Kazakh language

Hello Everyone,


I have been thinking the last few weeks about what foreign language I should blog about. There are so many interesting ones out there, it is hard to choose. For the past month I have been taking a Law Class, one of my classmates is a lawyer from Kazakhstan. She is a very nice woman, and also very intelligent. She told me that Kazakh is a little bit like Turkish and a little bit like Arabic, but it uses the Cyrillic alphabet. I am fascinated by the idea that language families grow, shift, and move together. They evolve just like humans and all life forms evolve.  Languages in a way, are life. They are intellectual phenomena uniting all people. As we evolve, they evolve. So I decided to post some little tid-bits about the Kazakh language.

dialekt kaszubski - Kashubian Dialect of Poland

Only fifty thousand native speakers of this language exist today. The earliest printed documents in Kashubian date from the end of the 16th century. The modern orthography was first proposed in 1879.

Which language should you learn?

I have always had the opinion that you should learn what ever makes you happy. Watch my video above. I found a website that has a great little test which should help you figure out what works best for you.

Who is reading this blog?

I check my demographics all the time. This picture represents last weeks views.

My readers are all over the world.

Somebody must really like me, or maybe I have a few stalkers out there. :--)

No time for language learning

I do not know about the rest of you, but with children, family and work, I am having trouble finding the time to maintain my languages. Before having these two babies, had so much free time. I could hang out in coffee shops, bookstores, and libraries. My favorite things to do.

I would conjugate verbs, write sentences and contemplate the meaning of trivial things.

Now, it is all about babies, diapers, baths, dinner, laundry, and a never ending stream of house chose that never get finished.

When could I possible pick up another language, or maintain what I have?

Good grief.

Today I took the little one up to North Seattle. I ran out of lye and need it to make my Artisan soaps.

While pushing the stroller up to the metro, I utilized my time listening to Pimsleur Mastering Chinese. I have Chinese, Russian, Italian, and Korean on my IPOD. When I walk with the baby anywhere, this is my golden opportunity to listen to languages. It is not as much as I want, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is listen to these language learning CD's in your car, on your Ipod, in the bus, subway or walking where ever you need to go.

My theory is this - the time spent listening is cumulative. It adds up slowly. Maybe a lot slower than we would like, but something is better than nothing when it comes to language learning. The key is consistency. You have to be consistent, and squeeze in those special ten or fifteen minutes every day. Just imaging how much listening you would have done in one year. Think of it like a bank account - put in fifteen dollars every day, five days a week.

It is worth it in the end.

Hyperglots Daily Routine

Did you know that polyglots are usually male and left handed? It is true! I have only known a couple other female polyglots. We are a rare breed indeed.

When I listen to the video above, his daily regime is overwhelming. I can not handle more than three languages in one day. I do not know how this man does it.

Naomi's New Language Learning Material