Free thoughts on language learning

English as the U.S's official language...?

2008-11-01T10:27:00.005-04:00

Hi all,

Here's a comic strip writer who might not appeal to all but this strip makes an excellent point on the topic of an official national language.

This came from the website: http://xkcd.com and we thank Randall Munroe for his willingness to let people use his work. (Condition: if you don't try to profit from it - and we insist you refrain from sending us the contents of your bank account in gratitude for this post.)

Please check out the site. I just spent an hour there and had many laugh-out-loud moments. Enjoy!

Spanish Language Resource

2008-10-08T16:31:00.004-04:00

Hola Gente - i.e. Hi People

(who remembers what i.e. stands for? You in the back, thanks for waking up)

Every now and then we bump into a language site that does great work and we like to share this with the world since learning a language takes a lifetime and many sources including Parlo.com Such a site is Spanish NewsBites.

As the name would imply they help with your Spanish language studies by providing news stories of varying difficulty in both audio and text. . The articles contain vocabulary and phrases that you can roll over to see English translations. Simple and effective! You can also download both the MP3 audio as well as a PDF of the text. (Note the PDF's translations are at the bottom of the article. While not as user friendly as the web version it's certainly better than nothing)

They post new articles every few days so it's worth checking in with them regularly. We've just started to poke around this site so feel free to let us know here in the comments section what else you find there. This is a terrific addition to the world of online language learning. Don't forget to tell them Parlo sent you. Ciao for now.

English Vocabulary!?! Sort of...

2008-10-01T17:32:00.004-04:00

First to the serious business: We are extending the free use our the English 1 and Spanish 2 courses through the end of this month - i.e. October. Enjoy, learn lots, buy the next course here at Parlo and keep us in business.

Now, on to a new Parlo Blog feature: Use It In a Sentence

This is a not-so-serious blog entry that I'd like some of you advanced English speakers to try yourself. Anyone can play. Just think of a word whose parts can also be a phrase or sentence with another meaning. Pick a word and use it in a sentence that makes reference to its real meaning. You can see what I mean by my examples. Here now, I humbly offer my first attempts at this game.
(You can see the real meaning of these words by clicking on the word itself to go to a definition of that word)

Bifurcate - "I am of two minds on what present to give to my friend. What should I bifurcate?"

Castigate - " The critical iron worker tended to castigate."

I am now asking for further contributions to post here. Let's see if we can get a good collection of these.

Learn Beginning Spanish Free / Aprenda Inglés Gratis - Aug - Sept 2008

2008-08-27T11:04:00.003-04:00

Starting today and through September 30th we will make the following online language courses available for free.

Interactive Spanish 2

Interactive English 1

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

To log in:

Interactive Spanish 2

Email: span2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we'll change it back)

Interactive English 1

Email: eng1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

In addition to buying our wonderful courses please check out our affiliate partner for more great ways to study language.

(It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

These videos have great features including:

Interactive
Online
Slow Play
Caption Hide
Instant click dictionary
Phrase repeat
Listening game

This language learning method is very reasonably price so please give them a try!

Learn Beginning Spanish Free / Aprenda Inglés Gratis

2008-04-15T16:51:00.001-04:00

Starting today and through May 15th we will make the following online language courses available for free.

Travel Spanish

Interactive English 1

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

To log in:

Travel Spanish

Email: travspan@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we'll change it back)

Interactive English 1

Email: eng1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

In addition to buying our wonderful courses please check out our affiliate partner for more great ways to study language.

(It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

These videos have great features including:

Interactive
Online
Slow Play
Caption Hide
Instant click dictionary
Phrase repeat
Listening game

This language learning method is very reasonably price so please give them a try!

2008-03-05T09:42:00.002-05:00

Free English Course / Free French Course

Hail & Well Met oh Parlo-mentarians!

For the month of March we offer to you our English 2 course and our French 1 course.

Interactive French 2

Interactive English 2

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

To log in:

Interactive French 2

Email: fr2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we'll change it back)

Interactive English 2

Email: eng2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

We hope you enjoy it and encourage you to buy the next level. It's one of the best deals on the web!

Learn English Vocabulary - Feed the World!

2008-03-02T20:02:00.004-05:00

Those of you who wish to improve your English vocabulary, whether you are learning English as a second language or whether it's your native tongue, will probably enjoy this site I recently discovered. It's called FreeRice.com It's basically a never-ending multi-choice vocabulary game but boy is it addictive. The site is non-profit and donates rice to the UN World Food Program by selling advertising on the site. As you play the game it keeps a running tally of the number of grains of rice that you help buy through playing the game. My goal is to get past level 48 (out of 55 levels) Please visit the site improve your vocabulary and improve the world.

By the way, Parlo.com still offers some of the best language courses for studying English, French, Spanish and Italian. Try our free sample lessons and buy a course today. None of us are not getting any younger. Carpe Diem cuz Tempus Fugit.

2008-02-21T16:42:00.004-05:00

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Author: Junot DÍaz

It's not often that you find a books that make you sorry when it ends and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is one of those books. Growing up in New York City I've worked and played with lots of people from the Dominican Republic but I must say that I've been ignorant of all but the most cursory facts about the history of the country. The big thing, of course is the brutal reign of President Rafael Leónidas Trujillo.

The life of Über-nerd Oscar Wao is revealed through scenes from his life and the lives of his, sister, mother and grandmother. While not quite a Rashomon mix of conflicting views it does end up creating a richer picture of Oscar's life than would otherwise be possible if taken only from Oscar's viewpoint. Oscar grows up in New Jersey and lives and breathes Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, Dungeons and Dragons, poor hygene and cringe inducing awkwardness with the opposite sex. We follow the family as it contends with a fukú or curse, that causes misery across the generations. This may not sound like much fun but it is funny, poignant and you love these characters and wish them well even though you learn that 'it ain't gonna happen' for them.

The language that is used throughout the book includes plenty of Spanish expressions both clean and not so clean that convey a wonderful sense of the music of the culture . I only wish that the phrases or words that I wasn't familiar with were available in a glossary so that I could get the benefit of all the gems strewn throughout the book. Obviously this is not a language instruction book. It is a terrific piece of literature that gives one very smart, erudite and funny person's view on both Dominican immigrant and island culture. By this book and lose a few nights of sleep finishing it.

English Grammar Help + Happy New Year!

2008-01-07T20:17:00.000-05:00

First of all, Happy New Year everyone. We haven't posted in a while but haven't forgotten that there are still some Parlo-mentarians. For those of you who are studying English as a second language we thought we'd post this excellent gadget we found to help with English Grammar studies:

We hope you enjoy and that it helps advance your English language skills.

Learn Beginning Spanish Free / Aprenda Inglés Gratis

2007-10-08T10:15:00.001-04:00

Starting today and through May 15th we will make the following online language courses available for free.

Travel Spanish

Interactive English 1

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

To log in:

Travel Spanish

Email: travspan@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we'll change it back)

Interactive English 1

Email: eng1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

In addition to buying our wonderful courses please check out our affiliate partner for more great ways to study language.

(It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

These videos have great features including:

Interactive
Online
Slow Play
Caption Hide
Instant click dictionary
Phrase repeat
Listening game

This language learning method is very reasonably price so please give them a try!

Parlo offers Travel Spanish and English 3 (Free!)

2007-07-05T14:18:00.001-04:00

September's free courses at Parlo.com are Travel Spanish and English 3.

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

To log in:

Travel Spanish

Email: travspan@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we'll change it back)

Interactive English 3

Email: eng3@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

If you liked last month's courses please buy the next level. Help keep us in business. You'll be glad you did!

And now another word to help pay the rent...

Please visit our various sponsoring advertisers. (It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

These videos have great features including:

Interactive
Online
Slow Play
Caption Hide
Instant click dictionary
Phrase repeat
Listening game

Give them a try!

Free French & Free Business English Courses

2007-06-07T12:00:00.001-04:00

This month we will make our French 2 course available for free and two of our Business English courses. The Business English 1 and Business English 2 courses will be available for free this month as well.

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

To log in:

Interactive French 2

Email: fr2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we'll change it back)

Business English 1

Email: engbiz1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Business English 2

Email: engbiz1@parlo.com *Both English courses are the same login

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

And now a word to help pay the rent...

Please visit our various sponsoring advertisers. (It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

These videos have great features including:

Interactive
Online
Slow Play
Caption Hide
Instant click dictionary
Phrase repeat
Listening game

Give them a try!

Free Language Courses for May

2007-05-02T18:05:00.001-04:00

This month we will make our French 1 course available for free and since Parlo listens to the people when they speak to us - no, we're not just hearing voices in our heads - most of us aren't - we are extending the use of two of our English courses. The English 1 and English 2 courses will be available for free this month as well.

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

To log in:

Interactive French 1

Email: fr1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we'll change it back)

Interactive English 1

Email: eng1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Interactive English 2

Email: eng2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

And now a word to help pay the rent...

Please visit our various sponsoring advertisers. (It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (watch, listen, learn & more)

Free Language Courses for May?

2007-04-30T10:05:00.001-04:00

We've come to the end of another month so, as usual, the burning question is, "In May, what courses will be available for free on Parlo.com?" Enquiring minds want to know and so do we! Please send us your requests either by leaving a comment here or emails to support (at) parlo (dot com).

An now a few things to point out to you for your amusement:

On the website, armedforcesjournal.com the post a Nonword of the Month. The armed forces are famous for their jargon and in that regards they continue to not disappoint. Here's thisn month's.

"We will not be able to get into any issues that are predecisional."

- — MARINE CORPS OFFICIAL SETTING GROUND RULES FOR BACKGROUND MEDIA BRIEFING

Say What???! Predecisional?? Oh-kay...

For those of you living in New York City or nearby, we'll have an opportunity to sample a terrific range of Latin American theater thanks to the coming Teatro Stage Fest that starts today and goes through May 13th. Check out their site teatrostagefest.org (read it in English or Spanish)to see the cool productions playing in The Big Apple (New York City)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (translations + much more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (with translations + much more)

Technorati tags: Free English course, English grammar, English lessons, Business English, English Vocabulary, Listen to English, Free French courseSpanish lessons, Spanish courses, Spanish Grammar, Spanish Vocabulary, Free French course, French Grammar, French Vocabulary

Write Foreign Characters Easily

2007-04-19T18:01:00.001-04:00

This is a nice tool to put in your bookmarks if you ever have a need to write foreign characters and don't want to remember keyboard shortcuts. The site is http://www.typeit.org and all it does it give you a place to type what you need using foreign characters for 10 languages, includine French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Bookmarks take up so little space there's no reason not to save this site.

*Remember*

Parlo.com still has more than a week left in which to use any and all of our English courses, along with the French For Food and Wine Lovers course. The cost? Nada, rien, niente, bubkas, zilch! That's a whole lot-o-nothing. So give it a try and see what the rest of the kids on the block are talking about.

Cook Like You Are In Paris, then go & Compare.

2007-04-09T14:20:00.001-04:00

We heard about a really good cookbook recently. It's The Ethnic Paris Cookbook. It has a good range of ethnic dishes with easy to understand instructions and helpful illustrations of both the ingredients and the finished dishes. Best of all for daydreaming, you get the names and addresses of the restaurants in Paris so you can dream about going there to tasted these dishes in their "natural habit". Bon Appétit!

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (translations + much more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (with translations + much more)

Technorati tags: Free English course, English lessons, Business English, English vocabulary, English grammar, Listen to English, Free French course, French Winelessons, French Food Wine vocabulary, French grammar, listen to French

Off Language topic Post - Audio Ecology

2007-04-05T17:50:00.001-04:00

Well folks, I don't post "off topic" very often but if you stretch you definition of language studies to include the interpretation of sounds then; Gee whiz! We're back on topic!

Listening to The Brian Lehrer Show on Public Radio, WNYC the other day I heard a wonderful show on the topic of New York's Audio Ecology. (Listen Streaming) (Download MP3) The show was completely fascinating and fun, featuring (gotta lotta "F" words in a row there didn't I?) the creators of an audio map of New York city. Plenty of sound clips were played and callers were asked to correctly guess what they were listening to. Some were very difficult and some less so. I encourage you to listen to the show so you can play along too. Then you should go the the site http://nysoundmap.org to explore the sounds of the city. Next post will be strictly on topic. Thanks for getting this far.

Don't forget to visit our advertisers when you visit Parlo.com

Free All English Courses! + 1 French Course

2007-04-03T11:33:00.001-04:00

For all of April Parlo.com is giving away all of our English courses free of charge, gratis. (Es decir, cursos de inglés, gratis por todo el mes de Abril!) We are also making the French For Food & Wine Lovers Course free this month. We know that a month long taste will whet your appetite for a longer stay with our courses!(paid say our accountants - we hate whining but have to agree)

As always, these courses have our usual terrific mix of:

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

French For Food & Wine Lovers

Email: frenchfoodwine@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Interactive English 1

Email: eng1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Interactive English 2

Email: eng2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Interactive English 3

Email: eng3@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Interactive English 4

Email: eng4@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Business English Basic

Email: bizbasic@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Business English 2

Email: engbiz2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Business English 1

Email: engbiz1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

We know you'll enjoy these courses! Please visit our various sponsoring advertisers. (It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (translations + much more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (with translations + much more)

Asi Asi Just Like That. Spanish/English Bilingual TV. Test your skills!

2007-03-08T14:44:00.000-05:00

*For this month's free courses see the previous post*

Asi Asi...Just Like That is like no other TV Show that you have ever seen! Bilingual? Then go on the road with Rocio and Lisa as they bring exciting stories, interesting people, and culture clashes to your TV! Your language skills will be put to the test! It's innovative...it's new....it's unique! Cultural appreciation and language exploration have never been so much fun.
See www.asiasi.tv for more!

This show is produced in Arkansas as a forum in which to foster understanding, respect and admiration between Hispanic and Anglo (my term not theirs) cultures. I just found this episode I think it's really engaging video and another great way to improve language skills.

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (translations + much more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (with translations + much more)

Technorati tags: Free English course, English lessons, English vocabulary, English grammar, Listen to English, Free Spanish course, Spanish lessons, Spanish vocabulary, Spanish grammar, listen to Spanish

Free Language Courses - March

2007-03-02T17:29:00.000-05:00

Parlo.com gives 2 free language courses to the world. This month we offer the Interactive English 1 course along with the Travel Spanish course. These courses have our usual terrific mix of

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

Interactive English 1

Email: eng1@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Travel Spanish

Email: travspan@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

We know you'll enjoy these courses! Please visit our various sponsoring advertisers. (It helps us offer courses for free)

For terrific video language learning please visit our partner

Yabla lomastv Spanish Language Videos (translations + much more)

Yabla ESL English Language Videos (with translations + much more)

SLICE OF FRENCH CULTURE

2007-02-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

(excerpted from Parlo.com's French For Food & Wine Lovers course)

"S'il vous plaît?"

There was a time in France when it was considered good manners to call the person who served drinks a "garçon de café". Hence the expression "garçon, s'il vous plaît..." But times have changed and manners have changed as well.

Today, the expression "garçon," which literally means "boy," is considered pejorative when applied to waiters. Using the word is now considered a sign of disrespect. These days, it is best to call the waiter with a simple hand motion or by "monsieur". Above all, do not snap your fingers. The same goes for the check - it is unnecessary to call out "l'addition s'il vous plaît". With a discreet hand gesture, mime a signature and the serveur (not the garçon) will understand right away.

View all of Parlo's French Courses

Technorati tags: French Food, French Wine, French Culture, French Customs, French Manners, Learn French, Speak French, French lessons, French Course

Free Language Courses - February

2007-02-06T18:06:00.000-05:00

OK, I know it's late.

But since it's free

We hope you'll see

And yes, agree

That late is better than never.

