Nee's Language Blog Yearbook 2013

Yearbook 2013

Nee’s Language Blog

www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Table of Contents

1. About the Writer ............................................................................... 3

2. Cantonese is Endangered? ................................................................ 4

3. Waking Up Speaking Welsh ............................................................... 4

4. Flags and Languages .......................................................................... 5

5. Chinese Mandarin E-book ................................................................. 6

6. Learn It Correctly! ............................................................................. 8

7. Zulu Language ................................................................................. 10

8. Languages in Taiwan ........................................................................ 12

9. Language Groups ............................................................................. 13

10. Chinese Dialects Around Me ........................................................... 14

11. Verbling ........................................................................................... 15

12. Languages of Indonesia ................................................................... 17

13. "Water" in European Languages ...................................................... 19

14. Lingoland ......................................................................................... 19

15. Secret Message (frperg zrffntr)........................................................ 20

16. Is Being Bilingual a Good Thing? ...................................................... 20

17. The Reason ...................................................................................... 22

18. Esperanto: Saluton! ......................................................................... 27

19. Two Favorite Chinese Books ............................................................ 28

20. 3 Weeks of Esperanto ...................................................................... 29

21. Daniel Tammet ................................................................................ 31

22. The Universal Language ................................................................... 32

23. Skype Language Learning ................................................................ 33

24. Two Months Later ........................................................................... 34

25. Incredible China .............................................................................. 35

26. 11 Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures................................ 36

27. The Great Language Game .............................................................. 37

28. Spanish for White Belt Beginners .................................................... 38

29. Chinese Menu ................................................................................. 39

30. Nauruan Language .......................................................................... 42

31. Tuvaluan Language .......................................................................... 44

32. Gilbertese Language ........................................................................ 45

33. Marshallese Language ..................................................................... 46

34. Klingon: nuqneH .............................................................................. 48

35. Multilingual Singer and Song ........................................................... 49

36. Esperanto: 5 Months ....................................................................... 50

37. 1000 Words Challenge..................................................................... 52

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38. Are women better language learners? ............................................ 53

39. Medanese Slang .............................................................................. 55

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About the Writer

Hi! My name is Teddy, or also known as Teddy Nee. I’m currently living in Taiwan.

When I have free time, I like to read books in various languages. Welcome to contact

me!

You can speak with me in Hokkien Medan, Indonesian, English, Chinese, Spanish, or

Esperanto.

www.twitter.com/tdnee

www.google.com/+teddynee

Find out more about language learning at Nee’s Language Blog

www.neeslanguageblog.com

www.facebook.com/neeslanguageblog

[email protected]

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Cantonese is Endangered? Thursday, January 10, 2013

I found an interesting article about Cantonese language a few days ago. Although it

was published in 2010, I think it worth notice, especially from me, who have a

natural tie to Cantonese. Growing up as a quarter of Cantonese, I have the chance to

learn the language at an early age. However, my Cantonese does not go farther than

basic phrases, such as "Where is the toilet?", "How to go there?", or "What is your

name?"

According the writer, who has been doing business in Guangzhou, the homeland of

Cantonese, Cantonese language is counting down its days by seven reasons.

1. Everyone in Guangzhou speaks Mandarin

2. Everyone in China speaks Mandarin

3. Mandarin is the language of business and money

4. New York Chinatown kids speak English

5. Kids play in Mandarin

6. Entertainment is in Mandarin

7. Mandarin is taking over Hong Kong

In my opinion, the increasing popularity of China as a growing market for business

makes sense for the growing number of Mandarin speakers. Furthermore, English as

an international language has also become the top priority for foreign language

learners. Nevertheless, Cantonese is a unique language with its unique

characteristics, such as the nasal sound, and the Chinese characters. It also has

contributed much to the history of Cantonese people and Overseas Chinese

Cantonese people. Enjoy it while you can.

Waking Up Speaking Welsh Friday, January 18, 2013

I just read an article about a disease that I have never thought about its existence.

Can you imagine waking up one day speaking a foreign language that you have never

learnt before? This phenomenon happened to an Englishman, Alun Morgan.

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After waking up from a stroke, his wife is the only person that can understand him.

Doctors have diagnosed him with a form of brain damage that causes shifts in

language ability. He was evacuated to Wales during the Second World War. Thus, due

to this fact, the doctors believe that the language sunk in and released by the stroke.

Flags and Languages Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Whenever you go to a website, whether it is a website of a company, an institution,

or even an online store, you may notice a list of flags that represent several

languages. For instance, you may see American or British flags for English and

Chinese or Taiwanese flags for Chinese Mandarin. Do you know that there are

countries in this world sharing the same or similar flags? The examples are as follows:

Luxembourg and the Netherlands share similar flags but do not have the same

official language. Indonesia and Monaco are located in different continents but share

the same color of the flag.

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Latvian flag (top) and Austrian flag (bottom)

The flags may be clear enough to be differentiated; however, it may not be clear

when the flags are shown as icons on the website as what you can see below.

The picture above shows you more about countries' similar flags. They differ in

languages and some even located in different continents.

Chinese Mandarin E-book Thursday, January 24, 2013

Here is good news for Chinese Mandarin learners! A Taiwanese friend showed me an

interactive flip-able e-book containing videos and audios that were authored by her

teacher. In the beginning pages, you can read the teacher's experience. Then, it is

followed by several situational phrases, such as visiting doctors and asking directions

as well as vocabulary. The contents are suitable for beginners or, better said, for

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those who are already familiar with basic Chinese characters and pinyin 拼音.

Traditional Chinese characters are used here because it is used in Taiwan. However,

do not make it stop you if you are Simplified Chinese character learners because both

versions still share an amount of the same characters. You may want to take it as a

challenge!

Left button for Full Screen and right button for Non Full Screen

Videos

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Sentence Pattern and Vocabulary

Learn It Correctly! Thursday, January 31, 2013

Here is a request from a friend who will go to France as an exchange student and her

native language is Latvian, a language that does not sound similar to French. She

wants to know about my language learning methods. I hope that it helps.

PHRASES I usually go straight to the situational phrases. There are abundant of situations that

can be found even in a pocketsize phrase book. Priority is given to some situations

which I think I may likely encounter in a real situation, such as socializing and asking

directions. Three words that I think everybody should know, and use all the time.

They are "Please", "Sorry" and "Thank you". Find the translations of them in your

target language.

LISTEN AND IMITATE Tonal languages like Chinese and Cantonese might be quite challenging. Different

tones give different meaning, so learners should pay much attention to it. In this case,

I shall learn the pronunciation by listening and imitating. Besides, these methods are

also best applied to languages that have many silent letters like French.

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GRAMMAR I have never learnt grammar in the beginning. I do not think that it is a good idea.

Never start with grammar unless you really need to know about the language

structure. The reason why not to start language learning with grammar is that the

grammar has many rules to follow. Thus, it may create a boring atmosphere to the

learners (unless you really like grammar)

ALPHABETS Every language class always starts with alphabets during the beginning few meetings.

