Archive for September, 2007
What is the easiest language offered by the Rosetta Stone software?
The Languages offered are:
Arabic
Chinese (Mandarin)
Danish
Dutch
English (British)
English (American)
Farsi (Persian)
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latin
Pashto
Polish
Portuguese (Brazil)
Russian
Spanish (Latin America)
Spanish (Spain)
Swahili
Swedish
Tagalog (Filipino)
Thai
Turkish
Vietnamese
Welsh
English- For me, English is the easiest language to learn. I am a filipino, but no one teaches me to speak english. I just learned it
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]genki japanese and culture school[/mage]
Arabic Around the World
The Arabic language is closely related to both Hebrew and Aramaic. The geographical reach of Arabic is quite impressive and is connected to Arab conquests beginning in the 8th century CE. Modern Arabic has a variety of dialects and these various dialects are spoken throughout the Arab world and beyond. Standard Arabic is widely studied and known throughout the Islamic world.
The Arabic language has lent a number of words to languages spoken in Islamic countries or in those in which Islamic Caliphates once ruled (e.g. Spain). Arabic however has also been the recipient of a similar integration and in turn, has also borrowed words from other languages including Persian and Sanskrit.
In the Middle Ages, Arabic was the vehicle of culture, science, mathematics, poetry and philosophy. As a consequence many European languages such as Spanish and Portuguese have also borrowed numerous words from it. Even Sephardic Jewish communities of the medieval period living in Spain and throughout North Africa and in the present day Middle East spoke and wrote in Arabic.
As far as the term “Arabic” is concerned, it may refer to either literary Arabic or the localized varieties of Arabic often referred to as “colloquial Arabic.”Literary written Arabic is generally regarded as the standard Arabic language. All other “Arabics” are viewed as mere dialects.
Literary Arabic generally refers to the language used in television and print media across North Africa and the Middle East. It also refers to the language of the Q’uran. In contrast, “colloquial” Arabic refers to the regional varieties derived from Classical Arabic, which constitute the Arabic language as spoken in everyday settings.
Arabic dialects sometimes differ sufficiently to be mutually incomprehensible to each other, especially in pronunciation. These dialects are generally unwritten, although a certain amount of literature exists in many of them. Literary Arabic or classical Arabic is the official language of all Arab countries and is the only form of Arabic taught in schools at all stages.
When educated Arabs of different nationalities engage in conversation Literary Arabic may be used for communication sake.
Classical Arabic can be distinguished from Modern Standard Arabic. Classical Arabic is considered normative; modern authors attempt to follow the grammatical norms established by classical grammarians, and to use the vocabulary defined in Classical dictionaries.
The influence of Arabic has been most profound in Islamic countries. Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for Berber, Kurdish, Persian, Swahili, Urdu, Turkish, Malay Indonesian, and even Hindi in its colloquial variety
The major dialectical variations are as follows: Egyptian Arabic, Maghrebi Arabic (Algerian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, Maltese and western Libyan Arabic), Levantine Arabic (Western Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, western Jordanian and Cypriot Maronite Arabic),Iraqi Arabic (and Khuzestani Arabic) ,East Arabian Arabic (Eastern Saudi Arabia, Western Iraq, Eastern Syrian, Jordanian and parts of Oman), Gulf Arabic (Bahrain, Saudi Eastern Province, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, and Oman) Hassn+ya (in Mauritania, Mali and western Sahara), Sudanese Arabic, Hijazi Arabic (western Saudi Arabia), Najdi Arabic (Najd region of central Saudi Arabia),and Yemeni Arabic (Yemen to southern Saudi Arabia).
About the Author
Jacob Lumbroso is a world traveler and an enthusiast for foreign languages, history, and foreign cultures. He writes articles on history and languages and recommends Pimsleur Arabic courses to learn Arabic.
Why Speak French ? It Has It’s Own Class
Have you ever asked yourself Why speak French? If you speak French you will be able to communicate directly to over 70 million people who use French as their primary language. Also, it is considered to be a member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. This means that knowing French can actually give a person a head start when it comes to learning other languages that are part of the Romance language group. These consist of Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish languages. Since the French language has a natural melodious tone, one can easily learn the languages mentioned with ease.
