About: The Global Language Network (GLN)

Sure, it’s refreshing, but did you that gelato’s history dates back to the 16th Century?  Italy Magazine offers a bilingual summary of the history of this classic treat .  Click on the photo above to access the article.

Photo Courtesy: http://www.srchoucair.com/

The Culture Trip discusses in a recent feature the current exhibition of the work of Lebanese artist Saloua Raouda Choucair at London’s Tate Modern.  Born in Beirut in 1916, Choucair is considered Lebanon’s first abstract artist.  An important figure in the Arab art world, she is now receiving international recognition after more than five decades of artistic production.  The Tate Modern exhibition is the first major collection of her works.  

The Culture Trip feature summarizes Choucair’s intellectual influences and the rationale behind her artistic decisions:

“Throughout her career as an artist, Choucair has consistently expressed a passion for Islamic geometric art and has always emphasised her rational way of thinking, having long been interested in arithmetics and rejecting any adjectival notions in her works. Using principles from Sufism, science and mathematics across all of her projects, her paintings of gouache and oil on canvas can be seen to show an influence from early Western 20th Century European art, as she explores the regular use of simple geometric shapes and the influence of colour upon the viewer’s perspective.”  

Choucair is still actively creating artwork and resides in her home city.  The Tate Modern exhibition will go on through October 20, 2013.

I am Georgian and I was raised in western Georgia so I represent the western Georgian culture. I majored both in psychology and linguistics and usually like to connect these two fields. I love animals and feel very strongly about protecting them.

Why someone should take Georgian over the summer!?- Because Georgian is just as good as any other European languages.Georgian is very interesting language – as many of my students say it is not like any other languages – it has evolved and developed in isolation from other language families and it also has very old unique script which according to new research dates back to several millenniums. There is one fact that very few people know – there are 4 Georgian languages – not dialects, but actual languages – only one of them is officially used for education, but other languages are also spoken and used.

I actually speak 3 out of 4 Georgian languages which is not very common among Georgians. I am also native in Russian and speak some German, Italian and can read and write Farsi–at least I could at some point! I loooove Italy and Italian culture. I adore french poetry – Francois Viglion is one of my favorite poets ever. I feel very connected to Polish culture and history, and the place where I feel completely at home is Istanbul.

Favorite phrase in Georgian is “ramdeni enats itsi, imdeni katsi khar” -” რამდენი ენაც იცი, იმდენი კაცი ხარ”- which means you are as many men as many languages you know. So if anyone wants to raise a little Georgian inside them – I want to support that. :))

–Anna Petriashvili Pastore

I have been interested in learning Chinese since I was about 16. I was lucky enough to have a world affairs history teacher in high school who focused on the impact of the rise of China and the other East Asian economies for an entire quarter, and it piqued my curiosity. Two years later, as a senior, I took an East Asian history and culture class, and that got me into Chinese history and culture as well.

Like a lot of people, I started formally studying Chinese in college, but never had quite the time to devote to it that I wish I had. I have been studying it off and on in the 8 years since. My basic fluency improved a lot during the year I spent in Beijing right after college, but I like to take courses here and there to refresh what I know.

I have been involved in GLN as a student for about two and a half years, now. I heard about GLN from a friend at GW, and it sounded like a good way to keep working on my Chinese while in grad school. I really liked the classes, and at the suggestion of one of my classmates, who was a director himself, I applied to be the Director of Teacher Support. I have been in that position for about 8 months, and it’s been a fantastic experience. I’ve met some of my best friends through working for GLN.

My favorite word in a foreign language is naturally from Chinese. It’s “马马虎虎/mama huhu”, which literally translated, means “horse-horse tiger-tiger.” Somehow, this phrase means “so-so,” as in “my Chinese is so-so.” One explanation I’ve heard is that you are saying that something is neither a horse nor a tiger, it is somewhere in-between. It is apparently an intensely colloquial phrase, and while I was in Beijing, locals always found it quite odd to hear a laowai like myself using it.

Photo by jmrodri, Some rights reserved

Does this sound like a conference room you know? You can donate your empty conference room to GLN to use for class space. Not only will your lonely conference room get a chance to meet new people and help them learn new languages, you can join them! Everyone who donates space will receive priority registration for the language class they host.

The month of May will be full of exciting intercultural experiences thanks to the sixth annual Passport DC, presented by Cultural Tourism DC.  As our nation’s capitol, DC is home to many foreign diplomats, embassies and consulates.  Passport DC offers embassy open houses and cultural events to showcase our uniquely international city.  The embassy open houses are free and require no reservation, but be sure to bring an ID.  Many of the embassies are in clusters close to each other, but complimentary shuttle service is provided if needed.  See below for more details about the embassy open houses and visit the Passport DC website for info on additional events, maps and more.

AROUND THE WORLD EMBASSY TOUR

Saturday, May 4th (10:00-4:00)

The following embassies will be open to the public and offer performances, demonstrations and culinary experiences unique to the countries they represent:

• Afghanistan

• Argentina

• Australia

• Azerbaijan

• Bangladesh

• Barbados

• Belize

• Bolivia

• Botswana

• Brazil

• Chile

• Cote d’Ivoire

• Dominican Republic

• Ecuador

• Egypt

• Ethiopia

• Ghana

• Guatemala

• Haiti

• Indonesia

• Iraq

• Japan

• Kazakhstan

• Korea

• Kyrgyz

• Malaysia

• Mexico

• Mozambique

• Nepal

• Nicaragua

• Pakistan

• Peru

• Saudi Arabia

• Serbia

• South Africa

• Sri Lanka

• St. Kitts & Nevis

• Thailand

• Trinidad and Tobago

• Turkey

• Ukraine

• Zambia

SHORTCUT TO EUROPE

Saturday, May 11th (10:00-4:00)

European Union member states will open their embassies for visitors to experience food, exhibits, and performances unique to their countries. The following embassies will be participating:

• Croatia

• Denmark

• Finland

• Hungary

• Latvia

• Malta

• Portugal

• Slovenia

• United Kingdom

• Austria

• Cyprus

• Estonia

• France

• Federal Republic of Germany

• Ireland

• Lithuania

• the Netherlands

• Romania

• Spain

• Belgium

• the Czech Republic

• the Delegation of the European Union

• Greece

• Italy

• Luxembourg

• Republic of Poland

• Slovakia

• Sweden