Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Elizabeth Osmun, English and ESL Teacher at Language Door San Diego
Elizabeth Osmun has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Boston University and earned her Master of Arts in Education at SDSU. She has taught at several language schools including SDSU's American Language Institute and is a California credentialed teacher. She also produced and hosted a cable TV show in NYC for 11 years on culture and performing arts, was a performing artist herself, and coached executives for speaking "on camera". Her hobbies include theatre arts, biking, hiking, kayaking, dancing
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Turkish Language
Turkish is the official language of Turkey and is one of the official languages of Cyprus. It is natively spoken by the Turkish people in Turkey and by the Turkish diaspora in some 30 other countries. In particular, Turkish-speaking minorities exist in countries that formerly (in whole or part) belonged to the Ottoman Empire, such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece (primarily in Western Thrace), the Republic of Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia.
More than two million Turkish speakers live in Germany, and there are significant Turkish-speaking communities in France, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Turkish is a member of the Turkish, or Western, subgroup of the Oghuz languages, which includes Gagauz and Azeri. The Oghuz languages form the Southwestern subgroup of the Turkic languages, a language family comprising some 30 living languages spoken across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Siberia. Some linguists believe the Turkic languages to be a part of a larger Altaic language family.
The earliest known Turkic inscriptions are the two monumental Orkhon inscriptions dating back to some time between 732 and 735. Following the adoption of Islam c. 950 by the Kara-Khanid Khanate and the Seljuq Turks, who are both regarded as the cultural ancestors of the Ottomans, the administrative language of these states acquired a large collection of loanwords from Arabic and Persian.Turkish literature during the Ottoman period, particularly Ottoman Divan poetry, was heavily influenced by Persian, including the adoption of poetic meters and a great quantity of imported words. The literary and official language during the Ottoman Empire (c. 1299–1922) was a mixture of Turkish, Persian, and Arabic that differed considerably from the period's everyday spoken Turkish and is termed Ottoman Turkish.
After the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, loanwords replacement of Arabic and Persian origin with Turkish equivalents was initiated. By banning the usage of imported words in the press, the new Republic of Turkish succeeded in removing several hundred foreign words from the language. While most of the words introduced to the language were newly derived from Turkic roots, it also opted for reviving Old Turkish words which had not been used for centuries. Although there are still some loanwords from Arabic and Persian, most of the words used today in modern Turkish are originally Turkic.
-- by Mehmet, Turkish teacher, Language Door San Diego.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays from Language Door San Diego.
Make sure to sign up before our Winter 2010 term begins.
Make sure to sign up before our Winter 2010 term begins.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Early Bird Special
Language Door San Diego's Winter 2010 term will begin on January 3rd.
Take advantage of the December 17th early registration deadline and receive a $20 discount.
Call us at 619-564-6335 or email at sd@languagedoor.com to receive additional information about the types of classes we offer and the vast variety of languages we teach.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The French Accent called “Accent Circonflexe” or “Chapeau”
The “accent circonflexe” appeared in France around the sixteenth century. It was precisely in 1740 that the “Académie Française” decided to introduce this accent into the French language. It often serves to hide an old letter, either an “e” or an “s” that the reformers of the French language decided to omit. For example, the term “hôpital” was originally spelled “hospital,” or “forêt” was spelled “forest” in Old French. The words “âge” and “sûr” were spelled “eage” and “seur” in the past.
During the late 80s and early 90’s, this accent became the topic of much debate in France. Linguists and members of the “Académie Française” began to question the purpose and usefulness of this accent that combines the “accent grave” and the “accent aigu.” The debate became particularly heated in 1990 with the famous question “A quoi sert l’accent circonflexe?” Finally, in 1995, the linguist Bernardo Cerquiglini wrote an entire book dedicated to this accent: L’Accent du Souvenir.
The term “chapeau” represents a nickname that Francophones use to refer to this accent. The term does, indeed, have a similar function to a hat if one looks at its role in the French language and culture. It is like an umbrella, a hat, protecting the classic French language from the modern era from the outside influence. It also represents a superfluous, and yet, very important symbol of French stereotypes.
During the late 80s and early 90’s, this accent became the topic of much debate in France. Linguists and members of the “Académie Française” began to question the purpose and usefulness of this accent that combines the “accent grave” and the “accent aigu.” The debate became particularly heated in 1990 with the famous question “A quoi sert l’accent circonflexe?” Finally, in 1995, the linguist Bernardo Cerquiglini wrote an entire book dedicated to this accent: L’Accent du Souvenir.
The term “chapeau” represents a nickname that Francophones use to refer to this accent. The term does, indeed, have a similar function to a hat if one looks at its role in the French language and culture. It is like an umbrella, a hat, protecting the classic French language from the modern era from the outside influence. It also represents a superfluous, and yet, very important symbol of French stereotypes.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Fall II Schedule and Deadline!
Language Door San Diego's Fall II term begins October 27th 2009. Make sure to visit the Language Door San Diego page on our website to find the schedule of classes.
