Portal Language Services

Subject and Object Pronoun Quick Reference Lists

2011-03-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

Subject pronouns

You

She

They

Object pronouns

you

him

her

them

Possessive adjectives

your

his

her

its

our

their

You can see examples for each on my article page for Subject, Object, and Posessive Pronouns.

Family Vocabulary in English and Spanish (vocabulario de la familia ingles y español)

2011-02-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick list of vocabulary for describing family relationships. Since normally the family is taught in Basic 1, It is good to have a reference list for those learning English or Spanish

pariente: relative
parientes: relatives
familia: family
padre: father
papá: dad
madre: mother
mamá: mom, mum (British)
papas, padres: parents
hermano: brother
hermana: sister
hermanos: brothers and sisters (or just brothers)
hermanas: sisters
hijo: son
hija: daughter
hijos: children (sons and daughters or just sons)
hijas: daughters
tio: uncle
tia: aunt
tios: uncles and aunts (or just uncles)
tias: aunts
suegro: father-in-law
suegra: mother-in-law
cuñado: brother-in-law
cuñada: sister-in-law
esposo, marido: husband
esposa, mujer: wife
primo: cousin (male)
prima: cousin (female)
primo, primo hermano: first cousin (male)
primos: cousins (male and possibly female)
primas: cousins (female)
sobrino: nephew
sobrina: niece
sobrinos: nephews and possibly nieces.
sobrinas: nieces
abuelo: grandfather
abuela: grandmother
abuelos: grandparents
bisabuelo: great-grandfather
bisabuela: great-grandmother
bisabuelos: great-grandparents
tatarabuelo: great-great-grandfather
tatarabuela: great-great-grandmother
nieto: grandson
nieta: granddaughter
nietos: grandchildren (male and possibly female)
nietas: granddaughters
bisnieto: great-grandson
bisnieta: great-granddaughter
tataranieto: great-great-grandson
tataranieta: great-great-granddaughter
tío abuelo: great-uncle
tía abuela: great-aunt
padrastro: stepfather
madrastra: stepmother
hijastro: stepson
hijastra: stepdaughter
hermanastro: stepbrother
hermanastra: stepsister

Please note that in Spanish, "familia" normally refers to the immediate household of parents and children. Normally the extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. is NOT inferred at least not in Mexico. When someone not in the atomic family is at an event, he or she is also mentioned.

Colors Crossword Puzzle - Basic English

2011-02-07T05:44:00.001-08:00

Colors

Christopher Johnson

This interactive crossword puzzle requires JavaScript and a reasonably recent web browser, such as Internet Explorer 5.5
or later, Netscape 7, Mozilla, Firefox, or Safari. If you have disabled web page scripting, please re-enable it and refresh
the page. If this web page is saved to your computer, you may need to click the yellow Information Bar at the top of
the page to allow the puzzle to load.

Moving blog to Google Blogger and Website to Google Sites

2011-02-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

In an effort to save costs and lack of donations, I'm moving the PLS blog to Google Blogger and the PLS website to Google Sites. Although the new site is in development ( yet again!) I am hopeful that this will be the last site move for the next few years since Google doesn't charge until you get past the file storage limit and even then it is quite low compared to normal hosting costs.
Some of the features I had implemented will be disabled until I find a work-around for them. I'll be recreating quizzes and activities as the Google Sites and Blogger systems allow (most likely though some kind of javascript or google Apps implementation)

ESL Holiday Games: Christmas and Winter. Fun Games for Your Students

2010-03-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

I mentioned this on the main blog page, but I think this should be mentioned here. These printable games are great for English class for teens and adults.

They are also fun for an individual who is learning English alone or at home with family or friends. You don't need to be a teacher to get them.

You don't even need to live in the United States to buy them. Since everything is done online, there are no shipping costs or delays to be able to enjoy these games out of the office. You can buy today and print all the copies you need to practice English right away!

Printable Games makes great games for every holiday like bingo, word search, riddles, crossword puzzles, and more fun printable activities that make great breaks from you usual English class routine. While you're at home for the Holidays, keep learning English with these fun games. Invite some friends over or practice with your roommate or family. Perhaps that will motivate them to learn English too.

45 Printable Christmas Games - $ 19.95
Our entire collection of over 45 printable games is included in this collection! Print as many copies of as many games as you want. Start printing as soon as you order. You save $5 off the regular price

Christmas Anagrams - $ 6.99
Let their imaginations run wild and the laughter begin with this challenging anagram game. Players will have to use their 'brain-power' to come up with an anagram to these Christmas items. For example, the letters in "ornaments" can be rearranged to "ant sermon." Break the group up into teams of 5 or 6 and let the hysterical mingling begin. Answer suggestions are included.

Christian Christmas Word Find - $ 6.99
Great addition to Sunday School lesson plans at Christmas. Test player's speed in this classic word search game as they race to be the first to find the hidden Christian words and phrases. Answer key included. Start printing as soon as you order!