I just realized that whenever I learn languages that use Latin character, such as

Spanish, German, and Dutch, to name a few, by myself, I have never learnt the

alphabets! However, I did learn the alphabets, Hangeul 한글 for Korean and pinyin

拼音/ zhuyin 注音 for Chinese

METHODS There are many methods of language learning, such as watching movies, having

regular meeting with native speakers and doing exercises. I like to try every single

method and even create my own method to find out the best method that fits me

well. For example, the methods I use for learning Spanish are taking up new

vocabularies by reading news articles and signing up to a Spanish online course.

IMMERSION Immerse yourself in the language as much as possible. You can even create the

atmosphere of the language or of a particular place where the language is spoken.

For instance, when you are learning French, you may want to listen frequently to

French songs, watch French movies, read about French culture, history or the

tourism, and find out anything that you like to know about French.

CERTIFICATIONS You may want to consider following language proficiency certification exam as a

complement to your language learning. However, certifications are available only to

several languages -- Spanish, Chinese, Korean, French, and German, to name a few. I

have got my TOEFL and TOEIC for English, and TOCFL for Chinese (Taiwan)

DARE TO MAKE MISTAKES Everybody learns from mistakes. I do make mistakes as part of my language learning.

I sometimes even use a word, regardless knowing the correctness, before checking

the dictionary. The result is it sometimes creates a funny situation. For example,

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cansado/a = tired and casado/a = married in Spanish. There was one time I said

"estoy casado" = I am married instead of saying "estoy cansado" = I am tired. Since

then, I always remember my mistake and the funny situation.

MOTIVATION Many people that speak several languages, so-called polyglots, are easily found on

the Internet. I like to watch their videos and reading their blogs to keep myself

motivated to language learning. Apart from that, I can also get advice by sending

them mail.

Every language learner learns in different ways. Therefore, it is a task to find out the

best method that fits you. This method can be changed as you progress in your

language learning. So do not worry about switching from one method to another

method because a different method is necessary to achieve different levels of

proficiency.

Zulu Language Saturday, February 9, 2013

Here is an interesting language from South Africa, which is similar to Swazi language.

It is called Zulu or isiZulu. Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10

million speakers and the majority live in South Africa. In 1994, it became one of

South Africa's eleven official languages. This language possesses several click sounds,

which are typical of South African languages.

A Swazi friend showed me an interesting website with a collection of materials for

learning Zulu. Several providers provide the contents, such as isiZulu (Google Chrome

cannot open this, instead, I use Internet Explorer) and Unisa. Several materials that

you can find include, but are not limited to, the following:

Dictionary

Useful Phrases

Pronunciation

News

Literature

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Isolezwe news portal

Several Zulu phrases are listed as the following:

Greetings (to one person) - Sawubona

Yes - Yebo (The reply to sawubona)

Greetings (to many people) - Sanibona

Are you well? - Uyaphila na?

How are you? - Unjani?

I am well - Ngiyaphila (The reply to the above two)

Find more phrases of the following categories here

greetings and courtesies

asking for help

numbers, days, months, seasons

question words, quantities, weather and time

banks, taxis and restaurants

transportation and finding your way

touring and socializing

at the filling station

the human body and ailments

shopping and sport

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Languages in Taiwan Thursday, February 21, 2013

When I ask people about the language that is used in Taiwan, many people will

answer "Mandarin" and probably small number of them will add "Taiwanese". In fact,

Taiwan has more than that!

The official language of the country is Mandarin, the same language spoken in China.

Besides, Taiwanese language is widely used in households, public places, and even in

political campaigns. There are also Hakka and aboriginal languages.

Announcement inside public transportation, such as train and subway, broadcasts in

four languages – Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and English. On the other hand,

announcement in tourist destinations and shopping malls, which I have encountered,

broadcasts in Mandarin, English, and Japanese. Those languages can be found in

Taiwanese TV programs too.

Apart from that, Taiwan also has many migrant workers from South East Asia, such as

Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. They work mostly in factories and

households. Their presence in Taiwan gradually enriched the culture and the

language of Taiwanese. It is very easy to find these South East Asian people, shops,

and restaurants. Moreover, they usually hang out with their country mates on the

weekends and meet in certain places, such as train station or around the restaurants

and shops of their countries. There are also books, songs, and imported products

from South East Asia that can be found in the restaurants and shops easily.

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If you think that it is in Thailand, think again. Google map

I come here whenever I want to buy products from those four countries. Google map

Vietnamese restaurant. Google map

Language Groups Saturday, March 2, 2013

The very common problem that a language learner encounters in the journey of

language learning is about which language to learn. I myself also have gone through

that situation. What I did was to conduct a small research about which language has

got the most speakers, the most preferred, the most useful in the job, and "the

most" list goes on.

Based on my experience, I found out several languages that I could group together.

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They are chosen because of having the similar patterns of grammar, vocabularies, or

having significant influence. In other words, by learning one language of them, you

may have an idea and, perhaps, may have covered a big amount of another language

of the same group.

The list of the languages are, but not limited to, the following:

1. Spanish, Italian, Portuguese

2. French, Haitian Creole

3. Afrikaans, Dutch, German

4. Chinese Mandarin and its dialects (Cantonese, Fujianese, etc.), Korean,

Japanese

5. Latvian, Lithuanian

6. Indonesian, Malay

7. Russian, Ukrainian

8. Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi

I hope that it may help you in deciding which language to learn. You may choose the

easier language based on the language that you have known.

Chinese Dialects Around Me Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Here I want to cover a little bit about the Chinese dialects that exist around me, the

place I grew up and the place where I am living now. I grew up as a Hokkien/

Fujianese person, with a quarter part of me as Cantonese. It is still fresh in my mind

that I used to learn Cantonese from my maternal grandmother on my visit to her

house every Sunday.

The city where I was born, Medan, is a city of diversity. Taking the example of the

Chinese-Indonesian there, several ethnic groups have formed the community, for

instance, Fujianese, Cantonese, and Hakka. Each of them has its own dialect;

however, Fujianese has been the major spoken dialect in the community. Meanwhile

in Taiwan, the demographic composition is not much different. Apart from the

aborigines, there are also Taiwanese, whose root is also from Fujian, and Hakka.

Therefore, Taiwanese (Fujianese) and Hakka dialects are also spoken in Taiwan.

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The Chinese ethnic groups that are mentioned above can also be found in several

countries in South East Asia, such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, which

also means that the dialects are also spoken there.

Verbling Friday, March 29, 2013

The biggest obstacle in language learning may be the difficulty to find a native

speaker or someone for speaking practice. That will not be a problem anymore

because there is an interactive and interesting website called Verbling that connects

you with language learners and native speakers. I have been using it to learn Spanish.

Verbling supports several languages, such as Spanish, Italian, English, French, and

Russian. It is free.

How does it work? There are two ways to start the conversation:

1) Randomly connected with a native speaker

2) Join the available classes, which are conducted, in Google Hangout.

What do I like about it? The opportunity to be acquainted with language learners and native speakers of the

languages mentioned above. Besides, I also like having free language courses. It is a

great advantage for those who cannot find any formal language courses nearby.

How are the courses organized? Therefore, every course has its own teacher with a maximum of nine students in the

live discussion. There is description, time, and link to attached document (if

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necessary for the class). Each class lasts for 1 hour.

Sounds interesting? Try it.

