Learning Latin, Korean and Japanese

 LILT is the polyglot club, for those aspiring to be bilingual, muktilingual or just to learn a few useful words for when traveling. Or for those who wish to buddy up.

Japanese Food

At our meeting on Japanese online on Zoom on Sunday 18th Feb 2024, we discovered that three people, Caroly, Langeline and Clement are keen on eating Japanese food. Langeline likes to eat Japanese food every week. A recommended restaurant in Singapore is a possibility. This was one of our hopes when starting the club, to help learners of the language to buddy up in pairs or more to talk about the language, speak the language, learn new words and discuss and eat the food.

Our original plan was to look at English and a European language one week, and an Asia language the following week. Now I think we should do both languages in each meeting, to keep everybody coming to every meeting.

Weekly Meetings

The point of having weekly meetings is triple. It is easy to remember the day of the week when meetings are held, and you don't need to know whether it is the first or second, thrid or fourth or fith or any combination. it is always in that tday of the week. Secondly, you form a habit of blocking that time. You have another meeting while you still remember the previous one and feel enthusiastic. You meet often enough to establish camaradeire, and rapport.  And to feel under an obligation or goodwill to help out. You meeti often enough to feel free to speak.

Future Meetings

Our meeting on Sunday Feb 25th 2024 will include speeches on Latin, Korean and  a recap of Japanese learned last week.

To give you some preview.

Latin Language

Latin is the basis for many short and long words in English and the related romance langues of Italian, Spanish and French and Portuguese. For example, our English word agriculture comes from the Latin word for field, ager. Horticulture comes from the Latin words hortus for garden.  Latin is used in names for plants.

Latin is related to Italian but you can only read Latin on Roman archeology, in Roman museums, places like the Colosseum and Pompei, formelry in Italian churches and sevices worldwie. It is still used in legal terms. We still say etcetera and vice versa.

Latin uses the roman or western alphabet.

Japanese - easy or difficult?

The Roman or western alphabet can be used to learn to speak Japanese, but Japanese offers another challenge, whte writing system in symbols.

Japanese writing

Japanese, unlike Latin, is spoken in Japan and by Japanese people. You won't find a Latin restaurant service dormice. You can find a Japanese restaurant with a Japanese menu and often Japanese speaking staff.

Japanese can be written in sign or symbols, the same as Chinese. If you learn Japanese symbols you can read the Chinese ones and vice versa. Two languages learned from the time spent on one.

You can also read the sounds of the words spoken, transliterated into the Roman or western alphabet.

Japanese is used for foods such as suchi (rice with a protein such as raw fish), and Kobe beef from a place called Kobe. 

Clothes such as the kimono.  Or a yukata.

Japanese martial arts.

Popular places include the capital Tokyo, and means of transport the bullet train.

Korean

Korean is a challenging style of writing, not related to any other. Korean was devised by a king who wanted a written language. The shapes of the letters echo the shapes formed by your lips. 

The food includes kimchi (pickles). 

Teachers of English are now in greater demand than previously. Korea has switched over to teaching in English at university because so many scientific and internatioanl research papers are written in English. The cost of Korean translation is so high, that it is better to teach Koreans to read the English. (They can also then write papers in English, instead of paying for translation.)

So, learn Korean in order to teach English to Korean students. Either visiting the country or online. More Koreans will be able to talk to you if you are looking for a Korean speaker who is keen to buddy up in a win win language pairing.

Japanese - English

aligato/arigato - thank you

konneecheewa - hello

sayonara - goodbye (longterm) / farewell

English - Japanese

goodbye (longterm) - sayonara

hello - konneecheewa

Thank you - arigato/aligato

Latin - English

ager - field

hortus - garden

English - Latin

field - ager

garden - hortus

To keep words in your mind, for frequent repeition, credit card size laminated cards by ooozu.com are handy.

I initially bought a card with Greek on it for a trip to Cyprus. Then I bought a second card with Spanish on it for a trip to Spain. Then the system noted me down as a buyer and sent me an offer to buy 11 cards at a slightly reduced rate. I thought that was a good idea, because I am orgnaizing LILT language club meetings and want to open each meeting with hello in that week's featured language or languages.

Useful Websites

ooozu.com

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