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3 year-old bilingual child switching between English and Portuguese

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3 year-old bilingual child switching between English and Portuguese

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3 year-old bilingual child switching between English and Portuguese

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This boy shows an amazing hability to speak both languages simultaneously. And he is so cute!

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El futuro de Español en Estados Unidos es brillante y grande. Hay más de 35 millones hablantes en Estados Unidos. El Español es uno de los idiomas de más rápido crecimiento. El español en Estados Unidos es una mezcla de las culturas de los países diferentes de América Latina y América Central. Como la cultura cambia, también las palabras cambian. Tenemos los préstamos léxicos y los préstamos culturales que nos dan palabras culturales como brownie, pie, boiescaut, beibisira, o palabras préstamos adaptado fonológicamente: crismes, guachimán, cartún, y polís. También, tenemos calcos que son palabras traducciones literales del inglés como escuela alta y rascacielos.  Mucha gente se confunda por los cognados falsos. Estas palabras en español parecen que son iguales en inglés, sin embargo el significado en inglés es totalmente diferente. Algo interesante es codeswitching. Muchas veces la gente bilingüe cambiar desde un idioma al otro en la misma oración. El video del niño que está hablando en portugués e inglés es muy impresionante como él puedo cambiar con los dos idiomas.

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Me: Shirin born in the USA. English Dominant (Spanish and Farsi)

Sisters:

Shayda: English dominant (Arabic and Spanish)

Shadhi: English dominant (Arabic, Farsi, and Spanish)

Parents:

Vianey: USA, Spanish and English dominant

Mohammad Hassan: (Iran, USA immigrant) English and Farsi dominant (German)

Maternal Grandparents

Josefina: Mexico, USA immigrant Spanish monolingual Jose Luis: Mexico, USA immigrant Spanish monolingual

Paternal Grandparents:

Nosrat: Iran, Farsi monolingual

Mohammad: Iran, Farsi monolingual

Notes

Father came to USA with limited money, no knowledge of english, no place to stay, and knew no one. Was not allowed in American university classes when the Hostage Crisis in Iran was going on. Hitched hiked from Tennessee to Houston.

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Interesting video

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Even though both terms are used interchangeably, there is a difference between Hispanic and Latino. Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to ancient Hispania (Iberian Peninsula). Now it relates to the contemporary nation of Spain, its history, and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a Hispanic. Latino refers more exclusively to persons or communities of Latin American origin. While there is a significant overlap between the groups, Brazilians are a good example of Latinos who are not Hispanic. Both terms were meant to refer to ethnicity, not race; however, in the U.S., they are often used haphazardly to refer to race as well. As such, personal adoption of the terms is rather low.

Origin

The term Hispanic is derived from the Latin word for "Spain," while Latino is derived from Spanish word for Latin but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word latinoamericano, which in English means "Latin American."

Use in the United States

Hispanic

This term is used to denote the culture and people of countries formerly ruled by the Spanish Empire, usually with a majority of the population speaking the Spanish language.

Collectively known as Hispanic America, this definition includes Mexico, the majority of the Central and South American countries, and most of the Greater Antilles.

The nations formerly pertaining to the Spanish East Indies are sometimes loosely included in this definition, as their cultures have some Spanish or Latin American elements.

It was first adopted by the United States government during the Nixon administration.

It has been used in the U.S. Census since 1980.

Hispanic is more broadly and frequently used in states like Florida and Texas.

Latino

Latino refers specifically to people living in the U.S. who are of Latin American nationality; the term also refers to their U.S.-born descendants. Latin America refers to countries in South America and North America (including Central America and the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken there.

The term Latino is restricted to immigrants and their descendants from either Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, or Portuguese speaking countries in North, Central, and South America, and it includes the French-speaking areas of Haiti, French Guiana, French-speaking Canada, and the French West Indies.

In the U.S., the term was brought into use because the Nixon administration could not fit the racially mixed North, Central, and South Americans into an established racial group since they are mostly mestizo and multiracial following, for example, white Europeans' raping of African slaves (see also history of the term ). Mestizos and mulattoes were considered inferior to whites, and the administration knew most people would not identify with the labels; as such, Hispanic and Latino labels were selected for use. Since the late 1990s, Hispanic/Latino labels were questioned and forced the Census to put a disclaimer that Hispanic or Latino were ethnic and not racial terms. However, in spite of this, government, law enforcement, and the media often utilize the terms when describing race (e.g., "One of the suspects was a white male, while the other was a Hispanic male.").

Latino is used more often on the West Coast and especially California.

Over 70% of Mexicans are mestizo, while Argentina has the lowest percentage of multiracial people.

Since ethnicities cannot be correctly identified by the Hispanic/Latino labels due to the wide variety of cultural groups within North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean (including customs, foods, traditions and music styles) some have pointed out that these labels are racial and that the only label that accurately represents their ethnicity is their nationality, which immediately identifies their cultural traditions, foods, music, etc. (e.g., Colombian, Peruvian, Guatemalan, etc.). For example, "Hispanic food" often really means Mexican food in the U.S. and does not provide an accurate glimpse of the different types of food available in the Americas and the Caribbean.

Personal Adoption of Terms

According to a survey released by the Pew Hispanic Center, only 24% of "Hispanic" adults said they most often identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino. About half said they identified themselves most frequently by their family's national origin - e.g., Mexican, Cuban, Salvadoran, etc. An additional 21% said they called themselves American most often, a figure that climbed to 40% among those born in the U.S.

Some find it offensive to be called Hispanic or Latino and prefer to be called by their true ethnic group, such as Mexican, Colombian, Bolivian, etc.

References

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What's the difference between Hispanic and Latino? Even though both terms are used interchangeably, there is a difference between Hispanic and Latino. Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to ancient Hispania (Iberian Peninsula). Now it relates to the contemporary nation of Spain, its h...

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Joanna Rants: Things white latinos are sick of hearing

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Joanna Rants: Things white latinos are sick of hearing

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Things White Latinos Are Sick of Hearing

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Chicano! PBS Documentary - Taking back the schools

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Chicano! PBS Documentary - Taking back the schools

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Full-length documentary about the Chicano student movement in East L.A. in 1968

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PBS

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American Family . About the Family. What It Means to Be Latino | PBS

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Finally, being Latino means you are a part of one or more groups that have their own unique cuisine, music, and cultural and artistic traditions. For example, spicy, hot food is common in some diets and relatively absent in others. But there are also some commonalties.

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Andrés Ceballos - Argentino y Brasileño

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Colombianos

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Disfruté este capítulo porque me ayudó más para distinguir los rasgos de español para cada país. Me encanta escuchar la música en español, pero a veces tengo problemas con la comprehension de las frases y la pronunciación.

Cada hablante de español puede realizar rápido donde está alguien soló por su acento y frases que usa si son de la Carribe, Latina Americana, America Central o España.  Existen diferencias morfológicas y fonéticas que distinguir cada país e incluso cada ciudad. El texto explique que los dialectos, los sociolectos y los registros representan la esencia de lo que es la variación lingüística.

Hay dialectos diferentes del español en centro-anorteño y andaluz de España.

El dialecto centronorteño (castellano) tienen los rasgos fonológicos :

/s/ apicoalveolar – y el contraste fonológico entre /ʝ/ y /ʎ/

El dialecto del sur – tiene la tendecnia a omitir la /d/ en –ado y la tendencia a omitir la /d/ en posición final del palabra.

