Visual Appeal: Abjads

Now an abjad is similar to an alphabet, the only difference is that it does not have letters that represent vowels, and is usually written right-to-left (Ager, 2012). To repeat what I've said earlier, it would be difficult for an alphabetic user to comprehend such an idea.

For example try reading this: TH QCK BRWN FX JMPS VR TH LZY DG

Now you can easily fill in the vowels, you have seen this phrase before (hopefully) and it becomes: THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG

See? It's just another representation. Now thankfully these "alphabets" do occasionally, and I mean that it is rare, to have some markings that allow you to know which vowel to say.

Here are the two main scripts using an abjad:

The Hebrew abjad

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ך ל מ ם נ ן ס ע פ ף צ ץ ק ר ש ת

The Arabic abjad

غ ظ ض ذ خ ث ت ش ر ق ص ف ع س ن م ل ك ي ط ح ز و ه د ج ب أ

Understanding this script involves becoming more active in Middle-Eastern culture. A possible reason that these scripts are written right-to-left could have to do with why the left and is considered unclean. Association with it is equivalent of hygienic purposes only (Smith, 2012). This could be one of the cases, but it has been commonly agreed by linguists not so. Their reasoning was that most of the people who finally had the script and began using it, were writing both right-to-left and left-to-right. It just happened that when the masses came together, it was the standard to write right-to-left.

Why am I bringing this up? Because these text are considered sacred in their countries and defacing it is an insult to the entire people. Learning to respect a culture and gain knowledge about it, will be one of the most useful things to do when learning a new language.

Take a look at how an abjad looks when put together:

English: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Hebrew: שועל החום הזריז קפץ מעל הכלב העצלן.

Arabic: قفز الثعلب البني السريع فوق الكلب الكسول.

Sources
Ager, S. (2012). Types of writing system. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/types.htm#abjads
Ager, S. (2012). Types of writing system. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com /writing/arabic.htm
Ager, S. (2012). Types of writing system. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm
Smith, S.E. , and Bronwyn Harris, eds. "What are some Middle Eastern etiquttetTips?." wiseGEEK. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2012. .

Visual Appeal: Alphabets

The look of a language

Let me ask you one thing, what exactly is it in a language you look at most? What about how it is appeal in written form? Is it the curvaceous letters? Or is it the sharp and jagged edges? I'm speaking of how a language is written. In our native tongues, we do not always give much attention to the to the way it is formed. We simply just look, and read without a taking a moment to realize where the characters originated from. Language changes constantly which is how the various writing systems exist today.

Here are the basic categories:

• Alphabets
• Abjads
• Ideographic
• Syllabic
• Sign Language

An alphabet, now that is something you should recognize right away. Why? Because you are using one to read this blog right now. An alphabet is a scripted system that consists of both vowels and consonants, representing nearly every sound made in the spoken language (Ager, 2012). English, French, Spanish, are just a few of the many languages that use this type of writing system. Most will use a Latin-based alphabet, but have additional letters to accompany their own set of phonemes. For example, The Icelandic alphabet has two unique letters, and many accented and diacritical marks (Ager, 2012). That essentially can sum up the majority of European languages, and having knowledge of a Latin-based alphabet makes most languages seem less foreign. Not all alphabets use this base; there are a few others that can make you squint your eyes and wonder what they are saying. Cyrillic, Greek, and Hangul (Korean alphabet) are the other common bases. Let's take a look at them:

The Cyrillic alphabet:

Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ее Ёё Жж Зз Ии Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Фф Хх Цц Чч
Шш Щщ Ъъ Ыы Ьь Ээ Юю Яя

The Greek alphabet:

Αα Ββ Γγ Δδ Εε Ζζ Ηη Θθ Ιι Κκ Λλ Μμ Νν Ξξ Οο Ππ Ρρ Σσ/ς Ττ Υυ Φφ Χχ Ψψ Ωω

The Hangul (Korean alphabet)

Consonants: ㄱㄴㄷ ㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇㅈㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎ
Vowelsㅏㅓㅗㅜㅡㅣㅑㅕㅛㅠ

For most people who are learning a secondary language, they will feel more comfortable using a script similar to the one they use in the one they speak now. So those using an alphabet will feel others that use one to be, "readable." Now all languages are readable, it's just a misconception that you can't read Greek, Farsi, or Chinese. It is just something you are not used to. To understand this, try to imagine you never learned to read (Ager, 2012). At first glance, you would have no idea how to comprehend it. It is that same feeling, and you just need to learn how to read. It's just starting all over again so do not anticipate to much about it.