Christian Legend: The Twelve Days of Christmas - $ 6.99
Christian legend has it that the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was really a secret code to persecuted Christians! Whether fact or fiction, if you know your Bible then you'll be able to crack the code and be the first to complete this game. What were "five golden rings" really referring to? Answer key included. Start printing as soon as you order!

Of course if you're at all like me, you'll want to be prepared for other holidays. There are even fun trivia games. So if you want to save plenty of money, get the all holiday collection which is huge!

I love the all season printable game back because it covers all the most important holidays for English speaking countries which is great for ESL classes. You get Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Saint Patrick's Day, Valentines Day, and Easter games full of great vocabulary and fun for all ages. Even business men get bored and restless around the holidays so give your ESL class fun every holiday.

One thing I forgot to mention is how much I like the game designs. They have really attractive graphics and they look so professional.

All Season Printables - The Complete Holiday Game Collection - $ 39.95
Over 135 Games & Activities! Make the fun last all year round - all the seasons shown are included! Print as many copies of as many games as you want...or print all of them! 1 year membership. Start printing as soon as you order!

Retail Price: 74.95
You Save: $35.00

Visible Plant Parts

2010-03-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Branch - rama

Bark - corteza

Bulb - bulbo

Flower - flor

Leaf - hoja

Pistil - pistilo

Petal - Pétalo

Root - raíz

Seed - Semilla

Stem - tallo

Sepal - sépalo

Style - estilo

stigma - estigma

Stamen - estambre

Twig - ramita

Thorn - espina

Trunk - tronco

Learn and Master Painting Course is Great English Practice

2009-11-26T00:51:00.000-08:00

We are compensated for our reviews Click Here for more information.
I recently started using the Learn and Master Painting with Gayle Levée course for learning to paint with oil paint. It is great because she takes you through all the steps for learning to paint from basic supplies, to cleaning brushes, preparing a canvas as well as important skills like painting realistically with perspective and different styles like impressionism.

I also discovered that the DVD videos that come with the course are great for people learning English to practice listening. First, the instructor has a calm relaxed voice and since she's teaching painting she is doing what she's talking about so the student can compare the words with the actions. Second, since the course is for learning to paint you get many art and painting vocabulary words to practice with that normally wouldn't come to mind. Third, the course, while not exactly cheap also includes a workbook to go with the many hours of video.
If you have English students who love art or painting or if you are learning English on your own and would like to learn to paint while improving your English skills, visit the Learn and Master Painting painting course site for more information.

Printable Christmas and Winter Holiday Games make great ESL and school activities

2008-12-14T00:35:00.000-08:00

Today, I want to highlight one of the literature merchants that are in the shop. Printable games a-z. They make all kinds of fun games that you can print from your web browser for use in family events.

Have you considered using them for ESL and the classroom? I know when I teach my ESL classes for adults or teens, they get restless and they want to have fun, but it is hard to find the time and energy to design fun activities.

Printable Games makes great games for every holiday like bingo, word search, riddles, crossword puzzles, and more fun printable activities that make great breaks for restless students of any age right when you need it right before Christmas (or other holidays) when they'd rather be at home instead of in class. They could even bring a friend to class because you can print as many copies as you want. This could be a great way to get new students.

60 Printable Christmas Games - $ 19.95
Our entire collection of over 45 printable games is included in this collection! Print as many copies of as many games as you want. Start printing as soon as you order. You save $5 off the regular price

You can get just a game or two, but why not save money by getting the collection. It is so cheap when you consider how much time you save with this collection of great Christmas and winter holiday games for your students to enjoy. You could even print a few to take home for after Christmas dinner.

Here are some examples of the individual games that are available. Notice how there is plenty of vocabulary. If students work together they'll use the words even more. Best of all they can take the game home to show off!

Of course if you're at all like me, you'll want to be prepared for other holidays. Students always ask what the Holiday is about and how to celebrate it, so these games also are fun from a cultural perspective. There are even fun trivia games. You might know the answers but ESL groups find them challenging. So if you want to save plenty of money, get the all holiday collection which is huge!

I love the all season printable game back because it covers all the most important holidays for English speaking countries which is great for ESL classes. You get Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Saint Patrick's Day, Valentines Day, and Easter games full of great vocabulary and fun for all ages. Even business men get bored and restless around the holidays so give your ESL class fun every holiday.

One thing I forgot to mention is how much I like the game designs. They have really attractive graphics and they look so professional. When was the last time you made your own game sheets and they looked this good? How many hours did it take to make one?

Joke in English - Don’t Forget to Iron!

2008-03-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Two old gentlemen were sitting on a bench outside the rest home where they lived.Another resident (an older lady) went streaking by, wearing only a pair of tennis shoes.

One guy looks at the other, and says "Did you see that?"

"Yes. What was she wearing?" was the reply.

"I don't know. But, whatever it was... It sure needed ironing!" The first gentleman answered.

Joke in English - A Trip to … or A Wrong E-mail Address

2008-03-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Wrong E-mail Address

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel plans. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My loving wife
Subject: I've arrived
I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. sure is freaking hot down here!!!!

