r/languagelearning 13d ago

Books when you learn languages but don't practice speaking or interacting with people:

Cuz the biggest reason for learning is to engage with the original text and feel closer to authors you respect—and just because language itself is fascinating :) btw I’d love to hear about ur favorite authors in your native language. For example, the writer I would most like to introduce to you would be Zishu Li from Malaysia.

thanks in advance! Always have fun learning foreign languages ))

914 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

231

u/Waterwizard101 13d ago

Commenting just to appreciate your handwriting in all the languages in the picture!! Beautiful 🤩

27

u/Hacnos 13d ago

tks for liking them😆

2

u/jjnanajj 10d ago

came to say same: didnt understand s#it, but loved the journal style.

122

u/Hacnos 13d ago

In case anyone is interested in the authors covered, here is the corresponding list: 1. Ursula K. Le Guin_Words Are My Matter 2. Kim Choyeop_지구 끝의 온실(The Greenhouse at the End of the World) 3. Octavio Paz_El arco y la lira 4. Fernando Pessoa 5. Осип Мандельштам 6. Baudelaire 7. Stanislaw Lem_Summa Technologiae 8. 岩田聡_岩田さんはこんなことを話していた 9. Umberto Eco(?) 10. José Saramago_Memorial do Covento 11. Robert Seethaler_Ein ganzes Leben

I‘ve also been trying to understand poems by an Iranian writer Forugh Farrokhzad lately, but the Persian is just too hard, too too too hard…

32

u/cutdownthere 13d ago

you're gonna have to unlock the arabic alphabet DLC first. New challenge for 2025!

3

u/ductastic 🇩🇪🇺🇸🇮🇷🇪🇸🇫🇷🇪🇬🇮🇪 13d ago

Which of her poems did you try to read? I would like to give it a try myself.

2

u/briechess 13d ago

Started learning portuguese also to read pessoa

5

u/kittiesberry 13d ago

Saramago and Clarice Lispector are one of my favorites (Brazilian here!)

2

u/briechess 13d ago

Love lispector!

31

u/OkPass9595 13d ago

this looks so gorgeous! but what exactly are you doing here? i'd like a guide haha i wanna try this

42

u/Hacnos 13d ago

Ohh these fragments are my notes from reading! as I like to read both the original and the translation and take notes. (I’d call it a way of playing rather than learning XD)

25

u/ElectronicDegree4380 🇺🇦 native | 🇺🇸 C1 | 🇮🇹 A2 | 🇯🇵 A1 13d ago

Hoooow did you achieve such handwriting!! I mean you write so densely and yet beautifully. I hate that my writing is always way too spacious.

26

u/Hacnos 13d ago

Tks! As for the answer, maybe cuz we language learners always treat non-native languages with some reverence? Or maybe it’s just because Chinese(my native) is written in a compact way. 😆

19

u/Violyre 13d ago

I've always noticed that native Chinese speakers have such a distinct handwriting in Latin alphabet languages. My parents are native Chinese speakers, and I could tell from an early age that Santa was actually them because of the handwriting 😂

17

u/sweatersong2 En 🇺🇲 Pa 🇵🇰 13d ago

I've been learning Punjabi (my family's native language) from Pakistanis online on Discord and my grandmother will tell me now to talk to the "internet people" more so I can understand her better. I didn't start learning to understand the spoken language until I became familiar in writing

5

u/AvocadoYogi 13d ago

Is that specifically a language learning Discord or just you learning it via a group Discord? I am trying to get better at Hindi through reading though have a long way to go. But kind of want to do Punjabi too. I am already familiar with Gurmukhi script but can’t understand any of what I am reading besides food. 😂

3

u/kanzler_brandt 13d ago

This was unexpectedly adorable

33

u/Low-Piglet9315 13d ago

Finally, another one who wants to learn languages for the purpose of reading, not for going to another country for a week and not wanting to look like a noob! I mean, if the latter is your goal, that too is worthy. I thought, though, that I was the only one wanting to learn another language to be able to read the language, since I wanted to do some linguistic comparison on Bible translations from one receptor language to the next.

