Apr

When Worlds Converse

by Joyce McGreevy on April 24, 2017

A handwritten word list in Greece exemplifies how global citizens can help each other become multilingual. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

A handwritten word list in Greek is a global citizen’s treasured gift.
© Joyce McGreevy

Language Lessons for Global Citizens

When you travel, what languages do you speak? After all, every day you navigate a rich linguistic landscape—and that’s before you leave North America. As a global citizen, you’re more predisposed to becoming multilingual than you may realize.

For example, did you ever

attend kindergarten, use a thesaurus, or study algebra?
wear corduroy or khaki, moccasins or a parka?
observe graffiti or a replica?
blitz through work like a ninja, or do yoga on a patio?

Just by reading that list, you utilized German, Greek, Arabic, French, Urdu, Algonquian, Russian, Italian, Yiddish, Japanese, Sanskrit, Spanish, and more. Our everyday English speech is a mosaic of world languages.

A poem painted onto a utility box in Sofia, Bulgaria exemplifies the linguistic landscape global citizens inhabit. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

In Bulgaria, poetry on a utility box (above) and remnants of posters (below) exemplify the linguistic landscape that global citizens inhabit.
© Joyce McGreevy

Remnants of posters on a wall in Sofia, Bulgaria exemplify the linguistic landscape global citizens inhabit. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Multilingual, moi?

According to the Center for Language and Brain at New York’s Colgate University, an estimated 85 percent of the world’s population will be multilingual—fluent to varying degrees in several languages—by 2050. Currently, 7,000 living languages are spoken across 195 countries.

While some view this as a challenge, I see it as an opportunity. When I travel, I love experiencing the food, history, arts, and natural wonders of a culture. But to visit a country without also exploring its language would feel like standing on shores, but never touching the water.

A woman on a boat in Türkbükü, Turkey symbolizes how global citizens navigate culture and language. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Learning languages can take us from skimming the surface
of a culture to diving in. (Türkbükü, Turkey)
© Joyce McGreevy

Today it’s easier than ever to explore multiple languages. These easy language lessons will get you started.

Don’t buy into age barriers.

As an Italian artist wrote, Ancora imparo: “I am still learning.” At 87, Michelangelo inscribed those words onto plans for a sculpture. We, too, are sculptors, thanks to the neuroplasticity of our brains, which literally change shape and size as we learn a language.

Research from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona shows that acquiring vocabulary in other languages actually becomes easier as we get older, since our pre-existing vocabulary acts as a kind of “welcoming committee” for new words.

Another surprising advantage of age? According to a study published by Oxford University Press, even though people use the same brain regions for two languages if learned in childhood, they engage different regions of the brain if they learn new languages as adults. The latter improves executive function, or higher-order cognitive skills.

People of all ages gathered on Denmark's Tisvilde Beach exemplify global citizens' shared experiences. (Image © Christian Alsing and Visit Copenhagen)

The sun never sets on the human need to share experiences. (Tisvilde, Denmark)
© Christian Alsing/ Visit Copenhagen

Use your menu.

Many culinary terms that once were unknown outside of their countries of origin are now commonplace on menus around the world. I’ve had friends tell me they’re lousy at learning languages—and then place a word-perfect order for pappardelle con funghi porcini or umi masu sashimi.

“I’d be totally lost,” they say, even as they look up unfamiliar food terms on their smartphones or simply ask the waiter. But those same practices—familiarization, sounding out syllables, using an app, and asking a local expert for help—would also be effective for learning languages as they travel.

Ice cream, called sladoled in Zagreb, Croatia, exemplifies how global citizens use different words but have favorite things in common. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

“I scream! You scream! We all scream
for sladoled!” (Zagreb, Croatia)
© Joyce McGreevy

Why not just ask for an English menu? Many such menus omit local dishes in favor of plainer fare, based on outdated assumptions about tourists’ palates. This can make all the difference between enjoying a savory bowl of cataplana and confronting a pitiful plate of fish and chips.

By learning a few more words and phrases at every meal, you’ll learn a lot more about the unique role of food in creating cultures.

