Hello my friends!
Wishing everyone a joyful holiday and new year!
Wanted to make a quick video about three cool language-related Christmas gifts I received this year.
One is the lovely Rosetta Stone...for Navajo! Yes, the Navajo Language Renaissance organization (their site is here) received a grant from Rosetta Stone to help revitalize the language and create their own version of this popular immersion software.
Too fun! Check out my opinion of the Rosetta Stone environment in the video.
Second was Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar by Claudia Ross and Jing-heng Sheng Ma. Needed a nice reference grammar for Chinese (my focus language, check out a lolzy video of me speaking it here), and I think this should do the trick.
Last but not least was a really cool introduction to the languages of the Pacific, suitably named Pacific Languages: An Introduction by John Lynch. Definitely the best resource for the amazing and understudied languages of the beautiful islands.
Enjoy the video!
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Papiamentu Language Books, Curaçao Bookstore, Travel and More - #9
Hi guys!
I'm back with a random little vloggish video about a couple of things — sort of tying up loose ends.
So, this spring break I had the opportunity to travel to Curaçao, in the Caribbean ABC Islands. It was a lovely trip; the island and its beaches, towns, and other attractions are beautiful.
The language that is spoken in the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and others), or the now-diffused Netherlands Antilles, is Papiamentu (also spelled Papiamento in Aruba).
Papiamentu is a cute little creole, spoken by the around 330,000 in the region, based on Romance languages and the English and Dutch influence on the history of the islands. (More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
So anyway, I had become interested in this not-widely-known-but-very-cool language about 3 years ago (as I do...), and had always thought it would be cool to learn it, let alone go to Curaçao.
When I found out earlier that our family had decided on Curaçao as a destination, I was so thrilled and did kind of a crash course on Papiamentu using the Papiamentu Textbook by E. R. Goilo (here and here on Amazon) that I had purchased awhile back.
I also started a blog called iPapiamentu, which I began to write in eagerly up until and through the majority of my trip to Curaçao.
However, as fun Internet projects often do, the blog kind of died down and I never got to do my close-up post on the trip, or the post on the books I had purchased while there.
Long story short, I really wanted to kind of bring my blog back to life, and also talk about the lovely language books I got at the bookstore, so I figured it would be awesome to make a vid here at Brian on Language.
By the way, I was inspired by R. K. Harrison of Papiamentu-Tur-Dia to not only make the blog, but to make this video tonight, from the comment sent to me.
Hope you guys enjoy it; I know it's long, but, I do a little review on the books :D! Fun, right?
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
P.S. - Again, shout out to R. K. Harrison for the comment and for reading my blog before! You're awesome!
P.P.S. - I'm posting this vid down at iPapiamentu! Be sure to check it out! Thanks guys.
I'm back with a random little vloggish video about a couple of things — sort of tying up loose ends.
So, this spring break I had the opportunity to travel to Curaçao, in the Caribbean ABC Islands. It was a lovely trip; the island and its beaches, towns, and other attractions are beautiful.
The language that is spoken in the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and others), or the now-diffused Netherlands Antilles, is Papiamentu (also spelled Papiamento in Aruba).
Papiamentu is a cute little creole, spoken by the around 330,000 in the region, based on Romance languages and the English and Dutch influence on the history of the islands. (More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
So anyway, I had become interested in this not-widely-known-but-very-cool language about 3 years ago (as I do...), and had always thought it would be cool to learn it, let alone go to Curaçao.
When I found out earlier that our family had decided on Curaçao as a destination, I was so thrilled and did kind of a crash course on Papiamentu using the Papiamentu Textbook by E. R. Goilo (here and here on Amazon) that I had purchased awhile back.
I also started a blog called iPapiamentu, which I began to write in eagerly up until and through the majority of my trip to Curaçao.
However, as fun Internet projects often do, the blog kind of died down and I never got to do my close-up post on the trip, or the post on the books I had purchased while there.
