Hekmatyar wrote: ↑Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:44 amI'd certainly be interested in a study, or some field work, on whether Malaysian and Malayalam are related to each other, very interesting.
Malay, the official and national language of Malaysia, is not related to Malayalam, but it has borrowed quite a few words from Sanskrit and, from what I understand, some from Tamil as well. The majority of ethnic Indians in both Malay and Singapore are Tamil, and Tamil is very closely related to Malayalam.
Are Malayalees likely to simply move to a new country?
Yes. I've been told that every family has at least one member who lives and works abroad.
Or just stay and work for some months, and then return to Kerala?
This happens, too.
I imagine it might be something like how it used to be in the US (workers from Mexico were allowed into the US for a short period of time to do seasonal work, and the requirements were lax), but I wouldn't have a clue of what it's like otherwise.
Malayalees in the Middle East are in a situation very similar to Mexicans in the US. They do most of the work in some parts of the Middle East but without getting much for it in return (but of course, whatever they do get is a pretty big deal back home). They have no political representation whatsoever since most of the countries where they work are monarchies. Some people are treated well, others are treated terribly, and still others are somewhere in the middle.
Perhaps the odd Malayalee or two that I spoke with just have a particular affection for Arabic, if it's the case that it's not viewed with a lot of prestige.
Malayalees may certainly see Arabic as more prestigious than Malayalam. It seems that Malayalees who work in the Middle East and then go back to Kerala speak (I guess Gulf) Arabic to each other when they meet, and sometimes accidentally slip into Arabic even when talking to their own families (where no one else speaks it). I don't know what Tamil attitudes towards Arabic are like, though.
I wouldn't say that you're wrong about most Indian immigrants being the "boring as hell" ones. At least from what I can tell, and with the scant few I've spoken to, they really do seem that boring. More like moving to the US was their step up, and that they're still very Indian, and it shows in that they never adapt to the culture, or care about it in any way. Their English is good, and that's about it. Which is a shame, really, that closing off must be somewhat lonely, and it also closes off me from learning more about them and their culture (I suppose that's rather selfish of me to feel that way, but I am a selfish person).
Most Indian immigrants I know here in Austin seem to have no sense of creativity, especially if they're men, and if they haven't seen any good movies lately, the stock market is down, nothing particularly interesting is happening at work, etc., men literally have no idea what to talk about with each other (unless somebody opens a bottle of wine; then they suddenly become talkative). Their wives are usually a little better about this (at least they have saris to show off to each other or gossip about all the women who were intentionally not invited to a party) but not by much. This is what happens when employers value things like programming skills over actual knowledge, and when you go through an education system for many years but don't really learn all that much.
Yes, that aspect of being forced to learn through exposure and simply not having any other, better resource fascinates me. I feel as though one could really thrive in that sort of an environment (providing that you have the strength of will, of course).
I've studied all kinds of languages in my life, but so far, I've never had to spend nearly as much effort learning any other language than I have had to learning my own. For me at least, it's a lot easier if everything is written down. Otherwise, getting the information you need takes forever.
I'm currently (unsuccessfully) learning Navajo and Thai, and I feel as though I may have to simply abandon Thai, which I've found odd. There aren't a great deal of resources on Navajo, however, I find that because of that I'm forced to make due and better study the materials I have. However, in the case of Thai, despite the many resources, there are virtually no native speakers who are willing to speak with me (plenty who are willing to speak with other Americans, however. I feel as though I'm the odd one out). I, of course, will never find myself in a situation where I'll require Navajo, and so the limit of no natives around me isn't a problem. However, the limit of no natives for Thai certainly proposes a problem, namely that the only reason I want to learn Thai is so that I can speak it. I'll probably just end up switching Thai for Malayalam, both unfortunately and fortunately. Hopefully I'll find some natives.
I happen to know a little bit of Thai, at least, but barely any Navajo, so maybe we can study all three languages together! (Or at least, we can study Thai and Navajo together, and I can help you learn Malayalam).
I'm glad you and your father are able to connect on language, that's a wonderful thing, I feel. Great to have a consistent source, and someone who's family, to boot. Definitely a wonderful thing.
It really is! My relationship with him was strained for a few years, and coming to realize that we can bond over our language and especially over literature written in it has been a huge relief for me.
Thanks again for responding, Vijay.
Thank you again, too!
I've just decided to edit this post, before someone else might point out my folly. I just realized that I had thrown Ojibwe under the bus earlier, despite the fact that I myself am learning Navajo. For that I can only apologize, I don't know why I'd been particularly rude to it. I was just looking for a little-known language to make a point with, I suppose.
Don't worry.
(I happen to be (very, very slowly) learning (or trying to learn) a couple of Algonquian languages, actually, in case you're interested. I've been studying Micmac (I hate how ridiculous that name sounds in English lol) and Michif, through which I've basically been learning Cree).
), but if you're interested in learning Malayalam, I'd be happy to try to teach you whatever I can and/or help you learn as much as I can. In the interests of not cluttering this thread up too much, though, it might be a good idea if we made a separate thread for this sort of thing (I think this is also true if you'd like to ask me more about the sociolinguistic situation and/or culture on this forum). 
