Immigrant language learning

There was a interesting report on the radio this morning about helping immigrants in London to learn English. They interviewed a Bangladeshi woman who has lived in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, which has a large immigrant population, for over 20 years but who speaks very little English. She told the interviewer that on the rare occasions when she needs to communicate in English, she uses an interpreter. The rest of the time she speaks Bengali. She also said that there aren’t enough teachers of English as a Second Language in that area, a claim that a representative of the local council denied.

It’s interesting the way some immigrant communities hold on to their languages for many generations, while others abandon them within a generation or two.

Have you had any experience of this phenomenon?

Word of the day – Brekekekex (Βρεκεκέξ)

I came across the word brekekekex in a book I’ve just finished reading – A Time of Gifts, the first part of Patrick Leigh Fermor’s fascinating account of his epic journey on foot from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople (Istanbul), which he made in the early 1930s. He has a good ear for languages and acquired quite a good knowledge of German, plus bits and pieces of Hungarian, Greek and a number of other languages.

He mentions at one point that there were many frogs brekekekexing in the woods. I thought he’d made the word up, but it seems Atrisophanes got there first. The word comes from the chorus of Atrisophanes’ comedy, Βάτραχοι (Bátrachoi) – The Frogs, which was first presented at the Lenaea in 405 BC:

Brekekekex koax koax
Brekekekex koax koax.
Children of the marsh and lake
harmonious song now sweetly make,
our own enchanting melodies
koax koax
The songs we sang for Nysa’s lord,
for Dionysus, son of Zeus,
in Limnai at the Feast of Jars
as people in their drunken glee
thronged into our sanctuary.
Brekekekex koax koax.

The words brekekekex koax koax are intended to imitate the croaking of the frogs. You can see the original Greek version of the play here. In the above translation an extra syllable seems to have been added to Brekekekex – it’s Βρεκεκέξ (Brekekex) in the original.

Does anyone know if this word is still used in Modern Greek?

Latin nearly extinct

According to an article I found on the BBC today, the Papal Latinist, Father Reginald Foster, fears that Latin is likely to cease to be used in the Catholic church before long. This is mainly because priests no longer have to study Latin at seminaries and are unable to read important theological texts. When bishops receive their appointment letters or letters of congratulation, which are written on parchment in Latin, many of them write back asking for a translation.

In Italy most school children are taught Latin for at least four hours a week up to the age of 18, though Father Foster criticises the teaching methods used as old-fashioned – he thinks Latin should be taught as a living language. Elsewhere in Europe, few schools teach Latin any more.

Web resources

Here are a few online language-related resources that I came across recently:

– A series of videos on YouTube showing how Chinese characters have developed from the original pictures:

esPodkasto – la podkasto en esperanto (Esperanto podcast)

Lojban Radio – an introduction to this logical language (in Lojban and English)

Hour of Babble – podcasts about constructed languages (conlangs)

Eddie Izzard on learning French

Word of the day – Gaeilgeoir

A Gaeilgeoir is an Irish speaker or Irish language enthusiast. The plural is Gaeilgeoirí. So I could say Is Gaeilgeoir mé – I am a Gaeilgeoir (in both senses of the word). When Irish was the main language in Ireland, I doubt if there was a need for such a word, though I could be wrong.

There’s an interesting article about recent immigrants to Ireland learning Irish here. It also mentions that attitudes to the language are changing partially as a result of increased cultural and linguistic diversity in Ireland. The author, a Gaeilgeoir from Dublin, comments that she used to get stared at and whispered about when talking Irish to her children in public, but this doesn’t happen so much nowadays as there are quite a few other languages being spoken in Ireland.

In Welsh the equivalent terms are Cymro Cymraeg (Welsh-speaking Welshman), Cymraes Cymraeg (Welsh-speaking Welsh woman) and Cymry Cymraeg (Welsh-speaking Welsh people). Cymru-Cymraeg or y Fro Gymraeg are the areas of Wales where Welsh is the main language – the Welsh equivalent of Gaeltacht. There are also terms for non-Welsh-Speakers: Cyrmo/Cymraes/Cymry di-Gymraeg – e.g. Cymraes di-Gymraeg yw fy mam – my mum is a non-Welsh-speaking Welsh woman.

Are there equivalent terms in other languages?

Snow

Last night temperatures in Brighton plummeted to 0°C or possibly below. This morning the city was covered by a light dusting of snow, which had mostly melted by lunchtime. Snow is something I rarely see, so I still get excited about it.

Brighton Pavilion with a light dusting of snow
Brighton Pavilion with a light dusting of snow

A snowman on Brighton beach
A snowman on Brighton beach with the remains of the West Pier in the background

Snow in January in Brighton! This shouldn't be allowed!
A view from my window this morning

Another view of the snow from my window
Another view from my window

This little bit of snow and ice caused the usual transport chaos – many trains were cancelled or severely delayed and there were long tailbacks on the roads.

Peculiar names

Today I came across a site, presented by Lady Fortune the Absurd of Greater Internetshire, that automatically generates silly aristocratic titles, such as The Very Reverend Omniglot the Random of Midhoop St Giggleswich or Milord Sir Lord Simon the Contrite of Much Moulding upon Carpet.

Some of the names it throws up, such as Piddletrenthide, Barton in the Beans and Giggleswick, are genuine places in the UK, but many of them are made up. Piddletrenthide is a small village on the River Piddle in Dorset, Barton in the Beans is in Leicestershire, and Giggleswick is in North Yorkshire.

There are plenty of other oddly-named places in the UK, including Chipping Sodbury, Ugglebarnby, Steeple Bumpstead, Blubberhouses and Bugthorpe, and this site generates more.

Are there are any oddly-named places near you?

Language learning and music

Last week I bought a new Welsh language course – Cadw Sŵn – which uses a combination of classical music and stories to teach you the language. I think it’s based on the suggestopedia system. The course is being offered at half price and I want to brush up my Welsh, so I thought I’d give it a go.

The course consists of 20 stories based in the Welsh village of Aberarthur. The stories appear in Welsh and English in the course book, and are read aloud by the author, Colin Jones, on the accompanying CDs. You first listen to a piece of classical music, and Colin encourages you to relax. Then you listen to the story three times, once with no music, and twice with music in the background. After that you are advised to read and/or listen to the story again the next day, then to do the exercises in the book.

So far I’ve listened to the music and the first story. Later today I’ll read through the story again and do the exercises. I think this course is going to be fun. I like the idea of using stories, and the music is very pleasant to listen to. I don’t know if listening to it improves your memory, but I’m happy to try it.

Do you know of any similar courses for other languages?