Category Archives: Language Spotlight

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French Language: Facts, Figures & French Children’s Books

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France french languageToday’s spotlight language is French. We have background and interesting facts about the language, as well as information to help you find children’s books in French.  Interested in learning interesting facts about other languages?  Check out our series of posts on various world languages including Hindi, Russian and Japanese!

Where is it spoken?

French is the official language of France, and it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. There are about 300 million French speakers worldwide. It has official status in 32 countries, second only to English.

How Many People Speak French in the US?

According to the most recent US Census data, there are about 1.3 million French speakers in the US (not including French Creole, which is counted separately). There are large French speaking populations in New York, Louisiana, Washington DC, Massachusetts, Texas and California.

Interesting Facts About French

There are many food-related idioms in French. One example is “En faire tout un fromage,” which translates to “make a whole cheese of it.” This saying is used to when a person is making a bigger deal of something than it deserves. In English, its equivalent is “making a mountain out of a molehill.”

French didn’t become widely used in France until after the French Revolution in the late 1700s.

“Salut” can be used as both a casual hello or good-bye.

French Books – Bilingual Children’s Books

If the kids in your life speak French, or are learning the language, you may want suggestions on some of the best bilingual French storybooks and audio books for kids.  Some popular and engaging stories with text in both English and the French language include: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and The Giant Turnip.  You may also want to check out the illustrated French-English dictionary with audio for children.

Do you speak French, or are you learning the language? Comment below and share your interesting language facts!

“Eiffel Tower, Paris (France)” by Tommie Hansen via Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/gEnCEM

At Home, Community Support, Language Spotlight

Hindi Language & Hindi Books: Facts, Figures & Resources

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hindi children's books and resources

Today’s spotlight language is Hindi. Below, we offer background and interesting facts about the language, as well as information to help you find Hindi children’s books.

Where is it spoken?

Hindi is the official language of India (along with English). Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. There are approximately 425 million speakers worldwide.

How Many People Speak Hindi in the US?

According to the most recent US Census data, there are about 670,000 Hindi speakers in the US. There are large Hindi speaking populations in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and California.

Interesting Facts About Hindi

Hindi is a relatively easy language to read. It is written left to write, is phonetic, and doesn’t include articles like “a” or “the.”

It’s important to use the correct formal or informal style of speech in context, depending on whom you are addressing.

Nouns are either masculine or feminine, and affect adjective and verb use.

The most common greeting in Hindi is “namaste,” and handshakes are only common in certain situations, not in everyday life.

Hindi Books – Bilingual Children’s Books

Teachers frequently ask for suggestions on some of the best bilingual Hindi storybooks and audio books for kids.  Some popular and engaging stories with text in both English and the Hindi language include: The Wheels on the Bus, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat.  There is also an illustrated Hindi-English dictionary with audio for children.

Do you speak Hindi, or know someone who does? Comment below and share your interesting language facts!

“India” by Nick Kenrick via Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/ojmzob

At Home, Community Support, Language Spotlight

Russian Language & Russian Books: Facts, Figures & Resources

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russian language children's books

Today’s spotlight language is Russian. Below, we offer background and interesting facts about the language, as well as information to help you find Russian children’s books.

Where is it spoken?

Russian is the national language of Russia, as well as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. It’s also widely used in other European countries like Ukraine, Latvia, and Estonia. Russian is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. There are approximately 260 million speakers worldwide. It’s one of six official languages of the United Nations.

How Many People Speak Russian in the US?

According to the 2011 US Census, there are about 900,000 Russian speakers in the US. There are large Russian speaking populations in New York, New Jersey, California, Washington and Oregon.

Interesting Facts About Russian

In the mid-1700s, there were three recognized styles of written Russian: Low, middle and high. Low style was used in everyday correspondence, middle for prose and poetry, and high for poetry and religion. Ultimately, middle style became the standard Russian of today.

The Russian language also makes use of patronyms, which convey lineage by using the names of male ancestors. A person’s first name is combined with a form of his/her father’s name and -ovich (son of) or -ovna (daughter of) is added onto the end. For example, if Natasha’s father’s name is Ivan, you would address her as Natasha Ivanovna.