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(D.F. Mexico)

Rasgos:

/s/ final - se conserva

/ɾ/ --> [ř]

yeísmo

A varios cientos de kilómetros,
Puede tu voz darme calor igual que un sol
Y siento como un cambio armónico
Va componiendo una canción en mi interior.

Seque seguir no suena lógico
Pero no olvido tu perfume mágico
Y en éste encuentro telefónico,
E recordado que estóy loco por ti.
Que todo el mundo cabe en el teléfono
Que no hay distancias grandes para nuestro amor,
Que todo es perfecto cuando te siento
Tan cerca aunque estes tan lejos.
A varios cientos de kilómetros
Tiene unsecreto que decirte mi dolor
En cuanto cuelgues el teléfono
se quedará pensando mi corazón.
Que todo el mundo cabe en el teléfono
Que no hay distancias grandes para nuestro amor,
Que todo es perfecto cuando te siento
Tan cerca aunque estes tan lejos.
Que todo el mundo cabe en el teléfono
Que no hay distancias grandes para nuestro amor,
Que todo es perfecto cuando te siento
Tan cerca aunque estes tan lejos.......
Tan lejos....

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El empleo del seseo

El empleo del yeísmo

La omisión de /d/ en posición intervocálica

La aspiración o elisión de la /s/

La aspiración de la /x/

La elisión de /l/, /r/, /d/ en posición final de palabra

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*Escucha la canción y mira las letras de la canción. Analiza los rasgos fonológicos del andaluz (Es de Malaga, España) y compare como él canta -->

Regálame tu risa,
enseñame a sonar
con solo una caricia
me pierdo en este mar.

Regálame tu estrella,
la que ilumina esta noche,
llena de paz y de armonía,
y te entregaré mi vida

Haces que mi cielo
vuelva a tener ese azul,
pintas de colores
mis mañanas solo tú
navego entre las olas de tu voz
y tú, y tú, y tú, y solamente tú
haces que mi alma se despierte con tu luz
tú, y tú, y tú..

Enseña tus heridas y así la curará
que sepa el mundo entero
que tu voz guarda un secreto
no menciones tu nombre que en el firmamento
se mueren de celos
tus ojos son destellos
tu garganta es un misterio

Haces que mi cielo
vuelva a tener ese azul,
pintas de colores
mis mañanas solo tú
navego entre las olas de tu voz
y tú, y tú, y tú, y solamente tú
haces que mi alma se despierte con tu luz
tú, y tú, y tú..
y tú, y tú, y tú, y solamente tú
haces que mi alma se despierte con tu luz
tú, y tú, y tú...

No menciones tu nombre que en el firmamento
se mueren de celos
tus ojos son destellos
tu garganta es un misterio

Haces que mi cielo
vuelva a tener ese azul,
pintas de colores
mis mañanas solo tú
navego entre las olas de tu voz
y tú, y tú, y tú, y solamente tú
haces que mi alma se despierte con tu luz
y tú, y tú, y tú..

y tú, y tú, y tú, y solamente tú
haces que mi alma se despierte con tu luz
y tú, y tú, y tú..

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Pablo Alborán - Solamente Tú (Videoclip Oficial)

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I could not have guessed he was Columbian.

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Acentos en Español parte 1 / Spanish Accents Part 1

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Hola, en este video podemos ver los diferentes acentos que existen en el español de una manera divertida y amena, con gente de algunos paises de habla hispana, proximamente la parte dos... espero lo disfruten. Parte 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww5DJVm0VSI

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Juan Andrés and Nicolás Ospina, sing about the confusing variations for many common Spanish-language words.

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https://www.patreon.com/intentalocarito, https://www.facebook.com/intentalocarito This is an attempt to translate our song "Qué difícil es hablar el español", for any non-Spanish speakers who might want to know what are we talking about. We want to thank Sebastian Betti and Lindsay Oesch for their enormous help translating this almost non-translatable song.

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El texto explique que la semántica estudia el significado de las palabras, de las frases, y de las oraciones. La semántica también se refiere al sentido dentro de la oración. Algunos principiantes ingleses tienen el problema con la conversación porque traduciendo la palabra para la palabra la oración pierde el sentido. Hay frases en ingleses que no tienen un sentido en español o viceversa. La pragmática estudia la gramática usada dentro del contexto. ¿Por ejemplo, si su amigo le pregunta quiere que yo baje la condición de aire? Esto significa que él o ella tienen realmente frío y él o ella le gustaría la condición de aire ser más bajada.

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Regional Variations in Spanish Words Translated from English

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Regional Variations in Spanish Words Translated from English

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Regional Variations in Spanish Words Translated from English

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List of Spanish words that have different meanings in different Spanish speaking regions around the world, highlighting the importance of expert translators, compiled by the Rennert Translation Group.

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10 Palabras en inglés que significan algo diferente en otro idioma.

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10 Palabras en inglés que significan algo diferente en otro idioma.

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One of the greatest simple joys of learning a new language is stumbling across a word that has a completely different meaning in English. In linguistics, these words are called "false friends", and they occur when two words from two different languages (or dialects) either look or sound similar, but have different meanings. False friends happen for a number of reasons, but they often occur by chance or by sharing an etymological origin that has diverged over time.

These types of words can be confusing for both language learners and translators, but they can also be funny and interesting to those of us that still appreciate a little grade school humor. So wake up your inner child and get to reading, because we've rounded up 10 of the most giggle-worthy English language false friends just for you!

1. Fart

We all know the English meaning of the word fart, but did you know that fart means speed in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish? If that doesn't make you snicker enough, the words for speed bump in each language are fartbump, fartshump, and farthinder.

2. Gift

In German, a gift is not quite as pleasant as in English - it means poison! Taking it a step further, gift in the Scandinavian languages can mean both poison and marriage. These two meanings are related and stem from the same root word, to give.

3. Crap

In Romanian, crap means carp, which is a type of commonly-eaten fish. To be fair, English has a fish called a crappie.

4. Brat

As perhaps the most fitting example on our list, brat (or ????) means brother in Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Croatian, and Serbian. Next time you call your brother a brat, just tell him you're learning one of these languages!

5. Kiss

Kiss has a more juvenile meaning in Swedish - pee. Simple, yet amusing!

6. Preservative

In France, a préservatif isn't quite what you might expect. If you tend to have many conversations about jams and jellies, it might be useful to be aware that préservatif actually means condom. In fact, many European languages have variations of preservative that all mean condom.

7.Lol

The ubiquitous piece of Internet slang lol is either an acronym or initialism depending on how you would pronounce it, but in Dutch it means fun.

8. Slut

Slut is yet another false friend coming from Swedish, in which it means end (and rhymes with loot). If you happen to see Slut onscreen after watching a film, it's the equivalent to The End. And Slutstation is not what you might hope - it's just the last stop on a train route.

9. Barf

Barf in Farsi, Hindi, and Urdu means snow.

10. Sean Bean

If the actor known for Game of Thrones ever goes to Ireland, he might be surprised to learn that his name translates to old woman in Irish. This one might be a bit of a stretch, because while the individual words do mean old and woman, one would need to say seanbhean in order to be grammatically correct.

There you have it, 10 of our favorite false friends that have different meanings outside of English! Keep in mind that most of these are pronounced differently than their English friends and only work in writing. Did we get something lost in translation or miss any of your favorite false friends? Let us know in the comments!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more super stories

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10 English words that mean something else in other languages

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One of the greatest simple joys of learning a new language is stumbling across a word that has a completely different meaning in English. In linguistics, these words are called "false friends", and they occur when two words from two different languages (or dialects) either look or sound similar, but have different meanings.

