In how many countries...

...is French an official language?

That's not the same question as In how many countries is French spoken?

What does it mean anyway, an official language?

The language map of the world for official languages would look very different from other language maps of the world.

Constructed languages

More than you think. Esperanto is one that you might have heard about.

Find out from Zam, the green alien, some advantages of Esperanto. You could learn a few phrases, too.

Saluton! Mi parolas Esperanton!

Hey, you can even insult each other in Esperanto!

Vi odoras kiel krokodilo. Kion vi opinias?

Endangered languages

Find out what you can about endangered languages.

What can be done about languages disappearing as the speakers of them die? Should anything be done? Should people accept language loss as an inevitability? It is useful to study or preserve endangered languages in some way, or should linguists focus their interests on currently spoken languages?

One of the more interesting theories is that languages currently spoken on a wider scale - so not thought of as endangered - could quickly become endangered, perhaps within a generation or two, thanks to globalisation interacting with government education policy.

People always get in the way, no matter what policies are implemented. What about the last two speakers of the endangered language who fell out, and are now not talking to each other?

Russian

Okay, I do not recognise the alphabet, I can't reproduce the sounds, and I have no hope of taking myself seriously while I try to acquire either of those skills.

I've never been stopped by the threat of humiliation, so off we go.

Let's make noises with the alphabet sounds at Master Russian (they're optimistic).

Some explanation of the alphabet at the same site.

If you tire of the ads, try words here, at hello-world. Click through to hear the Russian.

A no-frills video, which I found quite helpful.

Over here I learned the Russian for hedgehog. That might come in handy one day.

Should I try and organise a couple of introductory Russian lessons for the home ed group? I see we have a Russian speaker on the island...

While you're learning how to say hello, you can view Russian art at the Gallery.

Spanish

There are hundreds of sites on the web to learn Spanish. You can find resources if you search on keywords like learn Spanish online for free.

If it helps get you started: easy words with a family and birthday.

Numbers.

Multiple choice lesson in ordinary greetings.

Norwegian

By special request from Shark!

Learn how to say hello! (I got that far!)

Or you could listen to... person making sounds. Or this engaging young woman, who will help us if we need to buy an apple when we arrive in Norway and we cannot see one. Or maybe we will need to point at two mice?

Maybe we can look at the development and language grouping for Norwegian?

(I can barely wait until we get to Swedish. Your father has an O level in that.)

Where oh where is Michel Thomas when you need him?

Latin

When we return to England, we're all joining the Latin group! If you can't remember the few Latin words you've already learned (surely not), try searching online,* or look at Tiger's Minimus mouse book.

I've registered here and will check out this site, learnlatinfree. Would any of you like to sit with me while I go through the first lessons? And let's see if we can find a copy of Ecce Romani.

*Quick and easy expressions here; introduction to the alphabet here; Latin word of the month here (and click on 'other Latin words...); Horrible Histories Evil Emperors Song here (and there's plenty more to watch from them!). And if you watch it, watch it with your mother. I, Claudius. (Then be prepared to find Robert Graves on the bookshelves.)

Icelandic

Here's a man holding a camera over a whiteboard. But I did learn some Icelandic!

Here he is again. What words did you learn to say?

Find out something about Iceland APART FROM the information about rocks, horses, and how we all want to go there. We know that already.

Pidgin

What's Pidgin?

Ask daddy about Pidgin and Creole. Are they the same as versions of English such as Chinglish?

Italian

Pimpa! Dove Pimpa?

Click through resources on YouTube...

... face and body bits here ... grocery shopping here ... colori here ... story here.

For audio, try here. BBC Language Series Italian here.

And of course I have Italian resources on my ipod!

Ah! Who could forget the Italian lessons! The term that Raquel had a breakdown, the boys peed up the walls, and we all got banned.

Cantonese

Learn how to recognise Hello and Thank you in Cantonese!

Have a look through the book Interactive Cantonese.

Learn some words; numbers would be useful for the shops. We can have plenty of listening practice with this language!

Arabic

Come and get a sheet of Arabic letters from me.

In what ways are Arabic characters similar or different from Roman script or Chinese script?

Can you draw any of the characters using ink and brush?

There is a pdf here which gives you examples of English and Arabic words.

If anyone wants to listen to any Arabic, I have some beginner lessons on my ipod!

Writing

Researching the medievals this week, I came across this site.

There are plenty of examples of early writing styles here; this page shows you samples of writing in the 7th to 11th centuries. You can also see text in square and cursive scripts from the Roman period.

Look around the site. Try your calligraphy this week in a style that inspires you.

French

There are plenty of web resources around for spoken French.

BBC Language Series: French.

... and I have some Michel Thomas audio lessons on my ipod. If you want to improve, the resources are around you, and they aren't difficult to find.

Old English

Watch Eddie Izzard go to buy a brown cow using Old English.

Remember Beowulf? (Now I want to go back to West Stow Anglo Saxon village.)

Greek

Look at the Greek alphabet. Click on the audio files to listen how this alphabet is pronounced.

A few lessons are available from this page. Let me know what you think. Would you like to learn Greek?

BBC Languages Series: 10-part introduction to Greek.

You can do a general search on Ancient Greek mythology, customs, food, society. The web is filled with information.