Psalm 23 - beautifully translated in Bahasa Indonesia

With our choral group Grace Notes not meeting up for practice since the month of March, I am still trying to connect each other by encouraging all of us to do a daily devotion together. 

So some of us are doing this devotion from YouVersion: Journal - Psalms courtesy of International English Service Jakarta.

It is a very good reading plan. 

In the devotion on Psalm 23, we were recommended to read the psalm in Bahasa Indonesia with it being a beautiful translation of the Hebrew. 

I can't find an online Malay Bible, and so looking at the Bahasa Indonesia version, it is indeed very beautiful written:

 

Mazmur 23

TUHAN adalah gembalaku, takkan kekurangan aku.

Ia membaringkan aku di padang yang berumput hijau, 

Ia membimbing aku ke air yang tenang;

Ia menyegarkan jiwaku. 

Ia menuntun aku di jalan yang benar oleh karena nama-Nya.

Sekalipun aku berjalan dalam lembah kekelaman, aku tidak takut bahaya, 

sebab Engkau besertaku; 

gada-Mu dan tongkat-Mu, 

itulah yang menghibur aku.

Engkau menyediakan hidangan bagiku, 

di hadapan lawanku; 

Engkau mengurapi kepalaku dengan minyak; 

pialaku penuh melimpah.

Kebajikan dan kemurahan belaka akan mengikuti aku, seumur hidupku; 

dan aku akan diam dalam rumah TUHAN sepanjang masa.

I'm so thankful to the LORD, kerana saya dapat berdiam diri bukan sahaja di rumah saya sendiri, tetapi lebih pentingnya seumur hidupku boleh saya berdiam diri dalam rumah Tuhan sepanjang masa. 

pearlie

A poem on the craziness of English pronunciation

I found this long but amusing poem today. Can you say it all in the right pronunciation? 

The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité (1922)

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

Were you able to read it all without any problems? 

English I can say could be the most complicated language with so many borrowed words.

There are 587 words in the poem. And I fared about 98.6%. 

Okay, I am a perfectionist. I'm sorry but it irks me that I can't say it all properly.

How about you?

Check out the pronunciation here:

pearlie

Ultralearning: how to master hard skills

Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career

by Scott H. Young

I read this book August last year and found it a very good book. It lays out why and how we can learn and pick a difficult skill quickly and effectively.

With that, I had wanted to learn a computer language but I didn't follow through with it. 

I thought about it again today and felt that I need to start right now or I will never ever do it.

And looks like I need to read the book again.

pearlie

Upper beam not straight lower beam slants

I was having a meeting with my colleague when she uttered this saying 上梁不正下梁歪 (shàng liáng bù zhèng xià liáng wāi in Mandarin and soeng6 loeng4 bat1 zing3 haa6 loeng4 waai1 in Cantonese.)

It means if the upper (上) beam (梁) is not (不) straight (正), the lower (下) beam (梁) will slant (歪). 

And if you notice, the word for slant 歪 is made up of two words, not straight 不正, one on top of the other. 

Such is the beauty of the Chinese language. 

And it's poetic too. 

I found it interesting that is has a 4+3 meter. I tried to find out the implication of its unevenness but couldn't find anything yet. 

What I notice is that Chinese sayings usually have matching meters, i.e. 3+3, 4+4 or 5+5.

But in some sayings, the second portion has one less. And I feel it denotes the negativity and incompleteness of what it wants to convey. 

What do you think?

Like in this case, if the upper beam is not straight, if the top is not set right, whatever that is the bottom will not be stable and may fall. 

What other such uneven metrics of Chinese sayings come to mind?

pearlie

Best song covers I've ever heard

I was checking out YouTube and noticed this video in the recommended videos to watch. I am picky about what I watch but the song title got me - Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time.

I grew up with this song and so I watched it, a cover of the song nonetheless, and I was enthralled. 

JTBC Superband is a new reality show in South Korea where they have contestants team up in bands to perform. 

