Last month I posted about some great language infographics. Now I have another to share.
People often say that one language is harder to learn than another. Currently I tell people that Spanish is hard because in class we are learning verb conjugations! I tend to think a tonal language such as Mandarin would be more difficult to learn though, as native English speakers may not have been exposed to speaking and listening to language in this way.
The US State Department, has “compile[d] learning expectations for a number of languages based on the amount of time it takes a native English speaker to achieve speaking and reading proficiency” and this is what the infographic (produced by Voxy) shows. Having studied Spanish for around 30 class hours now, I can see I have a long way to go to achieve proficiency, even if it is rated an ‘easy’ language!
What do you think? Does your experience show that Japanese is ‘easier’ to learn than Swedish for example?
Via: Voxy Blog
I was alerted to this film over at the Omniglot blog, and it looks really interesting.
Speaking in Tongues follows four children as they attend immersion school in San Francisco. The children are native English speakers but learn to communicate in Mandarin and Spanish, two of the most spoken languages in the world.
There’s a commitment in America to remain an “English only” nation, with opinions on both sides of the fence. Some say bilingualism is essential to America’s economic development and national security; others warn that national identity is at risk. According to the makers, the answers are in the movie – the children find that learning a second language “transforms their sense of self, their families, and their communities”. The opportunity to become ‘global citizens’.
It sounds like a really engaging film, I hope to get to see it soon!
Students at some universities are foregoing traditional languages in favour of learning indigenous languages, according to the LA Times.
Rather than taking French, Spanish or Mandarin, the students are learning indigenous Latin American languages such as Zapotec, Quechua and Mixtec. Their reasons for taking the classes are varied – some want to work with the people who speak the language, others to get closer to their roots.
In Los Angeles, Felipe Lopez also gradually shed his shame for Zapotec.
Many of the estimated 300,000 Oaxacans living in Los Angeles County are of Zapotec decent, he said. He wanted the language and the culture recognized as distinct, even in a sea of Spanish-speaking Mexicans.
Lopez now represents his countrymen living in the United States by serving as a liaison to the Oaxacan government. And he and two UCLA colleagues worked for eight years in the 1990s to write the first Zapotec, Spanish, English dictionary. The thick book defines 9,000 words in Zapotec, a language that is hardly ever written.
With the many stories in the news about endangered indigenous languages, this shows that there is still enthusiasm and reason for learning and keeping at-risk languages alive.