Take a good look at the following samples of text in Icelandic, Russian, Greek, and Korean. Meditate on them. Evaluate all their curves, edges and overall view. Ask yourself, which one looks most appealing. There is no wrong answer. If you found what you are looking for then great! If alphabets are not what you are looking for, then look into the post on Abjads.

English: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
Icelandic: Fljótur brúnn refur stökk yfir latur hundur.
Russian: Быстрая коричневая лиса перепрыгнула через ленивую собаку.
Greek: Η γρήγορη καφέ αλεπού πηδάει πάνω από τον τεμπέλη σκύλο.
Korean: 빠른 갈색 여우가 게으른 개를 뛰어 넘는.

Sources
Ager, S. (2012). Types of writing system. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com /writing/types.htm
Ager, S. (2012). Origin of writing in Korea. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/korean.htm
Ager, S. (2012). Cyrillic alphabet. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cyrillic.htm
Ager, S. (2012). Cyrillic alphabet. Retrieved from http://www.omniglot.com/writing/greek.htm

The Difficult Choice

What language should I learn next?

...And where do I begin?

It's not that simple of a question as you may initially think. Picking a second language involves a much more complicated decision making process than the average fast- food order. As someone who is absolutely fascinated by language and all of its aspects such as: morphology, phonology, orthography, and syntax, I can't stop myself from dabbling into various languages. This can become a stressful issue at some times. I have gone into studying a language that is so different from my own that I found myself giving up too quickly. This method, for most, usually ends up in disaster. A language like Japanese for example, has so many deterring factors that makes it one of the most difficult languages to learn. This particular language has cultural, lexicon, syntax, and a writing system so vastly different from English that it is overwhelming. These factors are what pull or push you away from what you are looking for.

First of all, to set a baseline, my native tongue is obviously English. In high school and college, I spent my time studying Latin American Spanish. During those times I was constantly looking for the next language, and dabbled into anything from Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, and American Sign Language. Most recently, I started working on Swedish, all on my own. You may be thinking, "how did I get to that? How did I make the decision to learn an obscure language like Swedish?" The answer was, " I like the sound, the melody, how it is written, and how easy it was to remember words." In fact, I was picking up Swedish faster than Spanish and that was one of the reasons why it drove me to continuing down that path of Swedish fluency.

Let me tell you why I am sharing this with you. I want to help you. When I was learning my first language, I had the choices of French, Spanish, German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese, which was increasingly overwhelming for me. I know what works. I know how to help you make the better decision. There is no right or wrong language. You have different tastes than mine and I cannot change that. Do not feel like you are alone in the world. Most people have no idea where to begin and are lost in the vast world wide web of unacceptable and unreliable sources. Such sources that speak of learning a language for the sake of popularity, dispersion, and population, are not reliable because they do not encompass the full view.

This blog is to stop those problems from happening to you. It is to educate you properly, guide you in the safest and wisest direction, keep you humored, and especially keep you encourage so that your self esteem remains high. The last thing I want is for you to lose interest in something so beautiful and wonderful. Language is fun, and enriching your knowledge with a part of someone’s culture is one step closer to communicating with them. I will be practical and easy to comprehend. Most importantly I will help you go through the thinking process of how to choose from your favorite languages, ones that seem of great interest, have pleasing sounds and an eye-pleasing writing system. All languages have these factors and many more and it is up to me to help find one that best suits your tastes and experience level. I have laboriously sought after many sources in my life and after being able to learn and understand the basics of at least two foreign languages, I can say that I am qualified to assist you in your time of need.