Vehículos en español (Vehicles in Spanish)

2008-01-09T18:18:00.000-08:00

Avión - Airplane

Automóvil -Automobile

Autobus - Bus

Barco - Boat

Bicicleta -Bicycle

Coche - Car

Camioneta - Pickup Truck or SUV

Helicóptero - Helicopter

Lancha de motor - Motorboat

Motocicleta - Motorcycle

Patines - Roller Skates or Ice Skates

Patineta - Skateboard

Submarino - Submarine

Tren - Train

Trailer - Semi-Truck

Partes del cuerpo humano en Español ( Parts of human body in Spanish)

2008-01-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

Boca- Mouth
Brazo - Arm
Vello - Body hair
Cabeza - Head
Cadera - Hip
Codo - Elbow
Cuello - Neck
Ceja - Eyebrow
Cabello - Hair
Dedo - Finger
Dedo del pie - Toe
Hombro - Shoulder
Labio - Lip
Mano - Hand
Pecho - Chest
Pestaña - Eyelash
Pierna - Leg
Rodilla - Knee
Uña - Fingernail
Yema del dedo - Fingertip

Colores en Español ( Colors in Spanish )

2007-12-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

Anaranjado - Orange
Amarillo - Yellow
Azul - Blue
Blanco - White
Beige - Beige
Caqui - Khaki
Marron, Cafe (México) - Brown
Dorado - Golden
Morado - Purple
Gris - Gray
Negro - Black
Plata - Silver
Rojo - Red
Rosa - Pink
Verde - Green
Violeta - Violet
Vino - Maroon

Nombre de frutas en Español (Fruit in Spanish)

2007-12-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

Arándaro - Cranberry
Ciruela - Plum
Cereza - cherry
Caña - Sugar cane
Coco - Coconut
Durazno - Peach
Fresa - Strawberry
Frambuesa - Raspberry
Guayaba - Guava
Guanabana - Soursop
Kiwi - Kiwi
Lima - lime
Mamey - Mamey Sapote
Mandarina - Mandarine orange
Manzana - apple
Melón - Cantaloupe
Melón chino - Honeydew
Mora - Mulberry
Mora Azul - Blueberry
Naranja - Orange
Nactarina - Nectarine
Piña - Pine apple
Pera - Pear
Platano - Banana
Platano macho - Plantain
Sandía - Watermelon
Tamarindo - Tamarind
Tejocote - Mexican Hawthorn
Toronja - Grapefruit
Uva - Grape
Zarzamora - Blackberry

Articulos de oficina en Español (Things at the office in Spanish)

2007-12-25T08:38:00.000-08:00

Archivero-File cabinet

Cesto de basura - Wastebasket

Computadora - Computer

Calculadora - Calculator

Copiadora - Photocopier

Cinta adhesiva - Adhesive tape

Calendario - Calendar

Clip -papper clip

Carpeta - Folder

Escritorio - Desk

Engrapadora - Stapler

Fax -Fax machine

Grapas - Staple

Hoja - Paper

Lapiz - Pencil

Portalápices

Pluma - Pen

Prensa papel

Relock Clock

Sacapuntas- Pencil sharpener

Telefono - Telephone

Electrodomésticos en Español (Large and small appliances in Spanish)

2007-12-15T17:35:00.000-08:00

Aire acondicionado - Air conditioner

Aspiradora - Vacuum cleaner

Batidora - Electric mixer

Extractor de jugos - Juice extractor

Horno tostador - Toaster oven

Horno de microondas - Microwave oven

Licuadora - Blender

Lava platos -Dishwasher

Lampara - Lamp

Lavadora - Washing machine

Televisor -Television

Refrigerador - Refrigerator

Ventilador - Ventilator

Articulos de Higiene Personal en Español (Personal Care Products in Spanish)

2007-12-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Acondicionador - Conditioner
Cepillo dental - Tooth brush
Cepillo para cabello - Hair brush
Corta uñas - Fingernail clipper
Crema de afeitar - shaving cream
Desodorante - Deodorant
Gel para cabello - Hair gel
Jabon - Soap
Papel higienico - Toilet paper
Pasta dental - Tooth paste
Rastrillo - Razor
Rasuradora -Hair clipper
Shampoo - Sampoo
Toalla femenina - Panty liner

Articulos de Limpieza en Español (Cleaning Supplies in Spanish)

2007-12-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

Aspiradora - vacuum cleaner
Blanqueador - whitener
Cubeta - bucket
Cloro - bleach
Cepillo - brush
Cera para pisos - floor wax , floor polish
Detergente - detergent
Desengrasante - degreaser
Escoba - broom
Estropajo - scouring pad
Jabon - soap
Jalador
Limpiador multiuso - multipurpose cleaner
Limpiador de superficies - surface cleaner
Protector de vinyl - vinyl protector
Plumero - feather duster
Suavizante - softener

Las Verduras en Español (Vegetables in Spanish)

2007-12-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

Aguacate Avacado
Alcachofas
Berenjena
Coliflor Cauliflower
Cebolla (blanca) White onions
Cilantro Cilantro
Chicharo
Col Cabbage
Calabaza Zucchini squash
Chayote
Epazote
Elote
Ejote Green beans
Esparragos
Hongos
Jitomate Red tomato
Lechuga Head lettuce
Pepino Cucumber
Perejil
Papa Potatoes
Rabano Radishes
Zanahoria Carrots

Word Definition Puns

2007-12-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

These words and/or their definitions are made up and humorous.

