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A great way to improve your language skills

2013-12-18T08:02:00.000-08:00

Do you like reading? How often do you read? And how many books have you actually read let´s say in the last few months? The thing is that most people don´t read anymore. At least not books. Maybe we read newspapers or magazines and all these articles on the internet, but when was the last time we read an actual book? When I asked some of my friends about this, they didn´t even remember. It´s a bit sad, isn´t it?

And books are just great. You can learn a lot from books and it´s also a good way to relax. I think it´s much better than watching a TV or starting into the screen of your computer for hours and hours.

And even better than just reading books in your native language is to read books in foreign languages. You will learn more about the language and the way it actually works. And it´s a good way to increase the vocabulary and the language skills in general. If you want to read a book in a foreign language, you don´t need to understand every single word (even if you´re really good at that language you will always find some words you don´t know), it´s important to get the meaning. But if you want to you can write down every word that you don´t understand and translate it. Like that you will have a list of many new words to learn every day. You can also start reading the books you´ve already read in your language so it won´t be that difficult to understand for you, especially if you don´t master the foreign language in which you´re reading.

So just go to the bookstore, pick your favourite book and read it in another language. Or pick any book that looks interesting to you. And the next time someone asks you about books you can talk about all the books you have read recently and those you are reading right now. And you will feel great.

German language

2013-12-17T03:22:00.000-08:00

German is the official language of Germany, Austria and Lichtenstein and one of three official languages of Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. It belongs to the West-Germanic group of the Indo-European language family, along with English, Dutch and Frisian. It has about 100 million native speakers. It is also the most widely spoken native language in the European Union.

There are many German speaking communities all around the world. For example the former German colony of Namibia and then other countries that were a destination of German emigration in the past such as USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and many other countries. It is one of the official languages of the European Union and one the three working languages as well. It is the second most spoken language in Europe just after English. It is the third most taught foreign language in English-speaking world, after French and Spanish.

Standard German did not originate as a traditional dialect of a specific region, but as a written language. Standard German differs regionally, between German-speaking countries, mostly in vocabulary and pronunciation.

The dialects of German are typically divided into High German and Low German. The Low German dialects are more closely related to the Lower Franconian languages such as Dutch than to the High German Dialects, which are closer to what we associate with the German that we hear on the international stage.

German is considered a difficult language to study by English speakers, with its long words, four noun case endings and three grammatical genders. On the other hand, there are many similarities between English and German.

The learning of German language is promoted by a number of organizations. The Goethe Institut, named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, aims to enhance the knowledge of German culture and language within Europe and the rest of the world. It is a non-profit German cultural association. It provides information on German culture, society and politics and it organizes many exhibitions and conferences.

Is it enough to speak only English?

2013-12-16T02:27:00.002-08:00

We live in a world with English as a global language. English dominates pretty much everything - business, internet, science, international relations, culture, tourism etc. English is spoken all over the world and taught in most schools as a second language. It also influenced many other languages that took a lot of words from English. English is just everywhere. But is it enough to speak only English and no other foreign languages?

Many English native speakers, like the Americans or the British, would say yes. These nations aren´t very good at learning other languages because they think that they don´t need to. They just expect everyone to understand them.

I certainly think that it isn´t enough to know only English and I don´t really like this attitude. We live in a multilingual world. Yes, we should speak English because to be honest in today´s world we wouldn´t go very far without knowing this language. But we should know other languages as well. I think we should know at least one more language perfectly. Ideally Spanish or French, then we should be able to communicate in most parts of the world. And maybe another one or two languages just to be able to communicate. But we certainly shouldn´t expect everyone to understand English, especially if we travel to some tiny village in South America for example. I think when travelling it´s always good to learn at least few phrases in a language of a country we are going to. The effort always counts and people appreciate it more than you think.

Anyway, learning languages is fun, isn´t it? So why should we stick to one or two languages and that´s it? Learning languages is great for a brain, you also learn about new cultures, meet new people, it can help you to get a better job... And you can start right now, just pick a language.

Languages of South Africa

2013-12-13T06:35:00.002-08:00

South Africa is called the Rainbow Nation. It reflects the country´s cultural and ethnic diversity. The population of South Africa is one of the most complex and diverse in the world. It´s also a country with the most official languages. It has eleven official languages: Afrikaaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu. There are many other languages spoken in South Africa besides these official languages as the country lies at the crossroads of southern Africa. The unofficial languages are: Khoi, Nama, San, Arabic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu, Urdu and sign language. There are also a few indigenous creoles and pidgins.

