Happy Valentine’s day!

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!

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!

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

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 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.

>> 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!

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

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.