Chessnut - one who is crazy about playing chess

Carpet - A pet you keep in your car

Infantry - A baby tree

(Add a letter) Diepole - a pole you tie the prisoner to when he is shot.

Safety - Tea that's OK to drink

Kilowatt - To murder ole Mr. Watt

Nullifly - 1. To put someone on a no fly list 2. To kill a fly

Detailed - a dog that's had its tail removed

(change one letter) Defeeted - Having had one feet amputated or cut off accidentally

Storage - The number of years it has been since the store was first built.

Woofer - In German it is a synonym for "ein Barkenpantensnifferfer"

Curtail - the tail of a mongrel (I suppose it could also be to shorten the tail of a mongrel.)

Recur - A mongrel that reincarnates as a mongrel

Friday - The day you fry something

Hostage - The age of your host

Napkin - a relative you take a siesta with

Ratify - To increase the rat population

Season - one's son who is born at sea

Seasoning - Giving birth to a son at sea

(Add a letter) Electrick - vote for Rick and put him in office

(Change one letter) Incarmate - to have sex in an automobile

Steward - the man who prepares the stew

(Remove a letter) Cabage - how old a taxi is

Flippant - an ant that performs somersaults

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's, like, a serious bummer.

Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

Glibido: All talk and no action.

Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

coffee, n. the person upon whom one coughs.

flabbergasted, adj. appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

abdicate, v. to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

esplanade, v. to attempt an explanation while drunk.

willy-nilly, adj. impotent.

negligent, adj. absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

lymph, v. to walk with a lisp.

gargoyle, n. olive-flavored mouthwash.

flatulence, n. emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

balderdash, n. a rapidly receding hairline..

testicle, n. a humorous question on an exam.

rectitude, n. the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

pokemon, n.. a Rastafarian proctologist.

oyster, n. a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

Frisbeetarianism, n. the belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

circumvent, n. an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Changing foreign policy (Leader-Telegram)

2007-09-05T10:11:00.000-07:00

Changing foreign policy

Spanish language program beginning in kindergarten

By Keighla Schmidt with comments by PLS
Leader-Telegram staff

"Bienvenidos a la escuela!" In English: "Welcome to school!"

When I was growing up (I'm now 31), foreign language (Spanish, German, and French) was only available to highschoolers. I have been greatly encouraged by hearing that many middle schools are offering foreign language courses. Who knows where you will be living or traveling when you grow up?

I grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa. I would not have been able to guess that I'd be living in Mexico city (since Jan 1, 2001). American schools have been slow to adjust to the fact that traveling is much easier than it was before, and the American economy isn't that strong either, so there is less reason to say.

The following article is about a Catholic school in Wisconsin. They are starting a program to teach Spanish to children from Kindergarten. Before they had classes from 3rd to 12th grades which would have been amazing when I was growing up. Although it would be a far cry from a true bilingual school, it is very encouraging and I hope more American schools will follow their lead.

----------------

Catholic Area Schools of the Eau Claire Deanery have started a Spanish language program for children in kindergarten through second grade.

It will be a jump-start to foreign language programs the school offers in the third through 12th grades.

CASE President Cindy Hofacker said the program started after reading research indicating young minds are open to learning languages. The importance of introducing other cultures and the success of pilot programs in the school system also motivated school officials.

"We realize the world is getting smaller," she said. "Not everyone will stay in Eau Claire for the rest of their life."

Lynne Larabee, who will teach the classes, said children respond better to a new language if they are introduced to it at a young age.

"The window for language learning is open while children are young," Larabee said. "We're laying the groundwork."

Both Hofacker and Larabee said they don't expect children to be fluent in the language after two 15-minute sessions a week, but they aim to familiarize students' minds with Spanish.

Children will learn basic Spanish to introduce them to the language and the culture. Hofacker said students will be taught the Spanish words for colors, numbers, common words and phrases, and comparisons between American culture and the cultures in Spanish-speaking countries will be emphasized.

Larabee plans to use music, games, puppets and prayers to help the children connect to the language.

"If it's integrated into daily lives, then the probability of it being used is much higher," she said.

Hofacker said there is a deeper connection to the language: The ties that Spanish, a Latin-based language, has to the Catholic faith will help children integrate both the language and religion into their daily lives.

The students' full-time teachers will stay in the classroom during the Spanish session, Hofacker said, and find ways to integrate the language and culture into the day-to-day curriculum.