English is South Africa´s lingua franca. It´s the most spoken language in official and commercial public life, a language of business, politics and media, but only the fifth most spoken home language. It´s also the language of learning and teaching in most schools. South African English is an established and unique dialect, with strong influences from Afrikaans and the country´s many African languages. Due to the language diversity most South Africans are multilingual. The most commonly spoken languages are Zulu, Xsosa and Afrikaans. The majority of people can speak some level of English.

Zulu, the most common language of South Africa is spoken by nearly 23% of the total population. It´s the language of the largest ethnic group in the country, the Zulu people. They take their name from the chief who founded the royal line in the 16th century. Zulu is an extremely regional language, with most of its speakers to be found in KwaZulu-Natal. Gauteng is the second province with the majority of Zulu speakers. The language is closely related to Xhosa.

Xhosa, South Africa´s second largest language, is spoken by 16% of all inhabitants. It is a regional language, with a third of its speakers living in the Eastern Cape. It´s also strong in the Western Cape.

The good news is that if you want to go to South Africa and be able to communicate you only need to speak English. Then you can start learning some of the other languages.

How to learn a new language

2013-12-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Each of us uses different methods when learning a new language, we all have our own ways that suit us the best and helps us to study more efficiently. Some of us prefer to learn at home, the others go to a language school or just move abroad and learn a language there. Still there are some basic methods we should follow if we want to learn languages properly.

I think the most important thing is to learn the correct pronunciation of the language. If you are learning a language by yourself, it´s good to buy a textbook with a CD. You can´t learn the right pronunciation just from a textbook. It´s very important to listen to the sound of language and also to learn how are the words spelled.

The second important thing to learn is vocabulary and grammar. The more vocabulary you know, the better. You may know the grammar and pronunciation but without knowing enough vocabulary you won´t be able to speak. It´s a good idea to set a reasonable target - how many new words you will learn every day and stick to it. You can make small notes and learn when you´re on your way to work or during the lunch break.

Once you are familiar with grammar and know the efficient amount of words you can start reading and listening. A really good and fun way to do this is to watch movies, read books and magazines. You can put the subtitles to movies to start with so it´s a bit easier for you.

The last point is to talk. The more you can talk the better. If you have a chance it´s always good to spend few months in a target country. That is the best way to improve your language skills. You will also meet the native speakers and learn something about the country and culture. It´s always a great experience.

So don´t waste any time and start learning a new language today, there´s no point to wait, the sooner you start the better.

Catalan language

2013-12-09T06:17:00.004-08:00

Catalonia is one of the autonomous communities of Spain. It comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. The capital of Catalonia is Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain. For me it´s one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Catalonia is also known for the Catalan nationalism. There has been a long debate over the past years whether Catalonia should become independent or not, and most of the political parties there are fighting for the independence. Future will show how will this question be resolved. When you talk to people in Barcelona you can see how proud they are. They don´t consider themselves to be Spanish and they believe they will become an independent nation one day.

Catalan is a Romance language with its origins in Catalonia. It is an co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community. It is also the official language of Andorra and a semi-official language in the city of Alghero in Sardinia.

Catalan evolved from common Latin around the eastern Pyrenees in the 9th century. During the middle ages it was a dominant language of the Crown of Aragon and it was used all over the Mediterranean. When Aragon was united with Castile, Spanish became the main language, but Catalan was still used by many people. Catalonia lost its autonomy in 1714, Spanish became an official language and the central government imposed restrictions on the use of Catalan.

After the end of Franco´s dictatorship Catalan has been recognized as an official language, a language of education and mass media. There isn´t another, such a large, billingual, non-state speech community in Europe. Today there is about 9 million Catalan speakers.

Chinese, a language of the future

2013-12-04T06:22:00.001-08:00

Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. Not so surprising, as China is the most populated country on the planet. It is also one of the fastest-growing economies. According to the numbers from 2013 it´s the world´s second largest economy and also the largest exporter and importer of goods.

There are many varieties of Chinese language, we are talking between 7 to 13 main regional groups of Chinese. The most spoken is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Yue and Min. These dialects are mutually unintelligible, but they share the common writing system. Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin Chinese. It is the official language of the People´s Republic of China, Taiwan and one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Chinese is considered to be one of the hardest languages to learn, mainly for the writing system. Chinese characters have a history dating back more than two thousand years. The early forms of Chinese characters were pictographs (graphic representations of real objects), but later on characters became more stylized and started to represent ideas as well as objects. Each Chinese character represents a syllable of the spoken language. Characters represent words and meanings, but not every character is used independently.

