#LanguageLearning & Mass Transit to Build Empathy via Esperanto

   Esperanto is a very simple language to learn, by design.  Given the interest readers have expressed over the years, I thought I might share some of my newest language learning journey here on my blog.  It may be a stretch, but I’d also like to note that some of my most fun and interesting language learning experiences have taken place on mass transit, like the time a whole bus full of people helped me translate a (clean!) lymerick into Turkish!

I decided to learn Esperanto, finally, after years of reading about it, but having more important linguistic priorities, like learning the languages of the countries where I was working so that I could rent an apartment!

So, since Turkish is the language in which I am still needing to work on grammar and reading/writing, while Spanish is the easiest and my most comfortable learned language (I am also fluent in French, but I tend to think more in Spanish), I take most of my notes in those two languages, and in French as I review my notes.  This helps me connect the new learning to my already learned material, and makes things much easier.

Most language learning starts with the letters and numbers, which I did get to, but I have moved my notes around so much that those pages are lost, so I will start with this, and provide specific notes in posts as requested by interested Readers.

Many videos exist for learning Esperanto, and so I searched in Spanish and in Turkish for video playlists, which got me started with a nice comparison set.  I found it easier to learn the Esperanto alphabet from Turkish, for example, due to some of the similarities, like the letter “c” with a hat on it, pronounced as the same letter with a tail on it, in Turkish.

More soon,

and

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to be more open to the needs, feelings, and happiness of others.

…

Hoşça kalın!  Saluton!  !Nos Vemos! 

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Who is a Humanist, and Does It Matter?

  Back when I lived in Izmir, one day, a neighbor angrily said to me:

Hümanist değilsin … çünkü kötü insanları sevmiyorsun…”  /  “You are not a humanist … because you do not like bad people.”

  I was so stunned that I did not know what to say.   My Turkish was advanced enough that I had understood her immediately, but I still wanted to reflect on her words, both the literal sense, and the meaning, because I felt disturbed by her anger with me.  First, because I had no recollection of claiming to be a humanist, and second because I was not even sure what a humanist was.  Her sister rushed to change the subject, while I reflected on what could have prompted this comment, seemingly out of the blue, from my neighbor.  We spoke often of my concerns, back in 2005, that the world was not the kind and safe place that it could and ought to be, but that there were certainly ways to make our world kinder and safer for everyone, especially for vulnerable people.

   After she left the room, her sister, a much nicer person, sat down with me to apologize.  My way of seeing the world, of not spending money, of asking questions, of wondering how we could do things differently, was a source of confusion to many people, who felt that I should be concentrating on making money.  They also seemed to be offended that I did not want to make lots of money, buy nice things, and live like a rich person, or wear makeup.  Things that I tried to explain felt forced on me, unnecessary, and even degrading, since women are forced to use cosmetics and shoes that actually damage our bodies for no good reason.  So, why are so many people upset by my refusal to follow these customs?  And where she got the idea (not entirely incorrect, in fact) that I have no particular love for ‘bad’ people, I am not sure, but I was at a loss to understand why I should be obliged to like or love those who actively harm others.  I do feel that every girl and even small-ish boy should be trained from the earliest age in the arts of psychological, emotional, and physical self-defense.  Perhaps my personal indifference toward this neighbor had something to do with it, as she very much valued money, power, and ways of getting both.  I went from going along with her much of the time, to actively resisting (especially once she had me sit with her to translate during online dates with men from Spanish-speaking countries, as she claimed to be younger than she really was, and wore a long hair-extension).  But her anger with my general outlook puzzled me.

Comments, Thoughtful Readers?

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing (including Ann & Anna…)

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.  This work is my personal way (as opposed to founding the Project, overall) of contributing to building tools that can help increase empathy and compassion in our world.  Story, as part of how we see our world, helps us make sense of and define our actions in this world.  And remember how important story is also as part of this project. Let’s Do Better.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

ShiraDest

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Sihirli Annem (My Magical Mom: s1e15), and Dealing With Hypocrites

  Last week was , bölüm/episode 14: Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e14) and What Does it Mean, Adulthood?

…  

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.

