fandomhigh | Language classes, Monday

Good morning, class.

The words for your vocabularly quiz are on the board. Translate all ten into Latin and Greek.

Today we'll begin our discussion of Hebrew. Everyone please take a handout: these are some basic nouns and verbs, and a few sentences using the words. Try out a translation and we'll discuss them in a few minutes. Remember that Hebrew reads from right to left.

*glances up at the words for the vocabulary quiz* All right, I can do this...

Oh, God. *Okay, Latin is like Ancient, and you've heard that spoken before. You can figure this one out, Janet*

*does the Latin translations and gets half of them right*

*does the Greek translations and gets two right*

(OOC: See, she's been studying!)

*grabs a handout, stares at it, tries not to let eyes cross* *scribbles a translation and thinks it might be right*

Rory takes a handout, and tries the Hebrew to the best of her abilities.

*groans* Oh, frak me.

*starts working on the quiz and actually gets seven right, out of pure dumb luck more than anything*

*takes the Hebrew handout and mutters repeatedly "right to left, right to left, right to left"*

*suddenly realizes that all the papers and books in this school have corners, and finds it very weird*

Isaac sits down and begins jotting down his answers...

(OOC: Igonore the fact that it was posted anonymously, as mun for Isaac is an idiot, and forgot to login...)

Charlie gets all the Latin quickly--he's learned this already. The Greek is harder and he scribbles the last few quickly when the time is up.

Hebrew makes him frown. The letters look a lot like each other.

Oh great.

-Get's 8 out of 10 in the Latin
-5 out of 10 in Greek

*Begins to try to understand Hebrew*

Thomasina slips into her seat and, taking out a sheet of foolscap, neatly translates all the vocabulary words written on the board. Once she's handed her work in, she takes a worksheet back to her seat and has her first look at Hebrew.

Connor isn't quite awake. Hard to sleep with werewolves howling all night long.

He misses the same word in both Latin and Greek. He'll be obsessing over that for weeks.

On to Hebrew. What fun! Connor enjoys studying languages. He's just not in the mood affter missing two questions on the quiz.

Murphy is in about the same shape as his twin.

Does alright with the Latin, but misses two of the Greek words.

*does marginally better on this quiz than the last one*

*gets Hebrew handout and doodles for the rest of class*

Rogue concentrates very hard on the vocab quiz. She passes--but barely, getting 6 out of ten right of each language. "Conjugation is so much easier," she mutters as she turns in her quiz. While the Hebrew script is beautiful, she's in such a bad mood after the quiz that she just sits, staring blankly at the paper.

Max, again, does piss poor on the translation quiz. The Latin's better than the Greek.

But, Hebrew!

Max looks around gleefully. He's probably the only Jew in the whole damned school!

Latin: Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant! Fac ut vivas.

Greek: Η ελαττωματική λογική Μάιος υπονομεύει την ολόκληρη φιλοσοφία σας! Πάρτε μια ζωή.

Hebrew: Alphabet (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm), n (http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Four/Noun_Properties/noun_properties.html)o (http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Four/Masculine_Nouns/masculine_nouns.html)u (http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Four/Feminine_Nouns/feminine_nouns.html)n (http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Four/Plural_Nouns/plural_nouns.html)s (http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Four/Summary/summary.html), verbs (http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Nine/Introduction/introduction.html).

I do not understand = Ani lo Mevin
How are you? = Ma nishma?
Excuse me = Sleecha
Do you speak english? = Ata medaber anglit?

[OOC: The Jew in me wants to cheat so badly but it wouldn't be fair.]

Sonia again translates the Latin with no problem, but is confused over a few of the Greek terms. After chewing on her pen for several minutes, she makes another attempt at the Greek and manages (for the most part) to get them right.

((OOC: Sorry this is a day late. School, she is le crazy. I'll understand if you mark her absent or tardy or whichever.))

Good morning, class.

The handout for today is the development of Sumerian writing (http://www.ancientscripts.com/sumerian.html). It may look a bit familiar if you've seen Egyptian heiroglyphics.

Writing becomes more abstract and less representational as time passes. Any thoughts on why this is?

*frowns at the mention of Egyptian heiroglyphics*

Because it would take too damn long to draw out a picture of everything?

*amused* That is it, exactly. Writing has become simpler as time goes by. Language has become simpler.

Class, do you think ancients were able to represent abstract concepts with a representational writing system?

*is starting to remember the things she's listened to Daniel talk about*

I think that would be tough, wouldn't it? I mean, didn't language originate as hard bookkeeping or something like that, not as something to represent abstract concepts with?

Indeed.

You may be aware of the ancient Mayan system of record-keeping, which recently archaeologists have begun to interpret. The Mayans tied knots into strings to represent basic statistics as well as more complicated messages: how many soldiers an enemy was sending to do battle, for exmample.

It is fair to say Sumerian writing began the same way. Perhaps if the Mayan civilization had continued they would have developed more abstract written communication, as well.

Stories and such have been around since communication began, yet they were rarely written down for many centuries. Any thoughts on why this is?

*wracks memory* *tries not to laugh at mental image of Xipe Totec--Lord Zippy to the Colonel--sitting in class, because in this place, it could happen, headdress and all*

The system of writing was too complicated? Too concrete? I mean, how do you say-- *tries desperately to remember anything from any Classical text and fails* How do you describe a battle in interesting terms if you don't have the terms to describe them?

*nods* Very good.

