Makes more sense if you know "love" (爱) in Chinese is pronounced "ài". Basically, it's wordplay!

If you didn't have to use the Cyrillic alphabet for your language, which script would you rather use? Would you rather your language had its own alphabet? Are you aware of other alphabets/writing systems used previously in your country?

I've come to realize that I have strong preferences for certain types of music in some languages over others. For example, in French I'm strongly biased towads Edith Piaf's type of music (I think the correct term is modern chanson??), while Italian is the only language in which I would enjoy whatever genre Pinguini Tattici Nucleari are (yes, that's the real name of a real band, and yes, I like music in a lot of different languages which I do not speak).

In particular, since this is after all a blog focused on a kpop group, I find that I really really really enjoy rap in Korean, or at least the rap parts of kpop songs. Now, since I don't know nearly enough korean to understand the lyrics I'm obviously forced to pay more attention to the phonetics, which might explain my bias, but hear me out. To me, korean sounds like an incredibly onomatopoeic language, or at least much more than my native spanish (english is much more onomatopoeic than spanish, and to me korean seems even more onomatopoeic than english. take a shot every time i say onomatopoeic, lol). And so, it seems to me that korean rappers are able to make much better use of alliteration than rappers in other languages which makes raps much more rythmic and percussive, which I love.

So, do you have any preference in music based more on language phonetics rather than just "it's in another language that I do/don't know"??

You are absolutely correct that Korean is very onomatopoeic. I've had it on my list to eventually see how the translators of Korean books into English who win awards for their work cope with this aspect of our language, but I just haven't had the time, and I dunno, I feel like if I'm going to do that I should earn another degree or something, because it just would be a lot of work.

What you say about Korean rap is making me want to listen to more closely to Korean rap. I am very touch and go about whether I can 'hear' the lyrics in any rap song, by the way. From Stray Kids, I find Changbin really easy to understand, but I think that's because he can probably crack walnuts with his tongue and his voice really delivers words right into your brain. For some reason, I find Han incomprehensible, by contrast. I have no idea what he said, ever. I tend to hear most of what Song Mingi says, but not all of it, and I often have no idea what Kim Hongjoong is saying, without the lyric sheet. I can understand everything Cardi B says, but I find that there's a critical 0.5 second delay for Megan Thee Stallion in th esame song in terms of catching her words.

Thank you for turning me on to Pinguini Tattici Nucleari. The way they speak Italian in these songs makes it sound like Italian tastes really good on the tongue (why do I sound crazy? lol). They're really appealing.

I also like listening to songs in languages I don't speak, so shaking hands with you on that one!

My favorite languages to listen to songs I do not understand in are Hindi, Bulgarian, Swahili, Latin, and songs I only know by nationality rather than the languages - South African and Zimbabwean choir music is always incredibly arresting. I just looked it up - it's Shona or Ndebele for the Zimbabwean songs and the Xulu or Xhosa for the South African ones. I have zero idea how to distinguish between any of the African languages. I made a Bulgarian friend on Tumblr a few years ago who told me about Bulgarian folk music, and I urge you to give it a listen if you haven't. It's fascinating. And I love listening to Catholic hymns and different masses in Latin.

I'm sure people who are bilingual Hindi and Swahili speakers will have a lot of corrections for me, as well as speakers of the five African languages I can't tell apart, but in song these languages all have this wonderful rounded softness, where they don't seem to have harsh gutteral sounds, and you have to move your lips and tongue rather than activate the back of your throat to make the sounds. The vowels float. These languages all sound really refined and melodic to me, so it's soothing to hear them. I frankly don't understand why Hindi/ Bollywood music isn't the most popular international music in the world, because it's so emotionally accessible, and Hindi is so elegant as a language.

ϟ : translate a sentence

All the people are fake. They're made out of metal. But I like you. And that is not fake.

One of my favorite quotes! :)

Thank you!

Hallo!

I’m sorry I took so long to answer you, I thought I responded but it turns out I did not 🙈

So here is the difference between En by and Byen. I’m going to use a easier example for you.

Han bor I en by = he lives in a city

Han bor I byen = he lives in the city

This is the indefinite (singular) form vs the definite (singular) form.

En gutt = a boy (indefinite)

Gutten = the boy (definite)

So often in Norwegian when dealing with the singular definite form (a specific object, person etc) an “en” is added to the word.

En by = a city

Byen = the city

I hope this is helpful!

Hey Yana ! :)

1. favourite place in your country ?

France : the South-West, where I was born and lived most of my life. From the window of my bedroom I have a magnificent view on the mountains The Pyrénées. The city where I was born, Toulouse, one of the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. It’s a green and golden part of the country, very sunny, but with cold and rainy winters.

Morocco : the Emerald Valley. It’s a valley between mountains range, in the centre of the country, it’s my ancestral land. It used to be a treasure in terms of biodiversity and ecosystems, but it has slowly been destroyed by human activity and bad environmental policies. Its name comes from the dense vegetation, the trees are mostly very old oaks and cedars, there’s a river running through it ... It’s beautiful, or it could be if only the country would realize the treasure they have here and start taking care of it instead of selling it to the Qataris. 

4. favourite dish specific for your country ?

France : quiche lorraine. It’s a salty pie with a shortcrust pastry, a mix of eggs and cream, bacon, sometimes onions, etc. It’s so good, very savoury, and it feeds you.

Morocco : ALL OF IT. Moroccan food is delicious. A good couscous is a masterpiece of culinary arts. A tajine with lemon confit, raisins, chickpeas, prunes is the best thing on a cold day. The marshoush is one of my favourite : it’s a dish of chicken and meloui (crepe of wheat flour and fine semolina), I always ask it when I go home. Zaalouk is delicious too, it’s mashed eggplant with spices. And I haven’t started on the desserts yet, the sweets and the baked goods ... The salads. The drinks (Moroccan green mint tea, aka the best) ... Yeah. 

7. three words from your native language that you like the most ?

French : éphémère (ephemeral) - fantasque (whimsical) - rocambolesque (synonym of extraordinary).

Berber* : tashishaout (dove, a pet name) - tanmir[r]t (thank you) - aghbalou (water spring) ([gh] is a soft r, like a cat purring).

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language ?

French : PUTAIN. The classic. Equivalent of “fuck”, but literally means “a prostitute”, though no one uses it in that meaning anymore. 

Berber : “ikhan aberchen” ([kh] is a hard r, like the spanish “j”), which means “dark shit” (”aberchen” meaning black, as the colour). It’s also my father’s favourite swear word.

* The berber language is as diverse as the berber people. There are many dialects.The one I speak is the one from central Morocco. Berber is also the name given by the European, we call ourselves Imazighen (plural), Amazigh ) singular), tamazight (the language). Amazigh means “The Free Man”.