Elementary Principal Joseph Eisenhuth said he is excited about the addition of a foreign language program when many other institutions are removing them.

"It's exciting to see, especially in young children, how quick skills are picked up," he said.

Invented languages take on a life of their own / Once the province of a few, new tongues flourish through Net (San Francisco Chronicle)

2007-09-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

In any language, Sonja Elen Kisa was depressed. The world was overwhelming, and the thoughts that swirled through her mind in French, English, German or Esperanto echoed that. So Kisa, 28, a student and translator in Toronto, decided to create her own...

In any language, Sonja Elen Kisa was depressed.

The world was overwhelming, and the thoughts that swirled through her mind in French, English, German or Esperanto echoed that.

So Kisa, 28, a student and translator in Toronto, decided to create her own language, something simple that would help clarify her thinking. She called it Toki Pona - "good language" - and gave it just 120 words.

"Ale li pona," she told herself. "Everything will be OK."

Kisa eventually sorted through her thoughts and, to her great surprise, her language took off, with more than 100 speakers today, singing Toki Pona songs, writing Toki Pona poems and chatting with Toki Pona words.

It's all part of a weirdly Babel-esque boom of new languages. Once the private arena of J.R.R. Tolkien, Esperanto speakers and grunting Klingon fanatics, invented languages have flourished on the Internet and begun creeping into the public domain.

The Web site Langmaker.com now lists more than 1,000 language inventors and 1,902 made-up languages, from Ayvarith to Zyem.

The language inventors have, of course, created a word to describe what they do - "conlang," short for constructed languages.

Created languages may have no hope of supplanting the real thing, but for most conlangers, that is hardly the goal. Hobbyists such as Kisa find it a fun or therapeutic practice. Linguists can use conlangs to dissect how real language works. For a select few who write fiction or work for Hollywood, conlanging can even be a moneymaker.

But to the majority of linguaphiles, conlangs are simply art. Their palette holds not paints but the buzz of the letter "z," the hiss of an "s," the trill of an Italian "r."

And sometimes the howl of a Klingon scream: "Hab SoSlI' Quch!"

"Your mother has a smooth forehead!"

In this realm of art, Toki Pona is white canvas with scattered brush strokes of primary colors.

Kisa created Toki Pona as an exercise in minimalism, looking for the core vocabulary necessary to communicate. With only 120 words, a Toki Pona speaker must combine words to express more complicated ideas. For example, the Toki Pona phrase for "friend" is "jan pona" (the "j" sounds like a "y"), literally "good person."

Kisa, who is studying speech language therapy, tried to focus Toki Pona's vocabulary on basic, positive concepts.

"It has sort of a Zen or Taoist nature to it," Kisa said.

Tolkien liked to call invented language his secret vice. He spent hours at the solitary hobby, designing grammars and modifying words from Latin, Finnish, Welsh and others for his languages.

Eventually, his languages needed tongues to speak them, and those speakers needed a place to live. And thus Middle-Earth was born, with Tolkien's languages becoming the Sindarin and Quenya of the Elves, the Khuzdul of the Dwarves, and the Black Speech of the Orcs.

In the 12th century, the nun Hildegard of Bingen developed a rudimentary conlang she called Lingua Ignota, Latin for "unknown language" No one knows its purpose. All that survives is a short passage and a list of 1,012 terms arranged from the highest form, "God," to the lowest, "cricket."

Esperanto was created in the late 19th century by Polish doctor Ludovic Zamenhof. His dream was to give humanity a common international language that would be simple to learn. Esperanto's vocabulary is small, word order does not matter and there are no irregular verbs.

"Gi estas iom lingvo idealisma," said William B. Harris, director of the central office of the Esperanto League for North America, in California. "It's somewhat of an idealistic language."

Today, as many as 2 million people speak Esperanto, which conlangers call an "auxlang," or auxiliary language.

Learning is the easy part. Actually creating a language is a task only for the very tenacious. It took Kisa a year to put hers together, and her language was built to be basic.

It is not enough simply to replace existing words with invented ones. To a conlanger, such a construction would be a mere code.

The conlanger considers many factors, starting with the sound of the language. Linguists call it phonaesthetics; Germans call it Sprachgefuhl - "speech feeling."

Tricky to define, it's that certain quality that makes French the language of love and German the language that "makes you want to conquer Poland," said John Quijada, a Web site developer in Sacramento who created Ithkuil

There are rules to this game. Human languages - known as "natlangs," for natural languages - follow universal linguistic patterns. For example, few human languages use the raspberry sound, but all have an "ah" sound. To create a pseudo-natlang, the conlanger also should follow those rules.

Of course, there are instances when one doesn't want to follow the rules. In creating Klingon for "Star Trek," Marc Okrand, 59, said, "I looked at all those kinds of rules and then violated them on purpose."

If a conlang is to be a language for nonhumans, the conlanger must consider their biology - if they lack teeth or vocal cords, the language's sounds will be constrained accordingly.