Once again, like ailing clockwork, Parlo.com gives 2 free language courses to the world. This month we offer the Business English Basics course along with the Interactive Spanish 2 course. Our usual terrific mix of

Audio files using native speakers in real life situations
Grammar instruction that makes sense
Vocabulary that you will find immediately useful
Cultural facts that help you understand the lives of people in other countries

Here's how to log on to these courses on www.parlo.com

Business English Basics

Email: bizbasic@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

Interactive Spanish 2

Email: span2@parlo.com

Password: parlo (please don't change this - we will change it back)

We know you'll enjoy these courses! Please visit our various sponsoring advertisers. (It helps us offer courses for free)

Feb.'s Free Language Courses? Send suggestions!

2007-01-30T18:11:00.000-05:00

It's time to let us know what courses (2 thanks) we should make available free of charge for the month of February. All the neat dialogue, vocabulary, grammar and cultural enrichment you can cram into a month of studying the way cool courses on Parlo.com

Technorati tags: Free language course, Spanish, French Culture, Italian, English, Business English, Grammar, Vocabulary, audio files

. You can send us your thoughts by leaving a comment here or emailing support (the "at" sign) parlo.com If we don't get much input we'll just choose...

French Manners - It's a minefield out there

2007-01-12T12:45:00.000-05:00

Kermit the Frog said, "It's not easy being green" but it appears that being polite in France these days is tough for natives and foreigners alike. As reported in yesterday's New York Times the French are waging a war (would it be called a civil war or civility war?) to restore manners to French society. The Paris transit authority, the Hospital Federation of France, the Ministry of Education all have their initiatives to get people to behave better.

Here's a snippet from the article:

In the perfect French world, rules govern even the most mundane subjects: how to answer the telephone, how to greet a guest at the door, how to address a stranger, what to take to a dinner party, how to behave on the Métro.
“It’s like a sport, you have to train hard,” said Marie de Tilly, a rail-thin expert on manners, who teaches a two-hour course in Paris to women who pay $90 to attend. “But once you train and know the rules, it all comes naturally.”
All can be lost in that first moment of acquaintance, Ms. de Tilly told a group of French and American women during a session last month in a hotel room adorned in brocade and silk.
“In the first 20 seconds, others will judge your look, in the second 20 seconds your behavior and the third 20 seconds your first words,” she said. “There is a code. If you don’t follow it properly, it will be very, very hard to make a comeback.”

For those of you who cannot get enough of manner-mania I found a book on Amazon to give you another dose on the subject.

Money, Morals, and Manners: The Culture of the French and the American Upper-Middle Class

French students! Don't forget to try our Free French 3 course during January. See the prior post of January 5th.

Technorati tags: French Culture, Manners, Language learning, Free language course, grammar, vocabulary.

Free French and English Courses for January

2007-01-05T17:28:00.000-05:00

It's a new year and a great time to act on your resolve to improve that second language. We have made our French 3 course and our English 4 course available for all of January. Naturally, we offer grammar, vocabulary, expressions galore but we also have articles on cultural topics, music and videos. (Videos in our free content areas) To try out these courses log in using:

Email: french3@parlo.com
Password: parlo (all lower case - don't change this please)

Email: eng4@parlo.com
Password: parlo (all lower case - dont' change this please)

You can go to Parlo today to start using this or the english course.

Here's the audio and transcription of the first dialogue in our French 3 course. (when the dialogue is done the previous podcast will begin. You can: a)Quick! Shut him off. or b)Hmm... what's that one about? - yer choice. Enjoy!

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Oliver:	Qu'est-ce que tu prends, Malik? What are you having, Malik?
Malik:	Un petit café, comme d'habitude. A coffee, as usual.
Olivier:	Un express et un crème, s'il vous plaît. An espresso and a latte, please.
Malik:	C'est bizarre, cette histoire de vol. This whole theft thing is strange.
Olivier:	A ton avis, c'est quelqu'un que nous connaissons? Do you think it's someone that we know?
Malik:	En tout cas, c'est quelqu'un qui nous connaît! In any case, it's someone who knows us!
Olivier:	Tu crois que c'est le type qui a raconté des blagues toute la soirée? You think it's the guy who was telling jokes all evening?
Malik:	Ah, ton copain que je ne peux pas supporter! Ah, your friend that I can't stand!
Olivier:	Mon copain, mon copain, c'est vite dit...On joue au foot ensemble, c'est tout. My friend, my friend, that's going too far... We play soccer together, that's all.
Malik:	Non, ce n'est pas lui que je suspecte. No, he's not the one that I suspect.
Olivier:	Alors qui? Who then?
Malik:	C'est peut-être l'architecte, qu' Elodie adore. It might be the architect, that Elodie adores.
Olivier:	Thierry Lagrange, qui a des millions à la banque, vole des montres et des ordinateurs portables! Un peu de sérieux, Malik. Thierry Lagrange, who has millions in the bank, steals watches and portable computers! Be serious, Malik.
Malik:	Il est peut-être cleptomane. He might be a cleptomaniac.
Olivier:	Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire, déjê? What does that mean again?
Malik:	Quelqu'un qui a la manie du vol. Someone who has a stealing habit.
Olivier:	A propos, oò est mon paquet de cigarettes? By the way, where is my pack of cigarettes?
Malik:	Ah, c'est ton paquet...Euh, excuse-moi, il est dans ma poche. Oh, it's your pack... uh, I'm sorry, it's in my pocket.
Olivier:	Je suis désolé, Malik, mais le cleptomane, c'est toi. Je vais tout dire ê Vanessa. Sorry Malik, but you are the cleptomaniac. I'm going to tell Vanessa everything.
Malik:	Très amusant, Olivier. Dis, qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans ses fameuses cassettes? Very funny, Olivier. Tell me, what is on her famous tapes?
Olivier:	Essayons d'imaginer...Une déclaration d'amour? Une chanson? Une mystérieuse confession... Let's try to imagine...a declaration of love? a song? a mysterious confession?
Malik:	Shut, tais-toi, elle arrive... Hush, be quiet. She's coming

End of Year Language Tidbits

2006-12-30T15:24:00.000-05:00

As we barrel towards the end of another year let's look at a couple of fun items in the news.

1. For you Francophiles, Francophobes and even the few Franc-ensteins among you there was a fun article on the BBC's site on Mastering French manners the hard way. The poor author of this article had a painful set of experiences that taught her lessons in cultural differences. Apparently there's even a name for the psychic trauma caused by this French culture shock, "Paris Syndrome". For those who enjoy the taste of "Schadenfreude" (defined here) this article is a tasty treat. For the rest, a cautionary tale.

2. An African Grey parrot is reported to be able to use a vocabulary of 950 words and form new sentences that have a grammar. In reading these reports it's always my impulse to be a bit sceptical but what appear to be facts, versus interpretations,suggest this a truly extraordinary bird. The bird is supposed to have learned the word "fly" and conjugaged it as "flied" to indicate the past tense. The existing literature on language use by animals makes it clear that humans did not just pop into existence with the exclusive ability to use language. If you enjoy reading about this topic as much as I do here's an older article from Wired.com on parrots and language acquisition.

If you are not already using one of our courses at Parlo.com you can still take advantage of the holiday sale that lets you save $14.00 off of any course. (See the prior posting on this page!) Browse our courses and lock in that savings today!

Have a Happy & Healthy New Year!

Last Minute Christmas Gift

2006-12-21T11:21:00.000-05:00

Save $14 on all language courses at Parlo.com

Have you procratinated and now you're scrambling for a last minute X-Mas gift? Not to worry! You enroll your friend or loved one in a course in two shakes of a reindeer's tail AND get a huge discount to reward you for waiting. (Talk about reinforcing bad behavior...)

When you click Enroll the next page lets you enter a discount code that saves you $14 off any course at Parlo.com So what's the secret discount code?

TEACH1 (all upper case please - our server is very sensitive)

Enter TEACH1 and the next page tells you the cost of your course minus $14.00. What's not to like?

Go right to the Parlo Course listings page

Type special foreign language characters easily:

http://typeit.org/

This site addresses the problem of typing foreign characters into a document without awkward keyboard combinations or special software. It's a really simple site that lets you easily edit text with special characters and then you just copy and paste them into whatever document you are using. It has this tool for French Italian Spanish German IPA (English) Polish Portuguese Czech. This is a site worth bookmarking

Log in problems? We think we've fix'em!

2006-12-17T12:47:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Just wanted to drop a quick note to all that the log in problems we've had recently should be all cleared up. My first and wrong impression was the the parlo web server just needed to be re-booted. That worked at first but didn't address the real problem. The log file in the database had become too large. We have address this problem and as far as we can tell all is working smoothly again. If anyone notices that something is still amiss please leave a comment here or write to support (at) parlo.com to let us know the problem. Thanks and have a happy, healthy holiday season!

Contemporary Spanish Language

2006-12-11T17:12:00.000-05:00

Our good buddies at Yabla (come on - Parlo HAS to like a company named Yabla) have a newsletter for those studying Spanish that we think is well worth the read. This one discusses the lyrics of a music video they have on their site. I've said it before and here's another try: this is a terrific way to study Spanish.

Spanish is the official language of Puerto Rico, yet a large portion of the population knows English, so bilingual puns play to a wide audience. Case in point, the lyrics to this cynical song by the band Polbo:

Yo era el as de las nenas, cuando tenía dinero.
Ahora sigo siendo el as/ass, en otro idioma, tú sabrás.
I was the ace of the girls, when I had money.
Now I'm still the ace/ass, in another language, you know.
captions 13-6, Polbo > Yo era tan cool

Like its English equivalent "ace," the Spanish as is both a good poker card and "a whiz" at something. The pun on as / ass works in this song because the two words are pronounced essentially the same way, with a soft "s" (unlike the word "as" in English, which is pronounced "az").

One more note regarding the bilingual audience for Yo era tan cool. The word "cool" is obviously borrowed from English. But one could argue that cool is going the way of "OK" / "okay" or "ciao" / "chau" / "chao" as a word that crosses linguistic barriers. We googled "es cool" (in Spanish) and more than 100,000 web pages came up. Cool, ¿no?

Try Yabla along with Parlo's Spanish courses - the best of both worlds! These make truly easy X-Mas gifts so what are you waiting for?

Free Spanish and English Courses - December

2006-12-01T17:18:00.000-05:00

For December 2006 at parlo.com we are going to make our English 3 and Spanish 1 available at no charge. That's free language audio, free grammar free vocabulary. All gratis! If you can put in an hour a day you can finish the course in a month. If you do not finish it we're convinced you will want to buy it so you can finish it at your own pace. Here's how to use your free Spanish or free French course. Go to parlo.com

Interactive English 3
email: eng3@parlo.com
Password: parlo

Spanish 1
email: span1@parlo.com
Password: parlo

(Please don't change the passwords or you'll prevent others from using the course until we change it back to "parlo" Thanks!)

PARLO'S NEWEST FEATURE: We are adding free English and foreign language video content every week so go to our Cultures page and click in Spanish or English (so far) you can watch free videos to practice your listening skills.

Yabla (a Parlo.com Featured Partner) offers video content with native language captions, translation captions, a "Slow Play" button and more!
Yabla ESL - English Language Videos
LoMasTV - Yabla's Spanish Language Videos

Choose: Free Spanish, French, Italian or English Course

2006-11-29T13:48:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the month once more. The time that we ask Parlo users to vote for what course we should make available free during December. This is a great way to thoroughly try us out as a Holiday gift. Learn vocabulary, idioms, the ins and outs of foreign cultures as well as grammar and listening practice. We have terrific sound files. To cast your votes post a comment here or email to support(at)parlo.com. We plan on choosing two courses by Friday so get your votes in now!

More to Learning Cultures Than Language

2006-11-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

When thinking about learning about other cultures we rightly focus on learning the language of that culture, be it French, Spanish, Chinese etc. That's just one aspect of what defines the people of a given culture. An article in the New York Times last week focussed on the differences from culture to culture in people's spacial awareness and need for personal space. Here's a section that I found particularly interesting:

Scientists who say Americans share patterns of movement and behaviors to protect their personal space have recently found new evidence in a cyber game.

Researchers who observed the avatars (digital representations of the humans that control them) of participants in Second Life, a virtual reality universe, found that some of the avatars’ physical behavior was in keeping with studies about how humans protect their personal space.

Isn't that cool??? People behave the same way in a virtual world as they would in the physical world. "Yo buddy, yer crowdin' me. Step back!" applies when you are an online character just as it might in the real world. I thought I'd look around online to see what else has been written on this topic and came up with some interesting stuff. A professor on the West Coast teaches a class called, Gestures: Body Language and Nonverbal Communication and proposed an interesting experiment that makes me uncomfortable just reading about:

Elevator Behavior
Next time you walk on to a crowded elevator, don't turn around and face the door. Instead, just stand there facing the others. If you want to create even more tension, grin. Very likely the other passengers will glare back, surprised, grim, and upset.

Reason? You have broken the rules.

Go here to read more from Gary Imai

Here's something from the U. of California on eye contact, distance between speakers and the dangers of generalizing about these kind of things. It makes a person want to do their research before assuming you know too much. We'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this one. - Happy Thanksgiving!

English Pronunciation Help (sort of...)

2006-11-20T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here's a fun poem that's been floating around for over 50 years. It's not clear who the author is but here's a link to some good guesses on that question as well as to some other poems on the subject of pronouncing the english language. (Note in the recording how I mangle the word "English" - oh well...)

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I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough.
Others may stumble but not you,
On hiccough, through, lough and through.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.

Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird,
And dead--it's said like bed, not bead.
For goodness's sake, don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat:
They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.

A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there's dose and rose and lose--
Just look them up--and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword,
And do and go and thwart and cart.
Come, come, I've hardly made a start.

A dreadful language? Man alive,
I'd mastered it when I was five.

While we're on the subject of studying English please try our terrific English courses at Parlo.com

Free Bi-lingual Spanish English Tele-Novelas

2006-11-15T17:14:00.000-05:00

This stuff is GREAT!!! Because the dialogue alternates between English and Spanish it's pretty easy to get the context. Once you have the context - the visuals help here of course, it's much easier to understand new words and expressions. The plots aren't in competition with "Great Literature" but who cares. This a a really fun way to improve one's language skills.

**Yabla Spanish Language Video Immersion - Dual Captioning lets you choose Spanish and English captions. Play the video in Slow Mode for easier comprehension**

New English Language Immersion Feature

2006-11-14T12:57:00.000-05:00

A great way to practice language is to watch television or movies. Video reinforces and and gives you a visual context for understanding the words and phrases you are listening to. We are very excited here at Parlo to be able to provide our users with streaming video news provided by Reuters. Learn English vocabulary and expressions related to current events by watching these news items. We hope to be able to add additional sources of video in other language. Stay tuned for more!

**Subscribe to TVESL for English Language videos, interviews and film clips***

Speaking in Tongues - What's Being Said

2006-11-08T12:43:00.000-05:00

Last week word came out that researchers at the University of Pennsyvania have completed a study on people who have claimed to "speak in tongues". For those of you not familiar with this term, it refers to the event when people speak unintelligable "patter" or language and partially lose body control, all while in a self described state of being possessed. They claim to have no control of the sounds coming out of their mouths and claim that God is speaking through them.

The research measured blood flow in various parts of the brain associated with volition or freely chosen acts as well those parts of the brain associated with language. They compared data collected while the subjects were "speaking in tongues" and compared it to data collected when the subjects were singing gospel songs. (Why not just ordinary speech?) What the researchers found confirmed the subjective claims of participants in the study who were "speaking in tongues". There was reduced activity in both the part of the brain associated with free choice (the pre-frontal lobes) and the part of the brain associated with language. So just who is at the wheel?

Here's an article from the NY Times on this. Also a link to Penn Medicine's Press release

All of this makes me want to know more about how the brain processes and produces language. This study was not trying to answer any of these questions but would suggest that since both the subject and spectators describe what's coming out of their mouths "language" there must be some characteristics or set of rules that give the appearance of language. Is this revealing something about the way our brains are "wired" for language? It's a fascinating path for this kind of research to explore. I can't wait for more of this kind of research to be done.