Long story short, I really wanted to kind of bring my blog back to life, and also talk about the lovely language books I got at the bookstore, so I figured it would be awesome to make a vid here at Brian on Language.
By the way, I was inspired by R. K. Harrison of Papiamentu-Tur-Dia to not only make the blog, but to make this video tonight, from the comment sent to me.
Hope you guys enjoy it; I know it's long, but, I do a little review on the books :D! Fun, right?
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
P.S. - Again, shout out to R. K. Harrison for the comment and for reading my blog before! You're awesome!
P.P.S. - I'm posting this vid down at iPapiamentu! Be sure to check it out! Thanks guys.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Review - Kiribati (Gilbertese) Peace Corps Language Handbooks by Steven Trussel - #8
Hi guys! Back, sorry for the long delay. Thanks to all new subscribers and readers.
Today I have some exciting new library books to share.
I was fortunate to get the opportunity to access these hard-to-find Peace Corps Language Handbooks for the Kiribati (Gilbertese) language.
Kiribati (pronounced Kiribahss) is a cute little island nation in the center of the Pacific Ocean comprised of atolls and a coral island.
Their language, spoken by around 100,000 people, is of the Nuclear Micronesian branch, and is VSO.
(More at Wikipedia and Omniglot)
In this video I share about how I was able to loan these handbooks via the Interlibrary Loan of a local university. A reminder to anyone involved in an academic institution to really take advantage of the library access you have.
Usually I would put a link to buy these, but they really can't be purchased.
Instead, here is the website of the author Steven Trussel, who has the Grammar and Communication handbooks up to view online free.
The site also has a ton of great info on Kiribati and other topics as well (including Nauru).
Shout out and thank you to Steven Trussel for his work with Kiribati and for the insight over email! :)
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link.
Sorry that this video is a bit odd. I recorded it kind of split-up and was a little out of it...haha, enjoy!
Today I have some exciting new library books to share.
I was fortunate to get the opportunity to access these hard-to-find Peace Corps Language Handbooks for the Kiribati (Gilbertese) language.
Kiribati (pronounced Kiribahss) is a cute little island nation in the center of the Pacific Ocean comprised of atolls and a coral island.
Their language, spoken by around 100,000 people, is of the Nuclear Micronesian branch, and is VSO.
(More at Wikipedia and Omniglot)
In this video I share about how I was able to loan these handbooks via the Interlibrary Loan of a local university. A reminder to anyone involved in an academic institution to really take advantage of the library access you have.
Usually I would put a link to buy these, but they really can't be purchased.
Instead, here is the website of the author Steven Trussel, who has the Grammar and Communication handbooks up to view online free.
The site also has a ton of great info on Kiribati and other topics as well (including Nauru).
Shout out and thank you to Steven Trussel for his work with Kiribati and for the insight over email! :)
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link.
Sorry that this video is a bit odd. I recorded it kind of split-up and was a little out of it...haha, enjoy!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
第一个中文视频！ First Chinese vlog practice thing - #7
Hey guys,
I'm back! Had a nice little vacation and now back onto the routine. School soon!
Anyway, decided to something different in making a video, so I made my first Chinese vlog!
It's kind of bad I have to say; I was very nervous when making it. But here it is! Gotta start somewhere.
Hope to make more soon and also continue with language books.
Any requests for videos? Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
I'm back! Had a nice little vacation and now back onto the routine. School soon!
Anyway, decided to something different in making a video, so I made my first Chinese vlog!
It's kind of bad I have to say; I was very nervous when making it. But here it is! Gotta start somewhere.
Hope to make more soon and also continue with language books.
Any requests for videos? Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Review - Basic Chinese Grammar and Sentence Patterns by A. D. Syrokomla-Stefanowska & Mabel Lee - #6
Hi guys,
Back with another review for ya' tonight. Another Chinese book came in the mail, so we're back to C (check out Intermediate Chinese and Learn Dutch for English Speakers too!).
