📚 bibliothecary's bibliophilia 📚

bibliothecary · December 23, 2023, 8:49pm

There aren’t many languages I wouldn’t at least dabble in…

I took a couple of years of Latin at school, and Romanian seems the most similar of the Romance languages to Latin (imo), so that would probably be my first choice. I have a small collection of Romanian books, one of which is Inimă de arici, which I’d really like to read.

In Heart of a Hedgehog, Massimo Vacchetta details his experience as a veterinarian who chooses to devote himself exclusively to the rescue and care of hedgehogs, outlined in 25 Grams of Happiness, co-written with Antonella Tomaselli. Beyond the autobiographical intimacies revolving around the author’s relationship with his mother, one glimpses the gentleness with which he looks at the life of the hedgehogs while he does not restrain himself from fighting against the dangers that threaten them and the indifference of his peers. An educational book that encourages respect for nature, making us reflect on the beauty of nature and the responsibility we all have in maintaining the fragile balance by which, patiently, our world protects us day after day, even if we often forget to admire and cherish it. (DeepL)

Next would probably be Italian - I have a couple of tomes on my bookshelf that make me really excited: La nuova grammatica della lingua italiana (I like learning grammar… ), and a bilingual Italian-Esperanto version of The Divine Comedy (I know Esperanto, but it doesn’t get much use, for obvious reasons).

eefara · December 23, 2023, 9:05pm

Dang, where the heck did you find that?

bibliothecary · December 23, 2023, 9:22pm

Ebay - I have alerts set up for languages that are more difficult to find books in, so I got a notification due to the Esperanto. I’ve found that rare books like that are either really inexpensive or really pricey; I just had a look and found this copy that’s just like mine (although I’m missing the box) but way more expensive!

eefara · December 23, 2023, 9:32pm

I feel like I’ve never managed to find a cheap book off of abebooks; they feel like they’re geared more towards rare/collectors volumes.

bibliothecary · December 31, 2023, 7:59pm

December seems to have flown by…!

I thought I’d mix it up for the advent challenge, but in the end it seems I pretty much just focused on Chinese - I read several graded readers and 100+ stories for learners. And in the last week or so I’ve been enchanted by German, reading a few graded readers and a couple of children’s books. I’ve done some bits and pieces for other languages, but nothing major.

I’d like to say I’ll be better at balancing things next year, but I know myself too well. There are just so many interesting things! I’m having fun, that’s what matters!

I’ve been spending some time exploring music this month (it does relate to languages, kinda). Gonna preface this by saying I’m not musical and have only a vague understanding of ~~the harmonic style of 18th century European musicians~~ music theory.

A while ago I looked into 판소리, a traditional type of Korean musical storytelling that emerged hundreds of years ago. Its popularity has waxed and waned, but the tradition is still continuing and today. It has a very unique sound, mixing singing and rhythmic speaking, with the accompaniment of a drum. Anyway, it got me thinking about how music is a part of the fabric of society, and unique to the culture it is born from.

Since I picked up Chinese again, I’ve been listening to various traditional Chinese instruments: I’m particularly fond of the guzheng(古筝) - for me, it’s the representative traditional Chinese instrument, which evokes images of the tranquil Chinese countryside (many of the songs take inspiration from nature). This is a lovely playlist, I especially like the first track:

Below is a tutorial on how to play the guzheng (unfortunately the audio isn’t great - the instrument sounds fine, but the teacher’s explanations are a little difficult to hear). She explains many techniques, but the slurs(滑音) are what I really associate with traditional Chinese music. (49:41)

As an aside, the most common tuning is D major, the notes of the strings being D-E-F#-A-B (Do-Re-Mi-So-La).

Compare this to a western harp, which is tuned in C major: C-D-E-F-G-A-B (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti).

Below is an interesting video that goes into how music developed differently in the East and West:

This is another interesting video on how the West has a very narrow view when it comes to music theory. It’s like finding out there are hundreds of flavours of ice cream, you don’t have to just stick to vanilla!

As I mentioned before, I’m not musical, but I was a little shocked to realise that I had never even considered that there might be differing perceptions and understanding of music and music theory in other cultures. I feel quite ignorant.

So how does this relate to language? Well, music is a complex language in itself, and while musical traditions around the world share similarities, each has its own distinct qualities, deeply tied to the culture it emerges from.

I could listen to this lady talk all day!

I can see many parallels between music and language: from the very basic idea of vibrations in the air conveying meaning, to more specific comparisons, such as a musical phrase resembling a sentence. I think there are many aspects of music and language that could be compared, such as: a piece of music and a story; musical notation and orthography; notes and vocabulary, which have different meanings in different contexts; melody and intonation. And of course with tonal languages the similarities are even more obvious.

And, much like learning a language, I think knowledge of a culture’s musical traditions and music theory can allow you to understand the people and their culture at a deeper level.