The conlanger also must ponder the grammar. For example, will the word order be subject-verb-object, as in English, or perhaps object-subject-verb, following the example of Yoda?

Okrand chose the rarest of grammatical structures, object-verb-subject. A Klingon would say, "The Enterprise boarded I." He purposely picked sounds that never would be found together in the same human language.

All this has added up to one alien manner of speech.

The challenge has not deterred serious Klingonists, who number perhaps a few hundred worldwide. Djorn X. Oqvist, 33, a Swedish linguistics student and founder of the Klingon Academy, said you must be creative with Klingon's 2,600 words.

For example, he said, there is no way to say: "Park the car." No problem. Klingon speakers "dock" their vehicles.

The difference between "park" and "dock" illustrates how languages can talk about similar things but conjure subtly different images.

The phenomenon was noted by early 20th century linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf. They proposed a theory that language had the power to broaden or constrain a speaker's thoughts. That is, it is hard to think about concepts without the specific words to express them.

In 1955, sociologist James Cooke Brown came up with an idea to test the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. He would train students in a new language, and look at how their thinking changed.

He knew he could not use a natlang - it would be impossible to separate language from the influence of culture. So Brown invented a cultureless language, Loglan - short for "logical language."

Just as scientists use mice as a model for the human body, Loglan would be a model language for his laboratory of thought.

Brown borrowed vocabulary from English, French, German, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Russian and Japanese - the eight most widely spoken languages at the time.

Loglan was designed to be free of irregularity and ambiguity. The Loglan lexicon, containing more than 10,000 words, is made up of five-letter root words and short, one- or two-letter modifiers. The roots can be combined to make new six-letter words.

He included words for the mathematical Boolean variables such as "and," "or inclusive" and "or exclusive" to encourage clear, logical thinking.

As it turned out, creating the language wasn't the hardest part. Like many successful conlangers, Brown struggled to maintain control over his creation.

He founded the Loglan Institute in San Diego in the 1970s to bring others into the project, but then was upset when they didn't agree with his ideas.

"In 1984 there was a knock-down, drag-out battle over this," said Bob LeChevalier, 53, who was a member at the time. The institute fell apart and Brown was never able to conduct his great experiment.

LeChevalier and others developed Lojban, a language built on identical principles as Loglan. LeChevalier estimates there are between 500 and 1,000 Lojban speakers.

Kisa, too, has wrestled with the growing pains of her creation.

Once a language is released from the notebooks and index cards of its birth, other speakers might use it for purposes its creator never intended.

Since Kisa let Toki Pona loose on the Internet in 2001, it has spread from Toronto to speakers all over the world.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology routinely offers a seminar about the language. Kisa has received e-mails from Russians learning Toki Pona and a Finnish therapist who wants to teach it to his depressed patients.

Occasionally these correspondents offer criticism as well as praise. Some want to express complicated thoughts in Toki Pona, running counter to its design.

Kisa has given in to a few complaints. It's only natural for language to evolve, she said.

"Tenpo ni la toki pona li kama suli. Jan mute li kepeken e ona," she said. "It's like a living thing now."

Young Expressions: Language learning (Radio Singapore International)

2007-09-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

Find out how someone has learned to speak several languages fluently. When we have the need and the desire we discover that we can learn another language quickly. Typically we don't learn because we don't practice enough.

If you are wondering if those words were spoken by four different people. The answer is no.

his young lady from Malaysia has picked up not only her mother tongue, but also other Chinese dialects like Hokkien and Teochew, and even Thai, Bahasa Malaysia as well as English through the course of her growing up years in Kelantan.

This is Young Expressions and I am Shereena Sajeed. Recently, Loretta Foo made a trip to Malaysia and caught up with Ng Wan Choo , a 25 year old Malaysian law student who is able to understand and speak five different languages.

And she shares with us what these languages are.

Chinese, English, BM (Bahasa Malaysia), Malay, Cantonese and Hokkien are languages that I can understand and I can speak. I can only understand a bit of the Thai language because I watch a lot of Thai drama, other languages like Teochew, I can only understand but I cant’s speak.

You can hear the podcast at the original site.

Getting the Instruction Right at Khalil Gibran (The New York Sun)

2007-09-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

The following article is about the conflicts that exist in the United States regarding the use of religion in public schools and their funding. In the United States most people believe that religion and Education should be separate. This is not the case in many countries. In fact, in most arab and muslim countries, religion is integrated in classes as a matter of fact.

In other countries, religion is just considered a fact of life and appears without planning in and around schools. This is especially true in countries where most people belong to the same religious organization for example Mexico is at least 90% Catholic. While Catholicism is not a public school course here, symbols and mini-altars are common, even at gas stations.

This article is from here.

The city's Arabic-language public school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy, opens its doors this week, with special security, for about 55 12-year-old students. One hopes that the prolonged public debate over the school's Islamist proclivities will prompt it not to promote any political or religious agendas.

