Operation X

My New Year Resolutions for 2022

Written by Dyami Millarson

I want to keep my New Year resolution modest compared to previous years:

  • Hopefully, this year will be a literary year (with a focus on traditional knowledge) because I like literature (as well as lore). So I really wish to read a lot in 2022, and I do not want to be too distracted from this. I want to significantly expand my knowledge base, since this is quite relevant for my work.
    • I want to learn more about Frisian traditional knowledge, and consequently I want to study the literature of all Frisian languages more thoroughly. For studying these languages, I have read a lot, but I want to even review what I have already read. So, I want to focus on reading a lot this year.
    • I want to read a great deal in Swedish, Elfdalian, High German, Luxembourgish, Scottish, Afrikaans, Swiss German, Groningen Low Saxon and East Frisian Low Saxon as well.
    • If time permits, I want to read more Latin since I enjoy reading Latin. I hope to read books ranging through simple, intermediate and advanced levels, and from a wide variety of periods, such as classical writings, medieval writings and modern writings. For instance, I want to read Marco Polo in Latin, I want to (re)read Old Norse literature in Latin (the Eddas, Egil’s saga). Being able to read old documents is the reward for learning Latin properly. If I have time, I want to read modern Latin books/texts as well for leisure.
  • Our mission statement says that we will focus on learning living Frisian languages. Having done that since 2016, I will focus primarily on studying extinct Frisian languages from this year – this is a major shift that was already beginning to take place in 2021 whilst I began making the transition from living to dead languages of the Frisian family. As usual, I mean by studying that I want to do my best to learn how to speak, write and read those languages; I want to master them as perfectly as possible. I hope to learn (all the) historical stages of West Frisian languages, East Frisian languages, and North Frisian languages. Having completed that, I want to learn how to speak, write and read Old Frisian. My preferred order of study is to start with the most recent stages and then gradually move to the most ancient stages: the recently dead languages first, the long-deceased languages last. It’s basically the ‘Last In, First Out’ (LIFO) principle applied to extinct languages, instead of the ‘First In, First Out’ (FIFO) principle.
    • If I am going to study Old Frisian this year, I hope that I will have enough time to brush up on my other old Germanic languages as well, such as Gothic, Old English, and Old Norse. I was particularly thinking about studying Old English and Old Frisian side by side, I thought that might be interesting. I will see whether I have enough time for that. If I have to choose just 1 language to brush up on, I will choose Old English, because I was recently studying some Old English text and I thought to myself: ‘I have not studied Old English zealously anymore for almost ten years, so it might be a good idea to give some special attention to Old English again. Compared with my Old Norse and Gothic, Old English is the language that I have relatively given the least attention to, although it does deserve more attention, and I should also encourage myself to use the language more, whether for debating with myself in my own mind, taking notes, blogging, reading, or making linguistic comparisons.’
  • If time permits, I want to focus on writing books, which might be a good means of sharing my (access to hidden) knowledge. I will simply write the books and publish them as ebooks so I can still edit them. I think that fits me the best. I keep engaged in things until I consider it perfect. I want to be able to keep working on my writings after publication. I published an extensive article on Wangerooge Frisian last year, and I published it in an imperfect, uncompleted form. I may draw inspiration from that. Just publishing things is the biggest hurdle for me, but if I know I can keep editing it, then it does not matter that much, because I can keep improving my work naturally. I keep striving for perfection and that is something that keeps me working on projects for a long time, but the danger of that is that things might not get published, and that’s bad, so I think that just publishing things and making on them after publication is a neat idea.
  • I will try to finish or pick up some (worthwhile) New Year’s resolutions from previous years, it does not matter that I had to postpone some of those resolutions to future years. I will complete everything satisfactorily eventually, but I am taking my time as I am in no rush. I am someone who likes working slowly and focusing on a few things at a time. The Latin saying that fits my overall life philosophy goes as follows: Festina lente. Haste slowly. Coincidentally, I brought this saying up in my 2021 New Year resolutions as well. The relevance of this saying – or slogan – can definitely not be overstated.
  • I want to specially dedicate some time to improving my eyesight this year. I have paid more attention to my teeth last years, and I want to redirect some of that medical attention to my eyes now, because the eyes are very important organs for observation, interaction, and communication. So they are worth setting aside some time for, and I will try to take care not to strain my eyes too much with reading books or use of electronics.

Published by Operation X

Operation X is a team of innovative language learners who wish to save, promote and study indigenous languages, integrate culturally and linguistically and philosophically with the respective language communities and earn community membership through hard work aimed at adopting and respecting the existing linguistic, cultural and philosophical norms of each community, and finally make each language thus acquired one of the official languages of the non-profit "Foundation Operation X for languages, cultures and perspectives." The languages that our non-profit Foundation officially recognises include (but are not limited to) Klaaifrysk, Wâldfrysk, Aasters, Westers, Eilaunders, Hielepes, Mòlkòrres, Seeltersk, Wangerōgersc, Harlingerland Frisian, Wursten Frisian, Upgant Frisian, Hâtstinge frêsh, Brêkleme frêsh, Trölstruper Freesch, Hoolmer Freesch, Hoorninger Fräisch, Bêrgeme frêsh, Halifreesk, Ingsbüllinge frėsh, Risemer Frasch, Naischöspeler Freesk, Hoorblinger Freesk, Halunder, Amring, Aasdring, Weesdring, Söl'ring, Hogelandster Grunnegers, Oostfreesk, and övdalsk.