A restaurant sign in Malmö, Sweden exemplifies the linguistic landscape that global citizens inhabit. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

What you already know of one language
can help you read another. (Malmö, Sweden)
© Joyce McGreevy

Focus on friendliness.

When my siblings and I traveled as kids, our parents had a rule: Say please, thank you, hello, and goodbye in the local vernacular. One word led to another, and soon we’d be eavesdropping on conversations, spending our holiday coins on local comic books, deciphering cereal boxes, and brainstorming translations of billboards.

Today, I still begin with greetings. Yes, you can walk into many businesses around the world and be assisted by an English speaker. But just as a greeting expresses good will toward an individual, the greeting’s language expresses good will toward a culture.

A barista in Plovdiv, Bulgaria exemplifies how global citizens interact in linguistic landscapes. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Sharing even a few words in each other’s language can
help us connect as human beings. (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
© Joyce McGreevy

Invite teachable moments.

New to the language? In the rare event you’re mistaken for a native speaker, transition politely to English. You might say, in the local language, that you’re a beginner at that language.

Because this wording signals interest in learning more, it usually leads to insightful conversation and invaluable advice. In bakeries and bookstores, on public transportation and at popular attractions, so many kind people have taken the time to teach me something of their language, and thus their culture.

Get out of your “komfortzone.”

Learning includes making mistakes. In one Breton village, an American wanted a five-kilogram roast for Easter, but ordered cinq kilomètres de jambon. That works out at 3.1 miles of ham laid end-to-end.

But humor can be bonding. Mark’s gaffe and his ability to laugh about it dissolved the usual social barriers and got people chatting. Voila! More practice for Mark.

Oh, I see: From boosting brainpower to broadening the global conversation, exploring multiple languages offers multiple benefits.

A theatre ticket in Zagreb, Croatia exemplifies ways that global citizens can explore linguistic landscapes. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

See a familiar play in an unfamiliar language. Even the ticket offers language lessons.
(Can you spot the Croatian for comedy and seat?)
© Joyce McGreevy

Meet your neighbors.

You don’t need a grammar book to find language lessons these days. Simply begin by exploring the linguistic landscape wherever you go. Now and then, hold a conversation in a language other than your first, even if it’s halting or brief. Because in this multilingual world, discovering what connects us may prove the most adventurous journey of all.

To see how a woman considered “bad at languages” became one of the world’s first simultaneous interpreters, fluent in 17 languages, read this.

University of Glasgow’s free online course in multilingual learning starts today. Learn more here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Becoming Bilingual/Crossing Cultures/Discoveries/Worldwide Sites

Feb

Nobody in Bulgaria Is Calling You a Hobo

by Joyce McGreevy on February 27, 2017

A Bulgarian street prompts the thought that learning a second language will mean learning a second alphabet, Cyrillic. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Not all who wander Bulgarian streets are lost, just the non-Bulgarians.
© Joyce McGreevy

When Learning a Second Language
Means Learning a Second Alphabet

Your mission? Walk to the store. The one with signs that say “HOBO!” Funny, many stores in Bulgaria display that word. Why? You’re learning a second language, but hobo is nowhere in your phrasebook.

Even more mystifying to an English speaker? Bulgarian maps.

A Bulgarian map helps the author understand that learning a second language will mean learning a second alphabet, Cyrillic. (Image in the public domain.)

Should I turn наляво or надясно? And which is which?

Someone tells you, “Bilingual signs are everywhere.” So off you go, innocent as the day you were born. Sure enough, you find a sign with two versions of a street name.

Breakthrough? Nope. Because the sign isn’t actually bilingual. You’re looking at two distinct alphabets showcasing one common language.

Oh sure, the Roman script looks familiar because, it’s used for English. You can even sound it out: Ulitsa Sveti Kiril I Metodiy. But the language is Bulgarian.

And that other script? Кирил И Методий ул. That’s Cyrillic. If it were in English it would say Saints Cyril and Methodius Street.

You don’t just have a language barrier—you have an alphabet barrier.

