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| Behind the Curtain - Stuart Jay Raj Updated : Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:57:56 +0000 Profile of stuart jay raj mar logo title 2010 1.1 Check out this SlideShare Presentation: Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:02:00 +0000 Polyglot Stuart Jay Raj “Language Secrets From a Linguistic Junkie" Multilingual Video Post Episode 1 (2 Parts) Episode 1 Part 1 Part 2 About a week ago, I was fortunate to have been invited to attend a Second Language Acquisition seminar by Language Acquisition guru Dr. Stephen Krashen (http://www.sdkrashen.com) , hosted by the Concordian International School here in Bangkok. Stephen was a real inspiration and after speaking with him that day, I was inspired to do something new. A couple of days later I went out and bought a new video camera and tried my hand at starting to put some video responses to emails that I’ve received over the past year or so. Last Friday I swung over to the home of http://RadioBangkok.Net Director Bill Hammerton’s place and we shot what will hopefully be the first in many video episodes on language learning, linguistics, culture, language and culture based business and anything else that viewers find interesting. I've tried to answer some of the many questions that have been sent to me in emails and messages since I posted my first clip on Youtube in 2007. I thought to make it interesting, I've tried to choose several different languages to respond to (subtitled in English). Questions include: “What separates languages - politic or linguistic differences?” “What's the history behind some of your languages?” “What's the most difficult language?” “What are some secrets to learning new languages?” “How do I get motivated to learn languages?” One thing that I wanted to get across in the videos is that I am just a human being like everyone else, and my brain faces the same challenges as everyone else. The thing that lets me take the languages that I have been able to take to an advanced level is motivation / attitude. I've chosen languages that I'm at different competency levels in. They range from: ‘very fluent’ – Mandarin, Indonesian, Thai to ‘let’s dust the cobwebs off’ – Italian, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Hindi, Javanese to ‘shockingly elementary’ – Japanese, Vietnamese, Norwegian Just putting this clip together was great to get the linguistic juices flowing again in some of my dormant languages. You might remember a post from last year about Vietnamese. I hadn’t really used Vietnamese much after that post. It wasn’t until I travelled to Nha Trang for Miss Universe that I had a real environment to incubate my Vietnamese. I was able for the first time to start interacting in Vietnamese with native speakers. I used the taping of this episode as a personal challenge to air for the record my current (low) level of Vietnamese. This post has set a bar for myself - so hopefully in a few months time, my Vietnamese will be much more fluent than what you see in this clip. I'll keep you updated on my progress! Just for fun in the end, I’ve also thrown in a little sign-language finger-spelling (American and Autralian) as well as some very low-tech Morse-code. If you have any suggestions for topics for future episodes, email me at the email you see in the clip, or you can post a comment on this blog – or on the Youtube clip if you like. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:58:00 +0000 Mnidcraft by Stuart Jay Raj - The Art of Language The Art of Language“We are wired to learn languages! …- That’s what I was told from childhood, that’s what I believed and that’s what I’ve become.” This is an exciting week for me! ... and NO I didn't make a spelling mistake... and NO your eyes aren't playing tricks on you :) ...well... maybe they are. The word 'Mindcraft' has been used and registered by many other companies before, but I felt it best sums up what I'm doing. Writing it like 'Mnidcraft' both gets people's attention and in its essence, sums up what this new programme is all about - Who you are, what you see etc. is only what your mind makes of it!... interested? Then read on!... Over the past few months, I've been doing quite a lot of introspection. I often refer to the emails that I receive in my blog-posts. People are wanting to know 'what's the best way to learn a language?', 'how should I start learning a language?', 'how do I get motivated to learn???'. But it's the comments like 'Well, it's easy and natural for you to learn languages, but how should your average Joe Blow go about it?' that really got me thinking. I have worked as a trainer / facilitator for the past ten years or so. When I train, I incorporate many principles of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) into what I do. Many of the techniques that my grandfather had used with me in retrospect really resemble many of the popular techniques employed by NLP practitioners today. Based on NLP modelling principles, I have put together a programme that has me really pumped. Instead of just suggesting to people the best ways to learn languages, get motivated about languages, prepare themselves for learning languages, techniques for memorizing vocab, kanji, grammar etc. I have put together a programme that embeds all the fundamental HABITS and KNOWLEDGE that make up STUART JAY RAJ through face to face contact and activities that range from learning to recalibrate your hands and touch-type in foreign scripts to identifying languages and accents - even of languages that you don't speak. We'll be decoupling our mind from our bodies through exercises with Rubik's Cubes, the Abacus, musical instruments, learning speed reading techniques, developing cognitive fluency without using words based on exercises taken from simultaneous interpreting training, learn now to be 'funny' in different languages / cultures, how to gain acceptance and render 'who we are' in palatable forms in our target language's culture, hone subconscious assessment skills that allow us to analyse people based on the way they talk, how they dress, how they sit, who they talk to, learn fundamental principles of language including phonetics, IPA, tonal languages, Indic languages and even a touch of computer languages!. I will be running the workshops in conjunction with RadioBangkok.Net - there will be podcasts available via Radiobangkok (and of course fed through this blogsite as well (http://stujay.blogspot.com) that support what's learned in the sessions. Facebook Mnidcraft GroupI have also started a group in Facebook for participants / anyone else interested in the programme wanting to network with like-minded people. We can use it as a place to exchange ideas, experiences, files etc. Should everything go well with the first few runs of the series here in Thailand, I will look at taking it on the road in the second quarter of 2009. So without any further ado, for my blog viewers, here's the official 'blurb' that will be going out about the programme. It might well change a little between now and when I run the first series in Bangkok in December - but you will get the general idea! Mnidcraft - The Art of Language“We are wired to learn languages! …- That’s what I was told from childhood, that’s what I believed and that’s what I’ve become.” Now having fluency in over 15 languages and a solid grounding in over 30, polyglot Stuart Jay Raj has delved into what makes him ‘him’ and from his findings has put together his ‘Mnidcraft – The Art of Language’ series. Mnidcraft empowers anyone with a will to succeed to develop the same aptitude for languages and communication as what Stuart Jay Raj possesses based on powerful NLP modeling principles. NLP ModelingNLP modeling is the practice of isolating essential patterns that makes someone successful and duplicating them into others in a way that they are practiced unconsciously. Stuart has carefully designed activities where you will not only learn the secrets that have crafted his aptitude for language, but will also have these skills, habits and knowledge embedded within you, breathing new life into your relationship with language. 7 Drivers of MnidcraftThe 7 Drivers of Mnidcraft are:
More than just the ability to learn languagesDeveloping an aptitude for language is actually just a side effect of the Mnidcraft series. You will also develop new skills including:
ScheduleThe initial series will be run as 4 x half day sessions. Each session can be attended as a stand alone session, but of course the full impact will come as a result of following the whole programme and becoming part of the online community Coming to a city near youLike I mentioned above, I'm really excited about this programme. I can see how it's going to help people regardless of their linguistic or academic background. Not only will it get participants motivated about language, but also music, math, I.T., problem solving, networking, business, public speaking and possibly even stand-up comedy! If you're not in Thailand and you'd like this run in your city / school / university etc., drop me a line and I'll see what we can do :) That's all for now - no doubt I'll keep you posted as to the results of the series in the coming months. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:13:00 +0000 Mnidcraft Workshop This Sat 21-Sun 22 Feb 2009 @ Bangkok I've just arrived home from traversing the back-alleys of Bangkok stocking up on abacuses, Rubik's cubes and other goodies. I've also been recording new songs, grooves and other funky tunes that we'll be using in this weekend's Mnidcraft workshop. If you're in Bangkok - or you're looking for a good excuse to be in Bangkok this weekend, drop me a line! The venue is beautiful, though has limited seating. I've included the information below. If you think you can attend, drop me an email - stujay@hotmail.com to confirm your spot. So far, I have people flying in from China, Hong Kong, Japan, as well as a whole bunch of fascinating people that live here in the Kingdom. If there is enough demand, I might look at running another 2-day workshop the following week. Look forward to seeing you all there. Stu. Mnidcraft by Stuart Jay Raj An Operating System for Your Mind It's time to invest in something that they can't take away from you! No – the spelling is no mistake! – The fact that your brain recognizes the word even though it isn’t spelled the traditional way is testament to what is at the heart of this programme. Duration: 2 days Dates: Sat 21st and Sun 22nd Feb Time: 08:30 – 17:00 each day Location: Fraser Suites – Sukhumvit Soi 11 Contact: stujay@hotmail.com URL: http://stujay.blogspot.com Have you ever wanted to master another language? Fluent in over 15 languages and having a solid grounding in over 30, polyglot Stuart Jay Raj has delved into what makes him ‘him’ and from his findings has put together his ‘Mnidcraft – The Art of Language’ series. View Clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNlNhBGROQI Mnidcraft empowers anyone with a will to succeed to develop the same aptitude for languages and communication as what Stuart Jay Raj possesses based on powerful NLP modeling principles. NLP Modeling NLP modeling is the practice of isolating essential patterns that makes someone successful and duplicating them into others in a way that they are practiced unconsciously. Stuart has carefully designed activities where you will not only learn the secrets that have crafted his aptitude for language, but will also have these skills, habits and knowledge embedded within you, breathing new life into your relationship with language! More than just the ability to learn languages Developing an aptitude for language is actually just a side effect of the Mnidcraft series. You will also tap into new abilities: • Learn techniques to learn and develop native-like fluency in Thai, Chinese, English, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish and other languages • Super Memory • Perfect Pitch • Touch-type in multiple languages including Thai, Sanskrit and Korean • Be ‘funny’ across cultures • Increase self-esteem in yourself and others • Mimic sounds, body language and mannerisms • Build instant rapport with people you’ve just met • Master tones in Tonal Languages including Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese • Solve the Rubik’s Cube through muscle memory • Use an Abacus • Circular Breathing • Learn Morse Code / Sign Language alphabets Simultaneously • Speed Reading • Simultaneous Interpreting • XML and programming fundamentals Getting Yourself Prepared To prepare your mind for the workshop, I highly recommend taking a stroll through my blog: http://stujay.blogspot.com And few several of the video clips available on the side-bar. In particular, the Mnidcraft preview and the Morse / Sign Language ABC clip. Stuart Jay Raj. stujay@hotmail.com http://stujay.blogspot.com Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:10:00 +0000 Cracking Thai Fundamentals Video Clips - Stuart Jay Raj’s Thai Vowel Hand-signs I’m happy to announce the birth of my newly sprouted home video studio here in Bangkok. To take it for a test ride, I have just posted a 2 episode series covering the core Thai vowels. Video Clips