Yes learning other languages may help you with your work particularly in certain parts of the world. French is the language that can be used no matter where you may be. There numerous reasons as to why learning French gives a person a huge advantage. This is because more than 200 million people in 55 countries across five continents speak and understand French.
Why else would you want to speak French? French is the language of Diplomats and is used for many business dealings of educated individuals for centuries. Because French is one of the official languages of the United Nations you would be considered to be culturally prestigious. French is the official working language of NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the European Union, the International Red Cross and UNESCO along with many others.
Since the French language has been used as a basis for more than half of the English vocabulary, this allows an individual to develop a more critical way of thinking and solving problems which enhances one’s performance when taking standardized tests.
When you know to speak French it gives an excellent reason to pursue studies in Francophone countries and learn in many areas specifically in aviation, business, law, medicine, transportation technologies as well as in international distribution and luxury goods. This will make you globally competitive in a very impressive way in the international market.
What most people don’t know is that French is the third most common language on the Internet. By learning French you will have many numerous opportunities related to food, fashion, art,architecture, music and literature.
Why speak French? You will also develop appreciation and understanding for countries that speak the French language such as Canada, Belgium, Monaco, Switzerland, France, and several African nations. Furthermore, being able to speak French is an excellent way to support language diversity all over the world.
About the Author
Learn how enjoyable it is to speak French. Speak and understand Conversational French with a Free 6 Day Course. Get access to Free course and receive your first lesson in minutes. Learn to speak French. Visit=>
[mage lang="" source="flickr"]portuguese coursebook[/mage]
Free Online Courses
Education and learning do not always have to be costly. As a matter of fact, individuals have come up with a vast number of methods to gain education without having to pay any money in the form of tuition and admission fee. A lot of people opt for self-study by going through various magazines and books on the subject area that they are interested in. On the other hand, plenty of individuals go for free online courses in order to acquire information about the subject of their choice.
What Exactly Are Free Online Courses?
For individuals who are interested in gaining more knowledge but do not have the money to study courses in a traditional classroom setup, free online courses can come in real handy. The best part about these online programs is that you do not have to pay any sort of fee in order to study. The World Wide Web is one of the most important channels with the help of which details are exchanged. Lectures, project report, lessons and even exams are sent with the help of Internet.
As evident from the name itself, free online courses are provided free of charge therefore anybody who wishes to study can do so by participating in the course. There are quite a lot of free online courses that are specifically designed to assist individuals in getting the education they are interested in without thinking too much about grades. By opting for free online courses there is no real pressure on you when it comes to study and grades. In other words, you can study at your own pace without worrying about the grades.
Courses Available
When you search for free online courses over the Internet, you will find plenty of online colleges and universities that offer these courses. You may not believe but it is true that you will find free online courses in virtually every subject area. To get the best possible results, it is quite vital that you search for free online courses in search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. In some cases, your friends and family members who have previously opted for free online courses can help you immensely in finding a university that offers these courses.
If you are looking for free online courses in languages then you need to work a bit hard because there are so many languages to choose from and not every university conducts courses on every language. Some of the languages which you can learn through free online programs are mentioned below:
• Aramaic
• Bulgarian
• Danish
• Cherokee
• French
• Hawaiian
• Japanese
• Norwegian
• Russian
• Ukrainian
• Vietnamese
Free online courses in areas such as management, mathematics, health care, nursing, information technology, engineering, biology, physics, finance, marketing, electronics construction and astronomy are also available. Before you opt for free online courses, keep one thing in mind that you cannot ignore the importance of enrolling in a course offered by an accredited institute. If possible, take your free online course from an accredited institute because that will help you in the future when you look around for a job.
About the Author
Tammy Greene is an educationist with decades of teaching and learning experience. Currently, Tammy is working for Online Edu Blog (http://www.onlineedublog.com/) acting as their advisory member.