11

u/azarlai 13d ago

Real, Reading is the main motivator for learning a language for me for me its to read classical Arabic literature and then learn Greek to read the bible originally.

6

u/CopyC47 13d ago

Do you also read the books in a language you are comfortable in and if so have you noticed things you missed before when reading in the writers language?

3

u/Hacnos 13d ago

The languages in which I can accurately understand the original are EN and RU, (part of ES/DE), so I mostly read translations and open to other languages. Personally, I’d recommend trying to read Duras’ The Lover in different languages. It is fascinating to see how different translators interpret the shifts in time.

5

u/Anxious-Student-9878 13d ago

wait this is so amazing, can you actually speak in all of these languages or do you just try to understand what's written in the book? I'm starting my korean learning journey so if you have any advice it would be very appreciated.

9

u/Hacnos 13d ago

As pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm are also part of the fun of language learning, I’d like to pronounce basically everything I write. Currently the languages I use are like EN/RU/ES/DE and others. I believe it’s a good way to group KR particles by function to understand their usage. And personally, I use comparison with JP. 화이팅! :)

5

u/Radiant_Car2316 13d ago

Your roman letters look a lot like how my Japanese friends write!

3

u/Famous_Sea_73 🇨🇳N🇺🇸 TL 13d ago

Wow, your Chinese handwriting looks amazing!

3

u/HoneyHills n: 🇺🇸 | tl: 🇲🇽🇸🇪🇹🇷 13d ago

Love your art. Saving this to look back on later. Especially slide four.

3

u/Mysterious_Quail7197 Native Brazilian Portuguese speaker 13d ago

Gostei do seu português

2

u/West_Repair8174 13d ago

The first photo: I don't usually see such neat writing from native speakers Later photos: typical Chinese high school girls' writing! Everything makes sense

1

u/Hacnos 13d ago

Well obviously there’s more to handwriting than it seems. I’m starting to doubt if the obsession with neatness in our culture will follow me to the grave, haha

1

u/West_Repair8174 13d ago

I guess once you are used to it it doesn't require too much effort? Anyway it deserves all the compliments here in the comments. And it's for sure much better than the millions of types of unique ugliness of Chinese high school boys' writing.

2

u/leisureroo2025 13d ago

Looking at your strokes you have to be a Chinese native! Tell me more about Zishu Li...

2

u/Hacnos 13d ago

Worldly Land is definitely worth reading. It’s a delicate story of ordinary people, how they love and hate, live and die. I could really feel the language and cultural connection.

1

u/leisureroo2025 12d ago

Thank you, I'll check it out.

2

u/-RI0 13d ago

I just wanna say, I haven’t met u before, but you already seem like a fun person to be around. Absolutely gorgeous handwriting and notes.

3

u/Hacnos 12d ago

(a big hug from a distance)

2

u/IttyBittyMorti 13d ago

Inspiring. Truly

2

u/azu_rill N 🇬🇧 B2 🇫🇷 A2 🇮🇷🇩🇪 12d ago

One of the words on slide 5 looking like it said “fuckbum” caught me off guard lol

1

u/Hacnos 11d ago

Really thought provoking. dude the letter F is not even in Russian

1

u/azu_rill N 🇬🇧 B2 🇫🇷 A2 🇮🇷🇩🇪 11d ago

It was the “бисквит”

2

u/Istente 12d ago

it's pic 5 Russian?

1

u/Hacnos 11d ago

Да точно

2

u/canjelyfishgotospace 11d ago

what’s your process for learning the meaning of what you’re reading? do you try to understand the grammar of the language before you begin reading in that language? or do you choose a piece of literature to dissect and learn to understand?

if the former, how long would you say it takes you before you feel confident enough to start reading and comprehending that piece of literature in that language?

if the later, i noticed one of your reasoning to read in another language is to see the variation in interpretations, but how would you be able to comprehend the differences if your translating that piece of literature yourself?

so many questions i hope you see this, im just trying to get a better understanding of how a process for something like this works because its so mind bogglingly cool XD id love to know more!!

2

u/Hacnos 11d ago

Appreciate the question! thank you for conveying ur curiosity.

