Linguis

European Day of languages

2011-09-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today, 26th of September, is the European day of languages, a day that stresses the important of languages and for that matter, language learning, across Europe and beyond! What's more my birthday also shares this day, something that I am quite proud of! (Cool or what?) My point is that this day stands for the same thing that Linguis does, that is, that languages are important. Languages are a symbol of our diversity, but they also allow us to communicate with people all over the world just by learning the another language!

On this day specifically, I would like to congratulate anyone who knows one or more language that isn't their mother tongue, and I would heartily encourage anyone who wants to learn a second language or is just starting to learn a language!

I apologise for missing a post last week (the first week I've missed in a while!) Keep the comments coming everyone, and if you have any questions I'll be sure to try and answer them!

Back to apt words of the week I guess! Have a great week everyone!

A year abroad

2011-09-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

On Monday I moved to Austria to study for a year at the university in Salzburg, birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The journey was exciting to say the least, after taking a plane from London to Munich, I got on a train to Salzburg Hauptbahnhop (the main station) and took a bus from there. Sounds simple enough so far, doesn't it? Well as it turns out I got off of the bus a couple of stops too early and found my way via asking about 6 people for directions to specific places (one thing that must be said is that that people of Austria are very friendly!!).

It's been a couple of days since I moved here and I'm really enjoying it, and as I get used to all the differences that Austria has when compared to the UK, I'm finding the whole situation extremely exciting. Even at this early stage, I'd really reccomend a period of time in a country where your target language is spoken, because the experience of language and culture you'll get is really priceless!!

Naturally this week's word of the week is Austria, accompanied aptly by the Austrian flag.

The building blocks of language

2011-09-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

This week I have decided to talk about the building blocks of languages, namely the classes into which words are categorised. Whether or not you know what category any given word fits into can be huge factor in the speed and effectiveness of your language learning. I’m sure that many people know the main few types of words, but a bit of revision never hurt anyone! (or not that I’m aware of!)

Verbs

Verbs are words that describe action, like ‘to eat’ and ‘to dance’. Verbs come in several different tenses to indicate time, i.e. past, present and future. Each verb is generally made up of a stem (this is much less prominent in English) and is then conjugated. Using German as an example, an ending is added to the verb stem to suit the subject.

Nouns

Put simply, nouns are things, so words like table and chair are nouns. Similarly, personal pronouns can be used instead of nouns, examples include I, he, she, we.

Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns, words such as bright, slow and all colours are adjectives.

Articles

Articles can be indefinite as in ‘a’ and ‘an’, or definite such as ‘the’, they are present in many languages and are often essential to the grammar of a language.

Particles

In English, particles are general words that do not necessarily fit into the categories above. In languages such as Japanese, however, particles are very common as grammatical markers, such as the subject marker ‘wa’. Below I have outlined additional particles that make up the glue that sticks languages together.

Prepositions

Prepositions can have several uses and affect the syntax (word order) and meaning of a sentence or phrase, including movement such as to, and towards etc. words that describe special relation such as outside and between. Such words as without and for are also prepositions.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the words that bind phrases and sentences together to make longer, more comprehensive sentences. Examples in English include ‘and’ and ‘but’.

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that describe how a verb is carried out, such as ‘quickly’ and ‘slowly’.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope that this post is helpful to you in your language learning!

Mind your manners, please!

2011-08-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

When learning a new language, you may notice that there are varying levels of formality that come with the vocabulary. While this may not be as prominent in English as other languages, in languages such as German you will find these differences in formality are far more significant. As an example, if you are talking to

a stranger in Germany, you would expect to refer to them as ‘Sie’, meaning ‘you’, however when speaking to a friend or family member (or more generally, a close acquaintance) you would use the more informal ‘du’. Incorrect use of either word may cause offence to the person you are speaking to.