A little bit tired in this one, sorry -- I hope I don't go in circles too much. The content's there though. I have to say this is a nice review manual book and kind of fun/something different.
By the way, I wanted to let you guys know that I'll be away for a week so may not be able to do language resource reviews; I might do a vlog or two, though, who knows.
Thank you to all of my new subscribers and YouTube friends! If any of you are reading this blog please leave a comment :)
Enjoy this review!
Chinese is spoken by around 1.3 billion China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and communities around the world.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of A. D. Syrokomla-Stefanowska and Mabel Lee's Basic Chinese Grammar and Sentence Patterns.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Back with another review for ya' tonight. Another Chinese book came in the mail, so we're back to C (check out Intermediate Chinese and Learn Dutch for English Speakers too!).
A little bit tired in this one, sorry -- I hope I don't go in circles too much. The content's there though. I have to say this is a nice review manual book and kind of fun/something different.
By the way, I wanted to let you guys know that I'll be away for a week so may not be able to do language resource reviews; I might do a vlog or two, though, who knows.
Thank you to all of my new subscribers and YouTube friends! If any of you are reading this blog please leave a comment :)
Enjoy this review!
Chinese is spoken by around 1.3 billion China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and communities around the world.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of A. D. Syrokomla-Stefanowska and Mabel Lee's Basic Chinese Grammar and Sentence Patterns.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Review - Intermediate Chinese by Yong Ho - #5
Hey guys,
Back! Sorry. Two day little hiatus. Just getting into the groove of things with this channel and even though it's summer, things get busy (aka I can get lazy...don't hate ;D).
Anywho...
Following alphabetically in my coursebook collection tour is Chinese. Oh wait. Does Brian not know the alphabet in order?
Haha, I did Dutch last time but now I am back to C, Chinese, because I just got a book in the mail! Whoo hoo! Don't you love getting that crinkled, tape-covered manila envelope with bubble-wrap inside and a language book and an Amazon receipt?
Well that was the highlight of my day today, so I wanted to share with you this Chinese book for intermediate learners as I would call myself.
I've been studying Chinese on and off over the past year and a half or so, at a weekend class, a day camp last summer, and then this past summer I did an epic one-month Middlebury Language Academy CTY (Center for Talented Youth through Johns Hopkins) Chinese Immersion camp. Was a crazily fun and learningful camp. For any of you guys out there my age, finishing 7th to 10th grade, check out the camp (for which they also have Spanish and French).
Talk about awesome way to learn a language. Being totally immersed in it: Chinese class 3 and a half hours a day conducted in Chinese, plus all directions and daily life (with exceptions) given in Chinese, movies, books, etc. all in Chinese.
Sorry, won't go on too much.
P.S. Check out my last two on Dutch and Balinese if you interested).
Just in case you didn't know...I have to post this stuff below in each of my posts, just to be consistent:
Chinese is spoken by around 1.3 billion people in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and in communities around the world.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of Yong Ho's Intermediate Chinese.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Back! Sorry. Two day little hiatus. Just getting into the groove of things with this channel and even though it's summer, things get busy (aka I can get lazy...don't hate ;D).
Anywho...
Following alphabetically in my coursebook collection tour is Chinese. Oh wait. Does Brian not know the alphabet in order?
Haha, I did Dutch last time but now I am back to C, Chinese, because I just got a book in the mail! Whoo hoo! Don't you love getting that crinkled, tape-covered manila envelope with bubble-wrap inside and a language book and an Amazon receipt?
Well that was the highlight of my day today, so I wanted to share with you this Chinese book for intermediate learners as I would call myself.
I've been studying Chinese on and off over the past year and a half or so, at a weekend class, a day camp last summer, and then this past summer I did an epic one-month Middlebury Language Academy CTY (Center for Talented Youth through Johns Hopkins) Chinese Immersion camp. Was a crazily fun and learningful camp. For any of you guys out there my age, finishing 7th to 10th grade, check out the camp (for which they also have Spanish and French).