Verbling Profile

Verbling Hangout

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Verbling Hangout Control Panel

MEET SPANISH TEACHERS AT VERBLING.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYQVsNxrzZw

Languages of Indonesia Thursday, April 11, 2013

Have you heard about Indonesia or Indonesian language? Let us say you have, then

how about the other local languages of Indonesia? I can tell you that there are many

various languages being spoken in Indonesia across its three time zones.

The official language in Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia, or usually just called "Bahasa".

More than 200 million people speak it and it is similar with Malay language.

Therefore, speakers of both Indonesian and Malay languages can communicate

without any big problem, which is quite convenient for me. Indonesian language has

a rich blend of other languages due to its historical background, such as Portuguese,

Dutch, Chinese, Tamil, and Arabic.

Apart from that, Indonesia has hundreds of local languages or dialects. They are

listed, but not limited, to the following:

Rejang (South Sumatra)

Dairi Batak (North Sumatra)

Toraja (South Sulawesi)

Lampung (South Sumatra)

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Makassarese (South Sulawesi)

Toba Batak (North Sumatra)

Sasak (Lombok)

Banjarese (South Kalimantan)

Acehnese (North Sumatra)

Balinese (Bali and Lombok)

Buginese (South Sulawesi)

Minangkabau (Central Sumatra)

Madurese (Madura and Java)

Sundanese (Java)

Javanese (Java)

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"Water" in European Languages Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Lingoland Wednesday, April 17, 2013

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Secret Message (frperg zrffntr) Monday, April 29, 2013

V unir whfg rapbhagrerq guvf srj qnlf ntb nf V "jnf nggraqvat" bar bs zl Pbhefren

pbhefrf. Vg vf abg nobhg Rhebcrna be Nfvna ynathntrf, naq vg vf nyfb abg nobhg

pbzchgngvbany ynathntrf. Vg vf nobhg rapbqvat zrffntr! Guvf ybbxf fb sha :Q

Fb onfvpnyyl, vg jbexf ol ercynpvat gur yrggre jvgu gur 13gu yrggre nsgre vg va gur

nycunorg. Vs lbh glcr "N", vg jvyy tvir lbh "A". Gur pbzcyrgr nycunorg yvfg vf fubja nf

gur sbyybjvat:

Copy the above message here to read it.

About ROT13

NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Vs lbh jbaqre jurer qvq V trg gb xabj nobhg guvf pbby fghss, purpx bhg gur pbhefr va

Pbhefren pnyyrq "Vagrearg Uvfgbel, Grpuabybtl, naq Frphevgl" urer

uggcf://jjj.pbhefren.bet/pbhefr/vafvqrgurvagrearg

Is Being Bilingual a Good Thing? Wednesday, May 8, 2013

What do you think about the title? Do you agree that being bilingual is a good thing?

There are many countries in this world, which have only one language; however,

there are many more countries that have more than 1 language being spoken every

day!

Scroll down to read the answers..

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The Reason Wednesday, May 15, 2013

What is the reason behind learning a foreign language? Some of the popular reasons

that I can recall are job requirement, school mandatory class, and for travelling. I

guess I have never mentioned any reason behind my foreign language learning, have

I? So here you are. I am going to write about those languages that I have learned and

the new languages that I want to learn as well as (of course) the reason.

The languages that I have learned:

1. English As many people from around the world, I also learn English for years in the school.

English is currently (still) an international language. Anybody, regardless their

nationalities and races, speak English with one another. This is crazy! Thus, it makes

English as the most popular language being sought by people, from student to office

workers. There is a saying (by me), "It is not surprising to see someone speaking

English as a foreign language nowadays" because everybody is learning it! English is

the first foreign language that I learn in a very young age -- preschool age.

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2. Chinese Mandarin It is a wish for the elders that younger overseas Chinese generations do not forget

about their Chinese heritage. I was put to learn Chinese Mandarin language since I

was little, perhaps around 10 years old or younger. However, there is no significant

improvement in my Chinese Mandarin language until I came to Taiwan in 2008. I was

"forced" to learn Chinese Mandarin because of the necessity to use the language in

daily conversation, such as in the restaurant, market, etc.

3. German There are two extracurricular language classes in the high school - Japanese and

German. With my language background in English and Indonesian, which use the

Latin alphabet, I chose German. I learned it on my last year of high school, and it was

so interesting. The teacher is Indonesian but she looks like Caucasian-mixed. Anyway,

I have never questioned about her background. I do not continue my German after

my high school graduation, and you know the consequence, I have forgotten much of

the language. However, I still remember four sentences that I learned at the

beginning meeting of the German class.

Ich heisse Teddy.

Ich komme aus Indonesien.

Ich wohne en Medan.

Ich lerne Deutsch.

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4. Korean I have many Korean friends in the university. Korea is one of the top 3 countries that

participate in the student exchange program with Ming Chuan University in Taiwan.

Thus, there was a big opportunity to learn Korean language. Korean language is also

quite popular among Taiwanese since the booming of Korean dramas and Kpop

culture. I know how to say some basic phrases, such as "Where is the toilet?", "How

much is this?" and "What is your name?" but I do not continue to learn it because I

lost interest in continuing it. Maybe I shall continue in the future.

5. Spanish Spanish is one of several important languages in the world and it has many speakers,

although it still cannot beat the number of Chinese and English speakers. The

influence of Portuguese language into Indonesian language has helped me in

learning Spanish language, especially in the pronunciation. Apart from the

pronunciation, Portuguese also has contributed many words that are similar to

Spanish into Indonesian language. I have experienced this while going out with

Spanish-speaking friends and we found out that we have many words in common. By

the way, almost half of the students in my class speak Spanish!

6. Cantonese My maternal grandma speaks Cantonese, so I am 1/4 Cantonese. I still remember

clearly that I used to learn Cantonese every time I visited her house on Sunday.

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Besides, I have relatives in Hong Kong. Therefore, I think that Cantonese language is

deeply related to me. With my language background in Chinese and Fujianese, it is

easy to understand Cantonese. The major difference is only the tones. There are

Cantonese speakers in my hometown, in Kuala Lumpur (capital city of Malaysia which

is just a 1 hour flight away from my hometown), and perhaps in Singapore (which is

close to my hometown).

7. Latvian I have one video of me singing in Latvian that went viral in Latvia! This is so surprising

but also exciting for me. The reason behind making that singing video was I play

guitar and I like to cover foreign language songs. Then, I tried Latvian and I got many

Latvian acquaintances in just seconds. I decided to learn Latvian after that so I can

communicate with them, but many of them speak English too. My Latvian friend in

the university is the one who introduced the language to me. I know several basic

phrases from the phrase book and Latvian culture, festivals, and songs always

fascinate me.

8. Russian Later, I found out that many Latvians also speak Russian because of the historical

relation and I had several Russian classmates at the university. Russian is an

interesting language with its unique accent. I know how to read the Cyrillic although

my pronunciation still needs lots of improvement. Besides Latvia, I have also found

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out that there are many people outside of Russia that speak Russian language, either

as a primary or secondary language. They are, but not limited to from Georgia,

Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, also because of the historical relation. There is a Russian

restaurant around here and it even gives me more motivation to learn the language,

especially learning about the food.

