I’m not feeling all that well today, so I’ll keep it mercifully short:

To learn “to be” in Japanese, one must first be aware of the standard word order in Japanese — SOV.  That is, the verb goes last — after the subject and object.  “To be” is no different.  For example, to say “I’m an American,” one says, “(I) American am” (note: the I can be dropped if it’s understood from context). 

There are several words which all could translate as “to be” in Japanese, but their use varies wildly.  They are:

です (だ)  desu ( or “da” in informal form)
あります (ある)  arimasu (or “aru” in the informal)
います (いる)  imasu (or “iru” in the informal)

Desu is the basic Japanese copula, and is used for a variety of tasks, such as ascribing a quality to someone/something (i.e., 田中さん高いです。 “Mr. Tanaka is tall).  It’s also used for stating facts or naming objects.  By contrast, arimasu and imasu are used for establishing existence, such as “there’s a test tomorrow” (”明日試験が　あります”); or location, such as “the book is in the car” (”本が車の中にあります”).  “Arimasu” differs from “imasu” in that “imasu” is used to describe animate things (e.g., people and animals), and “arimasu” describes the inanimate (e.g., books and tests, as in the examples above).  Go here for more…

So says Mr. Nicholas Ostler of the Forbes language series.

While the central assertion that many a lingua franca has come and gone throughout history is certainly valid, and no one could argue that English is going to retain its position indefinitely (the phenomenon of language change means that English will eventually diverge into multiple different languages), there are some unique factors in the ascent of English’s popularity that are likely to ensure its dominance well beyond the economic preeminence of the English-speaking world.

If you’re truly motivated to get a glimpse of future trends in English learning, click here for a British Council commissioned-report on the subject by David Graddol.

• Some of the highlights: English’s use as a vehicle for the publication and distribution of scientific and technological literature would not change very readily, as a change would entail translation of the entire pre-existing corpus.
• English is the first truly global language. While there have been imperial and regional lingua francas before, English is uniquely widespread, with the majority of world countries mandating its study — either as a first or a second language.
• English has largely been deracinated fin terms of international study. Many non-native speakers are more likely to use their English skills to converse with other non-native than to speak with natives.

Everyone but everyone always brings up the surging economic clout of China. First, you can officially call me skeptical. I think that the limited political freedom in the country will necessarily cause a confrontation between the burgeoning middle class and the political elite, as the former strives for more power/representation. Unless this is settled remarkably amitably, there is likely to be economic fallout that will severely restrict China’s growth. Secondly, the growth has been mostly on paper. Chinese officials admit that due to chronic widespread misreporting of financial data, their actual growth rate is next to impossible to ascertain. Linguistically, while Chinese is the most widely spoken language (or, rather, language family) on the planet, the language (family) is highly localized. Simply put, not many people speak Chinese outside of East Asia. Their writing system is also extremely disadvantageous to the widespread dissemination of their language, as Chinese (literacy) learning requires a disproportionate amount of learning time relative to other languages. Finally, Chinese are amongst the greatest current proponents of English learning. English study is something of a national obsession in China, as they accurately note that it is the key to trade and relations with much/most of the outside world.

English, like all languages, will someday go the way of Latin, but it is the first truly global language, and is likely to remain relevant well past

Unlike in Spanish, French has only one verb “to be.”  Rejoice!

First: the conjugation patterns

Click here for audio, examples, and practice.

Spanish has two separate verbs for “to be:” ser and estar.  That is the infinitive form of each, but the important thing for this week is grasping the distinction between the two. 

Estar is used to express condition or location.  For example, one would use it to say “I am happy,” or “I’m in Chicago.”  Ser is used to express essential qualities, such as “I am tall.”  Go here for a primer.