Talk about awesome way to learn a language. Being totally immersed in it: Chinese class 3 and a half hours a day conducted in Chinese, plus all directions and daily life (with exceptions) given in Chinese, movies, books, etc. all in Chinese.
Sorry, won't go on too much.
P.S. Check out my last two on Dutch and Balinese if you interested).
Just in case you didn't know...I have to post this stuff below in each of my posts, just to be consistent:
Chinese is spoken by around 1.3 billion people in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and in communities around the world.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of Yong Ho's Intermediate Chinese.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Review - Learn Dutch for English Speakers by Fernand G. Renier - #4
Morning, guys. Back with another language resource review! Number three today.
Following alphabetically is Dutch (check out Albanian and Balinese too).
I like the Dutch language in that it is fairly common and widely-spoken, but is a bit quirkier and more interesting than German and the other Germanic languages, I think. I like how it has a clean, non-diacritic-using writing system and seems fairly easy to learn.
Of course it's on my list to learn in the future but I'm not currently working on it. Nonetheless, I bring you this little language resource review for anyone looking into this book!
The publisher, Saphrograph Corp, looks like a respectable language publishing company, kind of along the lines of Spoken Language Service, Cortina, and then of course the old Teach Yourself books and Colloquial books.
However, I found no website or real information for them, but they are based in New York. One day I want to contact them and see if I can set up a website or something for them... I want to find out more about their books, especially their volume for learning Turkish (one of my favorite languages).
Anyway...
Dutch is spoken by around 27 million people in Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Aruba, and more.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of Fernand G. Renier's Learn Dutch for English Speakers.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Following alphabetically is Dutch (check out Albanian and Balinese too).
I like the Dutch language in that it is fairly common and widely-spoken, but is a bit quirkier and more interesting than German and the other Germanic languages, I think. I like how it has a clean, non-diacritic-using writing system and seems fairly easy to learn.
Of course it's on my list to learn in the future but I'm not currently working on it. Nonetheless, I bring you this little language resource review for anyone looking into this book!
The publisher, Saphrograph Corp, looks like a respectable language publishing company, kind of along the lines of Spoken Language Service, Cortina, and then of course the old Teach Yourself books and Colloquial books.
However, I found no website or real information for them, but they are based in New York. One day I want to contact them and see if I can set up a website or something for them... I want to find out more about their books, especially their volume for learning Turkish (one of my favorite languages).
Anyway...
Dutch is spoken by around 27 million people in Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Aruba, and more.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of Fernand G. Renier's Learn Dutch for English Speakers.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe!
Feel free to email me here as always.
Below is the video or you can watch it at this link. Enjoy!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Review - Everyday Balinese by I Gusti Made Sutjaja - #3
Hi all!
Onto our next review! Alphabetically following Albanian (check out that video as well right here) in my coursebook collection is Balinese.
Balinese is a language that I decided to look into and dabble with partly inspired by Moses McCormick's interest in it (really cool language guy on YouTube, check him out here), partly inspired by my fascination with the cool Indonesian island of Bali, and partly inspired by my interest in Austronesian languages.
Balinese is spoken by around 4 million people, mostly centered around the island of Bali.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of I Gusti Made Sutjaja's "Everyday Balinese: Your Guide to Speaking Balinese Quickly and Effortlessly in a Few Hours".
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe! I'd love to hear from you, especially if you were previously or are now interested in Balinese!
Feel free to email me here as always, too.
Below is the video or it is available at this link. Enjoy!
Onto our next review! Alphabetically following Albanian (check out that video as well right here) in my coursebook collection is Balinese.
Balinese is a language that I decided to look into and dabble with partly inspired by Moses McCormick's interest in it (really cool language guy on YouTube, check him out here), partly inspired by my fascination with the cool Indonesian island of Bali, and partly inspired by my interest in Austronesian languages.
