The post below provides information on the release of a new Cherokee language lexicon.

Cherokee Lexicon

Kudos to the Cherokee Nation language folks on the lexicon now available on the Cherokee Nation Website. It currently contains translations of approximately 7000 words and here’s the instructions. Go to Cherokee Nation Web page at …

If you’re looking for more information on learning Cherokee, visit Cherokee language courses.

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The Chickasaw language is derived from the Muskogean family and is spoken by Chickasaw inhabitants of Southeastern Oklahoma. It is one of the less common Native American languages, as only about 1,000 individuals speak it today. It was much more popular during the eighteen and nineteen hundreds, when all tribes along the lower Mississippi knew it. A few descendants of Chickasaws who pretended to be white during the Trail of Tears reside in the original Chickasaw homelands of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Chickasaw is pronounced just how it reads and comes from the tribal name Chickasha, a man who was a famous Chickasaw leader. The Chickasaws are U.S. citizens who must follow American rules, just like those who are not Native Americans. The majority of its speakers are middle-aged or older, with the children favoring English.

Chickasaw contains sixteen consonants, coming up short to English’s nineteen to twenty. It’s interesting in that the sentence structure always takes on a “subject object verb” form. A sentence translated to English would read “Bobby apples ate”. It is a very rhythm-based tongue.

If a Chickasaw term is spelled using double letters, the consonant in question should be read with double length. Issi’ (deer), for example, would be spoken as if there was a hyphen in between the two Ss. As for vowels, a, i, and o are dubbed the short ones out of the nine that the Chickasaw language contains.

The Chickasaw usually don’t place different kinds of emphasis on the same word based on the context. English speakers tend to do this, however; “rebel” can either be reb-el or re-bel, depending on what we mean.

Chickasaw was chiefly an oral speech prior to the arrival of Europeans to the Americas. Like other Native American languages, there is no native writing structure as a result. The Roman alphabet has been utilized to inscribe Chickasaw throughout the times, but there are lots of discrepancies among passages. Zero of these rare Chickasaw texts are officially published.

Chickasaw women of the past were farmers, mothers, and cooks. Common food of the day included strawberries, different nuts, acorns, onions, and sassafras root tea. The ancient Chickasaw men hunted meat, built boats, and engaged in war. Both sexes could partake in a variety of arts and medicine, but only Chickasaw males could be chiefs until recently. American mothers might have adopted the practice of carrying their babies on their backs from the Chickasaw.

The sounds of Chickasaw are mostly present in the English language, so it is fairly easy to acquire the basics of the tongue. The grammar, however, is likely to be a struggle for those interested in learning more.

If you’re interested in learning Chickasaw, then visit learning Chickasaw language resources.

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Choctaw is a language conventionally spoken by the Choctaw tribe. It is grouped under the Muskogean family and is used by Native Americans in the southeastern U.S. It was a very popular language in the Frontier days, even known by the likes of some American presidents. Today it is spoken by just under 10,000 people.

Choctaw has been linked to Chickasaw, another Native American language, but members of the tribe would scoff at the claim that the tongues are comparable. The Choctaw alphabet is short five letters in contrast to the English version. There are no rolling rs in the Choctaw language, as this sound is absent.

The Choctaw language is divided into three dialects: “Native” Choctaw from Oklahoma, Mississippi Choctaw (also in Oklahoma), and Choctaw of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (this version actually is in Mississippi). The dialects are thought to have come about as the result of some of the tribe being forced to relocate to Oklahoma with the Trail of Tears. Each dialect can still comprehend the other, it’s just the pronunciation is a bit different.

You may find it interesting that the state Oklahoma is actually a Choctaw word meaning “red people”. Sounds simple enough, but when it comes to Choctaw grammar, it may seem confusing to those who are accustomed to English. Verbs, for example, are also adjectives that can have up to three prefixes or five suffixes and are always listed at the end of a sentence. Tenses are indicated by adverbs that follow verbs, and neither singular nor plural nouns exist. Amounts are instead expressed using these terms:

Chito (cheh-toe) - For one to be large
Hochito (hoe-cheh-toe) - For several to be large
Hikia (heh-keh-ah) - For one to stand
Heli (hay-leh) - For two to stand
Hiyohli (heh-yoe-leh) - For many to stand

Choctaw today is usually only spoken by individuals forty-five years of age and up, but in Mississippi an effort is being made to raise kids with it as their first language. Those kids are raised by the head of the household, which is considered to be the woman for the Choctaws because they are and always have been the caretakers.

