Misc-y stuffs-y

[ysobel]

1) Any suggestions for good resources on learning Bulgarian? (There are no classes locally.)

2) I can has SHOE. (this is the first time in a week that my left foot has been able to fit into a proper shoe. the big clunky black full-calf moon boot is not the most fun in the summer) \o/

3) Need writing mojo kickstart. Hence, meme:

Post the first line of a story here, and I'll write the next five. No context or prompts, just a line, and if I don't twig who it is then you'll get something slightly surreal back!

...and I am going to splurge and add the following to the meme: for any responses I make, if you write the *next* up-to-five sentences, I'll keep it going. \o/

Comments

[pthalo]

a za6to iska6 da nau4a6 b1lgarski?

(why do you want to learn Bulgarian?)

[ysobel]

(... I am so much more used to reading cyrillic; this looks too much like spam subject lines *snicker*)

za6toto az neq na b1lgarski i ... that's the limit of my online-translation-fu. *laugh* And it's probably mangled as hell anyway. Because I sing in Bulgarian and want to know what it is I'm singing. We get general translations for the stuff we sing, and I've vaguely picked up a scattering of random words here and there, but I want more.

[pthalo]

I *know* I think Bulgarian latin is the funniest thing ever. i feel like i'm writting in 1337, but it doesn't read that way in Bulgarian... it just reads as a normal way of communicating when you don't have the correct keyboard installed. it's so bizarre *snickers*

i'd like to learn enough Bulgarian to be able to speak it instead of just understanding it because the words are similar enough to the Macedonian ones. (If I can get 90% of the language for free because I already know Macedonian, why not learn that extra 10%?) anyway, if you wanna partner up or anything, we can stare at dictionaries together :) (and don't turn me down because you think i'm way ahead. i might have an advantage, but i did have to look up every single in word in an english-bulgarian dictionary to write you that comment, because I don't know which words are different in Bulgarian).

your 1337 bulgarian (that's what i'm going to start calling it) is readable and understandable to me, though I think you meant peq for sing (that's an understandable typo if you're used to seeing cyrillic, because n looks like п :)

[ysobel]

... oh dear I am going to get *so* mixed up. *laugh* The p/n thing is a sadly common thing for me, but also I want to read 6 as b, q as k, 4 as ja...

And I would love to partner up! ... at least once I get a basic grasp of grammar, syntax, etc. heh. :)

[pthalo]

Getting used to typing can take a while too. Even though I don't look at the keys, I was forever typing ц when I meant с, because I would think "sssss" and know that "sssss" looks like с, and I knew I had a button on my keyboard that had a с on it, so I'd press that and get ц. Crazy :)

Also annoying: Serbian and Macedonian keyboard layout is almost the same, but ѕ (macedonian "dz", з and ж are in different places.)

I don't have Bulgarian keyboard installed, but I might if I get serious about it.

You should learn at least the Macedonian alphabet too (it's only a few extra letters), so that you can understand my Macedonian posts (via your knowledge of Bulgarian) :D

I can understanding wanting to read 6 as b. The reason 6 is sh is that 6 is шест, so they took the first letter. q I want to read as "ku" myself, but it does look kind of like the backwards R if you squint. 4, not the computer one but the kind you write without making the hat (the football post one...) looks like ч kinda, so that's where that comes from.

Another thing with Bulgarian, though you probably already know the alphabet from singing, is that a lot of the letters look like the Russian ones but they are pronounced differently.

[ysobel]

My knowledge of Bulgarian extends mainly to being able to memorize songs. *snicker*

And yeah, I get why those letters are the way they are -- especially given that the sensiblest of the lot (4 for ч, given handwritten sorts of 4) means that 4 can't be used for я, even though 4 (in computer type) and q both have the same legless-backwards-R look, but my brain keeps seeing it as, well, q/k in english. (it takes me several readings, for example, to read 'peq' as something other than 'peck'.)

Re pronunciation differences... I actually don't know how much exposure I have to bulgarian cyrillic. We usually get the lyrics in transliterated form -- not 1337garian, although that would amuse me to no end, but transliterated for people who don't speak bulgarian -- and so while I more or less know the pronunciation of what we sing (except for word stress, which is more affected by rhythm and pitch than by how people would speak it), I don't know the spelling correspondences.

