I’ve recently been asked by Red Bubble to choose my favourite writing, and so I poured the honey vodka, put on some slide guitar, and spent longer than was good for me floating through the writing and journals here.
And I need to ask – where are the languages?! Yes, I know English is the lingua franca of the world and the best way to get your writing noticed. I sympathise with this, I do, but I ache for the beauty of expressing yourself in another tongue. When we force our focus away from our mother tongue, we embrace the world in a whole new manner, and see shades of incandescence and identity that may otherwise be denied us. When I read or write in Dutch, in German, in French, the words don’t come easily and so I strive for them more, turn them over in my head and my heart, and notice their shades and subtleties in ways I simply wouldn’t in English.
It’s not easy; I know this. I make mistakes, and hesitate when I write in other tongues in case I trip over verb tenses, mangle my syntax or accidentally call someone a piece of fruit when I intended to be seductive (don’t ask).
But it’s just so delicious to read……
Who can read or write in other languages, and if so, do you actively seek these languages out on Red Bubble? For those with other mother tongues, do you put stories up in English out of necessity or desire?
Ik wil in het Nederlands lezen….
Je veux lire en français…
Ich will auf Deutsch lesen.
Or at least try.
And after two years of Irish lessons, I would love to read in that amazing language but alas, all I can do is insult someone, and order a whiskey.
But at least I haven’t compared my lovers to summer fruit in that language…..or have I?!
LisaG, 2 months ago
Vous avez une telle Cloche de façon, tout vous demandez êtes fait avec le miel et la promesse de quelque récompense. Si je pourrais parler véritablement une autre langue, je doute ce serais un culturel l’un, ce serait la langue qui parle à votre âme.
XOXOX
bellmusker, 2 months ago
Cloche! Quelle belle traduction. Je n’étais pas rapide, mais je comprends ce que vous avez écrit; merci. Peut-être nous pouvons parler en français le jeudi ?
But I think that at this point in our friendship, we can definitely call each other ‘tu’ . Think we crossed that line quite a while back ;)
Jessica Tremp, 2 months ago
mon francais n’est pas tres bien, mais quand vous parler, je voudrai aussi ‘versuchen’...
ja, ja, es werden viele wunderschoen Sprachen gesprochen und ich wuerde nur zu gerne mal etwas ‘schwierigeres’ lesen…
oh boy…
Jessica Tremp, 2 months ago
wunderschoneE
Craig Shillington, 2 months ago
Oh Oh :) :) Try Vic An Indonesian who I invited to RB and encouraged her to upload her work in Indonesian :) :) :) Wonderful :) :)
Mark German, 2 months ago
eHungersizen striwen bleun cull artfellnagen?
Laurie McClave, 2 months ago
Bell,
Amo la manera que escribes y otras idiomas son tal sedution a uno quién habla en la lengüeta inglesa. xx laurie
Roy barry KMA, 2 months ago
Bon jovi!! quelle un belle fromage du jours, cest un bicyclette se jen marie et claudine.
butchart, 2 months ago
does moonspeak count?
bellmusker, 2 months ago
Jess – einfache Texte sind für mich schwierig, aber ich möchte versuchen!
Et en français aussi – vendredi sera amusement, non?
Craig – thanks for the tip. I will check out her work.
Mark – wtf? I simply cannot work that out. помогите мне :P
Laurie – I don’t speak Spanish at all – love my Germanic languages – so I had to translate your sentence. And I tend to agree; speaking other languages can be intensely seductive, especially to a linguist like me. However, no language is as beautiful, evocative and sexy to me as Dutch, though I’m yet to find anyone who agrees!
Roy – you made me choke on my coffee!!
Butchart – of course baby; let the moonwords roll.
adgray, 2 months ago
I have one piece of latin …. :o)
Nil Despiradum Illigitimus Carborundum!
or else it’s just occa
G’daymate! Howsthewifeandkids? Bewdybonzaripper mate! Didjacatchthefooty mate? Yeah thecricketwasaripperwassnit? Ohbuggaroff! Bloodypakastanisandindianswestoreast! Yecantdobetterthanlillyorachappelorhooksyinatest! Yeah yeright mate rickyladcomesdamnedclose sodoessimmo but nothinandnoonebeatsthedon! Chuckanotherbloodysnagonthebarbie mate andcrackusacoldvictinni she’llbeapples :o) bloodymozzies! where’sthebloodyarogard? avagoodweekend! :o)
I admit that was hard to write :o)
adgray, 2 months ago
But Bell it’s not so much the reading or speaking in the language but the thinking in the language. I have met many people who speak English [possibly better than me] and think in another language either their home language or an adopted language.
I met one Sudanese bloke who was taught English in Ethiopia by a Chinese woman … now that was STRANGE! None of us could understand him when we looked at him when he spoke yet when we didn’t look at him we understood because it was like a Chinese person speaking English … yet he still thought in Sudanese … or was he Ethiopian ….
My stepmother was German and now she can understand German spoken to her but she stopped herself thinking in German and now cant speak it or read or write it as she has “Forgotten” it
and I have an Aussie friend who was taught by Tibetan monks and now he thinks in Chinese and speaks English with a Chinese accent yet he’s an Aussie and lived most of his life here.
Now all I have to do is figure out what language I think in and then hey I might speak English better! :o)
Luckyvegetable, 2 months ago
Something every kid should know…
Kung Hei Fat Choi , Li Si Dow Loy
(in English: “Happy Chinese New Year, Gimme My Lucky Money.)
Luckyvegetable, 2 months ago
Je suis desole, je ne parlez pas francais…very well
la ou est la toilette?
hahaha, sorry…
bellmusker in reply to adgray’s comment, 2 months ago
I know what you mean. I think in English, but often try to test myself by taking a sentence and forcing myself to translate it into the languages I know. Sitting at a bus stop, I’ll think “that woman has the most amazing shoes I’ve ever seen” and try to tug it into Dutch, German and French.
