your friendly neighborhood hot mess

This summer if you have the time off maybe try picking up a completely new language! The challenge lasts for however long your summer break lasts and you;

1) pick a completely new language you’ve never studied before

2) make a realistic goal for what you want to achieve out of this time (e.g. reading a beginning book in your target language, maybe having a short conversation with a native/advanced speaker, finishing a Duolingo tree etc)

3) commit to practicing it for a allotted time everyday (it could be 20 minutes to 2hrs everyday what matters is that you stick w/ it!)

4) immerse yourself in that language; listen to music and podcasts, watch movies and tv in your target language, change your tech to the target language-really surround yourself w/ the language

If you decide to take on this challenge make an intro post describing;

 who you are

 your target language

why you are choosing that language

what your goal is

how long you have for break/summer

tag it with #summer language challenge

Then every week

post abt something related to your target language (e.g. good movie you watched, cool words, accomplishments you made, vocab you learned etc)

post something in your target language (it can be anything)

progress on your goal(s)

tag it with #summer language challenge

OK so one could do a doctorate on this I guess but I simply want to make a little introduction because German learners may not be familiar with this concept and may get confused when seeing seemingly random little characters in the middle of a word. So here we go.

In German, there are a few ways to use gender-neutral language. I'm going to list some of them with pro and cons.

Participles

This is probably the most 'stealthy' way to use gender-neutral language in German. Example:

❌ Die Studenten essen in der Mensa. ✅ Die Studierenden essen in der Mensa. ❌ Die Mitarbeiter sind in einer Besprechung. ✅ Die Mitarbeitenden sind in einer Besprechung.

Pro: Stealth Level 100 Con: Not always applicable; works better with plural forms because articles are not split by gender there

2. Asterisk

❌ Die Schüler haben heute frei. ✅ Die Schüler*innen haben heute frei. ❌ Köche haben einen anstrengenden Job. ✅ Köch*innen haben einen anstrengenden Job.

What happens here is that you use the feminine form, and insert an asterisk in front of the feminine suffix (between root and suffix). In some cases this makes for a 'perfect' separation of the masculine and the feminine form (Schüler/Schülerinnen -> Schüler*innen); sometimes, as is the case with Köch*innen (Köche/Köchinnen), the masculine plural ending is cut off. Another example is Ärzte/Ärztinnen -> Ärzt*innen. With singular forms, the use of articles will look like this: der*die Ärzt*in ein*e Köch*in

The asterisk is sometimes pronounced as a glottal stop, sometimes it's 'ignored' in spoken language.

Pro: Inclusive; the asterisk marks all other genders outside of the (grammatical) binary. Con: Can be tricky to use; no general consensus over handling e.g. Dative: einem*einer Ärzt*in vs einem*r Ärzt*in

3. Underscore

❌ Chefs sollten generell mehr Lohn zahlen. ✅ Chef_innen sollten generell mehr Lohn zahlen.

Same procedure as above, but with an underscore instead of an asterisk. The underscore is sometimes pronounced as a glottal stop, sometimes it's 'ignored' in spoken language.

Pro: Relatively inclusive; some people feel like the underscore represents a 'gap' instead of non-binary genders and therefore reject the underscore. (Personally I don't prefer it either.) Con: Not accepted by all people outside the binary; can be tricky to use; no general consensus over handling certain concepts

4. Colon

❌ Die Rechte von Bauarbeitern sind wichtig. ✅ Die Rechte von Bauarbeiter:innen sind wichtig.

Same procedure as above, but with a colon instead of an asterisk or underscore. The colon is sometimes pronounced as a glottal stop, sometimes it's 'ignored' in spoken language.

Pro: Inclusive Con: Can be tricky to use; no general consensus over handling certain concepts Personally I prefer the colon over the asterisk and the underscore. It's mostly gut feeling but also the colon is like. at the same 'level' visually speaking as your regular minuscules so it makes me feel more included. As I said, gut feeling.

