Blog 9: Language Acquisition

http://time.com/3453841/secret-learn-foreign-language-adult/
I found this article which is about language acquisition but for an adult who is learning a foreign language. He only studied it for 17 days and he was able to go to France and people thought he had lived there for at least a year! It was his second time learning a new language but still..17 days?!

Its a short article about how he acquired it so fast. Basically, he immersed himself in the language and practiced it whenever he got the chance. I thought this article was interesting because I myself am trying to learn a new language. He stresses how in a conversation with his French friends, he didn't have them slow down so his motto was: "Learn or starve!"
I am definitely going to do some of the things he said to such as reading children's books in Spanish and listening to more music in Spanish. Best of luck to those of you who are trying to acquire a second language!
                                           

Going...Going...Gone.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140606-why-we-must-save-dying-languages
I have already posted an article about dying languages, but this article is different very intriguing to me. I chose the article because it's very interesting. It starts out by talking about a man who speaks Cherokee and his wife who is also Cherokee, who doesn't speak it.It then goes on to talk about the rate at which some languages are dying off and why it is imperative that we try to save them. One thing I found really interesting was that the article stated even languages such as Cherokee, that have thousands of speakers, are in danger of dying off because children are not learning it. Languages are more than just the way we communicate, each language in itself holds knowledge about cultures and the people within that culture. It also informs us about different topics, some such as herbs and medicine, that we may not know as much about. The article does make me want to learn more about dying languages and see what is being done to try and preserve them.

Blog 7: Genderlects

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/288441/DIFFERENCES-IN-GENDERLECTS-CAN-HAVE-A-PROFOUND-EFFECT.html?pg=all
For blog 7, I found an article on genderlects. The article talks about how these genderlects affect men and women in everyday life. I picked this article because we talked about genderlects in class the other day and I found them quite intriguing. The thing that I found most interesting about the article was how it talked about from when we are little kids, girls are taught to be open and have "feeling talk," and boys are quite the opposite, they are taught not to share their feelings and have to try and be the biggest and baddest of the group to show dominance. The article then talks about how this transfers later into life. I thought the article did very well of explaining the topic-now I am more aware of something I had no idea about, and I hear examples of genderlects everyday!

Blog 6: Voiced and Voiceless Sounds

http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/hurley/Ling102web/mod3_speaking/3mod3.5.2_place.htm
This article that I found is about place of articulation. I really liked this article because it shows the different areas that are active when they are produced in the vocal tract. It shows arrows and lines to help illustrate the action. This article is related to language because it deals with being able to produce sounds by the way they are articulated in our mouth. This article made me want to go and learn more about this topic because we know naturally how to say words but I didn't know what was happening in my mouth, it's very interesting.

Blog 5: Maxims of Conversation!

This video relates to the Chapter 4: The Meaning of Language because this videos shows the 4 principles of maxims of conversation. Maxims of conversation are conversational conventions that people appear to obey in verbal interactions. The video shows the maxim of truth, which states to not say what you believe to be false, the maxim of quantity which basically says to not make your contribution more or less informative than is required. The other two principles that it shows are the maxim of relation which states to be relevant and the last one which is the maxim of manner which deals with clarity. 

This video is really funny and relevant to the chapter and it helped me in understanding the different principles dealing with maxims of conversation with entertaining examples.

Just for fun, here's some examples of the maxims of conversations in a couple comics.

Blog 4: R.I.P. Languages

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/18cnd-language.html
I picked this article because I think it is crazy how languages are dying off! It's related to language because it talks about how languages are starting to disappear in different parts of the world. The most interesting part for me was where it stated that out of the 7,000 languages spoken today, more than half are in danger and are likely to disappear by the end of the century. I agree with the article because I also think that as the last speakers of the language are dying off, the language is dying. Also, some have no written form so there is no record of them when they disappear. I think it's cool that for some of them they make recordings and basic word lists in an attempt to try and preserve some of the dying languages. I do want to learn more about dying languages, they are so diverse and interesting. My topic affects the world because there are so many different languages that are being spoken and they are important to many people and their culture.

