It seems that nothing frustrates learners of a foreign language more than idioms. Idioms are those phrases that cannot be translated directly from one language to another. They often involve turns of phrase, animals, colors or emotions in strange combinations! Here are some amusing idioms from various languages that, when translated directly, would make any foreigner to the language scratch their head.

He has been blue. = He has been sad.

He was caught red-handed. = He was caught in the act.

Por si las moscas (in case of flies!) = Just in case.

Andar como perros y gatos (walk like dogs and cats) = to always be arguing.

Das Blaue von Himmel versprechen (to promise the blue from the sky) = to promise someone the moon.

Tomaten auf den Augen haben (to have tomatoes on your eyes) = to be oblivious to what’s going on.

Apocopation is a linguistic term given to the practice of shortening specific words when they precede certain other words. This occurs in Spanish with nine fairly common words.

Most commonly, certain words drop the final letter ‘o’ when they come before a masculine, singular noun.

uno (“a/one”): un libro (a book)

alguno (“some”): algún dinero (some money)

ninguno (“no/not one”): ningún gato (no cat)

bueno (“good”): el buen doctor  (the good doctor)

malo (“bad”): un mal hombre (a bad man)

primero (“first”): primer encuentro (first encounter)

tercero (“third”): tercer piso (third floor)

Variations on the pattern:

Grande: The singular grande is shortened to gran before a noun-whether it be male or female:  In that position, it usually means “great”: un gran hombre (a great man). However, grande is not apocopated when following más: la más grande casa (the greatest house)

Ciento: The word for one/a hundred is shortened before a noun or when used as part of a number: cien libros (100 books) or cien dólares (100 dollars). However, ciento it is not shortened within a number: ciento veinte mil dólares ($120,000).

Cualquiera: When used as an adjective, cualquiera (“any” in the sense of “whatever”) drops the final ‘a’ before a noun-whether it be male or female: cualquier día (whatever day).

Santo: The title for a saint is shortened before the names of most males: San Francisco (Saint Francis). However, it is not shortened if the name it precedes begins with Do- or To- (Santo Domingo)

1. venir: to come

We are coming at 5 o’clock.

Venimos a las 5 de la tarde.

2. viajar: to travel

She is traveling to Europe for the first time.

Ella viaja a Europa por primera vez.

3. visitar: to visit

I am visiting my parents on Sunday.

Visito a mis padres el domingo.

4. vivir: to live

My brother lives in Bolivia.

Mi hermano vive en Bolivia.

5. volar: to fly (stem change verb o-ue)

Are you flying to Barcelona?

¿Vuelas a Barcelona?

6. volver: to return (stem change verb o-ue)

Is he returning soon?

¿Vuelve pronto?

6. ir: to go (Note: although the infinitive does not have a ‘v,’ the conjugations do)

They are going to the church and I am going to the library.

Ellos van a la iglesia y yo voy a la biblioteca.

1. llegar: to arrive

We are arriving at 5 o’clock.

Llegamos a las cinco de la tarde.

2. llevar: to bring someone somewhere, to wear

I am bringing my father to the airport.

Llevo a mi padre al aeropuerto.

I am wearing my new hat today.

Llevo mi nuevo sombrero hoy.

Note: llevar can also be used in an idiomatic sense to express a length of time

How many years have you been in Canada?

¿Cuántos años llevas en Canadá?

3. llover: to rain (Note: stem-change verb, only used in the third person singular)

It is raining a lot today.

Llueve mucho hoy.

4. llamar: to call (Note: this verb can also be used reflexively to express your name)

I am calling my brother.

Llamo a mi hermano.

He is called Robert.

Él se llama Roberto.

5. llorar: to cry

Amanda cries a lot.

Amanda llora mucho.

6. llenar: to fill (up)

She is filling up the bathtub with water.

Ella llena la bañera con agua.

Foto Hintergrund

A number of German words have made their way into the English language. Some of them we accept as a matter of course as they have been around for a long time. Others, have come into English rather recently. While most words maintain the same or similar meaning some change their meaning slightly when transplanted from one language to another. For example, the word angst. Below you will find a list of common German words and phrases used in English.