I have not seen much, and they have not subtitled the episodes and it will take me a really long time to figure out the conversations. So I haven't watched it yet. 

But here are the YouTube versions: take a listen and tell me their talents are not insanely good. 

Most of them are Korean Americans, but I still have problems with their pronunciations, here and there. 

But their voices, and music prowess, they are so good. 

JTBC Superband, Time After Time

This starts off a bit on the slow side but keep listening, it gets better and it closes with a grand finish.

JTBC Superband, Creep

This to me is the best cover of the song. And I'm in love with the ending. Notice the dialogue between the voice and the string. Awesome.

JTBC Superband, Ilysb

And this is one song I can't stop listening to. I listened to the original but I find this cover much, much better in quality and especially interpretation. 

They are also in Apple Music and Spotify. Check them out there.

pearlie

Hillsong worship songs in Korean

I was trying to connect with some young people in my church to get their thoughts about worship. 

And I've seen some of them with K-pop memorabilias and I thought I'd go check out some Korean worship songs to get them more exposed to Christian worship songs. 

It was then when I found out that Hillsongs do have this thing they called Global Project Korea, with their songs translated and sung in Korean. 

I listened to a few and found this one interesting.

I can only understand bits here and there and so in checking out the original English version, I found the lyrics quite creative and unconventional.

However, I find that it's more of a soloist song rather than a worship song because to me, it will be difficult for a regular congregation to sing it, only to find out later that it won worship song of the year and song of the year. 

Looks like my church congregation has a lot of catching up to do, in order to upskill our singing and music abilities. 

Back to the Korean version, I noticed that in my Apple Music app, the song was posted up as : 나 또한 (featuring Joseph Butso).

Okay, not a Korean singer but he sang it in perfect Korean, as far as I can tell, that is. 

So who is he?

It turned out that Joseph Butso is a young African exchange student in Korea who became viral when he went busking in the streets singing and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

He took part in a singing contest and wowed the judges too. 

I found this documentary. Too bad it's not subtitled, but for the parts he spoke in English, it's still a good watch. 

And it is a right and good thing that Hillsong got him to sing in their Korean album. 

Kudos to Joseph Butso both in bringing the good news to the Koreans and singing his heart out for the LORD. 

pearlie

p/s I am always mindful about lyrics in worship songs, and I'm not very happy with the part, "Where You lost Your life so I could find it here". Jesus didn't "lose" his life but laid it down and gave his life rather than losing it.

The composer got into problems too with the words, "And as You speak, A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath, Evolving in pursuit of what You said," (emphasis mine).

The crazy tonal languages

My dad is a Cantonese and my mom a Teochew. And I grew up speaking English and Cantonese at home. I don't know any Teochew though. 

I drove them out for lunch today and we began talking about singing in Mandarin and Cantonese whilst we listen to Taiwanese singing in Cantonese and Koreans in Mandarin.

The Chinese languages and dialects are all tonal languages and would you believe that Cantonese has 9 tones, 6 common tones with an additional 3? 

I figured out what the 6 are but still have no idea what the other 3 stand for.

And here is an interesting article, aptly titled Nine Tones of Hell, that says, "There are some Cantonese tones that only dogs can hear." 

LOLOL. 

I found the 9 tones here and it is amazing that all the 9 tones are the numbers 0 to 9. 

But it may be difficult to remember the sequence by numbers. And so here's another way with more memorable sentences, but only the first 6 tones. Pick which works for you, I pick number 2.

1. 身份証唔會換

san1 fan2 zing3 ng4 wui5 wun6

ID card does not need to be renewed

2. 豬扒配牛腩飯

zu1 pa2 pui3 ngao4 nam5 faan6

Pork chop with beef belly rice

3. 輸咗佢唔怕認

syu1 zo2 kui3 ng4 pa5 jing6

Defeated, he is not afraid to admit.

