 | Should English be the Standard Language in US? See title. Also NOT available en espanol. |
 | Standard language tests Steve of LingQ.com talks about the usefulness of standard language tests. |
 | Customer Service -www.Bergwall.com Online Auto Tech Training Customer Service is designed for students interested in knowing more about the role of the professional automotive service advisor. While the responsibilities of the service advisor are quite different from the auto technician's, the two must work closely together. Key to the service process is the service advisor's ability to translate both the customer's concerns and the observed symptoms into the standard language of a shop repair order. While the service advisor contributes to the diagnosis, the final analysis is the responsibility of the technician. Bergwall's Customer Service Course examines the eight factors that affect Customer Satisfaction: Convenience, Positive Image, Professionalism, Brand Name, On-Time Delivery, Price/Value, Quality Workmanship and Trust and Confidence. For more information Visit www.Bergwall.com In addition, students will view video clips demonstrating examples of the proper way to meet customer's needs. In addition, students will view plenty of examples of what not to do when servicing customers. |
 | Excluding ASL from Deaf Children is a Bad Idea! Sorry for the bad quality..not sure what happened..for better viewing go to http://deafprogressivism.blogspot.com/2007/12/excluding-asl-from-deaf-children-is-bad.html Transcript: When reading the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education ( Volume 12, Number 4, Fall 2007), a wealth of resources gathered from a variety of research claiming that placing Deaf children, regardless of their hearing level or implantation, in an oral- exclusive only environment is NOT recommended. It has been demonstrated that the basis for claiming superiority of approaches which specifically exclude signing, per se, has been consistently weak (Marschark & Spencer, 2006, p. 4; Powers, Gregory, & Thoutenhoofd, 1998, p. 132; Young et al., 2006, p. 327). How can we avoid the delay in the acquisition of both spoken and a signed language in all native countries? Leigh (2006) suggests that these delays can be avoided by challenging the tacit connection between implantation and monolingualism; that is by applying principled "sign-inclusive" models. Here it says it all. Include signing models to expose to ALL DEAF children regardless of hearing level and implantation. The problem lies with how a society perceives the Deaf. If deafness is viewed solely as a medical deficit, then it is unlikely that a bilingual individual approach or overall policy will be developed and offered; if it is seen primarily as a linguistic issue, then a bilingual approach or policy is more likely. This is what we all can do to change the society's view that the Deaf is a linguistic minority culture and it begins with yourself. Knoors (2006) has argued for a No-exclusion service provision for Deaf child and their families, which would take into account the wide diversity of strengths and weaknesses of individual language learners, by exposing them to rich opportunities to develop both sign and spoken language. But it is not always idealistic for all deaf children to do both. Deaf children may have limits with speech production as well as in rare cases for the struggle to use sign language during the language critical age period (birth to 3 yrs. old). Why is resistant prevalence in providing sign language exposure to cochlear-implanted students? We still haven't fully understand and be able to address developmental challenges inherent in the mental crossovers between signed and spoken languages (Marschark et al., 2006, p. 15). Some scholars have noted specific language development challenges, in relation to crossovers between spoken and manual modes of English, among cochlear-implanted pupils. BUT these findings have yet to be explored and corroborated, by tentative explanations have been put forward (Burkholder & Isoni, 2006; Geers, 2006). Back to Knoors' proposal on No-Exclusion Service Provision, this model would be viewed as an enrichment rather than a disadvantage and children's linguistic aptitudes and abilities could be nurtured through ongoing assessments and quality service provision tailored, as far as possible, to the individual student. Coming from The Language-Learning Situation of Deaf Students by M. Virginia Swisher TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Jun., 1989), pp. 239-257, "Deaf children often have major difficulty learning the language of their parents, who in the majority of cases are hearing. The principal reason for these problems is limitation of linguistic input reaching the children: The hearing loss itself acts as a drastic filter on the linguistic data, and information obtained from aided residual hearing, as well as from visual sources such as lipreading and signed representations of spoken language, is typically fragmentary. In addition to the limitations of input, the very difficulty of the task of learning an auditory language with severely restricted information is likely to lead to loss of motivation. Another complicating factor is language attitudes and the fact that the deaf community uses a visual-spatial language, American Sign Language (ASL), which deaf people acquire without effort and which provides a focus for cultural solidarity. Attitudes toward ASL are complicated by its identity as a minority language in a majority culture, whose standard language influences it to some extent. Attitudes toward English are complicated by the fact that the learning of English is imposed by an educational establishment run by hearing people and that ASL is not used as a language of instruction." So we know this article has been published more than a decade ago and we have seen a growth in ASL/English bilingual education thanks to CAEBER (originally known as STAR) program that enables schools for the Deaf to use bilingual strategies in the classroom. |