About 10 years ago, as part of my Cracking Thai Fundamentals workshop, I developed a series of handsigns that I felt really aided learners of Thai understand the concepts of the Thai vowels, remember their shapes and link them in with the sounds of the vowels themselves. Over the coming weeks, along with the new logo and branding that you can see in the clips, I will be giving my blog and www.kogneit.com website a facelift. At the moment I’m tossing up between Drupal and Joomla possibilities. The end result will be a portal where all the programmes and topics that I cover – from languages – Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish, Hindi, Sanskrit, Burmese and any other one I can think of, to mind skills – memory techniques, speed reading, thought decoupling and other topics that come under the heading of my Mnidcraft Programme. I will have video clips, articles, books and forums about all these topics with the goal of really harnessing the energy of all of you out there who have supported me over the past couple of years, to see if we can start to break new ground in language learning and general usage of our grey matter. As clips go up – even if they’re covering topics or languages that you haven’t previously been interested in, give them ago. You might tap into something new that will take your life on an entirely new path. Please send any ideas for clips and articles to me at stujay@hotmail.com. I’ll try as best as I can to deliver! Enjoy Stuart Jay Raj. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:20:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj's New TV Show - เหนือชั้น 1000 แปลก 'Neua Chan Phan Plaek' - 'The Amazing, The Extraordinary and the Downright Weird!' Thai Ch.5 You might have noticed that I've been pretty slack in updating my blog recently. I wish I've could have updated more - but I have evidence here to prove that I haven't been sitting idle doing nothing! Since shooting my new TV show 'Nuea Chan Phan Plaek' เหนือชั้น 1000 แปลก (Extraordinary / Amazing (Things / People / Places)), I've been blessed to have been able to travel to so many different places around the world to cover some of the most amazing and extraordinary people, places and things on this planet. The team is made up of myself (Stuart Jay Raj - สจวท เจ ราช), Tin Chokmolkij (ทิน โชคกมลกิจ) and Apple (Ple.. pronounced /pɘn/ with a falling tone) Jariyadee Thammavit - เปิ้ล -จริยดี ธรรมวิทย์. Tin and Ple spend most of the time in the studio, while I have the burden of tripping around the countryside covering stories outside of Thailand. Ple has done a series of stories in Cambodia recently thought, and hopefully all three of us will be able to travel together for stories in the future. Over the past couple of months, the programme and other things have taken me between Thailand, Taiwan, China, Korea, USA, The Bahamas, Indonesia and Australia and covered stories including the sexy betel nut girls in Taiwan, the dead bodies of Trunyan village in Bali Indonesia and the mystical tree that sucks the smell of the corpses away, sand-dune surfing in Australia, out with Hump Back Whales, swimming with the dolphins, up in helicopters over crystal blue waters and shipwrecks, eating at theme restaurants - A380, Hello Kitty (seriously!), DS 'Hospital' restaurant where all the waitresses are dressed up as sexy doctors and nurses and serve drinks via a Drip! We had an epic adventure making it to the underground outback Aussie opal mining of Coober Pedy - where even a 5-star Sheraton hotel and a Serbian Orthodox church is build underground in the stone... not to mention the home of 'Crocodile Harry' - the nymphomaniac crocodile Hunter that the hit 80's movie Crocodile Dundee was based on. Some of Harry's claim to fame was to have a goal of sleeping with 1000 virgins and having them contribute to his mural in his 'dugout' with an artistic representation of their name and where they're from. A funny anecdote from Harry's longtime friend / roommate - Friend - "Harry - I suspect that many of these women weren't 'real' virgins'. Harry - "Hmmm.. that's ok, 'Almost virgin' is good enough for me! Harry also had Tina Turner's bra, left over from the shooting of Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome, but it was stolen a couple of years ago. His house is a maze of fascinating art, womens underclothes hanging from the ceiling and a spectacular 'Shitatorium' in true Coober Pedy fashion. The stories will be rolling out over the next few months every Tuesday evening - 22:30-23:30 on Thailand's Channel 5. This is available overseas via satellite on Ch 5's international service, or it can be streamed over the internet either live here, or you can click on the separate episodes via ManyTV here: I'll be posting more on our adventures soon. In the meantime, in the next couple of posts, I'll link through to the online versions of the stories I've done ... I would much prefer to have these streaming from youtube, but I 'personally' wouldn't know how to do it (nudge nudge wink wink). If anyone out there has any amazing stories / people / places / animals / things anywhere on the planet, let me know! I'll discuss it with the producers, and if it's deemed to be something to make Thai audiences go 'WOW', chances are I'll be over soon to cover it. For those people that were looking to have me run some of my workshops in their cities / countries, this might be a good way to kill two birds with one stone ^_^. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:54:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj - เหนือชั้น 1000 แปลก - Episode - Bali Trunyan Corpses - Full English Subs Completed Just a quick note to let you all know that the 2nd clip (2 of 2) now has English subtitles. I've just prepared another four episodes that have gone to air over the past couple of months for subtitles. You should see them in the next few days. Here's are both clips now with full English subs for the Un-Smelly corpses of the Terunyan village in Bali. Part 1 of 2Part 2 of 2More Amazing StoriesAgain - if you have any other amazing stories you think would be worth covering, drop me an email at stujay@hotmail.com!Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:14:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj - เหนือชั้น 1000 แปลก -Australian Outback Underground City - Coober Pedy Languages: English, Strine, Kiwi, Thai พบกับเมืองประหลาด Coober Pedy ความแปลกของเมืองนี้คือเป็นเมืองใต้ดินเพราะต้องหนีปัญหาอุณหภูมิที่สูง Don't Miss เหนือชั้น 1000 แปลก - Neua Chan Phan Plaek - 'The Extraordinary, Amazing and Bizzare' each Tuesday night on Thai Channel 5 22:30 - 23:30 This is the first of two stories covered in the Australian outback town of Coober Pedy. The amazing thing about this city other than the fact that it’s the number one opal mining city in the world, is that a good portion of this city’s action happens underground. Not just the mines! Houses, churches, restaurants, hotels, you name it! Part 1
Part 2
Subtitles are loaded in the Youtube player in English. If you liked this, or are into languages, culture and communication, be sure to swing by Stuart Jay Raj’s language, mindskills… and now Amazing World Stories Blog at http://stujay.blogspot.com Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:39:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj TV Show เหนือชั้น 1000แปลก Taiwan 臺灣 Sexy Betel Nut Girls 檳榔西施 English Subs Languages: Thai ไทย, Mandarin Chinese中文 (漢語) เหนือชั้น1000แปลก - สาวสวยขายหมากเหนือชั้นรอบโลก ที่ประเทศไต้หวัน สจวท เจ ราช พาไปพบ สาวๆ แต่งตัวเซ็กซี่แต่ขายหมาก?? Subtitles: English – available via the Youtube desktop player. If subtitles don’t appear straight away, click in the far bottom right hand corner subtitle box and select ‘English’.
In this episode we go and meet the sexily clad ladies in Taipei and Taizhong that tout customers on the side of the road. For those in Thailand, such images might lead you to think of another trade, but these girls aren’t selling sexual services. At first when we went into try and get some footage of some of the Betel Nut stalls, none of the girls we approached would let us film in fear of what the repercussions would be from their ‘bosses’. It’s a cut throat business there. Trying to take another tack, I asked one of the girls where her boss lived. She pointed his house out and I went and knocked on the door and introduced myself to him in Chinese and explained a little about what we were doing. He was very hospitable and went out of his way to take care of us. His wife was suffering from cancer, so along with the Betel Nuts, he also produced some of the freshest organic Watermelon Juice you could find in the city. The main girl in the clip – Yaya – is 19 years old and had been working there for around 2 years now. From speaking to her candidly, she seemed to earnestly be happy with her job and only had nice words to say about her boss. Perhaps a new face to an old trade in Thailand? If you have any amazing, extraordinary people, places, animals or things that you think would be fitting for our show 'Neua Chan Phan Plaek', drop me a line on stujay@hotmail.com. You can follow along with the show and other language and mind-skills related stories on my blog - 'Behind the Curtain' at http://stujay.blogspot.com Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:39:00 +0000 Interview with Polyglot Stuart Jay Raj - Part 2 for Womenlearnthai.com - Getting over the Mental Barriers of Language Learning Interview with Polyglot Stuart Jay Raj - Part 2 for Womenlearnthai.com This is the 2nd of 3 interviews I did with Cat from the Womenlearnthai.com site. In this interview Cat asked me about the common obstacles for people learning Thai and how I help them get around them. We also touch a bit on my Mindcraft series. Interview with polyglot Stu Jay Raj…Heads-up everyone: This post is a continuation of Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj: Interview Part One.
How do you address these learning difficulties?
Many expats struggle with learning Thai. What advice do you have?
If you could pick five books from your librarything to help learners of the Thai language, what would they be, and why?
What other books should beginner to intermediate learners of the Thai language read?
Your Cracking Thai Fundamentals course is hilarious fun. Could we please get an overview?
What are your tips for learning and retaining new vocabulary?
What other advice do you give to students of the Thai language?
Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj The final section of this three part interview is: Successful Thai Language Learners: Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:32:00 +0000 Turning a Love for Language into a Career - Stuart Jay Raj's Response to a Letter from a Frustrated Polyglot I just received a letter from another Polyglot that I had come into contact by a fantastic language learning site out there - how-to-learn-any-language.com . After asking his permission, I've pasted the letter and my response here in the hope that it might be of assistance to other frustrated language lovers. Original Email:
Stu's Response
Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:18:00 +0000 Interview with Stuart Jay Raj - Part 1 - from 'Womenlearnthai.com' site This is a cross post of an interview with Cat from the 'Womenlearnthai.com'site. This is the first installation of a 3 part interview. Interview with polyglot Stu Jay Raj…When I moved to Bangkok I was fortunate to discover Stu Jay Raj’s Cracking Thai Fundamentals course located at that time on Suk Soi 1. Once a week for eight weeks I’d jump on the MRT to travel into the bowels of Bangkok for an hour of hilarious fun. Fun, because Stu is not only a knowledgeable teacher of the Thai language, but a fabulous entertainer too. And ever since then, I’ve followed Stu’s climbing career. Stu’s interview on WLT has been a long time coming. Due to his varied background, the interview will be in three installments (and I could have easily asked enough questions for a fourth or even a fifth). Stu Jay Raj: Accredited Dale Carnegie consultant and trainer; regional advisor, trainer, and lecturer in cross cultural communication; IT developer; simultaneous interpreter, translator and editor; television and audio composer; TV presenter; and polyglot. Stu, when I first met you, you were fluent in: Speaking, listening, reading and writing with over 13 modern languages; Chinese dialects, Spanish, Indonesian, Thai, Danish and Sign language; plus a working knowledge of more than 15 additionaly languages, modern and ancient. Have you added any more languages to your repertoire?
Your grandfather must be an amazing man. Not only is he a linguist with an extensive passion for history, but he took the time to share his love for languages with his young grandson. Did he use any language learning methods with you?