4. 交錢去行政部

gaau1 cin2 hoei3 hang4 zing5 bo6

Enough money to go to the administrative office 

There are claims that tone language speakers have an enhanced perception in musical pitch. They say that we are better in telling apart pitches that are close together. I'm not sure if that is true because I do know someone who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese and probably a couple more dialects but when she sings, she couldn't quite hold her pitch.

But back to those songs we were listening to in the car, which we couldn't entirely understand what was sung, I notice it's not so much the tone that's the problem, since they are already being "sung in tones". Chinese and especially Cantonese songs must to be composed in their tones for them to sound natural. 

The problem is more the consonants. 

But that's another crazy complicated thing.

pearlie

Why Korean Dramas?

Like I have mentioned before, I have two good friends whom I chat often with, about Korean movies and dramas, and one of them said today that she doesn't want to watch any more dramas after "soooo many years of watching" (ten or more years probably).

I told her it wouldn't happen.

I had never understood why some people are so addicted to Korean dramas. 

Until I started watching one. 

And I would always blame my niece, and she'd always be amused by it. 

In short, what happened was she was at my house one day and I gave her the TV remote. She put on a Korean drama and the rest is history. 

That was in June 2016, and I've been hooked as a result for three years now. 

You have been warned. Don't start or you'll never stop. 

Why you may ask, like I did, would anyone be so addicted to Korean dramas?

I can now tell you why.

1. Their scriptwriters. They are really good storytellers. Sure they have familiar storylines but some are really ingenious ones. Two good examples are Defendant and Squad 38. You may say the latter is about a boring tax team (a tax team??!) but you'd never expect those multiple plot twists in every episode. 

2. The actors. The good ones are really good. Korean shows are more emotive and you can see and feel them as the character, not as the actor. And they do so well in character development that you'd want to vie for them, if you can, with your life. And you have to see the kids, their emotions, for example like Kim Kang Hoon here in Mr. Sunshine. 

3. The cinematography. Most of the dramas are produced like movies. Some of the scenes and set ups are really breathtaking. Look at these two scenes from Arthdal Chronicles. 

And I must include this one, my all-time favorite scene from 100 Days My Prince. 

4. Their themes. You sometimes get to learn about a particular theme or context or industry that the drama is based on. And they make them as real and as accurate as they can. One good example is the drama Cheese in the Trap. Even though the drama really got me very frustrated (some do, so pick and choose well), I learnt a lot about Self Victimisation as a psychological sickness. 

5. They're clean. I must say that I got tired of American shows with their frequent nudity and sex scenes. Korean dramas are mostly clean though some can get quite violent. 

6. They're not long. I know, I know. They are not short either. But comparing to the American ones that can last 10 seasons, hence 10 years, most Korean dramas are just 16, 20 or 24 one-hour episodes, and they are done. I'm not including those 50, or 60 or 100 over episodes ones. I never touch those. 

So thinking of giving them a try?

pearlie

Two and a half years, two languages

I wrote Five Interesting Things about Learning a Language and that was way back in February 2017.

Wow, how time has travelled. 

I wrote about these 5 things:

1. There are five sets of people on language acquisition: monolingual, bilingual, trilingual, multilingual and polyglot

2. There are five categories of languages on amount of time required to acquire them

3. We desire to learn a new language based on the prestige of the speaker

4. What it takes to acquire a new language to an intermediate level

5. Chinese is the hardest language in the world, in absolute terms, even for the Chinese themselves

Check it out here for the details. 

While I read the article again today, item 4 stood out for me. That section was about the length of time you need to acquire a new language and exactly how much time you need to invest on it.

And I said that, "I will only be able to dedicate an hour a day, at best, and (with that) it will take me three years to learn a new language."

I did not mention then that I was trying to learn two languages at one go - Korean and Mandarin. (I didn't want to say it for fear it will not last.)

I know some Mandarin, but I can't read or write it. 

And I know next to nothing when it comes to the Korean language. 

That was two and a half years ago, not yet three, and how do you think I have fared?

Not very good but not that bad either.