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Lost In Translation (2003); dirigida por Sofia Coppola; protagonizada por Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi.

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GREAT READ IN THE PERSIAN WORLD OF 'TA'AROF,' 

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GREAT READ IN THE PERSIAN WORLD OF 'TA'AROF,' 

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The Battle of the $18 Ice Cream Bill had a certain "Game of Thrones" quality to it.

The two middle-aged Iranian men strode to the register at Saffron and Rose Ice Cream with their hands on their wallets. One quickly unsheathed his credit card and gave it to owner Farbod Papen. The second man promptly put his friend in a near chokehold and snatched his credit card.

Just another day of " ta'arofing" in Westeros, er, Westwood.

In the world of ta'arof, the Persian art of etiquette, people fight over who pays the bill, seem to refuse payments for a purchase, pretend they don't want something to eat when they're starving. In a culture that emphasizes deference, ta'arof is a verbal dance that circles around respect.

In most cases, it's simply an exaggerated version of universally human behavior - like offering to pay for a meal.

"It's like extreme Southern hospitality," said Leyla Shams, an Iranian American who runs a Persian culture blog. "Being from Texas, we have Southern codes too. That's a lot like ta'arof. People see it as disingenuous, but it's just a nicety."

Sometimes, though, ta'arof has no Western equivalent.

Most people would be hard-pressed to find a jeweler who says "Ghabeleh shoma ra nadareh" - "It's not worthy of you" - when asked the price of a diamond necklace, but Iranians do this frequently. Everyone knows to just ask again. Or those watermelons? "Just take one!" a merchant might say. (Hint: Don't. The seller doesn't mean it.)

The move can come off as disingenuous, manipulative and frustrating in American culture, which often celebrates being upfront and direct. But Iranians understand it as a ritual politeness that levels the playing field and promotes equality in a hierarchical culture.

"Americans get in trouble when they entertain Iranian guests, because they offer tea and the Iranian says no," said William Beeman, author of "Language, Status, and Power in Iran." "Then the American says 'OK,' and they end up without tea when they wanted it."

No matter how you cut it, that means a lot of ta'arofing.

That's why Papen wasn't shocked by the grappling war of wills that broke out over a simple ice cream bill. It's standard in Westwood's Persian Square, where storefronts are scrawled with names in both Farsi and English and the streets are lined with Mercedes-Benzes, Lexuses and BMWs.

Anthropologists trace the origins of ta'arof to an Arabic word meaning "acquaintance" or "knowledge." Like many Arabic words that have found their way into the Persian language, ta'arof has been transformed into something uniquely Iranian.

To that end, it is similar to the Chinese etiquette of fighting over who pays. People tug at the bill, trying to free it from the grips of someone else at the table. They shout. Faces turn crimson. People pretend to walk to the restroom to secretly pay the bill. It's over-the-top, but it's also considered polite.

And then there's the matter of explaining the practice to non-Iranian Americans.

A guest is not supposed to pay for a meal, he explains to the boyfriends. It's also considered rude if someone pays for his elder, but it's also rude not to offer.

"I tell them, 'Look, you're going to have to figure this out on your own, but you can't pay,'" Papen explained.

The cultural disconnect has led to a few awkward dates for Shams, who was just a toddler when her family moved to the United States.

And if the dates went well, she had to lay down the rules for how to interact with her Iranian family. Even the right way to say hello came up.

She added: "It's also important to be really thankful for food that you get and try to kind of figure out when people are offering something for real or not really."

"I would go to someone's house and they would ask, 'Would you like a glass of water?' And I would say no, no," she recalled. "But then everyone else had water and I was like, 'Well, now what do I do?'"

Down the street from his shop, two women sipped tea in a small cafe and caught up on the latest gossip. A round of ta'arof erupted when a waitress brought a slice of cake to their table.

At first blush, it seems like a universally feminine move. But in Iranian culture, it transcends gender - both men and women refuse food, not because of its effect on their waistlines but because accepting it on the first offer would be rude.

The back-and-forth continued for minutes, until one finally took a bite. Seconds later, the woman who said she was full stuck in her fork.

In less than five minutes, the pastry had vanished.

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In the Persian world of 'ta'arof,' they make offers that will be refused

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The Battle of the $18 Ice Cream Bill had a certain "Game of Thrones" quality to it. The two middle-aged Iranian men strode to the register at Saffron and Rose Ice Cream with their hands on their wallets. One quickly unsheathed his credit card and gave it to owner Farbod Papen.

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How English sounds to non-native speakers *watch with subtitles!!

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How English sounds to non-native speakers *watch with subtitles!!

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How English sounds to non-English speakers

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Las lenguas se han desarrollado y han cambiado el curso de la supervivencia humana. Podemos rastrear idiomas a una lenguaje de la raíz. En este caso, el español y las lenguas románicas se derivan de latín. El español propagó en España desde fines del siglo 3 B.C.. La lengua español se impuso a las lenguas vasco y ibéricas. Con el tiempo, la fonológica del latín al español cambiado. Los cambios se pueden observar en: la aspirada del castellano medieval cambia, las sibilantes del castellano medieval, los vocales, los consonantes, el léxico y semántico. Me pareció muy interesante que el español tiene muchas palabras similares del árabe. Pero esto es obvio puesto que los musulmanes gobernaron sobre partes de España. Un ejemplo es la palabra “aceite” que significa “oil” en ingles, y en árabe la palabra es "az-zait".

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Los factores fonológicos que distinguen dialectos del español

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Los factores fonológicos que distinguen dialectos del español

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El seseo- quienes hablan con el seseo son la inmensa mayoría de la población mundial hispanófona y ellos carecen por completo del fomema /Ø/; usan únicamente la /s/.

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Diferencias de pronunciación entre el español y el latín

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Diferencias de pronunciación entre el español y el latín

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The Romance Languages: Pronunciation/Phonology of Vulgar Latin - online comparative grammar of Latin & the modern languages

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Grammar of the Romance Languages: Pronunciation/Phonology - comparative handbook of the modern Latinic languages

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The Romance Languages: structure of basic sentences (syntax 1) - online comparative grammar of Latin & the modern languages

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Grammar of the Romance Languages: Syntax - comparative handbook of the modern Latinic languages

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The previous list that I submitted to Listverse was entitled " Top 10 English Words of Arabic Origin." Some commenters noted a disparity between this title criteria and the included entries (i.e. "jihad" isn't an "English word," but rather the English iteration of and Arabic/Islamic phenomenon). This may be a valid argument; however, titles are tricky and the real purpose of such a list is entertainment and education for those interested in etymology, history and other related subjects. In this vein I have made another list consisting of words and terms that have sparked my interest while studying foreign language. Anyway, haters gonna hate (I don't know how to say that in either Arabic or Spanish).

Islamic armies consisting of Arabs and Berbers began a conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 and maintained a presence until being finally expelled in 1492. Inevitably the invading culture left an impression on the language of the conquered. Below are a number of Spanish language expressions that owe their existence to this chapter in history.

*Please note - transliteration of Arabic terms are based on my own estimation as there is no agreed upon standard.

