interestingly enough, putting an object before a verb does sound unusual to most speakers of Czech.

Estonian: Free word order language. Yoda retains the English OSV order. This is grammatical in Estonian, but does make it seem as though Yoda is constantly stressing the object phrase as the main point of his statements. This gives his speech an unusual quality.

French: An SVO language. Yoda speaks in OSV.

German: A SVO or SOV language. Yoda brings the Object to the front (OSV), like in English.

Hungarian: A free word order language. There is nothing unusual about Yoda’s speech.

Italian: An SVO language. Yoda speaks in OSV. Note: OSV is also the syntax used in the Italian of the less-proficient speakers of Italian from the region of Sardinia.

Japanese: An SOV language. Yoda seems to use a more or less correct syntax, with a more archaic vocabulary.

Korean: An SOV language. Nothing is unusual about Yoda’s grammar.

Norwegian: An SVO language. Yoda speaks in OSV.

Romanian: An SVO language. Yoda speaks in OSV. He also places adjectives before the noun instead of after the noun, and uses an archaic form of the future tense.

Spanish: An SVO language. Yoda speaks in OSV.

Turkish: An SOV language. Yoda speaks in OSV. Note: This order is also used in classical Ottoman poetry, so the syntax may have been chosen in order to emphasize Yoda’s wisdom or age.

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You know he’s seen some stuff.

#why does this duolingo have an aint

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how do i improve my pronunciation?

theres a widespread myth that its impossible to learn to sound like a native speaker of a language other than ur mother tongue if u didnt learn it as a child and while being surrounded by it 24/7. this is far from the truth!! having good pronunciation and a native-like accent that u can be proud of is definitely achievable, especially if u have the right mindset and are determined to work hard (★^∀^★) ★  remember that babies usually have over a year of pure input before they actually begin to speak their first language. get as much audio exposure as u can. listen to the language in lots of different contexts (radio tv music movies conversations speeches audiobooks youtube videos..) and just try to replicate what the language sounds like to ur ears without necessarily trying to say actual words or worrying about grammar. @polysprachig made this video that goes into more detail on this topic and u may also wanna check out this article ★  pick the specific accent that u want to emulate. this is especially important for people learning pluricentric languages like english/portuguese/arabic/etc where there is more than one spoken standard. the more widely spoken the accent u choose is, the easier it will be to find audio materials to listen to and people who speak with that accent (eg there are a lot of tv shows and movies in american and british english.. but not many in australian english). blending multiple completely different dialects/accents (and mixing up slang from different regions and social groups) can make u sound very weird and unnatural, however narrowing down a particular region whose accent u want to imitate will allow u to easily develop a sense of belonging and closeness to the language. ★  pay really careful attention to the sounds that are different in ur target language to ur native language(s) and any other languages u already speak. look for videos/instructions online for how to pronounce the sounds that u find difficult and practise every day by listening to them in natural speech and copying them as best u can.. pretend to be an annoying parrot that mimics everything it hears!! ★  get to know ur mouth. u may have to adjust the position of ur jaw, tongue, lips, the way u breathe or the amount of saliva if ur mouth to comfortably replicate some sounds. if ur mouth doesnt feel a little uncomfortable with a new sound, u may not be pronouncing it right. ★  find a native speaker to listen to u speak for a little while and ask if they can narrow down any areas u seem to have particular trouble with. concentrate on accuracy rather than speed ★  find the lyrics to some songs u love in ur target language and sing along as best u can. it takes away ur intrinsic need to worry about vocabulary or grammar and allows u to just focus on naturally replicating the way the language sounds ★  childrens books are often available with audio accompanyment that u can listen to while u read the text and also pause and repeat after if u wish. its like the perfect combination of simple easy to understand language and nice clear voices because theyre specifically designed to help children learn to read their own native language! ★  subtitles can help u mentally connect the symbols of the written language with the sounds of the spoken language, but they can also slow the speed at which u accustom urself to processing the spoken language without assistance.. try watching content both with and without subtitles to see what works best for u ★  if ure having trouble with the pronunciation of a particular word or phrase u can try looking it up on rhinospike or forvo ★  dont worry if u fear ure not making any progress.. u will improve slowly with consistent practice and also get the opportunity to hone ur listening skills at the same time!!

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When you reblog a post to the wrong blog

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languages bruh

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person: OMG YOU DIDN'T STUDY FOR THE TEST???!?!?!

me: nope

person: BUT HOW ARE YOU GONNA PASS???

me: i'm not

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the first complaynts are coming in: jess thinks my rimes are but a sin. she canot see the meme’s apeel. the bredlik love she does not feel.

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In holland when someone doesn’t close the door behind their backs we say ‘Ben je in de kerk geboren?’ which literally translates to ‘Have you been born in church?’ @useless-netherlandsfacts

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Hello everyone! My birthday is coming soon (February 18th), so I thought I’d share a little vocabulary list with birthday vocab in French

Un anniversaire - a birthday

C’est quand ton anniversaire ?* - When is your birthday?

Mon anniversaire est le… - My birthday is on…

→ Mon anniversaire est le 18 Février (dix-huit février)

Fêter (1er groupe) - to celebrate

→ Je fête mon anniversaire

Un gâteau d’anniversaire (pluriel : des gâteaux) - A birthday cake

Un gâteau au… - a […]-flavoured cake

→ Un gâteau au chocolat

Une bougie - A candle

Le glaçage - frosting/icing

Un bonbon - A sweet/candy

Des chips (féminin) - crisps

Un gâteau apéritif / apéro* - a cracker (so, salty)

Un cadeau d’anniversaire (pluriel : des cadeaux) - A birthday present

Une surprise - A surprise

Une fête d’anniversaire - A birthday party (usually used for children)

Une soirée d’anniversaire - A birthday party but in the evening/night (teenagers, young adults)

Une musique - A song (literally a music, but meaning a song)

Une chanson - A song

Danser (1er groupe) - to dance

→ On a dansé toute la soirée - We danced all night

S’amuser (1er groupe) - to have fun

→ On s’est vraiment amusé ! - We really had fun!

Un anniversaire surprise - A surprise birthday party

Un ballon de baudruche - A balloon

Un déguisement - A costume

* : informal language

#french

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how dARE YOU call any language ugly

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a couple of friends snatched a confederate flag from the square recently and it turns out that synthetic blends are actually pretty hard to burn

#:( #not language related

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it will forever confuse me that the german tumblr app now says “… hat deinen Eintrag gelikt” and not “… hat deinen Eintrag als Favorit markiert” which is just shortened and very nice but I don’t read gelikt as [gelaikd] but as [gelikt] and that sounds as if someone licked my post and i really wish i could unread/unhear that