A boy, newly aware of himself. His light shines as bright and brief as the setting sun.

Couverts et utensiles de cuisine

une cuillère - a spoon

une cuillère à soupe - a soup spoon

une cuillère en bois - a wooden spoon

une écumoire - a slotted spoon

une louche - a ladle

une mesurette / une cuillère à mesurer - a measuring spoon

une fourchette - a fork

un couteau - a knife

un couteau d’office - a paring knife

un couteau à découper - a carving knife

un fouet / un batteur - a whisk / a beater

une spatule - a spatula

un rouleau à patisserie - a rolling pin

des pinces (f.) - tongs

des baguettes (f.) - chopsticks

une passoire / un chinois - a strainer / colander

un tamis - a sifter

un saladier - a mixing bowl

une planche à découper - a cutting board

un presse-purée - a masher

une râpe - a grater

un éplucheur / un épluche-légumes - a peeler

une essoreuse à salade - a salad spinner

un emporte-pièce - a cookie cutter

Numbers 21-50

21. ān and twentig 22. twēgen and twentig 23. ðrīe and twentig 24. fēower and twentig 25. fīf and twentig 26. siex and twentig 27. seofon and twentig 28. eahta and twentig 29. nigon and twentig 30. ðrītig 31. ān and ðrītig 32. twēgen and ðrītig 33. ðrīe and ðrītig 34. fēower and ðrītig 35. fīf and ðrītig 36. siex and ðrītig 37. seofon and ðrītig 38. eahta and ðrītig 39. nigon and ðrītig 40. fēowertig 41. ān and fēowertig 42. twēgen and fēowertig 43. ðrīe and fēowertig 44. fēower and fēowertig 45. fīf and fēowertig 46. siex and fēowertig 47. seofon and fēowertig 48. eahta and fēowertig 49. nigon and fēowertig 50. fīftig

(Numbers 1-20)

Cozy vocab in German

inspired by @malteseboy‘s cozy vocab in maltese and @blackteaandlanguages cozy vocabulary in finnish :)

der Kuss (Pl: Küsse) - kiss der Film (Pl: Filme) - movie der Pullover (Pl: Pullover) - sweater, pullover der Pulli [colloquial, cute] - sweater, pullover das Kissen (Pl: Kissen) - pillow der Kaffee - coffee die Kuschelsocken (pl) - woolly socks das Buch (Pl: Bücher) - book die Gemütlichkeit - comfort, cosiness/coziness die Decke (Pl: Decken) - blanket das Nickerchen (Pl: Nickerchen) - nap der Mittagsschlaf - midday nap das Feuer - fire der Kamin (Pl: Kamine) - fireplace die Katze (Pl: Katzen) - cat die Wärme - warmth die Sterne (pl) - stars der Tee - tea die Umarmung (Pl: Umarmungen) - hug die Kerze (Pl: Kerzen) - candle das Kerzenlicht - candlelight

weich - soft süß - sweet gemütlich - comfortable, cozy warm - warm angenehm - pleasant

küssen - to kiss umarmen - to hug kuscheln - to cuddle sich um jemanden kümmern - to take care of smb sich hinlegen - to lie down lesen - to read schlafen - to sleep sich ausruhen - to rest sich entspannen - to relax

Grammar lesson 1 :overview on alphabets

First of all, before starting with any grammar, it is important to familiarize yourselves with the alphabet and the vowels in Arabic.

Note : the sections will contain voice recordings of the words written in Arabic to help you know the correct pronunciation.

Don’t forget to check out the useful links below!

 The Alphabets - حروف الهجاء  

[audio]

Arabic has 28 letters, and because the writing connects the words together to form sentences, each letter can be written in three ways : how it would look like if it came at the beginning of the word, how it would look like if it was in the middle of the word, and finally, how it would look like if it were at the end of the word.

However, it is important to note that not all letters connect with other letters, for example, the letters (ا / د / ذ  / ر  / ز / و) do not connect to each other, and only connects if the other letters in the alphabet comes before it.

This will become easier to understand the more you practice the alphabets. 

Example (1)  : letter ب  [audio]

1) The letter at the beginning of the word: بـ

 word : بطة (meaning : duck)

notice how this letter was connected to the letter that followed it 

2) The letter in the middle of the word : ـبـ

word : طبلة (meaning : drum)

3) The letter at the end of the sentence ـب

word : قلب (meaning : heart) 

Notice how the same letter had three different writings depending on where it was situated in the word. It is very important to learn the different writings of each letter in order to be able to read and write in Arabic.

