Next to English and Mandarin Chinese as the top two most popular languages in the world, Spanish takes the third rank with a total number of more than 400 million people spoken from different countries. Yet, if we could take Spanish as the language spoken with the most number of speakers, it surpasses English as second ranked since most of its speakers are not native and have a different mother tongue.

Now, similar to other languages that vary depending on the area where it is spoken, Spanish has ample dialects and variations. Spain alone even has different dialects being used like Mexican, RioPlatense (Argentina), Catalan, Galician, Basque, and particularly Castilian as its national standard. This standard is also implemented in countries like Uruguay, Paraguay, parts of Ecuador, and other Latin American countries. This diversion is caused by aboriginal languages that greatly contribute to the present status of Spanish language at present; and immigrants who influenced Spanish from different nations.

As Wisegeek explained, diversion of Spanish language is varied based on its accent, forms of address, and pronunciation of certain Spanish letters. Other accents outside Spain are also being used particularly on areas like Central and North America, Argentina, and more. In terms of its vocabulary, Spanish plainly has two singular pronouns for the second person:  tú for informal and usted for formal. But RioPlatense variation has a third form, which is known as voseo. Even Spanish in Ecuador has vos variations as well. Lastly, pronunciation of Spanish differs in particular with letters s, c, and z, and the y and ll. Latin American countries standards s and z in most of their words, just as casa (house) means a lot different from caza (hunt).

One common language, different variations: that’s the beauty of language. This only reveals that Spanish is worth learning for.

Wondering where you could learn the English language in other parts of the world aside from the usual places?  Why not try to learn English in Cork, Ireland and discover a historically and culturally rich place?

The city of Cork is the second largest in the Republic of Ireland and it is located in the southwest coast of the country on the banks of the River Lee.  The city has more than one hundred twenty thousand inhabitants and it as a popular center for banking and commerce.  Cork is strategically located on one of the deep and natural harbors of the world and it is a major Irish seaport.  The city has wonderful attractions and sights for you to discover.

Cork was founded by St. Finbarre more than a thousand years ago and since then the charming town has developed into a trading merchant town and into a modern cosmopolitan city.  It is a very varied town and it is the largest county in the country.  Cork has rich farmlands, sandstone hills, river valleys, and a magnificent coastline.  In order to discover the treasures of this city, try to go around on foot, enjoy the fantastic views and meet the wonderful people of Cork!

We have a partner language school in Cork which is the Cork Language Center International and it is located in two adjacent eighteenth century Georgian buildings.  The school has comfortable teaching rooms which provide a pleasant environment for language learning; listening stations to help learners improve pronunciation and listening skills; self-access files for practicing all areas of language; computers with CD-ROM based language learning activities; a library with language learning books, magazines, newspapers, and novels; an internet room with free internet access and free WiFi access for all students; a DVD and video library, a coffee room, and a garden where students can hang out and relax.  The teachers in the center are professionals who are qualified to teach the English language.

Try improving your English language skills in a city full of possibilities and charm.  Learn English in Cork, Ireland and discover another part of the world!

In language learning, most people recommend learning the English language.  From simple people to great conglomerations, a lot of people promote the idea that English is the language to learn and speak because without it, you will be lost in translation.  You may become lost in English speaking nations, but then what about in other countries?  Don’t you think it is better to learn other foreign languages as well?

English is spoken in many parts of the world that is why it is considered by many people to be a lingua franca but then there are a lot of foreign languages which are spoken in many parts of the world too!  Countries such as Japan, China, and Korea are moving ahead of the rest of the world in technology, business, science, and other fields; and they are expanding globally that is why there is an advantage to be able to speak their languages.  Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic are also among the most spoken languages in the world, why shouldn’t we try to learn them to be able to communicate with more people?

The following are some of the reasons why you should learn other foreign languages aside from English based on the opinions of people from various fields and languages:

• About ninety-two percent of the world’s population does not speak English.  The most spoken language by number of native speakers is Mandarin Chinese which is spoken by almost a billion people while there are only more than three hundred million native English language speakers.
• Having linguistic skills will serve as a good medium for business and career opportunities and language skills are essential for victorious international transactions.
• Learning foreign languages helps improve your learning ability and it challenges you to keep exercising your brain and learn more skills.
• You will be able to communicate with more people if you know other languages.  You will not be limited to people who only speak your language or yet you will be able to connect with people whose languages you can speak.
• If you can speak other languages you will be able to read, listen, watch, enjoy, and understand foreign media which will allow you to have a better understanding of various cultures.
• If you possess other foreign language skills, you will be able to appreciate great works of literature, music, film, art, and more in their original language and be able to grasp the original context.
• Being able to speak foreign languages will be great for travel.  You will be able to communicate with the locals and they might help you go around their place and enjoy the best that they offer to traveling guests.
• Learning foreign languages will also help you gain independence, and appreciation and adaptation skills which may equip you with the will to face any challenge you encounter in your life.

Expand your horizons, learn other foreign languages and have the time of your life!

Every now and then we hear about Esperanto.  What exactly is Esperanto and what could it benefit all of us?

Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language on the planet.  In the Esperanto language, Esperanto means “one who hopes”.  It was introduced in 1887 by Dr. L.L. Zamenhof after many years of development.  Zamenhof proposed Esperanto as a second language that would allow people to speak different native languages to communicate, yet at the same time keep their own languages and cultural identities.  The goal of Zamenhof was to create an easy and flexible language that would serve as a universal second language to promote peace and international understanding.

The Esperanto language has had uninterrupted usage by a community estimated at between one hundred thousand and two million speakers for more than a century and an estimate of one thousand native speakers.  No country has officially adopted Esperanto yet however it is used in correspondence, world travel, conventions, television, language instruction, and cultural exchange.

There are not a lot of people who speak Esperanto in any one place yet there are some almost everywhere.  The people who speak Esperanto are found to be internationally minded, concerned about social justice and peace, and are helping to preserve linguistic diversity.

The following are some details about Esperanto:

• It does not replace anyone’s language but simply serves as a common second language
• It is politically unbiased and it helps to preserve minority languages and cultures
• It can be learned in lesser time than any other language
• It provides an opportunity to travel and meet new friends from all over the world
• It is a language which is fun to learn and to speak.

Learning foreign languages is one useful endeavor we can all invest in and take part of.  However, learning Esperanto will be a way of bridging the gap among all of us who speak different tongues since it has no limitations and no bias.  Esperanto is easy to learn and it helps promote unity and peace among all people in the world.

Humans have always been regarded distinct because of their linguistic skill to communicate, making the theory of evolution deniable to humans’ unique nature. Their ability to speak is not close to a single speech but of diverse of tongues.

“Linguistic research, combined with neurological studies, has determined that human speech is highly dependent on a neuronal network located in specific sites within the brain.  This intricate arrangement of neurons, and the anatomical components necessary for speech, cannot be reduced in such a way that one could produce a ‘transitional’ form of communication,” Brad Harrub, Bert Thompson, and Dave Miller, authors of The Origin of Language and Communication stated. They strongly declared that humans were created with the unique ability to employ language for communication.

By age four, most humans have developed an ability to communicate through oral language.  By age six or seven, most humans can comprehend, as well as express, written thoughts. This research implies that the chronological stage of human development is too amazing to comprehend. Dunbar stated, “By the age of six, the average child has learned to use and understand about 13,000 words; by eighteen it will have a working vocabulary of 60,000 words.  That means it has been learning an average of ten new words a day since its first birthday, the equivalent of a new word every 90 minutes of its waking life.”

What makes man distinctive is his ability to communicate, which no animal or organic evolution could argue against it. His knowledge to communicate through his native language separates him among all creatures. This native language of him will be his medium of communication to be in touch to other people. If the people around him speak divers of tongues, then his incredible knowledge urges him to learn other foreign languages, in order for him not just to understand what other people is saying but to say the same kind of foreign language the people around him can understand.

Language constantly runs its pace because in essence, man is frequently using it. It continues to evolve and radically brings impact to everyone, since language is man’s basic tool for communication. In the field of business and learning, different kinds of languages are being learned throughout the world and presently, it continues to move forward. This fundamental expansion of language development is just the effect of man’s natural and unique lingual traits, because he is created to communicate. His ability for communication indeed makes him distinct among every living thing existed in this planet.

Since the day the iPhone was introduced to the world, many lives have changed due to its functionality.  More and more people are able to do work on the go, learn new things whenever and wherever they are, and have fun whenever they are in need of entertainment.

The iPhone is a smartphone created by Apple Inc. and enable the use of the internet and multimedia.  It functions as a portable media player, a camera phone, a messaging device and lately has been upgraded with video capability and voice control.  Many people from businessmen to students to just about anybody who can afford an iPhone have made use of it in various ways.

For people who love to learn languages on the go, having an iPhone will be very beneficial.  Since the onset of the iPhone, many programmers have created various types of applications that can make people’s lives easier and enjoyable.  There are more or less forty thousand available iPhone apps in the world today and a good number is for learning foreign languages.

iPhone apps are usually available for free yet there are some that charge a fee for more advanced lessons and such.  Having possession of an iPhone and language learning apps don’t guarantee total fluency of the target language but it can encourage learning anytime and anywhere whenever a learner wants to brush up his or her language skils.  However, if iPhone users really want to become fluent in their target language, they should have the determination to learn and persevere, and should also look for other ways to supplement their language learning.

Some iPhone language learning apps:

Dictionaries and Translators:

• Google Mobile App – includes Google Translate for easy translation of any word, phrase or web page in more than thirty languages.
• Language Translator – can translate between thirty major languages
• iTranslate Ultimate – translates word between English, German, Italian and French and repeats words in the target language.
• Idiom Dictionary – allows English language learners to understand idioms and expressions.

Multilanguage Apps:

• Lexicon – uses flashcards for study then users can quiz themselves to assess their progress.  Allows voice recording and play back in audio with the iPhone.
• AccelaStudy – vocabulary, flashcards, quizzes, and many more for learning sixteen languages.

