Issue 2 (April 2017)
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the second issue of the Juan Griser. I hope you have all had a great Easter holidays. This issue, we take a look at the languages spoken within Juan Gris by students. The results are fascinating with speakers of at least 28 langauges and dialects! Elizabeth has been busy going around classes conducting a survey and compiling the results. We have received responses from most students in 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 2A, 2BPrograma, 2C, 2D, 2E, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3PMAR 4B, 4C, 4D, 1Bach “Advanced” 2Bach. If you are a teacher or student at the school and speak another language which has not been included then please get in touch with us and we will publsish an update in the next issue. We also have another English corner, packed with phrasal verbs and grammar tips. As well as a review of Duo Lingo. As always, if you would like to get involved or have any suggestions for a future issue, then please dont hesitate to get in touch with us! Best wishes, Daniel, Erin, Sandra, Elizabeth, Bereng and all at Juan Gris.
CONTACT
Please conact us if you have any contributions, suggestions or corrections for the next newsletter: Daniel tefldanielkeen@gmail.com
The Juan Griser Languages spoken by Juan Gris students
All students at Juan Gris can speak Spanish, some speak it as a second or third language, and almost all have at least some knowledge of English too, with many being able to hold full conversations. But what other languages are our students able to speak? We decided to find out! Elizabeth created a survey and asked students “Do you speak a language other than Spanish and English? “ 290 students responded yes. Over 28 languages and dialects were written down, with some students being able to speak as many as 5 languages fluently, and many being bi or tri-lingual. Many students have second or third langauges they use at home with family members, and some were born in other countries. Some students attend another school/academy during evenings or weekends where they learn other languages, such as Arabic or Ukrainian. Below is a pie chart showing the results of the survey; the foreign languages/dialiects spoken by percentage of respondents. The biggest percentages represent French 31% and German 27% due to them being taught alongside English as foreign languages here at Juan Gris.
Language Focus
In this section of the newsletter we will take a look at just some of the fascinating languages and dialects our students can speak.
Romance Languages
Picture: Countries where a Romance Lamnguage is spoken and/or has official status.
This is the group of languages which intitially came from Latin and therefore includes Spanish. In this school we also have speakers of French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Valencian, Galician, Romanian and Moldovan. But... Are these all languages? Or are some of them dialects? Lets take a look!
Picture: Historical development of the Romance Languages.
Portuguese - Is a language
mostly spoken in Brazil, Mozambique, Angola and Portugal. It has about 89% lexical similarity with Spanish. On paper, it is almost completley readable, however when spoken, it’s pronunication means it is hard for Spanish speakers to understand. In total there are around 250 million speakers worldwide.
Langauges VS dialects
Deciding what is a language and what is a dialect is a contraversial issue. There are three main criteria people and lingusits use: 1) Mutual Intelligibility - If two speakers are able to understand each other = Dialects 2) Same standard form of the language for writing and reading - This makes speakers able to resort back to the standard from in order to communicate = Dialiects 3) National or ethnic identity - Some people clain language and not dialect status if they are at odds politically = Dialects/Languages depending on your opinion.
Galician - it shares it’s roots French - is a fascinating lan-
guage. Though its native speakers are estimated at 80 million it is widely used as a ligua-franca and has around 274 million total speakers. It is also the single language which has had the biggest impact on English. Today it is spoken as an official langauge in 29 countries, including Canada, and many African countries. It has about 82% lexical similarity with Spanish (meaning words are often similar, the same or at least recognisable).
with Portuguese but is distinct enough to be considered it’s own language. There are around 2.4 million speakers, one of whom is in this school!
What is a Pidgin Language? A pidgin language,
Romanian & Moldovan - are sometimes called the
forgotten Romance languages. There are at least 28 million speakers including non-natives. They are the official langauges of Romania and Moldova respectivley. They are unique and distinct from other Romance langauges, becuase they developed in close contact with the Slavic Langauges (See bottom right). It has around 74% lexical similarity with Spanish. 12% of its vocabulary is Slavic, both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets are used.
unlike a creole, is never a persons native langauge. It evolves as a fast way to communicate, between adult speakers of other non-intelligabel langauges. It is often taken from an occupying country’s language, or in the case of slavery from the slave owners!