Free Spanish and English Courses - November

2006-11-01T17:29:00.000-05:00

For November 2006 at parlo.com we are going to make our English 2 and Travel Spanish available at no charge. That's free language audio, free grammar free vocabulary. All gratis! If you can put in an hour a day you can finish the course in a month. If you do not finish it we're convinced you will want to buy it so you can finish it at your own pace. Here's how to use your free Spanish or free French course. Go to parlo.com

Interactive English 2
email: eng2@parlo.com
Password: parlo

Travel Spanish
email: travspan@parlo.com
Password: parlo

(Please don't change the passwords or you'll prevent others from using the course until we change it back to "parlo" Thanks!)

Vote Well, Vote Often - November's Language Courses

2006-10-30T15:06:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the month people. Let us know what language course you'd like to use, free of charge at www.parlo.com and quicker than you can say, "Hanging chad" we'll post the free courses for the month. Absentee ballots will not be accepted. Post your vote via comment here or write to support (at symbol) at parlo dot com.

Beautiful Poem + A Plug For A Fellow Language Site

2006-10-26T11:41:00.000-04:00

This a bit off topic but, hey, that's why I'm in charge of this blog. (Clearly my desire for editorial autonomy outweighs my desire to get rich). I stumbled upon this poem by Rumi, the 13th Century poet and mystic, in the New City subway system courtesy of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Poetry in Motion program.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
There is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
The world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
Doesn't make any sense.

You can buy this and other poems from Amazon.com in theThe Essential Rumi or you might try this collection that I have and really like:

Plug For Our Friends at Yabla

Yabla has got it together. Though not exactly an instructional site it sure is a great way to study languages. You have a variety of videos to watch (this link happens to go to their Spanish language pages) in which you toggle on or off the captions along with the translation captions. See a particular word you want translated? Just click on that word and a definition appears in the box to the right. Speakers going a bit too fast for you to pick out the words? Click "Slow" and the audio slows down but keeps the pitch sounding normal. A "Listening Game" rounds out the set of features here. Way cool, no? I urge you to give Yabla a try. The combination of this and a parlo.com course will get you really rockin' towards fluency in no time.

Spanish1, Level 1 - Audio dialogue

2006-10-17T16:20:00.000-04:00

SEE POST FROM OCTOBER 6 FOR THIS MONTH'S FREE COURSES

For your enjoyment and edification - don't worry that won't make you an edifice - but we hope you like being called Ed... - we present the audio dialogue from the Spanish 1 course at Parlo.com

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To listen to the dialogue below look "Spanish Dialogue" in the list of Podcasts.

Marisa Hola, es el 520-3645. Deja un mensaje y te llamo.	Marissa Hi, this is 520-3645. Please leave a message and I'll call you back.
Beatriz ¡Hola, Marisa! Soy Beatriz. Voy para el aeropuerto. El avión llega a Granada a las 5:00 de la tarde. No vengas al aeropuerto. Voy directamente al hotel y después a ver a Guillermo. ¡Estoy loca por él! Bueno, te llamo mañana. ¡Hasta pronto!	Beatriz Hi Marisa. It's Beatriz. I'm on my way to the Airport. The plane arrives in Granada at 5:00 pm. Don't come to the airport. I'm going straight to the hotel and then to see Guillermo. I'm crazy about him! Well anyway, I'll call you tomorrow. See you soon!
Beatriz Hola, soy Beatriz. Por favor, deja un mensaje después de a señal.	Beatriz Hi, this is Beatriz. Please leave your message after the tone.
Marisa Beatriz, ¿dónde estás? Llámame. Es urgente. Guillermo es una mala persona. Es un mentiroso. Tiene una historia muy cuestionable. Beatriz, no vengas a España, por favor. Ten mucho cuidado. Espero tu llamada. Hasta pronto.	Marisa Beatriz, where are you? Call me. It's urgent. Guillermo is a bad person. He's a liar. He has a very questionable past. Beatriz, don't come to Spain, please! Be careful. I'm eagerly awaiting your call. See you soon.

If you thought that was good, sign up for the entire Spanish 1 course.

Listen & Pronounce the French Alphabet

2006-10-06T15:58:00.000-04:00

SEE PREVIOUS POST FOR THIS MONTH'S FREE COURSES

This is a good site for those of you who are beginning or returning to the study of French, Spanish and other langugages. A simple set of clickable letters lets you hear the correct way to pronounce the letters of the alphabet. Worth the price of admission.

If the above link doesn't work correctly for you copy and paste this link into your browser.

http://www.alphabetpage.com/french/alphabet_for_english_speakers/index.html

Free Language Courses October 06

2006-10-03T15:36:00.000-04:00

This month Parlo.com are please let to you use the level 1 conversational English (Interactive English 1) and the level 1 French course (Interactive French 1). To log in use:

English 1
Email: eng1@parlo.com (made up - it doesn't go anywhere)
Password: parlo (all lower case)

French 1
Email: fr1@parlo.com (made up - it doesn't go anywhere)
Password: parlo (all lower case)

Please do not change the passwords for these courses because it will cause others to be locked out of using them until we can change them back - which we will do.

Enjoy!

And now we offer a few words to the wise in French and Spanish - with translations...

French
* On ne peut faire d'une buse un épervier.
o Idiomatic translation: You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
o Literal meaning: You can't turn a buzzard / a dolt into a sparrowhawk.

* Plaie d'argent n'est pas mortelle.
o Idiomatic translation: Money isn't everything.
o Literal meaning: A money worry isn't a mortal wound.

* Qui veut noyer son chien l'accuse de rage.
o Idiomatic translation: Give a dog a bad name and hang him.
o Literal meaning: He who wants to drown his dog says it has rabies.

Spanish
* Más vale pedir perdón, que pedir permiso.
o Better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

* El que no anda no tropieza.
o He who doesn't walk, doesn't stumble.

* Habla siempre que debas, y calla siempre que puedas
o Speak when you must; hush whenever you can.

On French Culture - The Art of Doing Nothing

2006-09-26T16:11:00.000-04:00

*Give me your input (via comments here or email to "support (the "at" sign) parlo.com") on what courses should be free during October*

Last month a FOP (Friend of Parlo) parlo.com found this gem of an article on life in France as seen by an American. (see below) Once you've read it I recommend you go to the original article because the responses are quite lively. And now a word from Lili (FOP:

Parlo Blg Readers - meet Lili
Lili - meet the Parlo Blog Readers

I first found the French extract of the American article on Yahoo.France and then went to the actual Washington Post brief on Parisian life.

As a Parisian Vietnamese living in the US who has also raised an American boy I was able to understand both versions with their respective cultural bent and had quite a good laugh.

The American was intrigued with the Parisian relaxed ability to simply sit, to simply enjoy a cup of coffee, to simply be without narry a worry. This is something that is much frowned upon in the US and that Americans confess they are absolutely incapable of doing. The tone of the American was also one of subtle envy as he brought on all the many clichés of the differences between the Americans and the French - envy to the point of insulting American feminine sensibilities.

The French comment on yahoo.france (see below the American article) was rather pleased, even amused, with the American perception that the French knew how to bring the simple act of enjoying sitting in a café to an art form. The French summary graciously accepted the compliments with much amusement and ignored the criticisms and clichés thrown by Mr. Achenbach.

Joel Achenbach, Washington Post - August 12, 2006

Cafe Society: Dispatch from La Rive Gauche
[A dispatch from La Rive Gauche, in the Sunday magazine.]

In Paris, you sit in the cafe, like Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Sitting in a cafe is one of the main activities in Paris. It's what Parisians do instead of working or jogging. They have a natural talent for it, the way Americans are good at going to the pool, grilling meat or driving interstate highways.

The crucial skill in a cafe is the ability to gear down, from second to first, and then down yet again to a special, Gallic gear that is nearly paralytic. It's a bit like being dead, but with better coffee.

The chairs in the cafes are lined up in rows, facing outward, toward the theater of Paris street life. Or perhaps it is the patrons who are on display. Their posture says: Here, look at us, full in the face, as we sit in the cafe so brilliantly, thinking our big French thoughts.

Like the other day, I was nursing an expensive thimble of wine in a cafe on the Rue de Something, near the Avenue des Whatevers, and to my immediate left sat a Frenchman in a pose so relaxed he might have been modeling for Toulouse-Lautrec. He was doing nothing, and doing it with panache. Between two fingers dangled a cigarette that remained lit even though he never did anything so animated as puff. It was hard to tell if he was truly drinking his glass of red wine; the level went down so slowly it may have been merely evaporating.

Why did he not try to achieve something? The cafe advertised WiFi, but no one had a laptop. This was not Starbucks. There was no American compulsion to multitask, to use the cafe as a caffeination station and broadband platform for another increment of accomplishment.

Conceivably I could have spoken to the Frenchman, but the language barrier is significant; I am afraid to attempt anything in French in a cafe lest it be incorrect both grammatically and existentially.

Perhaps the Frenchman was dreaming up an elaborate sociohistorical theory, positing that human civilization has been in decline since the invention of the croissant. Or perhaps he was just enjoying the Latin Quarter, a section so old that I am pretty sure its residents still speak in Latin.

The nearby Notre Dame Cathedral was built in the Middle Ages, when the European idea of comic relief was a stone gargoyle. Parisian commerce is quaint, which is to say, hopelessly inefficient, requiring that shoppers pay the equivalent of a charm tax. You go to one little market to buy your cheese, another to buy your jalapenos, another to buy your corn chips, another to buy your salsa; only then can you make nachos.

I had an urge to blast the Frenchman out of his reverie. "Excuse me, I'm from Wal-Mart," I could say. "We're putting in a superstore right over yonder on the Rue Dauphine. Gonna kick some serious retail derriere, ya dig?"

Then, as though he could hear me thinking, the enervated Frenchman finally did something: He looked at his cellphone. Action in the cafe! He didn't make a call, let's be clear on that, but he studied the cellphone. It dawned on me: He was going over all the speed-dial listings of his mistresses.

Now we're getting down to business. Sure, he ponders the big Frenchy thoughts as he camps in the front row of the cafe, but he's also scoping out the Parisian femmes, who are tres magnifique! That is French for "bodacious." These women tend to be slinky and stylish and sophisticated, and they make American women look, by contrast, as though they just fell off a hay wagon. The femmes have an air of saucy liberation. You can imagine that they are writing Volume 4 of their projected nine-volume encyclopedia on les artes erotiques. They're on the chapter about the webbing between the toes. That lovely muscle tone in the upper arms? That's from all the time they spend on the trapeze. (Conceivably this is a projection from the tourist's subconscious: We've seen those subtitled films where a layabout Frenchman does nothing but smoke cigarettes and all the women take off their clothes.)

Eventually, I reached the obvious conclusion that the man beside me was a professional sensualist. It's a job that doesn't exist in America outside of certain Zip codes in California. For the sensualist there are long recessions, even depressions, as the economy of romance goes into a dive. One sits in the cafe and hopes for an upturn in the market.

I sympathize: It's hard work. A grind, at times. But it sure beats the heck out of doing nothing.

L'image des Français ou "l'art de ne rien faire"

Photo
agrandir la photo

WASHINGTON (AFP) - "S'assoir dans un café est une des principales activités à Paris", s'étonne un correspondant du Washington Post Magazine qui stigmatise avec humour "L'Art de ne rien faire", une spécialité que "personne ne fait mieux que les Français", selon lui.
"S'assoir dans un café (...) c'est ce que font les Parisiens au lieu de travailler ou de faire du jogging", écrit le journaliste Joel Achenbach dans un billet éditorial dimanche.

Les chaises des cafés sont alignées en rang d'oignons, décrit-il, tournées vers l'extérieur "vers le théâtre de la rue parisienne".

En scrutant son voisin, il voit "un Français assis dans une pose si détendue qu'il aurait pu être un modèle pour Toulouse-Lautrec". "Il ne faisait rien et le faisait avec panache", assure-t-il.

"Mais pourquoi n'essaye-t-il pas de faire quelque chose ?", s'inquiète l'Américain qui note que le café se dit pourtant équipé de Wi-Fi (accès sans fil à l'internet) mais que personne n'a d'ordinateur portable. L'observateur ne décèle "aucune compulsion multitâche à l'Américaine".

Cherchant à se plonger dans les pensées de son voisin, il imagine que "le Français doit cogiter sur le déclin de la civilisation humaine depuis l'invention du croissant". "A moins qu'il ne profite tout simplement du Quartier latin, un quartier si vieux que, je suis sûr, les habitants parlent le latin", conclut le journaliste du Nouveau monde

Read the replies to the original posting to see how many thin skinned people are out there.

Ilan Stavans Thinks About Dictionaries

2006-09-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

Who? Thinks about what?

OK - let's back up a bit. Ilan Stavans is a Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. He is also a terrificly, smart and fun author with wide ranging interests. Last year he come out with an autobiographical book titled, Dictionary Days: A Defining Passion (Graywolf) His background might called a little unique. (if one were also inclined to say things like "a little pregnant" or "a little dead" - I'm so inclined)Born of Eastern European, Jewish ancestry, he grew up in Mexico speaking Spanish and Yiddish. Along the way he learned French and English as well and thus is well equiped to comment on languages from muliple perspectives. In an interview on Translation Journal he speaks at length about dictionaries and what they tell us about trends in thought at the time they were written. He comments on their function and is right on the mark in this section:

Language without limits descends to chaos: grammar, syntax, spelling... these are all prescriptive activities. But when the limits are set in stone without any room to be innovative, language becomes stagnant. For languages, to survive, need to be in a state of constant mutation. They need to engage in a give-and-take, to borrow and improvise new terms, and offer terms to other languages.

There is great stuff in this interview. It is thought provoking and perspective broadening. Where else are you going to hear people talk about Logotheism ..."a religious manifestation where words have center stage" or lexicographicolatry (nope! you'll have to read the interview yourself) If you were good enough to stick with this blog posting but can't imagine wanting to read this interview then click here. (thanks to Monty Python)

CONFIDENTIAL - DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

2006-09-09T09:44:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the silly title. It's just my occassional attempt to play with the search engines. I read today that there are many "Confidential Do Not Distribute" documents on the web and that this fact is causing people to see what they'll find when they do a seach using those words. Using, Confidential - Do Not Distribute might cause this blog to be found more often - just a little experiment. And now on with our regularly scheduled blog!

It's all well and good to have a set of phrases and vocabulary when you wish to express something but that doesn't equip you for the back and forth reality that is called conversation. I'm sure many of you have had this experience:

Mastering a new phrase
Using it with "Native Speaker"
"Native Speaker" responds at length
You admit that you are virtually clueless as to what they said.

Choose A or B

A - Conversation grinds to a halt
B - Conversation shifts to English - Native Speaker gets to practice English

What happened was that you either encountered grammar, vocabulary or expressions that were new to you or possibly you knew them but they just flew by too quickly for you to take them in. This is an issue of listening skills. Listening takes practice just as much as speaking does since they both require you to process language. What to do? (How do you get to Carnegie Hall?) Practice, practice practice!

http://www.boomerangla.com/
http://www.cartoonnetworkla.com/spanish/

These two sites have short videos of their children's programming and are a great way to practice listening skills. Many of these cartoons are already familiar to us such as Bugs Bunny and The Flintstones. I can't urge you too strongly to practice listening and watching videos and movies to improve you language skills. If you can find a station on TV and turn on the closed captioning you'll find this even easier since you'll have the written words to help "decode" what's going on. So don't just sit there, buy a course from parlo.com and then spend 10 minutes watching cartoons! Hasta pronto.

As a closing note please be aware that this is not Confidential Please Do Not Distribute. Sorry, I couldn't resist!

Free Business English & Spanish 2 course

2006-09-01T11:36:00.000-04:00

The wise and august wizards (yep, they're a month behind but they work cheap) have consulted the oracles, tea leaves and chicken entrails* to determine what courses will be free during the month of September. In brief, here's how to access our free courses this month:

Go to parlo.com

Basic Business English
email: bizbasic@parlo.com
Password: parlo

Interactive Spanish 2
email: spanish2@parlo.com
Password: parlo

*No real chickens were hurt in the wizards' conjurings. Only free range organic rubber chickens are used at parlo.com.

