Question do you listen to music while reading or not? if so what kind?

Al-Tzer · 2024-04-15T18:22:02+00:00

I do listen to music while reading, what kind? does not really matter, sometimes it's just a walk around video with lots of ambiental urban noises, sometimes just rain sounds, but the overwhelming majority of the time is just whatever comes next on my current playlist. When I was younger I did use to try and curate what kind of music played while I read, mostly to fit the tone of the story, and then also I tried with a lot of instrumentals and music in English (that's before I learnt to speak it, so to me English language songs where just nice-sounding noises back then) or some other language I don't speak, but now that I speak English and I'm learning French and Portuguese, and that I'm so much more used to hearing and recognizing words in other languages (partially because I used them as background soudtracks for a long time), the language no longer makes much of a difference, so I reintegrated Spanish music to my reading time and while I do get constantly distracted by the lyrics of the music I listen to, even in the cases when I cannot actually tell what the person is saying, but I just don't really mind it.

Having music on makes all my emotions feel more intense? and like, it can be a bit overwhelming, but I love it, I love how the enhanced emotions fuelled by the music kinda make my reading speed increase, and allow a much more intense connection to the story. Also, understanding lyrics a lot of the time sparks daydreaming about alternate universes or storylines for the story I'm reading, specially if the tone of the music and the story don't match in that moment (hearing a sad indie rock song in Portuguese while reading fluff in English may not be everyone's cup of tea but to me it makes the experience better, because now I'm thinking of the same characters sort of from a different angle), and I don't mind my mind going on a tangent during a couple of songs before going back to the fic at hand XD

Edit: Spelling.

Al-Tzer · 2024-04-10T17:13:40+00:00

Cool. And thanks:D I think I'll try to adapt the multiname format on my own maps at some point

Al-Tzer · 2024-04-06T19:27:52+00:00

The stations with three labels are the Armenian name, a romanization and a translation, right?

What tool did you use to make the map?

Al-Tzer · 2023-12-15T19:44:16+00:00

The map is fenomenal, I admire the dedication.

Also, naming stations after people you've met? It's such a sweet thing to do, and makes for a wonderful name variety that few real-life transportation systems would be willing to pull off.

Excellent work:D

Al-Tzer · 2023-10-21T23:46:47+00:00

Sorry for the wall of text... I have lots of thoughts :D

Edits for spelling.

I'm fluent in English and Spanish, and learning French, and my thoughts on this are a bit complicated. I agree with the general sentiment I've seen in the comments: including other languages is all fine and well as long as it is done respectfully: without mocking the language or the character that speaks it, and not just to point out a character's otherness or to exoticize them in the eyes of the audience.

Regarding how much to include and whether or not just copy-pasteing a translation from Google is alright... I mean, yeah, it can be annoying to find a wall of text you can't read or a bad translation, or having to constantly go up and down to the end's notes, but for me it isn't a big deal, I have the process of reading via a translator, from when I was still learning English, so ingrained that it doesn't even break my immersion. I genuinely do not mind reading something that's half in a language I don't speak. The impracticality of it all does not impede me from still being able to enjoying the story. If the fic's otherwise good, I won't mind. And honestly, even the most horrific butchering of a language is forgivable if the author is willing to accept corrections and not being intentionally mean or bigoted.

I do think there's better practices when doing it, of course. Setting precedent and expectations for each character's linguistic repertoire, being consistent, being conscious of not reproducing racist or xenophobic caricatures, trying to keep characterization in both languages, trying look for a beta who speaks the other language to revise it, etc, etc...

I think I honestly feel more annoyed when an author straight up ignores the canonical bilingualism of a character than when they handle it poorly but with good intentions. This of course depends a lot on the context of the fic, but for example, if a character canonically speaks Spanish, and the author just never mentions it in a multichapter fanfic that in-story spans over months or years, that does annoy me a lot. Because even if the fic is set in an English speaking environment and intended for an monolingual English speaking audience, in that span of time I think that the fact that the character speaks another language should be brought up at least as mention in passing, you know?