…

In this episode, Eda and Tarık announce that they want to get married. His brother is not so happy because he thinks that he is not good enough for Eda, and her mother Dudu is furious and fetches her home.

-Mom, Tarık and I…

-Have decided to build a life together!

At night she dreams about the marriage of Eda and Tarik and gets a stroke, which makes her unable to move or speak, only her eyes can move.

She can only be healed if Eda promises on the holy fairy book that she will break up with Tarik. Eda is torn in pieces, because on the one hand she really loves Tarik, and on the other hand he wants to heal her mother. She and her father (the dog Taci) contemplate leaving her in this state, but in the end they cannot do it.

The head fairy Perihan, Betüs and Taci give all her love to Dudu and as the final touch, Eda swears on the book, but the book is a cookbook, not the holy fairy book. So she intends to meet Tarik secretly.

Mom, I swear on the Fairy Book that

I will not marry Tarık!

Betüs covers for them because she pities them.

The kids told the maid Firuze and their uncle Tarik that they would go to see their grandmother after school and would they tell their parents. Both forget it because they are too much fixated on their own affairs. Tarik meets with Eda at the house, and Firuze is too busy watching them jealously to think of the kids.

When Dudu calls the house Firuze tells her that Eda and Tarik had met. She wants to make trouble for Tarik, with whom she many years ago had been in love and who ignored her. She does not consider that she at the same time makes trouble for Eda. And she still doesn’t call Betüs and tells her that the kids are safe when she finally remembered, although they are driving around searching for them.

Perihan deletes the memory of what Firuze had told Dudu from Dudu’s mind and punishes Eda by making her confess her lie and that she loves Tarik. Dudu’s reaction is her punishment, who swears to never stop trying to break them up. But Eda does not seem to have in mind to leave Tarik. After the conversation with her mother, she winks at her father and calls Tarik. She will go on a picnic with the whole family.

I spoke with Eda in secret on the phone just now, and she’ll be at the door.

–

Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

–

      This is an episode that reminds me of when I lived in Izmir, and saw the tremendous importance Turks place upon harmonious relationships, and on talking things through.   Many of us would refuse to speak, especially in the case of Firuze, being married yet sabotaging the relationship of a person (Tarık) for whom she still has feelings of jealousy and rejection.   Yet, Betüş takes the time to ask her why she acted as she did, and to find a solution that works for everyone, taking Firuze’s pain into account.  In the case of Eda and Dudu, where Dudu is angry with Eda for lying about being in love with a mortal, yet dating a mortal man herself, things are more difficult, since Dudu has the power of a parent to shut down the decisions of her child, even an adult child like Eda.  Yet, Eda continues to try to talk things through.  This is an important lesson that I draw from this episode:  even when it seems that there may be nothing left to talk about, just  keep trying to find solutions that can help put balm on the wounds.

–

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to see from the perspectives of others, without having to suffer a similar fate or pain, first.

Next week will be blm/ep. 16:   ,

…

Hoşça kalın!

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira
Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e14) and What Does it Mean, Adulthood?

  Last week was , bölüm/episode 13: Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e13) And Would You Want to Go Back & Be Young Again? …  

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.

…

Dudu finds out that the magic of male fairies is stronger than that of female ones (there is gender inequality even in the fairy realm). Therefore Dudu hatches the plan to wed Eda with a fairy so that Dudu can use his magic to break up Sadik and Betüs.

Eda does not want to marry a fairy, but a mortal. She explains:

“…the mortal world isn’t like that.  They have to struggle for what they want.   One who worries about me, is sometimes jealous, no magic, but full of surprises.  That is the kind of man I want to marry.”

At the same time Sadik’s younger brother Tarik comes to visit, just back from military service. Firuze used to be in love with him and did not forgive him that he did not reciprocate the feelings. Sadik is not enthusiastic about his brother’s visit, as he is not a man after Sadik’s taste, but more a grown up child. The kids love their uncle for that.

      “Hey, don’t start gossiping about me as soon as I get here!”

Eda leaves the castle and hides at Betüs’s place, where she meets Tarik and the two fall in love with each other at first sight. This is the first time somebody falls in love with her without her using magic.