You will receive a $20 discount on if you register with us by October 22nd.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Greek
Greek, an Indo-European language native to the southern Balkan peninsula, is the language of the Greeks. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical Ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In its modern form, it is the official language of Greece and Cyprus, and spoken by approximately 20 million people (first language for ca. 15 million), including minority and emigrant communities in numerous parts of the world. Its written form uses the Greek alphabet.
Have you ever wanted to learn Greek? Language Door San Diego is one of the few places around that offer Greek classes year round!
For more information about our Greek program, please visit: http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/greek.html
Have you ever wanted to learn Greek? Language Door San Diego is one of the few places around that offer Greek classes year round!
For more information about our Greek program, please visit: http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/greek.html
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
How do babies become bilingual?
This article appeared in the Associated Press on July 21, 2009:
WASHINGTON – The best time to learn a foreign language: Between birth and age 7. Missed that window?
New research is showing just how children's brains can become bilingual so easily, findings that scientists hope eventually could help the rest of us learn a new language a bit easier.
"We think the magic that kids apply to this learning situation, some of the principles, can be imported into learning programs for adults," says Dr. Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, who is part of an international team now trying to turn those lessons into more teachable technology.
Each language uses a unique set of sounds. Scientists now know babies are born with the ability to distinguish all of them, but that ability starts weakening even before they start talking, by the first birthday.
Kuhl offers an example: Japanese doesn't distinguish between the "L" and "R" sounds of English — "rake" and "lake" would sound the same. Her team proved that a 7-month-old in Tokyo and a 7-month-old in Seattle respond equally well to those different sounds. But by 11 months, the Japanese infant had lost a lot of that ability.
Time out — how do you test a baby? By tracking eye gaze. Make a fun toy appear on one side or the other whenever there's a particular sound. The baby quickly learns to look on that side whenever he or she hears a brand-new but similar sound. Noninvasive brain scans document how the brain is processing and imprinting language.
Mastering your dominant language gets in the way of learning a second, less familiar one, Kuhl's research suggests. The brain tunes out sounds that don't fit.
"You're building a brain architecture that's a perfect fit for Japanese or English or French," whatever is native, Kuhl explains — or, if you're a lucky baby, a brain with two sets of neural circuits dedicated to two languages.
It's remarkable that babies being raised bilingual — by simply speaking to them in two languages — can learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. On average, monolingual and bilingual babies start talking around age 1 and can say about 50 words by 18 months.
Italian researchers wondered why there wasn't a delay, and reported this month in the journal Science that being bilingual seems to make the brain more flexible.
The researchers tested 44 12-month-olds to see how they recognized three-syllable patterns — nonsense words, just to test sound learning. Sure enough, gaze-tracking showed the bilingual babies learned two kinds of patterns at the same time — like lo-ba-lo or lo-lo-ba — while the one-language babies learned only one, concluded Agnes Melinda Kovacs of Italy's International School for Advanced Studies.
While new language learning is easiest by age 7, the ability markedly declines after puberty.
"We're seeing the brain as more plastic and ready to create new circuits before than after puberty," Kuhl says. As an adult, "it's a totally different process. You won't learn it in the same way. You won't become (as good as) a native speaker."
Yet a soon-to-be-released survey from the Center for Applied Linguistics, a nonprofit organization that researches language issues, shows U.S. elementary schools cut back on foreign language instruction over the last decade. About a quarter of public elementary schools were teaching foreign languages in 1997, but just 15 percent last year, say preliminary results posted on the center's Web site.
What might help people who missed their childhood window? Baby brains need personal interaction to soak in a new language — TV or CDs alone don't work. So researchers are improving the technology that adults tend to use for language learning, to make it more social and possibly tap brain circuitry that tots would use.
Recall that Japanese "L" and "R" difficulty? Kuhl and scientists at Tokyo Denki University and the University of Minnesota helped develop a computer language program that pictures people speaking in "motherese," the slow exaggeration of sounds that parents use with babies.
Japanese college students who'd had little exposure to spoken English underwent 12 sessions listening to exaggerated "Ls" and "Rs" while watching the computerized instructor's face pronounce English words. Brain scans — a hair dryer-looking device called MEG, for magnetoencephalography — that measure millisecond-by-millisecond activity showed the students could better distinguish between those alien English sounds. And they pronounced them better, too, the team reported in the journal NeuroImage.
"It's our very first, preliminary crude attempt but the gains were phenomenal," says Kuhl.
But she'd rather see parents follow biology and expose youngsters early. If you speak a second language, speak it at home. Or find a play group or caregiver where your child can hear another language regularly.
"You'll be surprised," Kuhl says. "They do seem to pick it up like sponges."
WASHINGTON – The best time to learn a foreign language: Between birth and age 7. Missed that window?
New research is showing just how children's brains can become bilingual so easily, findings that scientists hope eventually could help the rest of us learn a new language a bit easier.
"We think the magic that kids apply to this learning situation, some of the principles, can be imported into learning programs for adults," says Dr. Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, who is part of an international team now trying to turn those lessons into more teachable technology.
Each language uses a unique set of sounds. Scientists now know babies are born with the ability to distinguish all of them, but that ability starts weakening even before they start talking, by the first birthday.