As I said before, this concept is not so much intertwined in the English language as in languages like German, but that doesn’t mean that English is a language of eternal formality or informality, as there is a particular set of words that create this balance between the two. The word used to describe this in English is "slang". This loosely refers to the use of (often vulgar) language that does not necessarily occur in the speaker's standard language and is pretty much exclusive to informal conversation.

What is important to know about slang is that it is not as simple as regional language difference. Slang is generally separated by different generations as well as social groups and as such should be used in appropriate situations in order to avoid offending people. Naturally this is what separates slang from normal colloquial language, which is a broader term that refers to informal language that is usually based on the normal regional variances. Similarly, though, knowing when and where to use any form of colloquial language will definitely be an asset when learning your language, especially in the country where your target language is spoken. I’m sure the locals will be impressed by your initiative if you make the effort to learn the lingo!

This week's word of the week is a nice long compound noun, something the German language is famous for!

Have a great week everyone!

It really does go without saying!

2011-08-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

When we think of language, we naturally think of words, of speaking, writing, reading and hearing these words. This is the norm, right? However, the language of the ways in which we move our bodies is not to be overlooked! I am referring to such language as body language, and also sign language (which goes without saying… literally).

The use of sign language goes back hundreds, maybe even thousands of years as a method of communication utilised mainly by deaf and mute people. Sign language involves the use of gestures and hand signs in order to symbolise words and letters and just like spoken languages, use grammar rules to help people get their point across to others.

What is important to remember is that there is not one general sign language that can be used wherever; there are many sign languages, just as there are many spoken languages. There are even many people who learn sign languages of other languages than their own in order to communicate with people from other countries and also for many of the other reasons that people learn foreign spoken languages.

Body language is another concept that is quite interesting, although it has completely different connotations. The use of body language, which can range from how a person stands or sits, to how a person uses everyday gestures such as hand shaking all the way to simple facial gestures as such as smiling and frowning, can vary greatly between situations. Body language, just like verbal communication can either compliment an interaction with another person, or cause offense.

So remember that language is so much more that when we say! In general terms, language is really just the way in which we communicate with each other in any way, regardless of how we choose to get our point across.

This week’s word of the week is a nice apt word. Have a great week everyone!

My false friend

2011-08-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here’s a tip for anyone who is learning any language, never let your guard down! Following on from last week’s post about loan words, it is important to know whether you have come across a loan word with the same meaning as its original, or a word or phrase that differs greatly from what you would expect. The term used to describe this phenomenon is false friends.

As an example, in German if you read something with the word ‘Gift’ on it, an English speaking person could be forgiven for expecting that the object is a completely harmless, as in English the word gift is synonymous with the word present (keep an eye out for a Geschenk though! That's much more pleasant!). In German when using the word ‘Gift’ the person or object is actually referring to poison, or a poisonous substance, so you can see how critical it is to remain vigilant! Similarly, albeit not as critical, words such as the German word ‘bekommen’ can cause some confusion, an English speaker might assume that ‘bekommen’ means ‘to become’, when it actually means ‘to get/receive’.

As with most of my posts the examples I am giving are in German, but whatever language you may be learning, if you aren’t sure about a word, look it up! A lot of the time, you can work out if something doesn’t translate correctly by the context of the sentence. Just remember that things aren't always what they seem, and don’t be afraid to question something if you think that something seems too simple to be true!

This week’s word of the week comes from the German phrase for false friends ‘falsche Freunde’, thankfully the phrase itself isn’t subject to the idea that it represents!

Loan words between languages

2011-08-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Sharing is caring!We all know the good old saying, and apparently so do languages! This phenomenon arises usually when a language does not have a particular word which it encounters in another language or culture.

For example, a vast amount of English vocabulary can be traced back to words derived from languages such as Latin. As it turns out, the term itself could be classed as a loanword as it is derived from the German word Lehnwort, which has the same meaning. Remember though, that sharing is a two way process! (and I really feel like I’m pushing good morals in this post!) As with other highly influential languages, English passes on some words to some other languages, the most prominent example of this is computers and technology, where there are many words of English origin.

