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Pain au chocolatIt’s no secret that pastry is one of France’s most popular cultural ambassadors. In fact, it’s hard to pass by a coffee shop, bakery or any sort of store that sells baked goods in the United States without encountering that crucial French pastry: the chocolate croissant. However, don’t start practicing your pronunciation of chocolat croissant just yet. The actual phrase for a chocolate croissant in French doesn’t use the word croissant at all. ... More Tags: food, French, newsletter
Mac and cheese in Hindi, doodh!About a year ago I spent a month travelling through India with my wife and 3-1/2 year-old son. Very quickly it was established that my son, Ivan, had an intense distaste for Indian food. ... More Tags: Hindi, newsletter, story
Go online!One of the greatest ways to explore a new language, at least without actually going to a place where people speak that language, is to explore the internet.... More Tags: newsletter, online course, tips
Growth in Mandarin Chinese immersionUSA Today adds to the conversation on the rising popularity of studying Mandarin Chinese as a second language with a look at the growth in immersion programs in the United States.... More
For Egyptian hieroglyphs enthusiastsThe Times has a great article on deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, with a link to the hieroglyphic “alphabet.” There’s even a quiz you can take, and if you want to go a step further, UPenn has a form that will allow you to inscribe your name in hieroglyphs. Mine’s a combination of an owl, an arm, a sphinx, and something that looks like the @ symbol, which made me look up the history of @. I never imagined the symbol went back all the way back to the Italian Renaissance. (ELHAM)
STOP…right there, pilgrimYou would think STOP on a bright red octagonal sign is imperative enough, but obviously not if we have to resort to these innovative measures: ... More
What dude, punk, hokum, and twerp have in commonThe New York Times explores Daniel Cassidy’s project of tracing the Irish origins of New York City slang: ... More
English as a global language, diversifiedThe Financial Times recently published an interesting article about English as a global language.... More
From banlieue to bestsellerThe Guardian and The Times examine Le Lexik des cités, a new book on French street slang sweeping the bestseller list in France, and discover the large influences of immigration, poetry, and music on the new French lexicon.... More
German language not under threat from EnglishAs English increasingly becomes the the international language of the internet, many European countries fear that the influence of English could be detrimental to the integrity of their language. But how great is the threat? Apparently, the German language is not at risk, according to a study. ... More
Complex words in other languagesTranslation is about nuance; there’s often meaning embedded in a word that is difficult to convey in another language using the same succinct package. Adam Jacot de Boinod has collected some of the more nuanced words from languages other than English in a new book, and The Times has a review. ... More
The Spanish language will be televisedAs the number of Latino characters on television increases, so does airtime for the Spanish language.... More
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