Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "language-learning"
On Language, Culture and Oneness | The Gentalist & The Sufi Sermon
I wiped out my cultural identity, I wiped out my religious identity, I wiped out my national identity as well as my gender identity. In short, I wiped myself out from my psyche, only then I found a place in each and every heart of this world, only then I became the voice of each and every person on earth.
Some call mom, some amma and some annem,
some call dad, some nana and some babam.
Some call sis, some akka and some ablam,
some call honey, some bangaram and some aşkim.
Words may differ but emotions are the same,
for language builds barriers only if you let it.
See past the words and look into the soul,
find you will an ocean full with jewels humanely lit.
There are those who eagerly learn another language to be one with another culture, then there are those morons who insist on the exclusive glorification of their so-called native language. The world is beautified by the former, whereas the latter only sustain disharmony – the latter only act as a prehistoric impediment to the unification of humankind.
In front of oneness language, faith, culture, all these are mere expendable trivialities.
In becoming one with people, even if you lose your language, along with every last trace of your so-called cultural background, that’s not a loss, but an actual fulfillment of life.
Some call mom, some amma and some annem,
some call dad, some nana and some babam.
Some call sis, some akka and some ablam,
some call honey, some bangaram and some aşkim.
Words may differ but emotions are the same,
for language builds barriers only if you let it.
See past the words and look into the soul,
find you will an ocean full with jewels humanely lit.
There are those who eagerly learn another language to be one with another culture, then there are those morons who insist on the exclusive glorification of their so-called native language. The world is beautified by the former, whereas the latter only sustain disharmony – the latter only act as a prehistoric impediment to the unification of humankind.
In front of oneness language, faith, culture, all these are mere expendable trivialities.
In becoming one with people, even if you lose your language, along with every last trace of your so-called cultural background, that’s not a loss, but an actual fulfillment of life.
Sonnet of Languages | Amantes Assemble
Turkish is the language of love,
Spanish is the language of revolution.
Swedish is the language of resilience,
English is the language of translation.
Portuguese is the language of adventure,
German is the language of discipline.
French is the language of passion,
Italian is the language of cuisine.
With over 7000 languages in the world,
Handful of tongues fall short in a sonnet.
But you can rest assured of one thing,
Every language does something the very best.
Each language is profoundly unique in its own way.
When they come together, they light the human way.
Spanish is the language of revolution.
Swedish is the language of resilience,
English is the language of translation.
Portuguese is the language of adventure,
German is the language of discipline.
French is the language of passion,
Italian is the language of cuisine.
With over 7000 languages in the world,
Handful of tongues fall short in a sonnet.
But you can rest assured of one thing,
Every language does something the very best.
Each language is profoundly unique in its own way.
When they come together, they light the human way.
The Uncultured Poet (A Sonnet) | Amantes Assemble
There is a reason I never translate my works,
You can translate information but not sentiment.
So I carve humanity with not one but many tongues,
Yet due to alphabetical wall, much remain unspoken.
Human and culture must grow together in harmony,
All traditions of stagnation must be thrown away.
If a human can come forward across conditioning,
Why can’t a culture do the same and meet halfway!
I sacrificed my language so I could feel you better,
Now I can’t read the tongue of Tagore I was raised in.
Such an uncultured poet whose culture is the world,
Asks the cultures with borders just one little thing.
Take some lessons from Mustafa Kemal in modernizing.
A culture is enhanced, not diminished, by latinizing.
You can translate information but not sentiment.
So I carve humanity with not one but many tongues,
Yet due to alphabetical wall, much remain unspoken.
Human and culture must grow together in harmony,
All traditions of stagnation must be thrown away.
If a human can come forward across conditioning,
Why can’t a culture do the same and meet halfway!
I sacrificed my language so I could feel you better,
Now I can’t read the tongue of Tagore I was raised in.
Such an uncultured poet whose culture is the world,
Asks the cultures with borders just one little thing.
Take some lessons from Mustafa Kemal in modernizing.
