Language Articles

Culture and Society » Language | By Boyd Norwood @ Monday, 25th February 2008 @ 1:03 AM

There are many reasons why someone would want or need to speak another language. Let's take German for example--why is German a good language to learn to speak? First, your resume will look more impressive when stating that you speak a second language. Since German is the second most used language in Europe, it will be a great second language to have in your repertoire because you will obviously be able to communicate with more people. Also, many studies have shown that those who ... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By Peter Finch @ Saturday, 2nd February 2008 @ 9:18 PM

Whenever you visit a foreign country or foreigners come to visit yours, or you simply fall in love with a person coming from other country, you have to know for the beginning some essential phrases in that language. The good news is that if you spend much time with a native speaker, you can learn the language in no time. Now let us see some basic phrases in Romanian, if you are interested in communication with Romanians. As most of the learners prefer accurate presentation, we will offer ... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Wednesday, 30th January 2008 @ 8:13 AM

It is probably important to begin by specifying what exactly language translation is and, perhaps more importantly, what it is not. Known simply as translation within the industry, it is the process of taking a "written" message in one language (the source language) and expressing it in another language (the target language). It is not, as is often incorrectly assumed, the same as Interpretation which is facilitating conversations between people. Think the United Nations, the European Pa... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Monday, 21st January 2008 @ 8:43 PM

French is one of the many so-called Romance languages that grew out of "Vulgar Latin". It is part of the linguistic subgroup known as Langue d'oil that developed in northern France in the middle ages. It differs from the other two main subgroups spoken in France, Langue d'oc (also known as Occitan) and Franco-Provencal spoken in southern France, in that it was heavily influenced by the Germanic languages brought in by the invading Franks. In practical terms what we now ... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By Joseph Jordan @ Sunday, 13th January 2008 @ 10:01 PM

There are many reasons you should learn Japanese Today. Japan is the seventh largest country in the world, so leaning Japanese and speak it fluently could open many opportunities for you. You can become Japan experts in a variety of different fields such as tourists, journalism, science, technology, humanities and social sciences. Japanese is probably one of the most popular languages to learn for English speakers. It is a gateway to other Asian languages & cultures and Japanese-speakers... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Tuesday, 8th January 2008 @ 10:49 PM

Luxembourgish is a West Central German language belonging to the High German language family (to which modern-day German belongs) spoken along the banks of the Moselle since Frankish times (circa 1000 AD). There is, however, no defined geographic boundary as such between Luxembourgish and the neighbouring related West Central German languages with the change between one language and the next being gradual (called a dialect continuum by linguists). This means that it is difficult, if not i... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Sunday, 6th January 2008 @ 9:02 AM

Whilst perceived in many quarters as a legacy of pre-Roman Gaul, Breton is in fact a much more recent arrival. Although a Celtic language, it is instead descended from the Celtic languages on the British Isles and was brought from there to Brittany by settlers some time in the late 3rd, early 4th century AD. It established itself in Lower Brittany and was the language of the elite until the early middle ages when French began to make inroads. Over the following centuries, Breton fell fou... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Saturday, 5th January 2008 @ 11:16 PM

Often incorrectly referred to as Provencal in English, Occitan (or Langue d'oc) is one of the many so-called Romance languages that grew out of "Vulgar Latin". Whereas the Langue d'oil dominated the north of France, the Langue d'oc dominated much of the south. Historically, it was dominant from Aquitaine in the west, across the Pyrenees to Languedoc-Roussillon and along the Mediterranean Coast to the French and Italian Alps. Occitan was very influential in the early... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Tuesday, 1st January 2008 @ 8:23 PM

In addition to Spain's four constitutionally protected official languages (Catalan-Valencian-Balear, Castilian [known as Spanish outside Spain], Galician, Basque), the country has a myriad of unofficial languages enjoying little or no support from the central government. Whilst some, such as Aranese, Aragonese, Fala, Leonese and Calo, are spoken by very small groups of people, others, namely Asturian and Extremaduran, have a much stronger base. Aragonese It developed from "Vu... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Friday, 28th December 2007 @ 8:26 PM

Officially known as Euskara, very few modern languages have as much mystery surrounding their history or origins as Basque. With no known relations, Basque is known in linguistic circles as an "isolate". Early inscriptions indicate that the language pre-dated the Roman invasion. Why Basque managed to survive while Iberian and Tartessian died out only adds to the mystery surrounding it. Luckily from Basque's perspective, Roman attention tended to be more on the Mediterranean ... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Friday, 28th December 2007 @ 8:22 PM