I feel amiss for not including this word in my previous list, seeing as how I did a report on its etymological origin in college. Several commenters mentioned its absences as well. The term returns to the crusades and come from the term "حشاشيين - hashasheen" meaning "smokers of hash." According to legend, the term was given to a group of warriors who took their marching orders from a mysterious "old man in the mountains." The assassins were most likely members of the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam based in Syria. They were known for attacking prominent leaders who threatened their movement, killing the target but making no attempt to escape. There are two legends as to the drug connection. The first comes from the belief that these warriors indulged in the use of this herb in order to stoke courage and numb the fear inherent with performing a political killings. The second, more fantastical theory, is the idea that they were pampered in all manner of pleasures, narcotic or otherwise, in their mountain lair. Supposedly this taste of paradise motivated them when the time came for undertaking an attack against a rival of their cryptic commander. Enraptured by the thought of a permanent return to such a land of pleasure they gladly carried out their task, making no effort to escape. Instead they carried out the deed and then awaited death in hopes of spending eternity enveloped in the pleasures they had previously known.

I first learned this term while watching the latest Sherlock Holmes movie with the Spanish subtitles (a good tool for foreign language maintenance). This comes from the Arabic word for elephant and refers to the piece known to English speaking players as the bishop. The game of chess probably started in India and came to the Arabic world via Persia. Since the Persian word for elephant is the same as the Arabic, "fil - فيل", it might be more appropriate to call this a Spanish word of Persian origin, but such is the vermiform path of etymology.

Not so much a word as a place name, this fabulous historical site takes its name from the Arabic "الحمراء - alhamra" meaning "the red one." It is the site of the surrender of the Muslim Kingdom of Grenada in 1492, marking the end of an Islamic presence in Iberia and the ascendancy of colonial Spain. The fort itself was not attacked during the Reconquista and therefore remains splendid example of Moorish architecture in Spain.

Holding roughly the same semantic weight as the English word "until" this comes from the Arabic word "حتى - hata," which is a preposition of approximately the same meaning (prepositions are always tricky to define word-for-word). Perhaps more than any other item on this list, this entry shows the deep influence that Arabic has had on Spanish. Nouns and verbs, especially those dealing with new technological or social phenomena, are frequently transferred between languages; however, in my limited linguistic experience, I cannot think of another example where a preposition from a foreign language subsumes the extant form of the same term in the original language.

English speaking students of Spanish might recognize this term from the subjunctive section of your lessons. Meaning "hopefully" it comes from the Arabic exhortation " لو شاء لله - wa sha allah" which means "should God will it." As the subjunctive tense deals, in part, with expressing a wish for as of yet uncertain outcomes this term is always used with it. ¡Ojala que recuerde este lexicón para su próximo examen!

From the Arabic word "الزيت - az-zait" this refers, both in Arabic and Spanish to the liquid derived from olives and not to the fossil fuel. I know that the Portuguese word is phonologically similar and there are most likely similar words in other languages.

Readers will no doubt notices at this point that many of the entries begin with the letter "a". This owes to the fact that the Arabic definite article is "ال - al" and has been maintained in many word transfer. It is not certain whether this word replaced the original Spanish word or if the concept of a stuffed fabric sleeping device was introduced to Spanish lands by Islamic invaders.

The sweetest entry and another food-related item. Like "alfil" it came to Spanish from India via Persian and then Arabic. This is another word that has found its way into many languages.

The root of the original Arabic word "رهين - raheen" means "to deposit as security." I remember coming across this word a number of years ago and it prompted me to investigate the connection between the two languages. I wish that I had additional etymological information to make this a more captivating addition to the list.

I'm not sure how this became the name for everyone's favorite frequently petitioned software update however the namesake mud brick structures have an understandably ancient origin. I excavated the following explanation from Wikipedia and found no reason to alter it:

The word can be traced from the Middle Egyptian (c. 2000 BC) word dj-b-t "mud [i.e., sun-dried] brick." As Middle Egyptian evolved into Late Egyptian, Demotic, and finally Coptic (c. 600 BC), dj-b-t became tobe "[mud] brick." This was borrowed into Arabic as al-tub (الطّوب al "the" + tub"brick") "[mud] brick," which was assimilated into Old Spanish as adobe [aˈdobe], still with the meaning "mud brick."

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Top 10 Spanish Words of Arabic Origin - Listverse

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The previous list that I submitted to Listverse was entitled "Top 10 English Words of Arabic Origin". Some commenters noted a disparity between this title criteria and the included entries (i.e. "jihad" isn't an "English word, but rather the English iteration of and Arabic / Islamic phenomenon).

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Lingüistas que estudian la sintaxis estudian la formación  de las oraciones a base de distintas combinaciones palabras. También, los estudian las reglas de una lengua, en este caso, el español, y las características universales de la sintaxis.  Todas las lenguas tienen un orden establecido para los constituyentes. El texto explica que los constituyentes de una oración corresponden a familias de palabras o grupos de palabras que tienen la misma función dentro de la oración. Todos los constituyentes tienen un núcleo. Los núcleos llevan la información más importante del constituyente. Hay cinco constituyentes/sintagmas de la oración: sintagma nominal (SN), sintagma verbal (SV). Sintagma adjetival (SAdj), sintagma adverbial (SAdv), y sintagma preposicional (SPrep).

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DEFINICIÓN

Las oraciones compuestas tienen más de un verbo en forma personal, y por lo tanto, tiene tantos predicados como verbos presentan. A cada una de las oraciones que se unen para formar la oración compuesta, se les llama .

CLASIFICACIÓN :

Coordinadas: Las proposiciones son sintácticamente independientes.

Subordinadas: Lasproposiciones son sintácticamente dependientes.

Yuxtapuestas : Las proposiciones no están unidas por ningún nexo.

COORDINADAS

Una oración compuesta por coordinación es la unión de dos proposiciones mediante una conjunción coordinante . Estas dos proposiciones, aunque queden unidas, son sintácticamente independientes . Es decir: dos o más proposiciones unidas por un enlace, pero que si las separamos ambas, mantienen un sentido completo.

Si separamos las dos proposiciones, continúan teniendo sentido completo:

Encontramos varios tipos de coordinadas:

COPULATIVAS : Expresan una relación de suma o adición. Los nexos que las unen suelen ser: y, e, ni .

DISYUNTIVAS: Entre ellas se plantea una relación de exclusión, si se da la una no se puede dar la otra. Van unidas por las conjunciones: o, u, o bien .

ADVERSATIVAS Plantean entre sí una oposición de significado, es decir lo que afirma una lo contradice parcial o totalmente la otra. Los nexos que las unen suelen ser: pero, sin embargo, no obstante, mas, sino (que),antes, antes bien, excepto, por lo demás , etc.

DISTRIBUTIVAS : Las proposiciones indican una alternancia de acciones. Sus enlaces suelen ser: bien...bien, ora...ora, ya...ya, unas veces... otras..., unos...otros, este...aquel, aquí...allí... .

EXPLICATIVAS : Una de las proposiciones explica el sentido de la otra. Sus enlaces suelen ser: es decir, o sea, esto es .

SUBORDINADAS

Son dos o más proposiciones que se unen mediante un enlace subordinante . Una proposición () depende sintácticamente de la otra (la principal). La proposición subordinada realiza una función sintáctica (sujeto o complemento) en relación con el verbo de la principal.

En esta oración, , que es la proposición subordinada, realiza la función de complemento directo (CD) del verbo de la proposición principal digo.