5. Replacing 'Mann'

So I guess this depends a bit but basically you replace the 'mann' in compounds with 'mensch', 'person', or, in plural, 'leute' or 'personen'. If that sounds weird, the word might get changed altogether:

❌ man ✅ mensch ❌ jemand ✅ jemensch ❌ Partner (not gender neutral in German!) ✅ Partnerperson, Beziehungsperson; Partner:in (Partner*in, Partner_in) ❌ Kaufmann ✅ Person im kaufmännischen Bereich ❌Müllmann ✅ Müllentsorger:in (Müllentsorger*in, Müllentsorger_in)

Again, this is easier in plural:

❌ Kaufmänner ✅ Kaufleute ❌ Müllmänner ✅ Müllabfuhr

Pro: Inclusive Con: if you are a German learner, this might be the option that is hardest to use (if you plan on using gender-neutral German), because it is not immediately evident how these generically masculine words get replaced or transformed.

6. "Binnen-I" ⚠

The so-called "Binnen-I" refers to the capitalised letter "I" in the middle of gendered nouns, and it works like the colon version (but without the colon):

SchülerIn, SchülerInnen LehrerIn, LehrerInnen

often accompanied by articles with a slash: der/die SchülerIn

Pro: relatively easy to use Con: does not include non-binary genders! This is not truly gender-neutral! It only includes the feminine and the masculine form!

7. Brackets ⚠

Probably my least favourite thing. Boo. It puts the feminine ending in a little cage:

Schüler(innen) Mitarbeiter(innen)

Pro: visually very obvious that we are talking about women and men (not only women) Con: does not include non-binary genders! This is not truly gender-neutral! It only includes the feminine and the masculine form! It has also been criticised for suggesting that the feminine ending is 'optional'/'omittable' by putting it in brackets. Honestly, just don't.

Knock knock. Who’s there? The May Polyglot Challenge!

May is here and langblrs all know what that means: study, study, study, work, work, work, exams, exams, exams, graduation (screaming), the future, the summer, the STRESS OF EVERYTHING IN YOUR ACADEMIC, PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CAREERS HINGING ON THIS ONE MONTH OF HELL!

Luckily, your target language’s got a case of the giggles and is here to help you kick back, de-stress and have a laugh!

Your Task:

To learn all about what’s humourous in your target language and in the countries where it’s spoken. Could be fart jokes and slapstick humour, or satire and vulgar words. Whatever it takes to get the joke and figure out what makes people laugh in your target language!

Reminder:

Langblrs can focus on just one target language or a whole lot more. It’s up to you, just have fun and make sure to laugh so hard you cry!

How can langblrs participate? Here’s some ideas (which you can totally expand upon yourselves so long as it involves doing something funny):

For beginners:

Learn silly tongue twisters 

Acquire those dirty words that belong in every potty mouth’s vocabulary

Read about what’s humourous in countries where your target language is spoken

Watch those hilarious, must-watch shows and films made in your target language that everyone and their mother have seen because seriously they’re just so funny how have you not seen them yet?!

Memorize some first-rate jokes to wow (or alternatively: embarrass) your langblr friends, language partners and teachers with

For intermediate learners:

Go through comedian after comedian to see what themes come up

Write reviews of the top comedians you watch in your target language 

Keep track of common puns you come across

Ask your langblr friends to explain certain jokes you don’t get and interview your friends or other langblrs from abroad to find out what has their sides in stitches

Compare the comedies you watch in your target language with ones you’re used to - what’s different? what’s lame? what’s hysterical? 

For Native/Proficient Speakers:

Make masterposts of well-known comedians, comedies, your favorite skits, etc. to help learners find resources

Explain what’s funny in your society, what non-natives might find strange in your humour & what you personally think is funny in your language(s)

Attempt to write your own jokes or comedy sketch

Learn about different comedic styles

Bonus points go to everyone who shares resources, gets through the month without having to stifle their chuckles and/or learns something new about the societies in which their target language is spoken!

Good luck, and don’t slip on a banana peel in your rush to get started!

Drained water from places suffering from drought for absolute pennies.

Made African mothers dependent on their milk formula, which they gave for free, until their milk dried up. Then they required them to purchase it, mothers could not afford it, mixed in too little to fulfill nutrient needs, and mixed it with polluted water. Children died.

Used slavery to produce their cocoa.

Pushed for water to be considered a “want” not a “need” and is at the forefront of arguments that water is not a human right.

Poisoned Chinese infants with melamine in their milk formula.

Demanded Ethiopia pay a debt owed to Nestle, during a FAMINE.

Price-fixed food items.

Contributed to deforestation for their cocoa farming.

The worst thing is, Nestle owns TONS of other brands, making it difficult to avoid for certain products.