Dudu doesn’t like that and takes her home.

The chief fairy learns about Dudu’s evil plans and punishes her, leaving Eda free to go back to Betüs. Betüs and Sadik leave Eda and Tarik by themselves and pretend to have to talk to the children. (It is actually only Betüs who does that on purpose, Sadik is clueless.)

That ends in an epic cushion fight, while Eda and Tarik look each other deep in the eyes.

–

Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

–

       This episode is a fascinating study in both the question of what adulthood means to different generations, and in who gets to define that state.  Both Sadık and Dudu, in my humble opinion, fall into the same trap, in this episode, while Eda actually climbs out of a similar trap, or begins to, this episode.  Sadık, because he demands that his younger brother learn how to start acting “like a man” by the traditional definition, meaning job, house, wife, and kids.  As Sadık himself has done.  But that is not the sort of life that his brother wants.  Likewise with Dudu, as we already know, she feels strongly that only a certain kind of marriage is acceptable, and is perfectly happy to arrange a miserable marriage for her daughter Eda, who protests this idea kicking and screaming, literally.  Both Sadık and Dudu deny the possibility of defining one’s own life goals and perspective, and they both fall back on predefined traditional ideas of what it means to be an adult, and whom a person should marry.   Finally, Eda, in telling her sister that she finally understands how she must feel, being persecuted all of this time by Dudu, takes a great leap forward, and out of that same trap of thinking that one must accept only a certain way of thinking.  But look how long it has taken Eda, and how she had to be placed in the same situation before she began to see her sister’s perspective.

         Project Do Better looks at this question in detail, during Phase II especially.  Adulthood, in a democratic society, requires large amounts of compassion and empathy, as well as critical thinking and the freedom to be a contributing adult in the way best fitting for each person.

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to see from the perspectives of others, without having to suffer a similar fate or pain, first.

Next week will be blm/ep. 15: Sihirli Annem (My Magical Mom: s1e15), and Dealing With Hypocrites  ,

…

Hoşça kalın!

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira
Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e13) And Would You Want to Go Back & Be Young Again?

  Last week was Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e12) And Can Rich Folks Learn From The Poor? , bölüm/episode 12, featuring young Mahmut.  This week, we ask about being young again.

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.  (Translations are mine, corrections welcome / ben çevirdim, yanliş varsa, hemen beni düzet, lütfen... -Shira)

…

In this episode we see Firuze leaving her husband in the middle of the night because he is drunk and hits her and the children. She seeks shelter at Betüs and Sadik’s house.

“Like a woman, I work, and come home work some more, then get waken up and pushed around like an animal.”

Meanwhile, Dudu plans her new spell to break up Betüs and Sadik. She wants to turn time to 30 years later.

“Seriously, mom, I absolutely cannot let you do this kind of magic!”

Eda is fed up with this. First of all she doesn’t think that they will ever break up the couple, so why try all the time, and on the other hand she is afraid that her father, who presently is a dog of 60 human years, might not be alive anymore then. Even Dudu shows some concern but says that she would turn the spell back in that case. Eda tries to talk her out of it but to no avail.

Firuzes husband Davut turns up drunk at the house and wants to take his wife back with force. He is fighting with Firuze and Betüs, who has to use magic to overpower him. Suzan comes by and hears through the open door what is going on and gets so angry that she beats up Davut even without any magic.

“Your hand is enough, right? Come on, hit me! Hit me!  Hit me!”

The next day everybody is 30 years older. Umur, Dudu’s new lover, is dead, and Taci, her ex-husband, has obviously turned into a human again. Dudu reverses the spell, and everything is like before … with one change: Cilek the little fairy girl can speak to everybody now, not only to Betüs.

Also Firuze’s problem is being solved by magic this time: Betüs turns him into a kind and responsible husband. As it seems, that spell was still working 30 years later.