Bulgarian lettering on a beer glass helps the author understand that learning a second language will mean learning a second alphabet, Cyrillic. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Do I “ask for it by name” or keep pointing
at the cute horsey on the menu?
© Joyce McGreevy

Surprising Cyrillic

Oh, I see: Sometimes learning a second language means learning a second alphabet.

What to do? Stick to GPS? Staring at your phone while crossing city streets seems unwise.

Brazen it out? Seek directions by speaking only English? Also problematic.

It promotes a double standard: “When people come to our English-speaking country they should learn the language, and when we go to their non-English speaking countries we should . . . uh, be able to count on others speaking English.”

Decorative graffiti on a Bulgarian street shows that learning a second language and a second alphabet, Cyrillic, can be fun. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The plays of Шекспир are popular worldwide, including in Bulgaria.
© Joyce McGreevy

When in Bulgaria . . .

You could copy street names in Roman script and show them to locals while looking pathetic and finger-miming the act of walking. Thing is, Roman script in Bulgaria, like many other Balkan countries, is a relatively recent phenomenon. It’s a linguistic standardization linked to membership of the European Union.

So, unless you’re showing your note to Sofia’s millennials—many of whom speak three or more languages—you’ll find that Roman script is as unfamiliar to many locals as Cyrillic is to you.

In a pinch, there are translation apps. But good luck forging authentic human connections as you stand jabbing the keypad of a device while holding up the line at a café.

My friend, it’s time to learn a little Cyrillic.

Language Geeks and Greeks

Zahari Zograf's 1848 mural of Bulgarian saints Cyril and Methodius show how the Cyrillic alphabet relates to learning a second language. (Image in the public domain)

Men of letters: Cyril and Methodius with alphabet.
Mural by Zahari Zograf (1848)

First, meet Cyril. St. Cyril, to be precise.

Cyril must be the Russian fellow who invented the Cyrillic alphabet, right?

Sorry, no. According to Bulgarian scholars, Bulgaria introduced Cyrillic, not Russia.

So, Cyril the Bulgarian invented Cyrillic?

If only it were that simple.

He was from Thessaloniki, which today is part of Greece, but was then part of the Bulgarian Empire. Cyril and his kid brother Methodius were monks who liked monkeying around with language.

And so these two Greek Bulgarians (or Bulgarian Greeks) invented the Glagolitic alphabet.

So Many Alphabets, So Little Time

Now I know what you’re thinking: Aha! Glagolitic must have been the first Slavic alphabet! And you’d be right.

The whole thing was modeled on Ancient Greek. In 850 A.D., there was plenty of Ancient Greek left over just waiting for hotshots like Cyril and Methodius to put it to good use.

The Acropolis reminds the author that learning a second language, Bulgarian, owes much to Ancient Greece, birthplace of Cyrillic. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Ancient Greek, a pillar of the (language) community.
© Joyce McGreevy

Having set up future generations of Greek and Bulgarian scholars with topics for debate, Cyril and Methodius passed mischievously away. Oh, those wacky monks.

In the 10th century, the C&M Brothers’ linguistic start-up was replaced by another evolution of the Bulgarian alphabet. This is the alphabet that scholars named after both brothers—oops sorry, fella—just Cyril.

Alas, there was no Methodius to their fad-ness.

Today, Cyrillic features in more than 50 languages spoken by over 250 million people in Eurasia. Also in Chicago, home to the largest Balkan community outside of the Balkans.

A traditionally dressed Bulgarian woman using a smartphone remind the author that learning a second language means learning a second alphabet, Cyrillic. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Communication has changed with the times
in Bulgaria, but Cyrillic is still going strong.
© Joyce McGreevy

Getting from A to Ж

Let’s begin. There are 30 pairs of letters in the Cyrillic alphabet. Some look and sound a lot like letters in the Roman alphabet: A as in palm, E as in best, O as in order.

Then you have trickster letters, like:

CYRILLIC	SOUNDS LIKE	AS IN
H	N	No way!
B	V	Very confusing!
P	R	Reeeally?
C	S	Seriously?

And I haven’t even mentioned Д (not to be confused with Л). Or Щ (not to be confused with Ш).