Podemos clasificar las proposiciones subordinadas de la siguiente forma, atendiendo a la función que desempeñen con respecto a la principal:

SUSTANTIVAS: Realizan la misma función que un sustantivo

Sujeto : El que tiró las llaves bailaba muy bien.

[slideshare id=281237&doc=sustantivas-1203968280531216-4]

ADJETIVAS O DE RELATIVO

Realizan la misma función que un , es decir, complementan a un sustantivo (recibe el nombre de antecedente) de la proposición principal. Hemos de diferenciar entre dos tipos:

Los asistentes que llevaban invitados entraron en el salón de actos.

Los asistentes, que llevaban invitados , entraron en el salón de actos.

Pueden ir introducidas por:

Pronombres relativos: Que, quien, el cual, cuyo. Lucía es una chica que resulta encantadora Adverbios relativos: Donde, cuando, como. Me gusta la forma como lo dices

Formas no personales: Infinitivo, gerundio o participio. Lo vi llorar

Podemos también encontrarnos con ADJETIVAS SUSTANTIVADAS : Al igual que los adjetivos, las subordinadas adjetivas pueden sustantivarse cuando desaparece el antecedente del pronombre relativo. Suelen construirse habitualmente con los pronombres: que, quien y cuanto sin antecedente y con el artículo + que . En estos casos las proposiciones adjetivas realizarán las mismas funciones que un sustantivo . Los que olvidan las leyes fracasan (las personas que olvidan las leyes fracasan)

ADVERBIALES
Tiempo : Mis padres se fueron cuando acabó la fiesta.

Lugar : Escóndete donde no te vea.

Modo : Contesté como tú me pediste.

YUXTAPUESTAS

COORDINADAS Ponte el jersey y tendrás menos frío

SUBORDINADAS Enciende la luz porque no veo nada

EJERCICIOS INTERACTIVOS Y TEORÍA IMPRIMIBLE

EJERCICIOS IMPRIMIBLES

Ejercicio para repasar las ORACIONES COORDINADAS.

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Sintaxis: La oración compuesta - Apuntes de Lengua

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DEFINICIÓN Las oraciones compuestas tienen más de un verbo en forma personal, y por lo tanto, tiene tantos predicados como verbos presentan. A cada una de las oraciones que se unen para formar la oración compuesta, se les llama . CLASIFICACIÓN : Coordinadas: Las proposiciones son sintácticamente independientes.

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Aprende con este vídeo online gratis. Los complementos verbales con ejercicios y soluciones. En este vídeo explicaré los diferentes complementos que puede tener el verbo en una oración. El Predicado puede constar de...

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C.C. de Lugar → añade información del lugar en el que se desempeña la acción verbal. Responden a la pregunta ¿Dónde?:

C.C. de Tiempo → añade información del tiempo en el que se desempeña la acción verbal. Responden a la pregunta ¿Cuándo?:

C.C. de Modo → añade información del modo en el que se desempeña la acción verbal. Responden a la pregunta ¿Cómo?:

C.C. de Finalidad → añade información de la finalidad de la acción verbal. Responden a la pregunta ¿Para qué?:

C.C. de Compañía → añade información de quien acompaña en la realización de la acción verbal. Responden a la pregunta ¿Con quién?:

C.C. de Afirmación* → añade información sobre la afirmación. Responde a la pregunta ¿Realmente?: Ha llovido, efectivamente ¿Realmente ha llovido?

* muchos lingüistas niegan la existencia de los C.C. de Afirmación y Negación.

C.C. de Instrumento (o de medio) → añade información de con qué instrumento se realiza la acción verbal:

C.C. de Materia → añade información de con qué material se realiza la acción verbal. Responde a la pregunta ¿Con qué material?: Levantó un muro con mortero → ¿Con qué material levantó un muro?

C.C. de Concesión → añade información de la causa del impedimento de que se realice la acción verbal: No ganó pese a su esfuerzo

C.C. de Cantidad → añade información de la cantidad con que se desempeña la acción verbal: He avanzado bastante mis tareas → ¿Cuánto he avanzado?

Atributo: aparece en el predicado de oraciones con verbos copulativos (ser, estar, parecer) y su función es atribuir una propiedad o característica al sujeto:

Marco hizo un ejercicio de gramática. Juan y Paola irán de paseo a la playa. Mi abuelo es sabio

¿Eres capaz de encontrar más ejemplos? Te animamos a compartirlos abajo en los comentarios.

Gramático y la Aventura de los Complementos:

El Rey llora desconsolado. El señor de la Oscuridad ha raptado a su hija, la bella princesa. Nuestro protagonista,
Gramático, soldado de élite, caballero de honor y fiel servidor de su Rey, jura por su vida rescatarla sana y salva...

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C.C. de Lugar → añade información del lugar en el que se desempeña la acción verbal. Responden a la pregunta ¿Dónde?: C.C. de Tiempo → añade información del tiempo en el que se desempeña la acción verbal. Responden a la pregunta ¿Cuándo?: C.C.

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La rama de la lingüística que estudia la estructura de las palabras es la morfología. El texto dice que un morfema es la unidad mínima que tiene significado. Para entender una palabra tenemos que saber qué son raíces o afijos. Una raíz es la palabra consta de un elemento básico que expresa su significado. Por otro lado, tenemos afijos que son elementos añadidos que tienen funciones gramaticales o semánticas.  Los distintos tipos de afijos son sufijos y prefijos. Un sufijo sigue la raíz, y un prefijo preceden la raíz. Los dos clases de afijos son los derivativos y los flexivos. Un ejemplo de un derivativo es: fruta, frutal, frutería. Un ejemplo de un sufijo flexivo es el sustantivo: papel o perr-o, adjetivo: alt-o, adverbios: frecuente-mente. Una palabra derivada se forma a base de otras palabras por medio de un afijo derivativo. Un ejemplo es in-just-icia.

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Leaving The Mother Tongue: Why Languages Are So Hard To Learn And Which Are Easiest

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Leaving The Mother Tongue: Why Languages Are So Hard To Learn And Which Are Easiest

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Unfortunately for Americans, fluency in a second language is something only enjoyed by a select few. Either you grew up in a home where English shacked up with a mother tongue, or you found the discipline to master a new language through practice. For the rest of us, English is all we've known and all we'll ever get.

That's not to say some languages aren't easier to pick up than others. Assuming we get the urge to learn more about a culture or make a pact to travel like a native, which means talking the talk, we can fold in a new way of speaking, and indeed, thinking. The trick is knowing what to expect. Some languages sound like English - just a little...off, while others might as well be indecipherable codes intercepted by warring countries. How does science explain that difference?

Apples And Oranges

Linguists like to pick things apart, so we can think of languages as being made up of three basic components: the phonology (how words and letters sound), the grammar (how those sounds are organized in a sentence), and the words themselves (how ideas and objects are represented verbally).

For English speakers, who operate with 44 producible sounds (known as "phonemes"), sentences that flow from subject to verb to object, and over a million words made up of 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, the basic challenge in learning a new language is staying as close as possible to those three benchmarks. Some accomplish the goal much more easily than others.

Spanish, for instance, is widely regarded as a natural second language for English speakers. With its 24 easy-to-pronounce phonemes, subject-object-verb grammar structures, and only one additional letter - ñ - many English speakers find Spanish a quick pick-up. Mandarin, meanwhile, is much harder. While it does use fewer phonemes than English and is generally thought to use a simpler grammar structure, it relies on tones to impart meaning, which English doesn't employ, and instead of 26 letters to form words it uses thousands of representative characters.