The combination of multiple language skills and training with the Dale Carnegie method must pack a punch when it comes to cross cultural communication. What is your advice for anyone going the same route?
After interviewing Miss Indonesia 2005 (Artika Sari Dewi), you landed the envious job of linguist for the yearly Miss Universe pageants. Has it changed the direction of your life in any way?
When I saw your new TV show, Nuea Chan Phan Plaek’ เหนือชั้น1000 แปลก, I couldn’t think of any other theme that would be as tailor-made for your linguistic talents. How did it come about? Did you put forward a proposal, or did they come to you?
Are you still performing with the ROL Jazz Trio in Bangkok?
What are you up to these days?
What can we expect from you in the future?
Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj Stay tuned for Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj: Interview Part Two. Enjoy… Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:01:00 +0000 Youtube Subtitles in English for Stuart Jay Raj's TV Show เหนือชั้น 1000 แปลก I've just realised how easy it is to drop SRT subtitle files into youtube videos. I just did a trial one here. If you can't see the English subtitles straight away, you might have to click the square in the far bottom right corner of the player and choose 'English'. I've only done it for this one video - more to follow (time permitting!) Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:51:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj เหนือชั้น 1000 Plaek - Thai TV Show - Ep 2 Bali Indonesia - Trunyan Dead Bodies - No Smell Languages: Thai, Balinese, Bahasa Indonesia
สจวท เจ ราชพาไป บาหลี ประเทศอินโดนีเซีย ไปพบกับต้นไม้ประหลาดและความเชื่อแปลกๆของคนบนเกาะบาหลี Direct link: http://www.manytv.com/videos/10461-_1000_.php This is the first in a series of clips from Bali, Indonesia. Bali is different to the rest of Indonesia in that it is predominantly Hindu. The Trunyan village (from Taruh - Place / Menyan - Corpse) is renowned for the strange practice of placing dead bodies to decompose next to a special tree that is said to absorb the smell of the rotting corpses into the tree! While I was there, there were 11 corpses decomposing, but no smell! ... believe it? .. take a look at the clip and judge for yourself :) (Shame there's no such thing as smellovision!) The trip there was interesting. At first, our guide refused to - there are rumours of people being robbed and even murdered going out there. In the end, it was an issue of $$$$$. We paid 'security' money to the right people and the hospitality there was fantastic. If you're planning a trip there, make sure you have a few rupiah spare for 'extra costs' that suddenly appear once you arrive ... and again when you try to leave!. The Trunyan village is deep up into the lake between the volcanoes Gunung Batur / Gunung Agung. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:35:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj - Facilitates Presentation and Facilitation Skills with Indian, Pakistani and Chinese Transport and Urban Planning Experts in Beijing GTZ-SUTP, partner of the Sustainable Urban Mobility in Asia (SUMA) project, successfully concluded its initial course of the “Train-the-Trainer” program which was an initiative of the the SUMA project in partnership with CAI-Asia and other organizations. The participants, “Future Trainers”, were preselected professionals on urban transport from India and China. The course was held for two weeks from the 5th to the 16th of November, 2007 at Hotel Xi Jiao in Beijing, China. During the first week, the future trainers had the opportunity to improve their presentation and communication skills. Mr. Stuart Jay Raj conducted the training course on presentation and communication skills, while Mr. Carlosfelipe Pardo and Prof. Paul Barter assisted the participants. During the second week the participants were exposed to sustainable transport issues from both India and China under the guidance of Prof. Jason Chang and Mr. Carlos Felipe Pardo. In the second step of the program (a specialized course on a pre-selected topic, to be conducted next year) the participants will be trained on specialized issues of sustainable urban transport, being Transport Demand Management, Non Motorized Transport or Mass Transit. For more information on the SUMA project and/or the Train-the-Trainer program please email to sutp@sutp.org or visit the SUMA section here. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:42:00 +0000 Mnidcraft - The Art of Language Video ... "Change Your Mind!" It's both a very happy and sad day here in Bangkok. Sad, because not in a long time have people been so politically polarized ... to the point that today people are baying for blood from both sides of the spectrum. Now the GOOD news.... I've just finished my latest video edition and posted it up to Youtube. This is the first covering my 'Mnidcraft' series. The first series will be starting on the 2nd of Dec, 2008 in Bangkok. If you're in town, come along! Facebook Mnidcraft Group Up and Running!The response to the 'Mnidcraft' Facebook group that I've created is fantastic. Within the first day or so there were over 120 members and counting. If You Would Like To Attend An Event ...As sessions get scheduled, I will mark them on there as 'Events' so people can register. Once you click 'accept', you will be contacted to let you know what / how you need to prepare and answer any questions you might have. RadioBangkok.Net - Sponsorship and PodcastsThanks to Bill Hammerton and RadioBangkok.Net, I've been able to increase the audience that the message is getting out to. An added bonus is that thanks to Bill's great networking skills, we have great sponsors like Fraser Suites (Thanks Jacqui) Suk. 11 to help with the Training Facility... though if numbers start to go North, I think we might even have to look at up-sizing future venues. I've set up an email with RadioBangkok.net that you can make enquiries on - language@radiobangkok.net. Otherwise, my usual 'public' email address still works - stujay@hotmail.com. Show me the Video Already!So here it is! ... btw.. if you are a facebook member, I have uploaded a copy of this to the Mnidcraft Group and the resolution looks a whole lot better! Here's the Youtube version. Taking it On The RoadAs I mentioned in the Video, I'm looking forward to taking this programme on the road. I'm excited to see the chemistry that a programme like this has with all different profiles in the community - Adults, Business-people, University Students, Children, Migrants and anyone else willing to "Change Their Mind"!. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:44:00 +0000 Those iPhone Developers Might be the Funkiest, Schwaginist Geeks in Cupertino, but they Sure Ain’t No Linguists! Dear gods of the cyberverse, please direct this blog-entry through the right routers,feed aggregators, RSS readers … anything it takes so that those great apple developers in the sky can start to get a taste of the multilingual HUMAN world outside of that apparently monoglot paradise of Cupertino. I've had my iPhone for almost a year now. Someone actually gave me a 3G version, but I was so attached to my original phone that I sold the 3G version and kept the old one. You see apart from liking the metallic feel of it – something that you just can't find with handheld appliances these days, mine has a huge crack across the screen that I've grown rather fond of. (The crack happened when running to escape the Bangkok rain in mid 2008 – when the device slipped out of the slip-proof iPhone belt-holster that I'd purchased a few days earlier). Why a Polyglot / linguaphile SHOULD own an iPhoneAs we learned in Dale Carnegie Instructor training, when delivering bad news, START WITH THE POSITIVE AS A BUFFER! So here goes. The first week I had my iPhone I wanted to throw the thing out the window. I'm a tinkerer – and not being an Apple person, I found the iPhone not really tinkerer friendly. Luckily within a few days I was lucky to find a team of enthusiastic iPhone hackers that whetted my palate with the possibilities that the iPhone holds for tinkerers. From that moment on, I started to take to the thing. Podcasts, Language MP3's, Youtube and more
I quickly found many uses for it – it's actually changed my life. From ChinesePod.com to Japanesepod101.com to news podcasts in different languages to morse simulators to Youtube clips, the iPhone is a language learners dream! If you want to know someone, take a look at their iTunes library. I have MP3's and streams in over 40 languages in my iTunes that I sync with my phone which facilitates my learning every waking moment (that I'm not with clients of course … well, even then some) Now with AV cables, I don't even have to take my computer to many events that I have to speak at / teach at. I can play the Audio / Video files straight out of my iPhone through the sound system / LCD of the seminar venue – and even record Presentations as video files and then use my iPhone as the presentation device rather than PowerPoint. There are also some great apps out there that developers are creating for learning languages - one that I particularly like is JapaneseFlip (日本語フリップ) by Andre Khromov. Very simple but good looking App that helps you get through your JLPT levels. 3 Steps to Drive a Polyglot to go Insane and Throw their Freaking iPhone off a Cliff!
I can imagine what the project management meetings in the development process were like: Project Manager: "Now guys, there are gonna be some folks out there that don't speak 'Merican, so we might have to have some way they can talk to each other in their own gobbledygook" Development Team Underling: "Ahh… yes boss, I'll get on it. Those Chinese folks down on the corner at the restaurant seem nice, maybe they'll be able to help me get some of their lingo into this thing." Project Manager: "Great idea! Just make sure you don't make it too easy for 'em. We don't wanna encourage too much of 'their language'… in the long run, better to have 'em speaking 'Merican like the rest of the world! We have those great 'Merican language modules that we use in our Mac OS's … just throw one of those under the hood and it should do the trick" Development Team Underling: "Umm .. boss… what about people who want to communicate in more than one language at once?" Project Manager: "Yeah right!" (sarcastically) Development Team Underling: "Okie Dokie boss – consider it done!" And so the iPhone language development team was born. 3 Areas of iPhone Linguistic Insanity
Language InputWell, I have to hand it to the team. For the first models, there was only a handful of roman scripted languages that were catered for. Later firmware versions introduced more languages. I wish these US developers would realise that even in the US, you will have people using their devices who speak a whole array of languages. You don't need to release a phone in Thailand, Japan or China to warrant having Thai and Japanese input options. Give the options on installation / updating of the firmware as to what languages should be included – that way you don't eat up memory with unnecessary stuff and everyone is happy.The way you switch languages is really cumbersome too! In a typical message sent out of my phone, I could have any combination of Thai, Chinese, Japanese, English, Indonesian, Spanish and Nordic languages being used. I just had a look through some of my SMS's and some of them use up to 4 languages in a given message. Could I suggest a language selection button that will iterate if tapped normally through the input language list similar to the buttons that already open up to display additional characters when held. Rather than a straight tab of letters though, if held it would open up something like a daisy-wheel so you can slide your finger directly to the target language selection – when you release your finger, it's in that language input mode.
