Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Here's a Clever Bilingual Joke

My oldest daughter is into doing magic tricks and telling jokes. I'm thinking about having her do a little show and posting it up.

I received this cute joke from SpanishPod today called Pescaditos Joke. My daughter really got a kick out of it, so I wanted to share it with everyone:

Amigo: ¿Te cuento un chiste?

Amiga: Bueno.

Amigo: ¿Por qué el mar es azul?

Amiga: No sé. (I learned it as "no lo sé")

Amigo: Porque los pescaditos hacen, "Blu, blu, blu, blu..." (make the sound of bubbles)

Translation:

Friend 1: Can I tell you a joke?

Friend 2: Okay.

Friend 1: Why is the ocean blue?

Friend 2: I don't know.

Friend 1: Because the fishies say, "Blu, blu, blu, blu..."

:-)


A little note: I'll be away from blogging for a couple of weeks.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Brillante Blog Award

Merci -- Diane at Foreign Language Fun nominated my blog for the Brillante Blog Award.


When I read Diane's comment about an award waiting for me, I couldn't imagine what award that could be. Getting this really brightened up my day.


Here's how it works:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least five other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

My nominees are... (I could have gone on and on, but I narrowed it down to these)

Voices en Español

Boca Beth

Teaching and Learning Spanish

We are Little Amigos

Raising Cultured Children

Teaching Generations

Thank you all and I'm so proud to be a part of this growing and giving community.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Found in Translation: Sled or slide? The meaning of toboggan

Found in Translation: Sled or slide? The meaning of toboggan

Cape Coral resident Alessia Leathers, who is from Peru, writes about how words in Spanish and English can often be misinterpreted.

I just came back from my country of Peru. It has been a month pampered by family and friends. It also has been a month of surprises.

As usual, my annual visits open unavoidable opportunities to revisit childhood memories. This time, I discovered with great amazement that the word used to describe one of my favorite plays is not a Spanish one.

That is the word "tobogán" (toboggan), which I wrongly assumed was part of the Spanish vocabulary since the oldest existing epic poem "El Mio Cid" was composed, written long before Cervantes published "Don Quijote" in 1605. (Read more)

excerpt from juantornoe.blogs.com/hispanictrending/blog_index.html

Monday, September 1, 2008

Ideas for Boosting the Minority Language

10 Tips for Boosting the Minority Language

The truth is as long as you're talking and having fun with your child, you're doing fine. There is some opposition along the lines of 'I really think my child should learn how to play on her own, and not have to be entertained all the time.' Agreed, but if your goal is to provide an enriching learning environment, we need lots of talking. A language can only be learned by continuous input by someone who masters it, you. So, reading the newspaper while she is playing with the dollhouse doesn't work, but an engaging commentary of world events at least provides a compromise.

Lena Sandvik in Boston says 'I'm amazed that my 15 and 11 year olds have grown up to be completely bilingual. My own accent and those silly, grammatical errors I make in English still haven't disappeared, even after 15 years in the country.' As easy as acquiring multiple languages is for small children, the single most important factor in language learning is the quantity of spoken language addressed to the child. So, if you worry that you aren't providing enough, here are a few tricks to boost your superhero's inherent powers. (Read more)

excerpt from the Multilingual Children's Association