Blog #4: 35 Accents in the English Language

I came across this video and I thought it was neat. I've always found accents intriguing. This video is about this guy that speaks English but with 35 different accents. His accents aren't perfect and he states that in the first 15 seconds in the video. I loved his "transatlantic 1940's" accent and his "New York city / North Jersey" accent. I've tried doing accents before but they always come out like a mixture of English, Australian and the New York, which sounds not so good. It's crazy how so many people can speak the same language but with a different accent; all depending where one grows up.  So I definitely wanted to share this video with you all and hopefully you'll find it interesting as well!

Blog #3: "Hawkeye" is learning sign language?

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/one-of-marvels-avengers-turns-to-sign-language/?_r=4

 

 I chose this article because I really never seen a comic that has the characters using sign language to communicate. Honestly, I just thought it was cool. I’ve never been a big comic book reader but I do like reading manga and it’s the first time I’ve seen sign language in one of them. This article is about how one of the member of Marvel’s Avengers comics the main character is using sign language to communicate because he has severe ear damage.  In the issue No. 19 “Hawkeye” is the character who must cope with his ear damage because of the aftereffects of a battle. Throughout this story you’ll see blank balloons when “Hawkeye” can’t hear because the creators wanted to give a taste to readers on what it would be like to be deaf. I think this is very important because you never know if one day you’ll get into an accident that might leave you deaf or unable to speak. If this does happen, you’ll have to find and learn another way to communicate with people. I also think that the artist David Aja did an amazing job drawing the signs in such a clear way, it must have been difficult. Overall, it was a pretty interesting article, check it out!

 

Blog #2: Making Language Immersion Fun for Kids

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/travel/making-language-immersion-fun-for-the-kids.html?_r=1

This article is about a mother that wants to expose her children more to the world, thus taking her children to Italy for the summer. It is stated that the sooner you learn the language the easier it gets, so she enrolled them in a language immersion program. These language immersion programs teach children (non-native and native speakers) a different language. She emphasis how difficult it is to get in them and how expensive some of these programs can be, but believes to be well worth it. 

I have to say that the thing I found the most interesting is the Concordia Language Villages. It’s a summer camp that offers it in 15 languages: Russian, Spanish, German, Japanese, Arabic, Korean and many more. “Each language has its own village,” said Patricia Thorton, the dean of the program. “Kids eat the food of that culture, change their dollars for local currency; they’re completely immersed.” I think these camps are a great and fun way to get kids out of their comfort zone and learn to embrace the beauty of a different culture.

This article grabbed my interest right away because making it fun for kids to learn a new language is important. I think many people are realizing the importance of becoming bilingual or trilingual, and how that will make a positive impact on their young ones future. This article definitely made me think about my future children and how I would love for them to be exposed to different cultures and learning another language.