Wednesday, 11 May 2011

The 5 Most Spoken Languages

There are currently over 6900 languages spoken in the world. Some of those languages are only spoken by a handful of people, and are on their way to extinction just like Latin, dodos, Aramaic, and dinosaurs. If you're interested in learning a language, however, it might be better to choose one of those languages that is spoken most widely.

There are a number of ways to measure a language, but here are the top five languages based on the number of native speakers. Even this is difficult to measure, but it's certainly more reliable than most alternatives.

Friday, 29 April 2011

Arabic Language Education in Pakistan

The role of national languages in defining and articulating national identities is a hackneyed subject, but, somehow, the privileging of learning a sacred language has not been explored much in the debates on nationalism. In this brief article, I intend to draw attention to the rise of Arabic studies in Pakistan and its long-term consequences for the Pakistani public sphere.

In his 1983 book Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson provides three major causes for the waning of the pre-national empires and the rise of modern nation-states. One of the reasons, according to Anderson, was the rise of vernacular languages in place of what were considered the sacred languages, Latin and Arabic included. I have long maintained that Anderson misses the point as he only looks at the official use of these languages and not about the symbolic aspects of their power. In case of Arabic, for example, while it never was the official language of Muslim India, it still remains a language that wields immense symbolic power.

Top Places to Study German Online

There are several key elements that you need in order to successfully learn a foreign language like German. The first is that it is important to find a program that agrees with your learning style and stick with it until you complete it. The second is that you can study German online using various resources that you found over the internet.

Online Language Programs

First of all, you can find language programs online to help you learn the German language. There are some that are free. For example, the BBC has a basic German course that can give your language skills a boost. There are also some programs that you need to pay for, such as Rocket German.

Thursday, 28 April 2011

Learn ASL (American Sign Language)

How to Learn ASL?

There are many ways to learn American sign language. Some people elect to learn American sign language from a book purchased locally at a bookstore. Others seek out ways to learn American sign language from their local deaf community. And, some learn American SL from taking a class. Currently, there is a way for people to learn ASL online. Regardless of the method, it is important to know which style works best for you. Learning ASL is not the easiest language to learn, but may be the most rewarding.