Polyglots Anonymous

Hey, Kids, It's International Mother Language Day!

Just so you know, it's International Mother Language Day! Why they only focus on languages our mothers speak is beyond me....

 

But seriously....check out the UN's web page.

Help Support the Lost Words Documentary

As most of you know, I’ve been a language fanatic for ages. All my studies and travels have now led me to learning about language documentation and revitalization which involves recording undocumented languages and as well finding ways to save dying languages. You can read a little more about that on my Dave Prine blog post.

Anyway, this is an area I’m excited about, and I’m working on becoming more active in the whole field of study.

I came across a website of a documentary in the making called “Lost Words” about the imminent extinction of several Native American languages and the efforts to bring them back. While I don’t personally know any of the people involved very well (I’ve communicated with the producer/director a few times), I’m excited about this project and I’d really like to support this. Apparently, they’re looking for donations on their IndieGoGo fundraising page.

As of today they’re only up to $1192. I’ve already donated $1 just to get my name up there so people can see that I actually did contribute and how easy it is to donate a small amount, but I plan to donate more as the deadline gets closer. They have several “perk” levels –the more you donate, the more “perks” you get. I’m planning to donate at least $50 more to get the DVD with my name in the credits, but I’ll shoot for whatever I can afford.

Anyway, I’m asking all of you to donate to this project for several reasons

• It’s easy
• It’s for (what I feel is) a good cause
• You can donate as little as $1 (but don’t let me stop you from donating more, of course)
• This will help get my name out there as a language revitalization activist as well as help me with a future project, provided you leave an appropriate comment (see Easy Step #3)
• You can get some cool stuff (if you’re into the sorts of things they’re offering as perks)

OK, so here are the EASY STEPS to helping a good cause:

1. Go to http://www.indiegogo.com/Lost-Words

2. Select a perk amount. (If you click “Contribute Now” instead, it defaults to the $100 payment, but you can still change that before completing the transaction.)

3. OPTIONAL-Enter something in the comments that includes my name, such as “Dave Prine told me about this,” “Thanks to Dave Prine for passing this my way,” etc. (Please keep it clean since the comments will get posted to the public profile and other sites.) Not only will this help get my name out there, but it will also let me see how many people who donated found out about this through me. If you want to leave a comment but you don’t want to include my name, that’s fine as well, especially if it’s a comment about how you support this cause.

4. Provide all the other info, verify the amount, and complete the transaction.

5. Feel good about yourself for helping a cause I believe in (and hopefully you do too).

If all my friends contribute $1 to this cause, then we can raise a whopping $6!

But seriously…

You’ll also see me post this on Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else I can. I’ll try to keep updates going.

If you don’t feel comfortable paying money online, you’re free to send the money to me and I’ll include it with my next donation on March 1st.

If you think this might be some spammer posing as me, feel free to call, email, or Facebook me (or leave a comment below) and let me know. I’ll tell you about that thing you did when you were five that only you and I know about. Then you’ll know it’s really me.

Anyway, thanks for reading this, and please let me know if you need any additional information.

Please pass this on to as many people as you can. I’m hoping for quantity on this one.

Thanks for reading this!

~dave prine
Language Enthusiast

How do you say "Can't we just get along?" in Ayapaneco?

Recently I started taking an interest in dying languages (more on that soon), so when my pal Jason posted this link on his Facebook page, I figured I had to share it. Enjoy!

 

Language at risk of dying out – the last two speakers aren't talking

 

Q&A: Insight about the Czech language

Suzy Millward from http://suzymillward.blogspot.com writes:

Do you have any experience with the Czech language? I'm currently trying to learn this, one of the 10 hardest languages, and I'd love any insight another non-native Czech speaker has to offer.

Back to the blogging...

Hi Fellow Polyglots,

After taking a writing hiatus (partially to work on my language repertoire), I'm back to posting. I'll have a few reviews up in the next few days, and I'll mention a few of the languages I've been working on. So make sure you come back regularly. I promise to do the same.

See you soon (figuratively speaking, of course),

~dave

LA Times Festival of Books April 26th and 27th

Although I mention this on my other blogs, I wanted to mention it here very briefly. Every year, UCLA becomes the base for the LA Times Festival of Books. For two days, the campus teems with authors, publishers, and discounted books. Among the many publishers in attendance, several are likely to provide foreign language books in some for or another, including:

• Lonely Planet
• Rough Guides
• Traveler’s Bookcase
• Tuttle Publishing
• Distant Lands

Language Learning Tip #1—Start Off With The Right Attitude

Since this blog has just started, why not start these tips at the beginning of the language learning process? Before opening your first book, before listening to your first cassette or CD, before uttering your first word, you’ve got to start out with the right attitude.

Granted, if you’ve already opened, listened, or uttered, it’s still not too late to improve your attitude. That is, if it’s holding you back.

I won’t lie: learning a language is a lot of work. And it can be challenging at times, even for those of us who take immense pleasure in learning foreign languages. But it can be done.

Language Learning Tips—Intro

Over the next 17 years,* I’ll be posting various tips on how to learn foreign languages. Please note that these tips are mostly based on personal experience, although I might throw in something that might have helped others more than it has me. And although these tips will be numbered, they’re not meant to be followed in numerical order. And not all of them need to be followed.

Idioms: "Bated Breath" or "Baited Breath"?

While working on a page for another blog, I found myself using the expression "bated breath." This one always bugs me because I know I'm spelling it right, but I always have to look it up because I just don't trust that darn word "bated." Where did it come from? Can I bate someone or something? If not, could I have a hundred years ago? Was it short for something? I can only think of a few words that end in "bate," and very few seemed logical or even appropriate.

Welcome to Polyglots Anonymous!

A big hello, salve, buenos dias, namaste, konnichi-wa, and sawaat-di krap from Polyglots Anonymous! We're finally up and running, and in the following days, we'll be posting various articles on foreign languages, where to find them, and how to learn them. If you're a language lover, or even a language liker, we hope to provide content that you'll enjoy and benefit from.