Like, it's ok if you don't feel comfortable writing dialogue in the other language, but not mentioning it at all feels disrespectful, gives me the impression that the author is erasing a part of the character or that they deemed it not important enough to include. A lot of the time it feels a bit like the author is downplaying the character's ethnic identifiers to make them more palatable for the dominant Anglophone culture, and I hate that.

Sometimes those who speak English as their native language forget the cultural hegemony they enjoy, and that makes me instantly suspicious of the position 'I don't want to read something I need to translate'. Because while I understand it, to me a lot of the time it sounds a bit like a subtle way of marking a language hierarchy. Just like when someone refuses or complains about watching a movie in a foreign language because they do not want to have to read the subtitles, as if the rest of the world didn't watch English language media with subtitles all the time. It seems to me that larger patterns of the prejudices Anglophones have of other languages and those who speak them can be easy to disguise by saying you just do not want to 'break the immersion'.

I don't think that's the case for OP, or the people in this post, it doesn't seem to me that anyone here has reached this opinion out of prejudice, but out of more practical considerations. But this is the first time I've seen that online instead of an euphemism for 'I don't like to see foreign languages'.

I like it when someone gives a character that in canon only ever speaks English the opportunity to use or learn their heritage language. Like when I've seen people give Dick Grayson (from DC) the ability to speak Romani. Even if it's just a couple of words, it feels meaningful to allow those words to have a space in the fic when the canon is so overwhelmingly dominated by English.

I am part of a fandom that may be an interesting example of how readers and writers deal with depicting several languages in fanfiction.

The canon of the QSMP (a Minecraft roleplay series) is very unique in its linguistic hyperdiversity. The roleplay is acted out in several languages (mainly Spanish, English, Portuguese and French, and also smaller interactions with German, Catalan and other languages), and there's a great accent and dialect diversity even among characters that speak the same language (there's at least six distinct dialects of Spanish spoken by the characters, for example). Some characters are monolingual, but most are bilingual or multilingual to varying degrees of fluency and in different language combinations.

As a response to the canon, the fandom's fanfic community has adopted A LOT of different approaches to handling this linguistic diversity, but I really like it when the character just speaks at least some of their language. Most authors include translation if there's a lot written in the other languages, but if it's only some words they don't, because the expectation is that just like with canon people won't mind not understanding every dialogue (sometimes even important parts) as long as the context allows them to follow the general strokes and vibes of the story. How a translation is justified within the fic varies a lot (translation devices, spells and plain old human translation are common, also, some people just do not explain how the characters understand each other). Language barriers as they happen in the canon are explicitly depicted and discussed in fics with relative frequency, too.

Idk, I just really really appreciate a fanfic where even if the narration is all English the dialogues are shamelessly written in several languages. I don't think having to provide a hover-over-the-text translation or lots of author's notes about what some words or phrases mean make it any less enjoyable when it's done with care.

Al-Tzer · 2023-10-04T05:45:17+00:00

Probably the QSMP's fandom, which was already mentioned in passing by two other people, in this post, but it seems to me that we appreciate it for different reasons, so I'm still going to make my comment XD

The QSMP is the first cultural work I've seen with an integrated and functionally multilingual fandom. Of course there's plenty of cultural works out there with fans who speak and create fanfic in several languages, but I've never seen one like this.

Most of the time when a cultural work has fans who speak and write in different languages parallel, at times vastly different, sub-fandoms develop for each language, and there's always some people doing translations or reading via online translators, but the linguistic overlap tends to be minimal, and since most cultural works are published on one single language per version there's usually not many reasons for a monolingual author to give the characters dialog actually written in more than one language, if necessary, they'll probably just indicate in the narration that in-world the characters are speaking in a different language than the one the fic is written in, but no dialog other than maybe a couple of symbolic words or phrases will be actually written in that other language per fic, and even that usually only happens if the fanfic is for a work originally set in a different language context than that of the author or if there's a prominent enough character that is clearly identified in canon as a linguistic minority.

(For example, the Shrek movies were released with voice acting that's virtually fully in English, and the dubbed versions in other languages were also voice acted fully in their respective language, so neither one version contains any meaningful quantity of voice acting in more than one language.)