Galician is a Romance language that grew out of "Vulgar Latin". It initially developed in the late first millennium amongst the Romanised Celts in modern-day Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal. Galician and Portuguese are considered to have been a single language (Galician-Portuguese) until the middle ages but diverged somewhat over the subsequent centuries largely as a result of the political separation. Following the separation, Galician lost much of its literary and academi... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Tuesday, 25th December 2007 @ 1:21 AM

Portuguese is a Romance language that grew out of "Vulgar Latin". It initially developed in the late first millennium amongst the Romanised Celts in modern-day Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal. Its influence spread southwards along the Atlantic fringe during the 11th-13th centuries following the "reconquest" of the Iberian peninsula from the Arab inhabitants. As with Spanish, the language was influenced by Arabic during this period. In 1290 it was renamed Portuguese ... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Tuesday, 18th December 2007 @ 7:11 AM

Catalan is a Romance languages that grew out of "Vulgar Latin". It initially developed along the northern and southern sides of the eastern Pyrenees and by the 9th century was an identifiable language in its own right. As Catalan political and military power increased during the "reconquest" of Spain from the Arab inhabitants, the language was pushed south through Catalonia and into Valencia and across the seas to the Balearic Islands. When Catalan political and m... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Monday, 17th December 2007 @ 7:32 AM

Spanish is one of the many so-called Romance languages that grew out of "Vulgar Latin". It originally developed in Cantabria in northern Spain before spreading its influence throughout much of the Iberian Peninsula during the "reconquest" of Spain from the Arab inhabitants. As a result, the language was heavily influenced by Arabic during this period. From the 16th century onwards, Spanish spread throughout the new empire to much of South and Central America as well as to... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By TJ Leary @ Monday, 17th December 2007 @ 7:30 AM

To start with, the difficulty for you is that there is no easy way of knowing whether one translation service is better than another. They all promise accurate translations yet they are not all created equal. Some proclaim unending quality while others promise low prices. The latter is the first obvious danger signal. The simple truth is that good translators are not cheap, nor should they be. The translation service also needs to add on its cut, ranging from 10%-50% on top of the translator... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By David Stevens @ Tuesday, 27th November 2007 @ 4:48 PM

Mandarin Chinese is becoming one of the most popular languages that people are studying and learning in the world. To learn Chinese in China or in your own country can be very difficult. The Chinese language is a tonal language. Each word when pronounced using the 4 different tones will have a different meaning. So it is important to be prepared and learn a bit more about the Chinese language before you embark on a trip to learn Mandarin Chinese at a language school in Beijing or Shangha... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By Beth Butler @ Friday, 16th November 2007 @ 10:39 PM

We are all fairly savvy to the fact that we live in an increasingly global society in which our neighbor is from Ecuador, our colleague is from France and the person who teaches our child is from Sweden! We realize as adults how difficult it is to learn a new language after our youth, but we keep reading that it is the perfect time for our own children to begin the language learning! Time & Newsweek ran feature articles years ago about the window of opportunity for second language learni... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By Julian Wayne @ Monday, 12th November 2007 @ 12:31 AM

Learning Spanish takes time...but there are ways to speed up the process. Just like everything in life, learning can be done slowly or it can be done at a faster pace. There are ways to learn Spanish that will increase your comprehension and shorten the learning curve. 1. Audio books/magazines. Audio books have always been popular, but now you can use them to learn Spanish. There are some audio books (and magazines) that come in Spanish with word-for-word transcripts of the dialogue i... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By Julian Wayne @ Monday, 5th November 2007 @ 2:43 PM

Can you really learn Spanish fast? Yes - at least to a certain extent. You can pick up key phrases and sentences pretty quickly. It will take you longer to achieve a complete command of Spanish (unless you're linguistically gifted) but a very basic knowledge can be acquired swiftly. All the ways listed below will teach you how to become acquainted with written or oral Spanish, or both, in a short time period. Now, let's take a look at them... 1. Online Forums Have you ever pa... more...

Culture and Society » Language | By Stephen Dolan @ Friday, 12th October 2007 @ 7:02 PM

Spanish is everywhere and you can learn it as a hobby to go on vacation in Spanish-speaking countries or to conduct business in Spanish-speaking regions. If you believe that you want to learn this romantic language, then one of the best ways to do it in your native country is at home, at your own pace. The most frequently used and best ways to learn Spanish in the comfort of your own home are using language audio CDs or online Spanish courses. It's Fast and Fun to Learn Sp... more...