Words
Usually, I prefer to express my creativity by means that are not written words. That said, sometimes I enjoy just writing things down and writing as well as linguistics as such still do end up being a noteworthy interest of mine.
Languages
Languages are fun! And I don’t just mean programming languages. Sure, those are fun too but the same fascination I have for them also applies to natural languages. While learning them all is something I do not find the time for, learning a bit about them and the interesting diversity of languages in the world can be a very intriguing journey. What kinds of alphabets do languages use? What is their word order? Do they use letters or symbols? Is there a system of syllables? Do they prefix or suffix articles? Once one starts learning a bit about languages, it can be awesome to learn about the differences.
As for my own proficiency, I am fluent in my native tongue of German. I am also fully fluent in English which I have been using regularly ever since my childhood. While English and German are the ones I would always advertise myself with, there are some additional noteworthy mentions.
When I was about 10 years old, I started teaching myself some basic mainland Portuguese. Due to lack of application and practice, I never extended my vocabulary enough to be able to have more detailed conversations.
In school, I was learning French for 5 years. I was pretty decent at it and still remember some basics but compared to other languages I wasn’t the most interested in maintaining it after leaving school, so my proficiency even fell behind my Portuguese.
In 2018, I started using Duolingo. I was curious about how the app works and how well it can help with learning a language. I started learning Swedish and completed the entire course within months. I complemented my learning from the app with digging through grammar rules and research myself, watching Swedish television, and listening to Swedish radio. I consider my proficiency decent enough to have conversations and survive in Sweden (disregarding the fact that Swedes are usually good at English anyway). Why I picked Swedish? It was a mix of being interested in a Nordic language and a lot of my favorite music bands being from Sweden.
Other than that, I have also been learning some Greek and Arabic on Duolingo - without particular aspirations for fluency. I wanted to learn more about those alphabets and how the languages work, and then take it from there to see how far I get.
Featured Blogposts
Well, I guess one way of occasional writing is also this very website! Granted, I do not post very often because I have a tendency to keep the things I do within their respective environment or community rather than shouting them out into the wider internet right here. My posts here are usually sharing some updates or announcements that go beyond local social groups.
Nevertheless, sometimes I also write posts that are a little more extensive and address a particular topic that may be of a more “timeless” interest. Here are links to some featured posts that you may find interesting.
Seraphim: The Ufumuk Invasion
In addition to my science fiction soundtrack album (which you can find available on the Music page) there is a free digital booklet outlining the story behind the music. You can get it here.
Prismatic Imperium
While this is not publicly visible, a fair bit of creative writing went into years of narrative roleplay on Discord with the Prismatic Imperium Elite Dangerous community.
Tales of Azeroth: World of Warcraft Fan Fiction
These are some fan fiction short stories set in the Warcraft universe. It was an attempt at writing down some backstory for my game character in a readable format and see both how well I could do it and if I manage to finish an entire season. A second season was planned and started but never finished. At this point, I don’t expect to find the time and motivation to work on and complete a second season - and I wouldn’t want to publish something unfinished.
Season 1
| # | Title | Released | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Veovis Legacy | May 4, 2016 | PDF MOBI EPUB |
| 2 | The Eversong Blades (Part I) | May 26, 2016 | PDF MOBI EPUB |
| 3 | The Eversong Blades (Part II) | August 9, 2016 | PDF MOBI EPUB |
| 4 | The Secrets of Power | November 15, 2016 | PDF MOBI EPUB |
| 4.5 | A Minor Enterprise (Winter Veil 2016 Special) | December 30, 2016 | PDF MOBI EPUB |
| 5 | The Meaning of Power | December 9, 2017 | PDF MOBI EPUB |
| 6 | Medusa | December 16, 2017 | PDF MOBI EPUB |
Special thanks to Patrick Dulebohn for proofreading these short stories.