#not languages

[nordic-language-love]

Notable Teaching Moments

A kid asks me “Sensei what’s this” and then just. pokes me in the boob.

Ask a kid to draw his favourite fruit. He draws a dinosaur.

Learning to say “how old are you” / “I’m X years old”. One kid comments (in Japanese) “my mum is 1 year old”.

Reading a dictation about children’s day. The kids are delighted when I repeatedly fail to pronounce koinobori and take it upon themselves to teach me

Get mobbed by five-year-olds screaming “ANKOORU! ANKOORU!” until I fall over (I later learn this means “encore” and they basically wanted to play the game again)

Teaching a particularly rowdy class and it is hard. fucking. work. At the end, one kid turns to me and says “sensei, otsukaresama deshita” (which translates to something like “thank you for your hard work”)

Proudly show the kids my kanji practice. They gasp in horror. “Sensei! they’re terrible!” Says one.

“Okay everyone, touch something BLACK!” I shout. One five-year-old touches my black jeans in the form of slapping my ass.

One kid can’t write his name. I hold his crayon with him and we write it together. He spends the rest of the lesson not doing the colouring or the fun workbook activity, but just tracing his fingers over the letters and saying his name slowly and grinning.

It’s parent observation week. All the kids have a parent in the room and understandably choose to sit with Mum/Dad. Apart from one kid, who chooses my lap over Dad’s, even though every single week he cries and wants his Pappa for the first 10 minutes of class.

Kids are talking about Pokemon. I chime in. They’re noticeably shocked that I understand. I tell them I like Charizard. “Eeh Charizard’s weak! I like Pikachu!” One kid says. Charizard is objectively stronger than Pikachu on many levels, but I don't argue.

At the start of the class kids are doing a phonics activity. They have to choose whether word starts with C or G. One of the words is “gum”. despite the word being more or less the same in Japanese, an alarming number of kids write “cum”.

Kids are counting points at the end of class. Because they’re 11-year-old boys, they find it hilarious when I get to the number six. “Sex. Sex. Sensei, sex,” they say repeatedly.

I ask the kids how old they think I am. "72" says one of them. I’m in my early thirties.

I help one new kid write their name. Suddenly, all the kids who’ve been coming for months and can definitely write their name promptly forget and I have to help all 11 of them.

#not languages #teaching #teacher life #tefl #victoria's big japan adventure #japan

[logogreffe]

Note to self : do not search for blogs with the term "Macron" if you don't want to see a drawing of Emmanuel Macron lying naked with cat ears on Justin Trudeau's desk.

#frenchblr #I just wanted to see people complaining about him not this... #upthebaguette #Je pensais pas que Macron avait une fandom sur tumblr... #La macronie fandom ? Les macroniens ? C'est quoi leur petit nom ? #not languages

[balloons-and-shadows]

Weird cultural poll time:

P.S. please specify in the tags which country or culture you're from, and maybe explain the dish if you feel like it?

#I think its mostly a European thing? #polls and research #tumblr polls #not languages #please reblog #weird food

[aro-langblr]

oh my god. I swear I'm not making this up. I've had a ghost ask on one of my sideblogs for the past 2 days, so I thought, "I wonder if I can see the message if I inspect the inbox page?"

I don't know anything about coding other than how to remove a paywall, so I was clicking around and found this:

which is very obviously this:

so I still don't know what that ghost ask said, but now I have one more reason to ask, what the fuck goes on behind the scenes of this webbed site

#not languages #tumblr

[sayitaliano]

Goodbye to Francesco (Franco) Migliacci, one of the most famous Italian lyricists and producers. He wrote songs as "La bambola" (Patty Pravo), "Nel blu dipinto di blu - Volare" (Domenico Modugno), "Che sarà" (Ricchi e Poveri), "Ancora" (Eduardo De Crescenzo), "In ginocchio da te", "Fatti mandare dalla mamma a prendere il latte" (Gianni Morandi), and many others. He also wrote the Italian ST for the animation movie series of Heidi and Lupin.

#italians #it #goodbye #not languages

[warau-okami]

It's my birthday again. 🥳 I never thought I'd live to be this old. One day at a time sure goes fast.

#not languages #personal #officially a tumblr elder and queer elder #I've lived half my life expectancy

[5-cz]

just finished word of honor and I'm sorry but what was that ending - first I'm crying every time 啊湘 appears in the last three episodes and sad for 温客行 and 周子舒 and the montages of them remembering each other and the others and then! it just ends?? 成岭 is a dad now? they didn't even show a shot of 周子舒 lonely on a mountain or anything, it's just straight to dinner like what

#this may be a case of i havent read the books so idk how the story is supposed to go #but still #also should i have maybe put this on my non langblr? yes but i feel like you all will appreciate it more #im so frustrated #i may have to read the books now #actual vocabulary content for this show coming soon i promise #if anyone has any recommendations for what to watch next i welcome them #word of honor #wen kexing #zhou zishu #gu xiang #山河令 #faraway wanderers #? maybe? thats what a quick google search has told me this show is based off of #i didnt even know there were books until quickly googling the show today #text post #not languages

[linguafrencha]

Guys can you get a concussion from a sorta emergency brake while sitting in a bus?

