Illiteracy and standard language

By Simon

Many primary school children are not becoming fully literate in English because their teachers are apparently letting them use “street talk” in the classroom, according to a report commissioned by the mayor of London and reported in The Guardian today.

One third of children in London have reading difficulties at the age of 11, and the report claims that reasons for this include teachers’ reluctance to ‘correct’ pupils’ English so as not to interfere with their self-expression; indifference among working class parents to their children’s education; and imperfect knowledge of “spelling and syntax” among teachers.

The report’s author, Miriam Gross, a teacher and journalist, recommends a structured use of synthetic phonics to teach literacy.

The report appears to be based, at to some extent, on anecdotal evidence, so the conclusions aren’t necessarily the most reliable. It describes the language used by pupils as “argot mixing linguistic influences from Cockney to Indian” and comments that “White and non-white children alike in deprived inner-city areas often speak “street”, with its own grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.”

The dictionary definition of literacy is:

  1. the ability to read and write
  2. the ability to use language proficiently

However there are different degrees of literacy, ranging from ‘functional literate’ – those who can read and write what they need to function in everyday life; and ‘highly literate’ – those who are very well-read and write elegant, standard language. Those at the latter end of the continuum might view those at the other end as illiterate, and might describe their language as inarticulate, argot, patois, incoherent grunts or use similarly scathing terms – the report certainly does so. Such judgements are rarely based on a thorough understanding of the varieties of language in question.

Are pupils corrected when they use non-standard language in your country?

Geddyn keim as thie noa

By Simon

My hie noa / Mo theach nua / Fy nhŷ newydd

Jelune hooar mee my cheim vainshtyr sy çhengoaylleeaght dy hoikoil ‘syn ollooscoill. V’eh jesh dy akin my chaarjyn as my leaghteyryn, as va moyrn vooar er.my voir.

Jecrean hooar mee ogheryn my thie noa, as nish te mee smooinaghtyn er cre shegin da ve jeant ‘syn thie. Ta feme echey er strengaghey noa, uinnagyn as dorryssyn noa, as bee mee gaa-jannoo y shamyr oonlee. Hem stiagh yn vee shoh çheet, as ta treisht orrym dy vee yn obbyr jeant roish shen.

Bronnadh agus teach nua

Dé luain fuair mé mo chéim máistir sa teangeolaíocht go hoifigiúil san ollscoil. Bhí sé go deas mo chuid cairde agus léachtóirí, agus bhí bród mór air mo mháthair asam.

Dé Céadaoin fuair mé eochracha mo theach nua, agus anois tá mé ag smaoineamh air cad é atá agam le déanamh san teach. Tá athshreangaigh dhíth air, agus fuinneoga agus dorais, agus beidh mé ag athdhéanamh an seomra folctha. Beidh mé ag aistriú isteach an mí seo chugainn.

Graddio a thŷ newydd

Ddydd llun mi ges i fy ngradd meistr yn ieithyddiaeth yn swyddogol yn y prifysgol. Roedd hi’n hyfryd gweld fy nghyfeillion a fy athrawon, ac roedd fy mam yn falch iawn ohonaf.

Ddydd Mercher mi ges i allweddi fy nhŷ newydd, ac rŵan dw i’n meddwl am beth sy’n angen gwneud yn y tŷ. Mae angen ailweirio’r lle, ac bydd angen fenestri a drysiau newydd, a bydda i’n ailneud yr ystafell ymolchi. Bydda i’n symud i mewn y mis nesaf.

Wellgylchu

By Simon

This morning I heard them discussing wellgylchu on Radio Cymru in reference to making jewellery from buttons and other things that would be normally thrown away.

The usual Welsh word of recycling is ailgylchu, which is made up of the words ail (second, re-) and cylchu (to circle), while wellgylchu begins with gwell (enhanced, better, preferable), so could be translated as something like “bettercycling”.

Have you come across a similar word in other languages?

મિલ્કમેન

By Simon

An interesting article I found today tells the tale of a milkman in Blackburn (northwest England) who has many customers of Indian and Bangladeshi origin on his round and who has learnt to speak Gujarati fluently, as well as some Bengali and Punjabi, in order to better serve those customers.

He started picking up the languages in the 1950s and 1960s by listening to what his customers were saying, remembering it and repeating it. At first there were only a few Asian families, but as they arrived in increasing numbers, his knowledge of Gujarati continued to improve until he was able to communicate with confidence.

He also helps his customers find things like ghee (clarified butter) and other foods and ingredients not available locally. Not surprisingly he is very popular with the Asian communities in Blackburn and has received many invitations to weddings and other events.

In case you’re wondering, the title of this post is the Gujarati word for milkman.

Snap, Crackle and Pop

By Simon

Snap, Crackle, and Pop are the cartoon mascots of the breakfast cereal, Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. Those are also supposedly the sounds made by the cereal when you add milk to it and eat it.

I discovered today that the mascots have other names on other languages:

  • Pif! Paf! Pof! in Belgium, Italy & Netherlands
  • Cric! Crac! Croc! in Quebec
  • Pif! Paf! Puf! in Denmark
  • Riks! Raks! Poks! in Finland
  • Knisper! Knasper! Knusper! in Germany
  • Piff! Paff! Puff! in Norway and Sweden
  • Knap! Knaetter! Knak! in South Africa
  • Piff! Paff! Poff! in Switzerland

Do you know of any other names for them?

Government Opposition to Esperanto

By Simon

Esperanto plaque

Today we have a guest post by Alexis Bonari

Although Esperanto arguably has the potential to serve as a unifying linguistic force, not every government has been convinced that such unification would be a good idea. Here are a few historical examples, by country, of oppression faced by Esperanto speakers:

Russia

  • From 1895-1905, the Tsar of Russia outlawed all material printed in Esperanto.
  • In the year 1938, the leaders of Soviet Russia ordered that all registered Esperanto speakers be shot or deported to Siberia. Although the language was legalized again in 1956, there was still strong government opposition to its use. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that Esperanto was once again fully accepted by the Russian government.

Germany

  • In a 1922 speech and in Mein Kampf, Hitler stated that Esperanto was “a tool of Jewish world domination”.

Middle East

  • Iranian Mullahs initially encouraged Esperanto. Unfortunately, followers of the Baha’i religion began to show interest in incorporating the language into their teachings. In 1981, the Mullahs declared Esperanto a threat to the Islamic faith.

During the past decade, increased global access to the Internet has served to discourage overt government intervention in language use. Esperanto is thriving on online forums. Now that most of the bans have been lifted, many Esperanto enthusiasts hope to avoid further government intervention. It would seem that the language flourishes best where the least government regulation is present.

Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org, researching areas of online universities. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

In-laws once removed

By Simon

The other day I started wondering there are terms to describe your relationship with your in-law’s relatives. For example, my sister’s husband is my brother-in-law, but is his sister some kind of in-law to me? She is my sister’s sister-in-law, but as far I can work out, there is no particular term to describe my remote connection to her – sister-in-law once removed, perhaps. Then there’s her husband and their children – are they any kind of in-laws to my sister or me?

Are specific terms for relationships in any of the languages you know?

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, in-law is “anyone of a relationship not natural” and the earliest known use of the phrase in writing was in the form of brother-in-law. The law in question is Canon Law (church law), which defines degrees of relationship within which marriage is prohibited.