2005 has been declared the Year of Languages. I have a long list of languages I'd like to learn, including Twi, French and Spanish. Once I'm out of school, this is going to be a real priority. I miss out on way too much by only speaking English. In the meantime, here are some sites I use to communicate more freely:
* Use babelfish.altavista.com or Google language tools to translate a block of text or a webpage. The languages translated are Chinese, English, French, Dutch, Spanish, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
* Learn a word a day your choice of over 80 languages. If you already have some foundation in grammar, this can be a useful way to increase your vocabulary with an email each day.
* Communicate more effectively in English by increasing your vocabulary with a new word each day from wordsmith.org or dictionary.com. Each service sends an email each day with a new word, its definition and usage and sometimes some commentary.
* Write more effectively by using reference.com's dictionary and thesaurus to be sure that you are spelling and using words correctly. I have these bookmarked. They also have a translator.
As Marcel Proust said, "In a language known to us, we have substituted the opacity of the sounds with the transparence of the ideas." Make 2005 your year of languages!
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For some reasons why you should learn another language, click here. And for information on the most widely spoken languages, click here.
Hi Karma! Thanks for stopping by! I haven't had the chance to write, but hopefully will soon!
I'm writing to thank you for your efforts and your blog. It makes me happy to know people are out there and doing whatever they can to make our world a better living place. I read a saying by Ghandi in your post, about being the change we want to see in the world and this is so true. I just wish people put the good that they know into action.
Thanks for caring, we certainly need more individuals like you, the least you do is bring more awareness.
And you're right about languages! I'm planning on learning my 6th language: Spanish! It's hard work but totally worth it!
Good luck!
And Happy Belated Birthday!
May your life be filled with health and happiness : )
Thanks for visiting, April Girl! I'm glad you like "So what can I do." I hope you'll stop by again soon. Thanks for the birthday wish and have fun with Spanish!
And don't forget ASL (American Sign Language). It's the third most common language in the United States.
And here are a few online ASL resources:
* ASLpro.com
* lifeprint.com
* asl.ms - Great for fingerspelling!
Have fun!
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