Oh, it’s a little bluesy outside isn’t it? Well, get home safe. Make some stew. Click the pic for a yummy looking recipe!
Photo and Recipe Courtesy: Vanilla and Spice
Frightful Weather Calls for a West African Stew Recipe
G-Blogodaria
Problematic: Arabs Aren’t Speaking Arabic Anymore
Is the Arabic Language Becoming History?
Arabs just don’t think speaking Arabic is cool anymore. Lebanese activist Suzanne Talhouk noticed this as she observed a shift among several age groups from speaking primarily Arabic to English.
“I realized that Arabic was becoming extinct,” she says.
Why? She sees a few solid reasons:
Arabic is perceived as old-fashioned while speaking English is a sign of cultural superiority. (“I saw that even people from poor families would speak only in English just to prove that they are from a certain culture or maintain a certain image,” she says.)
Arabic hasn’t kept up with neologisms. The words “CD” and “Internet” never made it into the language. (“Even if the terminologies are there, they are not easy to digest and are not marketed well.”)
They associate Arabic with terrorism. It’s a national case of identity conflict, where people would rather be heard saying “Thank you” rather than “Shukran.”
In response, she has founded an NGO to encourage Arabs to to get back into it, offering the following tips:
What parents can do:
1. Never tell your children that Arabic is not important and that they won’t need it.
2. Talk to them in Arabic.
3. Make sure they read in Arabic.
4. Tell them stories that relate to their life in Arabic.
5. Explain to them that one’s identity is related to the language and culture and that it’s important to preserve it.
What teachers can do:
1. Engage your students in cultural activities outside the school premises.
2. Encourage your students to be creative in Arabic.
3. Use new teaching methods that associate Arabic with being “cool”.
4. Discourage your students from writing Arabic using Latin letters and numbers.
What NGOs can do:
1. Talk, involve and address the youth in a language they can relate to.
2. Create a space where youth can express themselves.
3. Focus on linking creativity to revitalising the language.
4. Support youth initiatives to preserve the Arabic language.
We’d like to add one more to the list: SEND ‘EM OVER TO GLN! Our inspiring community of Arabic language enthusiasts is always looking for conversation partners.
Beyond the Fog: Latin America’s “Invisible Poets”
Alváro Mutis. Photo Courtesy: El País
In spite of the efforts of literary prizes and Spanish publishers to promote Latin American poets, there are many that are relatively unknown outside of their native country. Dario Jaramilllo, in this article for El Pais, expresses appreciation for the recognition given to poets such as Nicanor Parra (Chile), Alváro Mutis (Columbia) and Rafael Cadenas (Venezuela). He dedicates the rest of his piece, however, to those poets who have not yet achieved this acceptance.
Jaramillo likens the neglected status of most Latin America poets within the Spanish-speaking world to a “fog.” He writes that “names familiar in one country are ignored in neighboring countries, secret poets, cult poets, individuals of all ages that, despite their value, are hardly mentioned.”
He proceeds to list poets born in the 1920’s through the 70’s, creators of works that vary extensively in style and content. He concludes by acknowledging his own inability to adequately identify all of them: “It is impossible to include all those that are suggested as great poets, and for this reason, this paragraph highlights only some and commits involuntary injustices.”
No Rugby without Welsh
In spite of its promotion by local media and government, the number of Welsh language speakers has continued to decline in recent years. Hugh Muir writes in this article for the Guardian about the the uphill struggle to keep the language alive. Citing economic troubles as a primary factor, he discusses how the loss of young, new speakers to emigration has left Wales more susceptible to the influence of English.
Muir meets with Heini Gruffud, a language activist and author of over 25 books in Welsh, to discuss the language’s waning usage. In spite of the difficulties it is facing, Gruffud remains confident that it will continue to endure:
“People have been saying that Welsh would die out for hundreds of years. With all the pressures it has faced, its survival is a bit of a miracle.”
His optimism draws upon the language’s ongoing appeal in social circles: “I met a man the other day who said they run 11 rugby teams in his area and all through the medium of Welsh. That’s important. People using Welsh in a social way. More important than a bilingual gas bill.”
Speak Now, or Forever Study Grammar
What are the key factors in learning a new language? Peter with the blog Creativity & Languages has summarized six that stand out:
- Motivation
- Regular practice
- Emotional involvement
- Playfulness and willingness to make mistakes
- Humble approach – The basic first
- Grammar is secondary to practice, theory is secondary to practice.
Factor number six is arguably the most important, as he elaborates “that second language acquisition is more successful when it imitates children language acquisition. Children do not learn grammar first and then how to speak, they learn how to speak by a trial and error process which involve constant engaging with their environment. Children do not learn reading by starting to read literature. They learn to read by starting to read simple single words, and then simple single sentences. ”
In the end, speaking a language regularly will produce the quickest results, no matter how much you study grammar.
There’s A Word For That: 14 Foreign Words That Perfectly Encapsulate Ideas That English Forgot
The people of Tierra Del Fuego sure are passive-aggressive:
Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego)
This word captures that special look shared between two people, when both are wishing that the other would do something that they both want, but neither want to do.
Or they’re just efficient wordsmiths that don’t have time to sit around explaining this in English.