Spanish Language Learning Apps:

• iSpeak Spanish – allows translation between Spanish and English through an audio format and words spoken can be heard in high quality English and Spanish voices.
• Byki Spanish – use a three-step approach to Spanish language acquisition.
• English-Spanish Language Translator Phhraseook – allows search for basic travel phrases, greetings and more.

Italian Language Learning Apps:

• Pocket Italian Beginner I – has engaging storylines and voices for honing listening skills.
• Byki Italian – can be used as a phrasebook and reviewer through Italian quizzes.
• World Nomads Italian Language Guide – supplies common words and phrases and includes audio pronunciation.
• MyWords Italian – an app that lets iPhone users learn Italian vocabulary, ten words a day.

French Language Learning Apps:

• MyWords French – allows iPhone users to learn ten French words a day to build vocabulary.
• Gengo Flashcards French – uses visual cues and native French voices through flashcards.  Users can build their vocabulary by creating own flashcards by taking photos and adding the French words.
• World Nomads French Language Guide – an app that travelers will appreciate since it helps translate words and phrases as well as provide audio pronunciation.

Japanese Language Learning Apps:

• HiKaChan Hiragana Japanese – Japanese language learners will learn the hiragana writing system with this app.
• iKana touch – allows users to learn how to read, write and understand both hiragana and katakana.
• Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook – allows users to learn more than six hundred written and spoken Japanese phrases for traveling.

Other Language Learning Apps:

• MyWords German – allows German vocabulary building ten words a day.
• Byki Irish – allows users to learn Irish on the go.
• WordPower Lite Hebrew – users learn a Hebrew word a day and also allow audio listening and recording.
• MyWords Russian – users learn ten Russian words a day to build up vocabulary and allow speaking and understanding Russian.

There are more iPhone apps for learning foreign languages on the go.  They can be searched online and be downloaded into the iPhone.

Learning foreign languages is one interesting activity one can do in order to improve oneself better.  German is one of the largest spoken major languages in the world with over two hundred million speakers.  Learning German has a lot of advantages: it enables you to communicate with more people and gain more friends; enjoy works of art, music, film and literature which are only available in the German language; experience traveling in German-speaking places with less difficulty in understanding the people around you; and have better career opportunities which involve knowledge in other languages. There are a lot of people who find learning German difficult but there are some who say that German is not that difficult to learn.  Are there any ways to learn German quickly?

There are some people who say that there are ways to learn German quickly yet it depends on a number of factors especially of the learning environment one is in.  Many believe that it is possible to learn German quickly because the German language syntax is such that it is orderly and there are some words within the language which are considered as loan words from other languages.  However learning German is not as easy as picking up a book and become fluent just like that.

Learning a new language is difficult in some ways yet through one’s determination and interest in the languages, one will be able to grasp the crux of the language quickly.  For beginners to learn German quickly, a good start will be to learn the basic information or simple translation texts from one’s native language to German.  Interacting with people who can speak German also enables one to learn the language quickly.

Another strategy to learn German quickly is to take several short sessions as opposed to taking few long sessions.  For native English speakers, some scholars state that English and German are closely related languages and that any person with the knowledge of the English language has an advantage of learning German easily.

German is an interesting language which is one of the official languages of at least seven countries and the European Union and other international organizations.  Learning German can help one open new doors to various opportunities and it can help one improve his or her life.

Language, just like any other topic to be discussed, has lots of variations. This is measured through its numerous considerations like the language’s geographical location, influence, and number of speakers. Particularly, Spanish Language has its own variation. If English has American and British deviations, then so does the Spanish language varies in Mexico, Spain, or Argentina. Nonetheless, its differences don’t affect their way of communication since its differences are obvious only through spoken language.

Here are the lists in identifying their varieties.

• Pronunciation

Speakers from Spain often pronounce the “z” and the “c” before “i” or “e” like the “th” in “thin,” while many Latin Americans pronounce it as “s”.

Words with “ll” are often perplexed if its pronunciation is really “j” or “y”. One example is the word “llave”. The “y” sound is used by people who live in Spain, while the “j” sound is used by many Columbian Spanish speakers.

• Grammar

One classic example is the word “leísmo”. It was known among Spanish grammar that this word is always rejected in Linguistic prescription because the direct object to which it refers is not an animate object.

Another example is the use of the pronoun “vos”, while in other places, they use “tú”. These words, including the million different words in Spanish Language requires a greater room for learning and study.

• Vocabulary

One example for a Spanish term is the word “lapicero”, which means a pencil holder. Yet, it also means a mechanical pencil or a ball-point pen in some places.

Another example is the word “ticket”. For Spanish speakers in Spain, it means “billete”, but in Latin America, it means “boleto”.

To fully understand the beauty of Spanish variations, a person must give room for his interests in learning this language. This may require an enrolment in a Language School or just simply browsing the internet. This will always be an opportunity to learn other language prior to the known native tongue. If that person wants to learn Spanish from Spain or from Latin America, it may or it may not matter. As long as the learner understands their variation, he will still be able to learn it.