La Confluencia de Culturas

I've just come back from Malaga and I am once again struck by the strong Arab and Jewish influence that when I was younger I simply thought of as Spanish, maybe Andalucian Spanish. Andalucia is a fascinating region, of which Malaga is a lovely province. The capital of the province is of course Malaga City. The city is campaigning to be named European Cultural Capital of 2016, so it is doing some wonderful housecleaning, including creating more pedestrian zones, planting more flowers, etc. The fact that Malaga is on the coast is a big plus for the city - lots of restaurants line the beach - from informal chiringuitos in the sand to formal, pricey ones with lovely views.

I went to visit Spanish schools so I would have good places to send our students and so also visited schools in Marbella, Benalmadena and Ronda. Spectacular architecture and design. I learned that the Spanish word azulejo (painted tile) doesn't come from the word azul (many of the first ones were blue) but rather from the Arabic word for tile.

I visited the University of Malaga in Ronda - a beautiful city high atop a mountain, with sweeping vistas that leave one weak. ILI is teaming with the University to offer a course called España: La Confluencia de Culturas. Email me if you're interested this university course at alexis@languageschoolusa.org

Caminante No Hay Camino

My favorite quote comes from an Antonio Machado poem. (It's also sung by Joan Manuel Serrat) "Caminante no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar. Caminante no hay camino, sino estelas en el mar." Sort of translates as Traveler(or one who walks), there's no road. You make the road by walking. Traveler, there's no road, but rather a wake in the sea.

I've been away from this blog since January. People had said it was hard to post so they emailed me with comments, some of which I tried to post to the blog. Recently I got an email from a former TESOL participant that I want to share. Here it is:

In February, I went to Mexico for 2 and a half weeks, and fell in love with San Cristobal and all the city's colors. Three friends and I attended a language school there in Chiapas to revive our Spanish skills - I had reached an upper intermediate level but hadn't studied it for about five years. It came back quickly after being surrounded by it. The school arranged some amazing cultural outings for us - we visited two neighboring indigenous villages - Zinacantan and Chamula, where I witnessed some interesting religious ceremonies and learned how to use the looms that the women use to make beautiful tapestries and clothing. (I also saw some postings in the city advertising for TESOL teachers!)
Then I had a complete change of gears and went to Germany for a month - now surrounded by a language I knew nothing about. I did not pick up much of it, because the people I stayed with spoke English. But it was another interesting cultural experience and again, I had a wonderful trip. I learned many things about the different ways people live, and of course, in turn, about myself.

This is from Heather Carragher. She says she is happy to talk to people who are interested in studying in Mexico. If you're interested in studying in Spain, let me know. I've got some great schools to recommend.

So, this month, if anyone has a favorite quote in another language, please post it. Hasta pronto.

Happy New Year!

I came back from a wonderful time in Algeria and had loads of energy. Maybe it was something in the hot springs bath we visited on Christmas day. A few days back and I caught what everyone else has here so the energy was drained and this is my first opportunity to share some Algeria thoughts.

People were wonderfully welcoming. An older woman stopped me in the market of Algiers and asked me in French if I liked Algiers. She welcomed me and wished me a happy new year. When I was in Setif, people wanted to know if I liked Setif. They wished us a merry Christmas and decorated the school dining hall on Christmas eve. An official from the Dept. of Education in Setif wished us peace and love in the new year. He said that we may practice different religions and celebrate different holidays but where it counts, we're all the same. We felt love from the teachers we trained and kindness everywhere we went. When I spoke Arabic, people were thrilled. And did you know how many English words come from Arabic? I knew a lot of Spanish words came from the language but what about .....

soda, tabby, so long, alcohol, alcove, admiral, arsenal, artichoke, carat, gauze, lute, macabre, masquerade, mattress, tariff, zenith, giraffe, sugar, cipher, syrup and that's just part of my list.

I have the Arabic original words and meanings for these if anyone is interested. Language is a wondrous thing.