In the present day, the Choctaw Nation supplies its people with countless services. Like any good society, there are housing programs, hospitals, and educational grants. The Choctaw have founded numerous bingo joints and shopping plazas, which in turn provide plenty of jobs for these Native Americans. They delight in their free time and holidays, too, engaging in food, games, and sports that celebrate their heritage.

If you’re looking for options to learn Choctaw, then visit Choctaw learning courses and programs.

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Like many other languages, the Cherokee language is named after its people, the Cherokee. It is classified under the Iroquoian language family, and it is the only Southern one from the group that is still used. The Cherokee language is associated with the South because its speakers reside in the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, although it is believed that the Cherokee originally hailed from the Great Lakes.

Most people know of the Cherokee by way of the Trail of Tears. Basically, it was the American enforcement of relocation for all Native American tribes in the 1800s. Countless Cherokees died during this process.

As for the language, Cherokee is a speech rich in syllabary, but you may be surprised to learn that it does not have values for the English letters “p” and “b”. The consonant “m” is also fairly recent. Some symbols of the language look like Latin letters (but don’t sound anything like them), and whereas the English alphabet only has six vowels, the Cherokee language boasts twelve, both short and long. The Cherokee alphabet has a total of eighty-five character strings.

Tsa-la-gi (“Cherokee” to natives) is a complicated dialect in that each verb can take on thousands of inferred forms. Many words are translated as phrases to the English ear; i.e., the word attorney is branded as “one who argues repeatedly on purpose for a purpose” in Cherokee. The Cherokee are not exempt form adopting a few English terms of their own, however, similarly to how the English language has taken foreign lingo like R.S.V.P. (répondez s’il vous plaît) under its wing. They also have slang.

Cherokee in today’s world is comprised of two major dialects: the Giduwa and the Otali. The main difference is that the Northwestern Cherokee use tl sound while the Southeastern employ ts. Whichever the dialect, the tongue is spoken by up to 20,000 individuals throughout the Cherokee Nation.

Some key pronunciations to get one started in understanding Cherokee are as follows:

A = a as in “father”
E = a as in “bay”
I = e as in “fee”
O = the same
U = like “ooh”
V = like “uh”
Ts = “j” sound

The term “Cherokee” itself has been spelled at least fifty different ways in the past (the current spelling dates back to about the eighteenth century). Its literal meaning is “people with another language”. Aniyunwiya, meaning “the principal people”, is what the Cherokees called themselves in the beginning. Most Cherokees are not raised bilingually today, but as they get older, most opt to learn English.

There are many resources online if you are interested in learning Cherokee yourself. It won’t be the easiest process, however, as Cherokee is quite different from English.

To learn Cherokee, visit Cherokee language learning programs.

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Studying a tongue foreign to your own is certainly not a breezy task. This is due to the commitment of time and energy it requires. Using a foreign speech software program could make the whole process a bit less difficult for you. The benefits of making use of such devices in order to acquire another tongue are vast.

A top issue pupils have with studying a different language in school is often the teacher moves extremely quick. The scholars are usually not immersed in the foreign lingo to a sufficient level to really retain that much of it, and having the educator train in such a fast manner doesn’t help things. Another conflict is that the first year of studying a language at school is when you’ll learn the most, and subsequent years tend to repeat what was learned in year one.

If you utilize one of the hundreds of foreign language kits available, you can learn on your own time and at your own discretion. You can be less self-conscious about a particular lesson that is giving you trouble, as software programs will not jolt you forward before you’re ready like in class. You’re not on any deadlines when engaging in these programs, besides the deadlines are ones you set for yourself. Having this freedom gets rid of some of the stress of attaining a foreign speech.

Investing in a software program allows you to attend “class” whenever it strikes your fancy. You’ll probably end up working with the language more times than you would have attended a class due to the convenience of your home (an hour or two of scheduled school time probably won’t aide you in completely ascertaining the language, anyway, unless you combined it with your home kit). An idea is to have lessons playing throughout the day to continually engross yourself.

Pressure will be unpacked in the arena of social embarrassment if you pick up a language learning kit. No longer do you have to feel bad about falling behind the others or mincing your Mongolian. When you study at your house you are alone or surrounded by loved ones, so there is no need to feel shy during training.

Finally, it is a pretty penny less to buy a program in lieu of attending one. You will acquire the same information as a college course and then some. If you’ve pondered studying Spanish, understanding Arabic, or speaking Russian, try buying software. It’s less expensive yet just as effective, and lets you learn on your terms.

