We wish a Happy New Year to all our visitors, dictionary users, dictionary authors, voluntary translators and forum members!
We do hope that 2012 will bring a lot of new updates to the site, especially the new version of the dictionary program that we’ve been promising you since, hmmm… well, for a long time. We will also publish some new quizzes very soon.
In the meanwhile, you can wish your family and friends a Happy New Year in all languages!
When I receive emails like this:
You can add the Tagalog (Philippines’ national language) translation of Merry Christmas – Maligayang Pasko. Thank you.
I know that that time of the year is approaching… 
So, yes, we have gathered for you a list of translations of Merry Christmas in all languages. Not really all languages, of course, but with now more than 100 languages we are improving each year.
Merry Christmas everybody… Maligayang Pasko!
When it comes to wackiness and cultural wonders, inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun, seem to constantly go that one step further to amaze us. From their baffling pachinko – a hypnotic ubiquitous slot-machine game-, or school girls’ underwear addiction, to strange humiliating game shows, Japan has become the place where, in terms of entertainment everything and anything goes.
Advertising is no exception, and that now apply to western celebrities too. Long gone are the days when holding a glass of Scottish Whisky while smiling at the camera, was just about all you could ask a jet-lagged over-the-hill actor, before he flies back to US with untouched rep and a bank account well topped off.
Bill Murray with his performance in Sophia Coppola’s movie has now turned these easy-money no questions asked gigs into a cool thing. Portraying an aging actor on a trip to Japan to repay a loan, “Lost in translation” has put a bright light on what used to be hushed in Hollywood and made it trendy. From then on, other celebs have had to go extra creative and wild in the name of Japanese entertainment.
Here are some of the craziest celebrity acts in Japanese ads.
Recently admitted alcoholic Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage is now going bonkers in a pachinko campaign, because he stumbles upon a triplets’ convention and thinks he’s tripping.
Coming clean with own addiction scandal and repaying the mortgage? Way to go Nick!
Closely followed by an insane Bruce Willis dressed up in grotesque orange pyjamas promotes a petrol station chain by bizarrely deciding to shoot up his bedroom with a ray gun in action films-like shouting frenzy. A must-see! Where else would you get to see Bruce Willis in an orange nightcap?
Last but not least, ever so cool Japan-ophile Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill 1and 2), has gone further by going lingual too and actually having a go at Japanese language in this gone-mad family reunion ad pushing a weird doggy speaking cell phone. Hat off to Quentin for making the effort, when most English speaking actors, usually get dubbed in Japanese ads!
Note also that Mr Tarantino has for the occasion been renamed “Tara Chan” (Uncle Tara)!
Domo Arigoto Tara Chan!
AP, for Freelang
I know things have been quiet on the blog and on the site lately. There have been updates of a few dictionaries, especially thanks to Charles Lippert and the wonderful work he’s been doing for many years on the Ojibwe dictionary, which now boasts more than 92,000 entries.
Someone else has been working too, his name is Yuri and he’s preparing a new version of the Freelang dictionary program. This is something we have all been waiting for, because the current version of the program has a few bugs and also needs new features. Especially we want to use only one program to display wordlists in any source and target languages, and with an interface in any possible language too. In other words, you should be able to display our Spanish-English and Dutch-French dictionaries, while browsing the menus in Russian if you like.
I think Yuri is doing a great job in fixing the bugs and introducing new features, while keeping the program small and handy, as we all like it. We hope to release the very first beta version in about one month. In the meantime, here is the first unveiled screenshot!
English and French have a natural link, because of the proximity of the UK and France. The languages have influenced each another to a similar degree, although the English influence on French came later.
English is full of words that have come from French through the ages. There are plenty of common expressions used in English today, such as cul-de-sac, which originally came from France, but many words, which we think of as wholly English also came from France.
This started with the Norman invasion of England in 1066. It had a major impact not only on the country, but also on the English language. William the Conqueror and his merry band of Normans brought Norman French with them, which became the language of the court, government and the upper class for the next three centuries. English continued to be used by ordinary people, and Latin was the language of the church.
During the period when Norman French was the dominant language, English was rarely used in writing, and started to change in many ways.
Over the years, the English language has borrowed a great number of French words and expressions. Some of this vocabulary has been so completely absorbed by English that speakers might not realize its origins. Other words and expressions have retained their “Frenchness” – a certain je ne sais quoi which speakers tend to be much more aware of.
Vocabulary
During the Norman occupation, about 10,000 French words were adopted into English, some three-quarters of which are still in use today. This French vocabulary is found in every domain, from government and law to art and literature.
Around a third of all English words are derived directly or indirectly from French. In fact English speakers know around 15,000 French words, even before they start learning the language. There are also more than 1,700 words that are identical in the two languages.
À la carte, chef d’œuvre, crème brûlée, competition, force, machine, publicity… English indeed contains many words of French origin, and many other Anglicized French words. These are pronounced according to English rules of orthography, rather than French but around 28% of English vocabulary is of French origin.
Many French expressions are also commonly used, such as “après moi, le déluge”. Literally: after me, the deluge; remark attributed to Louis XV of France and used in reference to the impending end of a functioning French monarchy and predicting the French Revolution.
Pronunciation
The pronunciation of English also changed to some extent under the influence of French, as did the spelling. For example, the Old English spellings cw, sc and c became qu, sh and ch, so we now write queen rather than cwen, ship rather than scip, and should rather than scolde.
Grammar
Another rare but interesting remnant of French influence is in the word order of expressions like secretary general and surgeon general, where English has retained the noun + adjective word order typical in French, rather than the usual adjective + noun used in English.
Finally, we can see the influence of French in the English language by all the Idiomatic English expressions using the word “French”: French vanilla, French kiss, French press, French maid, or French letter, which in French is actually “English condom”!