Kuhl offers an example: Japanese doesn't distinguish between the "L" and "R" sounds of English — "rake" and "lake" would sound the same. Her team proved that a 7-month-old in Tokyo and a 7-month-old in Seattle respond equally well to those different sounds. But by 11 months, the Japanese infant had lost a lot of that ability.
Time out — how do you test a baby? By tracking eye gaze. Make a fun toy appear on one side or the other whenever there's a particular sound. The baby quickly learns to look on that side whenever he or she hears a brand-new but similar sound. Noninvasive brain scans document how the brain is processing and imprinting language.
Mastering your dominant language gets in the way of learning a second, less familiar one, Kuhl's research suggests. The brain tunes out sounds that don't fit.
"You're building a brain architecture that's a perfect fit for Japanese or English or French," whatever is native, Kuhl explains — or, if you're a lucky baby, a brain with two sets of neural circuits dedicated to two languages.
It's remarkable that babies being raised bilingual — by simply speaking to them in two languages — can learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. On average, monolingual and bilingual babies start talking around age 1 and can say about 50 words by 18 months.
Italian researchers wondered why there wasn't a delay, and reported this month in the journal Science that being bilingual seems to make the brain more flexible.
The researchers tested 44 12-month-olds to see how they recognized three-syllable patterns — nonsense words, just to test sound learning. Sure enough, gaze-tracking showed the bilingual babies learned two kinds of patterns at the same time — like lo-ba-lo or lo-lo-ba — while the one-language babies learned only one, concluded Agnes Melinda Kovacs of Italy's International School for Advanced Studies.
While new language learning is easiest by age 7, the ability markedly declines after puberty.
"We're seeing the brain as more plastic and ready to create new circuits before than after puberty," Kuhl says. As an adult, "it's a totally different process. You won't learn it in the same way. You won't become (as good as) a native speaker."
Yet a soon-to-be-released survey from the Center for Applied Linguistics, a nonprofit organization that researches language issues, shows U.S. elementary schools cut back on foreign language instruction over the last decade. About a quarter of public elementary schools were teaching foreign languages in 1997, but just 15 percent last year, say preliminary results posted on the center's Web site.
What might help people who missed their childhood window? Baby brains need personal interaction to soak in a new language — TV or CDs alone don't work. So researchers are improving the technology that adults tend to use for language learning, to make it more social and possibly tap brain circuitry that tots would use.
Recall that Japanese "L" and "R" difficulty? Kuhl and scientists at Tokyo Denki University and the University of Minnesota helped develop a computer language program that pictures people speaking in "motherese," the slow exaggeration of sounds that parents use with babies.
Japanese college students who'd had little exposure to spoken English underwent 12 sessions listening to exaggerated "Ls" and "Rs" while watching the computerized instructor's face pronounce English words. Brain scans — a hair dryer-looking device called MEG, for magnetoencephalography — that measure millisecond-by-millisecond activity showed the students could better distinguish between those alien English sounds. And they pronounced them better, too, the team reported in the journal NeuroImage.
"It's our very first, preliminary crude attempt but the gains were phenomenal," says Kuhl.
But she'd rather see parents follow biology and expose youngsters early. If you speak a second language, speak it at home. Or find a play group or caregiver where your child can hear another language regularly.
"You'll be surprised," Kuhl says. "They do seem to pick it up like sponges."
Farsi
Farsi or Persian is one of the world's oldest languages, a standard and well-recognized tongue as early as the 6th century B.C. E. Persian was the language of the great Persian Empire which at one time extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus River in India.The language was written in Cuneiform, the wedge-shaped characters used throughout much of the ancient world. In the 2nd century B.C. the Persians created their own alphabet, known as Pahlavi, which remained in use until the Islamic conquest of the 7th century. Since that time Persian has been written in the Arabic script with a number of additional characters to accommodate special sounds. Modern Persian is spoken by over 40 million people in Iran and another 5 million in Afghanistan. English words of Persian origin include shawl, pajama, taffeta, khaki, kiosk, divan, lilac, jasmine, julep, jackal, caravan, bazaar, checkmate, dervish, and satrap.
You can learn Farsi at Language Door San Diego! For more information on our Farsi classes, please visit our site at the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/farsi.html
You can learn Farsi at Language Door San Diego! For more information on our Farsi classes, please visit our site at the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/farsi.html
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Korean
The Korean language is spoken by the entire population of North Korea and South Korea. While there are certainly differences between the Korean dialect spoken in the north and the one spoken in the south, the dialects are mutually understandable.
The Korean language is also used in the autonomous region of Yanbian which is in the southern province of Heilongjiang in China.
Approximately 78 million people speak Korean, including communities of immigrants now living in the former Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, United States, Brazil, Japan, United Kingdom, as well as the Philippines.
The so called denomination of the language varies between both Koreas. In South Korea it is usually called Hangugeo or Hangungmal. Officially the name given to Korean is gugeo which means "language of the country.Colloquially speaking it is also referred to as urimal that literally means "our language."