That way, if there are only 2 input keyboards running, you can do 1-tap iteration, otherwise people with more than 2 keyboards can also quickly switch between them without iterating through ALL OF THEM … often resulting in the thing hanging and then crashing. At the moment I have 8 keyboards active. So if I change to a language and back to English, a minimum of 9 clicks is needed. Not only that, because you're typing as fast as you can, you often get 'click happy' and iterate past the English keyboard and have to go through them all again. It's a bit 'Ground hog day'ish' guys! Input Keyboard LayoutI understand that screen real-estate is scarce, but some of the excuses I've seen for Thai keyboards are appalling. Given, I don't think that most of the ones that I've been using have been developed by Apple themselves – most of them 3rd party apps from Eastern Europe, the developers were probably just concerned about getting so many letters into such a small space and knew nothing about typing habits of native speakers of those languages, common letters vs. uncommon letters etc. Predictive TextWith the original firmware, there was a function in there that allowed you to turn the predictive text off. Since version 2.0, I'll be darned if I can find it anymore!?? Even for monoglots of English, people don't communicate in standard English. There have been papers after papers on the language of messaging, sms language, email English etc. Here's an example in English: Desired text: Ud bttr c if ur gf's up to it, coz ur gona get it otherwise. If I type that into my iPhone without going back each time and correcting it here's the result: I'd byte CID ye FFA up to it, cox HR Bina get it otherwise The funny thing… each time I tried to backspace and fix things up, things progressively changed and got worse (even more changes to what you see above!) I don't know what these guys could have been thinking. We don't send text messages to be grammatically correct! We send them for efficiency. Not only that, the shorthand used communicates a multitude of emotions, relationships and other 'meta meanings'. Indonesian TextingI think Indonesians would have to be right up there with the Filipinos as the number one texters on the planet! Someone could be driving down the freeway at 130kmh, swerving between the cars and still get out an epic text message in a few seconds flat. As with many other languages, SMS language in Indonesia is a language of its own. As a linguist, it's fascinating to analyse what's going on. Normal language takes on almost semitic language principles – where words retract into fundamental vowel deprived roots, then inflated with different amended affixes as needed. Here's another call out to the developers… INDONESIANS USE THE ROMAN ALPHABET TO TYPE BAHASA INDONESIA…. So there's no need to change a keyboard. The English keyboard would do just fine if there wasn't any freakin' predictive text there to botch it all up! Not only do Indonesian's use the Roman alphabet, many of them can speak languages other than Indonesian!... so in a given message, you might have Bahasa Indonesia, Sundanese, Javanese, Mandarin, Hakka and English! But let's get back to Indonesian SMS'ing. Here's a sample sentence:
Thai and other languagesThis applies to ALL languages. Sometimes depending on someone's phone and language upbringing, Thais might send a message in Thai – or write their version of Thai using the Roman alphabet. There is no standard to the spelling used, so developing a dictionary would be useless. Each person has their own 'flavour'. It gets worse, the predictive text started to think it would be smart by 'learning' Thai letter order patterns. Well it thought it did… it applied 'English' logic to Thai and the results were terrible. Vowels and consonants were all swapped around to make the language look totally alien. Other notes on Input LanguagesThe technology is out there guys… so how bout it…add a few languages into the iPhone official 'flock' – Arabic, Thai, Hindi / Devanagari, Tamil and other scripts that although they might be a little foreign to Cupertino, there are still billions of people outside of that 'hood' that use the languages. FontsMy last note is on Fonts. On my Window's system, I love the MS Arial Unicode font – although it lacks some scripts like Burmese, Khmer, Tibeten and several others, it is fantastic in that the point size for Thai, Chinese, Arabic and Latin are all the same. I can even call a whole range of IPA characters up and they'll display on any page. The iPhone's font mapping is bizarre with languages like Arabic. Arabic is a complex class script where the letters' forms will change depending on where they are in the word, with diacritics above and below the letters. For some reason, when reading pages on the web in Arabic / Urdu / Farsi etc, only the initial position letter forms are used. This again, makes the language look extremely bizarre. While it's possible to make out what the words are (kinda) it's very cumbersome and not in line with that slick 'Apple' image that I could imagine that you guys would be trying to shoot for. APPLE EXECUTIVES TAKE NOTEYou are about to launch the iPhone here in Thailand legally. I'm not sure what you're doing in the way of your 'official' Thai input option, but if I were you, I'd seriously consider giving the Thai language issues an overhaul. I'm happy to hire my consulting services out to you to make sure you don't piss the SE Asian texting community off any more than they already are. Actually – I've changed my mind … hire me and we can sit down over a coffee in Cupertino and give the WHOLE FREAKIN' LANGUAGE thing an overhaul. I've walked into Apple stores all over the world over the past couple of years and challenged the salespeople to convert me to a Mac user. I need a system that will allow me to use all the languages I use with ease – Microsoft actually got the whole predictive text thing right with Mandarin and Windows leaves Mac's OS in the dust when it comes to speed of typing up a Chinese document. Both Apple and Windows do a dismal job in allowing us to type in Cantonese and other Chinese languages / dialects. I'm honestly surprised that one of the over a BILLION speakers of non-Mandarin Chinese languages hasn't mentioned it to you before. CONVERT ME! MAKE ME A DISCIPLE! No one has been able to do it yet - and I still sit here with my PC - Linux and Windows. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:53:00 +0000 Jazz Lessons on Language - Improvisation 101 - Stuart Jay Raj’s Indic Script Compass Find Your Way Around Indic Based Writing Systems (Devanagari, Tamil, Panjabi (Gurmukhi), Burmese, Bahasa Bali (Balinese), Bahasa Jawa (Javanese), Thai and Khmer (Cambodian) Without a GPSDownload Full A3 Size Chart Here Theme and VariationThe reason I love playing and listening to jazz so much is because you're able to get into the soul of the players by hearing how they improvise on a theme. Language is not that much different. I've noticed what could be described as almost an unquestioning deific reverence and fear paid to the writing systems of Indic language systems by their users (and learners of them). Whether it's the Devanagari script used to write amongst other languages, Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi and Nepali, or the scripts of other languages in India and surrounding countries like Panjabi, Tamil, Telugu or as far down as Southeast Asia including Thai, Lao, Burmese, Khmer (Cambodian), Balinese orJavanese, when you start to scratch the surface of the origins, grammar or even just the reasoning of certain things that would seem strange to outsiders, the eyes of your average Joe who's spoken one of those languages since birth will tend to glaze over. (Now THAT was a long sentence!) That's the Problem with Turtles… It really shouldn't be that way!Those Indians were pretty cluey back in the day. They developed an alphabet thousands of years ago that was a virtual GPS for the human mouth! Just like the theme and variation in Jazz, all the languages that I've mentioned above (and many more) have used this basic map as their base - a reference guide and then coloured it with the sound filters of their own respective languages. To draw an analogy from English, take a common sentence that we use every day like: 'That's the problem with turtles' This is the 'base' or 'theme'. A variation might have those same letters read as: 'Dat's da pwoblem wif toitles' … For many, the whole concept that 'Dat's' had come from 'That's' was never explained, leaving not only learners, but also native speakers of the language in a haze as to 'why' certain things are about the language and just accepting that it's something beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. Part of my Mnidcraft course is to get a good grounding in the principles of Indic based scripts and develop some level of proficiency in identifying several the scripts including Devanagari, Thai, Khmer and Burmese. I developed my 'Indic Consonant Glyphs' and the 'Stuart Jay Raj's Indic Script Consonant Compass' as a tool to accelerate the acquisition / learning of scripts based on the Indic sound system themes and variations. Don't Count The Letters!I'll often hear people measuring the complexity of a language by the number of letters in its alphabet. This to me is absurd as the practice of judging a presentation's quality by its PowerPoint slide count! (Another pet hate of mine… which led me to designing my 'Present!' presentations workshop who's subtitle is 'Bringing Presentations Back to The Presenter'). It's this body count (or in this case consonants + vowel count) that has turned many a learner off from learning languages like Thai, Sanskrit, Khmer and Burmese. What Language Would You Prefer to Learn?Here's the blurb….
I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd be lining up to learn Wadafrackizet! (Ok, I admit it – I probably would)… but honestly, Soowizy sounds just so … EASY! The Cardinal Points of the MouthAs you read through the brief explanation to each of the following glyphs, place your tongue / mouth in the position and hold it there. Once you can do it for each glyph, move your gaze from one glyph to another at random and practice locking your mouth into the correct position according to the glyph that you're looking at. Drilling yourself for about 2 minutes like this should be enough to start to develop some long lasting muscle memory.
대한민국! (Dae Han Min Kuk!)Now, I know the Korean speakers out there must be thinking "Hmmm… some these symbols seem eerily familiar!". Koreans are very proud of their writing system 'Han Geul' – 한 글 .. . and so they should be. Developed by King Sejong the Great (1418-1450) in 1444, it is one of the easiest scripts to learn on the planet! (I learned it on a bus ride across Seoul one sunny afternoon in 1996J ). To add value to learning the Korean alphabet, I suggest spending an extra 10 minutes to learn how to touch type in Korean also. The keys are very logically set out between:
Each syllable in Han Geul is broken into a beginning (initial) sound, vowel and final sound component (if necessary). The symbols used to represent each of the sounds were based on the various parts of the mouth from which they were produced. Korea Meets IndiaI have combined this principle with the basic principle of the Indic Scripts 'Map of the Mouth' logic to develop my own symbols. It's interesting to note that the sound for 'r' / 'l' in Korean is uncannily similar to many of the symbols used to represent these same sounds in Indic (Brahmi) based scripts that display a 'rolling tongue' in one rendering or another. When I'm learning a new Indic script, this is actually one of the first memory points I will look for – I will peg the similarity or difference of its 'r' sound to the ones that I already know. I can't include all the samples in this text based medium as the fonts probably won't render properly on your computer. You can see them on the main 'Indic Consonant Compass' chart though. Another shape that is very similar include the 'base voice' symbol which in many scripts is a circular shape of some sort. The 'y' symbol which in Korean is normally 'two prongs' heading in the vowel direction. In the Indic scripts, the 'y' sound is usual a 2 or 3 pronged shape which I imagine is a representation of the way the tongue interacts with the palate. Here is a sample: Comparison of Similar Sound Shapes in Korean, Devanagari, Thai, Tamil and Gurmukhi (Panjabi)
The Key Actions of the Mouth
Colour CodingI have also colour coded each category within the sound system to give a colourful representation of the textual glyph. There are 5 base colours that correspond to each of the 5 cardinal points of the mouth (see above). When comparing the sound shifts from the original base letter to the target language letter, you can either follow the 'glyph' transliterations in the octagon adjacent the target letter, or just look at the colour changes. Getting a visual and emotional representation of these sound shifts through colour is another device that I find really useful in 'embedding' the language within me. Ready to Go!"Stuart Jay Raj's Indic Script Consonant Compass v1.0 – Southeast Asian Version" There were so many languages to choose from. I broke this chart down to 8 scripts that I think would cover a good portion of the globe. The languages / scripts with my reasoning for choosing them are:
As my New Years gift to you for 2009, rather than giving you a cruddy jpg or bmp version (like you see above) and waiting for you to come to my Mnidcraft workshop to receive a full high resolution version, I have included a PDF version of my "Indic Script Consonant Compass – v1.0 – Southeast Asian Version". I have created it using vector graphics, embedding the fonts where possible and expanding any other fonts that could not be embedded. What this means is that you are free to print out the chart to enormous sizes and stick it all over your home, office, toilet and any other place you see fit. Getting one or more of these scripts under your belt is an investment that you won't regret. Just the Consonants Ma'amRemember, these are only the consonsants... and admittedly, there are a couple of rare consonants in each script that I haven't included on the chart as it would in my opinion add unnecessary complexity to learning the scripts. There is also some funky stuff happening with the Tamil that I'm working at ironing out in future versions. If there are any Tamil experts out there, drop me a line! You will also notice that I haven't touched on vowels. … stay tuned… that will come in a later installment. I also have some surprises planned for this whole 'Indic' kick that I'm on. If time permits, I'm sure that you will see the bizarre fruits that my brain has borne in the near future. Good Luck! Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:44:00 +0000 Mandarin to Cantonese and Back Again (Part 1 - Tones) – Setting a Foundation for Learning Tonal Languages in Asia
Who Should Read This
Why Cantonese?I wrote a blog entry about a year ago now about how I approached learning Vietnamese. There have been many comments and emails that have come in since that posting asking for me to go into further detail (as promised in the article) about how I went about memorizing the vocab and getting on top of the grammar and tones. I thought about how I would approach that 'follow up' article, and realized how much my ability to grow and affinity with Vietnamese depend on my understanding of the link between Middle Chinese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai and other regional languages from China. I love Cantonese for a lot of reasons. It's a very funky and modern language when it has to be, but at the same time, it preserves many ancient traits from the Tang Dynasty – consonants, vowels, lexicon, tone rules, idioms from the past that are a little more difficult to grasp when using Mandarin as a base. I personally like to think of Cantonese as a dinosaur wearing an Armani suit, shades and a lot'a 'bling'. So before I go into how I went about getting on top of Vietnamese vocab, grammar, tones etc, I thought I'd share some of my learnings over the years about the engine that is running beneath the hood in Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai and other 方言 /fang1 yan2/ - regional languages.
