Whether it’s Klingon, Elvish, or Gallifreyan, fictional languages are firmly cemented in nerd culture. Learning to read, write, and speak these languages is a huge undertaking, but can be incredibly rewarding.
When Game of Thrones was developed for television, linguist David J. Peterson was hired to create the language of Dothraki. That means Dothraki has grammar, pronunciation, and cultural ties, just like real languages. The amount of thought and depth that Dothraki has is simply impressive, especially since a small number of scenes involve extensive Dothraki dialogue.
If the Dothraki that appeared in the show wasn’t enough, now you can learn exactly what Daenerys and Drogo were saying. Living Language has created Living Langauge Dothraki, a complete language course written by David J. Peterson himself. The course includes a written and audio component. The booklet explains basic pronunciation and grammatical structure as well as cultural notes, while the audio disc includes every Dothraki word or phrase inside the booklet. In addition, the booklet includes dialogue practice and exercises. There is also a website with even more content, flashcards, and games, and even an iOS app to take your practice on-the-go.
As someone who has studied a language before, I found the course to be surprisingly robust. It is clear that each phrase, word, and syllable was carefully considered by Peterson, and the effort is evident in this course. Although Dothraki is a fictional language, the course treats it the same as a real language, going much further than simply offering vocabulary terms. In fact, the Dothraki displayed in the television adaption is not indicative of how much Peterson developed to reach the few phrases in the show; Dothraki is a complete language. If you wanted to gain a conversational understanding of Dothraki, Living Language Dothraki could definitely make that goal a reality.
Simply put, I was sincerely impressed by the quality and extensiveness of Living Language Dothraki. I would highly recommend the course to any fan of Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire, especially those who love to immerse themselves in the world.
Living Language Dothraki is available from the HBO store, Living Language, and Amazon.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of Living Language Dothraki by winning a Twitter contest from Game of Thrones. All thoughts are my own.
The Nerdscendence Opens! Nerdscendence Ep. 1 Season 1
Hey Everyone, Sam here. I’ve been working on the idea of this podcast for a while now and while the content itself is still in stages of infancy, that purdy hyperlink right up there is the first episode in what I hope will be a long and, erm…storied run.
Nerdscendence is about one thing, showing people that it’s possible to nerd out about anything. From comics, movies, and television shows to hockey teams, computer building, and beer. It’s my goal to find guests who are not only well versed in their topics but can share their obsessive love with all of you!
So, this is a weekly show that will be eventually be available on not only Sub-Cultured.com but also, iTunes and Soundcloud. If you have any suggestions for guests or constructive criticism please let me know.
Find me on twitter. @samwasbornanerd or @nerdscendence
Email me – nerdscendencepodcast@gmail.com
Sam Smith
Staff Writer
If you are like anybody on planet earth, then you wish you knew another language. If you have a fancy phone, specifically an iPhone (or an iPad) then you can learn another language and it won’t feel like pulling teeth. In fact, it’s really fuckin’ fun.
Having looked up apps for learning another language in the past I have been fairly underwhelmed. Most of them look cheap and the ones that are simply decent cost eight to twenty dollars. That sucks. And then one day, the clouds parted and the mighty interwebs bestowed upon me an app called MindSnacks. With a variety of different languages to learn and developed by a team of people who truly look like they are having fun, I highly recommend MindSnacks for anyone.
Hit the jump and I’ll give you some more details!
Get those wallets out, guys, because FUNimation has managed to once again turn out our pockets to buy a scrubbed up version of something we already own. But this time, it’s definitely worth it.
June 28th, get ready for Part Five of the 20th anniversary DBZ remake, Dragon Ball Z Kai. Unless you’re one of the lucky sunnvabitches who preordered to avoid natural sunlight. In which case, bravo.
Left with a terrible yet expected cliffhanger back on Namek, Part Four abruptly ends with megabaddie Frieza going toe to toe with the blindly raging, freshly dyed-blonde Super Saiyan Goku. Part 5 will pick up back on Namek as they duke it out to the backdrop of a dying planet and continue on through Episodes 53-65, where we will learn the mysterious past of Trunks, the origin of the Androids and ultimate finish with femme fatale #18 kicking some serious Saiyan butt.
But wait, we’re at episode 53 and Namek is already combusting? Shouldn’t we still be watching Dende become an orphan, Bulma’s underwater escapades, or Zarbon prancing around in leg warmers? Don’t worry, there was more than enough filler to chop while managing to leave the story intact without feeling rushed. For the 20th anniversary of DBZ, Toei Animation went to work cutting down from 291 episodes to 99 in order to more closely follow the manga, resulting in a faster paced story. FUNimation took their cue and sat down to redub the dialogue, which is being treated with more respect than ever before for an English dub of a Dragon Ball product. Episode titles are faithful translations of original Japanese titles and the DVD versions are all uncut, which means blood and profanity galore. Redubbed, revised, and remastered? Totally down, even if it means Goku’s childlike innocence is shattered by no-no words.
Following the story as Toriyama originally planned could mean that we end with Epic, but wont see our favorite Fail stay puft, Majin Buu. Call it filler, but The Adventures of Buu & Mr. Satan! were hilarious in that fork to the eye kind of way. Mixed feelings on my part, but that’s what I have my original Drag-On orange box sets for, so I’ll be happy either way.
Still not convinced? Check out the Part Five trailer and tell me you’re uninterested. I dare ya.