Achtung! (careful/watch out)

die Angst (fear in German)

das Aspirin

der Dachshund (wiener dog)

der Doppelganger (a body double/look-alike)

der Ersatz (substitute)

das Fest (party in German ex. filmfest)

Gesundheit! (health: used when someone sneezes)

der Hamburger

kaput (broken/not working)

der Kindergarten

der Poltergeist

der Rucksack

die Schadenfreude (taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune!)

verboten (not allowed/prohibited)

die Wanderlust

das Wunderkind

German Präfixes (prefixes)  can also be used in English,  particularly:   über

He is überpatient with his wife.  (This implies he is extremely or too patient with his wife)

For a longer list visit: http://german.about.com/library/blvoc_gerloan2.htm

1. A syllable consists of at least one vowel sound and/or a vowel paired with one or two consonant sounds. (In the examples below the words are both Spanish and English)

animal: 3 syllables: a-ni-mal                                    Argentina: 4 syllables: Ar-gen-ti-na

2a. Words that end in a consonant other than n or s are stressed on the last syllable.

a-zul

2b. Words that end in a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the second to last syllable.

li-bro

2c. Words whose accent falls on the third to last syllable always have an accent (tilde).

rápido

2d. Rarely, words are accented on the fourth, fifth, etc. to last syllable. These are limited to verbs with pronouns attached to them.

mí-ra-me-lo

3. Spanish features both weak and strong vowels. A, E, O are strong while I, U are weak.

This affects pronunciation as two strong vowels cannot be in the same syllable. Therefore, two strong vowels found next to each other belong to separate syllables whereas a combination of a weak and strong vowel, or two weak vowels create a diphthong or a gliding sound which results in a single syllable. In order to break this diphthong, an accent may be placed on one of the vowels.

ma-es-tro

puer-to

far-ma-cia

po-li-cí-a

Historically, German and English have shared a number of similar or even identically spelled words such as:

der Student, das Haus, die Maus, die Medizin

This is due to the fact that both languages stem from a common proto-Germanic language as well as the fact that they have imported words from the same languages such as French. Over time, these words have come to be part of each language without people giving much thought to it. However, in recent history a large number of English words have been adopted by German speakers, especially within the youth culture.

Many of these words are business and technology-related, but some of them are common words for referring to people, foods or even items around the house. This mixing has become so common it even has its own name: Denglish! While many older Germans lament the encroachment of English on their language, these words are a blessing for English speakers learning German!

For those loanwords that are nouns, learning the gender can be especially tricky as they do not fall into typical categories of gender assignment. Generally, however if the word is a replacement for a German word it will retain the same gender. For example,  it is das Telefon,  therefore it follows that it is das Smart Phone. Another hint is that words ending in -ing are always neuter, as are infinitives used as nouns in German. Compare: das Treffen = das Meeting

Here is a list of some common English words in the modern German language:

Nouns:

der Airbag

das Baby

das Bowling

der Bodybuilder

der Bestseller

das Catering

die Couch

das iPhone

der Loser

das Meeting

das Tshirt

Verbs: 

babysitten

bloggen

downloaden

einchecken (to check in)

googlen

snowboarden

For an extensive list please check out this website. 

What is your favourite English word that has migrated into modern German?

Other than Latin, Arabic is the language with the greatest influence on the Spanish language. Arabic speakers entered the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) in the year 711. Accompanied by Berbers, these Arabic speakers were pushing into Europe to spread the new faith of Islam that had been founded in 622. Within a few years, the majority of Spain was under Arab rule but the Arabic language and culture was always strongest in the South in the area known as Andalusia (al-Andalus).

In this region, a language sprang up which was a combination of Arabic and Vulgar Latin, the form of Spanish spoken in the region at the time. Vulgar Latin was the common speech of the people, in other words the language evolving from Latin into modern Spanish. The Arabs were in control of this region for the better part of seven centuries. During this time, there was a flourishing of education, the arts and sciences. Many texts were translated from classical Latin and Greek into Arabic and Vulgar Latin, giving people access to ancient learning for the first time in many centuries. There were great leaps in medicine, alchemy and the arts.

