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[ S a v i o r ] Vice Captain
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 Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Basic Learning building. (see school layout thread for details)
Environment: A square room decorated with flags of various countries and posters in different languages. Computers are assigned in rows along tables. Posted near the entrance are various extra credit projects based on the decorations in the room.
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:32 am
Related quests
Legend of the languages
There is a legend in the Torah about a tower called Babel; according to the story, God punished humans by giving them different languages so that they would not be able to build a tower to the heavens.
This does not mean, of course, that all languages were created out of the dust…the Tower of Babel is simply a metaphorical representation of something we had no explanation for.
In your own words, select two languages, either two Human languages(i.e. Spanish and English), two Ancient languages(i.e. Elven and Angelic), or one human and Ancient Language (i.e. Angelic and Latin) and try to find similarities and differences between the two. How do you suppose those differences arose? Be specific.
Credits Earned: 3
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[ S a v i o r ] Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:54 pm
Rylenn McGreggors Rylenn looked around at the room and blinked. Was he.. even in the right room? He sat down and looked at a computer. He made a face then moved to the far back of the room in the farthest corner. He pretty much hid himself from the world with his hair down and his nice clothes on. He looked like a completely different, sulkier person. It was time to get down to work and he had a lot of it to do.
He turned the computer on and plugged in his headphones. He began working silently, occassionally drumming his feet on the floor. Chrystali RuiZhi was already seated, glancing up at the sound of someone else coming in. He had to do a double take to see who it was, but he would know that stance and face making anywhere; he was, however, surprised to see Rylenn without Weiyuan. As the older boy gave the room a once over and sat in the back, RuiZhi sighed, collecting his things. He glanced around and moved to the last row, putting his papers down at the seat next to Rylenn.
RuiZhi was dressed in a soft grey rayon jacket, far different than his normal full-length robes. His hair was loosely braided and hung over his shoulder, his head unadorned by his traditional cap. He sat down, crossing his feet under the chair, looking over to Rylenn. "Is it okay if I sit here?" Rylenn McGreggors Rylenn blushed when he looked up at the other. "O-of course, RuiZhi.." He moved his stuff around a bit so the other wouldn't trample his things. "H-how have you been?" His head tilted some and he winced at his stomach when he breathed in too much. Ow.
His hand ran through his unkempt hair. He looked like he hadn't had much sleep. (Which he hadn't.. too busy worrying.) There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked as if he hadn't eaten too terribly much. He had several things on his mind.. including the impending date ahead.. Chrystali RuiZhi looked carefully at Rylenn, almost with scrutiny. His lips curled into a frown, reaching over to start his computer, using it as a guise to touch Rylenn's hand as he moved things. The boy closed his eyes momentarily, then looked sternly at the older one. "You're not well, are you." There was no question, no hint that he could be persuaded otherwise; it was a statement. He'd had his suspicion that something was wrong, but he was too blinded by his own immature emotions to think about it. Now that his wild-haired friend was next to him, it was blatantly obvious. He was going to kick Weiyuan for not noticing.
The boy scooted his chair a little closer to Rylenn's, picking up where he left off on the computer screen, but still talking quietly. "I'd like to talk with you when class is over. Let's get through this." Rylenn McGreggors Rylenn nodded slowly. He wasn't about to argue. "Have you worked with a computer before?" He didn't mind the other scooting closer. He, himself, even scooted closer. "I'm not terribly good with them.. but I guess I can get by." He was attempting to make small talk..
He touched the screen and it came up. "What to learn what to learn..." He paused and eyed RuiZhi. "I should study Chinese.. so I won't be so lost when you two talk." He smiled a bit. Chrystali "A few times. They're not that hard to learn." RuiZhi glanced over at Rylenn's screen, smiling a little before looking at his own. "Oh, that would be interesting. We wouldn't be able to talk about you so openly anymore." He said it quite serious, although his eyes slid side-long to look at Rylenn with a barely repressed smile. RuiZhi laughed a little, then nodded enthusiastically, "I think you should. Wei and I can help you. Or...I can help you," he ammended, thinking that the two probably would not be studying when together.