***PLEASE DON'T CHANGE THE PASSWORD FOR THESE COURSES OR YOU'LL PREVENT OTHERS FROM USING THE COURSES. WHEN THAT HAPPENS WE WILL CHANGE THE PASSWORD BACK TO "parlo". WE WANT TO BE FAIR TO EVERYONE. THANK***

What free language courses? You tell us!

2006-08-30T17:24:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note - we will be deciding what courses to offer free during September and, as usual, we'd like your input. We have some interest in Basic Business English but in deference to most parlo-mentarians (yep, I just coined that term and I'm not ashamed) we expect to choose a non-English course as well. Please leave a comment here or email me at support(at)parlo.com to let us know your preferred language course.

Cultural Comparisons or What Makes Us "Us"

2006-08-22T14:54:00.000-04:00

OK, summer is winding down and it's time to get back to supplying the world with interesting language and cultural tidbits gleaned from the web and the the virtual-web. (what we used to call real life) I bumped into a terrific blog, zompist.com that covers a range of topics including languages and linguistics. Mark Rosenfelder is the creator and maintainer of said blog - and no, I don't know what a "zompist" is or does but he's done a terrific job of compiling descriptions of what makes a person culturally American, French, Mexican etc. (The list is both long and interesting) I'll excerpt a few and add links to the full versions.

If you're American...

* You believe deep down in the First Amendment, guaranteed by the government and perhaps by God.
* You're familiar with David Letterman, Mary Tyler Moore, Saturday Night Live, Bewitched, the Flintstones, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Donald Duck, the Fonz, Archie Bunker, Star Trek, the Honeymooners, the Addams Family, the Three Stooges, and Beetle Bailey.
* You know how baseball, basketball, and American football are played. If you're male, you can argue intricate points about their rules. On the other hand (and unless you're under about 20), you don't care that much for soccer.
* You count yourself fortunate if you get three weeks of vacation a year. Read on or see the full list of countries...

If you're French...

* You are familiar with Jean-Pierre Foucauld, Perdu de vue, Lagaf' (for you, the best successor to Coluche), Christophe Dechavanne, Jean-Luc Delarue, Nagui, Patrick Sebastien, Patrick Sabatier, Michel Drucker, Jacques Martin, Mystères, La Chance aux Chansons....
* You don't think that the news on TV is reliable, much less so than the radio or the newspapers. And of all TV channels, TF1 is the least reliable. On the other hand, you almost never listen to the radio, don't read newspapers, and get most of your news from... TF1.
* You like football (strangely called soccer in some curious countries that call some ugly version of rugby, where players are allowed to attack players who don't have the ball with them, football), tennis (whose players are called tennismen), basketball (no question of the NBA, of course), and Formula One (Indy is only a local championship, no matter what NASCAR thinks). F1 obviously proves that the only type of engines worth talking about are French. You think that the rules of cricket and baseball are incomprehensible.
* You do take your 5 annual legal vacation weeks, and you consider yourself fortunate if you don't spend them at home.
* You may believe in God; if you do you are, in decreasing order of probability, a Catholic, a Muslim, a Protestant or a Jew. In any case, you believe in the separation of state and church... and you think that a country with a motto of "In God we trust" does not follow this principle.
* You think of canned food, McDo and so on as cheap food, and think there is nothing like an open-air market. You find it amusing that American tourists consider a visit to an open-air market as much of a must-see as one to the chateau of Versailles.) You also say that you prefer small shops-- but you mainly go shopping in supermarkets. Read on...

If you're Colombian... (starting at the end of the piece, just to show more of the general form)

Space and time

* If you have an appointment, you'll mutter an excuse if you're ten minutes late, and apologize profusely if it's forty minutes. An hour late is usually tolerable, and there is no delay that is inexcusable. If you're talking to someone, you get uncomfortable if they approach closer than about a foot (30 cm).
* Everything is subject to bargaining, unless its price is printed.
* Showing up at someone's place is not uncommon nor considered rude.
* When you negotiate, you are polite, of course, and you make negotiation a social event. To 'play hardball' is a little rude.
* If you have a business appointment or interview with someone, you expect to have that person to yourself, and the business shouldn't take more than half a day or so. Read this from the beginning...

Maybe I'm just wacky but I love reading this stuff! A lot of thought and a healthy dose of self deprecating humor has gone into writing these pieces. Many thanks to Mark Rosenfelder for getting the ball rolling on these.

Tango Terms of Endearment +

2006-08-02T16:27:00.000-04:00

(email support@parlo.com with your choice for the 2nd free course of the month at Parlo.com)

My wife and I have been bitten by the Tango bug and try to never miss our weekly class. Last week I had the good fortune to be the stage manager for a tango show (I Tango - see earlier blog entry) that toured to Stowe, Vermont, New York City, and Washington, DC. The tango orchestra was a terrific group called, Color Tango (Click here for a 30 sec. sample) and featured some of the best tango dancers in the world.

Tango is a very rich art form both musically and as a dance form. It is not an art form that has separate professionals and spectators as is mostly the case with Classical music or ballet. People from all walks of life and of all ages are passionate practicioners. It also has its own set of social rules for how one behaves on the dance floor and in a dance setting. Let's look at some of the terms for the dance itself and the codes of behavior. At the end of this post I'll include some links for further exploration.

But first a note on pronunciation since it comes from Argentine and Uruguay

Pronunciation Guide:
• In Buenos Aires 'll' or 'y' is pronounced 'zh', almost an English 'j';
• a 'qu' sounds like the 'c' in cat;
• a 'z' is pronounced like 's';
• and a Spanish 'j' is a hard, throaty 'h' sound.

Abrazo — The embrace; a hug; or dance position.
Arrabal — The slums.
Arrabalero — A person of low social status. A person of simple and direct ways who speaks plainly and uses coarse language. A slum dweller. (this seems related to the English word "rabble" but that's just a guess - anyone with a more informed etymology on this please chime in!)
Bandoneón — An accordion like musical instrument originally created to provide missionaries with portable pipe organ music for religious services in remote locales which has been adopted by tango musicians to create the mournful and soulful sound of modern tango music.
Codigos — Codes: Refers to the codes of behavior and the techniques for finding a dance partner in the milongas in Buenos Aires. Civility, respectfulness, and consideration are the hallmark of the true and serious milonguero. (a person who attends tango dance salons)
Compadre — A responsible, brave, well behaved, and honorable man of the working class who dresses well and is very macho.
Compadrito — Dandy; hooligan; street punk; ruffian. They invented the Tango.
Garcha — A rather rude lunfardo term to be used only among friends; noun, 1. penis, pija masculino; 2. worthless or of bad quality, trucho comprar; 3. bad luck: ¡Qué garcha! This sucks! cagada malo garchar; verb, 'to screw' coger sexo. In tango, it may refer to a blind step against line of dance causing a collision for your partner, a garcha! May also be used as a pejorative, as in "Politicians are all garchas!" Akin to "screw-off" or "screw-up" in English slang (yes, this has been cleaned up a little:-).
Lunfardo — The Spanish/Italian slang of the Buenos Aires underworld which is common in tango lyrics and terminology. (I wouldn't leave you without a definition of Lunfardo after that racey introduction)
Porteño (feminine; Porteña) — An inhabitant of the port city of Buenos Aires.

Click for the full glossary of tango terms.

More free language courses - Help us choose!

2006-08-01T11:55:00.000-04:00

We've had some requests to extend the free use of our Travel Spanish course through the month of August so we will gladly do this. Here's how you log in from the Parlo.com home page:

Travel Spanish -
email: travspan@parlo.com
Password: parlo (Please do not change this password because it will prevent others from using the course until we change it back to "parlo")

The big question is what will the other free course be. Please look at the courses we offer and email us at support@parlo.com. Use the subject line "August Free Parlo Course" We will decide by the end of the week and give out login info at that time. I'll be curious to hear what course is most desired.

Spanish idiom - Ni fu ni fa

2006-07-26T11:01:00.000-04:00

Well folks, obviously I remembered the expression incorrectly because I asked one of my Argentine friends about it and he laughed at me when I said, "Ni fi ni fo". In fact, it's, "Ni fu ni fa". Oops! Well, in any event, he explained it to me what one would say when the outcome of something would elicit a "Forget about it" (or fah-ged-a-bow-did if your from the depths of Brooklyn) from an American. Wordreference.com gives the following definition.

fu ni fa (ni)

1. loc. col. Se usa para indicar que algo resulta indiferente:
-¿qué tal la película? -ni fu ni fa.

So in fact it is not the same as "close enough for jazz". It seems to have the connotation of dismissive indifference. Expression solved!! If anyone has some fun idioms they'd like to share we would be most grateful.

I Tango Show & Argentine Idiom Question

2006-07-23T20:58:00.000-04:00

Hi all. I'll be out of touch for a few days due to my good fortune at being the stage manager for a Tango show performing at New York University this coming Tues - Thurs (July 25, 26 & 27). The dancers are terrific and the tango orchestra, Color Tango are truly amazing musicians. We perfomed Friday evening in Stowe, Vermont at the Trapp Family Lodge. (think Maria von Trappe, as in The Sound of Music. Yes this is a real family) Click here for tickets.

My wife and I are pretty new to Tango in that we have only been studying for a year and a half. What I'm not used to is the custom of dancing to live music played by the same "concert musicians" who ones pays to hear play on a stage. It breaks what I consider to be the traditional separation between the musicians and the dancers. These are no longer the "artistes" who we look at and adore from afar. I think it's a much healthier way to interact with the music and it takes the pressure off the musicians to be perfect at every moment and allows them to just make beautiful music.

My spanish, which I consider to be intermediate level, is getting quite a workout as most of the performers do not speak english. The lighting designer, Anabel Rea, and I were talking about putting on a show on really short notice with limited resources and I introduced him to the english expression, "Close enough for jazz" and "Close enough for government work". Both of these mean that something is good enough given the context. He then told me that the argentine expression is "Ni fi, ni fo." Can anyone out there give me a good translation for this expression? Did we accurately express the same meaning? Thanks for any (stage) light that can be shed on this. See you in a couple of days! Hasta pronto.

English Vocabulary - Retrofitted

2006-07-18T13:59:00.000-04:00

I'm not a member of Mensa nor do I even play one on television. However, I do appreciate some of the things that are spawned in its name. If some of you have missed it I would like to pass along the list of The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. The 2005 winners are: (My favorite? # 17)

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders
the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3 Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts
until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid
people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The
bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of
breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself
for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of
sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you
are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one
got extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It's when everybody is sending off
all these really bad vibes, and then the Earth
explodes and it's a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through
the day consuming only things that are good for you

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to
seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed
just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito,
that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning
and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after
finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

If there are any students of English who would like an explanation please use the comments section to ask or email me. I'll be happy to explain all.

Learn about our free Spanish and English courses

French Culture - Bastille Day

2006-07-14T10:16:00.000-04:00

Claude Monet, Rue Montorgueil, Paris
Festival of June 30, 1878.
Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Learn about our free Spanish and English courses

July 14th is what we english speakers call Bastille Day. The French refer to this important holiday as either Fête nationale or 14 juillet. On this day in 1789 revolutionaries stormed the infamous Bastille prison that was known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government. In fact, only 7 non-political prisoners were freed that day but still, it is considered to be the beginning of the French Revolution.

The intent was not to free prisoners so much as to aquire arms and ammunition in response to the rumor that the king was moving troops from Versaille to Paris. This rumor turned out to be false. (bad intelligence in any era has consequences...) In spite of the seemingly minor nature of this event King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette two days later fled from Paris to Versaille.

Bastille is an alternate spelling of the word bastide meaning fortification. It's also related to the verb embastiller - to place troops in a prison.

You can see a concise timeline at this link showing the events that lead to Bastille Day and the terrible things that occurred on France's path to representative government. I think we often forget just how hard it is to convince people in power that sharing power is the only long term solution to governing. Read history and one can see that it's neither easy,inevitable nor permanent once achieved.

Now for a few more related links.

Bastille Day History (in French)
Bastille Day Quiz

Essential Internet terms in Spanish and French

2006-07-10T14:42:00.000-04:00

(Don't forget our Travel Spanish and English 1 course are both free to use all of July! Details are here)

Here's a taste of a group of terms we should all be familiar with - internet terms. You'll find these are very useful when you are sitting in an internet cafe overseas. We'll start with a few terms in Spanish and then give you a sampling in French. At the end of each list there's a link to where you can find a larger glossary.

English Spanish

link - enlace, vínculo
homepage - página principal, página inicial
toolbar - barra de herramientas
to go back - regresar
Forward - adelante
button - botón
save - guardar
password- contraseña
click (imperative)- haga clic (usted) haz clic (tu)
secure web site - sitio Web seguro

Find plenty more of these essential Spanish terms here.

English French
link: 1. n. un lien. 2. vt. link (to), linker (à)
homepage: n. une page-mère
toolbar: n. barre d'outils
bookmark: n. un signet
site map: n. une carte de site, un plan du site
password: n. un password, un mot de passe
click (of the mouse): n. un clic. right-click, un clic-droit. left-click, un clic-gauche
search: 1. vt. rechercher. 2. n. une recherche
mouse: n. une souris
Find more internet terms in French here.

Free Spanish & French Courses - Sept. '06

2006-06-29T10:51:00.000-04:00

It's that time again folks! Time for Parlo.com's free language course giveaway. For September 2006 we are going to make our Basic Business English and Interactive Spanish 2 available at no charge. That's free language audio, free grammar free vocabulary. All gratis! If you can put in an hour a day you can finish the course in a month. If you do not finish it we're convinced you will want to buy it so you can finish it at your own pace. Here's how to use your free Spanish or free French course. Go to parlo.com

Basic Business English
email: bizbasic@parlo.com
Password: parlo

Interactive Spanish 2
email: spanish2@parlo.com
Password: parlo

***PLEASE DON'T CHANGE THE PASSWORD FOR THESE COURSES OR YOU'LL PREVENT OTHERS FROM USING THE COURSES. WHEN THAT HAPPENS WE WILL CHANGE THE PASSWORD BACK TO "parlo". WE WANT TO BE FAIR TO EVERYONE. THANK***

Translating Instant Messaging Acronyms

2006-06-26T09:31:00.000-04:00

Here's a window that looks into the mind of English speaking teenagers. Make sure you are securely tied to something in case you lean in too far and need to pull yourself back out. Having once had the mind of a teenager and now being father to one I subscribe to the sound advice, "Don't go there!" Following are the keys to the code that makes up some of the communications between teenagers and hard core IM-ers. (users of Instant Messaging) I'm sure there are many more but here's a sampling.

A3 is ''anytime, anywhere, anyplace.''

ASLP is ''age, sex, location, picture.''

BD is ''big deal.''

CMI is ''call me.''

CTN is ''can't talk now.''

F2T is ''free to talk.''

FYEO is ''for your eyes only.''

IAD8 is ''it's a date.''

LDR is ''long-distance relationship.''

LYN is ''lying.''

MMAMP is ''meet me at my place.''

P911 is ''my parents are coming.''

PRW is ''parents are watching.''

RUMF? is ''are you male or female?''

STATS is ''your sex and age.''

YIWTGO is ''yes, i want to go private.''

I'm here! What do I say? (Think World Cup)

2006-06-19T11:09:00.001-04:00

So, you've been planning this trip overseas for months, you are burning some hard earned cash and vacation days, coordinated with your mate, and you are finally going to that country where you get to practice your improving language skills. You want to get to know the people there and not just as a tourist who spends money in their economy. (We're sure you'll do that anyway) What do you talk about or ask the locals that will get them engaged in a real conversation? Here's an idea. Talk about soccer. What?!! I don't know a darned thing about it. Well, it's time you start and here's a few links to help.

