viktoro

2022-06-18

JAPANESE SCIENTIST 🍱

Some Anglo-Saxons and Chinese have commented that I'm "like a Japanese scientist." I recently have declared that I'm a "Science-oriented Animist-Buddhist," and such essentially comprises a "Japanese scientist." If you watched anime and read manga, you would know that these productions engender this mindset.

2022-06-14

YET INCOMPLETE AS A PEOPLE

A couple of Hispanics have said, "No es un pueblo" (It's not a people). I'm guessing that they are referring to Filipinos. As Filipinos, our culture seems incomplete. Our daily language is replete with foreign-sounding fad-sounding English words. We don't have vast literature, as do the Indonesians. Our crutch is the English language. Regionally, there are many local languages, like a hodgepodge. Many Filipinos who talk in a mixed manner are fluent in neither good Tagalog nor good English. Our culture and cuisine are an ambiguous blending of Malay, Spanish, Chinese, and American influences, all jumbled up. Sometimes, I say to myself, "I'm from Firipin!"—the uchronic or alternative-universe Philippines in which the Japanese would have continued their rich colonization.

(I often think that with the Filipino population now well over 100 million, we should be more ambitious and think more about things like space. Many of us Filipinos think that we are "from just a little country.")

2022-01-21

WHIRLIGIG

I interest myself in many languages as academic liberating tools or vehicles. Languages are like kaleidoscopes and windows to other worlds. I am a syncretic Animist-Buddhist, a metamodernist. My favourite sports include siesta, walking leisurely, and wading in shallow water. My favourite ice cream flavours are Tiger Tail, Japanese Black Sesame, Italian Spumoni, Mint, and Philippine Purple Yam. My favourite English words include 'bog', 'whirligig', 'tumbleweed', 'serendipity', 'steampunk', 'jelly', 'storm', 'ambiance', 'algorithm', 'logogram', 'gazebo', and 'thistle'. There are languages that I do not list here because they are politically sensitive or because I have listed them in other projects, as I do have alternative lists elsewhere.

Languages

Tagalog ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I mainly now use the dialect of Metro Manila, but am influenced by my childhood vacations in Ibaan, there being the Batangueño provincial dialect. The Philippines is my fatherland. I am more or less a Eurodont-Sinodont-Sundadont hybrid.

Esperanto ⭐⭐⭐⭐

On Lulu Island, I first encountered Esperanto as a teenager in the 1980s, but I started learning it more seriously since 1997, in Vancouver, BC. I link Esperanto to my vampiric and castle fantasies.

Spanish ⭐⭐⭐

I have Spanish ancestry. I have visited both Mexico and Spain. My accent is of Latin America, more Mexican, but I can imitate an Argentine or European accent. I prefer reading speculative fiction, sometimes aloud, as if an oratory. I have little practice writing and speaking with a person, but more listening, via videos. I first learned Spanish on my own as a teenager, then I took a course in university.

Interlingua ⭐⭐⭐

I think that Interlingua needs more exposure. It could be a great tool for science and literature. Its classical spellings compliment terminology in science.

Chavacano ⭐⭐⭐

It is too bad that Chavacano, a Spanish-based creole, did not become the official Philippine language, as Tok Pisin became an official language in Papua New Guinea. Chavacano obliquely satisfies my fantasy about the Caribbean with its creoles.

Portuguese ⭐⭐⭐

I really cherish my Carioca accent, that of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. I have enjoyed visiting picturesque Lisbon in Portugal. I enjoy reading speculative fiction in Portuguese, sometimes aloud, as if an oratory. I have little practice in writing. I have no practice speaking with a person. I can understand some whilst listening to a video. According to my family tree, I have Portuguese ancestry.

Japanese ⭐⭐⭐

I learned a bit of Nippongo on my own as a teenager on Lulu Island. I took a course in university. I have lived in Nippon for some time. I really cherish and admire Japanese culture. I adore watching anime and reading speculative fiction in Japanese. I know about Japanese aesthetics. I acquaint myself with the Shintō-Buddhist spirituality.

Latin ⭐⭐⭐

Some Latin knowledge ameliorates my other interests in astronomy and biology, as geographical features' names on moons and planets, as well as zoological and botanical nomenclature, frequently use Latin. In any case, I intuit that my family has links to Ancient Romans. My accent is Classical. I know the differences with the Vulgar accent. Latinate European countries that I have visited are Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and the Vatican City State. Because of some shared vocabulary and grammar, I can, at varying levels, read multiple Latin-derived languages.

Lojban ⭐⭐⭐

I rate myself higher than just two stars in this science-fiction language because I personally have contributed new terms to its public dictionary, despite that I myself need to learn more vocabulary, although I know already many terms to create my sentences. I talk to animals, like cats, rabbits, and crows, in my neighbourhood in Lojban. I link this language to anything lavender, violet, or purple.

French ⭐⭐⭐

I have visited France thrice, but had only a stopover in Montréal in Québec. I enjoy the fluidity of the language, and I think that it is not like English. I first encountered it in Grade 5 on Lulu Island. I took it in high school and college. French has much prestige internationally. I am lucky to know it, because it is a difficult language. I like to read speculative fiction, sometimes aloud, as if an oratory, and watch television, all in French.

Italian ⭐⭐⭐

I have visited Italy. I really like Venice. I note that Italian seems more difficult than Spanish. "Syntactic gemination" is really tricky. I would like to read more speculative fiction in Italian. I follow interesting Italian videos on Social Media.

Klingon ⭐

When the dictionary and grammar of this science-fiction language came out in the 1980s and 1990s, I was ecstatic. I thought that it was the most bizarre language that I had yet encountered.

Nahuatl ⭐

Since university, my imagination of Ancient Mexico via Classical Nahuatl has gone wild. Because Mexico was the "babysitter" of the Philippines during the Spanish Empire, some Filipinos have Amerindian ancestry.

Yucatec Maya ⭐

My vacation in the Cancún area and Chichén Itzá of Mexico triggered my fantasy about ancient Mayan civilization. I link my knowledge of ancient Maya glyphs to Nipponic and Sinitic cultures.

Indonesian ⭐

I interest myself in comparing the logistics of Indonesian in Indonesia to those of my Tagalog in the Philippines. I want to read research papers and speculative fiction in Indonesian.

Balinese ⭐

I have visited the island of Bali in Indonesia. Because of its unique Hindu culture amidst the Indonesian "Muslim People Ocean," I want to learn more about the language Balinese. Bali is a remnant of the great Hindu-Buddhist waves through Island South-East Asia during ancient times.

Korean ⭐

The Korean Hangeul writing intrigues me. I know most of it, the pronunciation. I have not had much Korean food, but I have a craving. I have visited eye-opening South Korea.

Quechua ⭐

I want to know more about this indigenous language in the Andes and its link with the ancient Inca Empire.

Guarani ⭐

I want to know more about this widely spoken indigenous language in South America.

Hebrew ⭐

I know that I have Jewish ancestry. Knowing at least the Hebrew alphabet and how to pronounce words is my link to family history. I have never visited Israel, but have visited its neighbour Egypt to see the Great Pyramids and other ancient sites.

Greek ⭐

I know that I have Greek ancestry. Knowing at least the Greek alphabet and how to pronounce words is my link to family history. I have enjoyed touring the Greek mainland and cruising through the islands, whose architectures, to me, seem eerily non-European.

Viktor Nonong Medrano