Understanding the TonesVery often when I hear people comparing 'difficulty levels' of learning tonal languages like Thai, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese etc, I hear lines like: "Cantonese has nine tones where Mandarin only has five – that means Cantonese is more difficult". …. In my humble opinion… that's just RUBBISH. The number of tones in a language doesn't make it any more difficult than another if you learn it in a natural way where you can experience the rhythms and pitches of the language. Tones just become a natural part of using the language. Moreover, whether it's Mandarin, Vietnamese or Thai, I will always try and map the tones where possible in reference to the base tone system of the 9 tones in Cantonese. Writing the Tones in TextFrom now on when I refer to tones and pitch changes, I'll use the standard of 1 to 5.
So if I was to write a pitch change that went from very high to very low, I would write 51. If I was to write a pitch change that started very high, went very low, then came back up to around the mid range of my voice, I would write 513.
Yin and Yang 陰陽When people first start learning Mandarin, along with spending the first few weeks or so getting their Pin Yin consonant and vowel sounds right, a lot of time is usually spent on getting the 5 tones down (4 tones + neutral tone). You'll probably learn the names of the tones around that time too.
People might be curious as to where the Yin and the Yang come from? This curiosity is quickly surpassed by the student's need to master what they sound like rather than pontificate on where the origin of the tone's name came from. I find the whole Yin and Yang element of it fascinating though, and it is very useful in understanding the tonal and sound structures in other related languages. To start with, stare at the following picture for a few minutes and turn it into a Mind Map in your own mind.
Glossary
ExplanationI'll explain this in relation to Cantonese.
You're going to see in a minute that the 'Level' and 'Departing' tones in Cantonese sometimes don't actually just stay level or fall as the departing tone does in Mandarin. Don't let this confuse you. If you trace these back over the centuries, they morph all over the place from time to time and region to region. The system remains the same though. The main point I would like to get across here is the SYSTEM rather than its rendering in just one language. The reason I'm using Cantonese as a base is because it still preserves all the tones. I'm sure that there are going to be many Cantonese speakers reading this too, so this will help understand how to map Cantonese tones across to Mandarin too. When I learn words in Chinese, I try to subconsciously (initially consciously) file it away based on the picture above. I'll tag in my mind whether it's a 上 平 去 or 入 type tone, and I'll also shade it in my mind with the Yin or the Yang sign. This is unbelievably helpful later on if you're looking at learning more Chinese languages .... and consequently Vietnamese too. Even if the new languages have words that have changed their tone categories, I find making a point that certain words have changed tone categories serves as an extra memory enforcer.
Cantonese Rendering of the Yin Yang Tone System
Note that the 陰平 (Yin Ping) tone in Cantonese can be a level high tone, or could be a high falling tone. In Cantonese, these two in most cases are interchangeable - some words would be more commonly heard with one rather than the other. This is one thing that can sometimes help tell whether a Cantonese speaker is from the Mainland or from Hong Kong. What about the Entering Tones? (入聲)
In Cantonese you can see that they fit nicely into the existing tone pitch contours. Note that in Cantonese, all the entering tones 入聲 are constant pitch tones - High, Middle and Low. In other words, whenever there is a word that ends in a clipped p, t or k in Cantonese, the tone will only ever be a steady High, Middle or Low tone. Mapping the tones to MandarinSo you're probably wondering now whether there is a correlation with the tones of words in Cantonese and Mandarin. The answer is YES. There's a bit of fuzzy logic sometimes. Over time and geography, the tone category has shifted for many words and many words fall into 2 and sometimes more categories. What this does mean however is that for Mandarin speaking learners of Cantonese, or Cantonese speaking learners of Mandarin, the following relationships will help you turn your Canto-Mandarin into more standard Mandarin, or your flat Cantonese turn into more natural sounding Cantonese. From Cantonese to MandarinPlease note that this table isn't 100% accurate, but it's a great framework to start with.
How can this table be used?Admittedly, this table is probably a lot more useful to Cantonese speakers that are learning Mandarin than Mandarin speakers that are learning Cantonese. The reason being is that you are going from a manyà one relationship from Cantonese to Mandarin, where as Mandarin à Cantonese is a One à Many, compounded by the fact that there are also entering tones. As you start going through the dictionary though, you start seeing patterns emerge.
I am the first to admit that there are many many many more variables than what's shown in the above tables that we need to take into consideration before we can start to feel confident with applying rules to morph Cantonese into Mandarin or Vice Versa. What I've provided here is a fundamental first building block. Other variables include:Consonant Changes Some of these have been mentioned above. Some of the common ones are:
Vowel Changes Some common vowel changes are:
Bysyllabic versus Monosyllabic In Mandarin, a word feels kind of 'naked' if it's said with just one syllable. In Classical Chinese and Cantonese, it's very common just to use one syllable words. Examples would be (Taken From Zeng ZiFan's book)
Different Characters for Same Common Meanings in Standard Spoken Language
Reversed Word Order In Mandarin, you would say 我给你钱 Wo3 gei3(2) ni3 qian2 or more commonly 我把钱给你. I - (particle denoting object) - give - you
In Cantonese, you would say (updated 5 Oct 2008 - Thanks to Cantonese Guru Cecilie Gamst Berg!) 我俾錢你 (ng)oh bei chin (n)lei I – give - money - you Actually, in Mandarin, you could make a structure similar to the Cantonese structure, but you'd need to through a 把 in before the 錢 'money' - 我把钱给你. Loan Words / Transliterations Cantonese has many more transliterations that we find in Mandarin from the mainland. In Mandarin, it's usually standard practice to invent a brand new word rather than use a transliteration based on the pronunciation of the original word in English or other source language. The following examples are a mixture of both types. There's also a difference between many terms used in Taiwan and the mainland.
Even more variables include idioms, standard grammatical structures – e.g. the use of the verbs 'to be' , 'to have', 'to be able to' etc, words that exist in Cantonese but not at all in Mandarin, use of measure words, repetition of words, adverbs, suffixes and more. For a great rundown on all of these, I can't recommend enough the book by Zeng Zifan "Colloquial Cantonese and Putonghua Equivalents". I've had my copy for around 13 years now – the pages are torn, yellowing and crumbling, but it still serves as a great reference between the languages. The examples used from both Cantonese and Mandarin are second to none also, as it's focusing on colloquial language – not book language. In future posts, I'll show how this foundation serves me well in my endeavor to learn Vietnamese and understand other regional languages / dialects. Cantonese Lessons on Youtube by Cecilie Gamst BergI thought that I would include a link here to Cecile's latest production efforts. For those of you who haven't heard her Naked Cantonese podcasts - downloadable free from iTunes, Cecilie is now producing learn cantonese video clips currently available on Youtube. You can link to them here. Cecilie is a Norwegian lady who has lived in Hong Kong for many many moons and speaks (and teaches) fantastic Cantonese. Her sense of humour is amazing and after meeting her in person on a few occasions, I can confirm that she is the real deal! 反切 Fan3 Qie4 and 切韵 Qie4 Yun4This topic also leads into the wonderful and fascinating world of 'Qie4 yun4' - 切韵 and 'Fan3 Qie4' - 反切. Back around 601 A.D. Lu FaYan and a bunch of his scholarly mates were having a little get together and heated discussions broke out as to how certain words should be pronounced. Each had his own regional accent. This set Lu FaYan on a labour of love to map out the sound structure of his language at that time through Rhyme. Words were split up into 'initials' and 'finals' that incorporated the tone. The formula is (Initial + Tone 1) + (Rhyme + Tone 2) = Pronunciation of the Target Character. The following is taken from the Wikipedia page on Fanqie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FanqieIn Middle Chinese, the tone was represented by the rhyme character. However, owing to sound changes that have occurred since then, a more complicated rule is used today (see tone name for background information):
Thus
For example, the character 東 is represented by 德紅切. The third character 切 indicates that this is a fanqie spelling, while the first two characters indicate the onset and rhyme respectively. Thus the pronunciation of 東 is given as the onset of 德 dé (d) with the rhyme of 紅 hóng (ong), yielding dong. Also, 德 has a yin ru tone and 紅 has a yang ping tone. (In Modern Mandarin, 德 has a yang ping tone, but tonal developments in Mandarin are somewhat complex and therefore yield irregular results.) So the tone of 東 is yin ping. Gari Ledyard has given this informative example of how an English equivalent to fanqie might look:
