New Blog!

As of today, this blog will no longer be updated.

After setting up my professional resume site, I decided to create a matching blog. Simply click on the picture above to visit the new site!

Since I began using this platform in 2015 a lot has changed - where I am, what I want to do, what I enjoy talking about. I think it's only fitting to change venues.

But all of my old posts will still be available here. 

Don't forget to subscribe on the new site to get posts in your email!

Review: Teach Yourself Hindi

Back in January I committed to buying and using a textbook for Hindi for the following reasons:

• Lack of solid and wholesome beginner-intermediate material
• Lack of focus 
• Desiring an offline source for vocabulary and reading practice

By the time I bought Teach Yourself Hindi I had already learned the alphabet, colors, numbers and a few greetings. This made the book very easy to slip into, as I already had a hold on the fundamentals.

The Mystic Mountain Range and Doctor Strange

Before Doctor Strange released in early November, I was already hearing quiet complaints of stereotypes and overuse of the “Mystic Near East” trope. Certainly this isn't the first time Nepal (and often India) had been reduced to gurus and isolated mountain-top monasteries. And while I enjoyed Doctor Strange, I was curious about the use of this trope in the comics and film.

Thoughts on using ACTFL Can-Do Statements

Given that I’ve studied primary Indo-European languages, I’ve become well familiar with the Common European Framework of Reference (CERF). Japanese has its own equivalent (JLPT), but Arabic lacks a concrete exam, and I’ve often used CERF levels to monitor my progress.

Project Updates: Web Development, Course Revision and More

While being nestled near the Western Ghats in an Indian high-rise suburb appears relaxed, I can tell you that it this isn't the case! It felt as if the final months of the year might have been swept out with the pre-Diwali cleaning.

After a series of viral and a short respite in Hyderabad in September, I found myself frantically trying to finish or resume projects started in August.

First there was my personal website, which I have used as a lab rat for different CSS3 and HTML5 principles since last October. Finally I settled on a design, at least for the time being, and cut 75% of what I had built. All that was left was to edit the content, finalize fonts and colors, and finish the media queries. Granted, my PHP form abruptly stopped working, possibly because of an addition of another script, and so it was back to the drawing board for my contact form.

Given that I enjoy numerous creative pursuits, I wanted a place to showcase my development project, translation, writing, and design. However, I also wanted the website to be simple, not overbearing, and possibly interactive. Therefore, I borrowed code from this fullscreen layout with page transitions as shown on Tympanus.net and tweaked it to create a one-page interactive layout. In the process, I learned quite a bit about JQuery and clean CSS3 styling, which I hope to use in my future projects.

I’m hoping to experiment with the layout of this blog, as well as delve into some WordPress development.

Next, I wanted to focus on my online grammar course. Although I am proud of my first course, I have wanted to expand and improve on it. Back in March I had made a list of possible improvement areas based on feedback from a test class, and I continued to add to this throughout the year. Finally in October I sat down and organized my list and created a general timetable. As I plan to nearly quadruple the size of my course, I have estimated it will take about eleven months to write, film and edit it. While I’ve gone ahead and done some work now, I’m officially starting in December.

Of course, all of my projects will take the passenger seat for 20 days in November, during which time I will learn stick shift! While I’m not too fond of driving, depending on autos and Ola cars has become rather impossible at this point. Waiting for our area to develop simply isn’t a decent option. This became especially clear in September, when a viral was making its rounds about the house, and we had no way to get to a doctor without a vehicle.

As for my German and Hindi – both are slightly off schedule. I’m still planning to take my German exam in February-March, as my work through Aspekte has appeared promising. My Hindi, finally, is starting to pick up. On a typical day I can understand most of what people say around me, or at least get the gist. I can maybe understand 30 of Bollywood dialogue, which is expected, as I haven’t quite hit the 1000 word mark yet. Currently I’ve stopped at chapter 14 of Teach Yourself Hindi, of which I’ll give a proper review in a future blog post.

Writing wise, I have three short stories in the works, a novel outline, and a draft of a comic. I’ve also had time to write a few poems here or there, and I’m hoping to make it a regular activity.

Once I finish driving school in November, and take my C2 exam in early 2017, I’m hoping to have more time to lend to these other projects. And once my Hindi reaches a more natural conversational level, I’m estimating sometimes early next year, I’m hoping to start some Marathi (the local language) and Bengali (home language).

Then, perhaps, I can finally reacquaint myself with my other languages.

Film Review: PINK

After the Brock Turner scandal, in which a rapist served only three months of his six months sentence, it was fitting and somewhat comforting to see the film PINK.

Given India's usually conservative stance in the social realm, I wasn't sure what to expect. Certainly rape is considered a crime, but I wasn't sure how the victims would be seen. Would we hear common excuses - "Her clothes were skimpy" or "She was too flirty"? Yes, this was touched upon. But gratefully there was also the resounding "No means no".

