July 2008 Archives

Okay, so you get up in the morning, you've just had a late night surfing the web chatting with all your South American buddies, and then you have to get up at half past 5am. Any typical American is in for a nice morning brew of some really good coffee.

I don´t think I´m really included in the conglomerate of morning coffee lovers out there, but I really do enjoy a sweet taste of my favorite stimulant known as caffeine. I prefer sweet as opposed to bitter, which is why I generally get something blended, or with a lot of sugar added.

One of my world wonderments is the South American drink known as mate. It is a coffee/tea like drink that looks really stylish. Yes, food that looks stylish. The mate gourds are incredibly sweet looking, and the metal straws are even more drawing. I´ve never tried the drink myself, but the custom looks really sociable and like a lot of great fun. Although I will admit that I would probably not be much of a fan of the taste of the drink, without a bunch of sugar, I can say that I though it would be really fun to try.

You can read more about the Mate drink at Wikipedia(Credit for photo). In case you didn't notice I've added a cuisine category, as it seems there are several entries that feature different cuisine from South America. Enjoy your coffee!

After the fact I decided to add another photo of Mate that my friend from Argentina sent me, and that consequently inspired this blog in the first place. 

In a recent blog, I found the assertion by a language learner and teacher that speaking with a non-native in learning can reap many benefits. Previously, I have asserted perhaps unknowingly that speaking with natives is also really beneficial, because of all the first hand real usage you get when it comes to learning. So to append my initial thoughts I will revise my beliefs when it comes to oral practice in a target language.

First, practicing with non-natives is necessary as a beginner, perhaps even essential to developing oral skills, and doing so has a great deal of benefits to the learner. As described in the blog I linked to it puts a learner on a level playing field with someone who knows exactly what you know, give or take some vocabulary, ease of cognition, and conjugation skill. It means that both learners will speak at a steady pace willing to listen to all mistakes and then work collaboratively to assure each person is understanding the conversation. What one learner can do and the other cannot makes for a cooperative situation where each learner is working to reinforce the skills of their partner.

In a native to non-native situation the communicate schema changes completely. I think that delving into speaking with a native should be a step taken only when the learner is proficient enough to accurately comprehend most text, has the ability to ask questions for further information, and can respond appropriately. It is likely that the native will correct and or criticize your mistakes, and my advice is that you should be embarrassed(People learn better that way I'll prove it in an upcoming blog!). I've found that a native to non-native situation is best when the native is learning your native language, then there is a commonality since each person will understand the alternative grammars of each other. It also gives each person the ability to practice their target language and pickup vocabulary that is useful for expressive modes of thought and emotive responses. I've even found it useful if each respective person uses their native language to reply, because you benefit from the ease of expressing your own thoughts, but then you also have to comprehend the reply, this can also work in a vice versa manner.

Here is an example dialogue between an  American and Spanish speaker.

American_Guy: Hi
Spanish_Guy: Hola
American_Guy: How are you?
Spanish_Guy: Estoy bien, ¿y tú?

Here there is an exchange fairly simple and natural for both parties. The context here is very simple, but the learner should attempt to say as much as they can in the target language, especially in, "Hello, how are you?" scenarios where the context has been thoroughly memorized. Whereas, more complex ideas can, if appropriate, be kept in the learner´s native language, but still with a valid attempt at coding the text into the target language at least mentally.

For advanced learners who really want to take off with their language learning then it is time to fine a native who is not familiar with English. Why? Well, keeping an active role within your language will help you develop it. In all the previous scenarios of conversing you had the option to slip into your most comfortable mode of communication. Of course, that's what you learned a language for anyhow, so you could converse in the language. However, finding friends who speak only your target language is key to developing a fluidity of speech that is necessary to effectively communicate.

Just checking back. Been a little busy lately, but I'll be sure to add more entries this week with any luck. Some interesting things that might come into more recent blogs some history behind abjads, and whatever else happens to be interesting. Until then a picture of some fish from somewhere in South America. Thanks to the friend who sent it to me, but I have no recollection of whom that might've been.

The long awaited new entry for this week...

Last week in conversation between an America, Dominican, Argentinian, and a Brazilian the topic of Alfajores arose. What are Alfajores you may ask? Well, a cookie with dolce de leite sticking two tasty cookies together. The treats looks really interesting. Comparable to some Hostess products, but certainly much more appetizing. The Alfajore originates from Argentina and is enjoyed throughout South America.


With some great luck I happened upon a student exhibiting the cookie and was able to have a taste of it! It was great! However, not the most delicious brand. I am told Havanna Alfajores are the most delectable brand of Alfajores. On the same day, I was also fortunate enough to try the Brazilian Açai berry in a breakfast like combination with strawberries, bananas, nuts, and some honey to top it all off. It was a really great treat to have! Açai is usually very expensive in the U.S. and I have not previously tried it, its flavor is mellow if not entirely neutral, and lacking the acidity that most berries carry.

With any luck I will get one more blog in this week. My apologies as my work schedule has changed, and allows for a little less blog time.

According to a recent Slashdot article a recent MIT study has found that an Amazonian tribe has no counting numbers. A rather odd discovered in light of things, as it would seem that most cultures would have a number system at least up to 20 for counting fingers and toes.

It seems that the Pirahã people have been under the spotlight for the differences in their language, mainly between color, numbers, and other very different cultural concepts. You can find out a small bit more about these people at the Wikipedia.

It seems to MIT article has substantiated an already made claim about the language of these people, and you can read the entire article here at MIT.

