El noveno día de clases

Hay muchas palabras de orìgen árabe en la lengua española. Hoy los estudiantes escribieron histórias con algunas de estas palabras.


There are many words from Arabic in the Spanish language. Today the students wrote stories with some of these words.

El octavo día de clases

Hay muchas palabras de orígen árabe en la lengua española. Existen categorías semánticas que reflejan las contribuiciones de los árabes en la vida española.

¿Puedes mencionar una de estas palabras en español, la categoria a que le pertenece, la palabra en árabe y el cambio fonológico que ha sufrido al entrar el español?


There are many words that are from Arabic in the the Spanish language. There are semantic categories that reflect the contributions that the Arabs made to Spanish life.


Can you mention one of these words, the semantic category to which it belongs, the Arabic word and the phonological change that it underwent from Arabic to Spanish?

El séptimo día de clases

Hoy en clase tuvimos el placer de recibir quatro invitados de España y Colombia. Los estudiantes pueden comentar por favor sobre sus impresiones de esta visita.

¿Cuáles son algunas dificuldades has notado en clase que un nativo hispano hablante tiene con la lengua árabe?

¿Hoy en clase cómo te han ayudado con la pronuciación española?


Today in class we had the pleasure of having four guests from Spain and Colombia. Can the students please comment on your impressions of this visit?

What are some of the difficulties that you noticed that a native Spanish speaker has when speaking Arabic?

How did someone today help you with your pronunciation?

El sexto día de clases

¿Puedes dar exemplos diferentes una palabra?

1. llana
2. aguda
3. esdrújula


¿Cuál es un sonido que el árabe tiene que el español no tiene? No se puede repetir.

Para más información, puedes hacer un clic en "el sexto día de clases"

El quinto día de clases

Hoy en clase, hablamos de la historia de la lengua española. Hablamos del cambio del latín clásico al hablado, el contacto con otros grupos en lo que es ahora España, la fijación de la lengua, el desarrollo de literatura y la expansión de la lengua y el uso en el mundo. ¿Puedes hacer unos comentarios?


¿Por qué la lengua española es diferente de que el italiano o francés por ejemplo?

¿Por qué existen diferencias del español entre España y Argentina por ejemplo?

Today in class, we discussed the history of the Spanish language. We spoke about the changes in classical Latin to spoken Latin, influence of groups that ruled in Spain, establishment of grammar rules in the language, development in literature and the expansion of the language and its use in the world. Can you leave some comments?


Why does the Spanish language differ from Spanish and Italian for example?

Why are there differences in the Spanish of Spain and Argentina for example?

El cuarto día de clases

Hoy hablamos de la estructura de la lengua árabe y los estudiantes nos presentaron algunos aspectos de la lengua árabe. Abajo en los cometários hay un resúmen de cada grupo.

Fonología-consonantes, vocales, sílabas, acentuación
Sintaxis- Sustantivos, pronombres, determinación, verbos



Today in class we discussed structure in the Arabic language and the students presented on some aspects of the Arabic language. Below in the comments there is a summary from each group.

Phonology- consonants, vowels, syllables, stress
Syntax- nouns, pronouns, definiteness, verbs

El tercer día de clases- história del árabe

Hoy en clase hablamos de la história y estructura de la lengua árabe.

¿Por qué el árabe en Jordania es diferente del árabe que se habla en Kuwait por ejemplo y por qué el árabe de 2010 es diferente del árabe que se hablaba en el año 711?


¿Cuáles son algunas diferencias fonológicas que existen entre algunos paises árabes?



Today in class we talked about the history and structure of Arabic.

Why is the Arabic that is spoken in Jordan different than the Arabic that is spoken in Kuwait for example and why is the Arabic that is spoken in 2010 different than that which was spoken in 711?

What are some phonological differences that exist between the Arabic speaking countries. Give examples.

El segundo día de clases

Hola ! Hoy en clase hablamos de razones que causan la migración de un lugar a otro. ¿ Cuáles son algunas? ¿Conoces a alguien que ha ido a un lugar para otro- cuál fue el resultado linguístico?

Ya algunos estudiantes han comentado aquí. No dejes de escribir comentarios. Si te gusta este blog, te va a gustar el blog de Dr. Aleya Rouchdy mucho. Ella también escribe sobre el contacto del árabe y otras lenguas. Deja un comentario allí por favor.

http://arabiclanguageinamerica.blogspot.com/

Today in class we talked about reasons that cause migration for one place to another. What are some of those reasons? Do you know someone that migrated from one place to another? What was the linguistic outcome?

Already some students have commented here. Keep writing! If you like this blog, then you will really like Dr. Aleya Rouchdy´s blog. She also writes about the contact of Arabic with other languages. Please leave her a comment!

El primer día de clases

Hoy es domingo, el 20 de junio de 2010, nuestro primer día de clases en la Universidad de Jordania para el curso del verano. En clase hablamos sobre el contacto de la lengua española y árabe.

