I knew Argentinian Spanish was going to be different and when my driver picked me up at the airport and one of the first things I heard him say was "ay-zhair" instead of "a-yer" for "yesterday", I knew it had begun. Since then, sometimes "a-yer" is ay-shair. The "Y" changes, the "LL" changes, and the … Continue reading No, Seriously. ¿Cómo Se Dice…?
Tag: French
Sixteen Things for Sixteen Years
Did you know that Montenegro (tied with Serbia) is the world's third most recent sovereign nation? Montenegro split off by a referendum in which 55.5 percent of people voted for independence. The threshold to approve was 55 percent. As you might imagine, people still hold many strong feelings about this decision on both sides of … Continue reading Sixteen Things for Sixteen Years
Say What? Edition 3: Thoughts From Switzerland
A collection of random, linguistically-related thoughts that popped into my head while in Switzerland five weeks ago. ******************** Going abroad makes you realize that your language skills aren't nearly as good as they should be. How did I used to be fluent in German but a few weeks ago I couldn't even understand what the Swiss … Continue reading Say What? Edition 3: Thoughts From Switzerland
Who Are You When You Travel?
When I was growing up, I lived on a small street in a rural area where having friends over to sit in the garage and drink was the main Saturday attraction. In all houses, that is, except mine. My parents didn't drink and they weren't particularly social, at least not in the kind of way … Continue reading Who Are You When You Travel?
Jennifer A Swallow 