Learning about Soccer
So You Wann Learn the Basics of Soccer This site has different sections describing how the game works.
Mom's Guide to SoccerThis site has a concise set of terms and definitions. This is a great place to make a vocabulary list that you can then translate and memorize before you get there.
Click for More Spanish / English Soccer Terms
away game - partido que se juega fuera de casa
away team - equipo visitante
beat - derrotar / vencer
bench - banquillo
centre circle - círculo central
championship - campeonato
changing rooms - vestuarios
corner kick - saque de esquina. corner
click for more French / English Soccer Terms
Pitch / Terrain
penalty box = surface de reparation, les 16 metres
goal = but, cage
goal area = les 6 metres (ou surface de but)
penalty spot = point de penalty, de reparation
pitch = terrain (de foot)
pitch conditions = etat du terrain
ground = terrain

Click for more Italian / English Soccer Terms This list has pronunciation as well as translation (Great for beginners!)
La Partita: The game. Plural form is Le Partite. Pronounced "Lah Pahr-tee-tah or Leh Pahr-tee-tay."

Il Modulo: The module or system that a coach employs. In the Serie A, most teams use a variation of the 4-4-2 or a 4-3-2-1. Some play a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3, which is more attack-oriented. A few play with 5 midfielders. Pronounced "Eel Moe-duh-loh."

Il Tridente: This is when the coach uses three attackers, or a "trident." Pronounced "Eel Tree-dayn-tay." As in the 4-3-3 referenced in il modulo.

Il Derby: A game between two teams from the same city or region. Pronounced "Eel Dair-bee." For example, AC Milan and Inter Milan. AS Roma and Lazio. Juventus and Torino. When Inter plays Juventus, it is called "Il Derby D'Italia." Because only these two teams have always played in the Serie A.

Fuorigioco: Offsides. Pronounced "Fwour-ree-joe-coh."

Finally, here's a link to a fun article on how soccer players communicate in this international sport. Some of them have to work a little to effectively curse out a referee. Does the World Cup have a lingua franca?

For instant free translations Download Babylon 6

Theme Song in French - Beauty and the Beast

2006-06-13T14:28:00.000-04:00

Here's a very sweet version of this song in French along with the English lyrics. (all rights reserved by the copyright holder) 2 weeks left of free access to Parlo.com's French 1 course. See details on the Home page.

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise

Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast

Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the Beast

The Secrets of Human Language Acquisition

2006-06-12T06:49:00.000-04:00

The sleuths at Parlo.com have uncovered exciting research looking into how people learn language naturally as infants. Let's be honest, it's tough even with books, tapes, grammar and vocabulary lessons! But babies can't read and even get themselves to a computer to study with parlo or berlitz. How do the little critters do it? If you think about it this is truly amazing. This is precisely the question being addressed by Associate Professor Deb Roy, head of the MIT Media Lab's Cognitive Machines research group. His "volunteer research subject" is his 9 month old son and, not coincidentally his wife and himself. They have mounted 11 omni-directional fisheye video cameras and 14 ceiling mounted microphones throughout his home in an attempt to determine the environmental factors, both physical and social, within which his son will learn vocabulary and grammatical strucutre. Whew! Talk about a reality show. We'll try to keep an eye (not a fisheye) on the progress and results of this research to see what, if any, light this might shed on adult language acquisition. (I suspect it's the pureed carrots that enable language acquisition but so far no one will join me in this belief) In the meantime I urge you to read this article from MIT's site.

Spanish Language Joke - Beginner level

2006-06-08T10:24:00.000-04:00

Here's a cute one that's an example of a cross language pun.

¿Cómo se dice veterinario en inglés?
Dogtor.

Short but sweet!

Why Learn Foreign Language Proverbs?

2006-06-05T10:19:00.000-04:00

*Use our French 1 course free until June 28!* Go to www.parlo.com

Once again we'd like to thank the fine folks at www.lingo24 for allowing us to reuse some of their interesting articles. In addition to providing excellent translation services they have lots of interesting resources on their site.

Why Learn Proverbs?

by Dan Mac Dougall, 21st October, 2004

Dan Mac Dougall tries to shed light on the importance of Spanish proverbs and why it is beneficial to every translator to know their source text proverbs.

This article seeks to define the word proverb, offer examples for the usage of proverbs over time, and to provide some of their typical characteristics in Spanish. In addition, the benefits of learning these special sayings will be highlighted.

The following is a dictionary definition (1991:1087): a proverb is . . . a saying popularly known and repeated, usually expressing simply and concretely, though often metaphorically, a truth based on common sense or practical human experience. A stitch in time saves nine.

It is worth noting that Taylor (1996:14) states: . . . the man who says So help me God uses a proverbial formula already current in Roman speech. Foulet: (1927:301-24). And the following proverb, from Sephardic folklore, offers a view of the mores of fifteenth-century Spain (Alatorre:211): Café sin tutún, hamam sin sapún (café sin cigarrillo es como baño sin jabón: hamam es el baño turco). . . Sayings such as these provide contemporary readers an authentic insiders view of a culture. In the age of the sound byte with instant media coverage of world events, finding sources for sayings that might have taken centuries to develop can be an onerous task.

Readers of contemporary literature in the original language and in translation can be assisted immeasurably by accessing sources that provide examples for usage. While it may be true that the Chilean equivalent of the Spanish refrán Más vale pájaro en mano que buitre volando is Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando, as Orellana (1998:248) states, an English equivalent of a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush hardly does justice to the original. That being said, each of these sayings provides a mental picture that is readily comprehensible to educated readers of both Spanish and English. Furthermore, it highlights a characteristic of proverbs in any language, namely that of linguistic synergy: the meaning provided by the saying in toto is greater than that provided by the words individually.

Sources which provide readers not only a written equivalent of proverbs or idioms in another language, but also a visual cue in the form of drawings or sketches can greatly assist in furthering understanding. The idea that the more senses one employs in the learning process the greater are the possibilities of retention of information is a truism. In an age of instant information interactive media which engage learners are more likely to be of more lasting value than those which do not. In order to make maximum use of a computer one must be able to draw upon a variety of skills, not just visual. It should come as no surprise that an advertising consulting firm recently stated that advertising banners that flow across computer monitors on web pages are gaining a foothold in the advertising market. The key to their effectiveness could very well be their interactive nature.

The learning of proverbs can be a key element in the language acquisition process. Refranes, frases hechas, idioms, and proverbs can provide a snapshot of other cultures that allows for a more thorough understanding of both language and culture. Without grasping the meaning of these types of sayings we are limited to a unilateral understanding, providing fertile ground toward the development of cultural and linguistic ethnocentrism. We can become enriched as individuals and societies when we understand the viewpoints of others. This dovetails the management principle of the doublewin: both, individuals or groups, are able to benefit when each is vitally concerned with equanimity not only for themselves, but also others. This forces us to broaden our frame of reference, deepen our understanding, and improve our individual and group effectiveness.

As in translating from one language to another, a literal, word- for-word rendering pales in comparison to its natural counterpart. Its sound is stilted to the ear of a native speaker. For example, in Quintans (1999:1) the refrán: La cara es el espejo del alma, when translated literally does not sound natural to speakers of English. The English equivalent would be The eyes are the window of the soul. Those who commit to a thorough study and usage of proverbs will further their own understanding. Since no one collection is all-inclusive in its scope, keeping updated regarding new source material is essential.

Another feature prevalent in many proverbs in Spanish is that of rhyming, an excellent mnemonic device for students. The rhyme scheme often used is that of assonance (1991:83): rhyme in which the same vowel sounds are used with different consonants in the stressed syllables of the rhyming words, as in penitent and reticence. For example: En tiempos de guerra, cualquier hoyo es trinchera, A rey muerto, rey puesto, and Lo que pienses en comprar, no lo has de alabar, all examples provided in Chen (1999: 1-2).

Fatalism is another characteristic of Spanish and Spanish- American proverbs, as evinced by Aroras (1998:1) analysis of 125 el que nace proverbs. For example: El que nace para AHORCADO, de arriba le cae la soga (1998:3) A Cuban equivalent of this attitude is found in Montes (7): El que nace para burro del cielo le cae el aparejo and Chens (1999:10) examples impart a similar view of life in these sayings: El que nace para mulo del cielo le cae el arnés/policía del cielo le cae el bolillo. He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned. * You cant escape your destiny.

It is worth noting that within the U.S. language-specific standards have been developed for grades K-16 for nine distinct foreign language groups. This fact underscores the seriousness with which the intellectual community is dealing with the study of foreign languages. The study of proverbs, idioms, and refranes fulfills at least three of the U.S. Standards for Foreign Language Learning (1996:9), namely: within the framework of Connections, Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures. Under the heading of Comparisons, Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own, and Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the culture studied and their own. As stated in the Introduction to the Standards (1996:11): To study another language and culture gives one the powerful key to successful communication: knowing how, when, and why to say what to whom.

Conclusions

The wisdom inherent in proverbs has demonstrated its value over an extended period of time. The valuable insights gleaned from their study and application will help students to better understand their own language and culture when analyzed comparatively. Translators, interpreters, and linguists also will benefit from constantly updating their understanding and use of these gems of wisdom, since they can offer culturally-specific insights. Rhyming, synergy, and fatalism are some of the characteristics of proverbs in Spanish. The most beneficial source materials couple a listing of sayings with explanations of their usage, in addition to drawings or sketches. The latter can further elucidate the meaning, thereby increasing the likelihood of comprehension.

References

Alatorre, Antonio. (1998) Los 1,001 años de la lengua española. Sexta reimpresión. México, D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Arora, Shirley L. (1998). The EL QUE NACE PROVERBS: A Supplement, ISSN 1323-4633. Vol. 4-No. 2: 1-13.

Chen, Berta Alicia. 1999. Dictionary of Proverbs and Sayings/ Diccionario de Proverbios y Refranes, Complementary Sample / Muestra Gratis: 1-14. Website: http://www.proverbios.com/

© Dan Mac Dougall, http://xlation.com/essays/dmacdougall.php

Free French 1 Course - How to use

2006-06-02T10:35:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

When using the free French 1 Course please do not change the password because that will lock out everyone else from being able to use the course. We will change the password back to "french1" anyway so please don't inconvenience others. Let the password remain as it is. Thanks and enjoy!

Marcos

Borges Thought on Dictionaries

2006-05-31T13:24:00.000-04:00

It is often forgotten that (dictionaries) are artificial repositories, put together well after the languages they define. The roots of language are irrational and of a magical nature.
—Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian poet, short-story writer, and essayist, El otro, el mismo, 1969

Free French 1 Course on parlo.com Login:

Email: frenchone@parlo.com
Password: french1

Use this course until June 27th, 2006

Language Translation Software

2006-05-30T11:49:00.000-04:00

Please see our Free Language Course Offer in the previous post!

Those of us toiling away, day in and day out, in the language salt mine we call parlo.com like our mining tools to be sharp and effective. The clever folks at Babylon offered us amazing software - yeh, we took 'em up on the offer! - that we use all the time in our work. We got permission to reprint an article that we think sums up well why we think this Babylon software is so great. It also points you to another good language learning site we think you should look at. Go ahead and take the Babylon software for a free test drive. Once you use it you'll come to rely on it more and more, just as we do.

Babylon, A Software Liberating
Language Learners Worldwide

By Steve Kaufmann

The modern global village is forcing the world’s scattered people with all their different languages into regular contact with each other. Now the very technological revolution that is responsible for this intensity of international exchange is also providing the solutions to communicating across language barriers. The software which amazingly translates words, phrases and sentences in a single click, Babylon , is a brilliant example.

My name is Steve Kaufmann, author of The Way of The Linguist, A language learning odyssey. I speak nine languages fluently (6 European and 3 Asian) and I’m working on three more right now at the age of 60. I know what it takes to learn languages and one of the keys is efficiency. That’s why Babylonis so valuable.
HavingSpanish , French , Italian, Portuguese , Dutch , and over 60 other languages available at the click of the mouse is a major advantage in language learning.

One of my morning pleasures is to go to my computer and peruse newspapers and websites from around the world. I could not do this without Babylon, my handy-to-use online dictionary program. It does not matter if I am reading in Chinese
, German , Japanese or any other language. There are always words that I am not familiar with. For new languages that I am learning, like Russian and Korean, Babylon is even more important since it allows me to access a wide range of interesting content.

About four years ago I realized that the combination of the Internet and
MP3 technology would revolutionize language learning. We are entering an age when language learners will be free from the well intentioned tyranny of the language teachers and their text books. To convert the new abundance of interesting audio and text content now available on the Internet into an enjoyable language learning experience just requires the intelligent use of technology. That is why I founded The Linguist.com., and chose Babylon.

The Linguist is a revolutionary language learning system which accelerates vocabulary acquisition and the achievement of language fluency. Learners are able to learn from content that not only matches their interests and needs, but is at an appropriate level of difficulty and focuses on the vocabulary they need to learn. Our system could not function without a reliable and effective multilingual dictionary. We chose Babylon for its flexibility, ease of use, the variety of dictionaries it offers, and its reliability. Babylon interfaces ideally with our language students.

The Linguist.com (http://www.thelinguist.com/front/babylon/babylon.jsp )is an international community with users from over 25 countries. When our members encounter words that they do not know, they use Babylon to instantly see the meaning and translation into their own language. No longer do language learners have to deal with traditional dictionaries that are slow and cumbersome to use, only to quickly forget what they looked up. No longer do they have to limit their reading to boring text books. A whole world of interesting content has been opened up to them.
Language learners worldwide have been liberated, thanks to Babylon.

To purchase a license for this revolutionary software, click here.

Free French 1 Course on Parlo.com

2006-05-26T17:18:00.000-04:00

We have a winner! The people have spoken and starting today the French 1 (Interactive French 1) can be used free of charge until June 27th. We've created a special user ID to let you log on:

Email: frenchone@parlo.com
Password: french1 (all lower case)

Now you get to use this course just as if you had paid for it. Sweet! Enjoy, tell your friends and then enjoy some more. Any feedback would be most welcome. Have a great weekend.

Spanish Lesson Plan - Intermediate - Advanced

2006-05-23T16:46:00.000-04:00

Here's a fun game from Parlo.com's selection of lesson plans.

DON'T FORGET - 2 days left to vote for the course we should provide free for one month. Click here for details.

Actividad: Cadena de palabras

Vocabulario: Cualquier vocabulario
Nivel: Intermedio-Avanzado
Materiales: Ninguno

Si tienes cinco minutos de sobra, éste es un juego divertido para practicar todo tipo de vocabulario en clase. En la "cadena de palabras" los estudiantes tienen que decir una palabra que empiece con la última letra de la palabra anterior. En clases de nivel más alto, las palabras no se pueden repetir.

Empieza tú con una palabra como "español" o "aprender." Intenta evitar las palabras que terminen en "z" u otras letras no muy comunes. Los estudiantes deben seguir con otras palabras, como "español - loro - once - esa - agua - año - oso - oreja -, etc".

Joke - on Translating Languages

2006-05-20T09:26:00.000-04:00

Once again, please look at our earlier post (2 posts ago) on how to vote for a free course on parlo.com.

Let's add just a little levity to the Mexican / American boarder debate:

How to Make Money from Translation

A Mexican bandit made a specialty of crossing the Rio Grande from time to time and robbing banks in Texas. Finally, a reward was offered for his capture, and an enterprising Texas Ranger decided to track him down. After a lengthy search, he traced the bandit to his favorite cantina, snuck up behind him, put his trusty six-shooter to the bandit's head, and said,
"You're under arrest. Tell me where you hid the loot or I'll blow your brains out."
But the bandit didn't speak English, and the Ranger didn't speak Spanish.
As luck would have it, a bilingual lawyer was in the saloon and translated the Ranger's message. The terrified bandit blurted out, in Spanish, that the loot was buried under the oak tree in back of the cantina.
"What did he say?" asked the Ranger.
The lawyer answered, "He said, 'Get lost, Gringo. You wouldn't dare shoot me.'"

This Guy Really Wanted to Learn English

2006-05-18T15:07:00.000-04:00

Once again, please look at our earlier post (2 posts ago) on how to vote for a free course on parlo.com.