Film Review: A Flying Jatt

At the end of August I ventured out with my husband and mother in law to see the almost family-oriented movie A Flying Jatt. Although I normally enjoy watching a Hindi film without subtitles, as I consider it extra language practice, I had reservations about this film based on the earlier release of Baaghi.

Post Updates

Due to my current undertaking of projects, I will be posting only on two Fridays a month starting in October. At the moment it has become difficult to both effectively study and write high quality posts. However, as each project comes to a close, I will most likely have an additional post that month with information and updates.

These are my current challenges:

• German C2 level exam by January/February
• Hindi B1/Conversational by December
• Finish Personal site, begin blogger redesign (plus later projects when these are complete)
• Continue learning Indian cuisine. 
• Finish scripting comic, edit it, and begin drawing
• 14 Day Challenge by Istebrak (currently on day 13).
• Social Media Marketing and blog writing (in preparation for freelance career)
• Grammar Course overhaul
• Miscellaneous writing projects (outlining mode)

As you can imagine, there's a lot going on. And, generally, I tend to group certain activities in topic or "class" titles, if only to feel more organized:

• Advanced German Composition 
• Conversational Hindi
• Beginner to Intermediate Web Development: HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, Jquery and PHP
• Cooking Authentic Indian Home food (Mix of styles)
• Review of Art Fundamentals With Clip Studio Paint
• Freelancing and Marketing 101

Most of these tasks will last until the end of the year - although I hope to complete an additional 2-3 web projects before then. The drawing the comic will most likely last for a year, if not longer, as it isn't a high priority. It may take me about a year to complete the revised grammar course, as I'm tripling the content and plan to have higher-quality videos and exercises.

Thank you all for sticking with this blog! I'll post again soon! 

Web Development Update

Last November I started working on a professional website, only to go on hiatus in February before returning to the States. I didn't start working on it again until June, and I'm glad to say its nearly complete.

Since June I've exchanged my crude text holders for icons from Icomoon, by buttons for tabs and plain html for some nice hover effects. I've also added color and some jQuery to make the site interactions more dynamic. I'm still sorting out the colors, affects and some minor alignment, but the website is coming along.

Before I tune the aspects listed above, I'm working on making the website responsive. In other words, it will modify the content to fit whatever screen it's on. Mostly I'm working on creating media queries for the mobile and tablet.

So far it's been a pretty good ride. I've gotten a better hold on CSS3 transitions, bootstrap override, responsive navigation, dynamic Javascript and Jquery, with a dash of PHP for the contact form. I'm not sure I would use this site for an actual personal website at the moment, but it's been a great learning experience.

My next project will be to create a blogger template, followed by some ventures into WordPress. Wish me luck!

NIE! The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov

Title: Physics of Sorrow

Author: Georgi Gospodinov

Translator: Angela Rodel

Original Language: Bulgarian

"If we exist, that means we're being watched. There is something or someone that never lets us out of its sight. Death comes when that thing stops watching us, when it turns away." -187

According to the New York Times, this Bulgarian novel is a kind of response to an Economist poll showing Bulgaria to be the saddest place in the world. But this piece isn't exactly what I would call depressing - nor does it read like a standard novel. The Physics of Sorrow is dressed like prose but breathes like poetry.

Angela Rodel masterfully translated each segment, as it reads fluidly as we jump from each experience to the next. There's certainly a flavouring of Borges in this work, particularly due to the motifs of labyrinths.

The empathetic narrators' obsession with the Minotaur keeps the reader centred as he/she is flung into the lives of family members at different ages. It is a small portrait of the Bulgarian life in the last century, a dash of colour that offers a glimpse into the mindset of a family surviving war, living through the rise and fall of communism, into the modern day.

The structure mirrors a kind of natural flight of conciousness, in a way that complements the empathetic nature of the narrator. He moves from one time and person to the next, experiencing everything, but only for a moment before moving into another mode of conciousness, another thought appears.

This novel, due to its structure, is far more interactive for the reader. Connecting the characters and time-line is part of the joy of the novel. While short, this novel is rather time consuming, if only because one must become used to the pattern.

Regardless, I'm shelving Physics for a definite re-read - if only because, even in its sorrow, there is beauty.

Dabble: Networking

The difference is, I lie for a reason, for the understandable and underreported concern of identity theft. I’d lie even to my mother, God rest her soul, as even parents aren’t exempt from stealing. Besides, I am not unlike other professionals, who tell tall tales to bolster mediocre clothing shops and messy programming experience. About these things only a dust speck of talk can be true – but their own lives, heaven forbid! Among their own personal experiences they speak the absolute truth, littering the air with all sorts of private information, especially after a drink.