Example (2) : the letter د  [audio]

1) the letter at the beginning of the word د

word : دب  (meaning : bear)

Notice how this letter was not connected to the letter ب that came after it. If the letter د is written in the beginning of the word, it does not connect to the letter that follows it, same goes with the letters (ا / ذ  / ر  / ز / و).

2) the letter at the beginning of the word د or ـد

word : وادي (meaning : valley )

word : ضفدع (meaning : frog)

3) the letter at the end of the word د or ـد

word : ورد (meaning : roses)

word : يد (meaning : hand)

Useful links : 

I hope this was helpful, if you have any questions let me know.

Next lesson : The vowels in Arabic, and the difference between the vowels (al-mudood المدود ) and the diatrics (al-harakat الحركات)

Russian Vocabulary: Animals

They say if you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true.

Visiting a doctor in Russian:

General Phrases

Мне (срочно) нужен врач - I need a doctor (quickly) Вызовите, пожалуйста, врача - Please, get me a doctor Я плохо себя чувствую - I’m not feeling well Здесь болит - It hurts here Здесь не болит- It does not hurt here Мне лучше (хуже)- I feel better (worse) У меня болит голова (живот) - I have a headache (stomach-ache) У меня высокая температура- I have a high temperature У меня кружится голова - I feel dizzy У меня насморк -I have caught a cold Какое лекарство мне нужно принимать? - What medicine should I take? Мне что-то попало в глаз - I’ve got something in my eye У меня болит зуб - I have a tooth-ache Сколько я должен за визит? - what do I owe you for the call?

Doctor’s part

Что у вас болит? -  Where does it hurt? Откройте рот - Open your mouth Покашляйте, пожалуйста - Cough, please Сделайте (глубокий) вдох -  Take a (deep) breath Выдохните - Breath out Не дышите -  Don’t breath Ложитесь сюда - Lay down over here Я сделаю вам укол - I’ll give you an injection

мороженое [maròzhinaje] - ice-cream: ванильное [vanìl'naje] - vanilla малиновое [malìnavaje] - raspberry шоколадное [shakalàdnaje] - chocolate клубничное [klubnìchnaje] - strawberry банановое [banànavaje] - banana фисташковое [fistàshkavaje] - pistachio

Два шарика ванильного мороженого, пожалуйста! [dva shàrika vanìl'nava maròzhinava, pazhàlusta] Two scoops of vanilla ice cream, please!

SOUND: www.ruspeach.com/news/1610/

хуй and its derivatives (strong language)

хуй - dick

по́хуй - to not care

на́хуй, нахуя́, захуя́ - all those words mean “why?” (with what aim)

с хуя́ ли / схуя́ли - why the fuck? (for what reason)

дохуя́ - a lot

нихуя́ - nothing, not at all

не́хуй - (1) nothing, (2) when telling someone to stop doing something

хуй там был - said when you were expecting/hoping/told something would happen and it didn’t

положи́ть хуй (на) - to ingore, to not care about something too much

заби́ть хуй (на) - same as above, sometimes just заби́ть is used

хуи́ пина́ть - to do nothing productive or useful

я́сен хуй - obviously! duh!

посла́ть на́хуй - to tell someone to fuck off иди́ на́хуй! - fuck off! пошёл на́хуй! [to a male] / пошла́ на́хуй! [to a female] - fuck off!

хуй (его́) зна́ет - I have no fucking clue

охуе́ть - (1) to be extremely shocked (2) same, but as an interjection - “oh shit!” (3) said about someone who’s behaving very badly (4) ну охуе́ть / ну охуе́ть тепе́рь is said sarcastically as an interjection about something which another person thought would surprise you but didn’t

охуе́нный - really fucking good

охуи́тельный - same as above

хуёвый - really bad

[someone] ху́ев - said to/about someone who’s supposed/told to know how to do something or to have certain knowledge about something, but failed, and you’re judging them for “showing off” but not actually knowing what they’re doing or not doing this to the promised extent

хуй зна́ет что - something unpleasant, bad, poorly made, something that you don’t understand

хуй с ним - fuck it (exclamation)

хуй тебе́ - said to someone when you don’t want to do something for them or give them something they ask

похуи́зм - the state or trait of not caring about anything (usually positive connotation)

похуи́ст - a person who doesn’t care too much (usually positive connotation)

како́го ху́я - what the fuck?! ху́ли/ху́ле - same as above, but usually used in full questions, whereas the above can be used on its own

оди́н хуй - it doesn’t matter, it makes no difference

хуета́/хуита́/хуйня́ - (1) something unpleasant or hard to understand (2) a thing you and the person you’re talking to know about