Today's post is something I bumped into about a 27 year old Guatamalan here illegally, who tried to pass himself off as an 18 year old to get into high school. This story is from September of last year:

TRINITY, Florida (AP) -- Authorities say a 27-year-old Guatemalan man arrested for posing as an 18-year-old Pasco County high school student told them he enrolled because he wanted to learn English.

Josue Oswaldo Ramirez-Mejia is charged with uttering a forged instrument.

He's being held on 5-thousand dollars bail.

Officials say Ramirez-Mejia used forged documents to enroll last month at J-W Mitchell High School.

The sheriff's office reports that someone also posed as his guardian.

School officials say Ramirez-Mejia was a good student and hadn't caused any problems.

His brother says he came to the United States three years ago and worked after classes at their Lake Worth business.

The F-B-I says Ramirez-Mejia entered the U-S illegally after being denied entry.

U-S Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun deportment proceedings.

Officials say Ramirez-Mejia would've been eligible for county adult education courses.

If only he'd had access to parlo courses... heck, we probably would have given him a free course!

Beyond Language - When Words Aren't Needed

2006-05-17T10:10:00.000-04:00

Dailymotion blogged video
HYPERACTIVE
Video sent by scienceprofessor

This is strictly for your and my amusement. I found this video on a website called Dailymotion.com. They accurately describe this as, "A cool twist on Beatboxing by Lasse Gjertsen. Awesome editing!" Who can argue? Check out his silly deadpan expression. I won't be throwing too many of this kind of thing onto this blog since it is about languages. It was irresistable though. And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Proverbs, both French & Spanish

2006-05-15T10:41:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to vote for the free course on parlo.com's home page See the previous post!

It's always enlightening to learn some proverbs of other cultures. I find that these nuggets of folk wisdom are very similar across cultures. Since they reflect on human nature they are bound to be similar. Enjoy.

French Proverbs
C'est le ton qui fait la chanson.
o Literal meaning: It's the melody that makes the song.
o Idiomatic translation: It's not what you say but the way you say it.

Cherchez la femme.
o Literal meaning: Look for the woman.
o Idiomatic translation: A woman is probably at the heart of the quarrel.

Dis-moi qui tu hantes, je te dirai qui tu es.
o Idiomatic translation: A man is known by the company he keeps.
o Literal meaning: Tell me whom you haunt and I will tell you who you are.

Il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermée.
o Idiomatic translation: There can be no middle ground.
o Literal meaning: A door must be either open or shut.

Ventre affamé n'a pas d'oreilles.
o Idiomatic translation: Words are wasted on a starving man.
o Literal meaning: The hungry belly has no ears.

Find more at Wikipedia

Spanish Proverbs
Justicia cosa muy buena, pero no en mi casa en la ajena. (Cuba)
Idiomatic translation: Justice is a good thing, only not in my house, but in my neighbor's.

La envidia sigue al m´e;rito, como la sombra al cuerpo. (Nicaragua)
Literal translation: Envy follows merit like the shadow follows the body.

I especially like this one because it is so vivid and I'm not sure what it means!!

Nadie ccon lamer engorda. (Guatamala)
Idomatic translation: No gets fat from licking food.

El que presta o´i;do es porque tambi´e;n quire hablar. (Argentina)
Idiomatic translation: If a man lends an ear it is because he too wants to speak.

Aunque la mona se vista de seda mona se queda.
Idiomatic translation: Dress the monkey in silk and it is still a monkey.

You can find more of these gems (seriously, they are wonderful!) below.

Free Language Course - Vote for your choice!

2006-05-11T12:31:00.000-04:00

OK folks. We have a new gimmic--- uh, no, marketing tool... hmm, better yet, Sample Taste. We think that more people will try, enjoy, and yes, ultimately buy our courses if we let then try a course for one month at no charge. Here's how we propose to do it.

You go to parlo.com and find a course that you would like to try.
Register with parlo (right there on the home page) and email to us the name of the course you would like to use free for one month. Please register or we can't count your vote and put your choice in the "Subject" line of the email. (write to "support - at - parlo.com")
When our two week voting period is up we'll announce by email and on this blog which course will be free for 1 month. At that time we will give out a "Master User ID and password for this course.

Pretty sweet, no? Any questions? Please post them as a comment to this blog posting. Let the voting begin! (We reserve the right to end this offer at any time)

Spanish Joke - Beginner Level

2006-05-09T12:06:00.000-04:00

This one is too cute and a great one for beginning students. If you are a teacher see if your students can correctly write out the numbers after hearing it once. If the success ratio is low, give them another chance. Enjoy!

– ¿Diga?
– Perdone, ¿Es el nueve, tres, cuatro, tres, siete, siete, ocho, cinco, cuatro?
– No, sí, no, sí, sí, no, no, sí, sí.

Spanish as the Country's Unofficial Second Language

2006-05-04T20:39:00.000-04:00

Oh my. More smoke and heat than light, not to mention, "More geese than swans"* My prediction? - in 25 years the English language will be alive and well and wonderfully enriched by the Spanish language. It will not be supplanted by Spanish as "the coin of the realm" unless uh, Chinese really takes off...

Spanish en los Estados Unidos adds to immigration heat
By Bernd Debusmann, Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Politicians use it to win votes, the business community to boost profits and sizeable numbers of Americans see it is a threat to American culture --

Spanish in the United States.

There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than, for example, in the whole of Venezuela, according to census figures. First-time visitors to the United States are perpetually astonished by how pervasive the language has become. It is the country's unofficial second language. Read on...

*
The silver swan, who living had no note,
When death approach'd, unlock'd her silent throat;
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
Thus sung her first and last, and sung no more.
Farewell, all joys; O Death, come close mine eyes;
More geese than swans now live, more fools than wise.
-Anonymous- 16th Century

President Bush's Spanish - How good IS it?

2006-05-04T14:56:00.000-04:00

I wasn't going to post again for a couple of days but this story is too good to pass up. There continues to be way more discussion on the Spanish Language version of the Star Spangled Banner than the topic warrants but we must talk about it if it still occupies a place in the country's consciousness. President Bush's spokepeople are strongly denying that the president speaks Spanish well enough to sing the anthem in spanish but I've heard him speak and clearly that's nonsense. He speaks perfectly fine. He just doesn't want to tick people off who feel strongly that it's a bad thing. Here's a link to a story on Reuters depicting the latest...

More Beginning French Lesson Plans

2006-05-04T12:23:00.000-04:00

Let's have another look into the lesson plans that we have in our "Teacher's Corner" in the French Culture section of www.parlo.com. This is the second of our Beginner French Lessons that we have available there and if you find this useful please explore them all. Naturally, we'd love to have you sign up for our courses so please have a look, try the sample lesson and jump right in!

Mais où se trouve...?

Cette unité est destinée à des étudiants de niveau intermédiaire (début) à partir du lycée. Elle peut prendre environ 2h.

Objectifs

Les étudiants vont apprendre à:
# Se repérer dans l'espace
# Lire une carte du métro parisien
# Demander leur chemin
# Indiquer le chemin
# Parler des pays et des villes

Outils pedagogiques:

1. Vocabulaire: Pour se repérer dans l'espace; Activité: Quelques indications
2. Grammaire: Les vacances arrivent
3. Grammaire: Les voyages
4. Lecture: L'invitation de Patrice

Activités

Activité I: "Warm up" (10 minutes)
Demandez aux étudiants s'ils ont déjà voyagé en France et s'ils ont dû y demander leur chemin. Que pensent-ils des Français? Sont-ils serviables? Plus ou moins que les Américains? Est-il plus facile de se repérer en France ou aux Etats-Unis? Quelle est la différence majeure entre les villes françaises et américaines? (donnez l'exemple de New York où les rues et les avenues sont numérotées, et Paris où les rues portent le nom de personnages célèbres). Cette introduction se fait en anglais.

Activité II: Vocabulaire (15 minutes)
En utilisant l'environnement de la classe, c'est-à-dire les étudiants, vous-même et beaucoup de gestuelle, vous allez introduire les expressions spaciales suivantes (vous pouvez leur distribuer l'imprimé joint).
"je suis en face de..., à cô;té de..., devant..., derrière..., près de..., loin de..., sur la chaise, le stylo est sous le bureau, entre..., au milieu de..., à droite..., à gauche...". Maintenant pour introduire les expressions suivantes "je continue tout droit, je tourne, je traverse, je suis la rue,...", vous allez dessinez un petit plan au tableau avec deux rues qui se croisent.

Vous allez fixer ces expressions en posant des questions aux étudiants: "Où est X? Il est devant Y. Qui est derrière X?..." Maintenant, écrivez toutes ces expressions au tableau. Ensuite demandez - leur de faire l'exercié "Queloques indications" et corrigez - le avec la classe. (Réponses: 1. droit; 2. coin; 3. rue; 4. à droite; 5. jusqu'à; 6. traverser)

Activité III: Grammaire: Les vacances arrivent (20 minutes)
Cette activité a pour but d'introduire, de manière inductive, les prépositions de lieu (à, dans, chez, en, au, aux, etc.). Vous allez distribuez le texte joint qui contient en contexte la plupart de ces prépositions. Tout d'abord, revoyez le dialogue avec la classe pour vérifier la compréhension. Ensuite, vous allez demander aux étudiants de lire le dialogue, de repérer les mots soulignés et d'essayer de trouver, dans leur groupe, la "règle" grammaticale. Par exemple, pourquoi dit-on en Finlande, et pas au Finlande, ou encore aux Etats-Unis et pas en Etats-Unis,...?

There are 3 more activites available in this French lesson plan so please click here to get the rest.

The Spanish Star Spangled Banner and Immigration Protests

2006-05-01T07:50:00.000-04:00

Today is May 1st and across the country there has been a call for immigrants to demonstrate, pray, not attend work or school and to refrain from all economic activity to show the effect of immigrants on America's economy. Among immigrant groups there is no unanimity of opinion as to whether economic boycotts or leaving work are the best methods to achieve the reform of immigration laws. Some feel that writing letters and sending petitions to politicians is a more appropriate way to voice their opinions while others feel that they will not be heard with anything less than a demonstration of their economic value to our country. There is a fear that there could be a backlash and no one wants that.

This is an election year and already we are hearing the anti-immigrant rhetoric heat up. Both sides know that the current situation of illegal immigrants being exploited works well for businesses wishing to pay less than minimum wage, offer no benefits nor necessarily guarantee safe working conditions. But the anti-immigrants do not want to "reward" those who have come here illegally by granting them citizenship and are rallying their supporters with the claim that jobs are being taken away from Americans. (I know I sure want to be a migrant worker when I grown up!)Additionally, businesses do not want to have workers who must be paid minimun wage in keep in safe workplace. On the pro-immigrant side are those who wish to make it easy to come to this country and become a citizen and want nothing punitive done to those who have come here illegally. This election year many races (election, not ethnic) will be hotly contested and even control of Congress is thought to be at stake. It's not the best climate for reasoned reflection on a hot button issue like immigration.

Now along comes the release of a Spanish version of the Start Spangled Banner. This gasoline (at over $3.00 per gallon!) thrown on the fire is unlikely to cool down the discussion. From the cultural / language enthusiast standpoint it's interesting to note where the spanish lyrics deviate from the original english (American?) lyrics. The fun here is just beginning...

"Nuestro Himno" (Our Anthem")
Amanece, lo veis?, a la luz de la aurora?
lo que tanto aclamamos la noche al caer?
sus estrellas sus franjas

flotaban ayer

en el fiero combate

en señal de victoria,

fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertad.

Por la noche decían:

"Se va defendiendo!"

Oh decid! Despliega aún

Su hermosura estrellada

sobre tierra de libres,

la bandera sagrada?

Sus estrellas, sus franjas,

la libertad. Somos iguales.

Somos hermanos. Es nuestro himno.

En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,

Fulgor de lucha

Mi gente sigue luchando

al paso de la libertad

Ya es tiempo de romper las cadenas.

Por la noche decían: "!Se va defendiendo!"

Oh decid! Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada

sobre tierra de libres,

la bandera sagrada?

It's sunrise. Do you see by the light of the dawn

What we proudly hailed last nightfall?

Its stars, its stripes

yesterday streamed

above fierce combat

a symbol of victory

the glory of battle and the march toward liberty

Throughout the night, they proclaimed:

"We will defend it!"

Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave

above the land of the free,

the sacred flag?

Its stars, its stripes,

liberty, we are the same.

We are brothers in our anthem.

In fierce combat, a symbol of victory

(My people fight on.)

and the march toward liberty.

(The time has come to break the chains.)

Throughout the night they proclaimed, "We will defend it!"

Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave

above the land of the free,

the sacred flag?

Translation SNAFU's

2006-04-27T07:43:00.000-04:00

Greetings oh lovers of language! I bring to you a collection of translations that will give you pause as you venture beyond your mother tongue. Be careful what you say and how you say it! :o The good people at lingo24.com were kind enough to let us use this article for your amusement. Visit their site, enjoy the interesting articles they have to offer and buy their services! Read on and be afraid - be very afraid...

Waiter! There's an insect of the order Diptera in my soup!

by Karen Elwis

Karen Elwis explains what happens when translation goes wrong...

The following genuine examples are an amusing reminder of what can happen when you don't use a professional translation company.

On menu of Swiss restaurant: "Our wines leave you nothing to hope for."

On the door of a Moscow hotel room - "If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it!"

Useful advice on how to drive Tokyo style: "When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigour."

Bucharest hotel lobby: "The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable."

In Austrian ski resort: "Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension."

Shop entrance in Majorca: "English well talking. Here speeching American."

In a Paris hotel elevator: "Please leave your values at the front desk."

In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: "Drop your trousers here for best results."

On menu of Polish restaurant: "Salad a firm's own make: limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion." [Wonder if they ever caught the duck?!]

All goes to show - when it comes to translation, you need the professionals!

© Lingo24 Ltd Don't still content, it makes for bad karma.

Dual Language Find of the Week

2006-04-24T06:50:00.001-04:00

Ever on the hunt for interesting and free language resources I have discovered (well OK, it hit me over the head)that the very successful clothing company American Apparel is doing Spanish and English students a great service. They now publish a free monthly magazine titled, México City Monthly that you can pick up in one of their stores. This is a short, dual-language publication featuring interviews and articles on interesting things to do in and around México City. I really like finding lists of slang terms (yeh, I'm a language dork, I know). You have to approach using these kinds of words carefully for a few reasons. First you have to be sure that they are not rude or crude words. Second, you have to be sure that people are still really using these terms or you'll sound like someone in the U.S. saying, "groovy" or "psychedelic", ie., really dated. With that said, here are the terms and translations they published in the April edition of México City Monthly:

Oyé - Hey or listen
Guácala (Wah-ka-la) Stinky
Guëy (weigh) Man or dude
¿Quiubo? (Kyu-boh) What's up?
Pedo - Fart or problem (Here's one of those words you must be careful using)
Órale - OK or Woah!

This is fun stuff, no? On the American Apparel website there's a very cool video of one of their workers, a Mexican man, who was a wrestler in Mexico. He recounts how the discipline and motivation involved in wrestling changed his life for the better. The English subtitles makes for a great way to practice listening. Here's the link.

Beginning French Lesson Plan

2006-04-20T07:50:00.000-04:00

Today's offering is another valuable nugget in the treasure trove of Parlo's free resources. (you don't get to write sentences like that every day!) You can find much more like this in the Teacher's Corner section on parlo.com. As always, we are glad to offer group discounts for 5 or more students. Contact me through the email address you can find in the profiles.

Faisons connaissance!

Cette unité est destinée à des étudiants de niveau 1, avec quelques semaines de français derrière eux, à partir du lycée. Cette unité peut prendre environ 2h.

