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Had a whim an reinstalled the #8vim keyboard on my phone. Too early to tell if I like it, or the fact that it makes me slow down a bit to think about what I'm trying to type.

I've mostly been using it with my index finger, which could also suggest that I really just hate typing with my thumbs.

github.com/flide/8vim

GitHubGitHub - flide/8VIM: A Text Editor inside a keyboard, drawing it's inspiration from 8pen and Vim.A Text Editor inside a keyboard, drawing it's inspiration from 8pen and Vim. - GitHub - flide/8VIM: A Text Editor inside a keyboard, drawing it's inspiration from 8pen and Vim.

@RussSharek

I love the idea, but I think my wetware is a bit too inflexible to learn something quite so different.

@RL_Dane

"wetware" requires regular stretching, or it gets brittle.

R. L. Dane :debian: :openbsd:

@RussSharek

Yes, I really miss the vocabulary I had when I was still in university.

Any recommended stretches? 😁

@RL_Dane

As someone still recovering from brain fog related to long covid, this has been on my mind a lot.

Learning languages has helped me tremendously. Try #tokipona for something easy-ish.

Trying out new ways of performing "autopilot" tasks, like how I type on my phone, shakes up the ruts for me.

Doing things with my hands like sculpting and painting, has helped. Really, anything that gets me aware of my physicality. There's pathways there that get fired less often in other activities.

@RL_Dane

Most of all, mindset.

Walking around deciding "I'm done" or "too old/broken/etc" is doom for me. I have to believe I'm capable of improving, and move in that direction...no matter how slowly.

@RussSharek

Yes, that thought is very much the death-knell, it seems.
My sister made a point to learn a new skill each year of her 50s, and I think I will follow suit.

@RL_Dane

I find that I seem to take on an "impossible" thing every decade or so. I like steep learning curves, so the difficulty keeps me inspired.

Right now, it's handstands and partner acrobatics.

@RussSharek

That sounds like an *amazing* way of keeping the body and mind spry 😁

@RL_Dane

Circus continues to save and transform my life in terrific ways.

@RussSharek

I believe it. It sounds like you have a wonderful community there, and that is quite enviable.

@RussSharek

looked interesting because of its minimal vocabulary, but isn't vocabulary effectively replaced by a sizeable set of standard phrases to learn?

I've been learning how to sing folk song of as a family get-together type activity with my close relatives.
I don't understand the language, but I can read it, and they understand and love the songs. That's been a fun brain-expander 😁

@RL_Dane

Languages are cool toys. Keep singing too!

As for toki pona, there are certainly some "common" phrases/compounds people like to use, but they are by no means necessary to memorize.

I think the focus, for me, is more on working out what I'm actually trying to communicate. I don't need a phrasebook if I can assemble an idea from parts.

Plus, there's a chance that I may be better understood because my specific meaning is more clear.

@RussSharek

That's pretty cool.

I've been taking to reading things translated into very basic English (things I've read many times) as a way of getting reaquainted with the source text.

As someone who used to pride himself on his "high-fallutin'" vocabulary, I find super basic language surprisingly powerful and direct.

Any recommendations on ways to pick up during slim scraps of free time?

@RL_Dane

I enjoyed making flashcards, and doing a bit of journaling when I got started.

@RussSharek @RL_Dane I second journalling, or something else that just gets you to produce text. It helps you develop a nasin and start to "think" in toki pona. (tawa mi)

@citty @RL_Dane

sitelen mute.
sona ni li pona mute tawa mi.

@RussSharek

That sounds like a great start, thank you! :D

@RL_Dane

There's an online magazin in #TokiPona, liputenpo.org/

IMHO a good way to learn how to think and describe things in toki pona.

@RussSharek

@RussSharek @RL_Dane I was just reading things I posted about what the kid said at the age of three, and it's amazing how much meaning you can get through with a limited vocabulary and grammar, just by not worrying about being terse.

"I am little, can climb the rock. Dad is big, can climb the rock. Mom is big, cannot climb the rock. Mom has weird shoe. Only TWO can climb the rock, not THREE."

("weird shoes" are high-heeled boots rather than sneakers)

@clacke

weird shoes...wonderful!

This is a fantastic example, both of the power of simple language and a child-like sense of whimsy to play with it.

@clacke @RussSharek

Very tangential, but that reminds me of the story about the guy who taught his toddler .
He spoke only Klingon to the child, and the mother spoke only English. So, he grew up speaking both quite well, but as time went on, he stopped responding to his father in Klingon, and later, wouldn't respond to him at all unless he spoke English.

...

@clacke @RussSharek

...

The guy's conclusion was that that particular conlang matched the infant's early vocabulary and linguistic skills, but as he grew a little older, the limitations of expressiveness frustrated him to the point of not wanting to use it.

@clacke @RL_Dane

There is a joke in here somwhere about dishonor...

@RussSharek @clacke

I'm sure @coachgowron would have some pretty strong feelings about a child dissing his mother tongue. ;)

Then again, he's about the nicest Klingon I've ever met, so you never know.

@RussSharek

Actually, it was more like 5 or 6 when they stopped responding to Klingon.

@clacke

@RL_Dane @RussSharek Kid here spoke Swedish at 2, English at 3 and Cantonese at 4.

After 6 years in a place where I am the only Swedish exposure, the rate of Swedish use is going down in favor of English, but there's still a big chunk of Swedish in the mix. But that's from a situation where during the first two years of speech almost everyone around him spoke Swedish.