Bengali

The Language Martyrs of International Mother Language Day led me to do a page on learning Bengali I didn't realize what can of worms I would be opening when I did!

I knew the Indian subcontinent had a large number of spoken languages. What I didn't realize was how many of them are quite literally spoken by tens of millions of speakers!

While researching Bengali and the relationships between it and a number of other Asian languages, I was astounded by how many languages there are, how many speakers there are of some of them and what an amazing literary tradition some of them have. With the growth and increasing importance of this part of the world,these languages will become more important to learn and study in coming years.

International Mother Language Day and the Language Martyrs

February 21st is International Mother Language Day. But in Bangladesh, it is celebrated as Language Martyrs Day.

Bangladesh was once known as East Pakistan, after Pakistan and India gained independence from Britain. When Urdu (spoken in Pakistan) was being forced onto Bangladesh as the only official language, the people protested, demanding that Bengali (also known as Bangla) be included as an official language. On February 21st 1952 police fired on protesters, killing several students. This language revolution ultimately led to the 1971 independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.

www.2bdutch.nl/

I have a co-worker who is Dutch. I only actually work with her once or twice every couple of months, but it's hard for me to pass up an opportunity to pick up some of a language for free. Native speakers are sometimes hard to come by and are a great resource.

I have some interest in Dutch, so I've been trying to include some time to study a little Dutch so I can be better prepared for those rare times when I can try out some Dutch.

I am about 6 chapters into an old copy of Teach Yourself Dutch, and 2 cds into Michel Thomas Dutch Foundation. I've also managed to download a bunch of Dutch music and a half-dozen audiobooks.

So, finding this website now comes along at just the right time.

This site has lots of videos with subtitles in Dutch and your native language side by side. Music, history, culture, humor, Dutch television programs for immigrants, music videos etc. Lots of content to help you learn Dutch. A great resource!

Learn Japanese From Yoda

Well, not exactly. But, let me explain. It should come as no surprise that George Lucas may have been inspired by Japanese culture for many elements of the Star Wars saga. It is loaded with obviously Japanese-influenced names like Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi with their culture and Samurai lifestyle, etc.

And, as it turns out, Yoda speaks in a very Japanese manner.

So, there is this very interesting blog post and video that could be very helpful to beginning Japanese learners. It teaches some basic Japanese word order using Yoda as an example.

http://www.tofugu.com/2009/01/20/learn-japanese-from-yoda/

It's not really an entire site to learn Japanese from Yoda, but there are lots of interesting features on the site for Japanese learners to explore and have fun.

Language Change Occurs in Rapid Bursts

I seem to be reading a lot of news from New Zealand and Australia lately ...

This article http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20080502-16846-5.html concerns research on change between two languages that have diverged from one. It mentions that much of the vocabulary change occurs rapidly at 'language-splitting events.' It has long been assumed that change happens slowly over time.

The article doesn't go into any detail into what constitutes a 'language-splitting event.' But, since much of the research was done in the Pacific, my first impression was to imagine a group of people packing up and moving to another island, exposing themselves and their language to a new environment and new influences. Another possible 'language-splitting event' the article hints at is when social groups deliberately alter their language in order to distinguish themselves from each other.

This revelation in language evolution seems to parallel findings in Darwinian evolution. It was long thought that evolution occurs slowly over long periods of time, but more recent evidence suggests that significant 'events' force rapid evolutionary changes, followed by long, relatively static periods.

New BYKI Languages

BYKI has even more languages available. The latest additions to the flashcard and review program from Transparent Language include Castilian Spanish, Scottish Gaelic, Dari, Tajiki, Altai, Bashkir, Buriat and Mirandese.

I like that they've made Latin American Spanish and Castilian Spanish two distinct titles. And I confess I had to look up a couple of those new languages. Thumbs Up to Transparent Language for providing learning materials for some very uncommonly studied languages!

Finnish

The enigmatic Scandinavian tongue. Inspiration for Tolkiens Quenya and Daniel Tammetts Mänti. With its much-feared grammar and case system, it is considered one of the hardest languages to learn.

I have finally put up a Finnish page. I have had a hard time finding resources to learn it. I know there is very little on the commercial side of things, but there are usually some decent materials by teachers and learners. I'll have to keep digging.

A Language Course is a Tax Write-Off!

Did you know that a language course may be written off your taxes? It's an educational expense!
If you happen to have used it for your business then there might be even more ways for you to save on your taxes. For example - if you drove to a language class or tutor, you can write off the gas mileage.

Any materials you buy that can fall under the umbrella of 'language learning' could be used as well. Did you buy any books, music or movies in the language you are learning?

Looking to buy more courses or learning materials this year? Keep all of your receipts for the coming year. Keep in mind as you buy any books, courses or website subscriptions that some of these may be applied to your tax deductions next year.

Take a good look at your purchases and think through how you used them. You may find ways to reduce your taxes that you haven't thought of before!