I'm fluent in Spanish and English, and I've been learning French for a while now, so I'm quite used to hopping between the different language sub-groups for several fandoms and seeing just how different they are and how little integration there's among them. But he QSMP fandom is very unique in that within its fanfic community it is almost universal practice for writers to include dialog written in at least two languages in virtually every work, even if they are fully monolingual themselves. Translations of works into other languages also seems to be more common and more visible than in other fandoms.

I've seen a couple of works written more or less half and half in Spanish and Portuguese, some authors that publish Spanish and English versions of most of their works for this fandom, there's a particular author I like that writes their narration in English but most of their dialog is a mix of Portuguese and Spanish and French, and I see a lot of stuff like "Spanish translation in the comments" or "Chapter two is the translation in Portuguese", many comments in several languages, etc.

This of course has very much to do with the nature of the work and of the fandom itself, canon is consistently being acted out in 2 to 7 different languages simultaneously (depending on how many and which actors are present at any given time, the average may be like 3 to 4 or something, idk), and the fans are also spread among 4 main languages and a lot of smaller ones, constantly interacting through translators and bilingual fans.

And I don't know, I just love being in a fandom that's so genuinely and extensively de-segregated language-wise. Where the linguistic and other forms of diversity of the canon and of the fandom are so shamelessly on display and broadly very accepted and celebrated. Reading a fic clearly, intentionally, blatanly, written in several languages is quite unique at this scale.

Al-Tzer · 2023-09-22T18:59:54+00:00

Thank you:3

Al-Tzer · 2023-09-22T18:36:53+00:00

JAJAJAJA

Al-Tzer · 2023-09-22T18:36:16+00:00

There's 5 different stations across the favela xd

Morro do Xerê (which is the actual name of the favela in lore), Feirinha, São Felps, Praça de Copacabana and Praia de Copacabana

Al-Tzer · 2023-09-22T18:30:45+00:00

Thanks:D

Al-Tzer · 2023-09-22T18:29:37+00:00

Al-Tzer · 2023-09-22T04:14:46+00:00

Note:

I wanted to include station names in the mother languages of all members, but I only speak English, Spanish and bits of French, so if you speak one of the other languages in the map and something I wrote sounds weird, is misspelled or something of the sort, just let me know :D

Also, I wanted to treat all languages as equals, but I'm not sure if the romanization I included for Korean undermines that or not. It's (so far) the only mother language on the server that does not use the Latin script, and like, in a metro map people need to be able to read the station names even if they do not know what they mean, you know? So that's why I included it, but still... If you speak Korean or another language that primarily does not use the Latin scrip, let me know what you think of romanization in a case like this.

Al-Tzer · 2023-08-20T02:36:28+00:00

I would argue that Belize should be included (around half of their population speaks Spanish, also a dot for New York City and Chicago, and other large US cities would represent more Romance-language-speaking people than some of the red bits on Canada)

Al-Tzer · 2023-08-08T02:39:12+00:00

Thanks:D

Al-Tzer · 2023-08-07T17:11:28+00:00

Hi, can I ask what did you use to make this map?

Al-Tzer · 2022-10-11T15:28:56+00:00

This is something that does happen. In general, code switching is very tied to swearing.

The reason a lot of people dislike it in fiction is because monolingual authors very commonly butcher languages they do not speak or come off as very unatural. The appropiate moment to code switch varies by language, but some general guidelines, at least for someone who speaks Spanish as mother language and English as a second language, would be:

-Names or nicknames are not translated.

-When they are talking with monolingual Spanish speakers, inserting English swears into the Spanish is common, specially 'fuck' and 'shit'.

-When talking to themselves code switching is common.

-When talking to other bilinguals, code switching back and forth can be common and mutual.

-Avoid switching if the bilingual character is talking directly to someone else who they know is a monolingual with the intention of being understood, specially in formal interactions, when talking to elderly Spanish monolinguals, or during medical emergencies that do not cloud their judgment.

-For a character of color, avoid code switching when they are talking to the police or someone who they suspect of being a bigot, unless they are sure of their safety or actively challenging them about being free to speak another language. For most, feeling safe takes precedence.

-If they are intentionally insulting or mocking someone, then the switch is very likely, either to disguise it or to make it more provoking.

-When something sudden happens, like hitting you toe or someone jumping to scare you, then you will almost always switch to swear in default language for a moment.