Clearing his throat a little, RuiZhi looked at his list with a determined brow, the images of the flags swimming in his eyes. Given his choice of profession, the best language for him would be... "I'll try Latin," he said out loud, feeling a pit of fear and excitement in his stomach. "Since most of the words doctors use are from Latin roots, I may as well understand it." RuiZhi had considered learning English formally, but between his friends and family, he was learning it at a natural and comfortable speed, improving every day. Rylenn McGreggors He smiled gently. "You BOTH can help me." He paused for a moment before grabbing ahold of the other and snuggling him. He held RuiZhi close for a moment before sliding away.
"Sorry.. kept it in too long." He grinned mischeviously. "I've heard it's hard.." He tapped the screen and began working. He made faces occassionally. "I've never been really good at language. The only languages I could of considered studied is ghetto and drug talk.. but you need to know that to get by in the bigger cities..." Chrystali RuiZhi allowed himself to be manhandled by Rylenn; truly, he was the only one that the young boy would let be so close. He gave the older boy an adoring squeeze before he slid away, smiling lightly. "No need to be sorry. It was needed." He chuckled, turning to his screen again and selecting Latin. The boy was somewhat surprised as his screen started to show him the history of Latin and its influence on language today; this wasn't a class to learn a language, but to learn about languages. The school was better than he thought!
His brown eyes skimmed over the history of his chosen language, arranging his papers to take notes. "Ghetto and drug talk?" he repeated, looking over to the red-head. "Is that some sort of English?" It was times like these when he realized how little English he really did know. 'Ghetto' and 'drug talk' were new; he knew of drugs, but was talk different? And why would anyone have a language for prescriptions? Rylenn McGreggors Rylenn blinked as his did the same. "Hmm.. this.. is... different..." He looked at RuiZhi and grinned sheepishly. "Yes.. er.. Ghetto is basically English if it was gutted, raped, and slurred. And drug talk.. the illegal kind.. and how you get some and that sort of thing.." He sighed, rememberi- NO! Stop that. You're here to learn.
He looked back at the screen. "So.. what have you got planned today?" Chrystali RuiZhi was fascinated by the course. It wasn't at all what he'd been expecting. No...it was better! He continued to write down notes in neat Chinese, listening as Rylenn talked about what was apparently some sort of different dialect in English. "That sounds...difficult," he commented, pausing to glance over as Rylenn sighed. "Difficult and not good?"
Plans! RuiZhi gave a little start before continuing to write his notes, pausing to scroll the screen down every so often. "Weiyuan is finally going to give me a martial arts lesson," he answered, starting to grin. He was looking forward to it. He's show Professor Larine...he'd kick butt! "After that, probably just healing my sore body and...taking more notes." He didn't want to talk about Dante's books, just in case. The boy chuckled, almost merrily, anticipating the beating that was sure to come. Rylenn McGreggors "Oh really? That sounds interesting.." He worked on his notes. It looked like it was written in some strange language. Sadly not, though. Rylenn had very poor handwriting. VERY poor. He leaned back some and looked at RuiZhi. "If you two want me to, I'll make dinner tonight.. and I'll give you both doggy bags to take home with you." He looked at the screen. "Oh crap...." He backed up the program a bit and leaned over it, concentrating. Dates.. wen't good with this poor soul. He didn't do well with them. "Dates.. had to be dates..." He scribbled some Chinese characters before leaning back and continuing his talk. "What would you like?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:02 pm
RuiZhi was careful to note the other languages that had the closest affiliations wth Latin, making a note to study them next. He'd get around to all of the languages, but for now, these were his primary interests.
