Monthly Archives: August 2012

Vietnamese Vocab Grid

Posted by interopia on

Here’s the link to the document.

When I started learning Vietnamese I found it interesting that every word was only one syllable. Each word is made up of 4 parts: the (optional) initial consonant, the vowel, the (optional) final consonant, and the tone. Each of these 4 elements only has a finite number of possibilities. There are about 27 initial consonants, 43 vowel combinations, 8 final sounds, and 6 tones. This meant that one could construct a “2 dimensional dictionary” of every Vietnamese word. Whereas a normal dictionary is linear, listing all words in alphabetical order, this vocabulary grid would be arranged alphabetically in two ways, by initial consonant in one dimension and by vowel sound in the other dimension. Such an arrangement makes it easy to see the difference between similar-sounding and similarly-spelled words. A student of Vietnamese could practice pronunciation using the chart, because every word in a given column would have the same initial consonant sound, and every word in a given row would have the same vowel sound. The words included in the project are the most essential words for a Vietnamese language student, particularly if living in Vietnam. The chart is fully editable, so feel free to add any other important words you know. Happy studying and good luck!

Ricky Shore Sings the Blues

Posted by interopia on

Alex and Marissa

This is Alex and Marissa, the creators and stars of the YouTube comedy series Ricky Shore Sings the Blues. It’s my favorite show on the Internet so I made this picture for them. Go on over and check out their videos on YouTube or Alex’s blog over at Tumblr. And be on the look out for their upcoming full length movie Sing the Blues!

CMT8 to the Canal at Night

Posted by interopia on

Here’s the first installment in a new series called “Streets of Saigon”, where we will regularly take you on a tour of Ho Chi Minh City…and beyond. Through these videos you’ll be able to experience this crazy little town without actually coming yourself. Of course you’re welcome to visit anytime, too. Be sure to watch in 1080p HD resolution.

The Names of Languages

Posted by interopia on

The names of 13 languages in each of those same 13 languages.
The bold words are the names of the languages in their own language.
Horizontal scrolling enabled.

 

Spanish

Portuguese

Italian

French

German

Russian

Arabic

Japanese

Chinese (Mandarin)

Vietnamese

Korean

Swahili

English

ingles

inglês

inglese

anglais

Änglisch

angliskiy

английский

alengleziah

الإنجليزية

eigo

英語

Yīngyǔ

英语

tiếng
Anh

yeong-eo

영어의

Kiingereza

Spanish

español

espanhol

spagnolo

espagnol

Schpanisch

ispanskiy

испанский

الأسبانية

supeingo

スペイン語

Xībānyá yǔ

西班牙语

tiếng
Tây Ban Nha

seupein-eo

스페인어

Kihispania

Portuguese

portugués

português

portoghese

portugais

Portugiesisch

portugal’skiy

португальский

البرتغالية

porutogarugo

ポルトガル語

Pútáoyá yǔ

葡萄牙语

tiếng
Bồ Đào Nha

poleutugal-eo

포르투갈의

Kireno

Italian

italiano

italiano

italiano

italien

Italiänisch

italianskiy

итальянский

الإيطالي

itariago

イタリア語

Yìdàlì yǔ

意大利语

tiếng
Ý

itallia-eo

이탈리아의

Kiitaliano

French

francés

francês

francese

français

Französisch

frantsuzkiy

французский

فرنسي

furensugo

フランス語

Fǎyǔ

法语

tiếng
Pháp

peulangseueo

프랑스어

Kifaransa

German

alemán

alemão

tedesco

allemand

Deutsch

nemetskiy

немецкий

ألماني

doitsugo

ドイツ語

Déyǔ

德语

tiếng
Đức

dog–il–eo

독일어

Kijerumani

Russian

ruso

russo

russo

russe

Russisch

russkiy

русский

الروسية

roshiago

ロシア語

Èyǔ

俄语

tiếng
Nga

leosia-eo

러시아어

Kirusi

Arabic

árabe

árabe

arabo

arabe

Arabisch

arabskiy

арабский

alarabiah

العربية

arabiago

アラビア語

Ālābó yǔ

阿拉伯语

tiếng
A-rập

alab-eo

아랍어

Kiarabu

Japanese

japonés

japonês

giapponese

japonais

Japanisch

japonskiy

японский

اليابانية

nihongo

日本人

Rìyǔ

日语

tiếng
Nhật

ilbon-eo

일본어

Kijapani

Chinese

(Mandarin)

chino

chinês

cinese

chinois

Chineesisch

kitaiskiy

китайский

شجرة
اليوسفي

chūgokugo

中国語

Zhōng yǔ

中文

tiếng
Trung Quốc

jung-gug-eo

중국어

Kichina

Vietnamese

vietnamita

vietnamita

vietnamita

vietnamien

Vietnamesisch

v’etnamskiy

вьетнамский

الفيتنامية

betonamugo

ベトナム人

Yuènán yǔ

越南语

tiếng
Việt

beteunam-eo

베트남어

Kivietinamu

Korean

coreano

coreano

coreano

coréen

Koreaanisch

koreiskiy

корейский

كوري

kankokugo

韓国語

Cháoxiǎn yǔ

朝鲜语

tiếng
Hàn Quốc

hangug-eo

한국어

Kikorea

Swahili

swahili

suaíli

swahili

swahili

Suaheli

suakhili

суахили

السواحلية

suwahirigo

スワヒリ語

Sī wǎ xī lǐ

斯瓦希里

tiếng
Swahili

seuwahillieo

스와힐리어

Kiswahili

The Polyglot Vocab Project

Posted by interopia on

Did you know there’s really no limit to the number of languages you can learn? The average person can get to a respectable level in a language in about two years of study and practice. That means you could learn 10 languages in 20 years. So that’s what I’m doing. Remember, if you get to 10 languages you can officially call yourself a polyglot!

So far I’ve worked on Spanish, Vietnamese, and a little Japanese. In studying those languages, I found out the two most important things for learning a language: vocabulary and practice. You need words because they are the building blocks of language. You can’t communicate at all if you don’t have them. Especially in the beginning, you need to make an effort to do a little homework and learn as many new words on your own as possible. You need a strong vocabulary foundation so that you can start the other vital part…practicing. With practice everything else (grammar, pronunciation, spelling) will fall into place.

You all know I love lists, so it should be no surprise that I love grids too. What if, I thought, I could make a giant spreadsheet translating the most important words in English into the various languages I wanted to learn? This plan became known as The Polyglot Project. Then I found out there was already a Polyglot Project. So it became the Polyglot Vocab Project.

With the creation of Interopia, it became obvious that crowd-sourcing would be the best way to accomplish this. I’ve already done a lot of the work by creating an approximate list of about 3000 most common words in English. Some words, like about, for instance, will be difficult to translate into other languages, but we will do our best. Other words, like cat, should be pretty straightforward translations. I’ve set up the project for 13 languages besides English: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, and Swahili. I narrowed down the languages to these for population, geographic, cultural, and personal reasons. So, the number of words times the number of languages means about 45000 total words that need to be entered.

I have no idea how much interest people will have in helping me complete the project. Even if just one person helps me, it would be appreciated. Just e-mail the site if you would like editing privileges. I’ll be working on it myself even if no one else helps, so you can tune in to see my progress. Whether it takes a month or twenty years remains to be seen. The Google Docs Spreadsheet is available here.