Commenting on this Blog

People have emailed me saying that they can't comment on this blog and I can't figure out how to do it. The one comment I received by email that allowed me to publish I did. Since then I've gotten other emails but they weren't sent "through" the blog so that I could publish them. One of them I am copying here as it is another wonderful word origin. To my friends from Table One, I WILL figure this out when I get back from Algeria. Meanwhile, very happy holidays to you all.

This is from Dodie Gaudet:

Today, I took a tour of the Worcester Art Museum as part of the annual luncheon for the Academic and Research Libraries in the Central Region. Theexhibit (which is up until January 14) is called Mi Puerto Ricohttp://www.worcesterart.org/Exhibitions/puerto_rico.html During the tour,the guide showed us a still life that contained a machete (included becauseit was used to harvest the fruit in the painting) and said that the word"machete" came from the place where the item was manufactured - Manchester,England.

Holiday Symbols

Years ago I put together a holiday game that cosists of 10 objects on a table that represent various holidays in different countries around this time of year. I brought the game out again this year to use at a civic organization that I belong to and I changed a few. I am interested in collecting more so I'm going to list the 10 I used last night and see if I can learn about some new holidays.

1. Object: Stocking depicting a good witch leaving presents for children
Holiday: Epiphany
Country: Italy
Comments: I always thought this was for Christmas but this stocking is over 30 yrs. old and children did not get presents on Christmas day at that time.
2. Object: An egg
Holiday: Solstice
Country: Everywhere celebrated
Comments: It is said that at the exact moment of Solstice you can stand an egg on its end (bigger side down). This year Solstice is on Dec. 21 at 7:22 p.m.
3. Object: Man in a red hat squating down and relieving himself
Holiday: Christmas
Country: Catalunya, Spain
Comments: In the Catalan nativity scene there have always been figures that represent people going about their normal life - a fisherman, a washerwoman and the "caganés", the aforementioned guy. This is to depict that Jesus was born on a day like any other.
4. Object(s): A placemat, ears of corn
Holiday: Kwanzaa
Country: USA
Comments: This African American holiday was begun in the 60's to honor African American history and tradition. The placemat represents nuturing and tradition. Each ear of corn represents a child in the family. The holiday begins the day after Christmas.
5. Object(s): Christmas tree, decorations (this year the decorations represented the Twelve Days of Christmas)
Holiday: Christmas
Country: USA (and others)
Comments: The tradition of the tree began in Germany I believe. The tree is a symbol of the path to the birth of Jesus, starting at the bottom and winding its way to the star at the top. Presents used to be placed on the tree to represent the gifts that the wise men brought.
6. Objects(s): Three figures bearing gifts
Holiday: "Día de los Reyes"
Country: Spain, most Latin American Countries and others
Comments: These countries did not celebrate Christmas in the past, other than to attend a church service and have a family meal. The presents were given on January 6 - Epiphany, the day the 3 kings brought the presents.
7. Object: A shoe
Holiday: St. Nicolaus, Decmeber 5th.
Country: Germany
Comments: I just learned this while wrapping books in a bookstore for another civic organization. A man said he needed to give his German wife presents that night. I asked him about an object that would represent this holiday and he said he was supposed to put the presents in a shoe. I'd love to learn more about this one.
8. Object: A dreidl
Holiday: Hannukah or Chanukah (means rededication)
Country: Wherever celebrated.
Comments: This holiday celebrates events which took place 2,300 years ago in Judea. It takes place on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kisley - this varies on the western calendar between the end of November and the end of December. This year it begins December 16th. The Festival of Lights lasts for eight days to commemorate the miracle of the oil (which instead of lasting one day, lasted for 8) and is now symbolized by the menorah.
9. Object: Red envelope
Holiday: Chinese New Year
Country: China
Comments: Red envelopes are used to give money as presents
10. Object(s): Noisemakers/funny hats
Holiday: New Year
Country: USA and others
Comments: New Year in Spain could be represented by 12 grapes - each one to be eaten on a stroke of midnight.