It isn’t just in English that this linguistic trade takes place, for example, when Portugal established a trade route with Japan, bringing their vocabulary with them, the Japanese absorbed some of these words into their own language. An example of this is the Japanese word パン(Pan) meaning bread, this was taken from the Portuguese word pão because the Japanese did not have a word to describe the bread that was newly introduced to their culture.

Where people mingle, so do their languages, in this modern globalised society in which we live, there’s bound to be plenty of vocabulary transfers in the long term. Whether this means a word that is directly taken from one language to another, or a word that is taken and changed to suit the speakers of the host language, loanwords are in constant use in so many languages, and you may be surprised at how many you find!

Here is this week's word of the week, it refers to economic trade, rather than the trade between languages that has been described in this post.

Have a great week everyone!

Linguis German: Alphabet and pronunciation video now on youtube!

2011-08-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

My first youtube video! Learn German with Linguis.net, enjoy! And let me know what you think!

The Art of Idioms!

2011-07-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Every language has them! Figurative supplements to add a cultural twist to speech and writing. We all use them! But do we realise how much we use them? Let's not beat around the bush, fitting these phrases into our day to day conversations is easy as pie! It sometimes even easier to forget, however, that these idioms can differ greatly from region to region -note that I didn't use the term 'country', as in English for example, people from the South of England may have different set of idioms to people in Scotland, although both are technically in the same country.

Pot calling the kettle black, to
accuse someone of something
that the accuser is also guilty.

So what are these idioms? Put simply they are phrases of an entirely figurative nature which make no sense if taken literally (trust me I've been left laughing plenty of times by trying to make sense of an idiom or two). For this reason you might not get your point across if you try to translate your idioms directly into your second language, so be wary! Simple phrases such as "it's do or die", which in English would imply that something is of the utmost importance, hit a grey area when you see the German equivalent "es geht um die Wurst" which literally means it goes around the sausage.... so you see what I mean!

The point is, idioms are everywhere and I challenge you to watch out for these funny little phrases and to learn some in a second language, they're everywhere and you don't want to be left out in the cold when someone comes up to you and blurts out a phrase that doesn't quite make sense to you! If you have a favourite idiom, leave it in a comment and share it with the world!

Because I'm liking apt Word of the Weeks at the moment, this week's word is quite suitable for this post. Hope you are enjoying Linguis.net!

Learning language for travel, what are the requirements?

2011-07-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this week's post is inspired by the end of the current academic year in the UK, all the kids are finished for the summer and are hopefully looking forward to a nice holiday with their families! In which case I would also hope that a lot of those families who are travelling abroad this year are interested in investing a short amount of time in order to learn the basics of the language of the country that they may be visiting. For some this may be a daunting task, but keep calm (that seems to be a catch phrase of mine!) you'll get the hang of it in no time!

Now, if you're just looking for a quick week away in a country other than your own, you might not want to invest in a phrase book for that country (we are in a difficult economic time after all!). There are, however, several resources at your disposal all over the internet, all you need is to pay a quick visit to your nearest search engine! Generally if you type in something along the lines of "*your chosen language* phrases" you'll find what you need. Don't get your hopes up if you're looking for a long term language learning resource by doing this, though, because you'll soon find a dead end in terms of vocabulary and grammar. What you do get by doing this is an insight into the language of the country you are visiting, and you'll easily be able to find out how to say such things as "How much does this cost?", "Where is the nearest train station?" and other general phrases.
If any readers of Linguis.net are going abroad in the near future, I hope that you have a great time, wherever you go! Just remember it's better to get a glimpse of the language and I'm sure whoever you end up speaking to will appreciate your efforts!

A nice apt word of the week this week. Keep up your language learning, whatever language you might be learning! I'd really love to hear how everyone is enjoying their summer so far! (although if you're in the UK you may have to like a lot of rain with your summer!)