–

Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

–

     My question, this episode, is about going back in time.  Many people seem to think, like Sadık, that everyone would like to go back in time, to their youth.  But this is not so.  Many people, particularly those who had especially difficult childhoods, have no interest at all in going back in time, and would rather forget having been young, and all that happened during that time to them.  People like orphans who never found loving families, or children who were abused by family or guardians, or even kids who were bullied in school.  Kids not accepted by their peers because, like Firuze’s son Mahmut, whom we met last week, they were poor, and did not fit in for any number of reasons.  This makes them more vulnerable, due to domestic violence, and later bullying, if no one will stand with them.  And that is a terrible waste of human potential, because, as Hakan reminds us, every child has potential.

–

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to be more open to the needs, feelings, and happiness of others.

Next week will be blm/ep. 14: Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e14) and What Does it Mean, Adulthood?

…

Hoşça kalın!

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira
Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e12) And Can Rich Folks Learn From The Poor?

  Last week was a beautiful and special episode, and this week is another incredible episode, as we wondered, on  (ep11 )  Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e11) What is Really the Best Mother’s Day Gift?   and this week, we see one of my favorite episodes, bölüm/episode 12, as little Mahmud, in the featured image cropped from the party image below, goes from the poor outcast to the teacher of these ‘rich’ kids.  

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.

In this episode the son of the family, Cem, has heartbreak. He caught his girlfriend Tugce whispering with another boy. He dumped Tugce and hit the boy. Sadik is proud of his boy and says he did the right thing, whereas Betüs can’t believe that of Tugce and thinks that there must be a misunderstanding. They start fighting about this and Sadik makes a very hurtful remark to his wife. This is very bad timing as it is Cem’s birthday, and his classmates are coming. Sadik and Betüs had planned to go for dinner alone, but that is now canceled.

“I can’t believe you, Sadık!  Your son says he beat up a classmate, and you’re proud of him!”

Dudu who saw everything through her magic crystal ball is happy that they are fighting without her even casting a spell around them. She expects both daughters to live with her soon.

But Eda has other plans, she wants to marry a mortal, which her mother is strictly against, so she leaves the castle.

Umur asks Dudu to marry him, and she agrees under the condition that they first live in their own houses until they got used to each other.

Eda’s plans fail, as she had used a spell again to make the man fall in love with her, which only lasts 24 hours. She meets with Betüs in the café, with Perihan also there. Suzan, Avni’s wife also comes there as Avni is still seeing fairies, about which Suzan is unhappy. Dudu also appears and is gloating with her plan to get married. Her daughters protest, as Dudu is against fairies marrying mortals, and now she plans to do the same.

   -Eda:  “So, if you are going to prevent me from marrying a Human, then I will prevent you from marrying a Human.”

In the end there are three parties:
– The birthday party, where Cem is dancing with his sister’s friend for Tugce’s friends to see, which is supposed to make her jealous. Tugce comes to deliver her present to Cem, which was the reason why he was whispering with the boy, he knew how to get a special kind of sneakers. After that is explained, all is forgiven and forgotten.

 

– A man’s party at Avni’s place, where Sadik and Umur go.

“…I don’t think I can live without Betus.”

– A girl’s party in the café.

The other two parties end well, when the men go over to the café to tell their women that they love them, and they are being forgiven.

…

Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

…

    This is a fantastic episode from Mahmud’s point of view!  Also, we see the high importance in Turkish culture of talking things out with others (even to my surprise, back when I worked in Izmir, when someone has clearly done something that we Americans would generally consider imprudent…)  Who is Mahmud?  He is the son of Firuze, the housekeeper.  They are poor, but in an unusual step, the kids invite him to Cem’s birthday party in spite of this, and at first, Cem’s classmates show poor Mahmud that he is not welcome, until little Cilek gets him up to dance.  Then, the real fun begins.  When the music (European/Latino pop music which all of the middle and upper classes in the big cities like Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara, listen to…) goes out, all they have is a little radio that Firuze listens to in the Kitchen while cooking.  The songs are all traditional on the radio, and these middle class kids, used to American, Latino, and European music, do not have a clue what to do with it.

     When a traditional “Zeybek” comes on the radio, Mahmud, used to what is considered the poor or lower class traditional music, gets up to dance!  And these ‘rich’ kids learn from him!!  This was a tears of joy moment for me, as I also happen to love the history and style of the traditional Zeybek (claimed by the Greeks as the Zeibekiko), and it’s fierce spirit.