Objectifs

Dans cette leçon, les étudiants vont apprendre à:
Lire un questionnaire et y répondre
Formuler des questions pour connaître la personnalité de quelqu'un
La différence entre quel et quelle, est-ce que et qu'est-ce que
Préparer une interview basée sur les expressions interrogatives étudiées dans cette leçon
Découvrir un chanteur français: Claude Nougaro

Outils pedagogiques:
Vocabulaire: Test de personnalité
Grammaire: Posez les questions!
Lecture: L'émission du dimanche

Activités

Activité I: "Warm up" (10 minutes)
Vous allez mettre les étudiants en situation en leur posant des questions générales du type:

-Quelle est la capitale des Etats-Unis?
-Comment s'appelle le président de la France?
-Pourquoi étudiez-vous le français?
-Qui parle espagnol dans la classe?
-Qu'est-ce que vous aimez faire le week-end?

Demandez dans quelles autres situations on peut être amené à utiliser des questions (par exemple, dans un entretien, une enquête policière, lors de l'achat d'un billet d'avion, de train, etc.) et dans chaque situation qu'ils trouvent ou que vous leur proposez, vous pouvez leur demander d'imaginer les questions (par exemple: pour l'entretien, pourquoi désirez-vous travailler avec nous?, Quels sont vos talents? ...).

There are 5 more activities in this lesson - didn't I tell you this is a good resource? Now go and look at our list of courses to see which will be the best fit for your students. You'll be glad you did!

Spanglish - Book review

2006-04-15T19:32:00.000-04:00

Listen and learn, of lovers of language. Elan Stavans is a most unstuffy professor/writer who loves languages and does not place them on a pedestal but rather revels in the richness and protean qualities of living languages. No language stays the same. That's why we need footnotes or a glossary to read Shakespeare. The "pure language" has never and will never exist and this book finely illustrates that as seen through the lens of Spanglish - ie. Spanish that has adopted English words into its vocabulary and grammar.

The book is in 3 parts: the first is a 54 page memoir on the author's first exposure to Spanglish in New York City in the 1980's and his musings on Spanglish as compared to Ebonics (African American "lingo" or "idiom") or Yiddish (Hebrew mixed with many Eastern European languages). He is careful enough to note where he can see similarities but he does not go overboard and falsely impose similarities to fit a preconceived argument. There are many wonderful examples of Spanglish that just make you smile. My favorite, "Entre, entre y tome un asiento" The intended meaning is "Enter, enter and take a seat."but connventional Spanish would translate it as, "Between, between and drink a chair." This stuff is wonderful.

The second part is 185 pages and is I what believe to be just the beginning of a dictionary of Spanglish. It translates the word and tells you what English word it evolved from. It cites in what city it is most frequently heard and the national group that uses this word. Of course, since it was published 3 years ago it is probably changing as people move around the country. That's OK since it is more proof of language being a living thing.

The last part of the book is a translation into Spanglish of the first chapter of Don Quijote. I have to say that it makes my head spin to read it but this is mostly a good thing. It is an experience that I can only compare to reading A Clockwork Orange. In that book Anthony Burgess invents a slang mixture of Russian and English. Those of you who are non-Spanish speakers but have a general interest is languages will probably enjoy the first part but have no use for the second and third parts of this book. (borrow it from the library - oops, sorry Amazon!) For those who speak and/or study Spanish it is well worth buying this book. (Don't just sit there - click on the above link!)

To hear more of Ilan Stavans thoughts I recommend listening to this podcast that was recorded back in September. Another keeper and free!

Spanish Lullaby from Venezuela - Podcast

2006-04-11T17:12:00.000-04:00

Here's another podcast that we hope you'll enjoy. This beautiful song, Mi Tripón, by Otilio Galindez, translates to "Sweetheart" but more literally means 'of my flesh', 'guts' or 'viscera'. In English we don't really have a word that describes when someone is that much a part of you. Performed by Canopus, conducted by Guillermo Vaisman. Enjoy!

Duerme mi tripón
vamos a engañar la lechuza
y engañar al coco
que ya no asusta.
Duerme mi tripón

Que mañana el sol brillará en tu cuna
y te contará como fue que un día perdió la luna.

Duerme mi tripón ya se fue la tarde cansada
y llegó la noche fresquita y pura
Duerme mi tripón

Abrirá tus ojos la luz del alba
y te enseñará ríos y caminos
y la montaña. Duerme mi tripón

Sleep, my sweetheart, and we will cheat the owl
And also we'll trick the bogeyman who doesn't scare us,
Sleep my sweetheart.

Tomorrow, the sun will shine on your cradle,
And will tell you how one day he lost the moon.

Sleep, my sweetheart, the day has gone, it was tired,
And the night, clear and pure has come,
Sleep, my sweetheart.

The morning light will open your eyes,
And will show you rivers and paths,
And the mountain, sleep now, my sweetheart.

French culture - Postscript

2006-04-11T07:04:00.000-04:00

Well, it's a couple of days later and this chapter and of the story has been told. France will not be the first country to begin dismantling their system of guarantees for workers even if it might mean continued high unemployment. President Jacques Chirac has rescinded the new labor law. (Described in previous posts) I've included a link to an analysis in the New York Times that puts this into a broader, European perspective.

I can't help but feel sad for the young people in these countries because their sense of future opportunities must be so constrained. I understand that's it's hard to be the generation that says "I might take a hit" to make my country's economy more vibrant. That's pretty conceptual. It's my American cultural and class insularity that makes me think that the "natural order of things" includes being a young adult with a choice of job prospects. Think about the sweep of human history and, of course, one can see that this is a modern conceit coming from someone with a reasonably stable job in a prosperous country. (It's time to stop and count my blessings) Read this. In France, an Economic Bullet Goes Unbitten

Learn about French Culture - the unemployment crisis

2006-04-05T11:41:00.000-04:00

Below is an interesting overview from the Washington Times on the unemplyment problems facing France plus a link to a New York Times article on the same topic. For years France has had a system that provides extremely strong protections and benefits to workers in France. This system makes it very tough for employers to respond to economic conditions by letting workers go or taking new ones on casually. Once a company hires a worker it has made a very long term committment to an increased payroll whether market conditions justify additional workers on payroll or not. Also, if the worker is not performing adequately he or she can not easily be fired. These conditions are said to be a large reason for the 10% rate of unemployment. For youth it is 25%, and for young French immigrants of Arab descent 50%. Clearly this is an unacceptable and dangerous state of affairs for France and yet huge numbers of people are protesting the changes in employment law. Fleshing out the picture is a helpful article is in today's (4/9/06) New York Times French Unrest Reflects Old Faith in Quasi-Socialist Ideals This describes the very real pluses to this system that I was unaware of prior to today.

France draws a great deal of foreign investment. In 2003 it outranked the US, Britain, Germany or Japan. This is a big endorsement from the international community. (stats from The Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation.)
This same group also ranked France highest in terms of productivity - economic output per hour - among its members for 2004.
In 2000 the World Health Organization rated the French health care system the best of any of its members.

I don't have an answer but protecting jobs rights for a job you don't have will not help you and keeping potentially productive workers idle makes even a productive economy less than what it could be. There must be a way to keep those things that work well and are true to the values of France while at the same time allow business to be more efficient and productive. We should all watch and learn from both their successes and failures. I welcome any reasoned comments or opinions.

FRANCE'S PARADOX
By Helle Dale
-----------------------------------------------------------
The French pride themselves on their intellectual culture, and as intellectuals sometimes do, they have managed to produce a paradox from which they appear to have no exit. As the French man in the street also has a habit of doing, he has taken to the streets en masse to protest because no one knows how to find a way out. What we have seen on display in recent weeks is the profound disconnect between the French political elite and the French people, who find that they have few other ways of getting the attention of their leaders.

In the past weeks, French students, their parents and numerous others have taken to the streets again to protest what appears to be a reasonable attempt at a solution to the intractable problem of French unemployment. As many as two million people have been on the march through the streets of major French towns on any given day. French unemployment figures hover at 10 percent for the general workforce, up to 25 percent for French youth, and close to 50 percent for young French immigrants of Arab descent.

One very troubling consequence of these facts is the total lack of integration into the workforce of young first and second generation Arab immigrants to French. Their alienation found expression in last fall's violenceinthe French suburbs, in which young immigrants burned thousands of cars, attacked government buildings and caused more mayhem than France has been since the student riots of 1968.

Now, one does not normally expect constructive thinking from French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, the man who as foreign minister presided over the debacle in 2002 when he steered French foreign policy on a direct coalition course with the Bush administration over Iraq. Mr. de Villepin is also an ardent admirer of Napoleon, not exactly a great role model for a democratic statesman.

Yet, Mr. de Villepin has come up with a proposal for modest labor market reform that would at least make a small dent in the labor market reforms that France so desperately needs. It would give younger workers up to the age of 26 less job security, allowing employers to hire and fire them during their first two years without the punitive consequences that otherwise prevent turnover in the French labor force. As a consequence, presumably, more would allow them to get a job in the first place. Meanwhile the French economy is in a state of prolonged stagnation.

For Americans, most of whom are employed at will, this would sound like a good deal. For the French students, however, it sounds like downright treason by their parents' generation, who would not be affected. "You mean, if we don't do what they want, they can fire us?" asked one young female protestors, appalled at the idea that she would actually have to perform and take orders in order to keep a job.

Unfortunately for Mr. de Villepin, his modest proposal may cost him the presidency in the next French presidential election. He is President Chirac's chosen successor, but his personal aristocratic style and his troubles as prime minister will count against him with the French voters. Not only has he presided over two rounds of riots now, but he is also proposing to tinker with the French social contract.

The main beneficiary of Mr. de Villepin's dire straits could be Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy, who is expected to be his strongest rival in the presidential elections. He has not done a whole lot to conceal his glee at the prime minister's plummeting approval ratings, and is cut from an entirely different cloth than the aristocratic Mr. de Villepin. A former businessman, son of immigrants and Jewish as well, Mr. Sarkozy is not of the traditional French elite, yet at the same time he is a very skilled politician. Mr. Sarkozy, however, is keenly aware that economic and social reforms will be needed to boost job creation and would certainly go further than Mr. de Villepin.

What is desperately needed is a change in the French entitlement mentality and in the view that the state, like the kings of old, is the ultimate source of all things good and bad. Without adding the private sector to the equation along with the liberating effects of competition, social mobility, and ethnic integration, it is hard to see how France will ever pull free of the past.

Study Languages through celebrity articles - Rocío Dúrcal

2006-04-04T15:38:00.000-04:00

Let's learn about other cultures by reading about their celebrities for a change. Recently a beloved Spanish singer, Rocío Dúrcal passed away. What kind of music was she famous for? Let's hear a sample...
Windows Media
Real Player

Spanish Singer Rocío Dúrcal Dies (from Billboard.com)
Spanish actress and singer Rocío Dúrcal, who found fame as one of Mexico's most popular folk singers, died Saturday in Madrid following a long battle against cancer of the womb. She was 61.

Born Maria de los Angeles de las Heras Ortiz, Durcal became a star with a string of films in the 1960s and start of the 1970s, such as "Song of Youth" and "The Most Beautiful." However, she made her big breakthrough in Latin America, and in particular Mexico, during the 1980s for her albums of Mexican folk-\ music known as ranchera.... click here to finish the article

Spanish
Rocío Dúrcal: Un último y sentido adiós a “la española más mexicana”

Se nos fue “la más mexicana de las españolas”, la actriz y cantante Rocío Dúrcal falleció el sábado 25 de Marzo, a las 7:15 pm (hora de España) en su casa ubicada en las afueras de Madrid, luego de agravarse el cáncer que padecía desde hace años. A Rocío Dúrcal, quien tenía 61 años y ha sido denominada en innumerables ocasiones ‘la más mexicana de las españolas’, se le detectó un cáncer en la matriz en 2001 y luego, en 2004, los médicos le encontraron unas pequeñas manchas en el pulmón. Eso la obligó a suspender ese año una gira de conciertos en América y fue entonces cuando trascendió a la prensa su estado de salud.

Una vida llena de éxitos

María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortíz, “Marieta” como la llamaban sus amigos, nació en Madrid el 4 de octubre de 1944 y es reconocida en su país como una de las artistas de mayor proyección internacional. Dúrcal, que triunfó en México y se destacó como una de las mejores intérpretes del compositor mexicano Juan Gabriel, recibió reconocimientos en innumerables facetas artísticas, a lo largo de sus 40 años de trayectoria. Hija de una familia humilde, pronto descolló por sus aptitudes para el arte, llamando la atención de importantes productores y personalidades de la farándula de la época.... (leer mas, haz clic aqui)

French
Rocio Durcal, selon des médias espagnols

MADRID (AP) -- La chanteuse et actrice espagnole Rocio Durcal est décédée samedi à son domicile de Madrid à l'âge de 61 ans, selon des informations de presse.
L'artiste, de son vrai nom Maria de los Angeles de las Heras Ortiz, souffrait d'un cancer de l'utérus, a rapporté la radio nationale espagnole. Elle avait joué dans de nombreux films mais était également célèbre pour ses talents vocaux.
D'après l'agence de presse espagnole Efe, le cancer dont était atteinte Rocio Durcal avait été diagnostiqué en 2001. Elle avait été contrainte d'annuler une tournée en Amérique latine en 2004 en raison de sa maladie, a rapporté l'agence. AP

Basic Spanish - Parts of the Body

2006-03-28T17:06:00.000-05:00

OK folks here's some vocabulary that everyone needs to know. You and a study mate can get up to speed on the names of body parts by just pointing or you can say, "Enséñeme el/la ________." ("Show me your... " Note: this means "your" even though you use "la" or "el"before the noun) This game can be competitive or just for practice. Whatever motivates you. After 5 minutes of this you should have these words down cold. Starting from the top on down - here we go!

Spanish Words for Parts of the Body

La cabeza - head
El cabello - hair
La frente - forehead
La oreja - ear
El ojo - eye
La nariz - nose
La mejilla - cheek
La boca - mouth
El diente - tooth
El cuello - neck
El hombro - shoulder
El pecho - chest
El brazo - arm
El antebrazo - forearm
El codo - elbow
La muñeca - wrist
La mano - hand (note: it's feminine though it ends in "o")
El dedo - finger
El estómago - stomach
La ingle - groin (note: if it's plural it looks like "English" without the accent)
La cadera - hip
La pierna - leg
El muslo - thigh
La rodilla - knee
La espinilla - shin
El pantorilla - calf
La pie - foot
El tobillo - ankle
El dedo del pie - toe (lit. finger of the foot)
La espalda - back

I will be coming to your house for a pop quiz early next week so you'd better start studying now!

Spanish Language Lesson Plan - Beginner Level

2006-03-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

It's time for the world to be reminded of the depth of free resources at Parlo so here's the first part of one of our lesson plans. These are so well conceived - they even include what to print out - that I want to share them with a new audience to make their lives easier and a whole lot more fun. Here's the first in our Spanish Archives section:

La familia hoy en día

Esta unidad puede durar entre 2 y 3 horas, según el interés de los estudiantes. Es para estudiantes de nivel principiante de 12 años en adelante.

Objetivos

Los estudiantes pordrán
Aprender el vocabulario de las relaciones de parentesco
Aprender y practicar los verbos ser y estar con adjetivos
Hablar sobre su propia familia
Escribir una redacción sobre una familia ficticia
Leer un texto sobre una familia moderna y expresar su opinión

Materiales para imprimir
"Actividad: ¿Quién ...?"
"Vocabulario"
"Gramática: Ser y estar"
"Texto: Los tiempos están cambiando"

Actividades

Actividad I: Tu familia (20 minutos)
Comienza la clase preguntando a los estudiantes por su propia familia. Reparte copias de la hoja de actividades I. Los estudiantes tienen que buscar a un estudiante para cada categoría. Diles que se levanten y anden por la clase, haciéndose preguntas. Cuando hayan acabado, compartan los resultados con la clase.

Si el nivel de la clase es alto, comenten cuántos hermanos tienen, si viven con sus padres o se han independizado, con qué familiares tienen más relación, si viven sus abuelos, etc. Puedes preguntarles también si su familia es "tradicional" o no, si sus padres se han divorciado, si se han vuelto a casar, etc. Pregúntales finalmente en qué ocasiones suele reunirse la familia (Navidad, día de Acción de Gracias u otras fiestas), si les gustan las reuniones familiares, etc.