My freelance work building databases often compels me to meet such professionals on a monthly basis, sometimes weekly, if the bar floors are bare. From Rhode Island to Chicago to Santa Fe, most of these are held in dimly lit joints with a throng of white-collared young graduates leaning on a slick counter, drinks in hand.

Once, however, I found myself at a particularly congested coffee shop in Midtown, Memphis. Here, tucked in the far point of yellow painted walls, I sunk into a couch with a skull-sized mug in my left hand and I nearly told the truth. I almost said my name.

Good God, how terrifying.

It was a girl going on twenty-seven with a southern twang thick as honey. Ms. Cindy Evers, from Mount Juliet, the girl with two cats and who loved Tom and Jerry growing up.

As usual, it wasn’t difficult to keep her talking about herself. My formula is to follow each answer with a question. Thusly:

“And how did you get into creating chipmunk scarves and selling them online?”

“Well, I sell all sorts of animal-related merchandise. Scarves, hats, shirts. Soon we’ll have headbands and other jewelry. But you see I grew up hunting animals and keeping all sorts of pets. I even had a sloth for two weeks. Named it Jerry. But I started making crafts at about ten, when I my aunt gave me a little kit for my birthday.

“And you...I’m sorry, did you say your name?”

For a reason I couldn’t quite fathom, I nearly said it. The first hung of my tongue. Perhaps it was the sincerity and kindness in her voice, or simply the abundance of caffeine, that made my mouth overeager to speak. Luckily, I caught myself.

“I’m Jonathan. It must have been a winter birthday, to give you a kit like that. Something to do when it snows.”

“Oh no. My birthday is August 4th. Nothing but heat and humidity that time of year!”

She giggled and placed her mocha latte on a glass tabletop covered with poetry magazines. Ms. Evers smiles, and we talk like this – if only for a few more minutes. I ask a barrage of questions. And when she finishes, I remind her of my services and take my leave. At this gathering, there are less than thirty people, so I should be careful not to be overheard. Someone may recognize what I’m doing, after all.

And when I leave, all will remember my secure database programming. Two or three will leave with a number I gave them. Each may have a different name for me, but that is the cost of security.

When it comes out on the news someone lost their identity, that their entire account had been emptied, that no culprit emerged, at least I can sleep knowing that I’m safe. How could I support myself if my identity ran away from me? If someone could google me and find me? I lie to survive – as anyone would.

Three Non-European Languages For English Speakers

There's a trend for language learners in the English-speaking world to stick to Western European languages. Who can blame them? English shares a considerable amount of vocabulary with both romance and Germanic languages - this makes them a bit easier to pick up. It's no different than a Hindi speaker learning Bengali, Gujarati, or even Persian.

More adventurous learners have attempted branching out into East Asian languages like Japanese and Chinese, especially for those interested in anime or business.

But here are five more languages that can broaden your horizons:

Update: WebDev & Other Projects

I returned to India in early April, and since then I've been working to sort out my daily tasks and my larger projects.

NIE! Leaves of Narcissus by Somaya Ramadan

Title: Leaves of Narcissus

Author: Somaya Ramadan

Translator: Marilyn Booth

How To Conquer Anxiety When Speaking

Whether you become nervous speaking in your native language or not, many second language learners have anxiety speaking to target language speakers. You may stay silent or stumble over your words. These reactions are generally associated with a lack of confidence. You may believe your not competent, you can't recall the words quick enough, or perhaps you have general social anxiety.

Language Challenge Update

Due to moving I was limited in my language learning for about 2 weeks, with my practice being sporadic, but since then I've gradually returned to a regular schedule. Here's what I've been doing the past several days (the weeks before that I won't mention, basically because it was most vocabulary review).

Learn a Language With YWriter

There are many softwares and applications that claim to "teach" a language. But what about immersing yourself in software you already use?

As the free PC equivalent of Scrivener and a writing software, it may surprise you that YWriter can be used to learn a language. But this method is really no different from shifting from native language to target language on your computer.

Transitivity and Language Learning

Transitivity was a concept I struggled with in elementary school, and then promptly forgot about. Even when I began learning new languages, I was far more preoccupied with perfective verbs and tenses to even think about how transitivity may matter.

Now In English! Modern Japanese Literature

Title: Modern Japanese Literature: From 1868 to the Present Day

Author: Various

Translators: Sam Houston Brock, Robert H. Brower, Harold G. Henderson, Howard Hibbon, Glenn Hughes, Baroness Shidzut Ishimoto, Yozan T. Iwasaki, Donald Keene, Ivan Morris, W.H.H. Norman, Shio Sakanishi, G.W. Sargent, Edward Seidensticker, Burton Watson, and Meredith Weatherby. 

Editor: Donald Keene

Into India: Spiritual Stereotypes And Mysticism

In the West, it seems that mysticism gave its dying breath eons ago. But is that really true?