A culture is enhanced, not diminished, by latinizing.
On Shortfalls and Strongholds | Abhijit Naskar | Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets
The biggest requirement of learning is to know your limits of the moment. Let me elaborate with an example. Alongside my mainstream works, I have wanted to create complete works in turkish and spanish for several years. And few years back, with my rather limited experiential understanding of both languages, I even took it upon myself to do so, but I got stuck on the very first page. Why? Because it is one thing to pen occasional gems in another language, and totally different to release an entire work in that language. I was ready at heart, but not at brain. So, instead of writing whole works in these languages, I simply made turkish and spanish a joyful addition to my mainstream work – however the original linguistic and cultural intention kept reflecting in the titles of works, such as Aşkanjali, The Gentalist, Gente Mente Adelante, Mucize Insan and so on. It was not until late 2023 that my brain finally caught up with my heart, and delivered the first complete original turkish and spanish Naskarean works to the world.
Know your strongholds, they’ll take you far. Know your shortfalls, they’ll take you farther. Strongholds help you enhance your predominant capacities, whereas shortfalls help you unfold new possibilities – they help you unfold new vistas of human endeavor.
Know your strongholds, they’ll take you far. Know your shortfalls, they’ll take you farther. Strongholds help you enhance your predominant capacities, whereas shortfalls help you unfold new possibilities – they help you unfold new vistas of human endeavor.
One small step towards a language is one giant leap towards inclusion. Abhijit Naskar | Bulletproof Backbone
How come we can fit the world in our pocket, but not in our heart! Learning a language is one of the tangible endeavors to help eliminate hate from the world. One small step towards a language is one giant leap towards inclusion.
I don’t need to write in all these languages of the world – those who care, will find a way. I write in more than one language because I want to. I want to leave at least something extremely personal for every culture in the world – that is, for as many cultures as I humanly can.
However in the end, the universal spirit of love, light and oneness transcends language and culture, and finds a home in the heart of every conscientious human being – and that’s what counts. It’s the bridge that counts, not the shape it comes in.
I don’t need to write in all these languages of the world – those who care, will find a way. I write in more than one language because I want to. I want to leave at least something extremely personal for every culture in the world – that is, for as many cultures as I humanly can.
However in the end, the universal spirit of love, light and oneness transcends language and culture, and finds a home in the heart of every conscientious human being – and that’s what counts. It’s the bridge that counts, not the shape it comes in.
Native to Neighborhood Earth | Abhijit Naskar | World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets
When I crossed the hundred books mark, I genuinely thought, “I’m done”. But something happened! I don’t know why, but my drive towards other languages became stronger than ever. I felt, now is the time to make parts of my legacy more accessible to other languages. I have never relied on anyone in my life for the realization of my legacy, so it was obvious that I was not gonna wait for somebody else to translate my works for me. Besides, when somebody else translates an original literature into another language, it always remains a translation – it can never become an original literature of that language and culture. This I absolutely did not want.
Sure, other than Turkish and Spanish, I have difficulty with other languages – that is, I am not at all fluent in them. But the point is, once I feel the language and culture in my veins, I can deliver my ideas in any language I want. And I’ve been doing exactly that over the years – absorbing as many cultures and languages into my bloodstream as I can that is. If you tear my heart open, you can find every single culture in the world, caringly placed and nurtured. Some call it gift, I call it intention.
I don’t have any one native culture,
for I am native to every culture.
I am a native to the whole world,
I am a native to neighborhood earth.
I can write in any language, because I want to. And no, I don’t use some fancy AI tools. In fact, I have an uncompromising principle against the use of AI in literature. Heck, I opted not to use something so trivial as an image containing yours truly with a mace, as cover image of “Bulletproof Backbone”, because it collided with the book’s anti-weaponry vision – so you can imagine my stance on fraudulent material generated by AI!
