• Graded • [Etzos Academy] Crash Course

An open to the public Linguistics 101 course!

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Inali
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[Etzos Academy] Crash Course

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105th Trial, Ashan 717 - Midday, Etzos Academy, Linguistics Wing

Inali had spent a large portion of the past trial convincing Executive Director Taberell that her Linguistics 101 course could be condensed into a six break class. While he had initially been skeptical of the curriculum, she had argued that such a course would be accessible to those who found themselves firmly in the 'practical arts' section of the Academy. Further, those who were interested in the subject enough to pursue additional courses would have more than her classes to choose from in Ymiden - new pupils could select any of the language professors at the campus. He granted her approval for the endeavor, but assured her that he would send in another professor to observe her progress and intervene if needed.

The morning hours of the current trial had been devoted to outlining the class in one of her notebooks and preparing the newly furnished classroom. While her mind sifted through years of linguistics research and study, she moved around the room and checked the new desks, chairs, and fixtures for imperfections. Her slender hands glided along the tabletops, noting those that had spurs within the tanwood surface. Condensing the field of Lingusitics into a single course was damned difficult. While the Director was a stubborn man, he was not wrong to worry for her students. The eidisi smiled bitterly, wondering if any would even show up. Flyers had been placed around all the Academy entrances and some local taverns, but the advertising campaign had only run for a handful of breaks. After she had decided on a rough plan for the lecture, Inali grabbed a large sheet of parchment and wrote out the aims of the course in a large, flowing script. It read:

'Linguistics 101
In this course, we will cover the fundamentals of Linguistics and dive into the topics below:
  • What is linguistics?
  • What approaches to studying linguistics exist?
  • Why should I care about linguistics?
  • Sociolinguistics of Western Idalos
  • Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax
  • Dialect vs Accent'
After a few bits of writing down the topics, Inali knew that she would have to end her list with 'Dialect vs Accent'. There were too many topics to be included, and after the necessary breaks to stretch and question and answer session, the class would already be pushing the hard time limit she had promised the Director that she would honor. Inali pinned the parchment to the wall with a few small metal tacks and awaited the arrival of her students.

As each student entered, she greeted them with her name, a brief explanation of her teaching background. The majority of her time, however, was spent questioning the students. To each, she posed the following questions: 'Who are you? Why did you decide on this class? What are you most afraid of encountering in the course?'

The questions were purposefully open ended. If she simply asked for their names, there would be no way to tailor her teaching methods to meet the individual needs and backgrounds of her students. While she assumed most of her pupils would be Etzori, she held out hope that travelers from other cities would participate as well. Once all the initial greetings were exchanged, Inali would gesture at the open desks and suggest that they prepare themselves. Linguistics 101 would be starting soon.
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Nauta F'mos Geey
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[Etzos Academy] Crash Course

Word of the new language course easily spread although it was not because those which spoke of it were interested in language itself. The reason why it became the talk of the town was because the course was the brainchild of an Eidisi woman. To the people of the city which stood against the Immortals and by extension their creations, a member of one race might as well be another and therefore an enemy. As a result of that prejudice, the rumours F'mos picked up of the course was it possibly being a method for the season's infamous flayer to pick more victims.

As an outsider subject to the same prejudice, the Aukari did not put any weight on the rumours. With an actual interest in the course, he would not lose out if he gave it a chance. While he had no difficulty communicating through Common, he knew his life would be better with an increased understanding of the various languages in Idalos. An example in Etzos were Etzori so proud of Ith'ession that between it and Common, they were set as long as they had no intention to leave. The deserter on the other hand always intended to increase the distance between himself and Sirothelle so another language would be invaluable, even if he had no solid plans with just departure just yet.

That was not the only reason he had but the Aukari had been so patient for nearly an arc already, he was in no rush to uncover more of what he found in the Miasma, or to spread the knowledge of it until he was sure of the expert he could use. Fortunately for him the public course would simplify his appraisal of the Eidisi teacher before he approached her on the subject. He had to be sure she was competent and had a genuine interest in teaching and language first. The attention of a flayer was the last thing he needed, just people he could do without which might take him out to keep the knowledge he had for themselves.

For his visit to the Academy, F'mos brought Lizzie with him. He felt it would be good if like him, she had the opportunity to expand her knowledge and pick up some skills to use once he left the city. Aside from the rare moment of consideration for his ward, he also needed her to cover for him. He knew his focus would be on his observations of the woman and of her knowledge which meant he would be unable to express any excitement for the subject; he would have to leech off the girl's energy to appear as a participant of the class. He knew nothing about the Academy but if it was anything like the education he had in Sirothelle, the lack of enthusiasm would be unfavourable to him.