Language is More Than Just Mechanical Buttons and Dials!This blog entry looks a lot at just the 'mechanical' details of language change. Once this is mastered, it doesn't mean that you can speak the target language in an intelligible manner. The culture, history, psychology or 'software' behind the speakers of the language is a whole new world in itself. Getting the 'sound' of the language right is the first step that I take to let me get a peek into the hearts of the people that speak it.Books Books BooksI try to paint my understanding of the languages in this part of the world based on learnings from all over the region. While I've found that trying to find books that that go into detail about the history and linguistics of Thai in Thailand is a futile mission, finding research texts on the topic by Chinese linguists bears much more fruit. The following are a few texts that have helped me pad out my understanding: BibliographyInstitute of Language and Culture for Rural Development - Kam-Tai Institute Central University. (1996). Language and Cultures of the Kam-Tai (Zhuang Dong) Group: A Word List (English Thai Version). Bangkok: Mahidol University. Ramsey, S. (1987). The Languages of China. New Jersey: Princeton. ZiFan)(Zeng曾子凡. (2002). 广州话普通话语词对比研究. Hong Kong: 香港普通话研习社出版. ZiFan, Z. (1993). Colloquial Cantonese and Putonghua Equivalents. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co., Ltd. 主國藩何文匯. (2005). 粵音正讀字彙 (_jyt 'jam ~dzing _duk _dzi _wai). Hong Kong: 香港教育圖書公司. 刘叔新. (2006). 粤语壮傣语问题 (Yueyu ZhuangDaiYu WenTi). Beijing: 商务印书馆. 吴伟雄陈伯辉. (2004). 生活粤语本子趣谈. Hong Kong: 中华书局. 庄初升. (2004). 粤北图话音韵研究 (Yuebei Tuhua Yinyun Yanjiu). Beijing: 中国社会科学. 曾晓渝. (2004). 汉语水域关系论. 北京: 商务印书馆. 李如龙. (2001). 汉语方言的比较研究. Beijing: 商务印书馆. 欧阳觉亚. (1993). 普通话广州话的比较与学习. Beijing: 中国社会科学出版社. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:55:00 +0000 New Features on Stu Jay Raj's 'Behind the Curtain' Language Blog Before you go any further - for people who like to follow this blog, before you read any further, go over to the left hand side of this page and click 'Follow This Blog' under the 'Followers' tab! I've recently been playing around with different ways of manipulating RSS data-feeds - blogs, news-feeds, facebook feeds, picasa and other image feeds and more. There are some great tools out there that let you maniupulate this data. Personal BenefitsThrough using tools such as Google Reader, I can receive live feeds from all the news sites that I like to receive news from, combined with blog updates, facebook updates from friends, forum topics, photo updates and anything else that has an RSS or Atom feed. The interface on both my iPhone and in my regular browser is easy to use, and saves me opening up 20 tabs in my browser when I open it. You can also easily share information with friends by either sending them feed links, or posting other people's feeds to your own blog or personal feed. Benefits for Information 'Creators' and 'Manipulators'For people who create data - which nowadays is almost anyone on the net, RSS feeds are a great way to 'spread the word' a lot faster. For general users, you can make it easy for people to bounce your articles / feeds across their networks, creating a bigger viewer base. Yahoo PipesProgrammers can now create very powerful dynamic sites with relative ease - especially with tools like Yahoo's Pipes. Pipes allows you to manipulate data in amazing ways from all over the web, tailor it to your needs and feed it into your own website. Here's the blurb from Yahoo Pipes' homepage: "Like Unix pipes, simple commands can be combined together to create output that meets your needs:
Networks = SynergyFor Polyglots, Linguists and other assorted Language Lovers I receive hundreds of emails each week from people reading my blog or watching the videos on Youtube through either my blog, youtube directly or through facebook. I find that the majority of these people are much more fascinating than I could ever hope to be, and I would really like to keep regular contact with them to exchange thoughts and learn from their learnings. Blogger Followers WidgetI found a great widget the other week that links my blogger blog into google reader that allows me to keep in contact with people who are following my blog - and allows them to feed posts through to me automatically if they think it would be of interest to me. I can also do the same for them if they choose that option. ... so if you haven't done it yet, what are you waiting for!?? Go over and click the 'Follow This Blog' link on the left hand side already so that we can keep in touch!Spread the Word Via FacebookYou will see this icon - at the end of each of my posts. If you have a facebook account, you can just click on a post from this blog and cross post it straight across to your own facebook profile - where in turn your friends and other people subscribed to you will be able to read it. When I come across great articles, I have started to use this tool personally and have had great feedback.
Since starting this blog, I've been fortunate to meet linguists, polyglots, trainers and everyday people wanting to learn another language from all over the world. I hope that with the use of some of these improvements in the technology available at our fingertips, the speed of learning and the depth of of what we learn will be able to be taken to a new level. Thanks! Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:33:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj เหนือชั้น 1000 Plaek - Thai TV Show - Ep 3 - Taiwan - Theme Restaurants - Sexy Nurses, Flight Attendants to Hello Kitty Languages: Thai, Mandarin Chinese
พาไปชมร้านอาหารแปลกๆ อาทิเช่น ร้านอาหารที่นำเนื้องูมาทำเป็นอาหาร ร้านสไตล์เครื่องบิน ร้านสไตล์โรงพยาบาล ร้านสไตล์ Hello Kitty Direct Link: http://www.manytv.com/videos/10464-_1000_.php In this episode, we're back in Taiwan! Theme restaurants are popping up like mushrooms across the country. Here we take a look at 4 places to dine. The first is Snake Alley - look at snakes and other crawly goodies. The second is the A380 restaurant. This is a theme restaurant where the whole experience - from the check-in, flight attendant hosts / hostesses, food and decor is all done up to make you feel like you're really on board an aeroplane. The next is the DS Hospital restaurant. Here, all the wait staff are dressed up as sexy doctors and nurses. The drinks are served via an intravenous drip like rig and the floor show is ... well, there's no way the Thai cultural ministry would allow it to go to air. Let's just say that the nurses perform a strip show - but they don't strip themselves! That is left to an unwitting couple of members of the crowd. The show finishes up with a bucket of ice tipped down into the patrons underwear cum G-string. Glad I wasn't in the firing line! The final restaurant is the Hello Kitty restaurant. A little to 'pink' for my liking - the franchise concept was great though. Everything... and I mean EVERYTHING was Hello Kitty themed. The burger bread, fries, cakes, frosting on top of drinks, glasses, wait staff, seats, tables, wall hangings, bathrooms ... The food was ... well, it was presented very well. I can imagine such a restaurant doing well in Bangkok in a place like Siam Paragon or Siam Square. Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:57:00 +0000 The Language of Perfect Pitch I received an email in my Youtube box this morning that touched on a topic that I had always meant to post about. I figured this is a better time than ever to write about it. Here's the letter:
Perfect PitchI touched lightly in one of the interviews that I posted on the Thai TV Show 'Joh Jai' on the idea of perfect pitch. For me, every sound – whether it's a musical note, a sound in speech or just a 'bang' of a gun, has not only a colour, but also texture, shape and emotion. I don't know where these things came from. I just remember them always being there. Perhaps it's thanks to my grandfather's advice that I've mentioned in other posts of never allowing "words to limit my thoughts – always think LOUD". That 'LOUD' for me wasn't just loud colours, but it was anything that would stand out in my mind and have an emotional effect on me. A Musical FamilyI come from a very musical family. My mother sings and plays the guitar, my brother the same, my sister sings and plays the piano a bit, I play piano. I have musician cousins, aunts, uncles and extended family too. When I was very young, we would be driving and my mum would make each of us in the car take different parts singing acapella. Feeling harmony – intervals such as major and minor 3rds, 5ths, 4ths, flat 5ths, flat 7ths was something that when I was younger, I assumed everyone could do it naturally. Hearing 'notes' in my mind was another thing that I thought everyone 'just did'. It was only when I was a bit older that I realized that most people had had this ability 'muffled'. 'But I'm Tone Deaf!'When talking about 'perfect pitch' or even teaching people to learn tonal languages, I am frequently confronted with the excuse 'I'm tone deaf'. Although I read in the Wikipedia page on tone deafness that some believe that it could be genetically influenced, I find it very hard to swallow that argument. Tonal Languages and Tone Deafness On the language front, of the billions of people who speak tonal languages such as Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese etc., I am yet to come across a native speaker that doesn't speak with the correct tones (according to standards of whatever dialect that they speak / grew up with). Could it be that only non-tonal language speakers could be genetically tone deaf? I don't think so. I think it comes down more to exposure and active use rather than a genetic displacement. Exposure to Pitch, Tones and a Buffet of 'Sound Stuff'I mentioned earlier that when I was young, because of the musical 'tone' of my family (no pun intended... well maybe a little one), I was fortunate to be exposed to many different concepts in sound. One of the earliest 'songs' that I can remember is the tuning of a guitar:
It was the first 'song' that was played before any other song – e e e e BBBBbbbbbBBBBB e e e e BBBBBB… my mum would be tuning the guitar working from the top down. The 4th interval of the top string 'E' and the next string 'B' would go from good to a dissonance that was like an earthquake in my eardrum, then back to a nice 'buzz'. When the notes 'buzzed' together nicely, I knew that they were in tune. She would then work back down the strings in the same fashion. If there was any suspicion that the notes weren't in tune, she would 'ping' the harmonics to make sure that they were indeed in 'sync'. When there's dissonance between harmonics on a guitar, I think even the least trained ear could notice that something is askew as you can physically feel the air 'wobbling' out of sync ... you can feel the air going 'woob woob woob wooooooobbbbb' in your ear. Songs are 'Pegs' to Represent 'Notes' or FrequenciesHere's an exercise if you're interested in developing perfect pitch.