Balinese is spoken by around 4 million people, mostly centered around the island of Bali.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This video is an overlook of I Gusti Made Sutjaja's "Everyday Balinese: Your Guide to Speaking Balinese Quickly and Effortlessly in a Few Hours".
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder here.
Remember to comment, rate and subscribe! I'd love to hear from you, especially if you were previously or are now interested in Balinese!
Feel free to email me here as always, too.
Below is the video or it is available at this link. Enjoy!
Review - Learn Albanian: Mësoni Shqip by Çezar Kurti - #2
Hi all! So, I'm just jumping right in with some resource reviews.
What I'll be doing in these videos is walking you through some of the books that have helped me in my language learning journey.
I know for myself, just seeing previews and hearing about and making Amazon carts of language books gets me excited. C'mon, you know it does for you too.
I want to help prospective learners of languages know what's out there in terms of books, audio, etc.
I'll just be giving short tours of the lesson format, pros and cons, price range, and all that fun stuff.
Here's my first one, going in alphabetical order of my course-book collection first (then phrasebooks, grammars, and so on afterwards), Albanian.
Lucky Albanian. Always first in the lists.
Albanian is spoken by around 3 million people mostly in Albania (obviously), Montenegro, Kosovo, and the surrounding area.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This resource video is an overlook of Çezar Kurti's Learn Albanian: Mësoni Shqip: An Introduction to Albanian Grammar.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder (super awesome site) here.
Below is the video, or follow this link. Enjoy! Please feel free to comment, rate, and subscribe.
What I'll be doing in these videos is walking you through some of the books that have helped me in my language learning journey.
I know for myself, just seeing previews and hearing about and making Amazon carts of language books gets me excited. C'mon, you know it does for you too.
I want to help prospective learners of languages know what's out there in terms of books, audio, etc.
I'll just be giving short tours of the lesson format, pros and cons, price range, and all that fun stuff.
Here's my first one, going in alphabetical order of my course-book collection first (then phrasebooks, grammars, and so on afterwards), Albanian.
Lucky Albanian. Always first in the lists.
Albanian is spoken by around 3 million people mostly in Albania (obviously), Montenegro, Kosovo, and the surrounding area.
(More at Wikipedia and more at Omniglot)
This resource video is an overlook of Çezar Kurti's Learn Albanian: Mësoni Shqip: An Introduction to Albanian Grammar.
Check it out on Amazon here or search it on Bookfinder (super awesome site) here.
Below is the video, or follow this link. Enjoy! Please feel free to comment, rate, and subscribe.
Introduction - #1
Hi all! Welcome to my new blog, Brian on Language.
This blog accompanies the YouTube videos I'll be making at my channel identically-named, BrianonLanguage.
With this project, I hope to share my passion for languages (mostly the obscure, lesser-studied ones) by making videos on language resource reviews, vlogs on learning and practice, discussion, how-tos, and more.
I've started many projects in the past but I really hope to get this one going. As such an avid YouTuber and Internet surfer, especially on the topic of language, I feel that I want to contribute to the community that has helped me become who I am today.
So, here I go!
Check out my first video below, or at this link. Please, do not hesitate to comment, subscribe, rate or email me here as always.
Brian
P.S. - Don't judge 'cuz my blog layout is a preset! I like it ~_~
This blog accompanies the YouTube videos I'll be making at my channel identically-named, BrianonLanguage.
With this project, I hope to share my passion for languages (mostly the obscure, lesser-studied ones) by making videos on language resource reviews, vlogs on learning and practice, discussion, how-tos, and more.
I've started many projects in the past but I really hope to get this one going. As such an avid YouTuber and Internet surfer, especially on the topic of language, I feel that I want to contribute to the community that has helped me become who I am today.
So, here I go!
Check out my first video below, or at this link. Please, do not hesitate to comment, subscribe, rate or email me here as always.
Brian
P.S. - Don't judge 'cuz my blog layout is a preset! I like it ~_~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
