Languages, Linguistics,
& International Cultures Page

ASL	Linguistics
Spanish	Cultures Foreign & Otherwise
Chinese	Danish
Books	Teacher Resources
*Languages* *I must like 'em, I've studied 15!*	Student Resources

TeachASL ... A Listserv (e-mail discussion group) for Teachers of ASL

ASL, Books & Videos, Chinese, Cultures, Danish, ESL (English as a Second Language), Friendship Force, Languages, Linguistics, Spanish,

Alysse never met a language she didn't like. Dan, well, he's not quite so sure. He'd like it better if he could analyze first and talk later, when he was sure of what he was saying and why. But even so, he can hold his own in an ASL (Deaf) conversation.

Alysse studied 15 different languages when she was in school and has had a passing acquaintance with about that many again over the years. But without anyone to babble with, it's been hard work just keeping up with her favorite five: English, Spanish, ASL (American Sign Language), Danish, and Chinese.

The most fascinating aspect of language is the linguistics ... the rules that make languages work. Not necessarily the grammar rules ... although they're a part of it ... but all the rules. Everything from how you address a peer, to how ask a questions, or give answers, or greet people, or get your tongue to wiggle in just the right way, or ... Well, the list is endless.

What really makes you stop and think though is the fact that no one language is better than another. Each works perfectly ... for it's own speakers. What makes a language easy or hard to learn depends -- mostly -- on how bad you want to learn it. After that, it depends on how much like or dislike it is from others that you know.

When we first went to college, our interest in languages blossomed into an interest in people. We became fascinated with other cultures because so many of our friends were international students. Over the years we became active in the International Students Association and the Madison Friends of the International Students. In 1977 we joined an organization called Friendship Force which allowed us to invite foreign visitors into our home for short stays.

Some of the best sites for more information about languages are:

ETHNOLOGUE ... Languages of the World
http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/ethnologue.html
Tons of languages on this list, with all the who, what, when, where info you could want.

Agora Language Marketplace
http://www.agoralang.com:2410/
Looking for a book? A workshop? A video? A conference? This is the place to go.

Internet Resources for Language Teachers
http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/langsite.htm
All sorts of neat stuff to look at, use, and pass along!

Linguistics & Language ... or what got me started

I can blame my interest on languages on three people ... well, actually, four. First, my mom who enjoyed learning ... anything ... and remembered it, always. Second, my dad, who did what comes naturally and helped create the third influence, my baby sister, Querida. And lastly, a Catholic nun.

Kari, aka Querida, was the catalyst. When she was born 3 months premature (way back in 1959 when premmies didn't usually make it), our family spoke only English at home. After Kari began to grow ... and all the rest of us learned that "No!" meant 'maybe' (if Kari asked) ... my mom began to use more and more Spanish. "Come here" meant 'I'd like to see you sometime this afternoon'; "Ven aca" meant 'get over here, right now!'. "Behave" meant 'I'm warning you' and "!Basta!" meant 'you're about to get the spanking of your life'.

As kids, once the rules had been fully (if somewhat painfully) applied, we loved the idea that we "spoke Spanish" ... something the neighbor kids did not.

Then came high school, and the Catholic nun. I was a freshman. I made new friends. They were studying French. I wasn't particularly interested in French ... but I was interested in doing what my friends did. So, I signed up for French in my sophemore year.

Sister Mary Claire, the principal, no less, called me into her office and told me that I wouldn't be allowed to take French. My English grades were weak (I was a B/C student). Foreign languages weren't easy courses. They were for the college bound kids.

Now this, of course, I took to mean "you're too dumb to learn a foreign language" and I knew that was a load of hockey :-) ... 'cause I already "spoke Spanish". I argued ... as much as anyone can argue with a Catholic nun; and then I turned the big guns loose. I told my mom!

Mom was firm; so was Sister Mary Claire. My mom was determined; so was Sister Mary Claire. My mom insisted; Sister Mary Claire resisted. My mom persisted and Sister Mary Claire agreed to a compromise: If my English teacher would permit it, ... if my English grades improved, ... if my other course work didn't suffer, etc ... I would be allowed to take Latin.

"Latin? Why Latin? My friends are taking French! Besides, I already know Latin." (I'd been going to Catholic schools for 10 years and could sing Requiems and Hosannas with the best of them.) But that was the edict sent down from on high.

So, I took Latin ... and got all A's. Not really too hard to do, providing you did the homework ... something I did, and the other kids did not. And, motivated as I was (aka, royally ticked at being thought of as "too dumb"), my other grades improved as well.

The next year we moved and changed schools. My friends and French were no longer in my life :-( However, the new school did offer Spanish and since I already had a head start ... well hey, why not!

Seriously, this experience (when viewed from an adult perspective) taught me that motivation is a key factor in language acquisition. There are a couple of other things I've learned along the way, too:

What You've Gotta Know Before You Start
What Every Foreign Language Teacher Needs To Know

Languages
Here's a bunch of neat language links & stuff :-)

Multiple Languages:
     A Web of On-line Dictionaries
     Numbers in Over 4000 Languages ... comparative linguistics
     "Thank you" Page ... how to say "thanks" around the world

UNIFORMITIES BETWEEN LANGUAGES IN COLOUR-NAMING ... techno stuff

Langauges Sorted by Families:
     The World's Main Languages ... the top 20 (by population)
     Language Families ... an explanation "families" & a bit of key info
     Yamada Language Guides ... fonts & other resources
     Genetic Classification of languages ... simple explanation, detailed info

    Non Indo-European Langauges:
            Sino-Tibetan
                Chinese
            AmerIndian

    Indo-European Langauges:
           Numbers in Indo-European Languages ... great chart
Norwegian Language Lesson Intro
Urdu
            ESL resources:
              Activities for ESL Students ... terrific self-help stuff
                Internet TESL Journal ... everything any teacher could want

Writing:
Languages started about 1 1/2 million years ago; writing started about 5,000 years ago. Not all languages have a written form. In fact, writing is a fairly "recent" innovation. Some languages are written with alphabets (abc's like English), some languages are written with syllabaries (syllables like Japanese & Cherokee), some are written with characters (pictures like Chinese):

Timeline:
Language began(x) Written forms(y) Now(z) X......................................................................................................................................YZ

If you'd like to learn more, this is a great place to explore:
Ancient Scripts of the World ... fun page, great info, neat art
Museum of the Alphabet ... hot vacation spot for linguists

Forgotten Scripts By Dino Manzella
Quiz for LING2000001: 10. Writing and Language (Chapter 15 [13])

Teachers ... if you're looking for foreign/second language teaching resources, try this page first:
Teacher Links to Activities, Books, & Teaching Materials

Asian Languages
Hong Kong Monikers
Best Chinese Names
Chinese Language Phrases
Frequency and Stroke Counts of Chinese Characters
The Hundred Families Surnames
Chinese characters
Babel Online Chinese Translation Course
The Complete Reference to China/Chinese Related Web Sites
Travelers' Japanese with Voice