People frequently, and rightly, comment on the many nationalities that make up the American citizenry. So in case you might want to convey New Year's greetings to some of your neighbors using their native tongue, here are some possibilities.

Afgani Saale Nao Mubbarak
Afrikaans Gelukkige nuwe jaar
Albanian Gezuar Vitin e Ri
Armenian Snorhavor Nor Tari
Arabic Kul 'am wa antum bikhair
Assyrian Sheta Brikhta
Azeri Yeni Iliniz Mubarek!

Bengali Shuvo Nabo Barsho
Breton [Celtic Brythonic language] Bloavezh Mat
Bulgarian ×åñòèòà Íîâà Ãîäèíà(pronounced "Chestita Nova Godina")
Cambodian Soursdey Chhnam Tmei
Catalan FELIÇ ANY NOU
Chinese Xin Nian Kuai Le
Corsican Language Pace e Salute
Croatian Sretna Nova godina!
Cymraeg (Welsh) Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Czech Šťastný Nový rok (or Stastny Novy rok)
Denish Godt Nytår
Dhivehi Ufaaveri Aa Aharakah Edhen
Dutch GELUKKIG NIEUWJAAR!
Eskimo Kiortame pivdluaritlo
Esperanto Felican Novan Jaron
Estonians Head uut aastat!
Ethiopian: MELKAM ADDIS AMET YIHUNELIWO!
Ethiopian/Eritrean Tigrigna RUHUS HADUSH AMET
Finnish Onnellista Uutta Vuotta
French Bonne Annee
Gaelic Bliadhna mhath ur
Galician [NorthWestern Spain] Bo Nadal e Feliz Aninovo
German Prosit Neujahr
Georgian GILOTSAVT AKHAL TSELS!
Greek Kenourios Chronos
Gujarati Nutan Varshbhinandan
Hawaiian Hauoli Makahiki Hou
Hebrew L'Shannah Tovah
Hindi Naye Varsha Ki Shubhkamanyen
Hong kong (Cantonese) Sun Leen Fai Lok
Hungarian Boldog Új Évet Kivánok
Indonesian Selamat Tahun Baru
Iranian Sal -e- no mobarak
Iraqi Sanah Jadidah
Irish Bliain nua fe mhaise dhuit
Italian: Felice anno nuovo
Japan: Akimashite Omedetto Gozaimasu
Kabyle: Asegwas Amegaz
Kannada: Hosa Varushadha Shubhashayagalu
Kisii: SOMWAKA OMOYIA OMUYA
Khasi Snem Thymmai Basuk Iaphi
Khmer: Sua Sdei tfnam tmei
Korea: Saehae Bock Mani ba deu sei yo!
Kurdish: NEWROZ PIROZBE
Latvian Laimīgo Jauno Gadu!
Lithuanian: Laimingu Naujuju Metu
Laotian: Sabai dee pee mai
Macedonian Srekjna Nova Godina
Madagascar Tratry ny taona
Malay Selamat Tahun Baru
Marathi : Nveen Varshachy Shubhechcha
Malayalam : Puthuvatsara Aashamsakal
Mizo Kum Thar Chibai
Maltese Is-Sena t- Tajba
Nepal Nawa Barsha ko Shuvakamana
Norwegian Godt Nyttår
Oriya Nua Barshara Subhechha
Papua New Guinea Nupela yia i go long yu
Pampango (Philippines) Masaganang Bayung Banua
Pashto Nawai Kall Mo Mubarak Shah
Persian Sal -e- no mobarak
Philippines Manigong Bagong Taon!
Polish: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Portuguese Feliz Ano Novo
Punjabi Nave sal di mubarak
Romanian AN NOU FERICIT
Russian S Novim Godom
Samoa Manuia le Tausaga Fou
Serbo-Croatian Sretna nova godina
Sindhi Nayou Saal Mubbarak Hoje
Singhalese Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Siraiki Nawan Saal Shala Mubarak Theevay
Slovak Stastny Novy rok
Slovenian sreèno novo leto
Somali Iyo Sanad Cusub Oo Fiican!
Spanish Feliz Ano ~Nuevo
Swahili Heri Za Mwaka Mpyaº
Swedish GOTT NYTT ÅR! /Gott nytt år!
Sudanese Warsa Enggal
Tamil Eniya Puthandu Nalvazhthukkal
Tibetian Losar Tashi Delek
Telegu Noothana samvatsara shubhakankshalu
Thai Sawadee Pee Mai
Turkish Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian Shchastlyvoho Novoho Roku
Urdu Naya Saal Mubbarak Ho
Uzbek Yangi Yil Bilan
Vietnamese Chuc Mung Tan Nien
Welsh : Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Posted by Marion Blank at 08:20 PM
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We are extremely fortunate with our language. Going against all predictions, English has become the leading language of international discourse. That allows us to use English in almost any country where we travel.

