The one-millionth word

Global Language Monitor, an American organization that follows language trends, accurately predicted that English would reach its 1,000,000-word mark this month.

On June 10th, Web 2.0 was crowned the one-millionth English word. Welcome to the language.

English has more words than French, German, and Russian combined. But does it really need a million terms?

The average American knows about 20,000 words and uses roughly 7,000 of them a day. Even Shakespeare, who invented some 1,700 terms, only knew about 60,000. I'll bet he always had to have the last word.

My Journey to France and to French

This post will be the first to originate from our new American headquarters in Philadelphia. My name is David Donaldson, and not only am I the new COO of Language Routes, but I am also a new learner of French. (Very new, as the early recipients of my first Language Routes email newsletter (sign up here) will attest, given my misspelling of je m'appelle.) My weekly entries will relay any breaking news from the US office, and will also chronicle my efforts to learn French as a forty-something year-old who has never learned a spoken language other than English (middle school, high school and college were Latin, Latin and more Latin.)

I recently traveled to France for the first time, and a Francophile was born within me almost immediately. My first weekend was spent in Burgundy, at the home of some friends in Cravant (a tiny, very charming hillside village near Auxerre.) The rapeseed was in full golden bloom, the weather was warm and sunny, and the weekend was filled with great conversation, sumptuous meals and the steady flow of fine Burgundian vin rouge.

It was after my arrival in Lyon that I began to realize how much I was missing due to my lack of French. The art and architecture of the city was awe-inspiring, the food and wine again ranked among the best I have ever experienced, and the people were open, friendly and helpful - never was I shunned, ridiculed or made to feel stupid, no matter how much I had earned it. When I asked, for instance, why I didn't see any guests or doormen at the Hotel de Ville (pictured above, behind the magnificent Bartholdi fountain on the Place des Terreaux) I was told, very kindly, that Hotel de Ville means City Hall. We had a small laugh, and I was informed that it was a very common mistake from non-French speakers.

The humor of my next misstep didn't become evident to me until hours later. The desk clerk at my hotel spoke very little English, and after I had checked in and gone to my room to unpack I returned to the lobby and asked him for some ice and a glass (you may see where this is going already.) He ducked into the back and returned a moment later with a bowl filled with ice.

"Merci," I said. "and a glass?"

He motioned to the bowl. "Oui, monsieur. Glace."

"Yes, thank you, but I also need a glass."

And so on. Maybe not Abbott and Costello, but enough to make me laugh out loud when I realized what had happened much later.

So my goal now is to be prepared with at least some rudimentary conversational skills before my next trip to France and our home offices in Lyon. I'm taking lessons at my local Alliance Francaise (with the incredibly engaging Marie-Laure), looking into hiring a tutor, and of course utilizing those Language Routes products that are more beginner-friendly. I'm even finding that Bien-dire magazine, which is mostly targeted at more advanced learners than myself, has some very helpful content - such as the article in the most recent issue (No. 64) detailing, with images, common terms heard in a bar or café ("une tasse" "boire un coup" etc.)

Kari's fascinating posts will continue, but please check back weekly to see what's happening here in Philadelphia. And if you have any stories of funny or rewarding moments in your journey to speak French, please do share them.

Buon appetito!

I wasn’t surprised to learn that many of the English words used in the kitchen are of Italian origin: pasta al dente, marinara, parmesan, espresso, biscotti… no big shockers there. However, I recently came across a few that made me think, “Mamma mia! I didn’t know that word came from Italian!”


Eat your frutta e verdura!

Tutti-frutti - from tutti frutti, meaning ‘all fruits’

Artichoke – from North Italian articiocco (originally from Arabic al-ẖaršúf)

Arugula - from the Neapolian dialect rugula

Broccoli - from plural of broccolo, meaning ‘cabbage-sprout or top’

Cauliflower - from cavolfiore

Zucchini – from plural of zucchina, meaning ‘small gourd’


Got a sweet tooth?

Soda – from soda

Candy – from the Old Italian zucchero candi

Sugar – from zucchero (originally from Arabic)


Of course, these are just a sampling. But it really gave me an appetite for learning Italian!

Make bilingual the beginning

I grew up in a place where being simply bilingual was borderline boring.

Speaking multiple languages was very common in this small country housing over 78 dialects. It was not at all surprising to meet a person who could speak six or seven languages. Of course, they might not be completely fluent in each one. For example, a friend of mine could just get by in Baoulé, say the greetings in Senoufo and barter for fish at the market in Guéré - this on top of speaking his native language of Bété and learning to read and write French at school.