хуёвина - same as (2) above

страда́ть хуйнёй - to do nothing productive, to do something which seems really useless

спор́оть хуйню́ - to say something dumb or something which doesn’t make sense (incoherent, etc)

хуйло́/хуесо́с - an unpleasant/dumb person whose behaviour is questionable

хуя́к - denotes a sudden, quick and/or unexpected action

хуя́се! / (ну) нихуя́ себе́! / нихуя́! / хуя́! - an exclamation of surprise (you’re impressed)

нахуя́риться / нахуя́читься - to drink too much

смехуёчки - funny things, funny pictures/jokes/stories

Russian Vocabulary: Love

I am using Valentine’s day as an excuse to do a list about love. I have included verbs with their imperfective/perfective forms, as well as a few phrases.

Verbs

броса́ть / бро́сить кого – to dump someone  встреча́ться с кем-то – to date someone  влюбля́ться / влюби́ться в кого – to fall in love  влюблён / влюблена / влюблены в кого – in love with someone  скуча́ть по – to miss  соблазня́ть - to seduce/ to tempt  изменя́ть / измени́ть кому – to cheat/ betray someone  коке́тничать с – to flirt with  люби́ть/ полюби́ть – to love нра́виться/ понра́виться – to like  обожа́ть – to adore обнима́ть - to hug обручи́ться - to be engaged  подмигну́ть - to wink приглаша́ть на свида́ние - to ask on a date целова́ть / поцелова́ть кого/что – to kiss someone/something целова́ться / поцелова́ться  - to kiss each other выходи́ть / вы́йти за кого  - to get married (used by women) за́мужем за кем  - to be married (used by women) жени́ться на ком – to get married (used by men) жена́т на ком – to be married (used by men) пожени́ться - to marry each other

Nouns

брак [m] - marriage  валентинка [f] – valentine’s day card  сва́дьба [f] - wedding  свида́ние [n] - date  сердце [n] - heart  сча́стье [n] - happiness  де́вушка [f] - girlfriend     День Святого Валентина – Valentine’s Day  коке́тка [f]- flirt  Купидон [m] - cupid  любо́вь [f] - love     любо́вница [f] -  mistress, lover любо́вник [m] - lover (male) объясне́ние в любви́ [n]  – declaration of love  объя́тие [n] - hug  отноше́ние [n] - relationship  па́рень [m] - boyfriend  поцелу́й [m] - kiss ра́дость [f] - joy

Adjectives

дорого́й / -ая – dear (adj. as well as a nickname)  красaвчик / красавица – cutie, handsome  люби́мый / -ая – favorite , beloved (adj. as well as a nickname) ми́лый / -ая – darling, sweetheart (adj. as well as a nickname) не́жный / -ая - tender  романти́ческий - romantic

Phrases

Ты мне нравишься – I like you Я тебя люблю – I love you Будь моим/ моей – Be mine Ты моя любовь на всю жизнь – You are my love forever. Я полюбил(a) тебя с первого взгляда – I fell in love with you at first sight. Я не могу жить без тебя – I can’t live without you С Днём Святого Валентина – Happy Valentine’s Day 

→ Link to Quizlet set: Here ←

Russian Vocabulary: Shapes

2-D Shapes -  фо́рмы

круг - circle ова́л - oval треуго́льник - triangle квадра́т - square прямоуго́льник - rectangle ромб - rhombus пятиуго́льник - pentagon шестиуго́льник - hexagon восьмиуго́льник - octagon многоуго́льник - polygon

3-D Shapes

шар - sphere куб - cube параллелепи́пед - prism цили́ндр - cylinder пирами́да - pyramid ко́нус - cone

“My bones have been scorched from fires, broken by betrayals, stained with blood. And still, I will keep fighting.”

*Note* Please visit and give your support to the original photographer, Kindra Nikole. (x)

The issue with the representation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in Arrival (2016)

                                 /!\ Light spoilers ahead /!\

(I know it is science-fiction and movies like this one take certain premises and blow them out of proportion but I thought it’d be worthwhile to discuss the topic)

Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival movie is an interesting work about, amongst other themes, how humans would manage to establish first contacts with an alien race come to Earth, how to learn their language to communicate with them and understand their motives. Arrival features Amy Adams as linguist Louise Banks, who is commissioned by the United States to climb up in the spaceship and try to exchange and talk with the new-comers. She is accompanied by Jeremy Renner’s character; Ian Donnelly, a military theoretical physicist. She is charged with the decipherment of their language, with the ultimate goal of asking them “What is your purpose on Earth ?” The aliens look like giant heptapods, which use an ink-like mist to form the round shapes that is their written language.