I feel a bit not good but I also haven’t eaten a lot so idk

#not languages

[sharkrightsactivist]

translated a recipe for fried potato pirozhki for my friend, thought maybe you guys would like it too

ps its one of my favorite foods lol

recipe from https://1000.menu/cooking/15862-pirojki-s-kartoshkoi-na-drojjax

MAKES 10 SERVINGS (10 PIROZHKI)

FOR THE DOUGH:

Water (boiled) 0,3 liters (101 oz)

Dry yeast (or 50g(1,76oz) of fresh ones) 1 teaspoon / 5 g (0,17 oz)

Vegetable oil (+300g(10,5oz) for frying) 50 ml (1,7oz)

Sugar 10g (0,35 oz)

Salt 1 teaspoon (0,17 oz)

Wheat flour 390g (13,7oz)

FOR THE FILLING:

Vegetable oil 40 ml (1,35oz)

Salt To taste

Potato 250g (8,8oz)

Onion 50g (1,7 oz)

DIRECTIONS

1. Put the flour through a fine sieve to get some oxygen in (p.s. usually optional but its better to get rid of clumps either way). Wash the potatoes thoroughly and dry them. Take the skin off an onion, wash and dry it.

2. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Part of all the flour (≈350g(12,3oz)), dry yeast, salt and sugar.

3. Make a hole in the flour. Pour half a cup(≈100ml(3,4oz)) of olive oil into the dry ingredients.

4. Add warm (≈40°C(≈104°F)) water into the flour. The water cannot be too hot* so as to not kill the yeast. Thanks to the warm water, the dough rises very quickly.

*-yeast dies at over 60°C(120°F)

5. Add the remaining flour in parts and mix the elastic dough. You might need a little less or more flour. The dough should not stick to your hands, but shouldn't be too tough either. Cover the dough with a clean cloth and let it rise for about 20-30 minutes while the potatoes for the filling boil. It's preferred to leave the dough next to the stove so the steam from the potatoes helps the dough rise.

6. While the dough is rising, start the filling. Skin the potatoes, wash them and boil them in salty water. Later, remove the water and make a mash. It's best to do it using a potato masher(?? this thing shaped kind of like a triangle with a circle with holes at the bottom).

7. Finely chop the (skinless) onion. Later fry it in some vegetable oil until golden brown.

8. Add the onions to the mashed potatoes and stir. The filling is done. (p.s. the place i go to also adds tiny chopped carrots, you would also need to skin and boil them and then chop into small pieces and add to the potatoes)

9. By this time the dough has risen well. We didnt touch it. Now we will press it down slightly* and begin forming the pirozhki/pies immediately. Press it with your hands, fold it for about 3-5 minutes.

*-likely referring to when people sometimes punch dough that has risen

10. The dough is very elastic and nice so we will not be using a rolling pin, instead doing everything with our hands slightly coated in vegetable oil. Place the bowl containing the oil next to you, dip your hands in it and take off equal bits of dough from the pile, creating the templates(?) for future pirozhki/pies.

11. Set the oil to heat up in a pan and begin making the first pirozhki. Form the dough into a flatbread shape, it doesnt have to be perfect or pretty, they'll rise later anyway which will cover up any imperfections. Put down the filling, there should be about half the amount of the dough. But you may put more according to your wishes. (ps lol)

12. Put together the sides of the dough in the shape of a pirozhok*. Immediately put it in the pan to cook, so that the seam faces the bottom of the pan. Do the same thing to the next pirozhok. You have to do everything quickly. If you wish, you can form all the pirozhki prior to frying.

*the shape in question

13. After taking them out*, set the pirozhki on a paper towel (p.s. or a rack if you have one) to absorb all the excess oil. Enjoy!

*-just fry them until both sides are you preferred level of crispy, since all the ingredients are already basically cooked. The average is around 5 minutes on each side but this can depend on the type of pan/stove you use. After heating the oil well, cook on the middle temperature setting. The 'doneness' can also depend on the thickness of the dough layer, as thicker dough can take longer to cook. Someone in the comments recommended frying it on each side and then putting a lid over the pan and letting them cook for 1 more minute. You can also check the doneness by poking the pirozhok with a toothpick, if it comes out with dough on it, it's not done yet.