9. Dutch I am lucky to have a Dutch classmate who later turned to be my Dutch tutor in the

university. Indonesia has a long historical relation with the Netherlands, so

Indonesian language also has influence from Dutch language. With my language

knowledge in German, I can easily recognize some Dutch words. During the class, we

also discuss about the history of both countries' relationship. I learned Dutch only for

around 4 months, and then I need to stop because of focusing on Chinese exam.

The languages that I want to learn: I have several languages in mind; however, let me just show you the one that (I think)

will be easier for me to learn in terms of my previous language knowledge and the

available opportunity.

10. Portuguese Portuguese is an interesting language. It sounds to me like Spanish with a unique

pronunciation. I have Portuguese-speaking friend in the university too. Two major

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reasons for me to learn Portuguese are:

1. Indonesian language has a significant number of words adapted from

Portuguese. It helps with remembering the vocabulary.

2. Portuguese language is similar with Spanish language. With my knowledge of

Spanish, I am very sure that this language will be easy to learn.

Esperanto: Saluton! Monday, May 20, 2013

I had heard and read about Esperanto before, but did not pay much attention to it

until today, when I watched several videos about Esperanto. You may question what

kind or which country's language Esperanto is. How important is this language for the

society? How did everything begin? How many Esperanto speakers there are in this

world? Can Esperanto be one of the major languages in the global business market

like Chinese and English?

"The foundation of a neutral language will help break down barriers

between people and help everyone see each other as neighbors." [L.L.

Zamenhof, 1912]

Esperanto is a constructed language for international communication created by

Leyzer Leyvi Zamengov or also known as Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof (L. L. Zamenhof)

in 1887. It is written that Zamenhof was saddened and frustrated by many quarrels

among small groups in his hometown, Białystok in the Russian Empire (now part of

Poland.) He supposed that the main reason for the hate and prejudice lies in the

mutual misunderstanding caused by the lack of one common language.

It is estimated that Esperanto speakers range from 10,000 to 2,000,000 active or

fluent speakers, as well as perhaps a thousand native speakers, that is, people who

learned Esperanto from birth as one of their native languages.

Several important traits of Esperanto are listed as the following:

International: Esperanto is most useful for communicating among people of

diverse nations who do not have a common mother tongue language.

Neutral: It does not belong to one person or country, so it works as a neutral

language.

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Equal: When you use Esperanto, you feel equal from a linguistic standpoint

than when, for example, you speak Spanish with a native Spanish speaker.

Relatively easy: Thanks to the structure of Esperanto, it is usually much easier

to master than other foreign languages.

Living: Esperanto evolves and lives just like other languages, and it can be used

to express the most varied facets of human thought and emotion.

The first World Congress of Esperanto, which was organized in France in 1905, has

led to more congresses held in various countries every year with the exception of

years of world wars. No country has officially adopted Esperanto. Nevertheless,

Esperanto was recommended by the French Academy of Sciences in 1921 and

recognized in 1954 by UNESCO. In 2007, Esperanto was the 32nd language in

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, and

Assessment (CEFR). Google Translate added Esperanto as its 64th language on

February 2012.

After all, what do you think? Are you interested to try it?

Have a nice day! Bonan tagon al vi!

Two Favorite Chinese Books Tuesday, May 28, 2013

I love reading very much. Nobody can deny it and I am dreaming of having my own

library full of all the books that are still kept neatly in my room in my parents' house

and foreign language books that I have been collecting. So far, there are 31 languages

in my foreign language book collection, which I mainly got from friends and bought

from second-hand bookstores. Several book categories that I like to read include

Philosophy, Psychology, Business, Language, Traveling and Culture.

Reading is one of many activities that I enjoy very much, including reading in a

foreign language. Apart from Indonesian, I also read in English, Chinese and Spanish.

I have been exercising the habit of reading in Chinese and Spanish recently. Here, I

want to show two of my favorite Chinese books.

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1. 給自己的 10堂外語課 (If I translate into

English, it will be "Give oneself 10 classes of

foreign language course") This book is awesome! It contains the language learning

experience of the author, who has joined NGOs and has

traveled to many countries. He writes about 10 languages

that he learnt, why did he learn, and how did he learn.

Moreover, he also mentions about language learning

material like materials from the Foreign Service Institute

(FSI.) Some of the languages that he learnt include Farsi, Burmese, Thai, Spanish, and

Indonesian.

2. 沙發衝浪 (Couchsurfing)

As many of you may have known, Couchsurfing is a popular

social networking website that connects travelers from

around the world. What caught my attention about this

book is the author's decision to leave her job and travel to

16 countries for 15 months, after working for 16 years in

ERP Department at a company in Hsinchu Science Park.

Hsinchu Science Park is said to be the Silicon Valley of

Taiwan.

3 Weeks of Esperanto Wednesday, June 12, 2013

So, you may have heard about Esperanto. Just in case if you have not, welcome to

read my previous article about it Esperanto: Saluton! I actually wanted to learn

Portuguese because of its similarity with Spanish; however, the made-to-be-easy

Esperanto caught my attention. Then, I tried it!

Today is the third week of my learning Esperanto. Everything has gone well so far.

After one week of learning, I could exchange messages with some Esperantists

(Esperanto speakers) on lernu.net, a popular website for learning Esperanto, and

certainly with the help of an English-Esperanto dictionary. The point here is the

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grammar of Esperanto is so simple, easy to learn and it has given me much flexibility

in constructing my sentences.

Esperanto translation for "I see you"

Note. I - mi / see - vidas (vidi) / you - vi(n)

1. Mi vidas vin

2. Mi vin vidas

3. Vin mi vidas

4. Vidas mi vin

5. Vidas vin mi

Now, let me write in Esperanto. Please correct if you notice any mistake.

Saluton miaj karaj amikoj. Cxi tie estas mia unuan artikolon en Esperanto. Mi esperas

ke mi povas fari bone. Kiam mi babiladis kun unun amikon, sxi demandis min kiam kaj

kiel mi lernas Esperanton. Mi eklernis Esperanton cxar min interesas la gramatiko de

Esperanto. Felicxule, mia hispana min helpi multe. Estas multaj vortoj similas kun la

hispanon.

Mi volas acxeti kelkaj librojn sed ne estas la libron de Esperanto cxi tie. Mi kutime

auxdas al radion kiel Muzaiko aux legxas kelkaj artikulojn Esperanta. Mi vere gxojas

fari gxin kaj mi vere volas paroli Esperanton. Viajn komentojn mi atendas. Gxis revido.

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Daniel Tammet Saturday, June 22, 2013

This person blew my mind when I watched a

video of him learning Icelandic in a week,

and then performed it live in one of

Icelandic national TV stations. The story

about him dated a few years back; however,

I think that it is still an interesting story. His

name is Daniel Tammet, an English writer,

essayist, and autistic savant who immigrated

to France in 2008. He lives in Paris since

then.

Tammet was born and raised in East London,

England, as the eldest of nine children. He

has suffered epileptic seizures since his

childhood. He was diagnosed with Asperger

syndrome by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen

of the Autism (Spectrum) Research Centre at Cambridge University at the age of 25.