In an attempt to improve literacy, the Chinese government began simplifying characters in the 1950´s. These simplified characters are used in mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, while Taiwan and Hong Kong still use the traditional characters.

Learning Chinese can bring you interesting career opportunities, especially if you work in international business. China is becoming a really important player on the world market so knowing the language can bring many opportunities on a Chinese market for your company. Even though many Chinese speak English, they will appreciate if you know their language. And it might make the communication easier for them too.

Switzerland, a country with four official languages

2013-12-02T06:07:00.000-08:00

The Swiss Confederation is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 26 cantons with Bern as a capital. It is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita GDP. Zurich and Geneva have been ranked as the cities with the second and eighth highest quality of life in the world. One of the interesting facts about Switzerland is that it has a long armed neutrality. It has not been in the state of war internationally since 1815.

There are four official languages spoken in Switzerland: French, Italian, German and Romansh. The German region is in the east, north and centre, the French in the west and the Italian in the south. There are 64% German native speakers, 20% French speakers, 6.5% Italian speakers and less than 0.5% Romans speakers. Mostly we are speaking about Swiss German dialects, Swiss French and Swiss Italian. There is a small native Romansh speaking population in Graubunden in the east. The cantons of Freiburg, Bern and Valais are officially bilingual (German and French), Graubunden is officialy trilingual (German, Italian and Romansh).

In 17 Swiss cantons, German is the only official language. We are speaking about German dialects mostly, although Swiss Standard German is used in writing. French speaking part of Switzerland is called Romandy. Standard Swiss French and the French spoken in France are the same languages, although there are some differences. Italian Switzerland is the smallest part of the three main languages and the number has been desreasing because of the reduced number of immigrants from Italy in the country.
The main foreign language used in Switzerland is English. There are also many immigrant languages such as Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Dutch, Greek, Macedonian, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian. There are five sign languages used in Switzerland: Swiss-German, French, Italian, Austrian and German.

European day of languages

2013-11-26T07:43:00.002-08:00

There are 225 indigenous languages in Europe. That is quite a lot, isn´t it? So there is definately a reason to celebrate this language diversity. European day of languages is celebrated every year on 26th September. It was established by the Council of Europe and the main aim is emphasise the value of language learning and to encourage plurilingualism.

But how good are the Europeans in learning foreign languages? It is quite scary how many people are monolingual. Especially in the world of today, when we have so many opportunities to travel and learn new languages. English is still a number one language to learn. But it´s not enough to speak just English now. To be able to succeed in the world of today we need to speak additional one or two languages. And knowing languages opens doors not only to better job opportunities but also travelling, discovering new countries and understanding different cultures.

What is often missing when it comes to learning languages is motivation. Many adults face the fear of learning languages because they think they missed their opporunity. But it´s never to late to start learning a new language. It might be a bit more difficult when we are older but still we can do it. As long as we give it enough of our time and work on it there isn´t any reason why we couldn´t do it. Some people should just stop making excuses and wasting time and start learning. It isn´t so difficult really. And it feels really good going to a foreign country and being able to communicate with people. Of course you can speak English they might understand you but I think it´s the effort that counts. And it´s not about being able to speak the language perfectly to start with, sometimes it´s enough just to be able to understand and communicate.

Language diversity of Africa

2013-11-26T05:54:00.000-08:00

Africa is a continent of many different nations and cultures and also it´s the most linguistically diverse continent in the world. It is estimated that there are over 2000 languages spoken in Africa. They fall into six major linguistic families:

1. Afroasiatic languages - from North Africa to the Horn of Africa and Southwest Asia.

2. Nilo-Saharan languages - mostly in Sudan and Chad.

3. Niger-Congo languages - West, Central and Southeast Africa.

4. Khoe languages - in the desserts of Namibia and Botswana.

5. Austronesian languages - Madagascar.

6. Indo-European languages - Southern tip of the continent.

Multilingualism is very important in Africa. All African languages are considered official languages of the African Union. Official languages include also the former colonial languages - English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Millions of Africans speak them as either native of secondary languages. Other important official languages in Africa include Arabic, Berber, Swahili and many others.

For example Nigeria has over 500 languages, one of the greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world. The official language is English, the former colonial language. It is not widely spoken in the rural areas though, which includes about three quarters of the country´s population.