[pthalo]

*dies laughing at 1337garian*

yes, but memorising songs is a good start. Your knowledge will grow, presumably :)

the thing with transliterated for people who don't speak Bulgarian...depending on how they do it, I usually have trouble pronouncing those things, is that it's not really transliterated letter for letter, or it's transliterated with a set of assumptions that don't apply to me. So "gyöngy" (Hungarian word for pearl) might be spelled "jerndge" (*squirm*) and yeah er is kinda-sorta-not-really a decent approximation of ö (it's the same as german), but the gy is much softer than the english j)....

I might be able to help with figuring out the spelling correspondences for the transliteration method you're using, though. I could try at least and it sounds kinda fun :)

[pne]

The reason 6 is sh is that 6 is шест, so they took the first letter.

Ooh fun!

Especially since in Arabic 1337, 5 can be ح because the word for 5 starts with that letter (حمس or something like that).

Though I've also seen 7, due to the shape of the top part of the Arabic letter.

[pthalo]

oh, and Duška and me used to try to write in cyrillic with our phones (so ascii). let's see if i can remember how we did it:

а - a
б - 6
в - B
г - r
д - g
ђ - h,
е - e
ж - *
з - 3
и - u
ј - j
к - K
л - /\
љ - /b
м - M
н - H
њ - |b
о - o
п - n
р - p
с - c
т - T
ћ - h
у - y
ф - %
х - x
ц - u,
ч - 4
џ - i dont think it ever came up
ш - w

So "Ја сам змија а ти си жаба жаба" (I'm a snake and you're a frog frog -- first thing that came to my head) would be "Ja caM 3Muja a Tu cu *a6a *a6a"

I once tried to make a password like that, but I couldn't for the life of me type it the same twice.

First line meme!

[helens78]

[I reserve the right to be predictable!]

There were some days it was impossible to tell who the cockiest guy on the bridge was: Jim Kirk or Hikaru Sulu.

Re: First line meme!

[ysobel]

And the presence of a superior officer -- highly decorated and having served in Starfleet for longer than these kids were alive (or at least it felt that way -- only encouraged them.

Admiral Pike made sure his expression was carefully neutral, but inside he was grinning like a loon. He was here over the protests of his doctor, but he'd be damned if he'd let someone else do the evaluation run on the Enterprise's new command.

This was going to be ... interesting.

[cesy]

First line of a story? Cracktastic prompts spring to my mind more easily than contextless lines.

General Hammond decided that SG-1 needed a holiday, and if they wouldn't admit it he'd just have to make it an order.

[ysobel]

[Contextless just means you don't give me a paragraph or ten of describing the setup; fandom specifism is fine :D]


And the way the team tended to interpret and obey orders ("loosely" was a very mild term), he needed reinforcements. Which is why, when he called the team in for their 'briefing', Jacob Carter was standing at his side, poker-faced.

"Selmak just wants to go topside," Hammond explained, "and it's standard procedure to provide... well, think of it as an escort service." He met their startled/embarrassed/did-he-really-say-that looks with one of bland innocence.

"I, ah, may regret asking this," Daniel said, "but where?"

Rather solemnly, Selmak answered, "I am quite interested in the place known as Disneyland."

[cesy]

Teal'c, of course, couldn't resist an opening like that. "What is 'Disneyland'?" he asked solemnly.

Hammond opened his mouth to try and explain, then noticed the looks the rest of SG-1 were giving Teal'c, and shut it again.

"Didn't Dad's experience there give you more than enough distaste for the place?" Sam asked.

"Apparently not, since he's asking," said Jack. "Still, so long as you promise me we're not going during school holidays, it might not be too bad."

I do not rip off award-winning children's literature at all

[jmtorres]

It was almost December, and Merlin was beginning to be afraid.

I do not admit to having to google for the source just out of curiosity...

[ysobel]

Arthur told him he was being a superstitious prat, of course. Gaius insisted everything would be just fine, Merlin, unless you keep being this distracted, and don't put that there for pity's sake... (But Merlin also noticed that he kept giving him worried looks, and that did not make him feel any better.) Gwen, having incorrectly guessed the source of Merlin's unease, was 'helping' in awkward ways. The Dragon just rumbled unspecifically at him about destiny.

And all of that just made Merlin even more gut-sinkingly afraid, and very alone.

[princessofgeeks]

She didn't worry much about the eyes in the dark until one of the broke loose from the underbrush and started following her along the path.

[pauamma]

Did you check linguaphiles on LJ?

[flavia]

She wished she were asleep and dreaming now as opposed to sitting here on the hard window seat with the dreary black clouds scudding by the window.

[flavia]

Also stealing this meme as I need writing mojo!

[pne]

After waking up, Harry briefly wondered where he was, until he remembered: he was in the guest room at Hermione's house, and it was the first day of Christmas holidays.