I can read some Mandarin, but still can't write. I blame it on the pinyin keyboard. And I still have not picked up the habit of speaking to my friends and colleagues in Mandarin. I am still sticking to what I'm comfortable with, English and Cantonese, and some Malay sometimes. 

I can understand what my Korean friends text me in simple Korean and I would reply them, in what I think that would sound weird to them. But what's important is that they actually understand me.

Not too bad, eh?

Two and a half years, two languages. 

pearlie

Chen of EXO, Flower

Two of my friends who are very into Korean movies and dramas are not, unlike me, into Korean music at all. 

I suppose it's because I love music a lot and even if I could not fully understand what they are singing, I still can appreciate their excellent vocals and music production, which I must say, is very good. 

I find that whilst most singers are just ok, this one is truly exceptional. Just take a listen to him here. Chen has a good clear voice with superb control.

Except that he sounds almost the same in this whole album that I cannot listen to more than three songs at any one time. 

pearlie

From the heart of a loafer

I was randomly playing songs in my Apple Music when out of the thousand over songs I have, this was played and I had a nostalgic moment

This is a song by Sam Hui and to me it really showcases the beauty of the Cantonese language. Notice the wealth of meaning with the economy of words.

I like the song except for the part where he says life destines you, which of course I don't agree. I make my decisions in life and in Christ I decide and have life.

And the part on clear conscience and living a just life deserving greatest joy would make a good discussion because it doesn't happen. Who is to say your conscience is clear and your life is just to begin with.

For those who don't know the language, I found the translation here which I've added to the lyrics below.

浪子心聲

Long ji sam seng

From the Heart of a Loafer

難分真與假

Nan fan zhan yu ga

It's hard to tell the true from the false

人面多險詐

Yan min do him za

People's appearances are deceitful

幾許有共享榮華

Gei hui yau gung heong wing wa

Who will share in your glory

簷畔水滴不分差 

Sim bun sui dik bat fan ca 

Water droplets from the eaves is in one stream (meaning not willing to share success and wealth with others and only enjoy it alone)

無知井裡蛙

Mou zi zheng lui wa 

I was as ignorant as a frog in a well

徙望添聲價

Tou mong tim sing ga

Hoping to find fame and fortune

空得意目光如麻

Hoong dak yi muk gwong yu ma

Overeager and short-sighted

誰料金屋變敗瓦 

Sui liu gham nguk bin bai nga

Who knew my golden palace would become a wreck of failure

命裡有時終須有

Ming lui yau si zhong sui yau

If life destines something for you, you will have it in the end

命裡無時莫強求 

Ming lui mou si mok kheong khau

If life destines you never to have it, there is no point forcing it

雷聲風雨打

Lui sing fung yu da

When lightning strikes, and thunder roars, and wind howls, and rain patters

何用多驚怕

Ho yung do ging pa

There is no need to be afraid

心公正白璧無瑕

Sam gung jing bak bik mou ha

So long as your conscience is clear and your heart is just

行善積德最樂也 

Hang sin jik dak zui lok ya

The person who does good deserves the greatest joy

命裡有時終須有

Ming lui yau si zhong sui yau

If life destines something for you, you will receive it in the end

命裡無時莫強求 

Ming lui mou si mok kheong khau

If life destines you never to have it, there is no point forcing it

人比海裡沙

Yan bei hoi lui sa

People are as the sand of the sea

毋用多牽掛

Mou yung do hin gwa

There is no point worrying too much

君可見漫天落霞

Gwan ho gin man tin lok ha

You see the sunset in the sky

名利息間似霧化

Ming lei sik gan ci mou fa 

Fame and fortune disappear like that mist

君可見漫天落霞

Gwan ho gin man tin lok ha

You see the sunset in the sky

名利息間似霧化

Ming lei sik gan ci mou fa 

Fame and fortune disappear like that mist

pearlie

The beauty and mystery of languages we don’t understand

We are planning for a more elaborated worship service tomorrow and it’s going to be a contemplative one with singing and Scripture and sermon all rolled into one. 

