comrade

I saved this photo some time ago, and now I have no idea where it was that I found it or who the artist is. Does anyone have any idea?

In other news, I am enacting a moratorium on learning new European and Asian languages. I would say learning new languages, period, but I have to learn about 3 for my Advanced Linguistics class this semester. But those are Australian Aboriginal languages, and I really only have to learn the grammar, not much vocabulary.

But the point is that I feel really bad for forgetting important parts of the languages I already "know" (whatever that means). I don't think I've forgotten much Japanese vocabulary, for example, but I've been forgetting characters left and right and I'd be happy if I still remember 200 at this point. Increasingly, more and more French words sneak into my Spanish. My Greek is, well, not that great (it never was spectacular or anything), but I think I can still trudge through the New Testament or a difficult phrase or two in Plato or Aristotle.

But I want to be so much more comfortable in all of those languages before I try to pick up German or something. More importantly, I want to get better at actually conversing with people in these languages (except Ancient Greek... fuck that). Because that's the point. The point isn't to put tick marks on a list, it's to understand people and cultures better. And because I don't believe in translation. As in, I think so-called "translators" are basically con-artists, and that it's literally impossible to accurately translate a sentence with even the tiniest bit of complexity from any language into any other.

In other news, I'm hoping to get a radio show tomorrow on KRRC. Finally. You Portlanders will be in the greatest of luck if I succeed.