Writing books
So talking with my wife the idea came up, as a project of sorts, what if I were to write a chinese-learning book for a spanish speaking audience? There are virtually no such books out there, it's interesting. Okay maybe recently there have been a few. I do have one in my possession, actually. I still think I could do a bit of a decent job, maybe?
Honestly my Chinese isn't even that good, but I wouldn't let my readers know that ;-) And anyway it would be a beginner's book. I would put most of my energy into making it accessible, hopefully inviting and entertaining. It would be nice to have a project like this.
I have had other ideas, mostly related to languages: A grammar of the Indo-European family. Not of the PIE reconstruction, for which after all there is no grammar. I mean a sort of "meta-grammar" that covers the features common to all the major sub-families of this huge group, as well as their differences, so as to gain a bird's view of the family as a whole and a roadmap to understand how other languages in that family resemble and differ from the ones the reader may already know....
That last one would be a hell of a project. I would need to dive into philology, learn a bit of the grammars of representative languages in each branch of the family, and do a lot of vocabulary and etymological research. It would surely take me years to even get to a first draft. The idea is quite seductive, but also quite daunting!
Another, slightly less ambitious project, maybe a sub-project of the previous one, would be a "polyglot dictionary" or maybe a "polyglot glossary" (a polyglossary, perhaps? :-) that would be something of a subset of the previous idea limited to vocabulary and etymology, and a smaller set of languages (namely, the ones I am already studying).
I have never written a book, I don't know if I would be qualified to write any of this. I don't know if I would have the energy, or the discipline to pull any of this off.
My mind wanders too much. One day I am reading history, the other sociology or economics, another ecology, and yet another I am reading religions or mysticism. On friday I say fuck all of this in a meltdown, on saturday I am scavenging through the pdfs I saved here, deleted there, kept scattered through several filesystems, and try to put them together in the backup. Then on Sunday I vehemently promise I won't repeat this pattern again, and then comes Monday again, hoping libgen doesn't disappear anytime soon.
I have a really hard time accepting my situation: right now I have some time -never nearly enough, with plenty of things to do at home (thank god)-, I have a computer, a shitload of books. But what if tomorrow I don't? I am always expecting the imminent collapse of everything, the big shutdown, WWIII, the impending catastrophe just around the corner, which will force me to read from the book of nature because all screens will be fried, or whatever. And yet the day never seems to come. How can I accept the fact that doomsday may never come? It is my biggest fear, to live to an old age and never see the collapse of industrial society and of the (mis)"information age".
So, should I write this? At any rate, I can only fail, so why not try, then? Worst part is, if I get any comments on this, they are likely to be words of encouragement. It would be refreshing to get someone to tell me you can't do this, it's too ambitious a goal, you are not a scholar, you don't have the training, you have never done anything like this, you don't know what it's like YOU'RE TOO OLD! It's disheartening to think people are so willing to encourage me and root for me, even if that's against all odds.
So, should I do this?
Please say no.
Replies
How about an article first or a website?
Might feel a lot less intimidating. It'd be like Tae's Kim Grammar Guide for English speakers to learn Japanese. You can organize it similar to a wiki guide and then, if people respond well to that content, then you can consider turning it into a proper book.
Though I would say that you should probably invest more time into the needs of Spanish speakers looking to learn Chinese. That may give you some more focus (ex. business, travel, culture, etc.).
Possibly more helpful:
> My mind wanders too much. One day I am reading history, > the other sociology or economics, another ecology, and yet > another I am reading religions or mysticism. On friday > I say fuck all of this in a meltdown, on saturday I am > scavenging through the pdfs I saved here, deleted there, > kept scattered through several filesystems, and try to put > them together in the backup. Then on Sunday I vehemently > promise I won't repeat this pattern again, and then comes > Monday again, hoping libgen doesn't disappear anytime soon.
From:
Who Am I? - (Nan Yar?)
The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
https://nonduality.com/ramana1.htm10. How will the mind become quiescent?
By the inquiry 'Who am I?'. The thought 'who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.
11. What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought 'Who am I?'
When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: 'To whom do they arise?' It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?". The answer that would emerge would be "To me". Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?", the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense-organs, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called "inwardness" (antar-mukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as "externalisation" (bahir-mukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the 'I' which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity "I". If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).
12. Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?
Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is the same for both mind and breath. Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought "I" is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep sleep, although the mind becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of God, so that the body may be preserved and other people may not be under the impression that it is dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the mind becomes quiescent the breath is controlled. Breath is the gross form of mind. Till the time of death, the mind keeps breath in the body; and when the body dies the mind takes the breath along with it. Therefore, the exercise of breath-control is only an aid for rendering the mind quiescent (manonigraha); it will not destroy the mind (manonasa).
What the hell does this have to do with rock harvesting? ;-)
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