The Arab rulers were also very tolerant of both Christianity and Judaism and people were openly allowed to practice these faiths allowing for a collaboration of the intellectuals of the day. That said, the Arabs converted many Christian places of worship or other buildings into mosques, the most famous of which is the Alhambra. This magnificent building is located in Granada and pictured above. This era of religious tolerance came to an abrupt end in 1492 when Spain was once again under Spanish rule.

It is estimated that around 8% of modern Spanish words are of Arabic origin. However, the frequency of these words varies depending on the topic. For example, many scientific and agricultural words come from Arabic. Interestingly, in the Arabic language, al denotes the and therefore is featured as a prefix on many of the words. When translating Arabic into English a hyphen or space is often employed as in Al jazeera. However this practice is not used in Spanish and therefore in its truest sense the word the is doubled!

Here is a list of common Spanish words of Arabic origin:

aceite                        oil

aduana                     customs (at the border)

ajedrez                     chess

almuerzo                 lunch

alquiler                    rent

arroz                         rice

azúcar                      sugar

azul                           blue

hasta                        until

ojalá                         hopefully (may God grant)

This is a very difficult question to answer. Many factors go into a person’s ability to learn a language. I often discuss how long it takes my average student to achieve certain milestones, such as being comfortable in everyday conversations, or being confident in a business setting.

After I work with clients for a few sessions and get to know their learning styles, I can answer this question with greater certainty.  There are five key factors that I believe determine how fast someone can learn a new language:

1) Age – the younger you are when you start learning a new language, the easier learning will be. 

Young children learn new languages effortlessly because the developing human brain is a sponge for language acquisition, particularly from birth until age 5. From ages 5 to 12, one can still pick up a language easily enough to be taken for a native speaker, which requires an in-depth understanding of the language’s grammar and vocabulary and the absence of an accent. (People speak with an accent when their mouths are so accustomed to making the sounds and cadences required by their mother tongue that they superimpose their mother tongue onto the new language.  In linguistic terms this is known as “mother tongue influence” or MTI.)

2) Previous exposure to multiple languages – students who have benefitted from such exposure already understand that there are many ways to refer to the same item or concept.

Many of my monolingual students struggle to conceptualize the seemingly “other” or “strange” way people refer to something in their target language. This does not mean that you cannot achieve fluency without previous exposure to other languages, but such exposure is definitely a benefit, particularly when your target language is in the same language family.  For example, a student may have been in French immersion as a child and is now attempting to learn Spanish.

3) Memory – having a good memory is an obvious time-saver. 

Some people have been gifted with better memories than others. That said, there are many study techniques that you can adopt to help you memorize the vocabulary needed to communicate effectively in your target language. You can visit my two-part blog series on memory to get some further ideas.

4) Effort – some people don’t realize how much effort it takes to learn a new language as an adult. 

Learning a language is like working out at the gym – consistent effort is rewarded.  Ideally, a student of mine will study four days per weak, 30-60 minutes per session outside of classroom time.

5) Motivation – time and again in my career, I have seen people who may have been lacking in other respects achieve amazing results because of their motivation!

Strong motivation might come from a business opportunity, a personal challenge, or love.  Some of my highest achieving clients have specific reasons for wanting to learn.  They care deeply and are eager for results.

German is spoken by approximately 100 million people all over the world. It is an official language in: Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland as well as provinces found in eastern France and northern Italy. German speakers have also emigrated to numerous other countries. Here are some more interesting facts about the German language:

There are around 200 modern dialects of German. These dialects, called Mundart in German, are regional and can be so different as to cause people to be unable to communicate with each other. Therefore, German speakers learn High German or Hochdeutsch in school. All newspapers are written in this standard German and this is also how business and politics is conducted.

The German alphabet features some interesting letters. The letters a, u and o can all add an umlaut (two dots above it) and create a new vowel sound. There is also the letter which looks somewhat like a B in English but is actually a double s.  It has two names: eszett or scharfes s and looks like this: ß.

Until 1945 German was written with an old Gothic style script known as Faktura.  This script was commonly used throughout Western Europe until the 17th century but continued in Germany  until the end of WWII.

Finally, the German language allows for enormously long compound nouns. While these are definitely tongue twisters for newcomers to the language, they are also a lot of fun to learn. Here is one of my favourites: die Verschlimmbesserung. Defined as an intended improvement that makes things worse!