Foreign Language Fun » Esperanto

How to Say Chocolate in Fourteen Languages for Valentine’s Day

Diane — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:55:38 +0000

In honor of Valentine’s Day–February 14–let’s learn fourteen ways to say that magical word: CHOCOLATE!

French: chocolat

Spanish: chocolate

Italian: cioccolato

German: Schokolade

Dutch: chocolade

Portuguese: chocolate

Esperanto: cokolado

Danish: chokolade

Polish: czekolada

Swedish: choklad

Indonesian: coklat

Maltese: cikkulata

Norwegian: sjokolad

Finnish: suklaa

Be sure to check out a unique download for Spanish Learners: The History of Chocolate for Spanish I Students: Spanish I students in grades 7 to 12 will love learning about chocolate’s fascinating history while they learn or practice preterite, past tense verbs. This unit fuses the ACTFL C’s of culture, connections, & communication. Included are a bililngual vocabulary & verb list, a short Spanish reading on chocolate’s origins, post-reading activities, student to student conversational activities, writing activities, and internet video and site recommendations.

Happy Chocolate Day!

Photo Credit: by Linnell Esler at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/452631

Should We Teach American Children Esperanto?

Diane — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:03:57 +0000

I came across an idea about introducing Esperanto as a foreign language subject in American schools a couple of weeks ago on the social action network, Change.org. According to the web site, “The Ideas for Change in America competition was created in response to Barack Obama’s call for increased citizen involvement in government.” The top 10 rated ideas on the site will be presented to Obama’s administration on January 16.

When I first saw the Esperanto idea, I didn’t give it too much thought. At the time, it had only about 300 votes. But I checked back today and there are now 2,682 votes, putting it in a close second place among ideas in education, and 29th place overall.

What do you think of this? Here’s the link: Introduce Esperanto as a foreign language subject in schools to help American kids succeed.

I am a HUGE supporter of early language learning. I am passionate about it. I teach my own children, I teach high school students, I devote hours to this Foreign Language Fun site, and I promote language learning whenever and wherever I can. I think Esperanto is cool. But I would not vote for this idea.

I don’t believe that any one language should be endorsed over another, and especially not by the American government. I understand that the premise is to introduce students to Esperanto first, and then to continue later with other languages. But there are people who will argue for Spanish only, or Mandarin only, or (sadly) English only. I, for one, can make a great case why children should learn French. But isn’t the important issue the fact that U.S. children need to learn languages and develop cultural understanding? I cringe when school districts eliminate choices or when individuals dismiss the value of any language.

What I want to see are diverse, high-quality language programs in elementary schools across the country with the funding to support them. But I don’t want the government deciding that all children must learn a particular language. Any early language learning will have a positive impact on future language study.

Again, I am not opposed to Esperanto. I just refuse to endorse any one language over another.

Please share your comments. I am really curious to find out what you think about teaching American kids Esperanto.

Say Thank You in Many Languages This Thanksgiving

Diane — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:44:13 +0000

When I think of Thanksgiving, my mind goes to turkey and pumpkin pie, parades and football. Of course, the real reason is to give thanks to God for all that He has given us. On this special holiday, I’d like to say Thank You in as many ways and as many languages as I can. I’m sure to leave out many languages, so please comment with additional ones and continue the list of thanks!

Dankie (Afrikaans)

Shukran (Arabic)

Dekuji (Czech)

Tak (Danish)

Dank u wel (Dutch)

Dankon (Esperanto)

Kiitos (Finnish)

Merci (French)

Danke (German)

Mahalo (Hawaiian)

Toda (Hebrew)

Shukriya (Hindi)

Takk (Icelandic)

Grazie (Italian)

Arigato (Japanese)

Grazzi (Maltese)

Xie xie (Mandarin Chinese)

Dziekuje (Polish)

Multumesc (Romanian)

Spasibo (Russian)

Gracias (Spanish)

Ahsante (Swahili)

Tack (Swedish)

Photo Credit: by cidinha28 at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/772189