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February 2009 |
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Stay warm with Living Language this winter |
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If the February chill is keeping you indoors, it's the perfect time to start learning a new language. Living Language Complete Courses include everything you need to get started. These comprehensive introductions are available in Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Inglès, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, | |||
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and will teach you pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and culture. Each package includes a coursebook, 4 audio CDs, and a two-way learner's dictionary.* So relax, sit by the fire, and start learning today! |
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I had come to the U.S. for the first time and was trying to check into my hotel. "Do you have a room free?" I asked the person at the front desk. She looked at me in total surprise and replied, haltingly, "Sorry, sir … we don't have free rooms here." Needless to say, I was puzzled in return. I realized only later, however, what the problem was.
Do you have a language story that you'd like to share? Submit your experiences to us at livinglanguage@randomhouse.com. We'll pick our favorites and post them in this newsletter. 
Watch TV: the things you must do to learn a foreign language …
If you have access to a foreign language TV station, take advantage of it! It's an easy (and often cheap) way to experience the intricacies of a foreign culture and improve your foreign language abilities. Whatever your interest, there's bound to be something out there in your chosen language. Recently I've started watching soccer matches in Arabic and there's no denying that it's difficult to understand all that fast commentary.
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A good month to cut wood? Since it's the beginning of a New Year, it's as good a time as any to talk about the names of months in various languages. Most European languages use the same Latin roots for the names of months, which is why it's usually pretty easy to learn them. January, for example, is janvier in French, Januar in German, enero in Spanish, gennaio in Italian, januari in Dutch, as well as in Swedish. Even Hungarian, which is not an Indo-European language, calls the month január.
Also on the blog: 
No official language The United States has always been a multilingual society. Not surprisingly, English (82.10% of the population) is the most widely spoken language, with Spanish (10.71%) a significant second. … But did you know that in spite of both the vast diversity of languages spoken in the United States as well as the dominance of English in most governmental proceedings, the United States has never declared an official language? |
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