Monthly Archives

Some Americans DO speak several languages!

During my junior year abroad program in Tours, France, I did the typical college student thing and got myself a Eurail Pass. This brought me to Luxembourg, among many other places. I arrived late in the afternoon, chomped on a baguette and cheese on a park bench, and then made my way to the youth hostel.... More

Tags: American, French, German, Luxembourg, Luxembourgish, newsletter, study abroad
October 27, 2008

Be a copycat

Remember in school how the teacher always made you take notes in class? She could have given you a handout describing everything she was writing on the board, but she was teaching you a valuable process, one that could help you when learning a language: copying.... More

Tags: copycats, journal, language learning, newsletter, taking notes, tips
October 24, 2008

The International Year of Languages

Did you know that 2008 is the International Year of Languages, as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly? You can find a wealth of information about this year-long event, lead by UNESCO and supporting multilingualism and linguistic and cultural diversity, here.... More

Tags: diversity, multilingual, newsletter, UNESCO, United Nations
October 24, 2008

My Travel Words and Phrases: French Airports

From the very beginning, it can be intimidating and endlessly frustrating just trying to get around in a foreign country. Sure, those signs are “self-evident” to residents, or perhaps anyone who speaks the language, but what if you’ve never been there before, and don’t know the language at all? And, to top it all off, this is an issue that you have to deal with immediately, as soon as you get off that plane. And then yet again when you leave.... More

Tags: airport, language, Paris, travel
October 24, 2008

Ireland’s Language Dilemma: Gaelic and Immigrants

Time Magazine looks into Ireland’s language dilemma: the challenge of encouraging an Irish language renaissance without alienating foreign-born immigrants.

In places like Ennis, a town in southwest Ireland, immigrants are beginning to claim those assets for themselves. Like Lucan, the town’s population has also radically diversified over the past decade. Schools have shifted gears accordingly, setting aside a minimum of 5% of places to foreign-born students. The town’s Irish language school, Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg, surpassed the figure this year, with 10% of its admissions made up of children of immigrant parents — Nigerian, Polish, Dutch, Ghanaian and Spanish among them. Initially, says principal Dónal O hAiniféin, the school was not an obvious choice for immigrants, but as their communities put down roots, “They tell me, ‘My child is Irish, I’d like him or her to be fluent in the Irish language.’” Schools around Ennis are now discussing raising the required minority admission rate to 25% in 2009.

(via The Morning News)

Tags: Gaelic, Irish
October 24, 2008

The Language Advantage

It’s that time of year. We’re all glued to the television, waiting to see who will make the first big mistake. Who will commit a cultural gaff so unforgivable it will lose them the entire competition. Who will come out unscathed on the other end as victors, having jumped through hoops, traveled far and wide trying to win favor from the locals and avoid cruel tricks played by their rivals along the way. Politics? Who said anything about politics? I’m talking about The Amazing Race. While I admit it’s a guilty pleasure, I also watch the show religiously with a linguistic interest. It seems to be a given that the teams with a bit of Spanish or French under their belts have a slight advantage. It’s also obvious when teams have mastered a few key phrases in each language: “faster” and “we’re in a race” seem to be popular expressions. (Incidentally, all those women saying obrigado — “thank you” — to their cab drivers across Brazil? Good try, but ladies, change the “o” for an “a” — obrigada is what women say.) Even having a capacity for quick language study has its benefits to the show’s contestants, sometimes in a very direct sense. Last season, contestants were asked to learn 10 words in the Mòoré language as part of the Burkina Faso leg of the race. And on last night’s episode, language played a bigger role than even some viewers might have realized. The contestants found themselves in northern Brazil. They had encountered a challenge which left one team member searching a wall covered in writing to find the name of their next destination. Contestants ran back and forth, writing down names and numbers, asking the judge if they were correct. One contestant walked back to the judge and recited one of the graffiti he’d written down in Portuguese. I nudged my husband, who was sitting on the couch next to me. “It’s an inside joke. He just said ‘the last team to arrive may be eliminated’ in Portuguese.” (This phrase appears on clues in every episode of the show.) I like to think that it was a joke shared by just a few of us, the contestant obviously not included. English is supposed to serve well for most travelers who spend little time outside of hotels, airports, and taxicabs, but the number of shots the Amazing Race editors stick in of team members running around foreign streets screaming “English?! ENGLISH?!” tells me otherwise. Which brings me to my favorite Amazing Race moment, when Season 7 contestants found themselves in Jodhpur, India, and had recruited a local to help them get train tickets. They told them where they needed to go and that they needed to find out from the ticket vendor when the next train departs. “Can you ask her that for us?” the contestants pleaded. The local nodded and turned to the ticket vendor. “They want to to know when the next train departs,” he said. In English. (SUZANNE)

Tags: language, television, travel
October 6, 2008