Decorative graffiti in Bulgaria suggests the feeling of learning a second language by learning a second alphabet, Cyrillic. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

One way to decipher two alphabets?
© Joyce McGreevy

Magical Cyrillic

Okay, just dip your toe in. You’d be surprised what a difference even a handful of letters can make. Consider it your magic decoder ring.

Remember: Many letters, including K, A, and E, made it from Cyrillic into Roman unchanged.

Now, look at this letter: Ф. It sounds like PH in Phone. Knowing that, you can decipher this:

A Bulgarian Cyrillic sign for coffee suggests the benefits of learning a second language by learning a second alphabet. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Okay, so the visual cues help, too.
© Joyce McGreevy

Next, check out these two signs.

Bulgarian street signs in Cyrillic show that learning a second language can mean learning a second alphabet, Cyrillic. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

“These little town обувки are longing to отклоняват…”
© Joyce McGreevy

You’ve learned Ф, so you can read the sign on the green post.

Now check out the sign on the right. Remember: P (Cyrillic) = R (Roman).

Hooked on Cyrillic

But those are cognates, you say. What about words that are All-Bulgarian-All-the-Time?

A Bulgarian sign for antiques shows that learning a second language sometimes means learning a second alphabet, Cyrillic. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Shop till ya припадне!
© Joyce McGreevy

Does Aптека mean “antique”? Look again, knowing that п (Cyrillic) = P (Roman).

Roman lettering makes it APTEKA, which means “Pharmacy.” Handy to know when you have a headache and a 17th century vase just won’t help.

As for HOBO, many a tourist out shopping for souvenirs has misinterpreted it—because they mistook the letters for Roman. But—say it with me —they’re Cyrillic.

Seriously, Nobody in Bulgaria Is Calling You a Hobo

Remember:

H (Cyrillic) = N (Roman)
O is O in both alphabets
B (Cyrillic) = V (Roman)

In short, the Bulgarian word HOBO (Cyrillic) is NOVO (Roman), which literally means NEW. As in, “Sale! Buy now!”

Sold on learning a second language? Then consider learning a second alphabet. From Bulgaria to Greece, Eurasia to Chicago, Cyrillic is as easy as АБЦ.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 10 Comments

Becoming Bilingual/Bulgaria/Greece/Language & Culture

Jul

Life Changes When A Brain Goes Bilingual

by Sheron Long on July 29, 2014

Shape of the Western hemisphere in an eye, illustrating how life changes and the world view expands for people with a bilingual brain. (Image © Stockbyte)

Power Up! Know the 6 “Warming” Signs

The bilingual brain is hot! Powered by two or more languages, it leads to a series of life changes. Should you embark on this adventure, recognize the 6 “warming” signs and get set to become a different person.

#1 You Start to Zag

Growing up, you get pretty good at zigging, doing things the usual way. But once you start communicating in a second language, you have to find fast work-arounds. The very thing you want to say requires a word you don’t yet know.

Maybe you want to invite a friend to the beach, but you can’t recall the Spanish word for beach (playa), so you think on your sandals and say (in Spanish): Let’s find some sand. Or, Let’s go down by the water. Or, To Acapulco!

Acapulco beach, discovered while trying to build bilingual brain power in Mexico. Image © Erkki Tamsalu / iStock)

When you’re learning a language, you do this over and over and over again. Pretty soon, an important concept sinks in: If you’re stuck and can’t solve the problem in one way, you can always solve it in another.

Then you start approaching all of life’s problems, big and small, in a flexible way—zigging when you can, zagging when you can’t.

#2 You Take More Risks

Anyone new to a language knows it’s a risk to open your mouth and talk. We all have our stories, like the time my husband expressed appreciation to our French friend Françoise: Merci, Frambroise! (Thanks, Raspberry!)

But it’s the unabashed courage to keep on talking that finally blesses you with a bilingual brain. Along the way, you learn that people are pretty understanding, and you figure out how to get yourself out of trouble.

All that leads to speaking up more, to trying new approaches without the fear of failure because you know one of your next risks will work out well.

#3 You Turn on a Dime

Once multiple languages fill your head, your brain has to activate and prioritize the one that’s needed.