Tammet is one of hundreds "prodigious savants" according to Dr. Darold Treffert, the

world's leading researcher in the study of savant syndrome.

He began to write his first book, Born On A Blue Day, subtitled "A Memoir of

Asperger's and an Extraordinary Mind", which then published in the UK in 2006. His

first book became the bestseller of Sunday Times. Tammet's second book,

“Embracing the Wide Sky”, was described as one of France's best-selling books of

2009. It also appeared on bestseller lists in the UK, Canada, and Germany, and it has

been translated into numerous languages. Following to that, “Thinking in Numbers”,

his third book, was published by Hodder in the UK in August 2012.

Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzd7ReqiQnE

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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The Universal Language Wednesday, July 3, 2013

What is a universal language? Why do we need a universal language? How a

universal language can benefit us? These several questions and considerations have

existed since decades ago. Several people, thus, had adapted or even created a

language that served as a common language. Have you ever thought how Spanish

language be the major language of South American countries? Have you also thought

why I am writing in English, which is not even my native language?

I came across an interesting video, better said "a lecture video", of a university in

Sweden. It is said to have four parts; however, it seems that the fourth part is missing.

Thus, I have only three videos to show.

PART I. Natural Languages as Lingua Francas The video begins with a brief historical introduction of several languages, such as

Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Classical Arabic, Spanish, Quechua, Russian, Sanskrit, and

German. There is also an answer to the question "Can any language be lingua

franca?" Apart from that, several characteristics that make a lingua franca are listed

as the following:

1. Number of native speakers

2. Political power

3. Economic interest

4. Ideology

5. Cultural prestige

6. Access to learning

The Universal Language https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FD-z3JCCzM

PART II. Is English The Universal Language? There is no doubt that English is mostly used for international communication

purposes, from business to travelling, from universities to conferences. I am even

writing in English! In addition to the characteristics of a lingua franca that is shown

above, "new technology" becomes the seventh characteristic for English language as

a lingua franca. English has been the major language spoken in countries or regions

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across continents, such as India, Caribbean, North America, and Australia. India is

even the largest country where English has official status.

The Universal Language Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFQlNNgZc8o

PART III. Pidgins and Constructed Languages: Born to be Universal? After the long history of one country setting foot in another, and later, the language

was adapted as the lingua franca, as well as considering about the difficulty of the

language, people started to think about creating languages. This constructed

language is meant to be easy for anybody and be able to serve as a lingua franca.

Thus, Volapük (created by Johann Martin Schleyer in 1880) and Esperanto

(introduced by Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887) existed. Esperanto is even said to be a

neutral language, such as politically free. Apart from that, Pidgin is also discussed in

the video. One example is Tok Pisin, which is spoken in Papua New Guinea.

The Universal Language part 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NVOrNfnaU8

Skype Language Learning Thursday, July 11, 2013

Have you ever used Skype for language learning? If yes, that is great! Congratulations,

you have used one of the best tools for language learning. If no, you may want to

consider about using it. Personally, Skype has been a magnificent tool. I use it every

day to talk with my family and friends, or in other word, for international and

domestic calls. It is FREE!

Then, why not use Skype to talk with native speakers and language learners to

practice your target language? You can practice talking, listening, writing, reading,

and more. I have been using Skype to practice Spanish and Esperanto, two languages

that I am learning now. Skype enables me to connect with native speakers of Spanish

and learners of Spanish as well as Esperanto speakers from around the world.

There are many language learning websites (such as Verbling, Livemocha, iTalki,

Lernu, etc.) and social networking websites (Facebook, Interpals, Vkontakte,

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Draugiem, etc.) in the internet. These great websites give us easiness to know people

from around the world. Find those with the same interest. Add them on Skype and

start talking!

Apart from all of those amazing advantages that one can achieve, nobody can deny

that the conversation topic may be quite boring. Therefore, how can you come up

with a new interesting topic for your conversation? You can talk about language

learning experience, travelling, or even the weather!

Finally, hope you enjoy your language learning.

Two Months Later Sunday, July 28, 2013

It is finally two months since I started to learn Esperanto. I used Libera Esperanto

Libro and Lernu in the beginning. I read them every day. Then, I found some pdfs in

English and Spanish about Esperanto. So far, it is going well. I have been exchanging

messages on Lernu and talking in Esperanto after one week of learning and three

weeks of learning, respectively. I enjoy reading articles very much, such as articles

from El Popola Cxinio. Apart from that, I also enjoy chatting with Esperantists

(Esperanto speakers) in Skype.

The simplicity of the structure and many similarities of the vocabularies to

Latin-based languages caught my attention. You can find the example of the grammar

in my previous article, 3 Weeks of Esperanto, and the story behind Esperanto in

Esperanto: Saluton! I am going to write my second composition in Esperanto here. If

there is any mistake, write it in the comment box.

Saluton karaj geamikoj, cxi tiu estas mian duan artikolon en esperanto. Mi jam lernis

gxin dum 2 monatoj. Gxis nuntempe, mi ne havas iu grandan problemon por

kompreni esperanto. Sed mi ankoraux bezonas la vortaron kiam mi legas aux babilas

en esperanto. Mi ricevis unu libron esperantan lastatempe el Brazilo. Mi sxatas gxin.

Neniu vendas libron esperantan tie cxi, kie mi logxas. Tre malbone.

Mi nun havas miajn feriojn de somero. Do, mi havas multajn tempojn lerni la lingvoj.

Estas multaj interesaj aferoj ke mi povas fari. Mi sxatas legi la revuojn kaj la gazetojn.

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Ankaux mi sxatas auxskultas la radion. Legado kaj auxskultado estas miajn manierojn

lerni la lingvoj. Mi tre amas lerni la lingvoj. Mi cxiam havas tempon por gxin.

Fine, gxi estas mian duan artikolon esperantan. Mi esperas ke vi sxatas gxin. Gxis

revido.

Incredible China Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Fortunately, I arrived in Hong Kong on the day after typhoon had passed through it to

Southern China. One-week trip in Fujian Province in China was great. There were

many unusual yet interesting things to see and to experience. However, there is one

thing that I do not like the most: some websites like Facebook, YouTube, and even

Blogger are blocked in China, which means that they are NOT accessible. I searched

online and found some ways to overcome the problem but I doubted the safety.

After spending a week in Fujian Province, China, I continued my trip to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is fun too, from the Disneyland, the city, to the language. Hong Kong

people speak Cantonese on daily basis although they also understand Chinese

Mandarin. You may also see many Chinese characters being use, although some do

not exist in Chinese Mandarin language. Do not be confused, Cantonese is a dialect

originated from Guangdong Province in China. Due to the long history of British

occupation (Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997), many Hong Kong people are

capable of speaking English.

I captured several photos of landmarks, signboards, and shops. For those who are

learning Chinese Mandarin, can you recognize them? Note that Simplified Chinese

character is used in China and Traditional Chinese character is used in Hong Kong.

Hope that you will have fun figuring out the meaning as I was having fun capturing

the photos.