Count me as skeptical, however, and for two main reasons. First is the school's genesis and personnel, about which others and I have written extensively. Second, and my topic here, is the worrisome record of taxpayer-funded K–12 Arabic-language programs from sea to shining sea.

The trend is clear: Pre-collegiate Arabic-language instruction, even when taxpayer funded, tends to bring along indoctrination in pan-Arab nationalism, radical Islam, or both. Note some examples:

• Amana Academy, Alpharetta, Georgia, near Atlanta: A charter school that requires Arabic-language learning, Amana boasts of its "institutional partnership" with the Arabic Language Institute Foundation. But ALIF forwards the learning of Arabic as a means "to convey the message of Qur'an in North America and Europe" and thus to "help the Western countries recover from the present moral decay."

• Carver Elementary School, San Diego: A teacher, Mary-Frances Stephens, informed the school board that she taught a "segregated class" of Muslim girls and that each day she was required to release them from class for an hour of prayer, led by a Muslim teacher's aide. Ms. Stephens deemed this arrangement "clearly a violation of administrative, legislative and judicial guidelines." The school's principal, Kimberlee Kidd, replied that the teacher's aide merely prayed alongside the students and the session lasted only 15 minutes. The San Diego Unified School District investigated Ms. Stephens's allegations and rejected them, but it nonetheless changed practices at Carver. Superintendent Carl Cohn eliminated single-gender classes and reconfigured the schedule so that students can pray during lunch.

• Charlestown High School, Massachusetts: The school's summer Arabic-language program took students on a trip to the Islamic Society of Boston, where, the Boston Globe reports, students "sat in a circle on the carpet and learned about Islam from two mosque members." One student, Peberlyn Moreta, 16, fearing that the gold cross around her neck would offend the hosts, tucked it under her T-shirt. Anti-Zionism also appeared, with the showing of the 2002 film "Divine Intervention," which a critic, Jordan Hiller, has termed an "irresponsible film," "frighteningly dangerous," and containing "pure hatred" toward Israel.

• Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, Inver Grove Heights, Minn.: Islamic Relief Worldwide, an organization that allegedly has links to jihadism and terrorism, sponsored this charter school, which requires Arabic as a second language. The academy's name openly celebrates Islamic imperialism, as Tarek ibn Ziyad led Muslim troops in their conquest of Spain in 711. Local journalists report that "a visitor might well mistake Tarek ibn Ziyad [Academy] for an Islamic school" because of the women wearing hijabs, the carpeted prayer area, the school closing down for Islamic holidays, everyone keeping the Ramadan fast, the cafeteria serving halal food, classes breaking for prayer, almost all the children praying, and the constant use of "Brother" and "Sister" when adults at the school address each other.

• Only in the case of the Iris Becker Elementary School in Dearborn, Mich., is the Arabic-language program not obviously pursuing a political and religious agenda. Its program may actually be clean, or perhaps the minimal information about it explains the lack of known problems.

The above examples (see my Web log entry "Other Taxpayer-Funded American Madrassas" for yet more) are all American, but similar problems predictably exist in other Western countries.

This troubling pattern points to the need for special scrutiny of publicly funded Arabic-language programs. That scrutiny should take the form of robust supervisory boards whose members are immersed in the threat of radical Islam and who have the power to shut down anything they might find objectionable.

Arabic-language instruction at the pre-collegiate level is needed, and the American government rightly promotes it — for example, via the National Security Language Initiative on the national level or the Foreign Language in Elementary Schools program on a local one. As it does so, getting the instruction right becomes ever more important. Citizens, parents, and taxpayers have the right to ensure that children attending these publicly funded institutions are taught a language skill — and are not being recruited to anti-Zionism or Islamism.

What do you think? Is it possible to teach Arabic or related languages or teach arab and muslim people without involving religion?

An Indian Nation Preserves Its Heritage With a Magic Joystick (The New York Sun)

2007-09-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

Video games can become a way to learn languages and culture

An Indian Nation Preserves Its Heritage With a Magic Joystick

Like many 8-year-old boys, Eli Langley loves video games. The ins and outs of Nintendo and PlayStation characters, puzzles, and role-playing adventures are much more accessible to him than, say, the oral traditions or hunting techniques of his Coushatta Tribe's ancestors. His latest obsession is trying to restore the powers and magic of a character named Sora in the "Kingdom Hearts" game for Nintendo DS.

"If I sleep on it, I think I'll beat it," Eli said one night after school and football practice. "I'm not modest, I know I'll do it."

Eli's love of gaming got his mother, Linda, and several of her tribe's leaders thinking: Could the tribe harness the power of video games and their mighty influence over today's young people to promote cultural learning? Could a game about American Indian culture and language be of interest to a plugged-in child like her son?

"We wanted to find something new, something fun, to engage our younger members," the tribe's chairman, Kevin Sickey, said. "We need to draw strength from our past, while doing everything we can to preserve our future."

After months of working with a high-tech gaming development firm and investing thousands of dollars, that mission is becoming a reality with the creation of a state-of-the-art museum called the Coushatta Heritage Center, soon to be built in Elton, La.