    Thank you again, Sihirli Annem, for pointing out that everyone has some part to contribute and to teach, if we will only listen instead of assume!

What a beautiful episode ending!!

–

–

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to be more open to the needs, feelings, and happiness of others.

Next week will be blm/ep. 13: Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e13) And Would You Want to Go Back & Be Young Again?

…

Hoşça kalın!

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

World Community: New Years Wishes

Happy New Year 12023

                 Fun with Languages Friday becomes today, but as with last year, and now with a summary translation, we go back in time a few years, and a couple of continents, to Turkey.  I learned much of my spoken Turkish over meals with neighbors, and  by watching Sihirli Annem, our delightful Turkish Tuesdays family show in the evenings after work.  It has been described as a Turkish version of the 70s show Bewitched, but I’d call it more of a Bewitched meets Harry Potter ala modern Turkey.

   Minute 17:09 of this Sihirli Annem video episode clip: A beautiful wish for world peace

   And the summary of the entire video:

 

Ok, why was I sure that there was a CC and an English subtitles option when I looked at this video clip before I linked it?

To summarize, first, the kids are arguing with the father (Sadik, a wonderful name meaning Loyal) about being too young to have a mobile phone, and then the mother in law, Dudu, causes a record snowstorm to hit Istanbul, for which she is punished by Perihan (the President of the Fairies) with an order to deliver presents to each of the 7 billion normal people on earth, including in Antarctica, individually! They have conflated the winter holidays, giving Christmas presents on New Year’s Eve, probably to avoid the religious aspect, as Turkey is technically a secular but majority Muslim country. So, by minute 17:19, when we see the beloved late actress Defne Joy Foster look up, the Fairy Leaders, starting with the lady, as it is a matriarchy, are asking the kids not to make the same mistakes the adults have made, and reminding adults that we borrow this world from the children. Then, wishes for a better new year for all of the world.

I can never watch this clip without crying.

     I also have a short story series going,  called   Ann&Anna, the story of an escape.  I  hope that this series will move you to learn more ways to help use our history to build new tools.

Part 13 was on a Slave Escape Sunday, if you enjoy historical fiction.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Shira

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how language learning may encourage empathy-building cooperation, and might help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.

Toward Peace,

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

 

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e11) What is Really the Best Mother’s Day Gift?

  Last week, we wondered, on (ep10 ) Turkish Tuesday,  how #LanguageLearning Might Help Change Jealousy to Empathy, and

this week, we see one possible way, in bölüm/episode 11:  

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.

This episode is about mother’s day. This includes also mothers in law, and both of them have announced to stay the weekend with Sadik and Betüs.

However, the two grandmothers do not get along and are in a competition about which one of them is better liked, the more accomplished, and giving larger presents.

What a tiny chocolate she gave!

Dudu does not take into consideration that she is a fairy and can produce anything with magic, while Sadik’s mother is a widowed retiree. But the latter also has her stings …

I never see you with knitting needles in your hands: Do you not know how to knit?

Dudu and Eda plan a spell again to break up Sadik and Betüs again, this time they include Sadik’s mother in the spell and change her into a terrible commandeering old hag, who constantly hurts Betüs’s feelings. Dudu hopes that this will lead to an argument between the couple so that they break up.

You, over whose head this is turning, will become a harsh person!

When even the children notice that there is something wrong with one of their Grandmas, Betüs gets suspicious and helds council with aunt Perihan, who goes back in time until the spell casting and deletes everybodies memories of what had happened.

For mother’s day, Cilek has made a vase with flowers for Betüs, Cem painted flowers, and Ceren wrote a letter in which she expresses their feelings towards Betüs.

How can I feel anything against this picture of a happy family?

Everybody is happy at the end, and even Dudu drops a tear when she sees the happy family. Eda is getting an insight.

I don’t understand, mom, why are we trying to break them up?