Blog 3: 7 Things You Should Know about Sign Language!

http://mentalfloss.com/article/13107/7-things-you-should-know-about-sign-language
The article that I found is about 7 interesting things you may or may not know about sign language. I picked the article because I thought it has interesting facts, some of which I did not know about. It's related to language because obviously it is a language and within the article, it talks about how it is acquired and what happens when some of the communication ability is lost. For me, the most interesting thing was the part where it talked about how babies acquire sign language. It said that they start "babbling" with their hands and they use easier hand signs, which are "baby pronunciations." This article did make me want to learn more about the topic because I then started researching more about child signing. I think my topic has a huge effect on the world-sign language is very prominent in the United States as well as worldwide and I think having more knowledge about it would benefit those who sign and also those who don't. Here's some signs for the road! 

Blog 2: IDIOMS!

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/aug/05/idiotic-joys-idioms

The article I picked is about the idiotic joys of idioms. I picked it because I have always been fascinated by idioms. I find the phrases so interesting, plus my dad uses them ALL the time and sometimes I have no idea what he is trying to say! It's related to language because in the English language they are frequently used and also in other languages, as the article states. If you think some of the idioms in English don't make sense, wait until you hear some in other languages. The thing that I found most interesting about the article was how it mentioned idioms that people in other languages use, such as: in Spanish they say to reheat the cabbage which means to rekindle an old flame and also to think one is the last suck of the mango which in South American Spanish means to be conceited. There is really nothing to agree or disagree with on the article, it's meant to inform and entertain. This article does make me want to learn more- I want to learn more interesting idioms and use them when I'm having a conversation! I think this topic affects the world because people use idioms everyday, all around the world and I think people should try to be more aware of them and their meaning.I enjoyed chewing the fat with you all!

Blog 1!

http://mentalfloss.com/article/61119/13-words-year-other-countries

 I picked the article because I thought it was really cool how they found the 13 words of the year from other countries. We really only hear about words that make our list, for example, SELFIEEE! So it’s nice to hear about what word was “trending” in different countries this past year. It is related to language because it has the words from different countries in that country’s language. For example in Denmark, the word of the year was mobilpay which is a money transfer app that was created. It is now being used as a verb-I mobilpayed him yesterday.

  

       The thing that I found most interesting about the article was the part about Germany. There were other words that were nominated for word of the year and one of them was Generation Kopf unten which means generation head down because of everyone looking down at their devices. I find it interesting how dependent not just the United States, but other countries have become on their hand-held devices.
  

There was really nothing to agree or disagree on, it was more of just an article to read to     inform/entertain.

  This article definitely makes me want to keep an ear out for the words that will make the       list in the future.

    I think my topic affects the world because like me, I read the article and it makes me want to be more aware of what may be going on globally. Also, seeing this list of words and how they came to be can help us to take a look into another country and maybe infer some things about them. An example I have is another word from Germany, Goetzseidank, which means Thank God, it is in reference to Soccer player Mario Goetze, who scored to win the World Cup for Germany. From that word, I can infer that Germany is bonkers about soccer! I mean you kind of have to be when you say thank god and it’s in reference to the guy who helped bring victory to your team!

Here’s to another great year full of new words!  

Introduction

Hello everybody! My name is Heidi Deary and I am 19  years old. I am majoring in speech pathology and this is my last semester here at GCC, I'm transferring to ASU for Fall 2015. I enjoy spending time with my family, going to the movies, running, shopping, eating..I could go on for hours! I also like to watch hockey and football-GO PATRIOTS! As of right now, I am learning to play the piano and with a few songs under my belt, I'm a rising Beethoven! 

I speak English but I am taking Spanish right now, hopefully to be bilingual in the future. I am taking ENG 213 to finish up the classes I need to graduate from GCC and also to receive a language certificate. I have many experiences with language and language learning. My dad owns a company and many of his employees are bilingual. When I visit, I have the opportunity to speak Spanish to them...it doesn't turn out too well all the time because they speak so fast and once they say a word I don't know, I'm lost! A few members of my family also speak Spanish so I am able to practice with them. I also take a Spanish class so I am submerged in the language for an hour and fifteen minutes. 
I am definitely looking forward to this class and what it has in store. 
                                                                                                                   ADIOS AMIGOS!