Nuria Sagarra, associate professor of psycholinguistics at Rutgers University, also argues morphology - a language's structure, based on parts of speech - plays a presiding role. English, for example, has a poor morphology, Sagarra explains. We need more than the verb "slept" to know who did the sleeping. But in Spanish - and other languages with richer morphologies - the subject is embedded in the verb: durmió, or "he slept."

What makes one language harder to learn than another, Sagarra says, is how experienced the learner is with transferring between linguistically complex structures. That ability tends to arrive at intermediate proficiency, she told Medical Daily in an email.

"If your native language is more similar to the foreign language (e.g., your native language has rich morphology and you are learning a rich morphology, such as a Russian learning Spanish), things will be easier."

It also doesn't hurt to have a good memory, she says.

How Can We Know?

It's tempting to say earning an A on a Spanish test means a person is moving toward fluency, but based on Sagarra's experiments, she says, "this is far from real." Learning languages is hard because it requires brand new cognitive frameworks. Simply translating the new structures through the filter of a native language isn't learning. It's memorizing.

For people like Sagarra who study the way our brains make sense of new languages, the challenge is figuring out when learning actually takes place. When is the brain playing by the new rules? In 2013, Sagarra and her colleague Nick Ellis, of the University of Michigan, found through eye-tracking technology that people's proficiency level determines where they spend their time concentrating. In that particular study, the investigators focused on adverb-verb congruency ("Yesterday the man eats" versus "Yesterday the man ate") among English and Romanian learners of Spanish.

They discovered people read the Spanish sentences in line with the structures of their native language. As people got more proficient, their transfer rates increased, until a point when they knew the language well enough that their new frameworks supported the learning without needing to go back and forth.

Unfortunately, there aren't in-depth studies that compare each language on these grounds. The best linguists can do is draw out some principles about language complexity and deduce which languages might be difficult for which native speakers.

Romance languages tend toward the top, often joined by Dutch, Swedish, and Norwegian. A little more time-consuming are Asian and Eastern European languages, which make use of different morphological elements: Hindi, Thai, Greek, Finnish, and Turkish. Then come the heavy-hitters, such as Mandarin, Arabic, Farsi, and Korean, which look and sound completely different than English.

It Gets Better

Luckily, the road ahead for language learners seems to get smoother with time. As you accumulate more languages in your arsenal, you gain an ability to transfer new languages through smarter filters. Success breeds success. If you already know Japanese and want to learn Mandarin, for example, you'll probably have an easier time than someone who just knows English. Instead of transferring the new language through English, which stands at the opposite end of the morphological spectrum, you can use the frameworks for Japanese instead.

With that in mind, where you learn could end up making all the difference. Research has repeatedly found the immersive experience of language learning can't be recreated in a classroom. If people have any hope of securing bilingual status - adopting all the nuances of everyday speak, not simply the stale phrases found in a textbook - they need to dive in headfirst.

The net effect of this is a brain that is forever more complex. People who speak more than one language exercise more executive control, mental flexibility, and concept formation. In this, Sagarra offers a word of advice to parents thinking of raising their kids bilingual.

"Bilingual kids need more time to talk and some teachers suggest parents to raise them monolinguals," she said, "but bilinguals kids catch up at the end, so it's better to be patient and wait."

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The Frustrating Science Of Becoming Bilingual

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Unfortunately for Americans, fluency in a second language is something only enjoyed by a select few. Either you grew up in a home where English shacked up with a mother tongue, or you found the discipline to master a new language through practice.

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Las diferencias en la morfología
de Ingles y Español. 

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Las diferencias en la morfología
de Ingles y Español. 

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LDLD: Spanish. Spoken Languag. Morphology.

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The differences in grammatical features between English and Spanish can influence the bilingual Spanish child's use of morphology and syntax in spoken and written English. Please refer to the table below for a listing of constructions that may be observed in the language of a child who is learning both languages.

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Tipos de morfemas derivativos. Si quieres practicar lo que has aprendido en este vídeo puedes descargarte ejercicios con sus soluciones en http://www.unprofesor.com/lengua-espanola/tipos-de-morfemas-derivativos-437.html - Además podrás hacer preguntas al profesor que ha hecho el vídeo. prefijos, sufijos e infijos

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La lengua de los seres humanos es muy interesante en que nosotros podemos hacer frases ilimitadas  en cualquier lengua. Si dicta la misma palabra en ingles y en español, usted puede realizar la manera como pronunciar y transcribir no son lo mismo. El aprendizaje sobre los órganos articulatorios y las reglas de los diptongos nos ayudan a entender como es la pronunciación de las letras.  Esto nos ayuda (los hablantes no nativos de español) a aprender donde está el énfasis de cierto letras cuando nos las transcribimos. Pensé que era fascinante como el texto describir la fuerte diferencia entre los sonidos de ingles y de español. Por ejemplo, en ingles tenemos palabras como “thin y thing”. Estas palabras son transcritas diferentemente y tienen fonemas diferentes. Sin embargo, palabras como pan se pronuncia [pán] en la ciudad D.F. en Mexico y [páŋ] en el español de Cuba son transcritas diferentemente pero es la misma palabra. Esto es lo que hace difícil transcripción.

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Cómo diferenciar los acentos del español

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Cómo diferenciar los acentos del español

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Nuevos desarrollos en la pronunciación británica

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Nuevos desarrollos en la pronunciación británica

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Weighing up a new style of pronunciation

Post written by Michael Bulley, based on an article in the latest issue of English Today

In this article, I express my disapproval of a recent development in pronunciation found in an increasing proportion of native speakers of British English. I thereby run the risk not only of offending those who have the feature I criticize but also of being frowned upon by linguistics professionals who think aesthetic judgements have no place in the discipline.

The sound in question is a pronunciation of the letter 'r', in words like ring, bread and around, that is closer to a /w/ than to a 'traditional' /r/. The BBC television news contains many presenters and reporters who exhibit this feature. Academic studies, sound archives and my memory confirm that this style of /r/ was rare until the 1970s. In fact, until quite late into the last century, it might well have been diagnosed for adults as a speech defect needing treatment.

My criticism is on two fronts: first, that it narrows the distinction between /r/ and /w/ with no apparent compensatory benefit to the language and, secondly, that it can sound childish, inappropriately so in a serious context. The origins and cause of this 'w-for-r' are not clear. I speculate that children's television may have had an influence, with adult presenters imitating the pronunciation of their audience.

The controversial aspect of the article is my suggestion that this topic should become a public issue, so that people may choose how to pronounce this phoneme. As examples of the influence of social factors on pronunciation change, I point to the demise of the old RP [æ] and the rise and fall of upspeak in Britain. To counter a possible accusation of 'prescriptivism', that is, of promoting certain usages as inherently superior to others, I propose that language should be considered as 'man-made', in the same way as many other features of our environment, and thus open to aesthetic judgement. I argue that the wish to speak and write well remains valid, even if there may be no objective criteria to judge one usage against another. I invoke the concept of 'responsibility towards the language'.

This leads on to a more general consideration of the nature of language study. I argue that the view of language as qualitatively neutral is mistaken and has wrongly persuaded many university professionals to assert that linguistics should be regarded as a science. It seems to me more appropriate to treat most language study, especially where meaning is involved, as a humanity. Objectivity must still be paramount, but where the topic lends itself to it, judgements, including aesthetic ones, can properly be made.
Read the full article 'W(h)ither the /r/ in Britain?' here

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Weighing up a new style of pronunciation Post written by Michael Bulley, based on an article in the latest issue of English Today In this article, I express my disapproval of a recent development in pronunciation found in an increasing proportion of native speakers of British English.