As I was writing this I remembered that I bought a Korean book of music for traditional instruments, 합주 영산회상 (合奏靈山會像). I was hunting all over the place for it before realising it’s packed away in a box because I don’t have enough shelf space for all my books. I thought I wouldn’t be needing it any time soon, but… I’ll have to dig it out so I can see what type of musical notation it uses. The description says it is transcribed from 이두(吏讀); from memory I think it’s into western-style musical notation rather than numbered notation.

Well, that’s enough of my waffle.

Happy New Year, everyone!

bibliothecary · January 1, 2024, 12:24pm

January

Goals

Finish Anki reviews every day
Catch up / keep up with book clubs

Book Clubs

Oversubscribed and fallen behind!

		Dec 4	Dec 11	Dec 18	Dec 25	Jan 1	Jan 8	Jan 15	Jan 22	Jan 29
	소리를 보는 소년
	美しい彼 아름다운 그
	今日からマ王!
	Christmas Tina ‐泡沫冬景‐
	후궁의 까마귀
	ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 이상한 과자 가게 전천당
	また、同じ夢を見ていた 또다시 같은 꿈을 꾸었어

Taking a break over the holiday season

Informal Book Club	Ch.1	Ch.2	Ch.3	Ch.4	Ch.5	Ch.6	Ch.7	Ch.8	Ch.9
흥부전

Finished This Month

Legend

includes a written review
read along with audiobook
audiobook only
podcast
drama CD
condensed audio
re-read/watch/listen
만화경 webtoon
waiting to be added to Natively
adult content; not currently on Natively

There are a lot of items that aren’t on Natively for various reasons (unsupported language / format, not listed on Amazon / Yes24, etc). Rather than mark them individually, anything that doesn’t have a Natively link (which includes the level) can be assumed to be excluded from Natively.

Textbook · 교과서 · 教科書 · 课本 · หนังสือเรียน

Graded Reader · 수준별 독본 · 語彙制限本 · 分级读物

Eva, Wien: Deutsch als Fremdsprache / Leseheft (Hueber Lese-Novelas) | L17??
The Jam Maker eps 1-3
Little Fox Chinese 6 chs

Children’s Book · 동화책 · 児童書 · 儿童书 · หนังสือเด็ก

Comics · 만화 · 漫画 · 漫画 · การ์ตูน

ふくふくふにゃ~ん (series) | L10 vols. 9-12
スーと鯛ちゃん 6 | L12
パスカルとバラの木 | L20
마모
柴くんとシェパードさん | L20

Novel · 소설 · 小説 · 小说 · นวนิยาย

Non-fiction · 논픽션 · ノンフィクション · 非小说类 · หนังสือสารคดี

Other Books · 다른 책 · 他書 · 别的书 · หนังสืออื่นๆ

TV Show · 텔레비전 프로그램 · テレビ番組 · 电视节目 · รายการโทรทัศน์

Bob's Burgers | L25?? S1-10
Futurama S1 | L30??
Die Simpsons S1 | L25??
Revenge S1 | L30??

Movie · 영화 · 映画 · 电影 · ภาพยนตร์

Zurück nach Hause: Die unglaubliche Reise | L25??
阿拉丁

Listening · 듣기 · 聞く · 听力 · การฟัง

Nihongo con Teppei eps 624-640
柴くんとシェパードさん | L20

Visual Novel · 비주얼 노벨 · ビジュアルノベル · 视觉小说 · วิชวลโนเวล

Pages Read

Jan 1	Jan 31	Diff
12,486	12,531	45
13,764	14,837	1,073
434	531	97

eefara · January 4, 2024, 12:11am

Revisiting this post after you updated it with more VNs: good luck and stay safe with the Nitro+Chiral stuff. Gakuen Heaven has a really passionate pair of fan translators (Tumblr. They used to have an awesome website, but it seems to be down. ), so I’ve wanted to play that for a long time as well.

And Nameless (in the Korean section) is really good! The company also has another VN called Dandelion -Wishes brought to you- that I also really enjoyed. It’s a stat-raiser though, so ymmv. They’ve also got a mobile title called Mystic Messenger you may want to check out if you haven’t already.

Man, there was a period of time when I was playing a ton of otome/BL titles… I miss those days.

bibliothecary · January 4, 2024, 6:13pm

Thanks for all the info! I’m looking forward to getting into this new hobby…

eefara · January 10, 2024, 1:06am

OMG, I just read your review. What a wild story for a graded reader!

bibliothecary · January 10, 2024, 1:43pm

It makes a nice change from the usual graded reader fare!

bibliothecary · January 19, 2024, 12:55am

In a slump, not much progress in anything really (S.A.D. kicking in… hello darkness my old friend)

I’m approaching 100 hours watched in German binging Bob's Burgers | L25??… Let’s pretend that’s an achievement.

cat · January 19, 2024, 12:58am

digression

ymmv, but I have an under desk treadmill and walking an absurd amount (~20k steps/daily) has really helped keep this under control for me this year. Not something I’d wanna keep up all year necessarily, but if it works for Jan/Feb I’m down. Happy lights do nothing for me.

eefara · January 19, 2024, 12:59am

I’m ready for spring myself; I want to go walking in the sunshine again and not freeze my butt off.