A reach out to people of many languages!

2011-07-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this video! I just found it and thought, what better way to reach out to as many people as possible than through one soppy song? Let's try something then, how many of these languages can you understand? Post a comment and let us know! I look forward to hearing from you all!

This is a (language) family matter!

2011-07-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

Just like us, our languages belong to families. We all know what our families mean to us, but what do language families mean? and how does it effect our learning? Put simply, a language family is a group of languages with similar origins, therefore leading to similar attributes such as grammar or pronunciation.

Take English and German for instance, they are both Germanic languages, which you can imagine as a large extended family with many members and generations. German and English are even closer related than this, as they are both West Germanic language, however this is where the family ties end. German stems from a closer knit area of the family identified as High German, which encompases the German language as it is spoken in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, as well as in Luxembourg and other by other dialect speaking areas in continental Europe. English, on the other hand is an Anglo- Frisian language, a group that also includes Frisian languages (spoken by some in the northernmost areas of the Netherlands and Germany). To put this into perspective, English and German could be described as language cousins (if such a phrase exists).

In contrast, I'm sure many people look at languages like Chinese and Japanese and see a similar relationship. They symbol's look very similar, right? Yes, but these languages are really more language acquaintences (as i slowly seem to be building a vivid language society) rather than family members, this stems from the borrowing and adaptation of the Chinese writing system into the Japanese language.

The point is: languages are organised into complex groups and sub-groups, perhaps if you're looking to learn a new language you could start closer to home and then look further.

Here's this week's German Word of the Week, keep up your language learning. And be sure to let me know how you're doing! Leave a commment!

Have a great week everyone!

Which language?

2011-07-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

OK so you want to learn a new language, for whatever reason. Some people want to learn a new language to broaden employment prospects, others prefer to learn for their own personal development, or even as a hobby. The question I'm sure many of you are asking yourselves, unless you have already made the decision: "Which language should I learn?". Simple question, simple answer right? No! There are hundreds of languages out there and many of them differ from the others in the very basic aspects of language.

Well as you will have realised from this blog, German is my passion, but instead of giving you a dozen biased reasons why you should learn German, I'm going to attempt to give you an example of a few things you should think about when choosing a language.

Grammar and Syntax - how are the words ordered?
Grammar is pretty much the most important part of a language. It is a set of rules whereby you can get your point across easily. word order and verb conjugation can completely change the meaning of your sentence. Now the question you want to ask yourself is whether or not you want to chose a language that is similar grammatically to your language, for example learning Spanish if your mother tongue is French, or if you want to learn a language far different from your own.

Vocabulary - how complex are the words?

Some languages have very complex vocabularies with difficult pronunciations. If you're feeling adventurous, try learning a language with a challenging vocabulary and phonetic system.

Alphabet - does the language have its own alphabet or symbols?

The tool which which we write out language. Are you looking for a language that uses the same writing system as you? Most of the Western world uses the Latin alphabet (the alphabet we use in English) often with a selection of accents or sometimes extra letters. There are however many languages that use their own writing system (Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Russian, to give a few examples) likewise, you also need to watch out for different writing methods. Symbols in languages such as Chinese and Japanese have strict rules when it comes to how you write the symbols (specific stroke orders). Languages such as Arabic and Hebrew come with a different challenge, as they are written from right to left rather than the familiar left to right way.

Significance to you - do you have a cultural link to the language?

What you now need to ask yourself is, what is driving you to learn a language? Are you learning a language to be able to communicate with relatives or in-laws? are you trying to reconnect with your heritage? or are you just looking to widen your employment prospects. Ask yourself why you are learning a language and this should hopefully help you on your way to making your decision.

... and just in case you DO want to learn German after all, here's this week's German word of the Week!

Language at the roots of the issue: where did it come from?

2011-07-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Something that has really caught my interest lately is the origin of language. Sure, we all have this innate ability to learn to acquire language, but what makes us humans so uniquely equipped to communicate and use language in such a complex way?

