Asuchi happily bounded up the steps outside the Bibliotheca Conscientiae. It’s been too long, he thought, trying and failing to suppress a grin from imposing itself on his features. Asuchi was a bit of a bookworm, and the library was one of his favorite places in all of Kumo. Not only was it the heart of all learning and information in the village, the architecture was breathtaking. It was a beautiful sight, and he couldn’t help but get giddy when he saw the building’s shape on the horizon.
As one hand grasped the threshold, the other swung the door inward. He looked around, still smiling. He felt at home here. Nodding at the librarians, he walked purposefully through the entrance corridor toward an area of the library he knew all too well: The Protected Records.
Asuchi nodded to the guards, they were there to keep any riffraff out of the area. The Protected Records were only accessible to Cloud natives, but his headband marked him as one of Cloud’s shinobi so he was let through without much hassle. Walking through shelves piled high with books older than he could even imagine, Asuchi saw one that caught his eye. Without slowing down, he slid it out from the archive, stowing it under his arm. He sought out a corner of the library, finding a comfy chair with a lamp and an end table waiting for him. He smiled once again. He really did love this place.
The book dropped onto the table with a thud accompanied by a small plume of dust. This book obviously hadn’t been read in a while. It was a good place to start.
Asuchi had been studying the ancient language of Kumogakure for years now. Well, the Vulgar variant to be precise. He longed to pursue the Classical language as well, but that required Jounin rank and permission from the Raikage himself, so he was content with what he could get. He might as well master Vulgar Kumo before he moved on anyway.
He could remember as a teenager coming to the library and plopping down with books specifically designed to teach the language spread all across a table. The first stage of learning a language is always rough. You learn simple words and short little phrases, stuff that stands on its own and is necessary for conversation, albeit basic. Things like, (1)“Γεια σας”, (2)“Το όνομά μου είναι Asuchi”, and (3)“Πού είναι η τουαλέτα”. This was a basic grasp, enough to communicate to someone that you knew just enough of the language for it not to be useful. Fortunately, Asuchi breezed past this part relatively quickly. Never underestimate what a teenager can do. They usually have all the free time in the world.
He remembered hitting his first wall with verb conjugation and tenses. For some reason, those didn’t play nice with him. He handled them just fine in his native tongue, but Ancient Kumogakurian threw him for a loop. He ended up mixing up phrases like, (4)“Εμείς θα πάμε αργότερα,” and (5)“Έχουμε περάσει αργότερα.” Both were similar and valid sentences, but they had different meanings. Mix them up and you suddenly sounded like you had brain damage. But, as with all things, throw enough time at it and it becomes insignificant. Such matters were no longer of any concern to him; he could conjugate with an arm tied behind his back! How does that affect your ability to conjugate verbs, you ask? Good question, it doesn’t. That’s why it doesn’t impede Asuchi.
Nowadays his grasp of the language was sufficient that his “studying” no longer consisted of going over drab words in drab books, making sure he knew the difference between homophones such as (6)“υιός” and (7)“ιός”. It was much more fun. He could read books in Vulgar Kumo! His vocabulary probably wasn’t up to the point it should be, and he frequently had to infer the meanings of words from those around him, but he could largely get through works of fiction.
This was how he chose to spend his study time now. He collapsed down into the chair, back against one arm and legs sprawled over the other. He grabbed the book off of the table and flipped through the first few superfluous pages, settling down on the beginning of chapter one. The shinobi started to read, (8)“Τα δέντρα ξεπρόβαλε στο βάθος. Το κόμμα των ανδρών επιβραδύνθηκε καθώς πλησίαζαν στο γκρεμό. Ένας μεγάλος άνθρωπος στο μέτωπο, που χαρακτηρίζεται ως ο ηγέτης από ένα φέγγος κορώνα επάνω από το κεφάλι του, μίλησε στην αποσιωπούνται τόνους για την υπόλοιπη ομάδα...”
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[Learning Vulgar Kumo]
WC: 765
As one hand grasped the threshold, the other swung the door inward. He looked around, still smiling. He felt at home here. Nodding at the librarians, he walked purposefully through the entrance corridor toward an area of the library he knew all too well: The Protected Records.
Asuchi nodded to the guards, they were there to keep any riffraff out of the area. The Protected Records were only accessible to Cloud natives, but his headband marked him as one of Cloud’s shinobi so he was let through without much hassle. Walking through shelves piled high with books older than he could even imagine, Asuchi saw one that caught his eye. Without slowing down, he slid it out from the archive, stowing it under his arm. He sought out a corner of the library, finding a comfy chair with a lamp and an end table waiting for him. He smiled once again. He really did love this place.
The book dropped onto the table with a thud accompanied by a small plume of dust. This book obviously hadn’t been read in a while. It was a good place to start.
Asuchi had been studying the ancient language of Kumogakure for years now. Well, the Vulgar variant to be precise. He longed to pursue the Classical language as well, but that required Jounin rank and permission from the Raikage himself, so he was content with what he could get. He might as well master Vulgar Kumo before he moved on anyway.
He could remember as a teenager coming to the library and plopping down with books specifically designed to teach the language spread all across a table. The first stage of learning a language is always rough. You learn simple words and short little phrases, stuff that stands on its own and is necessary for conversation, albeit basic. Things like, (1)“Γεια σας”, (2)“Το όνομά μου είναι Asuchi”, and (3)“Πού είναι η τουαλέτα”. This was a basic grasp, enough to communicate to someone that you knew just enough of the language for it not to be useful. Fortunately, Asuchi breezed past this part relatively quickly. Never underestimate what a teenager can do. They usually have all the free time in the world.
He remembered hitting his first wall with verb conjugation and tenses. For some reason, those didn’t play nice with him. He handled them just fine in his native tongue, but Ancient Kumogakurian threw him for a loop. He ended up mixing up phrases like, (4)“Εμείς θα πάμε αργότερα,” and (5)“Έχουμε περάσει αργότερα.” Both were similar and valid sentences, but they had different meanings. Mix them up and you suddenly sounded like you had brain damage. But, as with all things, throw enough time at it and it becomes insignificant. Such matters were no longer of any concern to him; he could conjugate with an arm tied behind his back! How does that affect your ability to conjugate verbs, you ask? Good question, it doesn’t. That’s why it doesn’t impede Asuchi.
Nowadays his grasp of the language was sufficient that his “studying” no longer consisted of going over drab words in drab books, making sure he knew the difference between homophones such as (6)“υιός” and (7)“ιός”. It was much more fun. He could read books in Vulgar Kumo! His vocabulary probably wasn’t up to the point it should be, and he frequently had to infer the meanings of words from those around him, but he could largely get through works of fiction.
This was how he chose to spend his study time now. He collapsed down into the chair, back against one arm and legs sprawled over the other. He grabbed the book off of the table and flipped through the first few superfluous pages, settling down on the beginning of chapter one. The shinobi started to read, (8)“Τα δέντρα ξεπρόβαλε στο βάθος. Το κόμμα των ανδρών επιβραδύνθηκε καθώς πλησίαζαν στο γκρεμό. Ένας μεγάλος άνθρωπος στο μέτωπο, που χαρακτηρίζεται ως ο ηγέτης από ένα φέγγος κορώνα επάνω από το κεφάλι του, μίλησε στην αποσιωπούνται τόνους για την υπόλοιπη ομάδα...”
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Translations said:
[Learning Vulgar Kumo]
WC: 765