Man's head showing his bilingual brain at work as he switches back and forth between two languages. (Image © Vectoraart / iStock)

You find yourself speaking in English to one person and then turn on a dime to communicate with someone else in Spanish.

Your brain gets fast and facile at choosing the right body of words and setting the unneeded language aside.

In fact, you may use both languages at once when you talk to another bilingual, choosing the word from whichever language best conveys your idea.

Judith Kroll calls this “language juggling.” She reports on research showing how all this switching back and forth makes you better at multi-tasking, focusing, and prioritizing—all skills of value in other aspects of life and work.

#4 You Double Your Pleasure

Speak English, and you can talk to about 500 million people in the world. Learn Spanish, and you can talk to over 400 million more. More languages, more friends.

More fun, too, discovering the riches of a culture—so much new food, art, music, and tradition to enjoy.

Slices of a starfruit, native to the Philippines, illustrating how life changes with the tastes of a new culture. (Image © Quanthem / iStock)

And, if you like to play with language, you’ll have a whole new repertoire.

The French Voilà says something that’s hard to convey in English, and it has dozens of daily uses, like other words worth borrowing.

Other languages may have just the right word for your special someone. Instead of Honey, how about the Spanish Mi vida (my life) or the French Ma puce (my flea)?

#5 You Lose That Notion of “One Way”

In the US, people drive on the right; in Britain, on the left. But everyone gets around. As you become bilingual, you learn more about culture, too, seeing the truth in this Italian proverb: Many roads lead to Rome. Now you’re freed up for creative problem-solving!

And, more than likely, you’ll embrace someone else’s idea when you see it’s better. In France, les rondpoints (traffic circles) keep cars moving much better than the US intersections with 4-way stops.

Traffic circle in Tarascon, France, illustrating a life-changing idea more likely to be accepted by someone with a bilingual brain. (Image © Sheron Long)

The French bullet trains connect cities as far apart as San Francisco and LA in 2.5 hours. Well, rondpoints and bullet trains weren’t hatched in the USA, but why not try them here?

#6 You See Life from Multiple Perspectives

Language is often the portal to a deeper understanding of a culture, an awareness of how people come at life in both the same and different ways.

Blurry clock face showing how different cultures think about the time. (Image © Hayatikayhan / iStock)

Take time, for example. One perspective is that time is linear, useful for making and keeping to a schedule.

Another is that it’s more important to fill time well. Why head to a scheduled event when the present one isn’t satisfyingly over?

Attitudes toward time are deeply rooted in culture, so much so that invitations may give the start time of an event, followed by hora latina (Latin time) or hora inglesa (English time).

Just the assignment of a gender to every noun in Spanish, French, and Italian is a clue to cultural attitudes, though sometimes confusing.

Why is a word like necklace masculine in Spanish—el collar—and a word like beard feminine—la barba?

And why is fork masculine in Spanish (el tenedor) and feminine in French (la fourchette)?

After shifting in such fundamental ways when you step into another culture or speak a second language, you begin to appreciate that perspectives are not necessarily better or worse, just different. And that alone helps with all kinds of relationships, even those closest to home.

Ready to Build Your Bilingual Brain Power?

It’s easier than you may think. Foreign movies. Online courses. Volunteer travel. Bilingual forums. World music and songs. And soon your life changes.

Even if you don’t master your second language, you may have an experience like William Alexander’s. He flirted with French and failed, but he did see a huge increase in his scores on a test of cognitive power. As he told the New York Times, “Studying a language had been like drinking from a mental fountain of youth.”

Such an “Oh, I see” moment supports research studies on the benefits of bilingualism for improving memory and delaying dementia. If you don’t build your bilingual brain for the love of language and culture, power it up for the love of life!

Beach sandals, symbolizing how life changes when you take the road to building bilingual brain power. (Image © Oksancia / iStock)

For more on the benefits of a bilingual brain, including what people say they value most about being bilingual, see Dr. Neel Burton’s essay in Psychology Today. For a fun perspective on learning a new language, enjoy Flirting with French by William Alexander.

Comment on this post below.

Sheron Long 4 Comments

Becoming Bilingual/Cultural Diversity/Language & Culture

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When Worlds Converse