So what are the top ten languages spoken in Africa? Here´s the list: Arabic, Kiswahili, Hausa, English, Amharic, Oromo, Yoruba, Iglu and Zulu.

It´s interesting that Arabic is naturally not counted as one of the African languages. It is because that most of native African countries have a low percentage of Arabic speakers.

So Swahili is most widely spoken African language. It has more than 11 million native speakers and more than 120 million secondary speakers. It is spoken in these countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, southern Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, northern Mozambique and the Comoros islands.

English as a global language

2013-11-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

English is the only truly global language. It is estimated that about a billion people in the world use English either as their native, second or foreign language. English is used in over 70 countries as an official or semi-official language and plays a significant role in 20 others.

What does it mean exactly when we say that some language is global? Firstly it is a language that is spoken internationally of course. It is characterized not only by the number of its native and second language speakers, but also by its geographical distribution, and its use in diplomatic relations. English is a language used in business, science, computing, education, transport, politics and entertainment. It is a common language that helps people from different countries to communicate.

English was originally the language of the British, but now there are many varieties of English, including American English, Australian English, African English and Indian English.

There is a close link between language and power. Latin is considered to be the first global language. English became a global language as a consequence of British colonialism and the industrial revolution. After the World War II the United States emerged as a global superpower and they are still a leading economical power. Thinking about the recent development in the world it is likely that sooner or later English could be replaced by Chinese. But that is something that is not going to happen overnight.

The interesting thing about English language is the richness and depth of English´s vocabulary. The Oxford English Dictionary from 1989 lists 615.000 words in 20 volumes which makes it the world´s largest dictionary. In grammar English is simpler than most languages. Spelling and pronunciation is also quite easy. So compare to other languages it´s not a very difficult language to learn.

So really, no matter in which part of the world we live, we won´t get very far nowadays without the English language.

Why should we study foreign languages?

2013-11-20T03:44:00.000-08:00

There are hundreds of reasons why it is important to study foreign languages. Especially in today´s multilingual world that is closely connected through internet and where we can get from one side of the globe to another in just a few days. There are all these countries around the world to see, with all the different cultures to discover and interesting people to meet. We can live and work anywhere we decide to, there all these exciting opportunities around the world that are waiting for us. But to be able to do all that we need to speak foreign languages.

Fifty or hundred years ago languages weren´t that important maybe. People didn´t travel, many of them didn´t leave their hometown for all of their life. But the world has changed a lot and today we won´t get very far without languages.

So what are the advantages of learning a foreign language? First of all learning a second language increases the number of brain cells you have, it enhances your listening skills and memory. It also improves your analytical skills.

It gives you better opportunities on a job market. Most companies nowadays look for people who know at least one or two foreign languages. You will meet business partners from different countries and you can travel with work. Or you can just move to a different part of the world for a few years and find a job there.

It makes travelling easier. You can order food in a restaurant without a dictionary, ask for directions and mainly connect better with the people which will help you to understand their culture and customs, their way of life.

If you know a foreign language you can watch all these great foreign movies, different TV channels, listen to the music understanding what the songs are actually about, read books in original. The translation is never as good as the original.

And not just that, there are some many other advantages of learning foreign languages. Sometimes it can be a hard work but it is definately worth it and it pays off in the end.

Swedish language

2013-11-18T07:56:00.001-08:00

Swedish language, Svenska, is the official language of Sweden and with Finnish, one of the two national languages of Finland. It belongs to the East Scandinavian group of North Germanic languages. It developed from the Old Norse language of the German Viking peoples who once roamed Scandinavia.

It is spoken by about 8.5 million Swedes and about 500.000 people elsewhere, mostly in Finland, Norway and Estonia. It is the largest of the North Germanic languages by the number of speakers. It is closely related to Norwegian and Danish. Primarily it was influenced by Latin, German and Danish. Before World War II, it was also spoken in some parts of Estonia and Latvia.

Standard Swedish used today evolved from Central Swedish dialects of 19th century and is the predominant form of Swedish used in the country. It is derived mainly from the dialects spoken in the capital region around Stockholm. There are still regional varieties of the language, but the spoken and written language is uniform and standardized. Some dialects in the rural areas differ considerably from the standard language in grammar and vocabulary.

Swedish language shares close ties with English. A lot of Swedish words are very similar to English. So Swedes tend to learn English relatively easily. They have one of the highest levels of fluency in English. Almost everyone in Sweden speaks English also because of the trade links established after the World War II and a strong Anglo-American influence. English is a compulsory course taught in schools.