"Mm?" he murmured out loud, pausing in his energized note taking. "Why don't you surprise us? I trust you and I'm sure Wei does too." RuiZhi figured if Rylenn could make fish taste good, there wasn't anything he wasn't unwilling to try by the troubled cook. "I'm sure we'll both be quite hungry after--this is going to be interesting when it's done," his voice fell into a mumble as he read his screen, touching it to scroll through the contents. His mind was already connecting the dots of information in his head, making sense out of the languages and how they all tied together. Unfortunately, he was having a hard time balancing his studies, martial arts and cooking all in one conversation.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:18 pm
Rylenn quieted as well, jotting down notes before heading to another language.. he chose... well.. might as go for the gold. He drilled his feet once... twice... three times. He mumbled a bit before sighing. He laid his head down, pausing the program. It was becoming too much information too fast. His brain was going to overheat and melt. He was sure of it.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:22 pm
RuiZhi has pratically written a small novel in 'notes.' He was halfway into the second subject when he saw Rylenn move out of the corner of his eye, pulling him out of his tunnel vision and making him remember where he was. The boy glanced wearily at the clock - it hadn't been that long - before removing his glasses, absently rubbing his eyebrows. "Don't over do it," he said to Rylenn and himself, "we've got all the time in the world to make sure we do this right." RuiZhi was going to need the time; for whatever reason, he had decided to go onto the biblical languages after Latin. His brain wasn't going to overheat, but his eyes were in the running.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:33 pm
Rylenn looked at the other. "You should slow down too. Your eyes are begging for it." He opened his bag and offered a bag of cookies. "Small break?" He grinned sheepishly.
He shook the bag, as if it were inticing. "They're suuggarr..."
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:39 pm
RuiZhi grinned, looking sheepish. His eyes were going to be bloodshot at this rate; a small break would do him good. He glanced at the cookies and was about to decline when Rylenn shook the bag, being rather cute about it. "Yes, please...and only because you said it that way." He shyly dipped his hand in, taking a cookie and nibbling on it. "Mm, they're good! Simple and light." He smiled, chewing and swallowing. "How's your language studies coming?" RuiZhi was suddenly curious to what ties Chinese would have to the rest of the languages, if it was anything like the Latin segment.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:58 pm
He laughed and sighed. "It comes from a long line of asianic languages. All asian tongues have a certain clairity and similarity. Same basic structure.." He nibbled on a cookie and murmured. "What -IS- today.. anyways..?"
(( Please excuse innaccuracies. I will be looking stuff up later X_X ))
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:11 pm
"Some day in April," RuiZhi replied gleefully, amused. The days hardly mattered anymore, they were so condensed and pressed together. He flexed his right hand as he finished his treat, preparing to start the frantic note taking again. "I'd like to finish at least one more language today. There's so many...and so much information." It was almost like going through a family tree, pinpointing where everything came from and how it all worked together. He didn't want to stop, but he knew he couldn't over do it, either.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:16 pm
He sighed softly. "April..." He looked... it was different.. no one here would have seen this look on Ry's face. He shook his head and looked at Rylenn. "If you don't mind my asking.. what is Weiyuan's favorite food? And what does he like as treats?" He set the cookies in the middle of them and went back to look at his nose, intently listening for an answer.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:22 pm
RuiZhi took a deep breath and went back to taking his notes, either not seeing the look on Rylenn's face or not understanding it. "Hmm," he thought out loud, still taking notes. He was at least trying to learn how to multitask. "He likes Chinese meals, but I don't think he favors any over another. Without question, though, his favorite things to eat are Moon Cakes." Weiyuan had a sweet tooth for such things, but RuiZhi himself was more of a basic person, what Americans would refer to as 'meat and taters.' He flipped a full page over and started on a fresh one, please with his progress.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:26 pm
Mooncakes... "Thanks..." He quietly went back to work, drilling his fingers a bit as he thought. He began to pause the lecture more often, writing more things down. He was beginning to understand now.. and it was becoming clearer. And that was really nice. He smiled and looked at RuiZhi. He peered over to the other's notes. "I guess I couldn't ask for help, huh?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:31 pm
The younger boy paused his information and looked over to Rylenn, grinning suddenly and sheepishly. "Not from my notes, no," he said apologetically, holding them up to show Chinese script. "B-but I can still help if I'm able." He made a mental note to start writing in English, in order to help Rylenn and to further his own study into the language. It seemed silly to write about languages in another language, but that's what he was doing. The idea made him chuckle, covering his mouth to be polite. Clearing his throat, he ventured, "What can I do?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:34 pm
He grinned and shook his head. "For later issues.... like the essay we have to write.." He wriggled and murmured. "I can't concentrate..." He was now being whiney... he didn't know why, but he was and he didn't really care. He grabbed another cookie before thinking to himself.
"I have to call my father... soon."
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