…

Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

…

     This was such a beautiful episode, with the kids presenting their gifts to the parents, and Ceren asking to wait until the two of them were alone to read her letter (now that the kids are no longer at war with the parents’ privacy!).   That letter, written by Ceren to Betüş on behalf of all three of the kids, was far and away the best Mother’s Day gift anyone has ever given to a mom: birth, adoptive, step, or otherwise.  In the letter, Ceren tells Betüş of how when she first married their dad, she and Cem didn’t want her, the step-mother, to try to replace their late mother, dead about one year ago, if memory serves.  She goes on to say that now, the kids think of her when they think of all of the things that their late mother used to do, and that they have really come to think of her as a mother, and even though, of course, she cannot replace their late mom, they are sure that their mother would love Betüş as they now understand that Betüş loves them.  And they have come to love her, too.   (I’m in tears just remembering that last scene of this episode, yet again!  Another handkerchief, please! -Shira)    And that last scene, with both parents in tears as Betüş reads the letter aloud to Sadık, and then the two parents going into the kids’ room, and being welcomed by the kids, with open arms, just as the parents so often welcome the children into their arms.  But this time, it is Sadık and Betüş kneeling in the arms of their three children, being cradled and loved. 

What a beautiful episode ending!!

–

–

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to be more open to the needs, feelings, and happiness of others.

Next week will be blm/ep. 12: Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e12) And Can Rich Folks Learn From The Poor?  ,

…

Hoşça kalın!

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesday (Türkçesi salı günü): Sihirli Annem (s1e10) #LanguageLearning To Change Jealousy to Empathy??

  Last week, we saw   (ep9 ), and how  #LanguageLearning Might Help With Changing Domestic Violence to Empathy?   .

This week, we see bölüm/episode 10:  

 

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.

 

…

Dudu is conspiring how to break up Betüs and Sadik, of course, and Dudu found another spell for Sadik to fall in love with someone else. She chose Suzan for that purpose, married to Avni. She and Eda don’t seem to care that they will break up two marriages. Avni knows that some of them are fairies, but his wife does not believe him.

It will be love at first sight for Sadik and Suzan!

This evening I will explain the problem, and then I’ll explain to you what we will do about it!

This leads to problem number 2: How to prevent Suzan from divorcing Avni without disclosing that there are fairies? Aunt Perihan plans to assemble the Fairy committee.

 

At least the problem with Avni having seen fairies seems to be solved by the Fairy Committee:

In a few minutes, everything he saw having to do with Fairies will be completely forgotten!

One problem out of the way, but the spell to make Suzan and Sadik fall in love worked and ends up in a brawl in Betüs’s café.

How did we not realize this,  your mother did all of this, once again!

Dudu, however, reveals herself by slapping Perihan through the magic mirror, and she and Betüs understand that everything is her work again.

They won’t remember having been the victims of this awful magic

They turn the time back by magic to before the moment when Sadik and Suzan fell in love, and this time Betüs will punish Dudu and Eda. She sends Dudu, Eda, Umur (Dudu’s new boyfriend) and the dog Taci (Betüs’s and Eda’s father) on a world trip reduced to thumb size.

     Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

…

 

 

 

     Jealousy is a natural human emotion, but we can learn to use our empathy and be better than this, Right, Thinking Readers?

–

 

–

 

 

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to be more open to the needs, feelings, and happiness of others.

 

 

Next week will be blm/ep. 11, a very special episode: Turkish Tuesday: Sihirli Annem (s1e11) What is Really the Best Mother’s Day Gift?  ,

…

 

 

Hoşça kalın!

 

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesday (Türkçesi salı günü): Sihirli Annem (s1e9) #LanguageLearning for Changing Domestic Violence to Empathy?

  Last week, we saw Çilek arrived!! (ep8 ), and asked about  Turkish Tuesday (Türkçesi salı günü): Sihirli Annem (s1e8)  and  #LanguageLearning for Orphans?  .

This week, we see bölüm/episode 9:  

The summary comes from a fellow blogger (Birgit)’s point of view.

:

Sadik comes home beaten up. He interfered with a neighbour hitting and punching his wife. The neighbour then hit Sadik and told him not to meddle with his private affairs.

“I looked up from the ground as this guy was stomping me!”

