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Ten Years Tibetan in 10 minutes | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes  Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 41 of 62 14 July 2011 at 1:54am | IP Logged |
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Day 24:
Learned a new syllable: dza ཛ It is very similar to ja ( ཇ )with an extra stroke added to the upper right. Only ten more consonants and four more vowels to go. I find that I have to keep refreshing my memory of these letters or else I will start to forget them again. By month's end, I will have learned this most elementary part of Tibetan. At this stage, this page is very helpful. http://www.learntibetan.net/grammar/alphabet.htm The entire http://www.learntibetan.net website is such a useful reference and resource. I will use it with my textbook to solidify my understanding of Tibetan grammar. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 42 of 62 16 July 2011 at 2:55am | IP Logged |
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Day 25:
Learned a somewhat more difficult syllable today: wa ཝ་ I had to learn and practice it in discrete stages but I still don't have it right. It still feels awkward. What matter to learn how to write it if my goal is only to read Tibetan? It's the same reason why I'm learning the pronunciation of each syllable. Knowledge of how it's pronounced and written aids understanding when reading. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 43 of 62 16 July 2011 at 3:03am | IP Logged |
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Day 26:
I'm still practicing: wa ཝ་ It looks better today than yesterday; with this, I've learned the fifth row of Tibetan syllables. There are only ten more syllables to learn how to write and then I'll begin my grammar studies. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 44 of 62 20 July 2011 at 2:03am | IP Logged |
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Day 27:
Today's syllable is a beautiful one. zha. ཞ་ Zha involves graceful and symmetrical curves that make it look like one of the more inviting Tibetan syllables. Strange that how a symbol looks can invoke feelings or emotions... I find that when I see Tibetan, as opposed to a similar script, such as Sanskrit, I think of it as beautiful. It looks like a work of art. Whether these feelings are based upon my limited knowledge of Tibetan culture or whether the u-chen script is intrinsically beautiful, I cannot say. Sometimes you like something without knowing WHY you like it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 45 of 62 20 July 2011 at 2:04am | IP Logged |
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Day 28:
Today's syllable is an easy one. za. ཟ་ Za is the inverse of ja. It looks similar to a reversed "E". The more I dive into Tibetan I think about the fate of all of China's minority languages. Even the very robust Cantonese seems like it is slowly, almost imperceptibly disappearing in its hometown of Guangzhou. Will Tibetan one day exist as only the written language of ancient Buddhist documents? Only time will tell. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 46 of 62 20 July 2011 at 2:16am | IP Logged |
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Day 29:
Today's syllable, a, evokes the earlier zha. འ a is a velar syllable, but it's unclear to me now why it's a consonant rather than a vowel. I'm eagerly awaiting my textbook to see if I can eliminate a lot of the guesswork about this syllabary. On the other hand, that's half the fun. Edited by zhanglong on 20 July 2011 at 2:17am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 47 of 62 20 July 2011 at 2:27am | IP Logged |
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Day 30:
I learned a new syllable, ya. ཡ་ Ya looks like a stylized "w". It is not particularly difficult to write, but something struck me yesterday. While in Hong Kong, I watched a festival that CCTV was televising concerning the 60th Anniversary of the "Peaceful Liberation" of Tibet. Without getting into the politics of it all, it's amazing to see what mental gymnastics people are capable of, to believe something. The entire broadcast was in English, seemingly designed to address the West's concerns or interest in the matter. Specifically concerning the language, (since this *is* a language forum) the spokespeople reiterated the official position that the Tibetan language is protected by Chinese law, that it is available on several media outlets in Lhasa and the Tibetan region, and recognized that the Tibetan language was a way to preserve Tibetan culture. The irony of course, is that all of the officials who spoke at the celebration, did so only in Mandarin. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| zhanglong Senior Member United States Joined 4929 days ago 322 posts - 427 votes Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 48 of 62 26 July 2011 at 5:03am | IP Logged |
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Day 31:
Today's syllable, ra, is a favorite. ར་ It begins one of my favorite words in any language: རེ་བ re * ba, hope. Also, I found a good electronic resource, an English to Tibetan dictionary. http://www.eng-tib.com/ 1 person has voted this message useful |
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