Let’s learn some Hawaiian this time around in Language Day. It is a Polynesian language and, along with English, the official language of the State of Hawaii. Read more about its background and politics here. This article will deal solely with the language itself. The Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters. That is a lot less than in most languages. There are five vowels: a, e, i, o, and u - each with a long pronunciation and a short one. Continue reading

This time in Language Day we concentrate on just one single language - as opposed to the usual multilingual theme we have here. This language is the Skolt Sami language. It is one of the many Sami languages spoken in the northern parts of Finland, Sweden and Norway, and all of them belong to the Uralic language group. Year 2019 is - among other things - the International Year of Indigenous Languages that are spoken by millions of people around the world. Continue reading

Let’s have this time around in Language Day a little play with words. Or rather, letters. Three single letters to be exact. The letters A, I and M. See, you can start learning a language with very little, and go on from there. With as little as three letters. Language learning is not just about learning by heart, or from example, or from practice. It is also about the light and humorous touch. Continue reading

Welcome back to Language Day! If you haven’t read the introduction yet, please do it here. This time we deal with the etymology of weekdays in a few languages. The first day of the week varies in different countries and cultures, but let’s take here Sunday as the first day for the sake of convenience. This may get a bit complicated and confusing, and if it does, just pick one or two languages, and go from there. Continue reading

Welcome once again to take a dive in languages - a big part in our journeys of life. Whether we actually make any journeys geographically or merely in our minds - digitally or otherwise. This time it will be about the third person singular - he and she. To the exclusion of all other aspects of gender specification. So without entering in the discussion when and why the two genders get grammatically separated, or what is the role of feminism in all of this, let’s just say that I myself found out only a couple of weeks ago that gender neutrality is not that uncommon after all. Continue reading

Welcome again to Language Day! If you haven’t read the introduction yet, please do it here. This time we’ll go through that simple but oh so useful and such an appreciated word: Thank You! Here presented the most simple form of it in different languages, more or less corresponding to the English Thanks. The way the word is written in its own language is given after the language designation. How it is pronounced is for you to find out! Continue reading

This time in Language Day, let’s talk a little about countries. Anyone who watches international sports events such as the Olympic Games is well aware of that many national teams like to display the name of their country in their own language. Which can be very different from how it is said in English. So the list below shows what it might say on the shirt of an athlete (these days of course you often see the name of the athlete instead). Continue reading

This time in Language Day a very useful expression if you are traveling abroad. The one question that you need to ask when looking for a place, any place. You already know where you want to get to, and you only need to attach two simple words to it: where is? Of course you can always try English anywhere you go, but the fact is that not everyone knows English, so here goes: where is in several other languages. Continue reading

The feeling when you are at the beginning of the runway. The plane has left the gates what may seem like a long time ago, now waiting for the permission for takeoff. The buzz of conversation between the passengers are louder than the engines, for a while. But there is in the air the anticipation of what is to come, and for that some of the passengers get really quiet. Continue reading

If you are planning to welcome the year 2019 abroad, you might want to wish Happy New Year in the local language! Never mind the pronunciation, just trying to say it may get you some new friends! Cin cin! Here’s how it is said - or rather, written - in the following countries and regions:  Albania: Vitin e ri të lumtur! Armenia: Shnorhavor Nor Tari! Շնորհավոր Նոր Տարի Basque Country (Spain): Urte berri on! Continue reading

Welcome once again to take a dive in languages - a big part in our journeys of life. Whether we actually make any journeys geographically or merely in our minds - digitally or otherwise - knowing a few languages besides your mother tongue is always a good idea. The original theme for this article was actually something entirely different, nothing to do with cartoons, but fate chose otherwise. So this time we jump into the magical world of marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants which premiered back in 1999. Continue reading

Welcome to Language Day! If you haven’t read the introduction yet, please do it here. Let’s start with something fun! Some Disney characters, and more precisely, the three nephews of Donald Duck. How do you say Huey, Dewey and Louie in some other languages? Would you expect them to be like in English, or just something that would sound just as fun? Let’s see! Let’s take first the country of origin, the United States. Continue reading

Hi! From this day on Journeys of Life will have another featured series, namely Language Day. Every 29th of a month. This blog is entirely in English, but partly due to the multilingual background of the blogger, and partly due to the world being increasingly international, these sort of articles fall naturally in place here. And languages, well, they are a big part of our lives. Even if you only speak your mother tongue, you’re still gonna hear other languages as well. Continue reading