Watch Your Language Blog

Gell-Mann on the Ancestry of Language

Physicist Murray Gell-Mann expresses his opinion on theories of modern language ancestry at TED.com.

Tags: linguistics
June 25, 2008

 

May I translate your order?

Reuters reports on more linguistic changes being made in China in preparation for the Olympics.

If officials have their way, local newspapers reported on Wednesday, English-speaking visitors will be able to order “beef and ox tripe in chili sauce,” an appetizer, rather than “husband and wife’s lung slice.”
(SUZANNE)

Tags: China, Chinese, food, Olympic Games, Olympics
June 19, 2008

 

I say “kukuriku,” you say “cock-a-doodle-doo”

And who’s right? Well, no rooster would understand either of us, so let’s call the whole thing off. The words we use to refer to animal sounds are only vaguely imitative, and therefore, can differ quite a bit from language to language. If you’d like to explore these interesting and, sometimes, amusing differences, check out the links below provided here via Visual Thesaurus. Note the first link in particular, where the words for animal sounds in several different languages are recorded by the best voice talent available for the job—little children.

[ZVIEZDANA]

Tags: animal sounds, onomatopoeia
June 12, 2008

 

I want to learn a language, but…

I don’t want to learn any grammar. If someone were to say to you, “I want to learn how to swim, but I don’t want to get wet,” what would you think? That’s exactly what I think when someone says “I want to learn a new language, but I don’t want to learn any grammar.” For a language learner, grammar is, to push the metaphor a bit, like water for a swimmer. It’s all around you, you can’t avoid it, sometimes you struggle through it, but it holds you up and makes it possible to swim in the first place. But while swimmers are universally grateful for water, grammar gets a bad rap from a lot of language learners.... More

Tags: learning grammar
June 10, 2008

 

Multilingual Dream Team?

The Los Angeles Lakers may be down 2 - 0 in their NBA Finals series against the Boston Celtics, but perhaps their fans can take comfort in the fact that this year’s team is probably one of the most impressively multilingual editions in league history. It’s fairly well documented that Kobe Bryant speaks fluent Italian, but perhaps less well knows is that Ronny Turiaf speaks five languages - English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Creole (plus, the hair). And if that isn’t enough, the Lakers also feature international standouts like Pau Gasol, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Sasha Vujacic. Just think about all of the linguistic options they can employ to complain about the officiating!

Tags: multilingual athletes
June 9, 2008

 

How do you tawk?

On our team here at Living Language, even though not everyone is a native speaker of English, we tend to spend a lot of our time discussing (okay, making fun of) regional differences in the speech of those of us who are Americans. I’m the favorite target, frankly, having been raised in that state right across the Hudson River from our offices in Manhattan. But, I like to argue that a variety of English that makes a sharp distinction between talk and tock, hawk and hock, and Dawn and Don is richer and more interesting, right? I can only feel sorry for my phonologically impoverished colleagues.... More

Tags: American English, dialects, regional accents, varieties
June 6, 2008

 

Simpsons fun

Language play accounts for a good portion of laughs you get from “The Simpsons.” In case you ever wanted a taxonomy of Simpsons language jokes, linguist Heidi Harley has been putting it together in her blog for four years, going back to 2005.

Tags: humor, linguistics, Simpsons
June 6, 2008

 

A pineapple by any other name tastes just as sweet

For one summer in high school, we volunteered to host a student who was visiting from France. When we picked up François at the airport, he seemed nervous. His English was fine, but I think he was a bit stunned by the idea of suddenly coming to a new country, living with a new family, and trying to fit in.... More

Tags: French, language, newsletter, pineapples
June 5, 2008

 

Arabic and its many variations

Even for native speakers, Arabic is a complex language. The intricate and extensive grammar and pronunciation can be daunting for beginners, but all Arabic speakers also face the difficult task of understanding someone who speaks a different regional dialect.... More

Tags: Arabic, colloquial, dialects, language, Modern Standard, newsletter
June 5, 2008

 

Similar words

One of the most frustrating things about learning a new language can be memorizing all that new vocabulary. After creating your 500th or so flashcard (and after your fifth run to the drugstore for index cards), it can be difficult to stay motivated. However, if you’re ever feeling frustrated, it might be helpful to take a break and think of this: similar words.... More

Tags: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, language learning, newsletter, Portuguese, Spanish, tips
June 5, 2008

 

Even Dummies Can Learn With Living Language!

Well, maybe not, actually. At Living Language we’re always on the lookout for success stories about people who use our programs to learn new languages. So we were delighted to find this video, in which a dummy — or I suppose the term they prefer is puppet — learns Japanese with one of our courses. He starts out pretty well, but, unfortunately, we saw that we can’t quite put this one in the win column. Still, we’d like to congratulate Kearsley Malarkey for trying, and thank him for choosing Living Language. But, ahem, please choose one of our competitors for your next language. (CHRIS)

Tags: Complete Basic Course, Japanese, puppet
June 4, 2008

 

You might want to consider looking into…

“You might want to consider looking into using this type of evidence in your paper,” said my professor. Really?! With so many verbs (exactly four: “might,” “want,” “to consider,” “looking into”) between me and what I needed to do (“use a certain type of evidence to make my paper better”), I did not feel particularly compelled to do anything about it at all. In my mind, my professor was making a rather vague suggestion and naturally, my reaction was to take little notice of it.... More

Tags: English, making requests, politeness, sarcasm, speech acts
June 3, 2008