Russian Books – Bilingual Children’s Books

Teachers frequently ask for suggestions on some of the best bilingual Russian books for children.   Some popular and engaging stories with text in both English and the Russian language include: Farmer Duck, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat, Goose Fables and The Giant Turnip (an adaptation of a humorous Russian folk tale).  There is also an illustrated Russian-English dictionary with audio for children.

Do you speak Russian, or know someone who does? Comment below and share your interesting language facts!

“Matryoshka dolls, Moscow” by neiljs via Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/5ZHNPu

Community Support, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Language Spotlight

Japanese Language & Japanese Books: Facts, Figures & Resources

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Japanese childrens booksToday’s spotlight language is Japanese. Below, we offer background and interesting facts about the language, as well as information to help you find Japanese children’s books.

Where is it spoken?

Japanese is the national language of Japan, and there are approximately 125 million speakers worldwide. Its origins are unknown, and it has no known linguistic relatives. There are dozens of dialects spoken in Japan, but the main distinctions are between Tokyo-type and Kyoto-Osaka-type.

How Many People Speak Japanese in the US?

According to the 2011 US Census, there are 436,100 Japanese speakers in the US. There are large Japanese-speaking populations in California, Washington, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Interesting Facts About Japanese

Modern Japanese began around 1600. It has a large number of “loan words” from the Chinese language (words of Chinese origin). In the last 50 years, the number of loan words from the English language has grown considerably, especially words that are technology related. For example, intānetto for “internet.” Loan words can also be shortened, like wāpuro for “word processor.”

The writing system consists primarily of three scripts: kanji, hiragana and katakana. Japanese writings can be in “western style,” which is in horizontal rows starting from the top, or “japanese style,” vertical columns starting from the right.

Japanese Books – Bilingual Children’s Books

Teachers frequently ask for suggestions on some of the best bilingual Japanese books for children.   Some popular and engaging stories with text in both English and the Japanese language include: Mei Ling’s Hiccups, Farmer Duck, Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat, Lima’s Red Hot Chilli and My Daddy is  Giant.  There is also an illustrated Japanese English dictionary with audio for children.

Do you speak Japanese, or know someone who does? Comment below and share your interesting language facts!

“Japan” by Moyan Brenn via Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/pMe6Pj

At Home, Classroom, Community Support, Dual Language, ELLs / DLLs, Language Spotlight, Libraries, Schools

Nepali Language & Nepali Books: Facts, Figures and Resources

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nepali books spotlight languageToday’s spotlight language is Nepali. Below, we offer background and interesting facts about the language, as well as information to help you find Nepali books.

Where is it spoken?

Nepali is the official language of Nepal, a country in South Asia. It is also spoken in Bhutan, Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), and India. There are about 17 million Nepali speakers around the world.

map of nepal nepali books bilingual childrens books

How Many People Speak Nepali in the US?

There are relatively large Nepalese communities in New York, California and Texas. According to the US Census Bureau’s most recent estimates in 2014, over 120,000 people in the US identify as Nepalese. Of these, about 25,000 are school-aged children.

Interesting Facts About Nepali

In the past, Nepali was called the Khas language and Gorkhali.

One of the most well known words in Nepali is “namaste,” which means hello. It is usually spoken with a slight bow and palms pressed together. It can be used as a greeting or a goodbye. A more casual greeting is “Tik chha,” which means “How are you?”

Nepali Books – Bilingual Children’s Books

Teachers frequently ask for suggestions on some of the best bilingual Nepali books for children.   Here are some popular and engaging stories with text in both English and the Nepali language as well as a Nepali English dictionary for children.

Do you speak Nepali, or know someone who does? Comment below and share your interesting language facts!

 

“Nepal – Evening lights at Bhaktapur” by Dhilung Kirat via Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/6gHdSS

“Nepal-map-blank” By CIA World fact book (Image:Nepal-CIA_WFB_Map.png) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANepal-map-blank.png