Si no tienes confianza con los estudiantes, trae a clase una foto de una familia cualquiera. Cuantos más personas haya en la foto, mejor. Diles a los estudiantes que uno por uno, se inventen datos sobre la familia de la fotografía: quién es quién, cómo se llaman, qué hacen, etc. Anímales a que usen su imaginación.

There are another 5 (yep, count 'em!) activities in this lesson but you can just go to the site to see the rest. "Beginner Spanish Lesson Plan" Of course, it's free. We'd be glad to discuss group discounts on any of our courses. My email address can be found here under About Me. - Marcos

More fun Spanish, French & Italian Reading - Harry Potter!

2006-03-22T11:05:00.000-05:00

OK - here's another fun way to practice those language skills. Read the Harry Potter books in another language. You are bound to learn some wonderful and perfectly useless vocabulary but it couldn't be more fun. Be frugal and buy it used or get a spanking new copy. Take turns reading aloud and doing voices for each character.

Use our online translation Box for any words you get stuck on ------->

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (In Spanish)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (In French)
(This must have been retitled for the French market)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (In Italian)
("...the Sorcerer's Stone is quite pricey at $95 so I recommend this instead)

French Culture - On Beaujolais Nouveau

2006-03-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

Beaujolais Nouveau - good wine or good marketing?

The release of Beaujolais nouveau is the great French event of the third Thursday of every November. For decades, the French have rushed to bars and restaurants to have a taste of this highly anticipated beverage. Millions of bottles of Beaujolais nouveau ("new" Beaujolais), or primeur (a wine intended to be drunk soon after it is bottled), are consumed every year in almost 200 countries. In fact, Beaujolais nouveau is the only French wine that has a specific festive element to it. People get together with friends around a platter of cold cuts and a bottle of Beaujolais nouveau. Its grapes harvested in September, Beaujolais nouveau is put on the market in November, some three months later. This wine is thus a vin primeur and does not keep for more than two or three months.

But the purists, the great lovers of wine are scandalized. How can you call this drink a wine? You can't make a wine in only three months! Three months for the harvest, for vinification (crushing, fermentation, clarification), bottling and serving?

Wine-lovers will tell you that wine takes time. That is why Beaujolais nouveau's status as a vin d'appellation d'origine contrôlée is doubtful. It would be fairer to say that it is a vin de pays , a country wine.

Whatever it may be, Beaujolais nouveau is a good opportunity to have a party; but will you be drinking a glass of good wine or a glass of piquette ? (piquette means bad wine ) It's up to you to decide!

Learn French specifically for French Food and Wine try our course!

Protests in France - Study Language & Culture

2006-03-17T22:10:00.000-05:00

Please note our nifty new translation tool, brought to you courtesy of Babylon. When we get stuck on a word just plug it into the translator for a definition. Nice, huh?

This language study thing - it's like any other kind of exercise regime. It's hard to start but once you get rolling it gets easier and easier until you actually look forward to it. With that it mind let's keep reading the news in other languages.

Today's topic will be the protests in France over the new employment rules that would allow companies to fire workers within the first two years of employment with little prior notice and no serverence pay if they are under 26 years old. The idea is to encourage business to take a chance on hiring people and to thus spur job growth. Nationally, unemployment for people under 26 yrs is 23%. In the suburbs, which are the poor sections of France, the unemployment rate is said to be nearly twice as high. Clearly this a real crisis for France. Those who oppose this policy feel that it it discrimination (strictly speaking they are right but is it justifiable would be the real question). The protests have become violent and caused many universties to shut down.

Home School Study Guide
For Social Studies
Fact finding - What does this new law actually say? Who will be affected by it? Why was it enacted? When does it take effect? What are the protest like? What percentage of protestors are being violent?
Evaluate - Will this law achieve what it aims to? Argue both sides of the issue. Is the two tiered status of workers justifiable? Are the protests going to be effective? Is violent protest ever appropriate? Again, try to argue both sides and then weigh each side to see how you ulitimately view the issue. Keep in mind that as events unfold and the facts change you may re-weigh things and change how you feel. Reason is a wonderful thing.

French Language
Le million, voir plus. C'est la barrière que les organisateurs du mouvement anti-CPE espèrent dépasser samedi 18 mars lors de la journée de manifestation contre le projet du gouvernement. En province, les manifestations ont commencé un peu partout. A Lyon comme à Toulouse, les manifestants seraient plus de 20 000. A Poitiers, ils seraient entre 7 000 et 10 000.
To read more click here Le Monde

Spanish Language
Un regalo para la izquierda
parís. Para el primer ministro francés, Dominique de Villepin, ahora se trata de todo o nada. Tras la revuelta estudiantil contra su reforma del mercado laboral, son los sindicatos los que ahora están movilizando todas sus fuerzas para poner al Gobierno galo hoy ante una prueba de fuerza decisiva. ...
To read more click here Diario de Sevilla

Italian Language
Francia, la rabbia degli studenti
Manifestazioni contro il Contratto di primo impiego che prevede libertà di licenziare. Scontri con la polizia in tutto il Paese: arrestati 272 giovani. Università occupate. Almeno 51 gli agenti feriti
Click here to read more Corriere delle Sera

Keep reading, listening and speaking and remember, life and learning is a marathon and not a sprint. More anon.

We Wearn to speak Web-Wanguage well

2006-03-13T10:48:00.000-05:00

A quick and heartfelt "thank you" is due to Neil at the blog Technology Wrap for sharing how to add links to DiggIt and Del.icio.us. In our own limited, humble way we at Parlo try to hang on to the coat-tails of our tech savvy betters. All this to better serve you. ;)

Learn English Language Tongue Twister

2006-03-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

I did not mean to exclude the English learners for the tongue twisting fun the other day. It was just an oversight on my part. You can have your money back when you start to pay me. ;) A friend of mine of the Argentine persuasion passed the following ditty along to me today complete with Spanish translation. It's too good not to post. Enjoy!

Módulo básico
Tres brujas miran tres relojes Swatch.
¿Qué bruja mira qué reloj?

En inglés:
Three witches watch three Swatch watches.
Which witch watches which Swatch watch?

Módulo avanzado

Tres brujas "travestis" miran los botones de tres relojes Swatch.
¿Qué bruja travesti mira los botones de qué reloj
Swatch?

En inglés:

Three switched witches watch three Swatch watch switches.
Which switched witch watches which Swatch watch switch?

...y este ya es para masters

Tres brujas suecas transexuales miran los botones de tres relojes
"Swatch" suizos.
¿Qué bruja sueca transexual mira a qué botón de qué reloj "Swatch"
suizo?

En inglés:

Three Swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watch switches.
Which Swedish switched witch watches which Swiss Swatch watch switch?

Practice a Foreign Language - Read Celebrity Gossip!

2006-02-23T13:54:00.000-05:00

Sometimes getting oneself or others motivated to study a language can be tough. One way to break up the monotony is to indulge in reading celebrity gossip as seen in foreign countries. We already know the cast of characters and range of things that are written about them so understanding is easier. I'm never afraid of being confronted with some obsure philosophic term. Below are some "teasers" and links to articles on the travails of Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake and Christina Ricci. (For the record, I wish Cameron Diaz well. She sounds like a nice unpretentious person) And now, let the dishing of dirt begin.

Cameron Diaz in the news (Freshness dated - these links will change!)

France - http://www.cheriefm.fr/stars/stars_breves.php?id=2678 L'actrice américaine, Cameron Diaz, est jalouse, très jalouse. Cela allait encore lorsque son mec, le chanteur Justin Timberlake, se contentait de chanter. Mais là, il est passé devant la caméra et joue avec d'autres actrices...

Uraguay - http://www.montevideo.com.uy/noticia_26534_1.html
EL ACCIDENTE DE CAMERON DÍAZ
Y no es Justin Timberlake
Un enorme pájaro casi le cuesta la vida a Cameron Díaz, luego de causar un accidente de auto

MTV (Italy)
TUTTO SU JUSTIN TIMBERLAKEJUSTIN IN CRISI - http://www.mtv.it/news/news_page.asp?IDNEWS=16595La coppia Timberlake/Diaz assediata da una rivale: Christina Ricci

Do this a couple of times a week - easy there, don't get carried away - and you'll be amazed at the vocabulary you've acquired and how much you know about the lives of the rich and famous. Like I said, language study is tough.

English is an Odd Language

2006-02-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a cartoon from The awesome mind of Peter Blegvad. The Book of Leviathan is a collection of wonderful, sometimes gentle, philosophic cartoons featuring a baby named Leviathan and a cat. If I were emperor I would make it required reading for everyone who loves intelligent cartoons, faceless babies and cats. Buy this book or borrow it from a friend. (see the Amazon.com link below)

English Language & Spanish Language Humor

2006-02-19T18:25:00.000-05:00

OK folks. After the last post, which hundreds of readers felt was a bit dry and academic, the editorial staff at Parlo decided to inject a bit of levity into things with some recently acquired jokes. One is in English the other Spanish.

English
Question: What is a milli-helen?
Answer: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship.

Spanish (Thanks to Gabe Loggins for this contribution)
Pregunta: Que dice un gato en agua.
Contestación: Me ahogando.

Hasta pronto! That's all for now.

Brrreeeport - This word is not a real English Word

2006-02-16T17:13:00.000-05:00

Well, folks I know there are not many of you wondering what we here at Parlo.com make of the brrreeeport phenomenon but we have, in fact, taken a position and it is this: "brrreeeport" is not a real word in English, Spanish, French, Italian or any of the other languages that we pay close attention to. We did a thoroughly scientific search on Google's Language Tool and it conclusively shows that "brrreeeport" is not a word in any language in any country. We think we have now devoted enough space to the growing "brrreeeport" controversy. And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Spanish, French and Italian Tongue Twisters

2006-02-07T17:28:00.000-05:00

Calling all language teachers! Have a contest in your class for who can say these tongue twisters the fastest. (accuracy counts of course)

http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/

(Woodchuck / Would Chuck)

Spanish
Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal. (Three sad tigers were swallowing wheat on a wheat field.)
¿Usted no nada nada? No, no traje traje. (You dont swim at all? No, I didn't bring a (swim) suit.)
El vino vino, pero el vino no vino vino. El vino vino vinagre. (The wine came, but the wine didn't come (as) wine. The wine came (as) vinegar.)

And here are a couple that my mother gave me (THANKS mom!)

Como como? Como como como! (How do I eat? I eat as I eat!)
Compadre, comprame un coco. Compadre, no compro coco. Por que como poco coco como, poco coco compro.
Compadre, buy me a coconut. Compadre, I don't buy coconuts. Because, I eat few coconuts, I buy few coconuts.

French
Un chasseur sachant chasser sait chasser sans son chien de chasse. (A hunter who knows how to hunt knows how to hunt without his hunting dog.)
Santé n'est pas sans t, mais maladie est sans t. (Health isn't (written) without t, illness is (written) without t.)
Dans la gendarmerie, quand un gendarme rit, tous les gendarmes rient dans la gendarmerie. (In the gendarmerie (police station) when a policeman laughs all the policemen laugh in the gendarmerie.)

Italian
Se mi cerchi non ci sono! Semicerchi non ""c"" sono. (If you look for me, I'm not here! Halfcircles are not ""C""s.)
Quanti rami di rovere roderebbe un roditore se un roditore potesse rodere rami di rovere? (How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?)
Il papá pesa al pepe a Pisa. A Pisa pesa il pepe al papá. (The father weighs the pepper in Pisa. In Pisa, the pepper is weighed by the father.)

Listen to native language speakers

2006-02-06T17:00:00.000-05:00

Just a short post today to point you all to a very nifty (yeh, I used the word nifty - so shoot me) site I found today. http://www.fonetiks.org/ - phonetic pronunciation site for 9 different languages. Fonetiks enables language learners to study native speaker pronunciation without leaving their homes, merely by mousing over the text on their computer screens. Excellent reference if you are looking to pronounce specific letter combinations. It's not deep or interesting content in the normal sense but you get immediate answers to what used to be difficult questions on pronunciation. Here are the categories you can choose from:
SINGLE VOWEL SOUNDS, TWO VOWEL SOUNDS, THREE VOWEL SOUNDS, VOICED/VOICELESS SOUNDS VARIOUS OTHER SOUNDS,STRESS & TONE. Pretty cool, no? Yep, I'm a language geek. More anon.

French Dialogue from Parlo's French 1 course

2006-01-31T12:24:00.000-05:00

Click on this link for a sample. Interactive French 1 Course. Things get interesting between these two pretty quickly. Can you guess how it will end up?

(Listen to this audio file while looking at the script in French. You can Show/Hide the English translation to check your understanding)

Estelle Legout Bonjour, la place est libre ?
Hello, the seat is free?

Didier Beauregard Oui, je vous en prie.
Yes, go ahead.

Estelle Merci, c'est très gentil . Le train est vraiment complet .
Thank you, that's very kind. The train is really full.

Didier Je me présente. Didier Beauregard. J'habite à Paris.
I'll introduce myself. Didier Beauregard. I live in Paris.

Estelle Enchantée. Je suis Estelle Legout.
Pleased to meet you. I'm Estelle Legout.

Didier Parisienne?
Parisian?

Estelle Je suis de Bordeaux, mais je travaille à Paris.
I'm from Bordeaux, but I work in Paris.

Didier Vous êtes en vacances, je suppose?
You're on vacation, I suppose?

Estelle Non, je travaille. Je suis journaliste de mode. Et vous?
Non, I'm working. I'm a fashion journalist. And you?

Didier Journaliste sportif.
Sports journalist.

Estelle Ah, un reportage sur le Tour de France...
Oh, a report on the Tour de France...

Didier Exactement. Et vous?
Exactly. And you?

Estelle Des photos et une interview de Raymond Laflèche.
Photos and an interview with Raymond Laflèche.

Didier Tiens, je dîne avec Raymond ce soir.
Hey, I'm having dinner with Raymond this evening.

Estelle Et moi, j'ai rendez-vous avec Raymond mercredi.
And me, I have an appointment with Raymond Wednesday.

Didier Vous êtes très compétitive… Madame ou Mademoiselle Legout?
You're very competitive... Mrs. or Miss Legout?

Estelle Mademoiselle. Mais je préfère Estelle. Quelle heure est-il?
Miss. But I prefer Estelle. What time is it?

Didier Il est trois heures et nous sommes à Nice!
It's three o'clock and we are in Nice!

Estelle J'adore la ville , l'ambiance, la plage .
I love the city, the atmosphere, the beach.

Didier Vous êtes à l'hôtel?
You're at the hotel?

Estelle Pardon, voilà un taxi! Taxi! Taxi! Hôtel Prestige, s'il vous plaît!
Excuse me, there's a taxi! Taxi! Taxi! Prestige Hotel, please!

Didier Moi aussi, je suis au Prestige!
I'm at the Prestige, too!

Estelle Désolée, Monsieur "beau regard", mais le taxi est pour moi. Au revoir!
Sorry, Mr. "handsome face", but the taxi is for me. Good bye.

Spanish Culture - Review of "Travels with My Donkey"

2006-01-16T23:12:00.000-05:00

What possesses a completely urban Londoner to want to walk 500 miles across northern Spain... with a donkey named Shinto? Herein lies a tail, er... tale of self discovery and adventure through torrential rains (no rein puns here!) sweltering heat and encounters with religious and secular pilgrims (peregrinos, en espanol) on the Camino de Santiago. This ancient Christian pilgrimage crosses northern Spain from the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, resting place of St. James, patron saint of Spain. On opening this wonderful book you find yourself in the company of a person and donkey you enjoy spending time with. Smart, funny and a keen observer of people, Tim Moore's humanity suffuses this book and makes you feel the value of compassion. This is also one of those books that earns you inquisitive stares in public when you laugh loudly at one or another of his unexpected observations. When you are done you can even say you learned somthing about the history of Spain. This is great light reading.