Earlier this year, I decided to treat myself to a DNA test from a well-known company, which specialises in genetics and family trees as a sort of Christmas present to myself. Honestly, in a way, I was looking for a semi-logical explanation as to why I'm so interested (some might say obsessed) with Northern Europe … Continue reading It’s all genetic
Last month, the world of linguistics lost one of its greats, Zhōu Yǒuguāng (周有光). Zhōu was born Zhōu Yàopíng (周耀平) on the 13th of January 1906, the son of a Qing dynasty official in Chángzhōu, Jiāngsū province in mainland China. He was an economist, having studied at St. John's University in Shànghǎi, where he majored in … Continue reading Mandarin: As easy as ABC
Well hello there! And welcome to another year on Den Språkliga Skatan! For this post, I just wanted to do a little housekeeping - look back on the monumental howling clusterfuck that was 2016 and a look forward to what will be happening for me in 2017. With some languages sprinkled around for good measure, … Continue reading That was the year that was
As those of you who read my previous post will know, I have recently started learning Hungarian at work. This has turned out to be a lot more challenging than I had realised, though not for the reasons you might think - though I'm still struggling with postpositions and definite and indefinite conjugation of verbs. … Continue reading Spurning my mistress(es)
So, last week something unexpected happened. I was at work, minding my own business, and in rather quick succession I received two pieces of news - one good, one bad. The good news was, that my boss had approved a proposal I had sent him, asking if we could be given time during work hours … Continue reading The Hungarian dream
If you haven't been living under a rock for the past month or so, you'll probably be aware of a game called Pokémon Go. I'm not ashamed to say that I've been a fan of Pokémon since I was about ten years old and I got a copy of Pokémon Red to take on holiday … Continue reading Gotta catch ’em all!
When I sat down to write this month's post, I initially wanted to write something about Brexit. I made a couple of attempts but honestly, I have to admit that I just don't have the words - I could write about the feeling of betrayal and disconnection I and many others of my generation feel … Continue reading Scandinavian for beginners, part 2
Disclaimer: This post contains some fairly graphic descriptions of events and sights that some readers may find disturbing. If you think you are likely to be offended or upset by such, my advice would be not to read further. Recently, I went to the south of Poland with family. While we mostly spent our time … Continue reading Industrial-scale evil
The Eurovision Song Contest is like Christmas. It feels like you spend the entire year looking forward it, but before you know it, it's already over. It was a tradition on my old blog to publish a write-up, and go through my top ten songs from this year's contest, and I'd like to continue that … Continue reading Eurovision Song Contest 2016
As any of you who have been reading this blog for the past few months may have noticed, this is my first post in English. There will be more in the future, but as I’m mostly using this blog as an exercise to provide reading material for people and as a place to host discussion … Continue reading Scandinavian for beginners, part 1
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