One of the more telling lines about language was uttered by Jack Lemmon in the 1965 movie, “How to Murder Your Wife.”<\/p>\n
A confirmed bachelor, Stanley Ford, played by Lemmon, gets drunk at a bachelor party, proposes to the beautiful Virna Lisi, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just jumped out of a cake, and gets hooked, compliments of an equally inebriated judge.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Ford awakens to find Lisi next to him in bed and discovers she speaks no English, only Italian.<\/p>\n
He asks something like, “What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your name?” but realizes there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d understand, so he changes it to “What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s-a your-a name-a.”<\/p>\n
Ah, that going from one language to another could be that simple!<\/p>\n
Regrettably, too many people believe that merely using an inflectional ending, like an “o” or an “a” will make the English sound like Italian, Spanish or some other Romance language.<\/p>\n
With immigration a hot-button topic in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presidential race, we constantly read about Mexican residents coming across the U.S. border. The biggest complaint, if we judge by the number, tone and tenor of letters to the editor, is that “Some people who come here won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even try to learn English.”<\/p>\n
Virtually every study shows conclusively how simple it is for youngsters to pick up a second or even third language. The simplicity comes from being spoken to in the desired language, but better yet \u00e2\u20ac\u201d by having children play with others who speak a different language.<\/p>\n
And let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s let them settle their linguistic differences.<\/p>\n
Waiting until high school or college, or later, for many, is simply too late.<\/p>\n
What seems like a good idea is programs for the very young, designed to provide dual exposure to languages, in this case, English and Spanish.<\/p>\n
A lengthy article in Sunday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Journal highlights the work of the Christina Kent Day Nursery in Albuquerque, where common items like desks, doors and tools bear dual signs which identify them in both languages. Thus, a table will have a sign that also reads “mesa” and a clock will have the word “reloj.”<\/p>\n
Ideally, that should be the best way to assure those in the program get grounded in two languages. But, as evidence in the Journal article demonstrates, one doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t simply tack on an ending and consider it an accurate translation. So for those who lament immigrants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 inability or refusal to learn English, the Journal article shows a different side.<\/p>\n
Let me explain:<\/p>\n
At the Christina Kent Day Nursery, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an illustration of a toothbrush, with the words it represents properly spelled in English.<\/p>\n
Alongside it is the seeming Spanish translation, “Sepillo de denties.” Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so far off in two cases. Look carefully.<\/p>\n
The Spanish word for teeth is “dientes,” not “denties,” and a brush, in Spanish, begins with a “c.”<\/p>\n
But wait, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign announcing “group time.”<\/p>\n
But the school \u00e2\u20ac\u201d ostensibly manned with experienced, trained professionals \u00e2\u20ac\u201d allows “group” to be rendered as “groupo.”<\/p>\n
But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrongo. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply “grupo.”<\/p>\n
And there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a daily schedule announcing nap time at 12:45. Beneath that sign is another with the word “desayuno.” Now every first-year student of Spanish knows “desayuno” means “breakfast,” not nap time.<\/p>\n
And should kiddies be breakfasting at 12:45 p.m.?<\/p>\n
Spanish-speaking kids have no more knowledge of how words are spelled in their native language than English-speaking kids, although Spanish spelling rules make much more sense.<\/p>\n
Aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pupils deserving of proper spelling regardless of language?<\/p>\n
The Journal article, on which the reporter and photographer doubtless spent considerable time, apparently features the highlights of the nursery. If the photos that accompany the article are indicative of the best \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and presumably correct \u00e2\u20ac\u201d modes of instruction, what must lie beneath?<\/p>\n
The article mentions reciprocal benefits to the practice of rendering objects in both languages: English-speakers acquire Spanish, and Spanish-speakers get introduced to English. The arrangements appears mutually beneficial.<\/p>\n
Therefore, is it asking too much to demand proper spelling in these settings?<\/p>\n
Several months ago this column mentioned the careless translation attempted by a now-defunct restaurant in town. The management attempted to render “happy hour” in Spanish and came up with “la hora de la contenta.” But that, dear readers, simply means “The hour of the contented (female).”<\/p>\n
The much-ballyhooed techniques at Christina Kent Day Nursery make the happy-hour translation seem oh so benign.<\/p>\n
Who in the world could ever conceive of “desayuno” as nap time?<\/p>\n
Who knows? The deadline for this article is approaching; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 12:45, time for my nap, and breakfast awaits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the more telling lines about language was uttered by Jack Lemmon in the 1965 movie, “How to Murder Your Wife.” A confirmed bachelor, Stanley Ford, played by Lemmon, gets drunk at a bachelor party, proposes to the beautiful Virna Lisi, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just jumped out of a cake, and gets hooked, compliments of an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}