North Korean typically refer to the Korean language as Chos nmal although it is also called urimal. The standard of North Korea is based on the way it is spoken in the capital P'yngyang while in the south the standard is the way it is spoken in Seoul. The differences between these two forms of the Korean language does not make it impossible for speakers of either group to communicate with each other because the differences are more or less equivalent to the Spanish spoken in Spain and the Spanish spoken in Latin America.
The origin of the Korean language is not yet clear. Some linguists say it belongs to the group of the Altaican languages whilst others put it in the same group with the Japanese language in one single group: Korean-Japanese.
Since neither of these two views have been demonstrated decisively, those who do study the language prefer to refer to the Korean language as a language significantly distinct from the aforementioned groups. From a morphological point of view, the Korean language uses agglutination which is the process of adding affixes to the base of a word. Korean maintains a grammatical syntax whose base is Subject-Object-Verb. Japanese, Vietnamese, and the Korean languages are influenced heavily by the Chinese language.
The system utilized for writing Korean is known as Hangeul, and it is at the same time an alphabetical and phonetic system. It is quite common to use the vocabularies that come either directly or indirectly from the Chinese language.
How would you like to learn Korean? Language Door San Diego makes it easy!
For additional information on our Korean languages classes in San Diego, please visit the following link: http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/korean.html
The Korean language is also used in the autonomous region of Yanbian which is in the southern province of Heilongjiang in China.
Approximately 78 million people speak Korean, including communities of immigrants now living in the former Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, United States, Brazil, Japan, United Kingdom, as well as the Philippines.
The so called denomination of the language varies between both Koreas. In South Korea it is usually called Hangugeo or Hangungmal. Officially the name given to Korean is gugeo which means "language of the country.Colloquially speaking it is also referred to as urimal that literally means "our language."
North Korean typically refer to the Korean language as Chos nmal although it is also called urimal. The standard of North Korea is based on the way it is spoken in the capital P'yngyang while in the south the standard is the way it is spoken in Seoul. The differences between these two forms of the Korean language does not make it impossible for speakers of either group to communicate with each other because the differences are more or less equivalent to the Spanish spoken in Spain and the Spanish spoken in Latin America.
The origin of the Korean language is not yet clear. Some linguists say it belongs to the group of the Altaican languages whilst others put it in the same group with the Japanese language in one single group: Korean-Japanese.
Since neither of these two views have been demonstrated decisively, those who do study the language prefer to refer to the Korean language as a language significantly distinct from the aforementioned groups. From a morphological point of view, the Korean language uses agglutination which is the process of adding affixes to the base of a word. Korean maintains a grammatical syntax whose base is Subject-Object-Verb. Japanese, Vietnamese, and the Korean languages are influenced heavily by the Chinese language.
The system utilized for writing Korean is known as Hangeul, and it is at the same time an alphabetical and phonetic system. It is quite common to use the vocabularies that come either directly or indirectly from the Chinese language.
How would you like to learn Korean? Language Door San Diego makes it easy!
For additional information on our Korean languages classes in San Diego, please visit the following link: http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/korean.html
Monday, July 13, 2009
Russian
Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of three living members of the East Slavic languages, the others being Belarusian and Ukrainian.
Are you interested in Russian language and culture? Language Door San Diego's Russian classes are the perfect choice for anyone wanting to learn this language!
For information on our Russian courses in San Diego, please click on the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/russian.html
Are you interested in Russian language and culture? Language Door San Diego's Russian classes are the perfect choice for anyone wanting to learn this language!
For information on our Russian courses in San Diego, please click on the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/russian.html
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
German
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
German is a popular language for travelers and business-people alike. German is spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, three big tourist destinations in Europe. Also, Germany has one of the largest economies in Europe, and much international business is done with this country.
Sehr gut!
German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide.
Are you interested in becoming a speaker of German? Lanaguage Door San Diego's German classes are just what you need.
For more information about our German courses in San Diego, please visit the following link:
http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/german.html
German is a popular language for travelers and business-people alike. German is spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, three big tourist destinations in Europe. Also, Germany has one of the largest economies in Europe, and much international business is done with this country.
Sehr gut!
German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide.
Are you interested in becoming a speaker of German? Lanaguage Door San Diego's German classes are just what you need.
For more information about our German courses in San Diego, please visit the following link:
http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/german.html
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Arabic
Arabic is another language whose popularity continues to climb. Here are some interesting facts about this language:
Arabic Semitic language is fairly closely related to, for instance, Hebrew language and the Aramaic language spoken throughout Arab world and widely known outside it.
It has been a literary language for over 1500 years, and is the liturgical language Islam.
The term Modern Standard Arabic is sometimes used in the West to refer to the language of the media as opposed to the language of "Classical" Arabic literature; Arabs make no such distinction, and regard the two as identical.
The expressions Arabic and Classical Arabic usually refer to the pure Arabic language which is, according to Arabic speakers, both the language of present-day media across North Africa and the Middle East (from Morocco to Iraq) and the language of the Qur'an.
