[Tlhingan-hol] nuqDaq ghaH 'arHa'e'?

Wed Nov 18 12:06:44 PST 2015

I would like to take this opportunity,and share some thoughts,in order to

a. help beginners as myself,avoid two very serious mistakes I had been
doing.
b. express my gratitude to two people who helped me realize things I may
had never realized on my own (or even if I did,it would take me a very long
time to do so)

..it was about 2-2,5 years ago when I came across tlhIngan Hol,and it was
at that time I decided I wanted to learn it ; So,I started collecting every
book I could possibly find,downloading everything that was out there
concerning the language we all love and care for so much. Back then I had
no knowledge of KLI,Klingonska,or this list. Knowledge of all these came
gradually, and out of luck mostly. So,back then,I didn't realize how much
of a dedicated community actually exists,how many dedicated people to
tlhIngan Hol are actually out there, people who have researched every
aspect of our language, and mostly people who are helpful beyond words and
willing to share their knowledge and experience with those who would ask
for their assistance.

Indeed I was very impressed,and still continue to be,by the multitude of
answers that were always given to whatever I could possibly think of
asking. Answers that were given by people very experienced,people who would
not dismiss the naive or stupid questions a beginner would ask,people
always having the patience to reply.

For that I have been,am,and will always be grateful and very happy as
well,to have found this list !

But exactly the fact,that answers were always to be given had a strange
drawback ; Slowly,instead of studying harder in order to find the answers,
instead of doing my research, going through the Klingonska database etc, I
just went right ahead asking.. Someone will ask "what's wrong with that ?"
The answer is simple : Nothing ! The problem though is,that in order to
learn better,one must try first to figure out the answer,push himself ;
then push himself more so that when finally that answer comes,he will
better appreciate it,he will most efficiently "take it in". It is the meal
you worked for,you sweated for that tastes better..

I realized all this just two days ago,when I asked myself on the subject of
how to tell time in Klingon ; At first I thought of posting it as a KLBC
topic (the easy way). But then I thought,that even if I did,maybe it
wouldn't get through.. So I said myself "qunnoQ,you're on your own ; do
whatever you have to,just find the jay' answer". At first I tried to
guess,how I should tell time in Klingon ; then I searched Klingonska and I
found an article explaining exactly how time should be told in Klingon.
This whole process (pushing myself to find the answer,and consequently
searching) was way more enjoyable and overall constructive than just being
given the answer in an instant.

Of course all this doesn't mean that one can find every answer on his own ;
On the contrary.. Still I believe that the whole learning process takes
place way more effectively when one tries first,tries very hard to find the
solution. Someone will ask.. Is the solution always to be found ? And where
is it to be found ?

And here comes the moment,when I feel the need to thank lojmIt ti' wI'
nuv.. It was through his persistence on "strictly adhering to
canon",through his persistence that all sources (grammar and vocabulary)
have to be cited,that I came to realize that all knowledge concerning
tlhIngan Hol,can be categorized in two groups :

Canon Klingon
Non Canon Klingon

And these two categories,could be further described as such :

Canon Klingon : Purity
Non Canon Klingon : Crap

Example :

Duj (Canon Word) = Pure Klingon
papbo' (Non Canon Word) = Crap

Finally I understood,that there are no answers outside the established
boundaries of Canon,that nothing exists outside it. And luckily all Canon
exists within the very established,and totally defined boundaries of
Okrand's works,which are

a. relatively few
b. available
c. well-written

And even if there are still questions unanswered,then someone has :

a. the list archives
b. klingonska

to further expand his understanding. But *everything* HAS to be in
accordance with Canon.

The reason I'm stating again and again the obvious,is that as a beginner I
fell prey to the grave misconception that "I must ask,in case there is
something not written in Okrand's books,or Canon sources". A dangerous
misconception because once it lingers,it will lead you to the "if there is
knowledge outside Canon,then why should I try to find the answers within
Canon works ? Why should I go through again and again TKD ?" So,studying is
of paramount importance,before coming to the point of asking for
clarification..

What is though of equally paramount importance,before coming to the point
of asking for assistance,is actually trying to put whatever little
knowledge one may have to use ; Trying to apply what one may have learned.

And I'm saying this,because the second dangerous misconception I had,was
thinking that :

first I should learn the entire grammar
then I should learn the entire vocabulary
and only then start writing in Klingon

This is why,when I first came here I wrote "I am light years away from
speaking Klingon"

Luckily -and I will be forever grateful to Qov- she gave me the little
"push" I needed to start writing even rudimentary sentences,so as to feel
challenged,and thus try harder to find answers and improve. Or,to put it in
Star Trek terms, "..Qov put me in the impulse speed I needed,in order to
leave shipyard.."  These days,I came to realize that many of the questions
I had asked,would be answered "on their own" in a manner of speaking, if
only I had tried actually applying the language first,before right away
choosing the "easy way out" asking the question.

So,I finally decided that :

a. study comes first
b. application of knowledge gained,always within the strict boundaries of
canon follows
c. if questions remain ---> research,research,research !
d. if questions still remain unanswered,then and *only* then post in KLBC

Of course all these are just my conclusions,and yes I may be wrong ; I just
wanted to share my thoughts !

Qov lojmIt tI' wI' nuv je, veqlargh bochenmoHpu' !
(I didn't find a word for <<monster>> so I chose {veqlargh})

cpt qunnoQ

On Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 4:22 PM, Lieven <levinius at gmx.de> wrote:

> Am 18.11.2015 um 12:31 schrieb qunnoQ HoD:
>
>> actually I wondered about it,but since my last KLBC post went down the
>> drain
>>
>
> Now, was your message not answered, or did it not make its way to the list
> at all? This also happens sometimes that messages get lost.
>
>
> --
> Lieven L. Litaer
> aka Quvar valer 'utlh
> Grammarian of the KLI
> http://www.facebook.com/Klingonteacher
> http://www.klingonwiki.net
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tlhingan-hol mailing list
> Tlhingan-hol at kli.org
> http://mail.kli.org/mailman/listinfo/tlhingan-hol
>
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