Over the years, I've built up a menu of songs that to me are the epitome of 'keys' or 'notes'. Some of them include (I've also included the colours that these notes make me feel):
If you are a musician and you know how to play the songs, think of the intervals that make up the song. For example in the song "Bye Bye Blackbird", for me that's a very distinct Yellow down to Orange Major Third start of the melody (A -> F). I actually see in my mind a swirling sandwich of yellow and orange as those first two notes play. In this sense, you get both perfect pitch and relative pitch through the same exercise. It gets to the point that you don't know what came first – the chicken or the egg… or in this case, the song or the key. If I hear a note, I will normally see a colour with it, my hands will know where on the keyboard it would be and other songs that are in the same key start to congregate in my mind around that song like ants to a pile of sugar. You may be wondering why during the above exercise I mentioned not to 'sing the song out loud' yet. That's because I've found that sometimes people hear the song in the right pitch in their imagination, but the ability of actually producing that sound with their vocal chords 1st time needs a bit of work. That's why it's good to just compare your mind's song with the actual song first – check if you are indeed close to the real pitch. When you think of it, it's a miracle that we can actually normally without thinking produce out of thin air a predetermined frequency with our voice. How do we 'know' that a particular tension on our vocal chords will produce a particular frequency. Just thinking about it blows me away. I just accept that there are some things that I can't explain and that we can do it. As you get better, you'll be able sing 'notes to order'. And even microtones – notes between notes. I have a cousin – Kerri Ayling (speaking of musical / business genius, take a look at their site and history at The WAM Communications Group ) that is notorious for her uncanny ability to pick out notes / frequencies with her perfect pitch and tell how many 'cents' they are out from the standard frequencies. Kerry was a great device to have lying around the studio when the recording engineer was trying to fix up pitchy vocals on tracks that had been recorded. The Disadvantage of Perfect PitchThis sometimes causes a little havoc. I was playing in a jam session a few months back where we had to play a standard in some obscure key because of the singer's vocal range. This was one of those songs that I had played a million times before, and although I could have transposed it in my head straight down from Eb to Bb, I was lazy. I used the 'transpose' button and knocked the calibration of the electric piano down a 4th. Something very strange happened. It was like 'Culture Shock' of a musical kind! My mind was telling me of the colours that had to come next because that song was a part of me now (the song was Stellar by Starlight by the way). All of a sudden, I was hearing deep blue where I was supposed to be hearing RED. I was hearing yellow and green flat 5ths where I was supposed to be hearing browny orange ones! My fingers on about 4 occasions during the song tried to recalibrate themselves to play the colours that they were expecting to hear. Can Anyone Develop Perfect Pitch?I believe YES, they can. Just like I've never heard a native speaker of Chinese or Thai speak with incorrect tones, I believe that everyone has an inherent ability to define pitches. For some however, they have had it hidden away from them since childhood. It's something that needs to be fostered back into action. Try the above exercise a few times a day until your strike rate starts to get better. Slowly build up a vocabulary of 'songs' that you can use as reference points for notes, chords and intervals. How Does This Relate to Learning Tonal Languages?I think some of the same principles can be applied. As with being able to pin point specific musical notes, I think that the amount of 'noise' that is crowding out the important variables of sound when we're learning language needs to be filtered out. In language, that 'noise' could be actual ambient 'noise' that distracts us from really listening to what the native speakers of the language are saying. It could be the 'noise' created by the filters of our mother tongues' sound system, subconscious sound and rhythm rules etc. It could also be the 'noise' of our own psyche telling ourselves that 'I'm tone deaf - I can't hear this - I can't do this'. Those sort of negative affirmation can be very destructive to our language learning aspirations. The first thing is to realise what forms of 'NOISE' we have influencing / impeding and interpreting what we here and find a way to at least for the moment, put those noises aside. Work in ProgressI've never sat down like this and tried to work a method out for developing perfect pitch. If this does work for you, please do let me know! Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:31:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj เหนือชั้น 1000 Plaek - Thai TV Show - Ep 1 Taiwan Sexy Betel Nut Girls Languages: Thai, Mandarin Chinese
เหนือชั้นรอบโลก ที่ประเทศไต้หวัน สจวท เจ ราช พาไปพบ สาวๆ แต่งตัวเซ็กซี่แต่ขายหมาก?? Direct URL: http://www.manytv.com/videos/10446-_1000_.phpWe shot this story between Taipei and Tai Chung in Taiwan. There are a few reasons why we chose this story:
Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:20:00 +0000 How to Be a Beauty Queen and Influence People ... Stuart Jay Raj on the Language of Miss Universe Somebody's Gotta Do It …The Miss Universe 2009 pageant has just wrapped up (not without controversy) at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. Another amazing year where I was fortunate to spend a lot of time meeting some wonderful people and rub shoulders with the gorgeous, the glamorous, the influential … and the not so influential (though many in this final category would probably have liked to have thought otherwise), surrounded by egos, hairspray, horrible overpriced American greasy food and two giant manta-rays, not to mention more languages than you could poke a stick at… all the ingredients for the perfect 'gig'! My life started to be fatefully influenced by the Miss Universe pageant back in 2005 as a result of a series of seemingly random events stringing from the Tsunami in Thailand leading up to a chance encounter interviewing Miss Indonesia 2005 (Artika Sari Dewi) in Bangkok for an Indonesian television network. Since then, I've had the honour of working with one of the most amazing bunch of linguistically endowed people on the planet who wait all year for dinner conversations where sex, politics, syntax and the subjunctive can (and more often than not DO) all get rolled up into one sentence! Putting the Odds in Your Favour at Miss UniverseHaving been a qualified Dale Carnegie facilitator in a former life, I realized that the first 9 Dale Carnegie Human Relations principles could well be the key to success at Miss Universe. I see mistakes being made time and time again by contestants and their managers. If you're going to be competing in Miss Universe in the future, it mightn't hurt trying to implement some of the following suggestions. Principle #1 – Don't criticize, condemn or complain.IT'S ALL ABOUT BRANDING!In my eyes, the Miss Universe Competition is not a beauty contest. It's a branding exercise where the right character / image for the Miss Universe brand is selected to represent the organisation for the next year. Think of some of the top brands out there –
Whether you love them or hate them, the statistics (and bottom lines) show that strong brand names help generate higher returns, stability and growth for the organisations that they represent. In May of 2008, Coca-Cola's brand was valued at US$58.2 billion. This four-syllable piece of intellectual property is THE MOST VALUABLE asset that the company owns.
Miss Universe is a powerful brand that is associated with another powerful brand-name – Donald Trump. The person who is crowned 'Miss Universe' for the next year takes that mast-head position for the organization and will be just as important to the success of the Miss Universe Organization as the name, font, design and colours of the Coca Cola logo are for the Coca Cola organization. In saying that, the process of coming down to that one person who is going to represent the brand and ensure that the organization has a future is more than just skin-deep.
Girls … You're on Stage 24/7! The Miss Universe Competition is a Psychological Game of StaminaThere are many physically beautiful women on this planet. I am blessed by living in Bangkok, Thailand where in my humble opinion I think that there is an inordinate ratio of stunningly gorgeous women mixed into the general population. The Miss Universe organisation needs something more than just a pretty face. If I were running the organisation and were to write a list of 6 of the most desirable traits that I would be looking for in Miss Universe, it might look something like this:
During the 3-4 weeks that the girls are living together running up to the final pageant, they are being assessed on how they measure up to the criteria for a successful 'Miss Universe'. The above criteria are my own assumptions – I'm sure Mr. Trump, Paula, Roston and the gang have their own personal wish-lists. Back to The 3 C's …Getting back to the 3 C's, 'Don't Criticize, Condemn or Complain' - Understand that if you do Criticize, Condemn or Complain, it will eventually more likely than not come back to bite you. It's not just a matter of trying to put on your happy face when you're on stage or out in public being watched. The fact is that eyes are on you the whole time. Who's eyes? Your minders, any of the hundreds of MU employees roaming the corridors of the event facility / hotel, hotel staff (house-keeping, restaurant staff, security etc), managers of other contestants that are chomping at the bit to find some mud to sling on the competition (NOTE: some of these people can be very influential in the blogosphere, social networks, print / broadcast media and beyond!), people viewing the video feeds from the TV cameras constantly rolling in the venue. There are literally thousands of eyes on you ALL THE TIME. All it takes is one nose to be put out of joint, one smart remark that was taken the wrong way to blow it for you. Speaking on your mobile phone or checking your Facebook page or email when you're supposed to be paying attention to someone 'important' and you could well have just cost you your position in the top 15 and subsequently any chance of winning the crown. Blogs and Forums could Make You or Break YouBlogs, mobile phones and the organic communication channels that develop as a result of having so many people living in close quarters during the lead-up to the pageant can either work for you or against you. Communication is swift and rumors traverse at lightning speed. What does this mean for you as a contestant? Always be painfully aware of what effect you are having on your environment. It's always better to have a mentor that can be your eyes on yourself rather than assuming (filtering) through your own eyes that everything is rosy. I have seen on many occasions where contestants have finished the pageant and gone back home in a delusional state that they were the bees knees, that they had done everything right and that there was some how some kind of conspiracy against them in the end to keep the crown away from them. Many of these people have been the ones that I've noticed during rehearsals to have been constantly not paying attention, talking on their mobile phones past the breaks and showing other anti-social behavior. Principle #2 – Give honest, sincere appreciation.Spend every day there with a confident attitude, but never let this turn to arrogance. Understand that when it all comes down to it, it's a privilege that you're even there – not your God given right. Look Out for Other People's StrengthsAs a contestant, look for the strengths in all of your peers and other people you come across in the organisation and try and be something that edifies them, builds them up and brings value to who they are. Each time you do this, by default you're bringing value to who you are. Principle #3 – Arouse in the other person an eager want.Everyone has their own agenda. Whether you're a salesperson, CEO, or a housewife, one important key to being successful on this planet is to be able to build a passion in other people about things that you're passionate about. To do this, you need to understand what's important to THEM first! …that means going back to Principle #1 and Principle#2. One example where this can really come in handy is during the interview session. You might have a burning passion to let the world know your views on a certain topic. Before you go doing this though, make sure that you put things into perspective first. Ask yourself:
If you hesitate in answering 'yes' to any of these, I strongly suggest that you suspend your need to share and find something more middle of the road to talk about. Principle #4 – Become genuinely interested in other people.The time you spend there is going to be one of the most amazing networking experiences in your life with people for every inch of the globe and every walk of life imaginable. I highly recommend going in there with the attitude that you are a sponge that's going to absorb as much of every person you meet and every moment that you experience that you can. These people and experiences can't help but have an influence on your life and make you a richer person. While you're there, spend more time learning about other people than you do telling them about yourself! The questions that you pose and interest that you take in other people will already be telling the world a lot about who you are. Principle #5 – SMILEThis is my favourite Dale Carnegie principle. In Bangkok, there is an elevated walkway that spans between Siam BTS Skytrain station and Chidlom Station (with Central World linking in the middle). One of my favourite stress relieving exercises is to walk from one station to the other with my iPhone headphones in my ears – (people think you're listening to music or a funny podcast, but really, you don't need to have anything playing) and smile all the way along your journey. You will be amazed at how many people smile back at you and even go out of their way to say 'hi'. I have met many seemingly 'random' people via this exercise alone. Thailand is often referred to as the 'Land of Smiles' … but I'll let you in on a secret. Out of 12 of the main 'smile' categories in Thai, only a handful of them are positive! People can feel a genuine smile from the heart when they feel it. As a contestant, find something inside of you that will generate a genuine smile and keep that burning all the while you are there. You'll be amazed at what it might reap for you. I understand that as the times and fashions go, it might not be 'hip' to smile when you're walking down the catwalk. I'll leave that to the experts – but as much as my two cents are worth, people with a sour look on their face (off the catwalk) day in day out don't tend to get too far. Principle #6 – Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.Learn people's names and USE THEM. There are normally over 80 contestants in each pageant. It's tough for most people to remember everyone's names, and so you just end up calling each of the girls by her 'country' rather than her name(e.g. "Hey Thailand!", "Can you pass the ketchup please Czech Republic?", "You're standing on my train Venezuela!") . While this is understandable, may I suggest that best practice would probably be to learn people's names and try and avoid calling them by their country. It will help build warmer relationships between all of you and once again, could reap benefits that you never imagined. Knowing Who's WHOOn the topic of knowing names and who people are, I can't stress how important it is to know who exactly the key people are in the organisation. I was once speaking to a contestant one year that didn't know who Donald Trump was! Fatal. Learn about all the key people in the organisation, influential people in the movement, the history of other pageants, relationships between people … basically any intel that you can get. All of this can help you achieve your goal … and avoid sticking your foot in your mouth (or being caught with your pants down!) There are some very key (and cool) people that have made it a fine art of being inconspicuous during everything. Principle #7 – Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.This goes back to Principle# 1, Principle #2 and Principle#3. Let me emphasize once more how important listening is during events and ESPECIALLY DURING THE REHEARSALS. This is the time where people's tempers reach boiling point, voices are raised, egos are shattered and relationships break down. Michael, Lou, Ken and all the gang choreographing and coaching you are some of THE BEST money can buy. Pay attention to every word that comes out of their mouths and more importantly, observe everything that they do. Sometimes, some cultural / language issues might get in the way of everyone comprehending what's being communicated. Nevertheless, resist the urge to get distracted or even worse, start complaining. Getting negative during these times has no upside. Stay attentive, stay positive! Principle #8 – Talk in terms of the other person's interests.I've touched on this throughout this article, but touching on it once more won't hurt! KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE Whether it's a one on one conversation, a press conference, an interview with a panel of judges, or the final 'big' top-5 question, your goal is to understand what drives them and let them be certain that who you are will fit into their agenda. If what comes out of your mouth brings no value to the people you're speaking to, you'd probably be better off putting your soap-box into storage for a while and wait for a more suitable opportunity to come along once the pageant is over. Principle #9 – Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.Don't be fake. When I was training to be a Dale Carnegie instructor, we would have to coach people and make comments about people's performance with the goal of telling them something constructive about themselves that they didn't already know – every time. That means you really have to look into each individual person, observe them, notice their strengths and bring value to them according to what you observe. Just saying "That was good" or "Great!" would result in us being asked to start again and find something meaningful to say. Just making a comment like "Great" without feeling or thought could backfire and leave the person thinking that you're fake and insincere. I've been able to take this skill that was developed in Dale Carnegie and use it in every facet of my life. It's good, it works and you continuously grow as a result of doing it as you're always looking to learn from other people. Building a Sustainable Brand for YourselfWhether you win the crown or not, the experience of going through something like this shouldn't go to waste. In fact, I can think of many instances where people who didn't get the crown ended up better off in the long run than those that did. Just because you were Miss Universe for a year doesn't mean that you're going to be rich and famous for the rest of your life. People get older and good looks fade. You've had the opportunity to be coached by some of the most successful and amazing people in the business. Work out a strategy that will hone yourself into a successful, sustainable 'brand'. When you get back home, continue to build your brand and bring value to other people. For me personally, this mindset has been what has allowed me to live out my dreams every single day – and not have to wait until I'm retired at 60 years old to start 'enjoying' life. As my grandfather used to tell me – "Do what you love doing, and people will pay you to do it". Ain't that the truth! Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:56:00 +0000 Stuart Jay Raj – Subconsciously Embedding Morse Code, Sign Language Alphabet and most Importantly … how to GROOVE! It's a fantastic day in Siam today … why? I'm not quite sure yet, but I'm really enjoying it so far for some reason!! Before you read any further, check out my latest clip that I've just thrown together. It will form the base of this blog entry. Where Jazz, Language and Ciphers MeetPlaying for years in my Jazz Trio – "The ROL Trio" with Dale Lee and Kenro Oshidari, we would often experiment with new ideas for soloing and communication when we played together. Kenro is a master of telling a story on his double bass, and Dale likewise. I used to try and take that 'communication' concept to a new level. I would often incorporate into my piano solos, messages in Morse code. This must have been rumbling in my subconscious a few weeks ago when I dreamed of teaching perfect pitch, relative pitch, how to swing, Morse Code and Sign Language in one big strategic globule! Words were running through my head. I wrote down several versions and after a little thought decided on what you see in the clips for various reasons. Lyrics
Here are some of the concepts that went into the mix when putting this together:
Language / Learning / Mind / NLPSimultaneous Language AcquisitionI'm a strong advocate of Simultaneous Language Acquisition. I've found that any time I learn more than one language at the same time, there are synergies that happen that wouldn't have otherwise occurred. In this clip, I chose two 'candidates' for our lab rats – Morse Code and the American Sign Language (ASL) Finger Spelling Alphabet. They are easy because they have a common link – the Alphabet. I admit that in other languages there are other letters and some of the images that I have used (e.g. Oreos) may not be relevant in some countries / cultures. I always have a problem when trying to make something 'universally applicable', as when you start to get broader with mnemonics, links etc, the 'emotional' potency is sometimes lost that would normally be there from things that have strong emotional value in one's own culture. I would recommend to people who find that some of the words might not sit well with them, to change them. Some examples of this might be the word 'Laboratory' for 'L'. Some people say 'LABratry', some say 'LaBOratory' and then some say (as I've used in the clip) LaBOratry. Some people might have an aversion to embedding 'Yankee Doodle' into your psyche too. That's just personal choice I guess J … I fully understand if you'd like to change it to something else. Humour, Emotion and LearningI've tried to tap into the 'emotional' realm of things on a number of levels here. 120 bpm The first thing that I did intentionally was to choose 120 beats per minute. This rhythm sets our brainwaves into a state ideal for 'learning'. Imagery I've chosen to use a sparse plain white background. This enhances the images and colours used. I put several filters on myself to try and make the picture look a little more surreal. I didn't want to appear as a 'human teacher' in the video. Just a memory aid that dueled with the pictures opposite. You can see a similar intentional use of 'space' in training programmes like the Landmark Forum. Many people either love or hate the forum. I will reserve the right to not express my opinions on their philosophies, but they definitely understand how to use space, colour and repetition to have a subconscious impact. I have tried to choose images that evoke emotions. In some cases I have also tried to choose words that look like the hand-signs. Often these emotions are reinforced by my facial expressions. Some examples are: A Apple Looks like an Apple D Dog's Behind – humourous picture / concept. My facial expression reinforces it and the index finger in the sign is reinforced by the dog's tail caught by peripheral vision in the image of the 'dog's behind' E EGG! – The beat that the word 'egg' comes in on is an off-beat – chosen to represent a 'splatting egg'. The image chosen reinforces it. K Kangaroo – the Sign already looks like a 'K' and I bounce my fingers slightly to trigger the thought of a Kangaroo V Victory 'V' – This is a very powerful image the world over. I've abused THREE meanings of this sign. First – the letter 'V' which is the learning target. I've chosen the words 'Victory V' as the Morse peg, and to reinforce the meaning of 'Peace' to keep re-occurring each time the 'Peace' riff comes up. Y Yankee Doodle – This image is filled with different meanings for different people – depending on what part of the world you're from and what era you're from. I've tried to have a similar expression on my face as Uncle Sam. Z Zebra Crossing. Rather than using a shot of an actually Zebra Crossing, I finally decided on stark graphic black and white stripes as a cue in peripheral vision. Subconscious / Unconscious ProgrammingMy kids were singing the song this morning in the car on the way to school. They were sitting in there when I was knocking the tune out on the piano from the beginning, and so now know all the rhythms and melodies. This morning, I was listening to my daily morse code bulletin and my 4 year old daughter could pick out many of the letters that she heard and referenced the melody and letter that the different letters appeared in my clip. I was very happy – as this was one of my intentions! – To help people to learn without realizing that they're learning. There are many other devices that I use to do this too. From the Spinning Peace Sign with a riff that is actually 'Peace' in Morse code, to flashing text 'Groove' and strong command words with black text on a white screen – "Sing the Words to the Tune" (note use of capitals to stress key words) "Copy my Hand" (not hands plural – subconsciously want to look again to make sure it's right) "And GROOVE" – (Groove in capitals and flashing) These all help access the subconscious and the unconscious. Flicker RatesThere has been extensive research into flicker rates – and how TV actually flashes at a rate that can put us into an altered state. This can be (and no doubt has been)abused by people who manage the medium. It is a fascinating subject though. If you are interested, you might want to start your research here. Not a Word is HeardYou will notice that you don't HEAR me say a word. I mouth the words, but my voice is essentially the music. I want listeners to be able to hear their own voice in their heads… or even better, to be able to link the concepts together with the rhythm etc without hearing ANY voice. This is a great skill to prepare people for simultaneous interpreting. Hearing Sound Blocks rather than Text StringsI've done this in many places. Actually – the whole song! One thing that I hear from experienced teachers of Morse Code is that they struggle to get students to not think of the textual dots and dashes and rather have them starting to hear 'sound blocks'. I would say the same for learning a new language – rather than learning just grammatical structures and spelling, we need to learn to hear the way the meanings are locked into different sound blocks – not just individual words. Some examples of this in the clip are: "Prepare for Transmission" – The international Morse is QRV : --.- .-. ...- "PEACE" :.--. . .- -.-. . (I've intentionally rotated the Peace sign – with the intention that the eyes will follow the bottom 'stokes' in the circle as it spins and take the viewers attention of the text that comes up on the left. It still enters the subconscious, but the main focus is to think of 'Peace' via the symbol accompanied by the organ riff – which is spelling 'Peace'. "LOVE": .-.. --- ...- . "End of Message" -The international Morse is AR: .- .-. MusicTo briefly touch on the music specific aspects of the clip. 120 bpmI already mentioned the use of 120bpm. It's a great thing for a musician to know how to play at a certain bpm on call. 120 is a good standard. Pedal Note (Holding / repetition of one note)Even from the 'Mnidcraft' intro before the main clip, you can hear that I have a 'C' pedal note in the background going. 'C' is a good central note to peg oneself when learning to develop perfect pitch. The whole song is in the Key of C, and I utilize certain intervals at different points within the Ionian and blues scales based on C. The pedal note also helps change brainwave patterns I've also used this concept on certain key letters like 'Queue in a Line' and 'Zebra Crossing'. These work as anchors. The 'Q' also words as a great point for people looking to develop perfect pitch – you know that that is a 'G' – and it's also a 5th interval from the root note C – which to resolve would be a perfect cadence. Beethoven's 5thTwo great techniques for learning to recognize a minor 3rd interval is to hum the first 4 notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony "DAH DAH DAH DAH!!!!!"…. Beethoven's 5th is actually in Cmin. It just so happens that 'V' – is the same rhythm… which is very dramatic and so can easily link in with the concept of "Victory V". It just so happens of course that 'V' is '5' in Roman Numerals... so linking it into Beethoven's Vth is also another reinforcement. Another tune to get this interval is to hum the first 3 notes of the Lullaby song 'LullaBY' – that is also a minor 3rd. What's Next?This clip is actually part of my Mnidcraft programme. In just a couple of minutes, the clip is able to touch on many of the topics that are close to my heart – and really want to be able to share with other people. These are the things that I believe have led me to have such a good relationship with languages. If you'd like to run a programme in your neck of the woods, drop me a line / email. I'd love to see how I can adapt it all to work across different languages and cultures. If you haven't done so already, I've created a Mnidcraft group in Facebook. Go on in and join the group. I will keep you up to date with latest news, materials and events. It also serves as a great meeting point for people who love languages, communication and using their minds! Author : noreply@blogger.com (The Language Guy) Publ.Date : Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:54:00 +0000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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