The Arabic alphabet derives from the Aramaic script (which variety, Nabataean or Syriac, is a matter of scholarly dispute), to which it bears a loose resemblance like that of Coptic or Cyrillic script to Greek script.
Spoken in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank, Yemen by a majority, many other countries as a minority language.
Total speakers: 225 million (Ethnologue, native speakers of all dialects)
Would you like to join the 225 million speakers of this language? If you do, Language Door San Diego's Arabic program is ideal!
For information about our Arabic class schedules in San Diego, please visit the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/arabic.html
Arabic Semitic language is fairly closely related to, for instance, Hebrew language and the Aramaic language spoken throughout Arab world and widely known outside it.
It has been a literary language for over 1500 years, and is the liturgical language Islam.
The term Modern Standard Arabic is sometimes used in the West to refer to the language of the media as opposed to the language of "Classical" Arabic literature; Arabs make no such distinction, and regard the two as identical.
The expressions Arabic and Classical Arabic usually refer to the pure Arabic language which is, according to Arabic speakers, both the language of present-day media across North Africa and the Middle East (from Morocco to Iraq) and the language of the Qur'an.
The Arabic alphabet derives from the Aramaic script (which variety, Nabataean or Syriac, is a matter of scholarly dispute), to which it bears a loose resemblance like that of Coptic or Cyrillic script to Greek script.
Spoken in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank, Yemen by a majority, many other countries as a minority language.
Total speakers: 225 million (Ethnologue, native speakers of all dialects)
Would you like to join the 225 million speakers of this language? If you do, Language Door San Diego's Arabic program is ideal!
For information about our Arabic class schedules in San Diego, please visit the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/arabic.html
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Italian
Buon giorno!
Who can't resist the passion of the Italian language?
A universally popular lanaguage for students, Italian often competes with French to be the most romantic language. What do you think?
Italian is a Romance language, which means that Italian, just like Spanish, French, and Portuguese, is a child of Latin. Latin was once the official language in a large part of Europe because the Romans ruled so much of the area. Before the Romans came, people spoke their own languages, and the mixture of these original tongues with Latin produced many of the languages and dialects that are still in use today.If you know one of the Romance languages, you can often understand bits of another. Just as members of the same family can look similar but have totally different characters. You find the same contradictions in the dialects (regional or local language differences) in Italy and in other countries.If you visit Italy, you’ll hear various accents and dialects as you travel the country. Despite the number of dialects, you may be surprised to discover that everybody understands your Italian and you understand theirs. (Italians don’t normally speak in their dialect with foreigners.)
Italian is the official language of Italiy and is spoken by about 70 million people, primarily in this country.It's the official language of San Marino as well, and one of the official languages of Switzerland, spoken mainly in Ticino and Grigioni cantons. It is also the second official language in Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and Malta.[1] It is also widely spoken in Corsica and Nice (for both were former Italian possessions before being handed over to France), and Albania.Italian is most closely related to the other two Italo-Dalmatian languages, Sicilian and the extinct Dalmatian. The three are part of the Italo-Western grouping of the Romance languages, which are a subgroup of the Italic branch of Indo-European.
Classification: Linguistically speaking, the Italian language is a member of the Italo-Dalmatian group of languages, which is part of the Italo-Western grouping of the Romance languages, which are a subgroup of the Italic branch of Indo-European.
Geographic distribution: Italian is an official language of Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Slovenia, Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and Malta. It is also widely spoken in Corsica and Nice (for both were former Italian possessions before being handed over to France), and Albania... »
Official status: Italian is the official language of Italy, San Marino and an official language in the Ticino and Grigioni cantons or regions of Switzerland.
Dialects: Dialects of Italian are regional varieties (Tuscan, Central Italian) which are closely related to Standard Italian, while the terms Dialects of Italy is suggested for those idioms, such as Neapolitan, Sicilian, and Gallo-Italian languages which show considerable differences in grammar, syntax and vocabulary.
For information about Language Door's Italian classes, please visist:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/italian.html
Who can't resist the passion of the Italian language?
A universally popular lanaguage for students, Italian often competes with French to be the most romantic language. What do you think?
Italian is a Romance language, which means that Italian, just like Spanish, French, and Portuguese, is a child of Latin. Latin was once the official language in a large part of Europe because the Romans ruled so much of the area. Before the Romans came, people spoke their own languages, and the mixture of these original tongues with Latin produced many of the languages and dialects that are still in use today.If you know one of the Romance languages, you can often understand bits of another. Just as members of the same family can look similar but have totally different characters. You find the same contradictions in the dialects (regional or local language differences) in Italy and in other countries.If you visit Italy, you’ll hear various accents and dialects as you travel the country. Despite the number of dialects, you may be surprised to discover that everybody understands your Italian and you understand theirs. (Italians don’t normally speak in their dialect with foreigners.)
Italian is the official language of Italiy and is spoken by about 70 million people, primarily in this country.It's the official language of San Marino as well, and one of the official languages of Switzerland, spoken mainly in Ticino and Grigioni cantons. It is also the second official language in Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and Malta.[1] It is also widely spoken in Corsica and Nice (for both were former Italian possessions before being handed over to France), and Albania.Italian is most closely related to the other two Italo-Dalmatian languages, Sicilian and the extinct Dalmatian. The three are part of the Italo-Western grouping of the Romance languages, which are a subgroup of the Italic branch of Indo-European.
