Category: Language

Win a Trip to Learn Spanish in Argentina

By Simon

The makers of Bueno, entonces…, a new Spanish language learning software, are trying to build their Facebook cred by reaching 10,000 Fans by March. If they get there, one lucky fan and a friend will win a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for 10 days of intensive Spanish lessons, a chance to meet the cast and crew, and of course, have way too much fun.

From now until March 12th, Bueno, entonces… is offering a series of contests on the Facebook Page, which offers free daily Spanish phrases, words and grammar lessons. 100 participants will be chosen as Finalists from the series of contests and will be entered to win the Grand Prize Trip. The complete contest details are posted on the Bueno, entonces…Fan Page.

example photo for the competition

Starting today (January 28) there is an easy-to-do photo contest. To enter, just snap a picture of yourself holding a sign saying “I want to win a trip to Argentina” and post it to their Facebook wall. Then get your friends to ‘like’ and comment on it. The TEN finalists with the most ‘likes’ will be selected next Friday (February 5). So polish up your tango shoes and hurry and go check it out.

About the program:
Bueno, entonces… is like Rosetta Stone meets The Simpsons – the program is comprehensive, but at the same time hilarious and really engaging. Just released last year, it has been already featured in the iTunes App Store and on the Daily Candy website. To see more, check out their Learn Spanish website.

This post is brought to you by Bueno, entonces…

Word of the day – ortzikara

By Simon

Today’s word, ortzikara, is Basque and means “time when a storm is brewing” or in Spanish “tiempo amenazado por la tormenta”. Do any other language have a single word to express this meaning?

This word comes from a book I’m reading at the moment – Mother Tongues – Travels through Tribal Europe, by Helena Drysdale, in which the author and her family travel through Europe visiting people who speak minority languages such as Basque, Occitan, Sami and Corsican.

Related words include ihortziri (thunder), tximista (lightning), truxu (light rain), euri (heavy rain), bisuts (torrential rain), zara-zara (heavy rain), ortzadar (rainbow), haize (wind), elur (snow) and bisutsa (light snow). In fact there seems to be quite a lot words in Basque for different kinds of weather.

De bouche à oreille

By Simon

Last night we were discussing how to encourage more people to come to the French conversation group and we concluded that word of mouth is probably the most effective way – all the posters we put up around Bangor last Saturday have yet to bring hordes of new recruits. We also thought that the French version of word of mouth, de bouche à oreille (from mouth to ear), seems to be more logical then the English. Another way to say word of mouth in French is de vive voix (of live mouth).

Word of mouth in Chinese is 口耳相傳 (kǒu ěr xiāng chuán) or “mouth ear mutual spread” or 口口相傳 (mouth mouth mutual spread); in Dutch it’s van mond tot mond (from mouth to mouth) and it’s the same in German, von Mund zu Mund. In Japanese it’s 口コミ(kuchikomi) or “mouth com(munication)”, and in Spanish it’s boca a boca (mouth to mouth) or boca a oreja (mouth to ear).

What about in other languages?

Slaapverwekkend

By Simon

The Dutch word, slaapverwekkend, means mind-numbing, sleep-inducing or soporific. It comes from a site I found today – Dutch word of the day, which looks like a useful resource for learners of Dutch.

The site discusses a different Dutch word each day; provides details of their pronunciation, including recordings, as well as examples and related words. Elsewhere on the site you can find information about Dutch pronunciation, declining adjectives (no, I won’t take that adjective!), and other useful tips for learners. Not slaapverwekkend at all!

Skol dy’Sadorn Kernewek

By Simon

Last week the first bilingual Cornish/English creche or Skol dy’Sadorn Kernewek (Cornish Saturday School) opened its doors for the first time. The group is being held on Saturdays at the Cornwall College in Cambourne and children between 2 and 5 years old are attending. The children are immersed in Cornish in one room, and their parents learn Cornish in another. The Cornish lessons for the parents focus particularly on language they can use with their children.

You can see a video of the creche here.

According to this article, the creche and the Movyans Skolyow Meythrin (The Nursery Schools Movement) was set up by a Welsh man who works as an early years lecturer at the Cornwall College and who was impressed by the success of a simliar creche in Spain where English and Basque are used and where he used to work.