#not languages #recipes #recipe #pirozhki #пирожки #idk lol #russian food #slavic food

[allinllachuteruteru]

I went to college. I hate how there’s this culture in the US amongst college graduates that you MUST be in the corporate world working full time to be successful in life, otherwise you’re looked down on with pity.

Every time someone tries to catch up and asks me how I’m doing and I tell them how I left the corporate world, or if I say I’m a barista (I used to be, I’m now a librarian assistant) they go “oh.. 😬 damn well just keep your head up bro”.

Meanwhile what I don’t say is “yea I’m doing fine despite working less than 30 hours a week, I have four digits in savings compared to your $50 required savings deposit, I don’t pay rent or utilities like your mindboggling $1800 a month for one bedroom, and I read as many books as I possibly can for free. But oh.. 😬 you’re exhausted from corporate burnout and rent takes up 45% of your net paycheck? Damn, just keep your head up bro”.

#personal rant #not languages #stop judging people based off of how much they work or what they do jfc

[culmaer]

ran into two of my closest friends from undergrad with whom I'd lost touch. like life happened after graduation, we don't really use social media, and we just haven't seen or spoken to each other in almost exactly 10 years. and it was really wonderful to see them again, however, we went to a café to chat further and something stood out to me :

the one, who was a brilliant student, mentioned offhandedly a few times how their memory isn't as good as it used to be ; the other, who never wore glasses before, had to reach for their glasses to read the menu or look at things on a phone ; I had to keep asking for them to repeat things because I couldn't hear...

and we could try explanations like long covid brain fog, or the fact that we were seated inside a café with poor acoustics. but. ockham's razor and all and maybe we're just aging ? and I've just not noticed it with my other friends because it's been happening gradually ? but also 30 is not old by any means and Ockham is wrong about this

#not languages

[nordic-language-love]

I really think society needs to stop with inspiration stories that end with "what's *your* excuse?" or "what were *you* doing at that age?" like not being so exceptionally good at something that it's newsworthy makes you a failure. My "excuse" is I'm a normal human being who contributes to society in a normal way. I've not published a best-seller because I like keeping my writing to myself. I'm not a successful entrepreneur because I hate paperwork and have nothing I believe in passionately enough to overcome that. I didn't get a university degree and invent a world-changing water cleaning device at age 13 because I'm not fantastically innovative, and besides, I never had those kinds of opportunities in my community or at my school. I don't have the body of my dreams because I don't want it enough to start going to the gym or stop eating cake.

And like, who fucking cares? Why do we take these amazing stories about people who've done wonderful things and turn them into a guilt trip? My perfectly average existence is more than enough, why does it matter that I don't speak 26 languages fluently and I didn't get an olympic medal at age 19 and the band I was in at 15 never got further than a single gig and I've never finished writing a book never mind a bestseller? Why are such things a marker of success instead of just living a happy, comfortable existence? When I die, what does it matter that I'll be forgotten? I'll still have lived, and I'll still have touched someone's life, I'll still have mattered, even when the last person to remember me is long dead. Let my legacy be that one person had a better day because of me, that someone - for a single moment - believed in the goodness of humanity because of my influence. Newsworthy exceptionalism be damned.

#''what's your excuse'' my excuse is i don't fucking want to #why do i have to have an excuse for existing in a perfectly ordinary way #not languages #just ranting

[logogreffe]

" Il est à quelle heure le 13h ? "

Je me suis retenue de justesse de poser cette superbe question.

L'équivalent français de

#frenchblr #upthebaguette #not languages

[balloons-and-shadows]

if you get this, answer with three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs! anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog <3

First of all; thank you to both anons who send me this even though I'm barely active anymore!

My reasoning for learning a new language is always completely random. Originally I started learning Swedish in high school because I was bored. Right now, I'm studying Chinese because my friends speak it and I felt left out.

Idk if anyone has seen the tiktok about Swedish people in winter, where you continuously see people slip on the icy streets? But I'm proud to say that during the winter I was there, I managed to fall flat on my ass only once. I call that a win.

Since I've experienced -20 degrees (once), I've been a changed woman. Here in the Netherlands, it barely gets past -2 degrees. Which is quite warmer than -20 degrees. So since getting back to the Netherlands, I've honestly barely touched my winter coat.

#rambling #not languages #thank you for sending the ask! #swedish langblr

[fritalianblr]

💌 Send this to the twelve nicest people you know or who seem to have a good heart and if you get five back you must be pretty awesome.

Awww, thank you a lot, anon 🥰 

I hope you're having a nice day 💙

#not languages #ask

[sayitaliano]

Marina Cicogna (Mozzoni Volpi di Misurata), movie producer, photographer, actress died a couple of days ago. She has been the first European female movie producer.

#it #italians #goodbye #not languages #tw death