Swedish is noted for its musical quality. This results partly from the use of pitch accents, which sometimes serve to diferentiate the meanings of homonyms. Swedish grammar is simple. Swedish morphology is similar to English. Words have comparatively few inflections. There are two genders, two grammatical cases, and a distinction between singular and plural.

I think Swedish is definately an interesting language worth learning. If you speak English it won´t be that difficult for you.

Would you like to work as a translator for the EU?

2013-11-08T06:33:00.001-08:00

In today´s multilingual society there are many great job opportunities for those who can speak foreign languages. Many people dream of being a translator. It is an attractive and challenging job that gives you an opportunity to earn a good amount of money. If you are good of course. You can choose from a variety of options. It depends if you want to be a freelance translator which gives you a lot of independence or if you want to be emplyed by a certain company or institution. One of the exciting and highly rewarded opportunities is working as a translator for the European Union.

The EU constantly looks for translators to work for different EU institutions. Being a multilingual organization it needs a high quality translation. The role of the language services in the various EU institutions is to strenghten multilingual communication in Europe and to help its citizens understand EU policies.

So what is required from an ideal candidate for this job? You need to have a perfect knowledge, both written and spoken, of a language of the selection procedure (mother tongue or equivalent language), backed by a good knowledge of at least two other EU languages, one of which is German, English, or French. Another requirement is a degree-level education of course. You should be ambitious, self-motivated and determinated person with good analytical, communication and organizational skills. The ability to write is very important. Also you should be able to work as a part of a multi-cultural team. It is not essential to have a degree in languages or experience as a translator.

If you think you are a right candidate, after u apllied for a job position you have to pass several entrance exams, both written and oral.

It is a great opportunity to star a challenging career in a dynamic international environment that opens doors for many other opportunities in the future. So if you think it´s for you, you should definately go for it.

French, a universal language of culture and diplomacy

2013-11-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

French language (la lengue francaise) is a Romance language of Latin origin. Romance languages share the same grammatical structure and there are ofter similarities in vocabulary. So if you learn French, it will be easier for you to learn other Romance languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or Catalan.

French is a universal language of culture, art and business. It is one of the most popular languages amongst students. It is also considered to be one of the most beautiful languages in the world and it is often called the language of love.

The Academie francaise sets the rules of French language. It was founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu and it is based on the dialect of Paris. The majority of French words derive from Vulgar Latin.

French is spoken in many countries all around the world and it is a language spoken on all five continents. No other language besides English is as truly global as French. It is spoken by 75 million native speakers and 220 million as a foreign language. It is an official language in France and it´s also spoken in Monaco, Luxembourg, some parts of Belgium and Switzerland, in the Canadian province of Quebec, parts of North and Central Africa, Madagascar, Vietnam, Cambodia and the French overseas departments and territories.

It is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. It is one of the working languages of the United Nations and NATO. It is also one of the three procedural languages of the European Union, along with English and German, and the sole language used for the deliberations of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It is one of the working languages of many other international institutions. It has been an international language of diplomacy, even though English is taking over that role now.

French is definately one of the most important languages to learn. Knowing French can give you interesting career opportunities and the possibility to work in many countries all around the world.

Languages of the European Union

2013-11-04T02:41:00.000-08:00

The European Union has 24 official languages. They are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish. So there are fewer official languages than the member states, as some of them share the same language. For example, in Belgium, the official languages are Dutch, French and German, or in Cyprus, the official language is Greek.

However, only few working documents are translated into all languages. The general procedural languages are English, French and German. English is the most common one from these. The European Parliament provides translation into different languages according to the need of its members. The members have the right to use any of the EU´s official languages when speaking in Parliament. French is an official language common to the three political centres of the EU: Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg. Catalan, Galician and Basque are regional languages that have an official status in the EU.

People living in the EU have access to all EU documents in the official language of their country. They also have the right to write to the Commission, and receive a reply in the same language.

Multilingualism is central to the EU´s cultural diversity. The EU encourages its citizens to be able to speak two other languages in addition to their mother tongue. Multilingual citizens can take an advantage of the educational, professional and economic opportunities created by the integrated Europe. The most widely spoken mother tongue in the EU is German and the biggest number of the EU citizens can understand English.

With a permanent staff of 1750 linguists and 600 support staff, the European Commission has one of the largest translation services in the world. The Commission´s interpretation service employes 600 staff interpreters, 3000 freelance interpreters and 250 support staff.