I’d say so. I’ve watched, like 15 hours of stuff in Japanese my whole language-learning career, so you’ve got me beat.

shitsurei · January 19, 2024, 3:59am

They make me irrationally angry, so that kinda defeats the purpose…

HopeWaterfall · January 19, 2024, 10:21am

I just had to temporarily relocate to my hometown further South because crappy weather means pollution spikes in my city and apparently my lungs don’t like that. And now, seeing the sun, the sky actually not foggy/cloudy, I can’t believe it. Even the temperature shift is crazy, and that changes everything. It’s like a whole new world, where people still have motivation do do things.

bibliothecary · February 1, 2024, 3:56pm

So after a few weeks of not being able to do anything except watch TV, the winter blues seem to have passed for this year (fingers crossed). January wasn’t a total washout, though - 100+ hours of German TV (see, I was still “studying”! ) and 1k+ pages of Japanese (mostly manga).

Although I like the idea of having a fixed study schedule and reading one book at a time, I think I have to accept that’s just not how my brain works. I like the freedom of just pinging around like a pinball, reading a chapter of this, watching an episode of that; whenever I try to limit my focus, I just end up procrastinating and nothing is accomplished. So I’m gonna embrace the fact that my “currently reading/watching” numbers are just going to keep increasing…

I recently noticed ttsu has a timer function; while I hate the feeling of being timed while reading, this is pretty unobtrusive, so I might be persuaded to use it regularly. I tried it with 今日からマのつく自由業! | L32 - my 2k character/hour reading rate means I should finish the book in no more than 50 hours!

bibliothecary · February 1, 2024, 4:16pm

February

Book Clubs

	Book Week	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	소리를 보는 소년
	美しい彼 아름다운 그
	今日からマ王!
	Christmas Tina ‐泡沫冬景‐
	후궁의 까마귀
	ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 이상한 과자 가게 전천당
	また、同じ夢を見ていた 또다시 같은 꿈을 꾸었어
	흥부전

Finished This Month

Legend

includes a written review
read along with audiobook
audiobook only
podcast
drama CD
condensed audio
re-read/watch/listen
만화경 webtoon
waiting to be added to Natively
adult content; not currently on Natively

There are a lot of items that aren’t on Natively for various reasons (unsupported language / format, not listed on Amazon / Yes24, etc). Rather than mark them individually, anything that doesn’t have a Natively link (which includes the level) can be assumed to be excluded from Natively.

Textbook · 교과서 · 教科書 · 课本 · หนังสือเรียน

Graded Reader · 수준별 독본 · 語彙制限本 · 分级读物

Children’s Book · 동화책 · 児童書 · 儿童书 · หนังสือเด็ก

Comics · 만화 · 漫画 · 漫画 · การ์ตูน

https://learnnatively.com/book/b3b0bd71df/
어느 날, 문득

Novel · 소설 · 小説 · 小说 · นวนิยาย

Non-fiction · 논픽션 · ノンフィクション · 非小说类 · หนังสือสารคดี

Other Books · 다른 책 · 他書 · 别的书 · หนังสืออื่นๆ

TV Show · 텔레비전 프로그램 · テレビ番組 · 电视节目 · รายการโทรทัศน์

Bob's Burgers S11 | L25??

Movie · 영화 · 映画 · 电影 · ภาพยนตร์

Listening · 듣기 · 聞く · 听力 · การฟัง

Visual Novel · 비주얼 노벨 · ビジュアルノベル · 视觉小说 · วิชวลโนเวล

Pages Read

Feb 1	Feb 29	Diff
12,531	14,009	1,478
14,837	14,972	135
531	531	-

eefara · February 1, 2024, 5:39pm

That’s just like 2 days of reading; easy-peasy.

bibliothecary · February 2, 2024, 4:51pm

Got my haul from mandarake today! I’m too lazy to take a photo (also don’t have any surfaces free of books to lay them out ), but I’ve added them to my owned books if anyone wants to take a look.

The majority of the books were only 10 yen, and I’m just amazed how secondhand books from Japan that cost almost nothing are in better condition than new, full-price books from Amazon, 100% of the time.

eefara · February 2, 2024, 5:14pm

Hard agree. It’s a bit of a generalization, but used Japanese books have just about always been almost indistinguishable from new in my experience.

Buying a used English book, marked as “Good” condition: dog chewed on it, owner stomped on book until the book was dry.

Buying a used Japanese book, marked as “Good” condition: owner breathed in same room as book. Opened it once.