Classification: Linguistically speaking, the Italian language is a member of the Italo-Dalmatian group of languages, which is part of the Italo-Western grouping of the Romance languages, which are a subgroup of the Italic branch of Indo-European.
Geographic distribution: Italian is an official language of Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Slovenia, Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and Malta. It is also widely spoken in Corsica and Nice (for both were former Italian possessions before being handed over to France), and Albania... »
Official status: Italian is the official language of Italy, San Marino and an official language in the Ticino and Grigioni cantons or regions of Switzerland.
Dialects: Dialects of Italian are regional varieties (Tuscan, Central Italian) which are closely related to Standard Italian, while the terms Dialects of Italy is suggested for those idioms, such as Neapolitan, Sicilian, and Gallo-Italian languages which show considerable differences in grammar, syntax and vocabulary.
For information about Language Door's Italian classes, please visist:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/italian.html
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Japanese
Konnichi wa!
Japanese is a language whose popularity has grown over the years. With the spread of Japanese culture through anime (cartoons), video games and manga (comic books), Japanese is particulalrly well-loved by younger people.
Of course, it is also a language of business as Japan in the second largest economy in the world.
Here are some interesting facts about Japanese:
Japanese, spoken by more than 125 million people in Japan, ranks among the top ten languages of the world. No definite link has been established between Japanese and any other language, living or dead. Though it adopted the Chinese picto-graphic characters in the 3rd century BCE, Japanese is not, genetically related to Chinese. Japanese does resemble Korean in grammatical structure, and though some scholars have suggested that they are related, this remains to be proven.
The Japanese ideographs, known as kanji, number in the thousands. The kanji designate the chief meaningful words of the language-nouns, verbs, and adjectives. They are, supplemented by the kana, or syllabic characters, which are used chiefly to designate suffixes, particles, conjunctions, and other grammatical forms. Each kana character stands for a single syllable rather than for a whole word. Theoretically any Japanese word can be written exclusively in the kana but the large number of homonyms in the language makes this impractical. Modern Japanese, is written with a mixture of kanji and kana characters. Japanese is generally written vertically beginning on the right, but many texts today are written horizontally to permit the inclusion of English words, Arabic numerals, and mathematical and chemical formulas. Though various movements over the years have advocated the adoption of the Roman script, native tradition and the great Japanese literary heritage militate against such a change.
Feel a desire to learn Japanese now? Language Door San Diego can help with that! For information on our Japanese classes, visit the following link to our website:
http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/japanese.html
Japanese is a language whose popularity has grown over the years. With the spread of Japanese culture through anime (cartoons), video games and manga (comic books), Japanese is particulalrly well-loved by younger people.
Of course, it is also a language of business as Japan in the second largest economy in the world.
Here are some interesting facts about Japanese:
Japanese, spoken by more than 125 million people in Japan, ranks among the top ten languages of the world. No definite link has been established between Japanese and any other language, living or dead. Though it adopted the Chinese picto-graphic characters in the 3rd century BCE, Japanese is not, genetically related to Chinese. Japanese does resemble Korean in grammatical structure, and though some scholars have suggested that they are related, this remains to be proven.
The Japanese ideographs, known as kanji, number in the thousands. The kanji designate the chief meaningful words of the language-nouns, verbs, and adjectives. They are, supplemented by the kana, or syllabic characters, which are used chiefly to designate suffixes, particles, conjunctions, and other grammatical forms. Each kana character stands for a single syllable rather than for a whole word. Theoretically any Japanese word can be written exclusively in the kana but the large number of homonyms in the language makes this impractical. Modern Japanese, is written with a mixture of kanji and kana characters. Japanese is generally written vertically beginning on the right, but many texts today are written horizontally to permit the inclusion of English words, Arabic numerals, and mathematical and chemical formulas. Though various movements over the years have advocated the adoption of the Roman script, native tradition and the great Japanese literary heritage militate against such a change.
Feel a desire to learn Japanese now? Language Door San Diego can help with that! For information on our Japanese classes, visit the following link to our website:
http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/japanese.html
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Mandarin Chinese
Ni hao!
Mandarin Chinese has become one of the most popular foreign languages in recent years. China has become an economic powerhouse, and more and more companies do business in that country every year.
Here are some interesting facts about this language:
Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in the world (based on the number of native-language speakers) with 873 million native speakers, Spanish is second with 322 million native speakers and English is third with 309 million native speakers. (Ethnologue, 2005 estimates)
Mandarin is the the official spoken language of the People's Republic of China, the official language of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of the four official languages of Singapore.
Mandarin is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
The U.S. Department of Education gives FLAP grants (Foreign Language Assistance Program) to innovative K–12 foreign-language programs in critical languages. Mandarin is one of them.
The College Board decided for the first time this year to offer an AP test in Mandarin. Over 2,400 high schools expressed interest in the new AP program.