Spanish verbs are conjugated to reflect the agent.  That is to say that the verb changes for the person, as in “I am,” “you are,” etc, but there is a different verb form for: I, you (sing.), he/she/it, we, you (plural), they.

estar

estoy  (I)
estás  (you sing.)
está   (he/she/it)
estamos   (we)
estáis   (you plural)
están    (they)

ser

soy  (I)
eres   (you sing.)
es   (he/she/it)
somos   (we)
sois   (you plural)
son   (they)

The first article from the Forbes issue:

Reporter Ms. Elizabeth Eaves documents her attempts at an editor assignment to learn Mandarin Chinese in 96 hours (she argued her editor up from 3 days, because, as we all know, that 4th day makes all the difference ).   How does she do?  Well, any regular reader of this blog will know the answer to that one…

I give her points for boldness in the attempt, and she honestly does seem to exhaust all available options for such a ridiculously limited time frame.  I’d be quite curious to hear audio files of her speech.  In my experience (which, likewise, entailed total immersion — I moved to Taiwan), it took about a month or two before I could accurately distinguish and produce tones.  Initially, they are just another stumbling block, and something that is consciously memorized.  Later in the game, the tones start to “sound right.”  It sounds like she managed to get herself understood (at duress) by the end, so she must have learned something.  She was certainly, however, still at the point of spitting out memorized language “chunks,” and probably would have had considerable trouble understanding any real (i.e., spontaneous and/or elongated) response to such questions.  (My own lament: many a time I’ve successfully asked for directions in an exotic — to me, anyway — language, only to be unable to comprehend the answer.)

Four days!!!  Let’s break that down…  Even if you had a magically Memorex-like memory that allowed you to remember everything you heard after only one go, I doubt that 96 hours would afford you enough conversational model to get very far…. and of course, no one’s memory works like that.  It takes time to break down sounds and structures, as well as to map new sounds and words to mental representations (i.e., putting “qi che” with car).  The editor’s gambit was gimmicky, for sure, but note to employers: if you want employees to really learn, you need to give them substancial time.

This week’s issue of Forbes has a section dedicated to language learning.  I’ll be offering my own commentary on individual articles in upcoming posts, but check it out for yourself.  A lot of good stuff there!

I’m not even going to make a pretense of tying this to language learning…  I’m posting this because it’s oh-my-gosh-how-totally-cute…

Being about Star Wars makes it all the better…

Which language should you study?  In this article, Forbes breaks down your language choices by projected wage premiums.  Guess what?  Learning Spanish is not the means to cracking a 6-digit salary…

Knowledge of German, Italian, Russian and Chinese was slightly more valuable, translating into an average 4% income boost….. According to the MLA, enrollments in Chinese and Arabic between 2002 and 2006 spiked by 51% and 127%, respectively….

• library :  圖書館 tu shu guan
• friend :　 朋友:  peng you
• chalkboard eraser : 板擦  ban ca
• notebook : 筆記本 bi ji ben
• class : 課  ke
• dictionary : 字典  zi dian 
• money : 錢   qian 
• Chinese : 中文　zhong wen
• student : 學生  xue sheng
• desk : 書桌  shu zhuo
• school : 學校   xue xiao
• hour : 小時  xiao shi
• English : 英文 ying wen
• pencil : 鉛筆  qian bi  
• book : 書   shu
• page : 頁  ye
• paper : 紙   zhi
• chalkboard : 黑板    hei ban
• pen : 筆  bi
• clock/watch :  時鐘/手錶   shi zhong / shou biao
• classroom : 教室  jiao shi
• homework : 作業  zuo ye
• time :　時間   shi jian
• chalk : 白堊   bai e
• university : 大學   da xue 

library :  図書官　to sho kan

friend :　友達 tomo dachi

chalkboard eraser :

 notebook : ノート  no(u – elongate the vowel) to

class : クラス kurasu

dictionary : 　辞典  ji ten

 money : お金   o kane

 Japanese : 　日本語   ni hon go

student : 　学生／生徒  gaku sei (college age)/ sei to (primary/secondary)

desk : 机 tsukue

school : 学校  gakkou

hour : 時間  jikan

English : 英語   eigo

pencil : 鉛筆   enpitsu

book : 本   hon

page : ページ   pe(i)ji

paper : ペーパ  pe(i)pa

chalkboard : 黒板: koku ban

pen : ペン   pen (no, seriously!)         

clock/watch : 時計  to kei

classroom :　教室　kyo shitsu

homework :　宿題  shuku dai

time :　時間　ji kan

chalk : チョーク  cho(u)ku

university : 大学   dai gaku