LINGUA FRANCA a BI-ANNUAL NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED by WORLD LANGUAGES and CULTURES at SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY Salemstate.Edu/Languages Volume 12 • Issue 1 • Fall 2014
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LINGUA FRANCA A BI-ANNUAL NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES AT SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY salemstate.edu/languages Volume 12 • Issue 1 • Fall 2014 SALEM STATE POLYGLOTS: THE FRUSTRATING JOY OF LEARNING MULTIPLE LANGUAGES INSIDE THIS ISSUE By Elizabeth Blood, WLC Study Abroad/ Collaboration is the Word .............. 2 While some people fear learning a Departmental News ........................ 3 foreign language and many feel content POLYGLOT learning just one other language, there New German are some—among them numerous Study Abroad Program .................. 4 students at Salem State—who think ADJECTIVE: KNOWING OR Goethe-Institut Boston ................... 5 learning only one foreign language is USING SEVERAL LANGUAGES not enough. Who are these fearless Wise Latinas .................................... 5 polyglots? The answer may surprise you. NOUN: A PERSON WHO Author Visits .................................... 6 Google “polyglot” and you will find KNOWS AND IS ABLE TO USE Spanish Internships ........................ 6 videos and websites singing the praises Original Jarchas .............................. 7 of language geniuses who are fluent in SEVERAL LANGUAGES multiple languages, who are self-taught New Italian Program ....................... 8 or can learn to speak a language fluently First Italian Fellow Departs ............ 8 in hours. However, you don’t have to be Zarah Magazine Visits .................... 8 a genius or even someone gifted in the and I make tons of mistakes, but at the area of language learning to become same time I feel like it gives me a richer SSU at MAFLA ................................. 8 a polyglot. You don’t even need to be understanding of the bigger picture.” A Tour Through Florence Italy ...... 9 “fluent” in multiple languages, just William Sherman ‘14 (Spanish major) functional. It is more important to be Why Learn German? ......................10 is another alum with a penchant for curious, open-minded, persistent, and to Responding to Difference .............10 languages, motivated by a desire to be okay with making mistakes. connect with people in our region who War: What is it Good For? .............10 “I’m actually rubbish at learning speak other languages as well as by an English-Spanish Cognates ............11 languages,” says Kelsey Utne ‘12 intellectual curiosity to learn about other (Political Science, History and Economics cultures. Sherman, who has formally What is so Great major and World Languages minor) who studied six languages, learned French About Oviedo? ...............................12 studied French, Chinese and Arabic at and Latin in elementary and high school, Salem State and is now learning Persian and chose to pursue Russian, German, EDITORS: and Hindi-Urdu in graduate school, “I Spanish and Classical Greek in college. Jon Aske have friends who have a gift for them— “The BA in Spanish I completed because but alas, I don’t have that gift. However of my belief that the US is becoming, Kenneth Reeds I do adore languages. They are each a if not already is, a bilingual nation, puzzle and an art. They are frustrating and my work takes me to Spanish- WEB PUBLICATION: and hard, but in my opinion one of the speaking parts of Lynn and Salem,” ssclinguafranca.wordpress.com singularly most satisfying intellectual says Sherman, who initially studied pursuits.” Utne, who never studied a Russian in order to take a commission in JOIN SALEM STATE’S foreign language before coming to Salem the Air Force but notes “Given Russian LANGUAGE CLUBS’ MAILING State, and who never studied abroad as emigration to the area, this turned LISTS and FACEBOOK GROUPS an undergraduate, used her language out to be fortuitous.” Aside from the Visit This Page: skills to help land a Fulbright grant to practical uses of multilingualism in our http://tinyurl.com/ssulanguageclubs study in India after graduation from region, Sherman has been driven by a Salem State. She is currently studying in desire to “read literature in its original Pakistan and recommends that students languages—Caesar in Latin, Cervantes in FOREIGN LANGUAGES study multiple related languages that Spanish, Verlaine in French, Pushkin in TEL: 978.542.6258 share grammar and vocabulary: “It can Russian, Goethe in German.” Curiosity [email protected] be a lot to juggle in my head sometimes, and persistence, coupled with practical continued on page 2 1 applications of language learning, have Utne, Swiniarski found the similarities COLLABORATION propelled Sherman to continue to study between languages to be something that IS THE WORD: and learn languages over the years. made multiple language study easier, and went on to study Spanish, Gaelic, MESSAGE AND NEWS Juliana Carvalho ‘14 (Business major and Polish, Latin, Chinese and Korean. She FROM THE NEW CHAIR World Languages minor) immigrated to states “I started