Japanese. An important language and interesting culture.

2013-10-30T08:09:00.002-07:00

My little brother has been studying Japanese as his main subject at the university for two years now. He is fascinated by Japan and everything about it. And all his friends are Japanese. That wouldn´t be such a strange thing if he studied in Japan, but he lives and studies in Olomouc, a small city in the Czech Republic. I was surprised that there are Japanese people who come here for Erasmus or work in Japanese companies. And there are quite a few of them there.

I have always loved languages and different cultures and Japanese is something completely different from everything I know. When my brother with his Japanese friends talk to each other I just haven´t got a clue what they´re saying. Plus the alphabet with all the different characters. Well it´s not an easy language to learn that is for sure.

But is it a language worth learning? I think so. There are many reasons for that. First of all knowing Japanese brings business opportunities. Japanese is a fast growing economy, it´s the second largest economy in the world after the U.S. Many people are learning European languages and there are still just few people who speak Asian languages, so if you speak Japanese it will bring you interesting career opportunities. It is also a gateway for learning other Asian languages. Japanese is a third most used language on the internet after English and Chinese. It´s a completely different culture with great things like sushi for example. I just love sushi, it´s one of my favourite things to eat.

And now just few facts about the Japanese language. Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 125 millions of speakers, primarily in Japan. It is a member of the Japonic language family. Japanese has an extensive grammatical system to express politeness and formality. It can express differing levels in social status.

The modern Japanese writing system uses a combination of three main scripts:

Kanji, adopted Chinese characters.

Kana, a pair of syllabaries, consisting of Hiragana, used for native or naturalised Japanese words, and for grammatical elements, and Katakana, used for foreign words and names.

The grammar is in many ways more simple than that of a European language. Nouns have no gender, plural forms, or accompanying articles to learn. It has two verb tenses, present and past.

So I think Japanese an interesting and useful language to learn. And of course if you start learning Japanese then you have to go and visit Japan so it gives you the opportunity to visit another country you haven´t seen yet.

Slavic languages

2013-10-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

Slavic (or Slavonic) languages is a group of Indo-European languages spoken in most of Eastern Europe, parts of central Europe, much of the Balkans and the northern part of Asia. The total number of people who use a Slavic language as a mother tongue is more than 300 million, whilst the great majority of them live in Russia and Ukraine.

Slavic languages are divided into three main branches and some of them are then divided further into different sub-branches as you can see below.

All Slavic languages have evolved from a single parent language, usually called Proto-Slavic, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European, the ancestor language of all Indo-European languages, via a Proto-Balto-Slavic stage. That is the reason why Baltic and Slavic are the closest related of all Indo-European branches.

The spoken Slavic languages resemble one another more closely than do those of the Germanic and Romance groups. Although Slavic languages have much in common in basic vocabulary, grammar, and phonetic characteristics, they differ in many other features. One feature common to most of them is the relatively large number of consonant sounds. On the other hand the difference is in a position of the primary accent in the individual Slavic languages. For example, in Czech the stress falls on the initial syllable of a word, in Polish on the next-to-last syllable and in Russian or Bulgarian the accent can fall on any syllable.

Another one of the biggest differences among the Slavic languages we can see in writing. Some Slavic languages such as Czech, Slovak, Slovenian and Polish are written in differing versions of the Roman alphabet because their speakers are predominantly Roman Catholic. Other Slavic languages such as Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Macedonian and Bulgarian use the Cyrillic alphabet as a result of the influence of the Orthodox Eastern Church. Serbo-Croatian has several dialects, the most important of which are Serbian, which is written with the Cyrillic alphabet, and Croatian, which is written with the Roman alphabet.

Is Latin still important nowdays?

2013-10-23T06:42:00.003-07:00

Latin (Lingua Latina) is a language of the Indo-European family of languages that appeared in Italy in the mid second millenium BC. It was originally spoken by the small groups of people living along the Tiber river. Later on it spread with increase of Roman political power throughout Italy and the most of Europe. It was the most important language in Europe in the Middle Ages.

Today Latin is a dead language. That means that no one speaks Latin as a native language but there are still people who study it and the number of them is increasing. The Romance languages derive directly from Latin so if you studied at least some Latin in the past it will be easier for you to learn Italian or Spanish. Even English, which is a Germanic language, has about 80% of its words from Latin derivatives. There are still Latin words that are used in many modern languages and famous sayings in Latin.