It may be premature of him to consider her so quickly but F'mos felt the Eidisi held some promise for his purposes although it was more because he bought into the enthusiasm she shared when she greeted her students. He considered the questions he was asked for a few thrills before he gave Lizzie a nudge to encourage her to answer first. While he was her guardian he made sure the girl did not know anything she did not need to about himself. This made him confident she would not be able to let slip any unnecessary information like he would if he answered for himself without a chance to carefully plan his words.

But the answer to the last question was an easy one. "That I waste time and not learn nothing," which Lizzie quickly corrected as she had been the one to acclimate F'mos with Common and Ith'ession while he was in Etzos. It would be obvious to the teacher that at least one of her potential students did not have the best grasp of Common but at least, he was prepared to participate in the course. With him the Aukari had enough paper and ink for both him and Lizzie to use during the class. As F'mos learned in the Miasma even written communication was useful, there was no reason to not practice given the chance.

All done with their introductions, F'mos led Lizzie with him to the side at the invitation of the Eidisi teacher. As he had no intention to know the other students with his goal to observe the teacher, the position would be an effective one as he would be able to focus on her lesson and ignore the rest. The only thing which may distract him was Lizzie, as the Aukari had made sure his ward was seated in front of him to separate her from the rest of the rabble. A troublesome if not necessary precaution.
word count: 812
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Nauta F'mos Geey
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[Etzos Academy] Crash Course

The first break of the course went by easily enough and at the end of it, F'mos was convinced linguistics was just another means of communication- more accurately if he had to be specific about what he thought of it, it was a means of effective communication. His adventure into the Miasma already planted the seeds of this thought which made Inali's course unnecessary for this purpose but without it, there would not have been a way for him to realize the necessity of skill. Lizzie on the other hand acted as though her eyes had opened for the first time and would not let up about it. Unlike her guardian, it was the girl who took full advantage of the question and answers session at the end of the first break. Some of the questions he heard made him cringe although there was nothing else to expect from the girl and F'mos was not about to ruin her earnest excitement to protect his image.

Then the second break which was much better because at the very least, it was more practical compared to the first. It was also an easier for the Aukari to understand the ideas as they were taught being things he had experience with, some of them anyway. As an Aukari from Sirothelle, Vauni and Common were both required learning from as early as Parvos if he was going to be useful to the city. Two languages growing up for a child was hard especially when one was favoured over the other for most of Sirothelle's inhabitants. The method F'mos had to use to keep both straight until he was able to use either without any issues was similar to some of the approaches Inali exposed him to. Along with those, there was one thing which piqued the Aukari's interest on the topic of the approaches to studying linguistics.

While he knew close to nothing about Basa, he knew enough to recognize he could easily learn it with proper instruction as it was similar to Vauni. If the method Inali had described was effective, it was another consideration in her favour for F'mos to approach her. While he thought about it, Lizzie could see he was occupied and asked him what was on his mind which got the attention of the rest of the class. 'Great...' To lull any suspicion and to show himself an active participant of the class, the Aukari took the opportunity to describe the approaches used in his studies, details kept vague because no one needed to know his origin. At the same time without any specifics he shared the idea of languages, old and new, and the ease of learning them from their similarities to those already known. Inali's answer would certainly be useful to him in his evaluation of her.

F'mos was bored through the third break. He thought the topic presented in the form of a question had been easily answered already. Why would he be there otherwise? Why would anyone? There were some merit to the ideas the eidisi tried to impart but they did not seem to take. Not to F'mos and the same could be seen with the other students in the room, the least bit of attention being paid to Inali and her lecture. Even Lizzie seemed to have lost the same interest and excitement she initially had for the course. The question and answers session of the third break being described as painful was an understatement. The only reason F'mos asked his questions at all was so the teacher would not be discouraged though it was not because he was sympathetic and wished to encourage her. He just wanted to make sure she did not end the class too early. There were still things he needed to know.

At the very least, it may give the eidisi woman a better impression of him which would help should he try to approach her later on with his project.
Last edited by Nauta F'mos Geey on Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:15 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 674
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Nauta F'mos Geey
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[Etzos Academy] Crash Course

By the fourth break it was obvious the eidisi woman had lost the interest of most of the class; a lot of those there from the start would not be finishing the course anytime soon unless they returned quickly which F'mos felt was unlikely. Even Lizzie wanted to leave although not without F'mos who she unsuccessfully tried to persuade. It ended with Lizzie being the one persuaded to stay until the end with but a sentence from the Aukari, forceful as it was that "you've learned something, correct? Stay until the end and you'll learn more." It was probably the same belief those who remained had as they looked to be more engaged with the class.