Scientifically the origin of language partially has something to do with part of our DNA called FOX2P, this is believed by many scientists to be the gene responsible for speech. Its important to point out, however, that this gene isn't exclusive to us humans, it can be found in many creatures of the animal kingdom, including our primate cousins, chimpanzees. The importance of the FOX2P gene is how it interacts with other genes that also facilitate language which appears to be unique to humans (both modern humans and many of the species of extinct humans, i.e. Neanderthals). It is this difference that gives us the ability to form speech.

There are several theories surrounding the true origins of actual language, suggested by many scientists with many conflicting ideas. One idea would suggest that language came about by the use of simple syllables used to identify and refer to certain objects, then as our ability to speak evolved and prehistoric languages spread and were passed down through generations, they developed more into what we know of language today., complex systems of vocabulary, grammar and meaning. Not only that, language has become an integral part of our modern society and culture, where we are able to communicate with each other on a global scale, for example a French businessman can communicate with his Spanish client by learning some Spanish.

We don't know exactly how language came about, and we are just now beginning to understand how our genes allow us to communicate so easily with each other, what's important that without those initial precursors for speech, we would quite probably have communication abilities more similar to the rest of our primate cousins, rather than the complex ability that we have now. Moreover without language you wouldn't be reading this blog now!

Our third German Word of the Week! how are you enjoying learning your various languages? let me know! I hope that those of you learning German are finding the videos useful! Have a great week!

Have a great week everyone!!

How's my driving? and a quick word on dictionaries!

2011-06-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! What do you think of the changes to the blog?

I’ve been updating the Learn German section, so I hope you enjoy looking through that, some of the information there is quite complex and I’ve tried to keep it simple so that it’s more beneficial to learners. If by any chance I haven’t explained anything clearly enough, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be sure to clarify anything. Likewise any suggestions for the blog that you may have would be very useful.

Dictionaries!
As I outlined in the Language Learning Tips section, you should never underestimate the value of a good dictionary. But this isn't the only tool you’ll need in your language learning arsenal. While normal dictionaries offer a great insight into vocabulary, books with comprehensive grammar information will really boost your learning. Many large dictionaries incorporate a good grammar section, so you don’t really even have to buy two books to get the best of both worlds!

The second in our German 'Word of the Week' journey is 'haben, for those interested, please feel free to visit the Learn German section for more information on this word.

Have a great week everyone!

Welcome to Linguis.net!

2011-06-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

This blog aims to discuss language issues, language learning tips and more. There will also be a dedicated page for learning German which will be published shortly and frequently updated to help anyone learn German from a beginners level from the comfort of your own home!

Each week I shall provide a German word of the week for those who are interested in learning German. In the future I hope to expand this and provide words each day in several different languages. So take a look through the pages of this blog for Language Learning Tips as well as some Useful Resources that I have personally tried in the past.

So why learn a language?

Here in the United Kingdom languages are not regarded as important as they should be. Many people decide to end their language studying before reaching any level of fluency, unfortunately this means that a lot of British people miss out on the benefits of language.

Improve your employment/studying potential

Learn a language and you will see that you open doors to several more areas of employment and study. Today's competitive society calls for people with a knowledge of languages for use in international trade and business. Still studying? or planning on studying? a second (or third, fourth etc.) language is always useful in broadening your prospects, your studies may even take you abroad.

Think of your new language as a means of widening your horizon!

Increase your proficiency in your own language

When you learn a new language, you learn about how the language works, interestingly this gives you a greater understanding of how your native language works. You immerse yourself in the depths of different kinds of grammar and learning, and use methods which could possibly even be transferred into your day to day life.

Enjoy a wider range of media

When you learn a new language, you open a doorway to a far greater range of literature, music and art which would otherwise have little or no meaning to you. You can gain a greater understanding of international pop-culture simply through learning new languages!