Amongst the special feature of the service will be the usage of different languages to instill in us the reality that God is mysterious and he will remain mysterious to us in his own way. And as much as he reveals himself to us, we should be in wonder and awe that he is so immense and wonderful we will never know him in full. 

Just like the languages we don’t understand, we still love to listen to the beauty of what we can only recognise as different sounds, in the same way when we could not understand God fully, we can still know and experience him as a good and great God who loves us immensely. 

We will be singing a song in Tagalog, Halina’t Sama Sama...

...and hearing Deut 6:4-5 in six different languages. 

Our church is so blessed in that we do have members who speak these languages, both native and learned. We could even have French, Spanish and Mexican but they weren’t around this week. And I would also add in Tamil, Malayalam, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew and more if I do not need to worry about timing. 

Maybe the next round, we shall do this again!

pearlie

I Can Speak ★★★★★

I Can Speak (2017)

I found out about this movie quite awhile ago while it’s still in production and I have been looking forward to watching it for three reasons: the actress, the actor and the plot about one teaching the other the English language. 

The movie wasn’t available in the channels I subscribed to but I finally watched it today, not with English subtitles but Indonesian! It is indeed a blessing to know several languages and with the Malay language—that I grew up learning and using in school—being almost but not entirely similar to Indonesian, I was able to follow the plot quite easily until the end. 

It is a very good movie. 

It is placed under the comedy and drama genre. And as far as comedy is concerned, the actress Na Moon-Hee was just brilliant. I laughed so much there were two instances where I had to pause the movie so I can have a good laugh. 

And the drama is obviously good with the excellent acting, character and story. I was moved when Na Moon-Hee gave a heart rendering speech to seek the Japanese’s apology for the sake of the Comfort Women. 

I will watch it again when it comes with English subtitles. 

By the way, as it goes with the uniqueness of the Korean language, what you see in the poster above, other than 아이캔 스피크 (ai kaen seupikeu) for “I Can Speak”, you also see the words “하우 아유?” (ha u a yu) for “How are you?”, the key phrase in the movie from beginning to end.

That I find really amusing. 

pearlie

I’m finally back to reading C.S. Lewis

In my attempt to get back into a more extensive reading regime, I found myself to be gravitating towards C.S. Lewis’s books and books about him. 

C.S Lewis still remains after all this time my most favourite author and I happen to remember this saying that I found most apt in describing him. 

I usually forget what I read, and so it’s interesting I actually remember it but I am even more amazed that I actually remember which book it’s found in. 

It’s in Lewis’s God in the Dock where Walter Hooper said this in his preface - C.S. Lewis is one writer of this century of whom the Greek epigram about Plato seems eminently exact: “In whatever direction we go, we meet him on the way back.”

And if you have read C.S. Lewis, you will totally agree with Hooper. 

The book which I have just finished reading explores Lewis’s thoughts in modern and post-modern thinking. 

Lewis Agonistes: How C.S. Lewis can Train Us to Wrestle with the Modern and Post-Modern World

by Louis Markos

I must say that books by C.S. Lewis and books about C.S. Lewis are tough reads, including this one but I found it is one of the best and most interesting book I have read in awhile. 

The topics that Markos brought up to be argued alongside with Lewis include:

- The War of Reason and Intuition

- Wrestling with Science

- Wrestling with the New Age

- Wrestling with Evil and Suffering

- Wrestling with the Arts

- Wrestling with Heaven and Hell

The chapters on science and on evil and suffering are good but not new to me. 

The chapter on new age was interesting. Markos says, “The pendulum has indeed swung far in the direction of science, empiricism, and objectivity, and it was only a matter of time before this relentless swing towards secularizarion set off a counter-swing back toward the sacred...This reaction has surfaced in various different forms, but it has come (since the 1980s) to be referred to under a single all-inclusive heading: the New Age...the reaction was to be expected, the unchecked, headlong progress of Enlightenment thought could not help but breed its own antithesis.”

