Watch Your Language Blog

Stroopwafels, anyone??

April 30th is Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day), the national holiday of the Netherlands in honor of Queen Beatrix. ... More

Tags: Dutch, Koninginnedag, Queen's Day, stroopwafels
April 29, 2009

 

Language of the Swine Flu

Probably the last thing most people are worried about when it comes to this latest outbreak is what to call it. (Although admittedly, we find the name ‘Swine Flu’ a bit odd.) Apparently, some people are concerned about the name, for a variety of reasons. Read more about it in this New York Times article.

Tags: disease names, language, Swine Flu
April 28, 2009

 

Who doesn’t love free music?

During my daily morning hunt for a music playlist, I stumbled across Minority Language Radio. It’s full of surprising snippets and songs by artists in many (potentially) endangered and minority languages. Check out the list of artists under Khoisan languages, if you’d like to listen to some songs with ‘click’ sounds. Miriam Makeba is mistakenly listed under that list—she sings in Xhosa which belongs to the Bantu languages. However, the clicks in Xhosa are generally considered to be adopted through strong historical interactions (in the past) with neighboring Khoisan populations. Xhosa of course, isn’t endangered, but here’s a link to the famous Qongqothwane song (also known as “The Click Song”) by Makeba. (ELHAM)

Tags: endangered languages, music, xhosa
April 20, 2009

 

Prisoners of pronunciation

The funny and bizarre mistakes teachers hear in language classes must fill many, many notebooks. I studied French in high school. One year, my French teacher asked everyone in the class to give a presentation on a current event. This was just after the first Gulf War, so many of the presentations had to do with war situations.... More

Tags: class, French, newsletter, story
April 16, 2009

 

Hindi time expressions

Most languages have separate words for yesterday and tomorrow. This probably strikes you as perfectly natural; after all, what two concepts could be more different? One’s in the past, and one’s in the future. One has happened already, and one hasn’t begun yet. One is all about memory, and the other is all about speculation and possibility.... More

Tags: Hindi, newsletter, vocabulary
April 16, 2009

 

Be patient

Yes, it’s true, learning a language does take time. But why does that have to be a bad thing? As is often said, most things that are really worthwhile take time and effort, and as a result are usually much more satisfying once completed. Plus, if you recognize that fact from the beginning, and are patient while you study, it is much more likely you will achieve your language learning goals.... More

Tags: newsletter, pace of study, tips
April 16, 2009

 

“I’m Nipmuc — this is my language.”

NPR has a great feature on the Nipmuc language, and how David White, an electrician from Massachusetts is doing his best to keep it alive. Today, less than ten people speak the Nipmuc language which is based on the Algonquian dialect. NPR also has a link to a beautiful spoken prayer in Nipmuc, be sure to give it a listen. (ELHAM)

Tags: endangered languages, nipmuc
April 15, 2009

 

The game’s afoot…

It’s generally hard to escape any kind of sports fervor, and this month I’ve been even more attuned to sports metaphors in everyday language. There are the easy ones: he took a shot, slam dunk, hit a home run, etc. Then there are the ones that baffle, a recent favorite being heat on the fastball.... More

Tags: english, language, sports
April 6, 2009