 | Google I/O 2008 - OpenSocial: A Standard for the Social Web OpenSocial: A Standard for the Social Web Patrick Chanezon, Kevin Marks, Chris Schalk (Google) OpenSocial is an open specification defining a common API that works on many different social websites, including MySpace, Plaxo, Hi5, Ning, orkut, Salesforce.com and LinkedIn, among others. This allows developers to learn one API, then write a social application for any of those sites: Learn once, write anywhere. In addition, in order to make it easier for developers of social sites to implement the API and make their site an OpenSocial container, the Apache project Shindig provides reference implementations for OpenSocial containers in several languages (Java, PHP). Shindig will define a language specific Service Provider Interface (SPI) that a social site can implement to connect Shindig to People, Persistence and Activities backend services for the social site. Shindig will then expose these services as OpenSocial Javascript and REST APIs. In this session we will explain what OpenSocial is, show examples of OpenSocial containers and applications, demonstrate how to create an OpenSocial application, and explain how to leverage Apache Shindig in order to implement an OpenSocial container. |
 | ESI Language Centers (ESILC) ESI Language Centers (ESILC) in Bangkok, Thailand, is a key provider of English Language education and test preparation for those seeking advanced degrees or to improve their job skills and opportunities. Our goal is to provide English Language education of the highest standard administered in a professional and reliable manner. ESILC aims to support students at every step of their educational plans. We are english language school and also an approved ETS Certified Test Administration Site (TOEFL iBT Test Center), Prometric Authorized Center and Pearson VUE Authorized Test Center. For more information, please contact us at +662 561 5090-2. |
 | Learn Brazilian Portuguese Language - Conversation 2 Brazilian Portuguese Lessons about Pronunciation of most commom phrases used in Brazil based on word stress and Brazilian Portuguese Speech Rhythm Standard. |
 | Playman - Winter Games 3D (PREVIEW) http://www.projectnext.de/ Title: Playman - Winter Games 3D By: Mr. Goodliving Game INFO Playman, the mobile world's favourite sporting superhero is back to conquer the Alps, and, for the first time, in glorious 3D on selected handsets! As in prior PlaymanSports™ games, Playman takes part in four different events. First your cross-country and shooting skills are put to the test in Biathlon, followed by a daredevil race down the Slalom track. Then you're faced with two intense high-flying rounds in Ski Jump. Last but not least you must jump into your sledge and race down the chute in Bobsleigh. Playman Winter Games™ comes with a record-breaking handset support from 12 manufacturers, encompassing the full range of features from each device, and standard language support for 11 languages, with more available upon request. For additional information visit: http://www.projectnext.de/thread.php?threadid=1242 |
 | African languages at Ohio University - Arabic African languages offered at Ohio University |
 | Cutie Bear - CUTIE Language Learning Game ★Conversation Mode - Practice English conversation in a pure American accent. ★Listening Mode - Listen again and again anytime to enforce the memorization. ★Speaking Mode - Follow Cutie Bear to speak the most standard American English. ★Testing Mode - Cutie Bear helps to test your English learning performances. |
 | Development of Broadcast Standard US English Bill Labov talks about the shift in Standard from a RP (Received Pronunciation) influenced r-less pronunciation to a r-full (i.e. rhotic) pronunciation. The rhotic pronunciation of Philadelphia probably influenced the rest of the United States. Now the rhotic pronunciation is standard in US English although there is still r-less speech in the South and New England (Boston, New York). The r-less speech of New England is due to the longer/stronger influence of the British RP standard speech. An additional feature that changed was the flapping of "t" between two vowels. RP does not flap "t" while US English does. FDR does not flap "t" in the word "shatter" showing the older RP influenced pattern. ----- Transcript At this stage, what interests me most is the whole idea of what passes for correct or incorrect in American English. Even before America declared its independence from Britian here in Philadelphia, the two Englishes had been going their own ways. George Bernard Shaw once joked that the two nations were separated by the same language. Bill Labov is the director of the Atlas of North American English. RM: What do you consider Standard American? BL: Well, most linguists recognize that there is a broadcast standard pronunciation which is not fixed but which converges towards a pattern that is not local. And that's changed over time. RM: We drew originally from where? BL: From England. There was something called International English that was really modelled upon British Received Pronunciation and took its form in London at the beginning of the 19th century. Americans were not all influenced by it. Only the big Tory cities: Boston, New York, Savannah, Charleston, Richmond. They adopted that r-less pronunciation whereby you say [ka:] not [kar] "car" and "store" [stor] which shifts to [sto:]. And that's still the pattern in England today. For me, the model of that international English standard was always FDR. He was a New Yorker who had the prestige pattern of the upper class in New York, and it was really r-less. It sounded like this: FDR: "To those who would not admit the possibility of the approaching storm, the past two weeks have