29 comments

    • I did the most arduous work in previous years, so now I can just relax and read. 😌🤓
      Of course, I still need to study the historical Frisian language stages diligently and become fluent in them if possible.

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  3. If these goals are modest, then I’d hate to see how you define ambitious. 🙂 You are so fascinating and impressive to me – I love that you are in the world and doing this wonderful work.

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    • Thank you so much for this flattering comment, it reminds me I might be on the right track, every now and then I have the feeling that I do not achieve nor plan to achieve enough, but I am purposefully holding myself back from doing too much so as not to exhaust myself and to keep myself in optimal shape. Less is more sometimes, I have learned over the years. While I do not allow myself to do too much, I have to be highly efficient whenever I do something, and so restraining myself is a good motivator for improving my work process. I am not wasting as much time anymore as I once used to, I know what I aim for and how to go about meeting that goal. I have to add, though, that I used to have more energy in 2013 before I underwent an intestine surgery where more than half of my small intestine was removed due to the onset of sudden necrosis, but luckily this has not hindered me too much with regards to what I want to (gradually) achieve in life. By surviving the ordeal of the intestine operation, I have been given another chance at life and that especially made me want to make a real difference. When recovering in the hospital, a profound interest in Frisian was suddenly sparked in me, so I encouraged the nurses to speak Frisian, the nurses and other hospital staff were really fond of this as they had the opportunity to use Frisian even if I did not fully get what they were saying, I noticed it already that my spontaneous interest, and willingness to use this opportunity to hear Frisian, created a closer bond between me and the nurses. At that time, I just wanted them to speak in Frisian to me to familiarise myself with it a little, for which I am very thankful, yet it took until 2016 before I had recovered enough to study Frisian intensively, and consequently I would discover Frisian is made up of a diversity of languages, I had not known that yet back in 2013 when I encouraged the nurses to speak in Frisian to me.
      Time is running out for many minority languages, and that is why I am making haste. Despite having a sense of urgency, I nevertheless try to haste slowly. My idea about haste is aptly expressed in the Swedish word lagom, which is hard to translate but it means something along the lines of not too much and not too little.
      I worked very hard in previous years, so I am trying to relax a little this year and reward myself with reading texts in the various languages I have acquired over the years.
      Of course, I still want to acquire some new languages this year and do other important things for the study and preservation of minority languages, I cannot afford to only read texts.
      I am thinking about publishing an overview of all Frisian languages I have mastered so far, in what year I studied them and for how long I studied them intensively. This might aid my memory as well, since I do not really care too much about time and duration, all I care about is perfect results. Also, I do not answer people’s question of how many languages I speak in total, However, I am willing to give an overview of Frisian languages that I have studied, since that might help people recognise what Frisian languages exist, the study of the exact size of the Frisian language family is a largely uncharted territory and I hope my Frisian studies of the past 5 years might be a relevant contribution to charting that territory.
      Even though I might have achieved concrete results with regards to learning various languages, I am humble about my work because I am very critical of myself. I am not easily satisfied. I am eager to keep learning and to keep improving myself. I believe also that this is the right attitude towards language-learning, getting overconfident may undermine any genuine and honest attempts at becoming a native in any language. I do not settle for anything other than making a language that I study my native tongue, and so I have to stay very critical. Some people might perceive my attitude as a lack of confidence caused by perfectionism, but I believe that self-criticism is a necessary ingredient for success. Others might be more easily satisfied with what they know and so they might be tempted into accepting the status quo, but I am not like that. It might be an easier path to be satisfied with less, but that may also be an impediment to achieving more. Of course, it is always important to not neglect one’s well-being during the process of working hard to achieve things; it is important not to get overworked and that is why it is good to take a step back sometimes. I listen to my gut when it comes to taking enough rest. Whenever I feel like it, I will simply take a few days off. I make no problem about it. I notice it actually helps me know languages better when i do not use them for a while.
      Furthermore, my work is generally integrated into my life, so I do not experience my work as work as much. Since my work is an integral part of me and who I am, I can keep going.
      Thank you for reading my comment and I hope to see you around more often here on the blog. Happy New Year to you and my best wishes with regards to whatever you might dream of achieving this year!

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  4. Do you already know about the website “Behindthename”? It gives the history and meanings of names. I use it to name story characters, but it’s also very interesting for linguistic study.

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  5. You are blessed with talent I can only gape at in admiration! My Latin teacher (60 years ago) called me a Barbarian! I got more stuck on the English terminology than on the Latin: “Ablative absolute” for example! Wonderful resolutions! Do take care of you eyes! I have cataracts now which they won’t treat for another 12 months or so.

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  6. Hi Dyami,

    I am not a language enthusiast but reading your 2022 resolutions has ignited a spark within. I wish you all the best as you push towards checking off all the items on the resolutions list.

    If it’s okay with you, could you please share a copy of the e-book once you’re done? I’d love to share the experience.

    All the best. God bless and festina lente.

    Patrick

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  10. I am in awe! If I achieved a quarter of your list, I’d be over the moon! Vill Gléck am Neie Joer.

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  14. Good luck with your resolutions. I like your method of writing resolutions down in detailed fashion. It makes them so much more “real” if that makes sense?

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  19. Blue light can be quite hard on the eyes. I have lenses in my prescription glasses that offer some protection, but if you don’t need glasses for vision correction, you could find nonprescription glasses that shield you from blue light when using the computer. I have been told that they are available online.

    Please take care of your eyes. It sounds as if you give them quite a workout! ❤

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