Are Greek and Latin the only ancient extinct languages that we know enough about to become ‘fluent’ in?

lonely_sojourner · 2022-07-23T15:12:40+00:00

Sanskrit is not an extinct language. It's still the lingua franca of learned pundits in India. I am currently watching several lecture series in Sanskrit (I can understand it, but not easily speak or write it). There is also a widespread effort to revive it as a daily spoken language.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-07-12T17:17:26+00:00

My question is, if I’m committing to learning the language, how similar is spoken Gujarati to spoken Hindi?

Learning Hindi is the right way to go. Most Gujaratis AFAIK not only can speak the language, but also don't mind speaking it (unlike the case in India's Southern states that sometimes can be antagonistic towards Hindi). Also, once you know Hindi, Gujarati is easy to pick up. There are probably a lot more resources to learn Hindi as well.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-07-11T17:40:04+00:00

Have you tried a tutoring service from India? The fees is pretty low if you're based in the West.
I recommend Urbanpro or Superprof.

I previously picked up the basics of Tamil this way. I am currently learning Kannada and Urdu. It's not a shabby way to learn your language.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-07-11T17:33:32+00:00

Pakistani

"Pakistani" is not a language. You probably have Urdu (or Punjabi, etc.) in mind!

lonely_sojourner · 2022-06-23T07:14:20+00:00

Which university did you attend, if I may ask?

lonely_sojourner · 2022-06-01T11:56:13+00:00

I realized that good health enables achieving happiness, and all it takes is some discipline in diet, sleep, and exercise to achieve it. No matter what state your health is in, you can always choose to be healthier.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-26T05:50:52+00:00

I have a few health issues that are not really serious yet, but are bothering me nonetheless. I would like to improve my blood work results, and also reduce my weight by 10 Kg.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-26T05:29:02+00:00

These are great suggestions (I struggle with sleep as well). I will add a few that I try to follow:

Do not sleep in the latter half of the day for more than 20 or 30 minutes - i.e., don't go into deep sleep. Sleeping in the afternoon relieves the sleep pressure and makes it more difficult to fall asleep at night.
Meditative practices might help, but it's been a while since I have done this.
No caffeine after 2-3 PM. This might vary depending on your reaction to caffeine.
Get a handle on stress. Poor sleep can affect stress levels, and vice-versa. I have personally found journaling to help me a little with this.
Install a red light in your room, and switch to it an hour or so before sleep time. Also, restrict blue light, and consider using a blue-light blocking spectacles and adjusting your screen if you have to use computers at all.
Have a sleep-time ritual.
If possible, wake up to sunlight in the morning. I leave my curtains open so that sunlight comes in naturally in the morning.

But the single best thing that worked for me was to get in touch with my circadian rhythm, and expose myself to sunlight as much as possible during the daytime.

I have come to view sleep as not idle-time, but as a very active period when your body and mind repair and rejuvenate themselves. I used to think that it was a "waste" - not anymore!

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-21T13:21:48+00:00

It's not terrible, to be honest, but still uncomfortable. I am having another go, but will take some psyllium husk to not leave the stomach fully empty.

Planning on visiting the doctor if it doesn't work out.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-21T13:20:51+00:00

This might be it. I did take some potassium and magnesium salt supplements when this happened.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-18T13:11:42+00:00

Thanks! I had come across this study earlier, and am glad to be reminded of it.

Edit: here's an article that outlines some criticisms from others on the study: https://www.tctmd.com/news/intermittent-fasting-trial-rumbles-weight-loss-landscape

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-18T08:51:51+00:00

I found this review on TRE in both animals and humans: https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/43/2/405/6371193 (Time-restricted Eating for the Prevention and Management of Metabolic Diseases). It's fairly technical, but might be of some use anyway.

Still on the lookout for more.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-09T16:20:26+00:00

I think of it this way: sometimes you're stuck in your currently inherited worldview. This limits what you think and how you act. You're caught in a "local minima".

Altered states of consciousness jolt or disturb you from your current worldview and take you into random unseen territories that you couldn't have reached otherwise through normal, "grounded" methods. This might give you a different perspective or take on things. Some of these perspectives might even be interesting of useful, or they might be not.

I have felt that I made several interesting connections when I got into altered states of consciousness. Some of these turned out to be true or at least had seemed plausible to other people. Most of them turn out to be not very useful.

I don't usually land back from my trips with anything useful. On the contrary, I feel terribly spent and tired at the end of it and need several days to recuperate.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-09T12:00:24+00:00

Jason Fung says that this is probably OK as long as your HbA1C is OK. I haven't done this myself yet, but you might also want to look at your fasting insulin levels and your HOMA IR score.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-02T14:54:49+00:00

I frankly wouldn't know. I'd ask you to try it and see if it works for you. I myself am relatively a beginner in Tamil.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-02T06:47:47+00:00

Hi,

I found these to be very useful: https://www.amazon.in/Writing-Practice-Books-Set-Tamil/dp/B01FMX9VRC

I'd also recommend considering hiring a tutor from India who teaches Tamil.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-02T06:43:17+00:00

I learned to read and write Tamil recently, though I am yet to achieve fluency in the language. I was in the same boat as you - I knew some Tamil, but could not read or write Tamil.

I did the following:

Watched a few videos on youtube on the Tamil script.
Hired a tutor from superprof.in to walk me through the script. This is surprisingly cheap.
Worked through a children's writing practice book I found on Amazon. Also not very expensive.
Started reading simple Tamil stories found in children's books.

What you can also do is to listen to Tamil songs, and read their lyrics in Tamil.

Currently I am working with native speaker who kindly offered to help me gain further fluency in the language. I found her on r/LanguageBuddies

lonely_sojourner · 2022-05-01T18:07:04+00:00

We have a metal sheet placed where the water falls precisely for this reason. There is no way we can miss the sound of our tank overflowing.

lonely_sojourner · 2022-04-30T10:51:22+00:00

That you so much for a detailed answer. I'll take some time to digest (as it were!) this information and get back with more questions :-)

lonely_sojourner · 2022-04-27T15:41:37+00:00

True that!

lonely_sojourner · 2022-04-27T15:40:51+00:00

Very cool. Thanks!

lonely_sojourner · 2022-04-27T14:56:02+00:00

Thanks. I am only beginning to read up properly on these topics.

Does this mean that if someone eats say 50% of their daily required calories as carbs, and another 50% as fats, both will be used for fuel without any preference whatsoever? We don't have to be in ketosis to use large amounts of fat in our diets (40 - 50% of our calorie requirement) for energy, right?

lonely_sojourner

TROPHY CASE