So far as Welsh goes... well, let me see, where do I start? Start with my first name, which is Welsh, and no one can seem to pronounce it correctly, so of course being the snarky femme that I am, I had to learn to swear at them politely in Welsh just so they'd be a little more confused.
Then we skip to here: Every five or six years I decide it's time to teach myself a new language. I am pretty much fascinated by them, so... I studied Spanish for 7 years in school, then I studied Swedish, then I took a break for a while, went back to Spanish, then taught myself enough conversational Lakota to do in-jokes with my friends from the Pine Ridge Reservation, and now it's Welsh. Usually a new language coincides with a main character I'm trying to write.
It's my belief that some of the best insights into any culture come from its native language and idiomatic... stuff. Native-language jokes and slang are such a great way to get a feel for the true nature of that culture. For me. And if I have a character who's, say, Lakota Sioux, he's going to have to know that stuff.
[And as an aside to all the Native writers out there: I'm not a wannabe, I don't want to steal anything, I just want to write the characters I want to write. I've already been through this whole wanky argument with some of the best NDN writers out there for years and years and I won't go through it again. I think I can write who I want, and you can laugh at my writing if you so desire just like I can laugh at how you write white people. ]
So sue me, I like to be thorough and I like to research and I like to learn, but I like to do it all at my own pace. I'm my own version of rebel to the core that way. Tell me what to do and I'll leap to do the opposite. Tell me I can't learn something, and I'll learn it until I can converse with the best on it.
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Date: 2004-04-30 04:57 pm (UTC)Can I read your fic?
So far as Welsh goes... well, let me see, where do I start? Start with my first name, which is Welsh, and no one can seem to pronounce it correctly, so of course being the snarky femme that I am, I had to learn to swear at them politely in Welsh just so they'd be a little more confused.
Then we skip to here: Every five or six years I decide it's time to teach myself a new language. I am pretty much fascinated by them, so... I studied Spanish for 7 years in school, then I studied Swedish, then I took a break for a while, went back to Spanish, then taught myself enough conversational Lakota to do in-jokes with my friends from the Pine Ridge Reservation, and now it's Welsh. Usually a new language coincides with a main character I'm trying to write.
It's my belief that some of the best insights into any culture come from its native language and idiomatic... stuff. Native-language jokes and slang are such a great way to get a feel for the true nature of that culture. For me. And if I have a character who's, say, Lakota Sioux, he's going to have to know that stuff.
[And as an aside to all the Native writers out there: I'm not a wannabe, I don't want to steal anything, I just want to write the characters I want to write. I've already been through this whole wanky argument with some of the best NDN writers out there for years and years and I won't go through it again. I think I can write who I want, and you can laugh at my writing if you so desire just like I can laugh at how you write white people. ]
So sue me, I like to be thorough and I like to research and I like to learn, but I like to do it all at my own pace. I'm my own version of rebel to the core that way. Tell me what to do and I'll leap to do the opposite. Tell me I can't learn something, and I'll learn it until I can converse with the best on it.
What's the right term for someone like me?
Oh, yeah.
Insane. :) But in a good way.Driven.