Nigerian Pidgin English - also reffered to as
Broken or “Brokin“ is used as the lingua-franca in Nigeria, meaning it is the main language for people to communictae and do business in! Variations are spoken across Central and Western Africa. Nigeria has more than 250 distinct ethnic groups.
German - Has around 95 million
native speakers, and a further 15 million second langauge speakers. It is mainly spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It shares common ancestral roots with English and there are many words in common too! It is the most widely spoken language in the European Union. 10% of the worlds books are published in German. It is also a very important language for scientists and within medicine. It is estimated that you need to study for 750 hours in total, to be completley fluent in German. That’s only about (30 weeks of your life) a great investment!
Is English a Romance Lnaguage or a Germanic Language? This is an intersting and much debated question . English originated as a Germanic language but was later heavily influenced by Latin and French. However, despite its vocabulary, (58% Romance), English has a Germanic language word order, grammar structure and Germanicvocabulary alternatives. (think adjectives being the other way around in Spanish and English - Blue eyes/ ojos azules).
Picture: A typical paragraph of written Nigerian Pidgin English
Arabic - One of the 6 langua-
ges of the United Nations, and the langauge of the Qu’ran it is spoken by Muslims, as well as around 290 million native speakers worldwide. Due to Spain’s history, Spanish contains many words which originated from Arabic, such as Ojala (meaning God willing, Allah being God in Islam). Arabic has its own alphabet and standard form. It also has distinct dialects, three of which being Egyptian, Morrocan and Levante (Middle East).
The Slavic Languages - are a group of languages from Eastern
Europe that have been spoken at least since the middle ages. There are over 20 languages in 3 sub groups and many have low or no mutual intelligibility. In this school we have speakers of Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Polish and Bulgarian. Most of these languages use the Cyrillic alphabet (as pictured above). Due to the former Soviet Union, many speakers of a Slavic Language can also speak Russian fluently too!
Quechua - is actually a
group of langauges and dialects spoken throughout South America, in; Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. There are estimated to be at least 8.9 million native speakers as well as those who can speak it as an additional language. It uses the Latin alphabet. For a time it was endangered, but it has now achieved official status in many countries and billingual education is being introduced so it can be taught aloingside Spanish. A Quechua word we use in English is Coca (the chocolate plant) yummy!
English Corner
Phrasal Verbs of the month: With ‘up’ and ‘down’.
Guarani - or Paraguayan
Guarani, is an indigenous language of South America. It is an official language in Paraguay and is estimated to be spoken by 5-8 million people, some of whom cannot speak Spanish. The language also has several dialects. Writtten Guarani is relativley modern and uses the Latin alphabet like Quechua. English has some loan words from Guarani, such as Jaguar from (jaguarete) and Piranha from (pira aña). The language is also spoken in some parts of Bolivia.
Grammar tip of the month:
EDITORS NOTE There will be more on languages in a future issue. A big thank you to all who participated in the survey. Apologies if your languge was not featured this time around due to space.
Review of the month: DUO LINGO
WHAT IS IT?: A completley free language learning platfrom, with a website, and downlaodable application for phones and tablets. POSITIVES: Free, user-friendly, fun, video game style rewards. NEGATIVES: Some errors, can’t check speaking well, only goes up to around B1/B2 Level (CEF) depending on language. OVERALL RATING: 9/10
School News
Next Issue
SCHOOL CLUBS - There are now several clubs up and running including debate, comic book and photography. If you would like to get involved please ask an Auxiliar. All welcome!
In next months issue, we will have a ‘Student Focus’. Were you one of the students who can speak multiple languages? Do you have a special talent or skill? Are you a member of a sports team or other type club? Do you have an interesting hobby? Are you involved in any competitions? If so we would like to hear from you and conduct a small interview and take your photo for the newsletter.
HARRY POTTER - This week we will be celebrating the anniversary of J K Rowling’s classics. Expect fancy dress, face painting, a photo booth and Quidditch in P.E. class!