Photo Slideshow https://picasaweb.google.com/100889894036697498776/IncredibleChina?authuser

=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCM7vso6Qv6nDogE&feat=directlink

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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11 Untranslatable Words

From Other Cultures Friday, August 23, 2013

Translation may be fun and practical for language learning. I

always translate articles like those in newspapers from my

target language to the language that I use to learn that target

language. It is not necessary to use your native language to

learn a language. Note in mind that not everything can be

translated perfectly into another language. Every language has

its own culture. Thus, translating your language into a foreign

language with your own culture may cause an awkward

experience of the native speakers of that foreign language. Here

are several untranslatable words from other cultures.

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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The Great Language Game Tuesday, September 3, 2013

I came across The Great Language Game from a social media from a polyglot that I

follow. It is a language game. Players are shown with an audio recording and choices

of language for the players to choose. According to the About page, these audio

recordings are snippets of news from SBS Australia.

The game lets players to distinguish languages by listening to the audio recordings.

Three mistakes are allowed for every game. In the beginning, players will have two

choices of answer. As the game goes on, the choices of answer will increase its

amount to three, four, and so on, this makes the game more difficult.

The Game

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Final Result

Spanish for White Belt Beginners Thursday, September 5, 2013

With the nowadays-advanced technology, learning has been taken to a new level.

Teaching-learning environment may not only happen inside classroom, but also in

the internet. Learners from around the world may take as many paid/ free courses as

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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they want from any field of study, as long as they are connected to the internet.

Institutions and individuals offer the courses. Learners simply need to sign up and

start taking courses.

Having been through 15 lectures and quizzes, I finally got my certificate. It is from a

Spanish course offered in Udemy entitled "Spanish for White Belt Beginners". Udemy

is a language-learning platform offering a range of course in several languages, such

as English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Turkish, and Mandarin. The

courses are categorized into, as the following:

1. Technology

2. Business

3. Design

4. Arts and Photography

5. Health and Fitness

6. Lifestyle

7. Math and Science

8. Education

9. Languages

10. Humanities

11. Social Sciences

12. Music

13. Crafts and Hobbies

14. Sports

15. Games

16. Other

Chinese Menu Monday, September 9, 2013

Whichever country we are in this world, we cannot deny that food is part of our life.

Especially when living in a foreign country, food can be an issue although I sometimes

love food adventure. It is still fresh in my mind how I spent my first month in Taiwan

eating food from convenience stores, such as 7-11 and Family Mart. Thank God they

saved me :D The problem is, I was lack of Mandarin skill and we have different food

culture.

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I noticed one very interesting thing here. There are so many drink shops around.

They may have more than 10 or even 20 kinds of drink on the menu. Moreover, they

even sell more than 10 kinds of tea drink alone, not to mention the juice. I just had a

glass of Bubble Milk Tea in the afternoon and Rose Milk Tea after dinner today.

To give you an idea about the food and drink in my area, I have collected several

menus from restaurants and drink shops since a week ago. You may find several kinds

of food on the images below - Taiwanese food and foreign food. You may also take

this as a Chinese Mandarin reading practice. Prices are listed in the menu alongside

the food names for your reference.

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Nauruan Language Monday, September 30, 2013

The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has held a two-day event promoting the

Asia-Pacific culture in the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei City, on September 28-29th.

The participants come from the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, the Marshall

Islands, Vietnam, Tuvalu, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, Palau,

Nauru, Malaysia, Kiribati, Japan, Indonesia, India, Fiji, and Brunei. Apart from

performing dances from each of the countries, the participants also displayed a wide

variety of handicrafts and artworks as well as authentic cuisine on each country's

booth.

Nauruan Booth

Republic of Nauru (Ripublik Naoero) a.k.a Pleasant Island I was very happy to have the chance visiting each booth, tasting the food, and

experiencing the culture. One of the country that caught my attention was Nauru

(officially named the Republic of Nauru), an island republic in the southwestern

Pacific Ocean. It is home for over 9,000 Nauruan. The country lies on an

approximately 21 square km surface. You can go around the island for only about 20

minutes by car or 4 hours by foot.

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Souvenirs

Nauruan Language It has estimated that there are about 6,000 speakers of Nauruan language. Most of

them also speak English since English is also the official language. Nauruan

vocabulary contains a few of German loanwords, which is a result of the strong

influence of German missionaries. Here are several phrases that I found on the

brochure that I got from Nauruan booth.

1. Ekamowir Omo - Greetings/ Hello - 問候/ 你好

2. Omo Yoran - Good Morning - 早安

3. Omo Yekwo - Good Afternoon - 午安

4. Omo Yemero - Good Evening - 晚安 (傍晚)

5. Omo Yubum - Good Night - 晚安 (睡前)

6. Dango Awe - My Friend - 我的朋友

7. Wanga Eawe - My Love - 我的愛

8. Yen Egom - What's Your Name - 貴姓大名

9. Wo Areit Ed - How Are You - 你好嗎

10. Wo Meg I - Where Do You Live - 你住哪

11. Anga Dei Taiwan - I'm Taiwanese - 我是台灣人

12. Anga Dei Naoero - I'm Nauruan - 我是諾魯人

13. Tubwa Kor - Thank You Very Much - 多謝

14. Dabug Mem - Pretty/ Handsome - 漂亮/ 帥

15. Eko Eado - Never Give Up - 永不放棄

16. Eko Dogin - Forever More - 永遠

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17. Yeyi Ko - Let's Eat - 開動

18. Ita - Delicious - 好吃

19. Metu Ko - Come In - 進來

20. Mangada - Please - 請

21. Inga Mark - Where Is The Money - 錢呢

22. Eko Woun - No Matter - 不要緊

23. Ang Nuwawen - Let's Go - 走吧

24. Nga Ebonu - I Love You - 我愛你

25. Tarawong - Goodbye - 再見

Pleasant Island

Nauruan Songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USrhZpP923M&list=PLZakSAb0IggTrKmlCwRF0r

Y0F84iLeUGa

Tuvaluan Language Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Talofa Tuvalu! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s chartered jet landed on this Polynesian island

last year on the final leg of their tour to the Far East. Tuvalu ranks as the fourth

smallest country in the world, following Vatican City, Monaco, and Nauru as the top 3

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in the list, respectively. Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu separated from

Gilbert Islands in 1975, and gained independence from Great Britain in 1978. The

capital city is Funafuti.

Tuvalu was awarded ".tv" by the International Organization for Standardization in

1999. Since then, at least five internet companies visited Funafuti to tender for the

right to lease of its ".tv" so it could be used by television and media organizations.

Tuvalu obtained royalties with revenue of more than $2 million for leasing its ".tv"

internet domain name in 2006.

Tuvaluan Language (Gana Tuvalu) English and Tuvaluan are the official languages in Tuvalu. Gilbertese, Samoan, and

English have had significant contact with Tuvaluan. Gilbertese was important when

its administration was located in the Gilbert Islands. Missionaries introduced Samoan,

and have had most influence on the language. About 13,000 people speak Tuvaluan.

Visit "Handbook on the Language of the Tuvalu Islands" by Donald Gilbert Kennedy

for grammar explanation.

Sample Tuvaluan Phrases Tālofa – Hello

Ulufale mai – Welcome

E ā koe? – How are you?

Au e 'lei, fakafetai, kae e ā koe? – Fine thanks, and you?

Ko oi tou igoa? – What is your name?