The whole family is horrified about the way the man treated his wife and their father.  Betüş wants to go to the neighbour and give him a piece of her mind, even the children roll up their sleeves and want to join her. But Sadik tells them that the police came and took him with them.

Dudu, who watches this scene through her magic mirror gets the idea to turn Sadik from gentle lamb into a brutal macho, which should Betüş want to divorce him.

“If I turn Sadik into a jealous, heartless macho…”

Eda brings a letter from Betüs’s friend over and scoffs at hers and Sadik’s loving behaviour, as she knows about her mother’s latest spell. She is jealous of the good relationship her sister has. She also thinks that their father prefers Betüş and is sad and jealous about that too.

“Just wait until tomorrow and see how your thoughtful wonderful husband is!”

Dudu’s spell is successful, and Sadik is starting to behave very badly towards his whole family the next morning. He even hits his boss, when he calls him incapable.

Dudu watches how badly Sadik treats Betüş now and is happy that they will soon be divorced. Taci, her dog/husband cannot understand how a mother can do that to her own daughter.

“How can you so heartlessly hurt your own child like this?”

Taci got out of the castle in the meantime and went to Perihan to tell her everything about Dudu’s nasty spell.

When Sadik nearly hits her, Betüş takes Cilek the little fairy girl and goes to her mother’s castle. There they find Taci gone. When Cilek sees how much Betüş loves and misses her father, he regrets having been so disrespectful to him when they first met.

Eda comes back from a date crying because her boyfriend (Eminem) dumped her. But when she hears that her father is missing, she forgets all about her own trouble and tells everybody to look for him. They cannot find him, and when they get back to the castle, Perihan is there. She tells Betüş about the spell that her mother has put on her husband. Eda seems to be ashamed, while Dudu still claims that she did it for her daughter’s sake who would be better off without her silly husband.

“But if you feel nothing for Sadik, didn’t you at least think of me and the kids?”

Perihan forces Dudu to revoke her spell and punishes them to go to Iraq and eliminate the war damages.

–

     Many, many thanks to Birgit, of the Stella, oh, Stella blog, for all of the of the English and image content, today.

…

So my question, Thinking Readers, is this:  at moment 5:22 (5 minutes into the episode, so easy to find it…) in the episode, Taci says to his wife Dudu:

“Yasamadin tabii, bilemezsen.”  /  “You haven’t experienced it, so of course, you wouldn’t know or understand it.”

But, must one actually live through an experience in order to understand it, really?  There are studies which show that both foreign language exposure and also reading novels help to build the ability to see from another person’s perspective, so are there not, clearly, then other ways of being able to understand the pain of another person without directly experiencing it oneself?   He (Taci, her former husband now unjustly forced to live as a dog) explains to the disdainful Dudu that women like Firuze are often trapped by economic or other circumstances in abusive relationships which they have no power to get out of without some kind of outside assistance, especially financial as well as emotional.

…

Notice that Betüş also has no understanding of the neighbor lady’s reasons for not divorcing her abusive husband.  Having a protective (at least from all but herself, Dudu, that is) family makes a tremendous difference.  Having grown up protected until she decided to oppose her mother’s will, even Betüş Fairy cannot understand tolerating such an abusive relationship.  The rich, either in money or in family love, cannot understand being alone in a hostile world, at least not without looking into it carefully.

Right, Thinking Readers?

–

For instance, from moment 14:32 to 14:44, the kids (rich in comparison to her) tell Firuze about free resources to get computer tech. learning for her kids, which will in turn help all of them over time.

–

        Hopefully, the empathy that studying languages builds, and a little more good example via story, will help all of us learn to be more open to the needs, feelings, and happiness of others.

Next week will be blm/ep. 10: Turkish Tuesday (Türkçesi salı günü): Sihirli Annem (s1e10) #LanguageLearning To Change Jealousy to Empathy??

…

Hoşça kalın!

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing, or even writing a guest blog post here, about #ProjectDoBetter.  Phase I aims to build empathy for public goods (libraries, transit, healthcare, and education) via language study and story, among other tools.

Shira Destinie A.  Jones, MPhil

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.