His decision to stay was soon rewarded. Other than the possibility he might have narrowly escaped the threat of being flayed if it turned out Inali was the one everyone spoke of, F'mos was able to pick out an important bit of information which could improve his quality of life. It was something he took for granted in Sirothelle with the role Vauni and Sau'ei played for those who lived in the city and, it took a local to point out the same norm in Etzos with its inhabitants preference to those who used Ith'ession; seemingly the reality of every other city in Idalos towards their native tongue. If what was described to him was true, sociolinguistics would definitely be knowledge useful to him not only in Etzos but after he moved on.

He had to after all, blend in with the locals in order to avoid the notice of Sirothelle and those against it; at the same time he also had to make sure he was comfortable in whatever environment he was in otherwise, why desert at all?

The fifth break was a topic which confused him greatly and made him question if his decision to stay was a good one. It was his belief this fifth topic was a waste of time as he could barely grasp it. Like his misgivings come true, it was a waste of his time and he would learn nothing although after four breaks already, the course would not be a complete waste of time. There was no doubt he had learned much from the previous topics. The gist of what F'mos understood of the fifth topic was language, or the general understanding of it, was the result of sounds made by those who spoke it. That was the explanation for why some sentences, words were ordered the way they were.

"Or...patterns...?" he realized. From his side, hidden from the rest of the room, F'mos produced a parchment much older than the material he brought and had a quick review of its contents. A few quick thrills and he found what he was looking for. 'Build of speech' was the term which confirmed what he needed Inali for, the thing which started his inquiry.

With how difficult the fifth break had been for him, F'mos dreaded the sixth and final break. Why should it be any easier than the last he had to sit through? Even the eidisi started by pointing out the relationship between both the topics of the fifth and sixth break, especially of how dialect and accent related to sound, like phonology. It came as a surprise to him both were very easy to understand, for a person who by that time had lived in two different cities as a standard of comparison. He even started to get into the subject, something which surprised Lizzie as she pointed out how engaged with the course F'mos had become to even demonstrate to her the different accents in common.

Any demonstration of the dialects he could use he would keep to himself however as according to Inali's explanation, it could easily be used to determine where a person was from. As F'mos had been paying attention, he knew for sure he had to keep his dialect to himself if he did not want anyone to figure out he was from Sirothelle. In fact, from that point he was going to have to make the conscious effort to make sure he did not fall back into his old dialect, unless he wanted to risk blowing his cover.

Once the course was over, F'mos decided to return home with Lizzie in tow. He had no rush to approach Inali with his project and, felt it was more prudent for him to prepare himself and plan it for another time. After all, he had learned enough from the eidisi both to help him with his project and to help him decide whose help he should make use of.
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Qit'ria
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[Etzos Academy] Crash Course

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Nauta Fmos Geey
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Solo or Collab Collab +8 Skill Knowledges
How many posts? 3 +0 Skill Knowledges
How many requested? 8 --
Are all posts greater than 250 words? 802, 663, 793
Is the thread greater than 1500 words? 2258
Knowledges appropriate? --
Loot appropriate? N/A --
Fame appropriate? N/A --
Injuries appropriate? N/A --

Always a shame that a thread got abandoned, but its nice to see you made the most of it. Below is your well deserved loot. If you have any questions, please PM me. Also please add the provided stamp to your review request found here and please update your CS with all of this information.


Code: Select all

      [center][img]/gallery/image.php?album_id=39&image_id=12064[/img][/center]
Loot
Reward Amount Comment
Skill Points +15 --
Magic Points available? No --
Fame N/A --
Injuries N/A --
Knowledges
Skill Knowledge:
  1. Linguistics: What is linguistics?
  2. Linguistics: What approaches to studying linguistics exist?
  3. Linguistics: Why should I care about linguistics?
  4. Linguistics: Sociolinguistics of Western Idalos
  5. Linguistics: Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax
  6. Linguistics: Dialect vs Accent
  7. Leadership: Appraising a potential aide
  8. Disguise: Be aware of the dialect you use


Non-Skill Knowledge:
  1. Ith'ession: Needed to be accepted in Etzos
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