Toku igoa ko ... – My name is

Au kō fiafia aka loa i a tāua kō fetaui – Pleased to meet you

Tōfā – Goodbye

Gilbertese Language Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Kiribati (Gilberts) Kiribati (or locally pronounced as "Gilberts") derives from the Gilbert Islands, which is

the main island. The name of the Gilbert Islands in indigenous Gilbertese language is

"Tungaru". The Gilbert Islands was named after a British explorer, Thomas Gilbert,

who was the first European to discover them. It is home to about 100,000 of

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I-Kiribati.

Te taetae ni Kiribati Most speakers use Gilbertese daily — about 97% of I-Kiribati is able to read in

Gilbertese and 80% are able to read in English. Numerous I-Kiribati of Rabi Island

(Fiji), Nui (Tuvalu), Mili (Marshall Islands) and other islands where I-Kiribati have

relocated also speak Gilbertese. Visit "Culture and Communication Handbook" for

Gilbertese learning.

Sample text in Gilbertese I a butiiko ma kawiiremweko riki n taetae ao tai kaboonganai taeka aika a kaangaanga

b'a I aonga ni waetata n rabakau.

Please speak slowly, and don't use difficult words, so that I can learn more quickly.

In Gilbertese language, "ti" is pronounced as "ss". For example, "Kiribati" has to be

pronounced as "Kiribas". Here are several phrases from Kiribati Tourism website:

Mauri = Hello / Welcome - this is the word you will hear and use most while in

Kiribati - an embedded sign of the friendliness and welcoming nature of the

Kiribati people.

Eng = Yes - also commonly used is “Ngaia”, which means “okay”

Iaki/ Tiaki = No

Ko rabwa = Thankyou - Kiribati is a very polite and friendly society, and using “Ko

rabwa” is always appreciated.

Taiaoka = Please - very useful in Kiribati and great to create a polite impression

of guests with the local community. Can also be combined with “ikai” (here) to

ask the bus driver to stop for you ; or if you need to squeeze past someone in a

crowd..

Ngkoe = You (the person you are talking to)

Ngai = I (yourself)

Tiabo = Goodbye

Marshallese Language Monday, October 7, 2013

Aolepān Aorōkin M̧ajeļ

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The Marshall Islands (Marshallese: Aolepān Aorōkin M̧ajeļ) is located in the northern

Pacific Ocean. It is home to more than 68,000 Marshallese. The most populous atoll

is Majuro, which is also the capital city. The Marshall Islands is one of several Pacific

countries that use US Dollar. American, Japanese, German, Russian, and British had

visited, settled, and even colonialized these Micronesian islands in the late 1700s.

While the local population is mostly indigenous, there a numerous mixed of Japanese,

American, and German Marshallese.

Io̧kwe Marshallese Marshallese language (Kajin M̧ajeļ) is the official language alongside with English.

There are about 54,000 Marshallese speakers from the Marshall Islands and other

countries, including Nauru and the United States. Check out Practical Marshallese by

Peter Rudiak-Gould and "Marshallese Language Training Manual" by Richard Cook.

Sample text in Marshallese Armij otemjej rej rujlok ilo anemkwoj im jonon utiej eo im maron ko air wot juon.

Emwij lelok non ir maron in bukot non ir make im bareinwot boklikot kin men ko rej

tomaki im bwe jerbal non dron ilo juon jitobon jimpenjatin.

Translation All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed

with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of

brotherhood.

(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Marshallese vocabulary 1. aaet - Yes

2. aelōn̄ - Atoll, or island; the word for land in general

3. ej et am̧ mour - How are you? (Literally, "How is your life doing?") Notice that

the m̧ assimilates before the m.

4. em̧m̧an - (It) is good.

5. enana - (It) is bad.

6. io̧kwe; yokwe - Hello, goodbye and love, similar to the Hawaiian aloha; also an

expression of sympathy. Its literal, archaic meaning is "You are a rainbow"

7. irooj - Iroij, the various paramount chieftains of Marshallese culture

8. jaab - No.

9. kom̧m̧ool tata - Thank you very much. Kom̧m̧ool alone means "thank you".

10. kōn jouj - You're welcome. Literally "for kindness".

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11. Kūrjin - Christian: The majority religion of the Marshall Islands

Learn Marshallese https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKp6yc_BnH0&list=PLB317A8FA29227CA1

Klingon: nuqneH Monday, October 7, 2013

Klingon (tlhIngan Hol) is the language spoken by alien characters in the Star Trek

movies called Klingons. The first few words had been invented in 1979 by James

Doohan ("Scotty") for the first Star Trek movie. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,

the director and writer-producer wanted the Klingons to speak a real-sounding

language, so they appointed Marc Okrand to invent the Klingon language. Besides

the invention of few alien-sound words, he also invented a complete language, with

its own grammar and vocabulary. Marc created uncommon consonants and

combinations of consonants in natural languages in order to make it sound alien,

such as /qχ͡/.

Several publications in Klingon are Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing (paghmo'

tIn mIS), Gilgamesh (ghIlghameS) and the Tao Te Ching (pIn'a' qan paQDI'norgh). The

Klingon Language Institute (KLI) publishes jatmey ("scattered tongues"), a magazine

featuring poetry and fiction in and about Klingon. Besides, KLI also holds an annual

conference or qep'a ("great meeting"). KLI also publishes a journal entitled HolQeD

(Klingon for linguistics), which contains articles on Klingon linguistics, language and

culture. Many years ago the KLI held a contest to see who could construct the longest

three-word sentence in Klingon, and this was the winner:

nobwI''a'pu'qoqvam'e' nuHegh'eghrupqa'moHlaHbe'law'lI'neS

SeH'eghtaHghach'a'na'chajmo'.

The so-called great benefactors are seemingly unable to cause us to prepare to

resume honorable suicide (in progress) due to their definite great self-control.

Learn Klingon in 6 steps, which covers:

1. PRONUNCIATION

2. PRONUNCIATION, PART II

3. GREETINGS

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4. VOCABULARY

5. SENTENCE STRUCTURE

6. WORD STRUCTURE

Klingon Course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auqS6FR_RDE&list=PL556CDA5C65B6C760

Multilingual Singer and Song Monday, October 28, 2013

Singer: 黄明志 Namewee

Namewee (Chinese: 黄明志; pinyin: Huáng Míng Zhì) or Wee Meng Chee; (born May

6, 1983 in Muar, Johor) is a Malaysian Chinese of Hainanese descent. He speaks

Fujianese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay, and English. Read more

Title: WE ARE GANGSTER!- Malaysia 4 Languages Rap [鬼老大哥大 Hantu Gangster]

Movie theme song

Language: English, Fujianese, Malay, Tamil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekc1Ctdg_nQ

Singer: 謝金燕 Jeannie Hsieh

謝金燕（英语：Jeannie Hsieh，1974年 12月 25日－）, is a Taiwanese singer who

sings in Taiwanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. Read more (中文)

Title: 2010謝金燕《嗶嗶嗶》台妹電音新舞曲

Language: Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OfR3NygdaA

Singer: Manu Chao Manu Chao (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmanu ˈtʃao]; born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur

Chao; June 21, 1961) is a Spanish/French singer who sings in French, Spanish, English,