There are a variety of language software courses available. The courses on the high end reflect speech analysis capabilities, hundreds of hours of instruction, and lesson tailoring to fit your needs. The Tell Me More Premium Spanish course is one such option. The Tell Me More series is available for Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese.

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Finnish is the mother language of about 5 million people of Finland. Further 1 million people speak the language in parts of Sweden and Russia neighboring Finland and also in the USA. It is also known as ‘Suomi’ which belongs to the group of Finno-Ugric languages. Finnish has several dialects but the written language is uniform.

It is the first syllable of a word that is stressed in this language. There are 15 cases for personal pronouns, nouns and adjectives. Finnish however lacks the article and gender of grammar. Instead of prepositions, postpositions are used. The verb in this language has a negative conjugation. Lots of Slavic, Baltic and Germanic words have been borrowed enriching the Finnish vocabulary. Since 16th century, Finnish is written in a modified form of Roman alphabet.

Finnish was an oral language till the medieval period. A German travel journal of the 15th century bears the first record of written Finnish. Even in the country itself, the language was used only for normal interactions till the written Finnish was developed. Business, administration and religion were conducted in Finland (under annexation of Catholic Sweden) in German, Swedish and Latin languages respectively.

Foreigners who need to spend significant time in Finland or Estonia may find it useful to learn Finnish considered by many as one of the more difficult European languages. One may learn it for pleasure also. The language is melodious with nice vowels and soft consonants. People for whom English is the native language will find it difficult though to pronounce the Finnish ‘y’ which like the ‘u’ in French is a ‘front-u’. Sounds like ‘sh’, ‘ch’ and ‘j’ are typically lacking in Finnish language.

Another problem that the English speaker might encounter while learning Finnish is the difference in meaning between two apparently same words with the only difference of single and double letters. Not many books are available for learning the language but learning it online remains an option. Finnish learning software has become an increasing available for it in recent years, however.

There are variety of courses available for studying Finnish. The Beginner Finnish Software Course from EuroTalk is one such course. A total of six finnish courses are now available. Another important course to consider is the foundational Finnish Conversational Course from the Foreign Service Institute.

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With the turn of the twenty-first century we can see more and more bilingual (or even trilingual) people than ever before. Anyone who’s toured Europe can tell you that the majority of individuals who hail from that continent are familiar with a tongue other than their own (and I’m not talking body parts).

Even amongst kids and the cartoon airwaves, Spanish-speaking Dora the Explorer is more popular than ever. The following are just a few of the dozens of motivators for knowing another language.

One of the most important purposes for signing up for a language lesson is that it will boost your job or even offer you a new one. If you are employed by a mega-giant, you can be sure the corporation holds residence in additional countries and continents.

Having another language under your belt will widen the opportunities to further your occupation, not only at home but abroad. Imagine how exciting it would be to be fully immersed in another country’s culture by living and working there.

Being able to converse in the native speech will help you get there. Even if your usual companies aren’t international, if your profession is universal, feel free to browse foreign jobs once acquiring that other language. Countries may list English as being a required language in addition to whatever one you learn for them.

Regardless if moving to another locale isn’t your thing, being bilingual in today’s occupation market is a BIG pro. Take a glance at your newspaper’s classifieds and watch as your eyes are flooded with listings mandating dos languages (banking jobs or working on the phone are some typical examples). Even when filling out applications these days they often ask if you are capable of speaking more than one language. This wasn’t always the situation, but is a candid reality now.

Studying an outside language doesn’t just help you grow in your job or enhance your resume, you’ll really grow as a person. Getting to travel the globe is such a fulfilling experience; being knowledgeable in your language of choice will aide you in interacting with the whole planet and its regional differences that much more.

It will be interesting for you during travel to see the locals’ reactions when you’re speaking well in their land’s language. Impress them by going above and beyond a stereotypical visitor’s measly few phrases, and delight in actually talking about something of substance with them.

If you’re interested in learning Spanish or another language, there are a variety of programs to consider. The Pimsleur Spanish learning course is well known and is excellent for people that want to start off learning Spanish, but who may not have the time to sit down with a traditional text course. If you’re interested in more of an interactive approach, the Beginner Mexican Spanish Software Course from EuroTalk may be an inexpensive option to consider.

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The Italian language, one of the Romance languages, is spoken by approximately 63 million people, mostly in Italy. Italian is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, and also the official language of Vatican City and San Marino. There is some quality in the Italian language which cannot quite be put into words but which makes the language fluid and expressive. These are two qualities which work very well for sending messages of love and passion. But do you want to know why and how the Italian language came to be connected to such feelings of romance and love?