What I do use, while writing in other languages, is old-fashioned dictionary – online dictionary that is, to fix things like spelling, missing vocabulary and other broken bits – which makes me a broken polyglot. And believe you me, broken polyglots are potent polyglots. I may not be fluent in a lot of languages, but after I am long gone, each of these languages and cultures will have something distinctly personal left by me to call their own.
For example, I may not speak fluent German, yet if I write even one page in the German language, it’ll forever become an indelible part of the German culture. It’ll not be some off-key German translation of an original Naskar, rather it’ll be a German literature from the vast Naskarean oeuvre.
Sure, I know my limits in each of these languages, that’s why I keep my sentence structure simple, which I am not compelled to do in Turkish and Spanish. But more than my limits, I am aware of my limitlessness. And once the being transcends the limits of language, culture, border and tradition, puny apparatus like intellect is bound to follow.
Sure, other than Turkish and Spanish, I have difficulty with other languages – that is, I am not at all fluent in them. But the point is, once I feel the language and culture in my veins, I can deliver my ideas in any language I want. And I’ve been doing exactly that over the years – absorbing as many cultures and languages into my bloodstream as I can that is. If you tear my heart open, you can find every single culture in the world, caringly placed and nurtured. Some call it gift, I call it intention.
I don’t have any one native culture,
for I am native to every culture.
I am a native to the whole world,
I am a native to neighborhood earth.
I can write in any language, because I want to. And no, I don’t use some fancy AI tools. In fact, I have an uncompromising principle against the use of AI in literature. Heck, I opted not to use something so trivial as an image containing yours truly with a mace, as cover image of “Bulletproof Backbone”, because it collided with the book’s anti-weaponry vision – so you can imagine my stance on fraudulent material generated by AI!
What I do use, while writing in other languages, is old-fashioned dictionary – online dictionary that is, to fix things like spelling, missing vocabulary and other broken bits – which makes me a broken polyglot. And believe you me, broken polyglots are potent polyglots. I may not be fluent in a lot of languages, but after I am long gone, each of these languages and cultures will have something distinctly personal left by me to call their own.
For example, I may not speak fluent German, yet if I write even one page in the German language, it’ll forever become an indelible part of the German culture. It’ll not be some off-key German translation of an original Naskar, rather it’ll be a German literature from the vast Naskarean oeuvre.
Sure, I know my limits in each of these languages, that’s why I keep my sentence structure simple, which I am not compelled to do in Turkish and Spanish. But more than my limits, I am aware of my limitlessness. And once the being transcends the limits of language, culture, border and tradition, puny apparatus like intellect is bound to follow.
The Drunken Polyglot (Sonnet 2300) – Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
I never hankered for booze or drugs,
you know why – because I’m already drunk,
with the most hard-hitting, brain-altering
contraband in history – I’m ever consumed
with languages and cultures.
Latin Passion, Turkish Woundlight,
Nordic Thunder, Celtic Wonder, Afro Grit,
American Ambition, Arabian Adamance,
Chinese Ingenuity, Indian Nonduality –
like rivers running eager to meet in sea,
cultures converged to bring me to life.
I am vast beyond the spell of tribe,
I am the ruin of all resurging reich.
Call it Reich, Empire or Uncle Sam –
Zionist State or Hindu Rashtra –
Animal Kingdoms are found everywhere, still,
reason is to reichs what phenyl is to floor.
Language is Highway to A Culture (Diary of A Polyglot Neuroscientist, S.2392) – Abhijit Naskar, Kral Fakir: When Calls The Kainat
Languages are not ornaments,
languages are organs,
channeling spirit from the heart.
Language is highway to a culture,
language requires a vessel, not translator.
Soon earbuds will feature instant translation,
which will render crosscultural conversation seamless,
but at the same time, lifeless, hollow and cold.
Until we develop the brain technology
to communicate meaning telepathically
without talking, no amount of translation
can carry the warmth, nuances and
sentiment of a lived language.
As added perk, speaking more than one language
delays age-related cognitive decline.
Therefore no matter how you look at it,
one broken second language is far more
valuable than all the mass-produced subtitles.
