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Languages of Current Interest
One of the unique aspects of
UC San Diego’s Revelle College is the requirement that graduates have
proficiency in a foreign language and that they have a “noncontiguous minor,”
meaning that students majoring in math, science or engineering must have a
minor in one of the humanities and those who major in the humanities must have
a minor in math, science or engineering.
My language of proficiency
was French, and my undergraduate minor was linguistics. While language in general is interesting to
me, I have specifically studied French, Spanish and Japanese, and I know how to
say, “Are you Rakesh Varma?” in Hindi.
An excellent web site for
people who are interested in foreign languages is the main Japanese radio
station NHK World (http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/index_e.html),
which allows one to listen to the news in any of 22 different languages. Because the speakers are professional
newscasters, the pronunciation is of high quality, so many of the quirky idioms
and speech anomalies that one might encounter in everyday situations are
absent. Also, since you are likely to
already know something about the major news stories in the world, you will have
an advantage in understanding what is being said. NHK World also has some wonderful computer
wallpapers that change monthly.
Reflections on Japanese
Japanese is distinguished by
its unique grammar and the apparent connection between the language and the
Japanese culture. Below are some random
reflections on some selected aspects of Japanese that may prove helpful to
anyone who is considering a trip to Japan in the near future.
Japanese syllables:
How does “hu” become “fu?”
Katakana: You need to know this
alphabet.
The art of indirect speaking
Verb tenses:
Should it be called the passive aggressive tense?
Particles