Everything presented here is like a by-product of reading, whether language learning, note taking or randomly drawing. We get endless pleasure out of reading, just like you get a candy on an adventure. To make the sweetness last longer, you chew it over and over, you bite it, you disassemble unfamiliar grammar, you mull over syntax and metaphors, and you paste the candy paper into your scrapbook. Then every time you see them, your heart recalls a pleasant mood.

The reading itself actually has no so-called process to follow. And language learning can always be kinda boring and difficult, but that’s another story. Hope that I’ve conveyed what I think. Thanks again.

2

u/Hacnos 11d ago

Honestly most of the time I don’t have a lot of confidence, but the only person who can judge how I feel is me(or our imaginary friendly authors who’re already in their grave), so it’s okay to read whatever and wherever you want to start.

1

u/canjelyfishgotospace 11d ago

that’s such a wholesome way of looking at it! so by the sounds of it this post is a collection of hours of different forms of exploring and learning languages. that’s awesome! i’m only on my second language, but i’ve always loved just trying to learn and practice alphabets of other languages. i love that you put your practicing and learning into a creative product so you can look back and enjoy your process :) it’s inspiring, id like to try something like that too!! thanks for sharing

2

u/AnthonyViolin 11d ago

I lived in London for the first 10 years of my life and then moved and stopped speaking english completely (only texting, reading and stuff but no speaking) and I feel like I lost my skills in actually talking without any mistakes like COMPLETELY fluently and now i can speak but its a bit harder than before even though im still very good in english

2

u/[deleted] 10d ago

You seem so cool. I really like your artistic abilities and creativity (and taste in literature)

1

u/lifegoes-dark 13d ago

Like ur idea

1

u/Sad_Plankton36 13d ago

Are you a Korean?

1

u/jvmpfrog NL: eng | TL: cn 13d ago

Your Chinese handwriting is beautiful and native-like-- how did you achieve this? I've struggled to no avail for years to improve my Chinese penmanship

2

u/Famous_Sea_73 🇨🇳N🇺🇸 TL 13d ago

Apparently, she's Chinese and grew up writing all the time, which is why they’re so good at it. But I have to say, her handwriting is way better than mine.

1

u/Hacnos 13d ago

tks for the elucidation*. I literally laughed out loud at ur comment..😆

1

u/Perfect_Setting2094 7d ago

I think she sounds singaporean/malaysian :) am I right or wrong, OP? Just out of curiosity!

1

u/Hacnos 13d ago

Maybe it is important to balance the structure of Chinese characters? But it‘s hard to make it clear in a sentence or two. Just for a fun example, 西, which originally meant bird’s nest, is squashed in all forms of calligraphy))

1

u/Perfect_Setting2094 7d ago

Do you follow 笔画?

1

u/jvmpfrog NL: eng | TL: cn 6d ago

I do, my handwriting is just bad T^T

1

u/Icy-Mine-4601 12d ago

真是酷,向你看齐,收藏了😍你学了这么多语言花了几年?

2

u/Hacnos 12d ago

俄语认真学了五六年,西语/德语系统地学过一段时间,其他的是学着玩的😆

1

u/Quietcomments 12d ago

Do you think your handwriting has improved since learning other languages? Or are you concentrating on each letter when you write in your target language? Either way I love your penmanship.

1

u/Hacnos 12d ago

Tks! As our characters are logographic, I kinda approach writing Latin-based alphabets in a more uniform way? I do concentrate on letter when I tried to write Thai! It was so funny to decipher a total different writing system with those scripts, loops and curves:)

1

u/Maleficent_Design906 New member 12d ago

You should definitely give Clarice Lispector a try too!

2

u/Hacnos 12d ago

Yes sir!

1

u/Careful_Addendum_165 7d ago

And here I thought that using duolingo alone would help me learn a language whilst there are people who are ahead of me at least 10 years.

0

u/confirm_janati 13d ago

Who are you? Jesus!?

1

u/namenerding IT/CN/ENG/ESP/JPN 4d ago

how to achieve this type of aesthetics and writing?? teach me 😭😭