Later in the movie, Ian and Louise talk as an evacuation takes place, and Ian tells Louise he’s just read about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which assumes that a language is a vision of the world unto itself. In the context of the movie, the characters explain that being exposed to and immersed in a foreign language will subtly cause the brain to adapt to this language’s vision of the world. In the case of the Heptapods’ language; Louise and Ian believe that it will rewire one’s brain not only on a intellectual level but also on a physical level. By acquainting themself with the alien language (especially regarding the syntax and morphology), one would be able to experience time like the Heptapods do, in a non-linear way. 

This conception of languages is called “Linguistic relativity”. However, issues arise here with the stance taken of such a hypothesis. It is rather extreme to present linguistic relativity in such a manner. One of the weaknesses on which the theory was based upon was the famous The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax. Franz Boas in 1911 wrote The Handbook of North American Indians in which he explains that Eskimos had dozens of words to describe different types of snow. This is not true, because the confusion arose from the fact that Eskimo speakers have a polysynthetic language and therefore have phrases that can look like words to outsiders, making them think that each sentence was a word for a type of snow.Therefore, it was thought that language differences were necessary related to the speakers’ environment. 

There is no denying that languages do differ in terms of wealth of lexicon in certain fields, of grammatical tenses or genders. For instance, Farsi has a third-person pronoun “ او ” /u:/ that does not differentiate gender, so that  “ او ” means both “he” and “she”. It does not mean that Farsi-speakers see the world genderless. As French linguist Nicolas Tournadre says it in his book (2014:199) Le Prisme des Langues : “Languages that do not have grammatical genders do not have a a vision of sexuality that is different from those that have grammatical genders”.

The Warlpiri aboriginal language has a word for “one” but not beyond. The grand-father in this video shows that he can’t count them down orally but can make as many marks in the sand as he has grand-children, and knows their name. The lack of numerals does not prevent their minds from conceiving the concept of plurality. They just don’t express it the same way. 

Another example is the Pirahã language, it is spoken in Amazonia  and has no words for number. Speakers use generic formulations such as “a few”, “a pile” and “a large quantity”. This does not mean however that beyond their numerical limits, these languages can’t allow their speakers to talk about a mother’s several children or render a fisherman unable to mentally visualise the two fish he just took out the water. 

Not all languages are equal in terms of expressing certain concepts. For instance, the Pirahã people are not expected to see mathematicians in their ranks because their language does not allow that. However, it does not mean that they see the world in a drastically different manner from us. They are still able to live in communities, talk to each other, make food, locate elements. They experience the world like us. They may not have the same problems and preoccupations as us due to these differences (counting cattle) but they are still able to see the same world as us.

Another category that is interesting to mention is the English language’s numerous and diverse words related to light: glisten, shine, glow, glitter, gleam, glimmer, flicker, dazzle, sparkle, flare, flash or glint. This plethora of verbs shows the wide range that the language has to express different types of light and brightness. This does not mean that light is different to English-speakers or that light was different where the English language emerged. It just means that the language has paid particular attention to a phenomenon, not that reality is different where it is from.  Nicolas Tournadre explains (2014:199) “the geographical environments, as different they may be, of a given community is therefore not enough to cause a specific lexicon.”

This is the extent of the impact that languages differences can have on their speakers. On the other hand, Louise starts to get flashes of her daughter that we later learn are not extra-diegetic flashbacks but intra-diegetic flashforwards because she started to gather a fair amount of knowledge about the alien language. Just because your language is different does not mean that the world changes. The movie’s depiction of this theory has more to do with magic than linguistics. 

What I aim at showing is that linguistics relativism’s representation is too often extreme. It is often presented as a proof that people who speak different languages don’t see, experience or think their environment the same way we do because they’re not allowed to by their mother tongue. It is both an interesting theory but it is also worrisome because it pushes the Other further away from us, finding excuses to see HER/HIM as dissimilar and ponder over these differences. 

Rather, as Nicolas Tournadre (2014:207) explains , these “languages are not like “conceptions of the world” that are perfectly structured, coherent and homogeneous but rather like prisms, or kaleidoscopes that modify subtly certain perceptions of the experience and have in the end an impact of the type of inference that the speaker carries out”.   

So although the movie’s depiction of the process of establishing contact and deciphering the aliens’ language is genuinely interesting and realistic. However the moment linguist Louise Banks confirms Ian’s interpretation of the Sapir-Whorf theory and the fact that she starts to experience time non-linearly because she starts to be proficient in that language is where the movie derails because it blows a theory out of proportions and misinterprets it. 

It's beginning to look a lot like.. Christmas Saturalia.