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Fonética: Los sonidos en español - Descripción vocal de las consonantes.

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Fonética: Los sonidos en español - Descripción vocal de las consonantes.

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fonética: los sonidos en español - descripción vocal de las consonantes

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Fonética: Los sonidos en español - DESCRIPCIÓN VOCAL DE LAS CONSONANTES

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Fonética: Los sonidos en español - DESCRIPCIÓN VOCAL DE LAS CONSONANTES

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Aspiración de la /s/ en castellano rioplatense

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Estadounidense Hablando con Acento Argentino

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Aspiración de la /s/ en castellano rioplatense

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Una sistematización muy breve sobre la llamada aspiración de la S en castellano rioplatense, poniendo como ejemplos el acento porteño y el rosarino.

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Este capítulo describe los milagros de el desarrollo sobre la lengua de los seres humanos y de los animales. Por ejemplo, estudios recientes han demostrado que los ballenas tienen dialectos diferentes según de dónde son. En cierta medida, esto es muy similar cuándo nos escuchamos los acentos y dialectos diferentes de español y otras idiomas. Nosotros hemos aprendido muchas cosas sobre la lingüística y el desarrollo de lenguajes por Ferdinand de Saussure y Noam Chomsky. Además, Capítulo 1 ilustra cómo podemos aprender idiomas cuándo estamos en la infancia hasta que la edad adulta.

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Les presento a Michael Levi Harris, que sabe más de 10 idiomas perfectamente y 12 más en un nivel intermedio.

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Les presento a Michael Levi Harris, que sabe más de 10 idiomas perfectamente y 12 más en un nivel intermedio.

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Out on a sunny Berlin balcony, Tim Keeley and Daniel Krasa are firing words like bullets at each other. First German, then Hindi, Nepali, Polish, Croatian, Mandarin and Thai - they've barely spoken one language before the conversation seamlessly melds into another. Together, they pass through about 20 different languages or so in total.

Back inside, I find small groups exchanging tongue twisters. Others are gathering in threes, preparing for a rapid-fire game that involves interpreting two different languages simultaneously. It looks like the perfect recipe for a headache, but they are nonchalant. "It's quite a common situation for us," a woman called Alisa tells me.

It can be difficult enough to learn one foreign tongue. Yet I'm here in Berlin for the Polyglot Gathering, a meeting of 350 or so people who speak multiple languages - some as diverse as Manx, Klingon and Saami, the language of reindeer herders in Scandinavia. Indeed, a surprising proportion of them are "hyperglots", like Keeley and Krasa, who can speak at least 10 languages. One of the most proficient linguists I meet here, Richard Simcott, leads a team of polyglots at a company called eModeration - and he uses about 30 languages himself.

With a modest knowledge of Italian and some rudimentary Danish, I feel somewhat out of place among the hyperglots. But they say you should learn from the best, so I am here to try to discover their secrets.

When you consider the challenges for the brain, it's no wonder most of us find learning a language so demanding. We have many different memory systems, and mastering a different tongue requires all of them. There's procedural memory - the fine programming of muscles to perfect an accent - and declarative memory, which is the ability to remember facts (at least 10,000 new words if you want to come close to native fluency, not to mention the grammar). What's more, unless you want to sound like a stuttering robot, those words and structures have to make it to the tip of your tongue within a split second, meaning they have to be programmed in both "explicit" and "implicit" memory.

Speaking extra languages delays dementia by five years or more

That tough mental workout comes with big payoffs, however; it is arguably the best brain training you can try. Numerous studies have shown that being multilingual can improve attention and memory, and that this can provide a "cognitive reserve" that delays the onset of dementia. Looking at the experiences of immigrants, Ellen Bialystok at York University in Canada has found that speaking two languages delayed dementia diagnosis by five years. Those who knew three languages, however, were diagnosed 6.4 years later than monolinguals, while for those fluent in four or more languages, enjoyed an extra nine years of healthy cognition.

Those lasting benefits are a stark contrast to the failure of most commercial "brain training" games you can download - which generally fail to offer long-term improvements in memory or attention.

Learning a new language as we age is easier than you might assume

Until recently, however, many neuroscientists had suggested that most of us are too old to reach native-like fluency in a fresh language; according to the "critical period hypothesis", there is a narrow window during childhood in which we can pick up the nuances of a new language. Yet Bialystok's research suggests this may have been exaggerated; rather than a steep precipice, she has found that there is a very slight decline in our abilities as we age.

Certainly, many of the hyperglots I meet in Berlin have mastered languages later in life. Keeley grew up in Florida, where he was exposed to native Spanish speakers at school. As a child, he used to tune into foreign radio stations - despite not being able to understand a word. "It was like music to me," he says. But it was only as an adult that he started travelling the world - first to Colombia, where he also studied French, German and Portuguese at college. He then moved on to Switzerland and Eastern Europe before heading to Japan. He now speaks at least 20 languages fluently, almost all of which were learnt as an adult. "The critical period hypothesis is a bunch of crap," he says.

The question is, how do hyperglots master so many new tongues - and could the rest of us try to emulate them? True, they may just be more motivated than most. Many, like Keeley, are globe-trotters who have moved from country to country, picking up languages as they go. It's sometimes a case of sink or swim.

Yet even with the best intentions, many of us struggle to speak another language convincingly. Keeley, who is currently writing a book on the "social, psychological and affective factors in becoming multilingual", is sceptical that it's simply a question of raw intelligence. "I don't think it's a major factor, although it does make it faster to have the analytical ability," he says.
Cultural chameleons
Instead, he thinks we need to look past the intellect, into the depths of our personality. Keeley's theory is that learning a new language causes you to re-invent your sense of self - and the best linguists are particularly good at taking on new identities. "You become a chameleon," he says.

Psychologists have long known that the words we speak are entwined with our identity. It's a cliche that French makes you more romantic, or Italian makes you more passionate, but each language becomes associated with cultural norms that can affect how you behave - it could be as simple as whether you value outspoken confidence or quiet reflection, for instance. Importantly, various studies have found that multilingual people often adopt different behaviours according to the language they are speaking.

Different languages can also evoke different memories of your life - as the writer Vladimir Nabokov discovered when working on his autobiography. The native Russian speaker wrote it first in his second language, English, with agonising difficulty, finding that "my memory was attuned to one key - the musically reticent Russian, but it was forced into another key, English". Once it was finally published, he decided to translate the memoirs back into the language of his childhood, but as the Russian words flowed, he found his memories started to unfurl with new details and perspectives. "His Russian version differed so much he felt the need to retranslate to English," says Aneta Pavlenko at Temple University in Philadelphia, whose book, The Bilingual Mind, explores many of these effects. It was almost as if his English and Russian selves had subtly different pasts.

Resisting the process of reinvention may prevent you from learning another language so well, says Keeley, who is a professor of cross-cultural management at Kyushu Sangyo University in Japan. He recently ran a survey of Chinese speakers learning Japanese to examine their "ego permeability" - with questions such as "I find it easy to put myself in other's shoes and imagine how they feel" or "I can do impressions of other people", and whether you can change your opinions to suit the people you are near. As he suspected, the people who score highly on these traits had much greater fluency in their new language.