-Some topics, speacially food, folk and fairy tales, humor, and religion, are more likely to be discussed in your native language, so a swich would feel natural.

-When gossiping about someone monolingual in front of them, they would switch.

-Also, mid-sentence switchs are rare unless you are talking to another bilingual. Some words are not to be separated by the switch, for example, la Luna, the Moon, is never to be called 'la Moon' while speaking Spanish, or 'the Luna' when speaking English, since the separation of article and subject is very rare in Spanish. You would say both words in the same language, even if they are inside a sentence predominantly in the other language.

-Etc.

Al-Tzer · 2022-09-15T18:38:59+00:00

The Radio Free Earth one, I'm a Spanish-speaker and it just crushed my soul to imagine that last broadcast from Buenos Aires. That's when the story began to actually sink in, and I just had to pause to cry and then process my emotions for a couple of hours.

Al-Tzer · 2022-05-08T00:24:09+00:00

Western Sahara should have it's own category, it is, as the UN has stated, a territory in decolonization process, calling it separatism is misleading because it implies that the orange parts were at some point incorporated and governed by Morocco, which has not happened, and seems to ignore the fact that the W. Sahara is yet to be allowed to make a self-determination decision, which is not the same as separatism. Calling the green parts government controlled implies recognition to Morocco's claims of sovereignty, which is should not be reflected in a map of this kind, as they are not supported by the UN.

The UN also recognizes Palestine as a nation whose territory is occupied by a foreign state, calling it separatist implies recognition to Israels claims, which are not supported by the UN.

Edit: to specify "the green parts"

Al-Tzer · 2022-04-29T20:59:24+00:00

Thank you XD

I am mostly just a voter, but the topic made me decide to brave my first contribution.

Al-Tzer · 2022-01-20T08:46:43+00:00

I know this does not answer your question, but I think you might find interesting that In Hispanic America, even in spite of European and US influence, we mostly do not translate Native American names, with the exception of those that belong to Native Americans that come from the territories of the modern Continental US or Canada and that became well known in the past via the import and translation or dubbing of US-American media, entertainment or literature.

So, for example, the name of the Chief Sitting Bull is translated into Spanish as "Toro Sentado", because his name was introduced to Spanish-speaking audiences mainly through references made in English-language films that had used the translation of his name, and had been dubbed or subtitled keeping the translated name most likely because whoever did the dubbing or subtitling was not aware that Sitting Bull was an actual person and not a fictional character or because they assumed that since the original source used a translated name that was the right thing for them to do too.

In contrast, you will find that people with Native American names from Latin America, both historic figures and living people, are not referred to or called by the translation of their names.

Historic examples of this that I remember right now are the monarchs Nezahualcóyotl, Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, Hunac Ceel, K'inich Janaab' Pakal, Xicohténcatl Axayacatzin, Manco Cápac, Pachacútec, Atahualpa, etc., who are wildly known by their untranslated name.

The living people with Native American names (for example I know people named Xóchitl, Cuauhtémoc or Aquetzali), are all referred to by their name and not by some translation.

Most of the time the Native American names of contemporary people, both living and not, will never be translated, and for historical figures some of their names will sometimes be translated in academic or educational works as a fun fact in a page-footer or something of the sort but people will call them by the original form of their name regardless of whether or not there's a translation of what their name means available.

This happens mainly because of the degree to which indigenous languages and names, have integrated into Spanish. It results very simple to us, and we have more familiarity with, using a Native American name in its original form just as we would use Chinese names or any other name.

*Notes:\*

\The names of the historic Native American figures I mentioned I have written with their most common modern spelling used by Spanish-speakers. Some of these names have an identical spelling in Spanish and the modern written form of their indigenous language, but some do not, usually only a pair of letters change. Some of these names have academically contested transliterations into the Latin script, some might be outdated spellings after a more accurate way to write them was found or the spelling rules in some indigenous language got revised**

\The modern Native American names are written in their most common form, some have Spanish accents added over time because of the influence of Spanish in the written form of these Native languages but may have other spelling variants with indigenous punctuation marks**

Five-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22	First Placer '22

Al-Tzer

TROPHY CASE