The author’s opinion for us Christians is “if we are to accept the New Age not as an all-out threat to the church but as an opportunity to reach a multitude of souls hungry for spiritual truth, then we must learn to identify, understand and sympathize with the desires and yearnings that drive these passionate neopagans.”

And I really like the chapter on Wrestling with the Arts where the author focused on language, poetry, metaphors and parallelisms. The post-modernists have reduced language from being inherently meaningful—that behind the words used was something real, words like love and justice and beauty meant something—to something that is arbitrary in that words are subjective in meaning. They have “killed the ‘illusion’ that words can point back to an absolute, eternal meaning.”

But language is centered on meaning and truth, and the “language of Scripture and of poetry at its most sublime is not singular or linear but polysemous (Greek for ‘many signs’)...[it’s] the slippery nature of poetry and of those images, metaphors, and symbols on which all of the arts finally rest is what enables it to hold in tension a supernatural meaning that could not be expressed in a closed, mathematical system...the Lord’s Supper is the most perfect of symbols, the great reservoir of polysemous meaning. The communion wine remains wine, and yet it is also simultaneously the blood of Christ...language is more meaningful precisely because it is slippery.”

The author then spent considerable time referring to the fiction that Lewis wrote based on mythologies, sagas, legends and medieval romances. 

With that, I promise myself that I must fully read the Chronicles of Narnia. I have read it but not completely. 

The Magician’s Nephew is now my next read. I just bought the Kindle version of The Chronicles of Narnia Complete 7-Book Collection and I am looking forward to digging in. 

pearlie

What’s your favourite word today?

I keep this daily diary app Askt that asks me the same question for each of the year. It’s interesting I’m still at it after 4 years and it’s interesting to see how my answers have evolved, and even more interesting how my answers can be exactly the same year on year. 

The question today is an interesting one: what’s your favourite word right now?

The first word that came my mind was “think”. 

I shared it with a couple of my friends and their responses were interesting too.

One ask why am I so into thinking? Looks like this may not be the first time I talked to him about my propensity to think all the time. But it’s something I can’t stop doing. I probably think too much for my own good to begin with.

The other friend commented that it’s a very interesting word in that it’s both cold and rational, and warm and emotional. Now isn’t that an interesting observation. I never thought of it that way before. I know it can be either intellectual, I am thinking about something or emotional, I am thinking about you. But I never thought about it being warm and cold. 

Yes, I am thinking I have very interesting thinking friends too. 

So, what’s your favourite word for today?

pearlie

Rosak already lah...

I was watching a Korean drama when I saw this:

It is obviously a product placement but for any Malaysians who see this would chuckle and probably shake their heads. 

One must really be multi-lingual when it comes to branding. 

Really...they must. 

Note to non-Malaysians: meaning of the word rosak (Malay to English.)

1. Rosak - damaged, ruined, broken (of things); disrepair, bruise, frazzle, destroyed 

2. Merosak - deprave, deflower, corrode, botch, blight 

3. Merosakkan - destroy, desolate, deleterious, deface, damage 

Source: Kamus Online

pearlie

Time to get back to my language learning?

I have been so busy getting my son ready for college and with the travelling and all, I have put my language learning on hold...for a bit too long though. 

My record has always been quite good until now. This is my flashcard review graph for the whole year and I have been progressing very well, until the past few weeks...

...where I have not reviewed my cards for more than 20 days resulting in a huge gap in my monthly review count. And I have never missed it for more than one day before. 

And as I have said many times, language learning is one of the most difficult things that I have done. And I have been asking myself if I should give it up. 

It’s so hard. 

I am still not speaking anything but English, Malay and Cantonese. 

A big part of me refuse to give up and so I’m back to reviewing my flashcards.

It is hard. I have forgotten so many of the Chinese words I have learnt. And now I have to slowly pick them up again. 

And with the harbinger of new technology that may very soon result in wearable language translators, we may not even need to learn a new language but I still find being able to speak a different language a really cool thing to do. 

