Zone
Linguaphile
a digital language community
with all the usual language channels
+ Sign Languages
+ minoritized languages of Europe, The Americas & Africa, esp French Creoles
live conversation practice with fluent speakers of diff varieties of French, English, German, Italian & Creole
lotta discussion bout decolonization, orthographies, linguistics,
revitalization of minoritized languages, nuances of complex terminology &
historical or current geopolitical situations
what isn’t tolerated is language meant to belittle people, whether it’s considered profane or not
join the ZLEvents
Latab Gombo: bi-weekly convo in Louisiana Creole (aka Kouri Vini)
kouri charé in Kréyol avek nouzòt!
* it’s fine if you a beginner; we here to help!
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le Bavardage: weekly call in European + Louisiana French (aka Cajun)
venez bavarder avec nous-autres
* it’s fine if you a beginner; we here to help!
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Quatscherei: weekly call in German
kommt vorbei zum Quatschen
* it’s fine if you a beginner; we here to help!
Why are the flags "wrong"?
in an effort to decenter colonial languages, flags of areas that were/are colonized were chosen for languages spread via colonization over the past millennia
flags chosen represent the place with the highest percentage of native speakers, largest population of speakers, etc.
Black Female Activists
on the Generation Role Menu
Lama Jamous - 9 yr old Palestinian reporter
Naomi Wadler - 17 yr old Ethiopian-American activist against gun violence. organized a walk-out protest at her elementary school at 11
Malala Yousafazai - 26 yr old who advocates for Pakistani girls livin under the taliban to have access to education, first became well-known for a blog written when she was 11
Khadija Mbowe - a youtuber who covers lots of interestin topics. recently did a live on Beyonce and took a few mins out to tell viewers to call their reps about Palestine
Amanda Seales - a former Disney/Hollywood actress, who majored in African American studies with a focus on Hip Hop; she lost a lot of connections when she began speakin out in support of Palestine, but she continues to do so; she uses her platform to educate, while incorporatin humor, singin AA/BA/Soulaan(i) spirituals, writin poety & more
Lauryn Hill - durin a 2003 concert at the pope's venue in The Vatican, she spoke about the Church's abuse of children. in 2015 pro-Palestinian activists convinced her to cancel a show in Israel. in 2018, she passed on an NFL concert, out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick
bell hooks - "co-founded the bell hooks center to provide underrepresented students, especially black and brown, femme, queer, and Appalachian individuals, a safe space where they can develop their activist expression, education, and work. The center cites hooks' work and her emphasis on the importance of feminism and love as the inspiration and guiding principles of the education it offers. The center offers events and programming with an emphasis on radical feminist and anti-racist thought"
Angela Davis - speakin bout racism, sexism, gay rights & what she calls the "prison–industrial complex" since 1969. against the "war on terror" since 2001. blamed aftermath of Katrina on structural racism, capitalism, and imperialism. spoke at Occupy
Leah Chase - "Queen of Creole Cuisine" who inspired "The Princess and the Frog." her restaurant was one of few safe, public places for civil rights activists to meet in the 60s
Rules
• no hate directed at marginalized groups
includes: "i don't hate them, just the ones in my country"
• no givin anyone shit for being a member of a marginalized group
includes:"all the others i've spoken to were more rational than you"
• no language meant to demean anyone
includes: not usin slurs unless you're a part of the primary group they're used against & reclaimin em, not usin em in a derogatory way
• no throwin shade at minoritized languages
includes:"language-a is just broken language-b"
"language-x is just badly spelled language-y"
• no belittlin anyone for not knowin somethin, makin a mistake, or not understandin what you're sayin
includes: mansplainin, regardless if the person explainin "in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or oversimplified manner" is a man or if the person they'r addressin is a woman
• no linguicism (linguistic discrimination)
includes: "German sounds harsh/angry"
"France French/England English sounds smart/fancy/elegant"
• no fetishizin speakers of any language
• no antiblackness
includes:
"DS is tough/masc; LS is soft/fem"
"fine/long hair is good; coarse/short hair is bad"
"slim features are attractive; thick features are unattractive"
• no ableism (disability discrimination)
includes:
"i'm so [illness you don't actual have]"
"normal ppl don't hafta worry about Covid"
blamin "laziness" instead of acknowledin actual probs
• if there's a dispute, no usin insults in place of actual arguments
Corrections
add the followin symbols after your name/languages
to show your preference(s) on being corrected
ˆ correct me only if you're advanced/native in my dialect
- correct me only if necessary to prevent misunderstandins
± correct recurrin mistakes, but not too much all at once
+ correct me to your heart's content!
examples:
Alé +
Alé (De+ Fr- LCˆ It±)