It was essential for daily life that everyone be able to communicate, which meant that sometimes you didn't use the correct verb tense or the right gender. If a Dan speaker wanted to do business with an Abé speaker, they might do so in a mixture of French and Dioula, the Manding language spoken by traders across the region.

As globalization progresses, we assume that the use of English will only increase. It's already the language of business, science and the Internet - so if you speak English, you're all set, right? I disagree. Never underestimate the power of greeting a person in their native language. It shows respect and interest, and can often open doors. Nelson Mandela said, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart." We need to start looking beyond bilingual and branch out into multiple languages.

* Did you know? The bilingual population ranges from between 60% and 75% of the world’s people. It is common for most of the world’s societies to be multilingual.

Recent studies have shown that becoming bilingual makes learning new languages easier. You've already mastered your native language. Have you started on a second language or maybe a third? Keep going. Practice the greetings in the language of your great-grandparents. Brush up on your high school Spanish. Learn a proverb or saying in the language of a country you want to visit. Set a goal to make bilingual just the beginning.

Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.
The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.
-- Ludwig Wittgenstein

10 reasons to learn French

1. A language spoken throughout the world
More then 200 million people speak French on 5 continents. The French Language comprises 68 states and governments. French is the largest foreign language learned after English and the ninth most spoken in the world. It is equally the only language with English that one can learn in every country in the world. France has a very large network of cultural establishments abroad where it is learned in French courses by more than 750000 persons.

2. A language in order to find employment
Speaking French and English is an asset for multiplying your chances in the international hunt for employment. The knowledge of French opens the doors of French enterprises in France as well as abroad in all of the Francophone countries (Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, and all over the African Continent). France, the fifth commercial power and third most welcoming for foreign investments, is a leading economic partner.

3. The language of culture
French is the international language of cooking, fashion, theatre, the visual arts, dance, and architecture. Knowing French, it is to have access to the original version of large texts of French literature and the Francophone but equally in cinema and in song. French is the language of Victor Hugo, Moliere, Leopold Sendar Senghor, Edith Piaf, Jean-Paul Sartre, Alain Delon, and Zinedine Zidane.

4. A language for traveling
France is the most visited country in the world with more than 70 million visitors each year. With a knowledge of French, it is often more pleasant to visit Paris and all the regions of France (from warmth of the Cote d’Azur in the snow covered Alps to the untamed coasts of Brittany) but also taking in the culture, the attitudes, and the art of life of the French. French is also very useful when one visits Africa, Switzerland, Canada, Monaco, les Seychelles…

5. A language for studying in the French Universities
Speaking French notably permits pursuing studies in France in the reputable universities or in the great schools of commerce and engineering, classes among the best superior establishments in Europe and in the world. The students mastering the French language can benefit with French government scholarships in order to attend a third cycle of studies in France in all the disciplines and to obtain internationally recognized diplomas.

6. The other language of international relations
French, is the language of work and the official language of the UN, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross… and many other international judicial groups. French is the language of three city seats of European Institutions: Strasbourg, Brussels, and Luxembourg.

7. A language for opening oneself to the world
English and German, French is the third language on the Internet ahead of Spanish. Knowing French permits taking another look at the world of communications with Francophones on all of the continents and informing oneself gracefully in the large international media in the French language. (TV5, France 24, Radio France International)

8. A pleasant language to learn
French is an easy language to learn. Numerous methods exist for learning French in amusing ways for children or adults. One can also very quickly attain a level for communicating in French.

9. A language for learning other languages
Learning French helps one in learning other languages, notably the Latin languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian) but also English since French provided more than 50% of the English vocabulary.

10. The Language of Love and Spirit
Learning French, it is foremost the pleasure of learning a beautiful language, rich and melodious that everyone often call it the language of love. French is also an analytical language which structures thoughts and develops critical thinking which is very useful in discussions or negotiations.

Source: Consulate General of France in New Orleans

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Mandarin makes you musical

Learn Mandarin and become more musical? Apparently, the two go hand in hand. Researchers discovered that speakers of tonal languages are much more likely to have perfect pitch. In Europe and the US, only one in 10,000 have the gift. But in certain parts of China it is very common to have the ability to sing or recognize the pitch of a tone by ear.

The study results suggest that learning a tonal language plays a far greater role in perfect pitch than genes. Asians participating in the study only scored better if they were fluent in their parents' native tongue - and the level of fluency seemed to affect their mucical abilities as well.

So, who wants to learn Mandarin, Cantonese or Vietnamese?