noticing similarities Michele C. Dávila, WLC the US and learned English as a second between Spanish and French, and I language to her native Portuguese. In ¡Hola! A most cordial welcome to every began to recognize what certain words high school, she studied French, which new student and professor this semester meant by cognates, even if I couldn’t she continued at Salem State, also to our World Languages and Cultures speak the language... I took Latin adding Spanish as a fourth language. department. First of all I want to thank since it’s the foundation for so many Carvalho notes: “For me, coming from our past Chair, Dr. Elizabeth Blood, languages, and then I took Chinese one culture and living in a country which for her dedication during the last six in college because I thought it would is a melting pot of so many cultures was great years, her incessant promotion help with my Korean.” Swiniarski’s fascinating. By the time I started learning of world languages and the initiative language learning is also motivated French, I was already bilingual in English taken for all the good changes we have by her multicultural heritage: “I took and Portuguese. I started Spanish had which include new concentrations French in the first place because of my because I already listened to so many with more interdisciplinary courses French relatives, Gaelic for my Scotch- songs in Spanish and I think it’s another and a new department name. I will Irish heritage and Polish for my Polish important language to learn.” Carvalho follow that track as the new chair and heritage.” Though not Korean, Sophie also offers some advice “For someone would like to continue to promote more says “I really love Korean music, so I who is interested in learning another collaboration not only across curriculum, started learning that to try to understand language, I would say don’t be afraid. but also across the campus and beyond. the lyrics.” It can be complicated and frustrating, Among the things we can celebrate this but in the end it’s very rewarding. It’s an Freshman Gail Coughlin (double major semester is the increase of students in awesome feeling to know that you can in History and WLC-French) also has our different concentrations and new understand a person that speaks another an interest in several languages and is collaborations in and out of Salem. language.” And Carvalho isn’t done yet: similarly motivated by a multicultural For me the semester started with a bang “I think I want to learn Italian next...or heritage and by living in a multilingual facilitating together with President Pat a language that is completely different world: “I decided that I wanted to learn Meservey a discussion group of the like Chinese, Russian or German.” Like another language when I was three book I Am Malala with new students for others, Carvalho admits that the process years old. This interest stemmed from the First Year Reading Experience. And of language learning is hard and can hearing other languages while out in how appropriately for Salem State to be frustrating, but that the rewards of public and wondering what those people have chosen this book because this was connecting to another culture make it all speaking those languages were saying.” the semester Malala became a Nobel worthwhile. Coughlin, who is currently studying Peace Prize awardee. Our department French and Chinese at Salem State Current Salem State students continue is not only well represented in the new also recently “downloaded an app” to to pursue multiple languages. Jeff core with our language classes but also try to learn Russian and has studied Robinson (WLC-French major) is in the First Year Seminar category with Irish on her own as well. Coughlin also currently studying French, Spanish two new courses: “‘Cést la vie’”: Why describes the language learning process and Arabic at Salem State, in addition We Love/Hate the French’’ taught by Dr. as a difficult one: “Somewhere along to intensive Russian courses taken Elizabeth Blood, and “‘¡Sí se puede!‘”: the way learning a different language through the Army last summer. He is also The Impact of Latin@s in the US” becomes hard...one is required to use planning to complete the department’s taught by me. This has proven to be an parts of their brain that have not been new Certificate in Translation next year enriching experience. used since they were a child and learned and will use his language skills in the their first language. Relearning how to Being conscious of the present day future, perhaps in a military career. use a part of your brain is difficult and job trends and how our world is During a recent ROTC training activity, frustrating.” Coughlin, who considered increasingly interconnected we are Robinson’s language skills were tested: giving up French after her second year in starting our program for the Certificate “It was crazy. We were simulating how high school, now finds great joy in being of Translation, in conjunction with the to speak to civilians in various situations able to communicate with others in their English department, with several courses and they kept calling me to interpret native language: “Through French I’ve next spring 2015.