¿Cuando las dos lenguas se enfrenten, cuáles son algunos resultados de esta interacción?
¿En Jordánia, dónde se encuentra la lengua española?

Today is Sunday, June 20, 2010, our first day of classes at the University of Jordan. Today in class we talked about language contact between Arabic and Spanish.

When the two languages come together, what are some results?
In Jordan, where can you find the Spanish language?

Gift of Life- Hablando español en Jordánia

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Last Monday, I attended a charity event for Gift of Life. The organization raises money for children with congenital heart problems so that they can have open heart surgery.

El lunes pasado, asisití un evento de la organización ¨Regalo de la Vida¨. La organización colecciona dinero para niños con problemas de corazón para que reciban cirugías cardíacas.


On Thursday evening, I went with some board members of the organization to greet Juana from El Salvador and her one year old son Brayan who came to Jordan for a heart surgery.


El jueves por la noche, fui con algunos miembros de la organización para saludar la mamá del niño, Juana y su hijo, Brayan, que vinieron a Jordánia para una recibir una cirugía cardíaca.


It was the first time for the mother outside of her village some four hours away from San Salvador. It took two days to get to Amman passing through Houston and Frankfurt before coming here. I could identify with the mother in many ways because my first experience outside of the country was in El Salvador when I was 18. The mother did not speak Arabic.



Era la primera vez que la madre estaba fuera de su pueblo que queda unas quatro horas de San Salvador. Les costaban dos días en llegar al Amman pasando por Houston y Franfurt antes de llegar aquí. Podía identificar con la madre en vários niveles porque mi primera experiencia fuera del pais fue en El Salvador cuando tenía 18 años. The mother did not speak Arabic.

I spent the first evening assisting the family to settle in. The second day was spent at the hospital preparing for different tests, helping to feed and calming the mother. The third day was the surgery. I was invited to attend the open heart surgery and was able to stand next to the head surgeons. It was a life changing experience which has given me a whole new outlook. I have a greater appreciation for doctors, biology and the miracle of life.


Pasé la primera noche ayundando la familia sentirse más cómoda. El segundo día se pasó en el hospital haciendo algunas revisiones, ayundando con la alimentación del niño y tranquilando la madre. El tercer día fue la cirugía. Los médicos me invitaron para asistir la cirugía- estaba a lado de los cirujanos. Fue una experiencia inolvidable que me ha dado una nueva perspectiva. Ahora aprecio más los médicos, la biología y el milagro de la vida.

Rotary Talks

Click on the title Rotary Talks to view a bilingual newsletter

The reason that I am able to spend this summer in Amman, Jordan is through the sponsorship of Rotary International District 7210 in the Hudson Valley of New York. I am very fortunate to be in the company of a city full of Rotarians. There are in fact several clubs in the Greater Amman Area. During the past week, I have given a presentation to three Rotary clubs in Amman about the Hudson Valley, West Point and what I will teaching to Jordanian students this summer. Classes start this Sunday. The school week here is Sunday through Thursday. This week I have been taking care of administrative tasks at the university. I will have 40 students in my class and they will be posting some assignments on this blog.

articles written in Lebanon about Brazil

http://www.ndu.edu.lb/lerc/News/2010/Assistant_Professor_of_Portuguese.pdf 

Are these pictures from Brazil or Lebanon?

If you answered Lebanon, then you are correct! Lebanon has Brazil fever. The World Cup has only reinforced the strong ties that the country has to Brazil. There is literally not a street in Beirut where I did not see a Brazilian flag flying high. You don't have to take my word for it.


Many of the people that I met are Brazilians that came to Lebanon and have made it their home. Jilda cooks Brazilian favorites for dignitaries in Beirut while Marcela teaches exercise classes to both the young and older population.

Lebanon

During the summer of 2006, I was a student at the Portuguese School at Middlebury College. It was there that I read an article about a village in Lebanon which stated over 99% of the people there in Sultan Yaaqoub spoke Portuguese. At first, I could not believe it! This is when I wrote the author of the article, Roberto Khatlab- and thus started my journey with the Lebanese Emigration Research Center at Notre Dame University.



I became so interested in this topic that I decided to write about language contact between Arabic and Portuguese for my dissertation at the University of Texas at Austin. I was not able to go to Lebanon at that time because of the political situation so I decided to concentrate my efforts in Brazil at this time. I researched the contact of Arabic and Portuguese in Sao Paulo. I interviewed over 60 people from different backgrounds and asked them questions about the circumstances in which they use both Arabic and Portuguese. I met so many wonderful Lebanese- Brazilians when I was in Brazil. They opened their homes to me and allowed me to learn more about their language and culture. After conducting these interviews, I wanted even more that ever to go to Lebanon. It was a dream come true to finally be able to have the opportunity to visit and conduct interviews the first week of June.


The hospitality that I received there was overwhelming! I met so many people that were willing to share their stories and were eager to welcome me to their country. I had a chance to meet not only children and grandchildren of Brazilians- but also first generation Brazilian immigrants- which will be the topic of my next article.