Another holiday I've included is La Posada from Mexico which could be represented by a piñata. One of our Thai students just told me that December 6th is Father's Day and is represented by an article of yellow clothing. I would love to learn of more holidays celebrated around this time of year. Also I appreciate any corrections if I have my facts wrong.

Happy Holidays!

Tempus Fugit

So much for posting every few days. I couldn't figure out how to manage this and friends who went on said they couldn't post so I'm still trying to figure that out. I'm hoping to be able to manage this soon as I'm leaving for Algeria on December 20th. I'll return on the 29th. I will be very interested to practice my French and try out my rusty Arabic. When I was in Andalucia, Spain this fall, I added words to my Arabic/Spanish list. I had known that many words beginning with a and al in Spanish come from Arabic - alcazar, aceituna, etc. Ojalá, of course, comes from Allah. While I was in the Alhambra this time I learned a new one. The recesses in the walls, usually curved or pointed at the top and used for vases and other things, are called "tacas". In Spanish we have "taquillas", which are ticket windows. In many arenas they are shaped like those in the Alhambra. I'm hoping I can find more Arabic/Spanish connections while in Algeria. However, I understand that Arabic was not spoken for many years in parts of the country. What an interesting cultural experience this is going to be.

Before I leave I hope to post a few of my favorite language jokes. Something light for the season - the season of light.

Table One

When I was 7 I took my first Spanish class. It literally changed my life, or at least set the course. Until we moved when I was in the fifth grade, I studied Spanish in the progressive Old Country Road Elementary School on Long Island, NY. I picked it up again in 8th grade and studied it throughout High School. I majored in Spanish at Georgetown, spent my junior year in Madrid and upon graduating settled in Barcelona, Spain for 9 years. Along the way I studied French, Italian and Catalan. When I returned to the States to do a Masters in Teaching English and Spanish, I learned how to write Arabic and speak at an elementary level. I have since studied bits of Mayan and Turkish. It is no wonder that I cofounded a language school and that I have remained fascinated with languages and culture all my life.

As executive director of the International Language Institute of MA., Inc. for 22 years, I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel - for recruiting, giving workshops, evaluating schools for our accrediting agency and visiting friends. For the past 3 years I have been invited to attend the Fedele Conference in Spain, which is hosted by the Spanish Tourist Board and regional tourists boards in Spain. Late September of this year I travelled to Granada in Andalucia, Spain for my third conference. It was a busy, tiring, interesting, fun, informative time. I consider myself the local authority on Spanish schools in Spain and am happy to talk to people about their needs and interests regarding Spanish study in Spain.

On the Sunday after the conference, I travelled with about 24 people to Guadix, a city about an hour from Granada where many people actually live in caves. At lunchtime we descended into a restaurant cave and I sat with a group of international agents: Dr. J L Kettle-Williams from the U.K., the Derlers from Austria, Paula Giambelluca from Italy and Birger Reinhardt Larsen from Norway, among others. We had a wonderful time and J named our group Table One. Hence the title of my first blog. It was there that my ideas for this blog became clear.

I love language and culture articles, jokes, stories, arcane bits of information, etc. Puns, funny misspellings, double entendres are music to my ears. My interest in starting this blog is to share
this kind of information and perhaps I can entice Table One to join the dialog. All are welcome to join Table One. J said that what he has studied (I believe it was sociolinguistics) isn't going to save the world. I disagree. I think understanding language and culture may be the only thing that can do it. So courtesy of J - here is the first language tidbit.

In the 60's, the Peace Corps was in Paraguay. The Guarani had a word HASY - pronounced hasúl that meant "He/she is not well" or "There's a problem". The volunteers began to use it mixed in with their English and it travelled back to the States with them as hassle, which is still used today of course.

For many people, this is useless information. For those of you who find it fascinating, or at least somewhat interesting, I invite you to join Table One. I'll post every few days, read and share your comments. The older I get, the more I want to learn and language and culture are my favorite subjects.