But it just take so much effort. Is it worth it?

pearlie

My Projects for 2018

Happy New Year and a Blessed 2018! 

Selamat Tahun Baru! 

新年快乐 万事如意! 

새해복많이 받으세요!

It was since 2016 that I am giving myself three projects every year. I don’t want any resolutions because they have a bad reputation of being broken. 

My projects don’t get broken. They are either completed or I don’t find them interesting enough and I abandon them. 

I know. I know. It’s the same thing but I’m still calling them my projects. 

I had these three in 2016, with their success and failure noted here. 

And in 2017, (1) I kind of succeeded in completing my 20-book challenge but I’ve always gone way beyond the minimum count of 20 consecutively since 2012. But I’ve only manage 20 in 2017. (2) I wanted to join a more “technical” choral group. I passed the audition but on my first rehearsal, I didn’t like the way it was done and so I quit. (3) I wanted to learn a new language. I started on Korean and with the progress using the tools I have, I went into Mandarin as well. But I’m still a beginner. Language isn’t an easy thing. 

So what’s in it for me in 2018?

1. I just started my 2018 book challenge in Goodreads and I’m being realistic. I know my limitations but I want to do more than 20 and so I have set it at 25. I hope I can surpass that and despite sounding rather resolution-ish, I have to do something about my recent addiction to the television. 

2. I am giving my language learning another year. I feel I am really plateauing at the moment but I need to press on and so I will. I hope to give a good report at the end of the year. 

3. I’ve inadvertently set my mind to lose some weight beginning September 2016 and walk more since December 2017. And I have done quite well. Maintaining it is much harder and so my third project will be to maintain my current weight, though I’m quite set on losing a couple more kilos and for a person who doesn’t like to walk, I need to keep on walking. 

So there you go, let’s see how I will fare this time round. 

pearlie

The problem with learning a new language

I am really finding it so hard in my language learning recently, especially when I feel I am not progressing at all and being fluent seem so distant it’s beginning to feel impossible. 

It’s so frustrating. 

And I found this article that says that I am not only hitting one wall but nine!

1. My vocabulary is too basic to hold a conversation. And isn’t that so true. 

2. When I learn a new vocabulary word, I still don't understand it when a native uses it. I can only understand bits and pieces here and there. 

3. I can't speak fluently, even though I understand the language when I hear it. Not a wall I’m facing yet since I don’t understand much of what I hear. 

4. I don't know how to stop making the same mistake over and over again. This is what has been frustrating me lately. I keep mixing up words and grammar rules. 

5. I can understand the language, but I just can't speak it. I can only understand bits and pieces and obviously can’t speak it at all. 

6. The language I'm learning has too many words that all mean the same thing. And the same words with many, many meanings. 

7. I want to sound smoother, more native and more eloquent. But I just sound weird. 

8. I learned a new language in school, and I just don't sound like a native speaker. At least I think I don’t have a problem with the languages I learnt in school. 

9. I've been learning a language for years, but I'm not getting anywhere. I’ve just been at it for a year and I’ll not get anywhere even after a few years? 

Oh dear...maybe I should just give up?

pearlie

Useless words that I use all the time

I gave a short brief at work about business writing and one thing I did highlight was the need to do away with useless business jargons and buzz words. 

And I obviously need to practice that myself as I notice that I use the word “basically” a lot.

I know that whenever I wanted to explain something or whenever I’m in a discussion, I will say that word all the time, every time. 

I don’t know when I got infected by it but I find that it’s a favourite of many. You hear it wherever you go and with most people whom you speak to. 

And I can’t seem to stop it from coming out of my mouth. 

When I am speaking and as I think to speak, I’d soon say “basi-”... and I would have no choice but to complete the word and get on with my speech, though my thoughts will be interrupted with some self-chiding going on. 

The trick now is to stop my brain from producing that now dreaded and useless word. 

But how? The brain thinks what it wants to think. 

pearlie