There are two types of Latin: Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin. Classical Latin was used by the educated Romans and now is the one studied by many students and used by the Roman Catholic Church. Vulgar Latin was the more common one spoken by the Romans.

Latin is the language of the Vatican. People in the Roman Catholic Church sometimes use Latin for communication. Latin is also used by the zoologist and botanists to name every new species. Law and medicine also use Latin terms.

The structure of Latin requires the study of the language to be intensely grammatical. There is a verb conjugation and noun declination. Latin has seven different noun cases. When a verb is conjugated, six forms are made. That is something that we don´t have in English for example but in some languages it still exists.

I think Latin is an interesting language and it can be useful to know at least some basics of it even these days.

The facts about Portuguese language

2013-10-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Portuguese is maybe not as popular as other Romance languages like Italian or Spanish, but this is changing. It is one of the fastest growing European languages, along with English and Spanish. I think it is definately a language worth learning. There aren´t so many people learning Portuguese as a second language so it can bring you interesting job opportunities.

It is the seventh most spoken language worldwide and it is spoken by about 230 million speakers. It is an official language in 9 countries: Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor. It is also used in other countries in Asia, for example Malaysia or Macau and different communities in Europe and the Americas. It is an official language of the European Union and the African Union. Sao Paolo is the city with the most Portuguese speakers in the world. As Brazil continues to emerge as a world power, the Portuguese language will continue to grow.

It was brought to the Iberian Peninsula during the Roman Empire. It originated in Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal from Vulgar Latin about 2000 years ago. Standard Portuguese in Portugal is based on Southern or Estremenho dialect (Lisbon and Coimbra). The interesting fact is that about 84% people in Portugal can speak a second language. That is quite a high number compare to other countries in Europe.

If you already speak some Romance language, it won´t be that difficult for you to learn Portuguese. It took words from other languages, especially French, Arabic, Italian, recently English and also some indigenous African and South American languages. There is quite a big difference between Brazilian and European Portuguese in many respects like pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. It is quite interesting that Portuguese people can easily understand Spanish but it is not the same the other way round.

The world of languages

2013-10-18T06:56:00.001-07:00

It is estimated that up to 7000 different languages are spoken around the world. For example there are about 2110 languages spoken in Africa compared to only 234 in Europe. The world´s most widely spoken languages by number of native speakers and as a second language, according to figures from UNESCO, are: Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German and French.

There are also around 200 artificial languages in the world. They were originally invented by scholars for communication amongst philosophers. Later ones were invented for international communication, commerce and trade. They include Esperanto or Interlingua.

Around 75% of the world´s population don´t speak a word of English. That is a really high number, I thought that almost everyone speaks English these days. It´s really surprising how many people in the world only speak their native language and never even start learning another one.

It´s becoming more and more important to speak different languages. For example in the European Union people have the right to live and work in 27 countries. We can travel and choose any country where we want to live but it´s crucial to know languages to be able to do that. We might even get better job opportunities than in our home country and build a great career there. But we couldn´t do that without languages.

I think that once you´ve learned a second language it´s much easier to learn the third and fourth language. Learning another language is a matter of confidence, hard work and learning. As long as we make an effort anyone can do it. The difficulty of learning another language can depend on your mother tongue. Generally, the closer the second language is to your mother tongue the easier it is to learn it.

Anyway, I think that without speaking different languages we can´t succeed in the world of today so we have to go for it.

How to become a good translator

2013-10-16T06:34:00.001-07:00

Many people dream of being a freelance translator. It can be a satisfying and rewarding job. What attracts me the most about it is that it gives you an opportunity to manage your time as you like and that every day is slightly different, not exactly the same like in some other jobs. You can choose when you will get up and start working and you don´t have to go anywhere, you can just stay at home. It gives you an independence.

Here are some tips how to become a good translator. I think one of the most important things is love and passion for languages and different cultures. If you want to become good in your language it´s not just about the language, you need to understand the culture as well. Then you have to keep studying. Every day. It´s necessary because even when you think you know your language really well there will always be some ways to improve it and new words to learn as it´s not your native language. You should read books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. in your language and watch the news and movies. U should also spend some time in a target country, meet new people and listen to the language. It´s important to do that every now and then.

To be good at translating you also have to be good at writing. You should be able to understand the majority of texts without the use of dictionary. And it´s not just about knowing the vocabulary, the grammar is just as important. Another very important thing is to choose your specialization as you are expected to be an expert in your area. You need a very good knowledge of the relevant field. You should also have in mind the demand for a particular specialization.