meant the shattering of many illusions. With this rude awakening has come fear, fear bordering on panic. I do not share these fears." BL: So you notice that every time the letter R comes up unless a vowel follows its gonna sound like this: "The approaching storm". RM: Stom. BL: Not "storm" [storm] but [sto:m] and: "I do not share these fears". But he — it's more than just the R. You notice the way he say "shattering", and "utter good faith". So the pronunciation of "t" as "t" in those situations still found in Boston was again modelled on the British pattern. And it held right up to the end of World War 2. And then, to our great astonishment, it flipped. So, right after WW2 people growing up in New York City and in many other cities behaved in just the opposite way. When they were careful, they pronounced their "r"s. And when they were not careful, just speaking casually, they stayed with their r-less dialect. RM: So people wanted to sound more English before World War II and less so after World War II. BL: We hear British people use that pattern, and we love it. But it's not right for an American. Labov believes Philadelphia shaped American speech more than any other city because it was the only east coast city originally to pronounced its "r"s. And that "r" sound that so typifies American English, migrated west. ----- From "Do you speak American?" documentary. |
 | Holland 1995 Holland's prominence in the United Provinces and Dutch Republic In 1432 Holland became part of the Burgundian Netherlands and since 1477 of the Habsburg Seventeen Provinces. In the 16th century the region became more densely urbanised, with the majority of the population living in cities. Within the Burgundian Netherlands, Holland was the dominant province in the north; the political influence of Holland largely determined the extent of Burgundian dominion in that area. Comitatus Hollandiae (1682)In the Dutch Rebellion against the Habsburgs during the Eighty Years' War, the naval forces of the rebels, the Watergeuzen, established their first permanent base in 1572 in the town of Brill. In this way, Holland, now a sovereign state in a larger Dutch confederation, became the centre of the rebellion. It became the the cultural, political and economic centre of the United Provinces in the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, the wealthiest nation in the world. After the the King of Spain was deposed as the count of Holland, the executive and legislative power rested with the States of Holland, which was led by a political figure who held the office of Grand Pensionary. The largest cities in the Dutch Republic were in the province of Holland such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leiden, Alkmaar, The Hague, Delft and Haarlem. From the great ports of Holland, Hollandic merchants sailed to and from destinations all over Europe, and merchants from all over Europe gathered to trade in the warehouses of Amsterdam and other trading cities of Holland. Many Europeans thought of the United Provinces first as "Holland" rather than as the "Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands". A strong impression of "Holland" was planted in the minds of other Europeans, which then was projected back onto the Republic as a whole. Within the provinces themselves, a gradual slow process of cultural expansion took place, leading to a "Hollandification" of the other provinces and a more uniform culture for the whole of the Republic. The dialect of urban Holland became the standard language. [edit] Kingdom of Holland The formation of the Batavian Republic, inspired by the French revolution, led to a more centralised government. Holland became a province of a unitary state. Its independence was further reduced by an administrative reform in 1798, in which its territory was divided into several departments called Amstel, Delf, Texel, and part of Schelde en Maas. From 1806 to 1810 Napoleon styled his vassal state, governed by his brother Louis Napoleon and shortly by the son of Louis, Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, as the "Kingdom of Holland". This kingdom encompassed much of what would become the modern Netherlands. The name reflects how natural at the time it had become to equate Holland with the Netherlands as a whole[2]. During the period the Low Countries were annexed by the French Empire and actually incorporated into France (from 1810 to 1813), Holland was divided into the départements Zuyderzée and Bouches-de-la-Meuse. [edit] Provinces like any other After 1813, Holland was restored as a province of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Holland was divided into the present provinces North Holland and South Holland in 1840, after the Belgian Revolution of 1830. This reflected an historical division of Holland along the IJ into a Southern Quarter (Zuiderkwartier) and a Northern Quarter (Noorderkwartier). From 1850 a strong process of nation formation took place, the Netherlands being culturally unified and economically integrated by a modernisation process, with the cities of Holland at its centre[3]. [edit] The image of Holland at home and abroad The predominance of Holland in the Netherlands has resulted in regionalism on the part of the other provinces. This is a reaction to the perceived threat that Holland poses to the identity and local culture of the other provinces. The other provinces have a strong, and often negative[4], image of Holland and the Hollanders, to whom certain qualities are ascribed.[5] Hollanders themselves, however, have a weak self-image[6]. They take Holland's cultural dominance for granted. To them, the concepts of "Holland" and the "Netherlands" coincide. Consequently they see themselves not primarily as "Hollanders", but simply as "Dutch" (Nederlanders).[7]. This phenomenon is called "hollandocentrism".[8]. Construction |
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