It's safe to assume that abstract concepts existed in the spoken language long before there was a written way to express them. Oral histories and minstrels kept the tales going--the earliest writings are a transcription of sung tales. The Iliad, for example: the version that we read today is just one of the hundreds of sung versions in circulation in Homer's time. It was written down, however, because the written language had evolved enough to capture the intricacies of the poetry--and as the culture changed, people began to fear their oral traditions would be lost.

Language and a culture's perception of the world are intertwined. You don't need a word for something if it doesn't exist for you.

Thoughts? Particularly for those of you who speak other languages? Are there words you've learned for concepts that just don't exist in your native tongue?

*does not actually speak another language fluently, and so decides to shut up for a while and listen*

*really wishes Daniel were here*

Good afternoon.

For your quiz today there are ten English words on the board. Translate them into Chinese and Japanese. You have fifteen minutes.

We'll begin the Korean writing system today. Please take a handout and practice the forms. We'll discuss pronounciation once everyone has completed the vocabulary quiz.

Rory quickly translates the words, and takes the remaining time to stare into space, thinking.

*takes quiz - B-work, most likely*

Pssssst - RORY!

"Hey!" Rory says, startled out of her reverie. She grins. "I've barely seen you since you transferred!"

"I know! Is this place crazy or what?! It's like nothing even surprises me anymore, you know? How have you been?"

"I've been...okay. Things are weird here. Anything exciting going on with you? I hear you're involved with Homecoming," Rory says with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm in charge of music. Mama would have a heart attack if she ever found out, I'm sure. And Band Class seems awesome - we'll be divided into groups this week, and then I'll finally be in a band. How awesome is that?! I can't wait. How's the yearbook coming?"

"That's great! Yearbook's okay - we have a meeting at Luke's tonight. You should come if you can make it - there are some people I'd like you to meet." Rory remembers something, and drops her voice. "Oh...and Jess is here."

"JESS?!" Lane practically shouts, then gets quiet again as some other students look at her. "Jess? I can't believe that - ruining Stars Hollow wasn't enough, he had to follow you here too? What a jerk. Yeah - I'll see if I can make it to the yearbook meeting. I've been pretty busy working at the diner, though."

"Eh," Rory shrugs, "We haven't really run into each other. And when we have...it's been odd. We don't fight. I think he might still...y'know, have feelings for me." Rory doesn't voice her opinion that it might be at least a little mutual.

She clears her throat. "Well, the meeting's actually at the diner, so...you'll probably be there whether you want to be or not."

"Why wouldn't he - you are awesome, after all. And you have great taste in friends, if I say so myself. That's okay - you deserve better, and he has to know that."

"Yearbook at the diner - great - I love it when my the first impression I give to new people is me wearing a greasy apron and shouting at the cooking staff."

"Yeah," Rory agrees, grinning. "But don't worry about meeting people - you can always duck in the back if you don't feel up to it. Besides, everyone yells at the staff at Luke's. It's what makes it so...Luke's-y."

She fiddles with her pencil, and then asks, "So, Homecoming music girl, are you going to go to the dance itself?"

"I don't know - it's still kinda lame to go without a date, right?"

Lane tries not to blush, and chooses her words very carefully.

"And I don't have... prospects at the moment... not really, anyway. What about you? Planning to borrow some of fabulous vintage 80's clothes from your mom?"

"I don't know if I'm going yet," Rory says, blushing a bright pink.

"And what do you mean you don't have any prospects? The guys here are gorgeous, and you're fabulous. I know like four guys who would adore you and who are really cute! And also, not gay - which is important to note in this school."

"Well, there's this one guy, in music class... but it's not like he would ever even notice me anyway. And if you know other guys who are just waiting for someone to adore, you need to spill."

"And of course you're going - oh my gosh - look at you! Who is he? Tell me all about him. I have to know!"

"Well...his name's Logan - not that Huntzberger kid who knows my grandparents, but the other one who goes here. He's on yearbook with me. We...well, we kind of hooked up at a party our frist weekend here, and we've been dating since then. It's going pretty well," Rory finishes with a grin.

"Tell me about the music guy! I bet he's noticed you. Why wouldn't he?"

"Logan? I haven't met either of them, but this one must be great to sweep you off your feet like that.

"Hmm, music guy - his name is Charlie [], and we sort of hit it off (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhigh/98420.html?thread=3297908#t3297908) in my Comparative Religions (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhigh/98420.html#comments) class on Friday. He's an awesome musician, and he's got the best accent. I could just listen to him talk for days. I haven't seen him around since, though..."

"Aww! You should go find him! Figure out where he's living! Send him flowers - apparently it's not exclusive for guys to send them to us around here," Rory says wisely. "I bet he likes you. And besides - he has an accent!"

"Yeah, maybe I'll call him later... just to listen to his voicemail message, if nothing else! Well, hey - I have to duck out a few minutes early to get to work, so I'll see you around, okay?"

Takes the quiz easily. Begins pratciing Korean writing system.

Easily translates the Japanese... but the Chinese takes a little longer, though he does finish with lots of time left to work on the hand out, having almost a little bit too much fun with the writing system.

*finishes quiz, get nine out of the ten right, is impressed with self*

*takes handout and practices forms for about ten minutes before finally just succumbing to the urge to daydream*

*Dream is reading in the languages classroom. From somewhere comes music that sounds ancient and repetitive, with drums and flutes.*

[any tutoring requests or questions here.]

Language classes, Monday

8:00 - 9:30 MWF Classics

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10:00 - 11:30 MWF Indo-European

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2:30 - 4:00 MWF Languages of Asia

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1:00 - 2:00 MWF Open lab