It is not just about the amount of time spent learning and using languages

How come? It's well known that if you identify with someone, you are more likely to mimic them - a process that would effortlessly improve language learning. But the adopted identity, and the associated memories, may also stop you from confusing the language with your mother tongue - by building neural barriers between the languages. "There must be some type of home in your mind for each language and culture and the related experiences, in order for the languages to stay active and not get all mixed together," Keeley says. "It is not just the amount of time spent learning and using the languages. The quality of the time, in terms of emotional salience, is critical." Indeed, that might explain why Keeley could switch so effortlessly between those 20-odd languages.

Of all the polyglots, Michael Levi Harris may demonstrate these principles the best. An actor by training, Harris also has an advanced knowledge of 10 languages, and an intermediate understanding of 12 more. Occasionally, his passion has landed him in some difficulty. He once saw an online ad for a Maltese meet-up. Going along, he hoped to find a group of people from Malta, only to walk into a room full of middle-aged women and their white lap dogs - an experience he recently relayed in a short film The Hyperglot. You can see a trailer below.

When I meet him in a cafe near the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, he effortlessly slips into a rather posh, " received pronunciation " English accent, despite being a native New Yorker. As he does so, his whole posture changes as he melds into the new persona. "I'm not really trying to consciously change my character or my persona. It just happens, but I know that I am suddenly different."

Importantly, Harris thinks that anyone can learn to adopt a new cultural skin in this way - and he has a few tips for how to begin, based on his experiences of acting. The important thing, he says, is to try to imitate without even considering the spelling of the words. "Everyone can listen and repeat," he says. You may find yourself over-exaggerating, in the same way that an actor may be a little over-the-top in their performance to start with - but that's a crucial part of the process, he says. "In acting first, you go really big, and then the director says OK, now tone it down. And you do the same with a language." He also suggests looking carefully at things like facial expressions - since they can be crucial to producing the sounds. Speaking with slightly pouted lips instantly makes you sound a little bit more French, for instance.

Finally, he says you should try to overcome the embarrassment associated with producing "strange" noises - such as the guttural sounds in Arabic, for instance. "You have to realise it's not foreign to us - when you are disgusted, you already say 'eugh'. And if you acknowledge and give your subconscious permission to do it in speech, you can make the sound." That may sound a little silly, but the point is that all this should help you to get over your natural inhibitions. "It's all to do with owning the language, which is what actors have to do to make the audience believe that these words are yours. When you own words you can speak more confidently, which is how people will engage with you."

There's one big factor that stops people learning languages efficiently...

Even so, most agree that you shouldn't be too ambitious, particularly when starting out. "If there's a single factor that stops people learning languages efficiently, it's that we feel we have to be native-like - it's an unreachable standard that looms over us," says Temple University's Pavlenko. "The ease of expression is what matters to me a lot - finding a better way to express myself, colloquially."

Along these lines, you should also practice a little and often - perhaps just for 15-minute stints, four times a day. "I think the analogies with exercise are quite good," says Alex Rawlings, who has developed a series of polyglot workshops with Richard Simcott to teach their techniques. Even if you are too busy or tired to do serious study, just practising a dialogue or listening to a foreign pop song can help, says Simcott.

In the UK, Australia and US, it is easy to believe that we don't need to make that effort. Indeed, before I met the hyperglots, I had wondered if their obsession merited the hard work; perhaps, I thought, it was just about bragging rights. Yet all of the hyperglots I meet are genuinely enthusiastic about the amazing benefits that can only be achieved by this full immersion in different languages - including the chance to make friends and connections, even across difficult cultural barriers.

Harris, for instance, describes living in Dubai. "As a Jewish person living in the Middle East, I faced challenges. But it turns out that one of my best friends was from Lebanon," he says. "And when I moved away, he said 'when we first met I didn't think I could be friends with you and now you're leaving, I'm distraught'. It's one of the most precious things to me."

As Judith Meyer, who organised the gathering in Berlin, tells me, she saw Ukrainians and Russians, Israelis and Palestinians all conversing at the gathering. "Learning another language really does open up whole new worlds."

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Out on a sunny Berlin balcony, Tim Keeley and Daniel Krasa are firing words like bullets at each other. First German, then Hindi, Nepali, Polish, Croatian, Mandarin and Thai - they've barely spoken one language before the conversation seamlessly melds into another. Together, they pass through about 20 different languages or so in total.

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Las ballenas pueden hablar en dialectos diferentes al igual que los seres humanos.

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Las ballenas pueden hablar en dialectos diferentes al igual que los seres humanos.

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Schematic diagram of a Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) recorder and an acoustic recording package (ARP) in their most common deployment configuration.

Credit: BioScience

Some whale species sing in different dialects depending on where they're from, a new study shows.

Blue whales off the Pacific Northwest sound different than blue whales in the western Pacific Ocean, and these sound different than those living off Antarctica.

And they all sound different than the blue whales living near Chile.

"The whales in the eastern Pacific have a very low-pitched pulsed sounds, followed by a tone," said David Mellinger of Oregon State University. "Other populations use different combinations of pulses, tones, and pitches."

Using newly developed underwater microphones called autonomous hydrophones, Mellinger and his colleagues recorded the cacophonous symphony of whale clicks, pulses, and calls throughout the Pacific Ocean.

The hydrophones-which can be deployed independently rather than the Navy's Sound Surveillance System -were developed to listen for earthquakes. But researchers soon realized that they were picking up the sounds of right whales from 25 miles away, and even farther if the water is shallow and the terrain is even.

Researchers also heard the calls of critically endangered North Pacific right whales and sperm whales in the Gulf of Alaska. Many of the sperm whales were detected during the winter-nearly twice as many as in the summer-indicating a surprisingly active "off-season" population that scientists had never known.

"There are a handful of records of people spotting sperm whales in the region-and they're all in the summer," Mellinger said. "The Gulf of Alaska is not a place you want to be in the winter. But apparently, sperm whales don't mind."

Researchers don't know why whales around the world sound differently.

"The difference is really striking, but we don't know if it is tied to genetics, or some other reason," Mellinger said. "We don't know if they are part of a common 'language' that different populations of whales use to communicate with each other, or if they come from a confused juvenile who hasn't completely learned the complexities of communicating."

The researchers plan to deploy three more hydrophones near a series of long-duration NOAA moorings in the Bering Sea this spring. They plan to analyze possible connections between the appearance of whales and current conditions.

The results from this and other acoustic surveys could help produce more sophisticated surveys that could allow scientists to provide data in near-real time.

The research is detailed in the January issue of the journal BioScience.

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Some whale species sing in different dialects depending on where they're from, a new study shows. Blue whales off the Pacific Northwest sound different than blue whales in the western Pacific Ocean, and these sound different than those living off Antarctica. And they all sound different than the blue whales living near Chile.

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¿Cómo los bebés aprenden idiomas? - TED Talk

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¿Cómo los bebés aprenden idiomas? - TED Talk

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Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies

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Patricia Kuhl shares astonishing findings about how babies learn one language over another -- by listening to the humans around them and "taking statistics" on the sounds they need to know. Clever lab experiments (and brain scans) show how 6-month-old babies use sophisticated reasoning to understand their world.

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#10Cosas: Ferdinand de Saussure, el padre de la lingüística moderna.

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#10Cosas: Ferdinand de Saussure, el padre de la lingüística moderna.

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#10Cosas: Ferdinand de Saussure, el padre de la lingüística moderna - PUCP