(Image courtesy Farruska)

In a very interesting article from Radio Netherlands interviews a professor from Essex university about language rights and the loss of languages in the world today. What rights do you have to speak your own native language. If we are losing languages at an ever increasing rate what will our world like with the loss of these people and their languages? The radio interview brings up quite a fascinating dialog with another man who resides in Brussels speaking both French and Dutch, and the interplay between languages there. In all a very interesting interview and well worth a listen or read.
They also mention the Manifesto for a Common Language, which I wrote about in a previous blog entry. With some very interesting thoughts about this proposal. The very strongly worded Manifesto is brought up in its wish for a common language between all citizens in Spain, but again as I stated before the professor is perhaps in agreement with me to the fact that such a proposal is in a way absurd. I would assume more so asserting the power of Spanish rather than a true call for a common language. Instead of using language as a dividing principle it may perhaps be used more effectively to unite different people instead of cause political turmoil.


(Image of an Ahmaric character table courtesy of chrys (lascribe.net))

Recently, in an About.com blog article I read of a new Spanish initiative that sounds somewhat suspicious in its motives. And again from About a link to a Manifesto for a common language can be found at  El Mundo.

A brief translation of the first few sentences:

Manifesto for a Common Language
For many years there has been reason to be concerned about our country, and the institutional situation of the Castilian language (Spanish), it is unique and among the official common languages of all Spanish Citizens. Of course, we are not merely concerned with cultural unease - our language enjoys a strength that is enviable and increasing in the whole world, only superseded by Chinese and English. -

As the about.com article is keen to point out there are many different languages spoken within Spain, and the bilingual proficiency is not well kept.

Although for tourism reason I suppose it is good to promote the use of Castilian as well as other languages such as Basque. Certainly, for the best outcome for the Spanish people it is wise for them to speak the most common language. The lingua franca if you will of the peninsula. However, the Manifesto lacks a great deal of compassion, as noted by a commentator in the about.com article as a purely political move. I do not disagree that a common language is good generally speaking, but can also be a strong detriment is pushed too far into one direction.

In some ways, I consider the move to be a compassionate turn for the betterment of Spanish culture and tourism, and in other ways I find it to be a cruel and under handed way to attempt to abolish the minority languages and cultures of the peninsula.

Nevertheless, I am not fearful that these languages will be in any danger as time passes with or without a manifesto seeking a common language.

(Image Courtesy Iker. a photo of an Old tower in Zarautz, Basque Country. )

I've been searching for proper research about the changes Portuguese underwent from Spanish to become what it is today, but I find that most research dealing with the topic is based on certain verb forms or worded in such a way, as research papers are, that I have no idea what any of it means.

From what I have gathered in only a few weeks of Portuguese this is what I have found to generally be true:

Change in Diphthongs
There is a strong shift in accented diphthongs from Spanish to preserve pronunciation for example: El Camión  to O Caminhão.

Other prominent changes that make the diphthong change apparent are very visible in conjugation of the gerund. Verbs ending an ar conjugated in the gerund do not contain a diphthong, and are therefore in most cases conjugated exactly the same in Spanish. While er and ir verbs contain a diphthong in the gerund conjugations, which is in turn eliminated in  Portuguese.

N and M Differentiation
An "N" is Spanish will often be switched to an "M" in Portuguese. This is apparent in verbs as well as adjectives i've encountered.  An adjective may lose its "N" to an "M", but still have a highly similar pronunciation. In verbs the change is striking "son" changes to "são" and "están" to "estão." What I'll call a nasal diphthong is created to handle the case of the "N".

Removal of Ñ and substitution with silent H
The "Ñ" does not exist in Portuguese and thus leads to an interesting substitution for the sound, which is similar but not the same. A silent "H" replaces each instance in words such as, "Español" to "Espanhol" the absence of the "Ñ" almost create the sound in the silence, okay maybe not, but still the change is apparent and very evident in all words which previous contained the letter.

LL change to CH
In many Portuguese words I have noticed the switch from "ll" to "ch." For instance, "me llamo" to "me chamo" and llorar to chorar. The pronunciation remains strikingly similar, although the sounds are ever so slightly different.

Hard consontants are softened OR Change of C
Hard consonants in pronunciation such as the letter "c" are softened into things than flow off the tongue more easily. Thus, "Cocina" becomes "Cozinha." Generally, the  "c"  sound is changed to an /s/ perhaps resulting in the character "ç" to substitute for the loss.

Non-Morphological Lexical and Aural Changes
The Portuguese Lexicon has adopted many words from dialects descended from Latin, and has seen many changes to adjectives that have been adopted in other languages. the pronunciation is different and sounds similar in some ways to Italian and perhaps slightly to French. The nasal sounds are the most striking changes, but I can´t trace where they descend from.

These are my thoughts on Portuguese morphology albeit amateur, but my go at understanding the changes that have happened.

(Image Courtesy of mi amiga Sol. She graciously shared with me some images of Salta in Argentina. )

WordReference has recently added two new dictionaries, which is a grand total of 7 dictionaries now available, and 6 of which are foreign languages which translate into English! It's really a very exciting addition to this very useful website.

Their Portuguese to English dictionary has been available for a while, but for whatever reason has not been moved to the main menu, either because it is still in beta, or there are not enough entries to constitute its addition, but whatever the case I hope it will be added to the main menu soon.

Some other very useful sites I use for foreign language study are the AltaVista Babel Fish, which can give some fairly good translations, and the Real Academia Española.