For further reading, here is a list of French phrases and sayings used in English and a list of French words in English. You can also test yourself with this quiz about French terms used in English.
2011 is coming, and we wish you all a very Happy New Year. Sawatdee Pimai, as they say in Thailand, Hauoli Makahiki Hou in Hawaii or Gelukkig Nieuwjaar in Netherlands, yes we know how to say it in more than a hundred languages!
Yes, even in Japanese! We are proud to count 99 languages in our collection of “Merry Christmas” in as many languages as possible. And we always receive many contributions at this time of the year, so we will probably be over 100 when Christmas comes.
>> Merry Christmas in all languages <<
Our list has been stolen by many blogs and facebook pages, but beware of imitations: only the list at Freelang is being maintained carefully, as we always keep an open eye for suggestions, corrections and of course additions. Many thanks, dear Freelang users, for your help in making this compilation, and Merry Christmas everybody!
Spanish language is a member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. Official language of Spain and 19 Latin American nations, Spanish is spoken as a first language by about 330 million persons and as a second language by perhaps another 50 million. Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
The Spanish language is regulated by the Association of Spanish Language Academies which comprises the academies of 22 countries: Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Philippines, Panama, Cuba, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Honduras, Puerto Rico, and the United States. On November 28, 2010, a “New orthographic guide for Spanish language” is going to be ratified by the language’s 22 international academies when they meet in Guadalajara, Mexico. Spanish speakers will now have to get used to new spelling rules, including for example writing Irak instead of Iraq, under proposals to modernize the Spanish language. For Salvador Gutierrez, a Spanish academic who helped coordinate the work, “The aim is to have coherent spelling and avoid linguistic dispersion.”
Dear Spanish speaking Freelang users, what is your opinion on this reform?
Delphine, for Freelang
Reading the news these last few weeks, there were some articles about endangered languages. Here is a quick press review.
In Quebec, eleven radio stations will broadcast programs in Atikamekw and Innu languages (respectively 20 and 27 hours weekly). “The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of Aboriginal languages and continues to support efforts to preserve and revitalize them,” said James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. Innu (or Montagnais) is spoken by over 11,000 people, the Innu, in Labrador and Quebec in Eastern Canada. Atikamekw is spoken in southwestern Quebec by the Atikamekw people (around 4,500 people). Both are Algonquian languages and part of the Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi dialect continuum.
September 26 was the European Day of Languages. This event, created in 2001, aims at encouraging and maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity. A range of activities are organised across Europe: television and radio programmes, language classes and conferences, and activities for children.
A new language was discovered in India and was named “Koro”. It is spoken by only one thousand speakers and could be classified in the Tibeto-Burman family. It is estimated that one language disappears every two weeks, so the discovering of a new language is good news, provided it can be kept alive.
In Phuket, a famous touristic island in the south of Thailand, it is a dialect which is slowly disappearing. Compared to the other southern dialects, the Phuket dialect is slower and uses some specific words, some of them imported from Hokkien Chinese. But due to the tourism boom, mass media and migrant workers, young people in Phuket now tend to speak standard Thai. “The local dialect is not included in school curriculum; students are actually prohibited from using it when talking with teachers. It is now trendy for new parents to speak Bangkok Thai with their children at home, and younger Thais now blend the Bangkok and Phuket dialects”, said Professor Sommai Pinphutasin, president of the Phuket Historical Interest Group. Many people are trying to revive the dialect, just by speaking it everyday or by supporting the effort to include it into curricula.
IELTS or “International English Language Testing System” is an international standardised test of English language proficiency. It is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, the British Council and IDP Education of Australia. It was established in 1989. It is the world’s proved English test. Many candidates take the test each year to start their journeys into international education and employment.
IELTS is recognised by more than 6,000 institutions in over 135 countries.
IELTS was one of the pioneers of four skills in English language testing over 21 years ago, and continues to set the standard for English language testing today.
More than 1.4 million test takers around the world trust and recognise IELTS as a secure, valid and reliable indicator of true-to-life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration and professional accreditation.
There are two versions of the IELTS: the Academic Version and the General Training Version:
- The Academic Version is intended for those who want to enrol in universities and other institutions of higher education and for professionals such as medical doctors and nurses who want to study or practise in an English-speaking country.
- The General Training Version is intended for those planning to undertake non-academic training or to gain work experience, or for immigration purposes.
All candidates must complete four Modules – listening, reading, writing and speaking – to obtain a band score, which is shown on the IELTS Test Report Form (TRF).
The report of August 2009 revealed the annual test scores and the top English learners in 2008. Afrikaans and Eastern European speakers topped International English Language Testing System (IELTS) annual test scores. Indeed, out of the 1.2 million candidates who took an IELTS test in 2008, Afrikaans speakers achieved the highest average scores for listening, writing and speaking English. German, Romanian, Tagalog, Yoruba and Ibo speakers also performed well across the four components of the world’s leading English language test.
Zoom on Romania:
Romania was classified third international English Language Testing System with the Afrikaans and Germans. The Romanian candidates obtained very high scores, placing them in the world Top three, with an average score of 6,39 points, on a scale from 1 to 9. This score showed very advanced linguistic skills of the Romanians, which explains their capacity to study sometimes complex subjects such as medicine, in universities taught.
2008 records the highest number of people around the world who chose to take an IELTS test, which 3/4 seeking to prove their English language ability for academic purposes. IELTS continues to be the world’s English language test for higher education, immigration and recruitment. A strong demand for IELTS was expected in 2010. The current global economic climate means that an increasing number of people are considering the opportunities presented by studying or working abroad. As a result, the organisation is also expecting to see the overall level of test scores rising and candidates from new countries beginning to enter the list of top performers.
Delphine, for Freelang