Now Playing: Foreign Language Films at the Theater, May 2010
According to a recent story in the Philadelphia Inquirer, American attendance at foreign language films dropped exponentially during the last decade. Carrie Rickey reports that foreign film ticket sales account for less than 1 percent of business at the US box office. Whatever lead to this drop in screenings and ticket sales is difficult to […]
Speaking Other Languages in Alabama
Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James recently created controversy with his political advertisement titled Language. The advertisement focuses on one of James’ campaign promises to eliminate driver’s license exams in all languages except English. In the ad, James says, “This is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it.” Given the diversity […]
Beyond Words Podcast: Episode 3
Episode 3: The Language News Report Welcome to ALTA’s Beyond Words Podcast. Our podcasts provide listeners with the latest language news, language-related interviews, and language lessons that can be applied to real-world situations. They’re always brief, always informative, and always entertaining. During the Language News Report, you’ll hear summaries of last week’s top language-related stories. […]
Beyond Words Podcast: Episode 2
Episode 2: At the Bar, A Russian Lesson Welcome to the second installment of ALTA’s Beyond Words Podcast. Our podcasts provide listeners with the latest language news, language-related interviews, and language lessons that can be applied to real-world situations. They’re always brief, always informative, and always entertaining. Today’s language lesson deals with Russian phrases for […]
The Ugliest Words in English
Robert E. Wolverton Sr., a Mississippi State classics professor, occasionally asks his students to vote on the most beautiful and the ugliest words in English. In his last survey conducted in 2009, the words vomit, moist, puke, phlegm, slaughter, snot, ugly, damp, and mucus, topped the list for ugliest. What makes one word uglier than […]
Beyond Words 2010 Quarterly Round Up
Spring has arrived and we’re taking a look back at the articles we’ve posted since January. Here are a few from the past four months that you might have missed. Hopefully, they’ll provide an informative and entertaining break to your day: Top Multilingual U.S. Cities If you haven’t already filled out your 2010 Census form, […]
Beyond Words Podcast: Episode 1
Episode 1: Landing in Morocco, An Arabic Lesson Welcome to the first installment of ALTA’s Beyond Words Podcast. Each episode will provide listeners with the latest language news, language-related interviews, or language lessons that can be applied to real-world situations. They’re always brief, always informative, and always entertaining. Today’s language lesson deals with Arabic phrases […]
The Language of Liqueur
Liqueur and liquor may both stem from the same Latin verb liquere meaning “to be fluid” and the Old French noun licour meaning “liquid.” Nevertheless, liqueurs are entirely different liquids from their counterpart spirits. According to Stuart Walton, the author of The Bartender’s Guide to Cocktails and Mixed Drinks, liqueurs differ from liquors in the […]
10 Foreign Language Covers
A language acquisition study published in the journal Cognition in 2008 suggests that listening to and singing along with music may play an important role in learning a language. Reported by Cognitive Daily , the study supports that singing in a foreign language can help a student learn that language faster. The concept isn’t unusual. […]
Top Multilingual U.S. Cities
It is estimated that over 50 million people in the U.S. speak two or more languages. The majority of multilingual residents in the U.S. live in cities, and, as language professionals, we were curious which cities in the U.S. are the most multilingual. We combed through census data and developed a scoring system that includes […]