No major economy in the last century has grown at the pace now under way in China. In 2007, China overtook Germany to become the world's third-largest economy, behind the United States and Japan. (NY Times, July 20, 2007)
Based on recent growth rates, China's economy will surpass that of the U.S. in purchasing power between 2012 and 2015; by 2025, China is likely to be the world's largest economic power by almost any measure. (Holz, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
As you can see, a knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is indispensible for anyone who does international business, especially in China.
So, how can one in the San Diego area learn Chinese and advance their career? Easy...enroll in Language Door San Diego's Mandarin Chinese program!
For more information on our Chinese classes, please visit the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/chinese_without_char.html
Mandarin Chinese has become one of the most popular foreign languages in recent years. China has become an economic powerhouse, and more and more companies do business in that country every year.
Here are some interesting facts about this language:
Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in the world (based on the number of native-language speakers) with 873 million native speakers, Spanish is second with 322 million native speakers and English is third with 309 million native speakers. (Ethnologue, 2005 estimates)
Mandarin is the the official spoken language of the People's Republic of China, the official language of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of the four official languages of Singapore.
Mandarin is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
The U.S. Department of Education gives FLAP grants (Foreign Language Assistance Program) to innovative K–12 foreign-language programs in critical languages. Mandarin is one of them.
The College Board decided for the first time this year to offer an AP test in Mandarin. Over 2,400 high schools expressed interest in the new AP program.
No major economy in the last century has grown at the pace now under way in China. In 2007, China overtook Germany to become the world's third-largest economy, behind the United States and Japan. (NY Times, July 20, 2007)
Based on recent growth rates, China's economy will surpass that of the U.S. in purchasing power between 2012 and 2015; by 2025, China is likely to be the world's largest economic power by almost any measure. (Holz, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
As you can see, a knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is indispensible for anyone who does international business, especially in China.
So, how can one in the San Diego area learn Chinese and advance their career? Easy...enroll in Language Door San Diego's Mandarin Chinese program!
For more information on our Chinese classes, please visit the following link:
http://www.languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/chinese_without_char.html
Monday, June 29, 2009
French
Vive la langue française!
French is a universally popular language. Often cited as the "most beautiful" language or the "most romantic" language, French never seems to go out of style! It is also one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
How many French speakers are there?
People often wonder how many French speakers there are, but a definitive answer is not easy to find. In 1999, French was the 11th most common first language in the world, with 77 million first language speakers and another 51 million second language speakers, according to the Ethnologue Report. (1) French is the second most commonly-taught second language in the world (after English). Another source, La Francophonie dans le monde 2006-2007 (2), looks at it differently:
128 million Francophones: speak French (as a native or adopted language) fluently and use it on a regular basis.
72 million "partiel" Francophones: live in a francophone country but do not speak French regularly, due to limited knowledge.
100-110 million students of all ages: do not live in a francophone country, but have learned/are learning French in order to communicate with Francophones.
Do you want to better communicate with the enormous francophone world? Planning a trip to Paris and you want to impress the locals? Or do you long to better understand French films? Whatever your reasons, Language Door San Diego's French programs are your key to expanding your joie de vivre!
To learn more about French classes at Language Door's San Diego school, please visit the following link:
http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/french.html
French is a universally popular language. Often cited as the "most beautiful" language or the "most romantic" language, French never seems to go out of style! It is also one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
How many French speakers are there?
People often wonder how many French speakers there are, but a definitive answer is not easy to find. In 1999, French was the 11th most common first language in the world, with 77 million first language speakers and another 51 million second language speakers, according to the Ethnologue Report. (1) French is the second most commonly-taught second language in the world (after English). Another source, La Francophonie dans le monde 2006-2007 (2), looks at it differently:
128 million Francophones: speak French (as a native or adopted language) fluently and use it on a regular basis.
72 million "partiel" Francophones: live in a francophone country but do not speak French regularly, due to limited knowledge.
100-110 million students of all ages: do not live in a francophone country, but have learned/are learning French in order to communicate with Francophones.
Do you want to better communicate with the enormous francophone world? Planning a trip to Paris and you want to impress the locals? Or do you long to better understand French films? Whatever your reasons, Language Door San Diego's French programs are your key to expanding your joie de vivre!
To learn more about French classes at Language Door's San Diego school, please visit the following link:
http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/french.html
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Spanish
One of the most popular language classes here at Language Door San Diego is Spanish. And why not? San Diego is located right above the United States/Mexico border and Spanish is widely spoken throughout the area.
Some fun facts about Spanish:
After Chinese and English Spanish is the most commonly used language world wide.
Spanish, like all Romance languages, derives from Latin, with Castilian (the Spanish of Spain) being considered to be the purest form of Spanish.
Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Latin America vary slightly as the languages have evolved since the colonization of the Americas. The most obvious influence is the use of indigenous words in Latin America and differing pronunciation.
Some characteristics or Spanish language
Spanish is pronounced phonetically! However, beware of the trilled r which is somewhat complex to reproduce. The letter b and v are indistinguishable. The letter h is silent.