There is a lot of work to do to become a good translator but it´s worth it and surely all that hard work pays off one day.

Spanish language and culture

2013-10-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

Spanish is the world´s second most widely spoken language by the number of native speakers. It is also called castellano, as it originated in Castile, a region of Spain. There are four main languages in Spain: Castilian, Galician, Basque and Catalan.

Spanish is a part of the Indo-European family of languages and is classified further as a Romance language. Other Romance languages are French, Italian or Portuguese. Spanish evolved from common Latin that was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the second Punic War. Another language that had a big influence on Spanish later on was Arabic. Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century, especially to the Americas and also other territories in Africa, Oceania and the Philippines. Spanish is a language that is spoken on all five continents. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and it´s also an official language of the European Union and Mercosur.

During the centuries Spanish has adopted words from other Romance languages, mostly French, Italian and Sardinian, and also English in modern times. Spanish is one of the most popular languages learned by foreigners. It is generally thought as one of the easier languages to learn. Spanish is also one of the world´s most phonetic languages, meaning the way it´s written is the way it´s pronounced. The biggest differences in grammar compare to English include the use of gender and a more extensive verb conjugation with six different endings for each tense. There are some differences between European and Latin American Spanish both in grammar and vocabulary.

The Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Espanola), based in Madrid, is the arbiter of what is considered standard Spanish. It produces dictionaries and grammar guides.

And now just some interesting facts about Spanish culture. Spanish people talk a lot and very fast. Spain has the second highest number of bars per inhabitant. The Spaniards love their fiestas and festivals. There are more flights per week between Madrid and Barcelona than between any other cities in the world. Spanish national anthem has no lyrics...

One of the world´s most beautiful languages

2013-10-11T07:34:00.001-07:00

There are so many different languages in the world. Each of them is different and unique. We have to admit that some languages are not that nice to listen to (like german for example), even though they are widely spoken and can be more useful than others. Then there are languages that just sound beautiful. For me italian is such a language. I think it´s one of the world´s most beautiful languages.

I just love the way italian sounds. I don´t think that there is another language so soft, musical and emotionally-expressive, with its emphasis on vowel endings. It´s not only about the words and their meaning, it´s about the way it´s spoken. Another thing I like about the italian language is that there are different words to express one thing just with a slightly different meaning. It´s unlike the english language for example, which is quite simple as you have the same word to express many different things. That way sometimes it´s really hard to find the right word to express exactly what you want to say.

Italians like to talk and they talk a lot. All the time. And they are very loud. Anywhere you go in Italy you hear people talking or arguing. And the gestures of course. I couldn´t imagine the italian language without all the gestures that go with it. When I´m in Italy I just love wondering down the streets, listening to the language and watching the people. I could do it for hours and hours and never get bored of it.

What I like the most about Italians is how passionate they are when they speak. No matter what they speak about. Of course they get even more passionate when they speak about food. Sometimes it just amazes me how long they can talk about food. And they know how to enjoy their delicious food. And not just that, they know how to enjoy life, every little bit of it, doing everything with this passion.

Which languages are the most important to learn?

2013-10-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

What are the most demanded languages in the world? Of course English is still the world´s number one language. Whatever career you decide to choose, a high level of English is expected and necessary. It is still the main language of international communication. But it´s not enough anymore. You need a good level of another one or two languages if you want to be successful.

There are other languages that are becoming more and more important. The first of them is Mandarin Chinese. China is the world´s most powerful economy emerging and it´s slowly overtaking the United States. Chinese is the most widely spoken language based on the fact that Chinese population is the highest in the world. There aren´t many foreigners knowing Chinese still so it´s very useful speaking it especially in the world of business. They say it´s one of the hardest languages in the world, in terms of writing and pronunciation. But learning a foreign language is never easy and it´s always worth it in the end.

Asian languages in general are becoming important so Japanese or Korean might also be useful as these countries are one´s of the top economies on the world market.

Arabic is also very important. The Middle East countries are one´s of the wealthiest in the world. They offer interesting and well paid job opportunities.

From European languages it is definately Spanish that is becoming more and more important. It is the third most widely-spoken language in the world, after Chinese and English. It is spoken not only in Spain, but in the South and Central America and also the United States. It is a very important language for business. It is a language of culture. Also it is one of the most popular languages amongst students.

French is still important too, being the number one language of diplomacy. The interesting fact about French is that it is spoken on all continents.

There are many other languages that are very useful, you just need to pick one you like and that would be useful for u.