Italian, Galician, Arabic, and Portuguese and occasionally in other languages. Read

more

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Title: Manu Chao - Crèv' La Vie (Live)

Language: French

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Ts5q_umUc

Title: Manu Chao - Me gustas tu

Language: Spanish, French

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzgjiPBCsss

Title: Manu Chao-Bongo Bong(great song)

Language: English

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJMLJVha5sw

Title : Manu Chao- Homens

Language: Portuguese

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mHkvtCneBI

Title: Manu Chao - Denia

Language: Arabic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5TLiHRJdCU

Title: Manu Chao - Bixo

Language: Galician

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oD2zvXgxcE

Singer: Sami Yusuf Sami Yusuf (Azerbaijani: Sami Yusuf born 1980) is an Iranian-born British

singer-songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist musician of

Azerbaijani descent. Read more

Title: You Come To Me

Language: Arabic, English, Farsi, Turkish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opPSO6JDZQQ

Esperanto: 5 Months Wednesday, October 30, 2013

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Saluton cxiuj! Kiel vi fartas? Mi nomigxas Teddy kaj mi parolas Esperanton

Hi everyone! How are you? My name is Teddy and I speak Esperanto

It is Esperanto, an artificial language created by a Polish oculist 125 years ago. What

makes it special is the fact that Esperanto is the most spoken artificial language in the

world. I began to learn it on May 20th this year after watching several videos about

the history of Esperanto and its international society. It is so easy that many

Esperanto speakers can learn it up to conversational level in just a few months.

I read Libera Esperanto-Libro in the beginning and I began to exchange messages (by

help of a dictionary) in Lernu after a week of study. Lernu is a widely known

Esperanto learning website. It provides learning materials of various levels and also

dictionary, forum, and chat box. After 3 weeks of study, I felt quite confident to join

Esperanto groups in Skype to chat or occasionally join the teleconference. I wrote my

second short article in Esperanto after 2 months of study.

It has been 5 months since I began to learn Esperanto. I am going to show you my

learning method and achievement after learning Esperanto for 5 months.

Learning method Many websites in Esperanto and about learning Esperanto exist on the Internet.

Besides, there are also radios and videos available free. One of my favorites is

Muzaiko, a 24-hour Esperanto music radio. I also like reading Esperanto articles on

websites, such as El Popola Cxinio and Kontakto, and reading Esperanto magazines

from Gazetejo.

I occasionally participate in Esperanto speaking on Skype with Esperantisto

(Esperanto speaker) from various countries or chat box in Lernu. It is so easy to know

Esperantisto because they are very welcoming and helpful. There is even "Ĉu vi

skajpemas? Esperanto Skype", a Skype sharing Facebook group for Esperantisto.

Brazilian Esperanto even collects a list of Esperantisto's Skype username. You can add

your Skype username in the list here.

Although I do not practice speaking much, I have been using Esperanto in writing,

listening, and reading. Writing is one of my methods in language learning. Thus, I

have created an Esperanto blog. It is hosted by Ipernity, a social networking site that

is widely used by the Esperanto - speaking community. I usually translate my English

articles into Esperanto in my Esperanto blog.

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Achievement I received a surprising message yesterday morning. Asocio Esperantista De

Rio-De-Jxanejro (AERJ) or the Association of Esperanto in Rio de Janeiro has

published an Esperanto article that I sent in early October, despite learning the

language for less than 5 months. The article entitled "Kial Ni Bezonas Fremdajn

Lingvojn?" or "Why do we need foreign language?" on the fourth page of PDF

document. Click here to read...

1000 Words Challenge Friday, November 15, 2013

If a picture is worth 1000 words, what are 1000 words worth? What would our

society look like if every had at least 1000 words in another language?

Businesses would be better equipped for success in the global economy

Cultural and educational levels would be raised

Innovation, creativity and enterprise would be boosted through contact with

ideas and technologies from abroad, and international networks

Tourists from abroad would enjoy a warmer welcome

The intercultural skills we would gain would make us better adapted to living in

a diverse society, more internationally minded and better at resolving

cross-cultural conflict

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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We would appear less arrogant and better able to put forward our ideas on the

international stage

Young people would be better prepared to access international opportunities

and compete for jobs

We would have a much bigger pool from which to cultivate specialist linguists

and specialists in other fields with a high level of competence in another

language

Bilingualism would be better understood and seen as an aspiration for everyone

Are women better language

learners? Friday, November 22, 2013

Commitment to learning A key difficulty for language learners is staying committed. Female busuu users

complete more language learning units and, consequently, are more likely to achieve

their goals.

Testing and Reward Women are more likely to test themselves on their knowledge retention but they also

like to trade in the rewards for their efforts. Interestingly, they prefer to buy ladybirds

for their language garden, whilst men prefer kites!

More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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More information at www.neeslanguageblog.com

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Medanese Slang Sunday, December 29, 2013

Have you heard about Medan? Maybe yes, maybe no. It is not so famous like Bali or

Jakarta, however, this city is worth to explore, especially its culinary.

This capital city of North Sumatera province is the third largest city and fourth most

populous city in Indonesia. Apart from that, it is also the largest city in Sumatera

Island and outside of Java Island, where the capital city is located. Located just less

than one hour by flight from Penang (Malaysia) and about one and half hours from

Singapore, has made Medan a favorite tourism and business destination by both

countries.

The ethnic diversity in Medan has contributed numerous tasty dishes – from sweet

Javanese cuisine, hot Padang dishes, delicious Batak grilled pork, spicy Indian curry,

to savory Chinese noodles. Medan is also called the melting pot of Indonesia.

Apart from the exotic dishes, local slang has caught much of attention too. It does

not matter how good your Indonesian language is, you may still be confused if you

do not recognize the local slang. Several of Medanese slang are listed, but not limited

to, the following:

# Medanese Indonesian English

1 Amburadul Berantakan Untidy

2 Aqua Air mineral Mineral water

3 Belanggar Tabrakan Crash; collision

4 Berabe Kacau Disorderly

5 Berantem Berkelahi To fight

6 Bini Istri Wife

7 BK Plat nomor Vehicle registration plate

8 Congok Rakus Greedy

9 Kelen Kalian You (plural)

10 Kereta; Honda Sepeda motor Motorcycle

11 Lagak; Kreak Sombong Cocky

12 Lasak Tidak bisa diam

(gerakan)

Restless

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13 Libas; Gibal; Hantam;

Kipas

Pukul To beat (fight)

14 Macam; Kayak Seperti As; like

15 Mengkek Manja Spoiled (person)

16 Mentel Genit Flirty

17 Motor Mobil Car

18 Pajak Pasar (Traditional) Market

19 Palak Kesal Annoyed

20 Paret Selokan Ditch

21 Pauk; Bengak Bodoh Stupid

22 Pulak Rupanya Apparently

23 Raun-raun Jalan-jalan To stroll

24 Senget Gila Crazy

25 Siap + kata kerja Selesai + kata kerja Has/ Have + verb

(Perfect Tense)

26 Silap Salah Mistaken

27 Sor Sangat tertarik Very interested in

28 Tekongan Tikungan Junction

29 Tengok Lihat To see

30 Titun Tidur To sleep