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Ladino: The “other” Spanish, is dying but saved a life

December 5, 2011

Version en español. With over 20 official Spanish speaking countries, few people know of another Spanish language: Ladino. The language is also known as judeo-español, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Judezmo, Djudezmo, Spaniolit, and גודיאו-איספאנייול‎‎. No, it’s not Latino. It’s not Latin. It’s Ladino, the language of the Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal at the time of [...]

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Ladino, el otro español, una lengua en extinción salvó una vida.

December 5, 2011

For the English version of this article, please click here. Con más de 20 países de habla hispana, pocos conocen el otro idioma español: el ladino. No, no es “latino” ni “latín”. Es el ladino (judeo-español, djudeo-espanyol, djudeo-kasteyano, judezmo, djudezmo o spaniolit), la lengua hablada por los descendientes de los judíos españoles y portugueses (los [...]

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Teaching language learning in areas marred by ethnic violence

December 3, 2011

The odd irony of giving three presentations about language learning in a city that saw 450 people killed last year in ethnic violence was not lost on me. Via the US Embassy, I was in Osh, Kyrgyzstan informing language students and teachers about how to learn and teach various languages using songs, TV, radio, movies [...]

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Bride kidnapping in Central Asia, Is an English speaking woman less likely to be kidnapped?

December 2, 2011

Talking about learning English using music and media at the American Corner, Kant, Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz flag on wall. In the past year, I’ve been paying more attention to reaching out to girls and women who want to learn foreign languages. While speaking to Benny Lewis at the beginning of the year, we talked about why [...]

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Could speaking English empower female sex trafficking victims to escape?

December 1, 2011

I rarely talk about the practical life-saving applications of speaking another language. But the topics of female sex trafficking and bride kidnapping make me wonder about how speaking another language, particularly English, could liberate women who would otherwise be shackled to brothels or unwanted marriages. Sex trafficking in Eastern Europe When I saw the movie, [...]

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Spaceman: Being in between languages

November 30, 2011

When I lived in Argentina, a Spaniard told me about a friend of his whose parents were from Spain but grew up in Portugal. When the Spanish man visited Spain from Portugal, he couldn’t always follow conversations with contemporary Spanish slang or that referenced Spanish pop culture or current Spanish events because he wasn’t in [...]

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Special “foreigner treatment”: please no! I’m a heritage speaker.

November 29, 2011

Usually, I don’t want to attract attention to my not being a local by asking for special treatment when I am in a Russian speaking country. Because as soon as I tell people I am from abroad, I then get a bunch of questions about how I know Russian, how I left the former USSR, [...]

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Being in limbo: Difficulties of a Russian heritage language speaker going to a Russian speaking country

November 28, 2011

The limbo land of being a heritage language speaker is one I’ve been inhabiting most of my life. It’s only recently that I’ve known the term “heritage speaker”, referring to those of us who have learned our native language at home but with little to no formal schooling in the language. We may speak without [...]

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Uzbek and Kyrgyz foods in Kyrgyzstan: Vodka cheaper than Fanta

November 26, 2011

Buy your sugar in blocks! Share and Enjoy:

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Russian as a colonial language: native Russian speaker sees her language anew

November 23, 2011

Although I knew that the Russian Empire and Soviet regime spread the Russian language to the countries that were once part of the Russian empire and Soviet Union, I only recently truly felt the impact of Russian being a colonial or imperial language. Russian as a home language of struggling immigrants Born in the [...]

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