Formal / informal addressDeference and politeness is expressed by the switch between 2nd person tú and 3rd person usted.
ser vs estar- 2 verbs denote the concept of to be. Ser is used for permanent states, estar is used to describe temporary things and to indicate locations.
Inflection, declination and grammatical gender are important features of Spanish grammar
Spanish uses 3 letters in addition to the English alphabet: 'ñ' and the letter combinations 'ch' and 'll', which are treated as single letters. 'W' originally wasn't part of the Spanish alphabet. It has been included to accommodate words of foreign origin.
Vowels in Spanish can carry an accent mark: á, é, í, ó and ú
For more information about Language Door San Diego's Spanish program, please check out our website at http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/spanish.html
Some fun facts about Spanish:
After Chinese and English Spanish is the most commonly used language world wide.
Spanish, like all Romance languages, derives from Latin, with Castilian (the Spanish of Spain) being considered to be the purest form of Spanish.
Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Latin America vary slightly as the languages have evolved since the colonization of the Americas. The most obvious influence is the use of indigenous words in Latin America and differing pronunciation.
Some characteristics or Spanish language
Spanish is pronounced phonetically! However, beware of the trilled r which is somewhat complex to reproduce. The letter b and v are indistinguishable. The letter h is silent.
Formal / informal addressDeference and politeness is expressed by the switch between 2nd person tú and 3rd person usted.
ser vs estar- 2 verbs denote the concept of to be. Ser is used for permanent states, estar is used to describe temporary things and to indicate locations.
Inflection, declination and grammatical gender are important features of Spanish grammar
Spanish uses 3 letters in addition to the English alphabet: 'ñ' and the letter combinations 'ch' and 'll', which are treated as single letters. 'W' originally wasn't part of the Spanish alphabet. It has been included to accommodate words of foreign origin.
Vowels in Spanish can carry an accent mark: á, é, í, ó and ú
For more information about Language Door San Diego's Spanish program, please check out our website at http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_languages/spanish.html
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Summer July/August term around the corner!
It's Summer...time to learn a new language!
Our Summer 2009 (July/August) term begins on Monday, July 6. Language Door will be offering classes in Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Farsi and much, much more!
For more information about our sizzling summertime schedule, check out the schedule page on our site:
http://languagedoor.com/adults_schedules/schedule_adults_san_diego.html
Our Summer 2009 (July/August) term begins on Monday, July 6. Language Door will be offering classes in Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Farsi and much, much more!
For more information about our sizzling summertime schedule, check out the schedule page on our site:
http://languagedoor.com/adults_schedules/schedule_adults_san_diego.html
Welcome to Language Door San Diego's new Blog!
Language Door San Diego is happy to announce the launch of our new blog. We will be using this unique space on the web to annouce updates about our school and our language programs, talk about the the history of foreign languages, the cultures where these languages are spoken, as well as hints and tips to help you learn your new language more effectively.
First, a little information about our language center:
Language Door San Diego is located at 7565 Mission Gorge Road in San Diego. We are a school that specializes in the instruction of many foreign languages including:
Arabic - Armenian - Cantonese - Chinese (Mandarin) - Czech - Danish - Dutch - Farsi - Finnish - French - German - Greek - Hebrew - Hindi - Hungarian - Indonesian - Italian - Japanese - Korean - Latin - Norwegian - Polish - Portuguese (Brazialian) - Romanian - Russian - SPanish - Swahili - Swedish - Tagalog - Thai - Turkish - Vietnamee
Language Door boasts an experiened staff of instructors with rich backgrounds in teaching.
We specialize is small-group classes to optimize the learning process. Customizable private instruction is also available for anyone who feels they learn better one-on-one. Additionally, we offer instruction to businesses and corporations, schools, the U.S. government and all branches of the U.S. military.
For additional information, we invite you to visit our website at www.languagedoor.com or give us a call at 619.564.6335. We look forward to opening your door to a new language!
First, a little information about our language center:
Language Door San Diego is located at 7565 Mission Gorge Road in San Diego. We are a school that specializes in the instruction of many foreign languages including:
Arabic - Armenian - Cantonese - Chinese (Mandarin) - Czech - Danish - Dutch - Farsi - Finnish - French - German - Greek - Hebrew - Hindi - Hungarian - Indonesian - Italian - Japanese - Korean - Latin - Norwegian - Polish - Portuguese (Brazialian) - Romanian - Russian - SPanish - Swahili - Swedish - Tagalog - Thai - Turkish - Vietnamee
Language Door boasts an experiened staff of instructors with rich backgrounds in teaching.
We specialize is small-group classes to optimize the learning process. Customizable private instruction is also available for anyone who feels they learn better one-on-one. Additionally, we offer instruction to businesses and corporations, schools, the U.S. government and all branches of the U.S. military.
For additional information, we invite you to visit our website at www.languagedoor.com or give us a call at 619.564.6335. We look forward to opening your door to a new language!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Welcome to the San Diego Language Door School blog. We hope the information you find on this blog will answer questions about our Language School in San Diego http://languagedoor.com/san_diego_language_school.
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