In fact, Eli recently helped test a prototype 3-D video game for the museum, in which players are able to explore a virtual world in order to experience how members of the Coushatta Tribe traditionally interacted with their environment and used handmade tools to survive.

Where a typical video game might feature a European-looking spaceman running around on an alien planet with a laser gun, this game prototype featured a Coushatta hero with darker skin and a build more like a traditional member of the tribe, with a sinewy and slightly muscular upper body and legs. True to tribal history, the character carried a bow and arrow, as well as a blowgun to hunt small animals. His game-play environment was modeled after the traditional Coushatta forests, and he received instructions in the game from a computerized elder who asked him to collect firewood for warmth and pine needles to weave baskets.

Eli was able to manipulate the character via a game controller, just as he would make Super Mario jump and run in a Nintendo game. If his character picked up wood that was too close to a pond, the guiding elder would tell him that the wood bundles were too wet to be used.

"It's kind of boring right now because it's only a prototype," Eli explained. "It'll get better."

Eli's mother couldn't be happier about this modern-day video game creation story, which she has played a large role in promoting through her role as an anthropologist at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La. "We saw that the first day of testing," she recalled. "I couldn't get him to get off it. He sat and he played, and he made the character run through the landscapes."

Ms. Langley is as pumped as a video game fanatic to have her son join other Native kids from her community as guinea pigs for this mission. "They were so hooked," she recalled of one demo day. "We knew we were on to something."

But there is an educational method behind the fun. "What we're really trying to do is use modern learning technology to help educate about the tribe and to help preserve the language and the culture for future generations," said John Purdy, president of Red Knight Learning Systems of Dallas, the firm the Coushatta Tribe has contracted with to help develop its digital learning center. "Young people have not always been able to pick up much on their language and their tribe's history."

The Coushatta partnership with Red Night, which began early this year, will make the tribe one of a handful in the nation with a museum that features modern immersive, multimedia learning exhibits designed to preserve tribal language and heritage.

Indian leaders say that as the concept of tribal self-determination has taken steam since the 1960s, more tribes have taken ownership over their representation in museums. The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., which has received funding from dozens of tribes, is but one symbol of the movement. Since its opening in 2004, it has featured many "living history" video exhibits with tribal cultures being explained by contemporary American Indians via film and other electronic means.

Ms. Langley prefers to call the Coushatta museum a digital center because museums have often held negative connotations for Native people, she said. Many non-Indian museums, like the Smithsonian Institution, host exhibits featuring Indian bones and sacred artifacts, a practice that fundamentally violates the cultural ideologies of many tribes.

By most accounts, the Coushatta Heritage Center will take tribal museums to an even higher playing field. Ground has already been broken for the nearly 10,000-foot facility that will house the unique technological learning experiment, and leaders are tentatively expecting the museum to open in the fall of 2008.

Video games won't be the only unique aspect of the museum. Red Knight is also designing an immersive theater, which will feature computerized sound effects and "smell cartridges" that will allow visitors to sense and feel like they've walked into the Coushatta woods in the evening. A timeline wall will allow visitors to "interact with history" -- by sliding a display monitor along the wall, they will able to see and hear the tribe's history. Several Kosati language programs will be available, and basket-making games also will allow visitors to make their own virtual Coushatta basket.

The center, according to Ms. Langley, will also include interactive and physical exhibits exploring the tribe's prophecies and stories from their more than 500-year history. The Kosati language will be integrated into all exhibits, and the Heritage Center will also function as a tribal library, archive, and language learning center for Coushatta tribal members.

Ms. Langley insists that those who are resistant to or reluctant to use technology will still find much to enjoy at the museum. "You will not have to be a video game expert to get a lot out of it," she said.

Mr. Purdy of Red Knight said tribal leaders were adamant that they didn't want this project to turn out like any old museum. After researching the current field of tribal museums, he believes that the Coushatta Heritage Center "will be one of the more high-tech and unique buildings and heritage centers among American Indian tribes in the nation."

Technology, of course, does not come cheaply. No one interviewed for this story would give exact numbers, but some say the video-game aspects of the heritage museum alone will cost upwards of six figures. The Coushatta Tribe is paying for the project via tribal casino profits and other fund raising, as well as from grant money from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from the Smithsonian.

"The amount of resources that are being poured into this initiative are unprecedented," the tribe's vice chairman, David Sickey, said. "It serves a dual purpose: serving the generations that are coming up and educating our non-Indian friends as well."It's crucial for tribal councils to endorse these types of forward-thinking initiatives, Mr. Sickey said.

"That's one thing I've really noticed about the tribe," Mr. Purdy said. "They do seem to spend a lot of their money and energy into helping out their own people."

With a kid like Eli at the controls, that mindset may be prove to be useful. "He likes complicated games," Ms. Langley said.

"Yeah, they can't be boring," Eli chimed in over his mom. "They're not going to be fun unless they mess me up a little."

The original article can be found here.