One reason is the Italian culture. Due to the rich cultural heritage and ancient stories connected with the history of Italy, it is not surprising that romance is associated with the country, and by extension, the language. Italian culture is imbued with an imagery of romance and an ever present sense of passion. The art work and architectural masterpieces present all over Italy are enough to prove the point. Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci’s works of art have their roots in the classical school, but everyone, even laymen, can feel all the love and passion that they poured into their art. The images of the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and saints portray a very different kind of love ‘ a love which is spiritual, pure and divine.

Among all the Romance languages, as well as all languages in general, Italian is one of the most popular. Regardless of the native language of a person who wants to learn a new language, Italian is often the first or second choice. This might be because there is a large number of Italian speakers in the United States, and, besides that, Italian culture has penetrated American culture with the popularity of pizzas and pastas. While you love ordering those pizzas, why don’t you go a step further and learn the language as well?

There are many reasons which might make a person want to learn Italian. People of all ages can easily learn the Italian language if they can give some dedication and hard work to the course. You have to consistently practice whatever you learn and be determined to keep at it even though you keep forgetting the new words you learn.

You might make mistakes at the beginning, but you’re sure to learn from them. Constant practice is sure to bring about a great improvement. Make sure you always keep a positive attitude about learning the language.

By learning a language you don’t just increase your foreign vocabulary and sense of grammar, but you also get to know a whole new cultural background of the country whose language you are studying. You can use this knowledge for practical purposes too, apart from being able to converse fluently if you visit the country. No knowledge will be wasted.

Even though you might find the start of learning the Italian language a bit strange, once you understand the basics, learning the more difficult tenses and grammar can be mastered in about 30 minutes a day. Pronunciation is completely phonetic and the grammar is also easy to understand. You do not have to start off speaking Italian as fast as native Italians do. Take your time, be consistent with their studies, and you will soon learn one of the most beautiful and rewarding languages in the world.

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Jon Cardozo writes about language learning and culture. For more information on how to learn Italian, visit Beginner Italian Software Course or Pimsleur Italian Beginner Audio Course.

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Tagalog is the language of the Republic of the Philippines. It is one of the most spoken languages of the Filipino culture. It is also referred to as Filipino. While the Tagalog language has existed for several years the country adopted the more common name to help with the acceptance of the actual language among other Filipino individuals. According to statistics Tagalog is spoken as a first language by over 24 million individuals and as a second language by more than 65 million.

The Tagalog language has its origins from before the 16th century Spanish conquest of the islands. It seems that the Tagalog tribes originated about the same time as the Northeastern Mindanao and Eastern Visayas. The first book to be written in the historical Tagalog language was written in 1593. With the coming of the Spanish many of the grammar and dictionaries changed to include more Spanish words or changes in the language.

Today the language that is spoken as Tagalog has been modified by the inclusion of words from other existing Philippine languages to give it a broader use. The Baybayin Alphabet depicts the actual written words of the Tagalog. While it has changed over the course of history to have a Latin alphabet as well there are still some notable features to consider. First the syllabic alphabet is the type of writing system. It means that each consonant has an inherent vowel. In other words, the alphabet is like this a, ba, ka, da, ga, and on through the entire alphabet. The vowels can also be muted if a plus sign is added to the written language. Unlike most languages of Asia the writing style is left to right in horizontal lines.

There are also many dialects within the Tagalog language. The dialects pronounce or write the language a little differently than the most common form of Tagalog. For instance in the south the glottal stop found after consonants and before vowels are different than standard Tagalog. With the origins having its place with Spanish influence for the main Tagalog dialect it is no different that other languages in respect to the changes in dialect. Since some of the population is more remote they often retain a Tagalog dialect purer that the standard Tagalog dialect.

When you learn Tagalog you are most likely going to learn the standard language. While Tagalog is not always offered in schools you can find language resources in books or online to help you.

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Jon Cardozo is an enthusiast for foreign languages and culture. He speaks several languages. He currently writes articles on history and foreign languages, as well as product reviews for http://www.ultimatelanguagestore.com. For Tagalog learning courses, see Tagalog Vocabulary Builder for Children and the Beginner Tagalog Software Course.

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This is a new resource for students looking to learn Albanian online with the aid of live Albanian instruction.

Learn Albanian Language

If you’re looking for a self-paced approach to learning Albanian, you may want to consider the Beginner Albanian Software Course from EuroTalk or the Pimsleur Albanian Audio Course from Simon and Schuster.

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