One of my most joyous moments was when I had my first dream in Flemish. I can’t say it was completely grammatically correct, but knowing that my mind could tap into that stream even in my sleep, was hugely rewarding.
That ocker paragraph made my head hurt!
bellmusker in reply to Luckyvegetable’s comment, 2 months ago
I would be woeful trying to say that! I don’t have a good phonetic ear – a year studying it at uni showed me that very plainly – so I’m abysmal with tones.
You know I’ll ask you to say that for me on Friday!
Murray Swift, 2 months ago
The language of graphic designers:
Utate dunt nonsed tat, velenis augue feuis autet ad dio exeratem illupta tueriurero commoluptat in ullametue magnim verosto core feuisci liquat am, con henisim ilit non et, se diamconsed et, sisit nostissi tationsed tie doloreetue magnim ilit ip eros nit.
Rose Atkinson, 2 months ago
Ik ben een nieuwe lid van RB en ik kan een beetje Nederlands spreken / lezen / schrijven. En Bellmusker… ik ben met je eens, ik ook vindt het een leuke taal !
bellmusker in reply to Rose Atkinson’s comment, 2 months ago
Ja! Ik ga akkoord – het Nederlands is mijn favoriete taal. Het is zo mooi – het geluid, de woordenschat, de structuur. Ik houd van het. Jammer genoeg, ben ik niet zeer goed bij het!
Welkom aan Rode Bel – kan ik dat zeggen?!
Rose Atkinson, 2 months ago
Zeker ! En dankjewel voor je welkom :-)
Ik ben niet zeer goed bij het en ik heb van veel oefening nodig… zoveel vergeten !
Gudrun Eckleben, 2 months ago
Ganz toll hier andere Sprachen zu lesen! Gute Idee. Da muss man sich ja richtig anstrengen dass es einigermassen poetisch und schoen geschliffen klingt.
Ek hou ook van Afrikaans. Dit klink bietjie soos Nederlands.
liesbeth, 2 months ago
in nederlands lezen???? en ik maar proberen om mijn gedachten in het engels uit mijn toetsenbord te persen,,,, aaaahhh ga dus wel uploaden!!
liesbeth, 2 months ago
done!! 3 gedichten voor je geplaatst.
Antoine Dagobert, 2 months ago
.非常好想法。.let通过铷团结世界!..¡la idea muy buena. .let nosotros une el mundo a través del RB!...het zeer goede idee. .laatt ons verenigt de wereld door Rb!..очень хорошая идея. .let мы соединяет мир через RB!.. ide yg bagus..mari kita satukan dunia melalui RB! very good idea..let’s unite the world through RB!
genevieve m, 2 months ago
si je trouve un francophone j’aime ecrire mes commentaires en francais. Cela m’a beaucoup amuse quand j’ai trouve un commentaire sous une de mes images en hollandais!
It is fun reading comments in other languages and I’d enjoy reading some literature in other languages on RB.
bellmusker in reply to Gudrun Eckleben’s comment, 2 months ago
Gudrun, willkommen zur Diskussion! Afrikaans und Holländer sind sehr ähnlich, sie sind beide germanischen Sprachen – aber Afrikaans bildet mich Lachen! So nett. Aber ich weiß, dass Flamen viele Leute lachen lassen, und ich es liebe.
bellmusker in reply to liesbeth’s comment, 2 months ago
Ik zal uw gedichten nu lezen. Dankuwel!
bellmusker in reply to Antoine Dagobert’s comment, 2 months ago
Sigh…how many languages do you speak, may I ask? You seem to be a linguist’s dream!
SoxyFleming, about 1 month ago
Fortitudo post quadragentam. I’m sorry it’s a bit dry and instructive.
I’ll try to think up a juicier one and come back another time. I’m not great at speaking but I sing in several different languages. I’ll get thinking.
I use that little piece of Latin on birthday cards
SoxyFleming, about 1 month ago
Sorry Bell. I didn’t make this up. I’m quoting from a favorite song, just one verse. Its poetry by Paul Verlaine. This is the song I’m writing about in my 6 words about Fleur.
Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur
L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune
Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur
Et leur chanson se mêle au claire de lune
Persimmon, about 1 month ago
Heute wirst du mit mir im Paradies sein.
Ozcloggie, about 1 month ago
Groeten uit een lekker nat Sydney. Beste wensen! Ben bang dat Engelse DE taal hier zal blijven.
That’s not a language! That’s a cold!!
Toen ik hier iemand vertelde dat mijn moedertaal nederlands was, kwam hij met het gebruikelijke antwoord: Dutch
Al jaaaaaaaaaaaren (Ben hier 52 jaar) vind ik het een ergernis dat, als er hier iets uitgelegd wordt door de overheid, enz., in een aantal talen, dat Nederlands, er zelden bij zit.
Want Nederlanders spreken, lezen en schrijven toch gemakkelijk engels.
Ja. Ja. :(
Joop
bellmusker in reply to Ozcloggie’s comment, 29 days ago
Dutch – that’s not a language! That’s a cold!!
The looks I get when I tell people that Dutch is the most beautiful language I know of…..even Dutch people give me that ‘huh?’ stare! Thank you for your lovely comment, and although I’m replying in English, ik ben gelukkig ik uw woorden begrijp. De lezing is gemakkelijker dan schrijvend voor me….Maar elk bericht helpt!
Ozcloggie, 29 days ago
Zo fijn dat je de taal wil leren, bellmusker. Hier, in Sydney, heb ik jaren mijn best gedaan meer studenten voor Nederlands te vinden. Voor je het weet, spreek je het als een echte Nederlander!!
Joop