Unfortunately, as often happens with too much of a good thing, it has allowed us to be less than diligent about mastering other languages. Nancy C. Rhodes and Ingrid Pufahl of the Center for Applied Linguistics recently conducted a survey entitled "Foreign Language Teaching in U.S. Schools." It has a clear message.

While Spanish language instruction is growing, all the other languages important to the future of the planet are either losing popularity in our schools, or making only tiny gains from very low levels. Mandarin Chinese, which is clearly of growing importance, is taught in only 3 percent of elementary schools and 4 percent of high schools with foreign language programs.

This is a vital area. Fortunately it is not a difficult one to deal with, either financially or administratively. What we need to the resolve to change the current state of affairs. Parents can do a lot by insisting that schools, from primary grades on, start teaching our children what they need to learn if they are to have the skills they need for work and life in the coming decades.

Posted by Marion Blank at 02:23 PM
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Merry Christmas and the Heartiest of Good Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday.

If you would like to offer Christmas Greetings in a different language, here are some possibilities. (And if you would like to take it further, locating the countries on the globe could be a fabulous lesson in geography.)

Afrikaans: Gesëende Kersfees
Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees
African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Albanian: Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun

Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian: Boas Festas (Good Holidays!)
Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Columbia: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsian: Pace e salute
Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch: Zalig Kerstfeast
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian: Ruumsaid juulup|hi
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Galician: Bo Nada
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!
German: Froehliche Weihnachten
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaian: Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuitt
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian: Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian: Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik
Maltese: IL Milied It-tajjeb
Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul or Gledelig Jul
Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Philipines: Maligayan Pasko!
Polish: Boze Narodzenie
Portuguese: Feliz Natal
Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Serbian: Hristos se rodi
Slovakian: Sretan Bozic
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serb-Croatian: Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina
Serbian: Hristos se rodi.
Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa.
Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Tami: Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Vietnamese: Chung Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yugoslavian: Cestitamo Bozic
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

Posted by Marion Blank at 05:15 PM
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For the third year in a row, U.S. News has ranked America's Best High Schools. Based on student scores on statewide tests, Advanced Placement tests, and International Baccalaureate tests, the rankings involve a three-step process that analyzes how schools are educating (1) all of their students, (2) their minority and disadvantaged students, and (3) their college bound students

And the winner is ---Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia with a course load that includes DNA science, neurology, and quantum physics. But that is not all.

Over the course of the school year, students explore social responsibility through projects of their own design, ranging from getting school supplies for students with cerebral palsy in Shanghai to persuading their classmates to use handkerchiefs to reduce paper waste.

Of the 21,786 public high schools examined across the nation, 1,750 were recognized for considerably outperforming their state's standards. In that group, there were 561 schools that also were found to be doing an excellent job of preparing students for college-level coursework. California leads the nation this year with 110 high schools that earned recognition, followed by New York (53 schools), Texas (50 schools), Illinois (37 schools), Florida (24 schools), and Massachusetts (21 schools).

If you would like to delve into this further, go to http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2009/12/09/americas-best-high-schools-gold-medal-list.html

Posted by Marion Blank at 02:17 PM
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As the old saying "out of the mouths of babes" tells us, children can offer some amazing insights into some quite complicated issues. Recently, a slew of examples was made available to us when some professionals asked a group of four to eight year olds, "'What does love mean?'

Here are some of the responses
'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
Nikka - age 6

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford..'
Chris - age 7

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.'
Karen - age 7

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8

The final one is from a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

Posted by Marion Blank at 06:12 PM
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Psychology and linguistics have long been intrigued with finding out how words came into being. Among the many speculations, scientists entertain ideas to how sign language might have morphed into spoken language; how grunts and other vocalizations gradually changed into speech--and on and on. So far, the question remains unanswered.

But when we lower our sights to individual words, we have much better luck. And the search can be fun and fascinating--as you will find if you look at a book by John Bemelmans Marciano titled Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words. (Anonyponomy, by the way, is a person who is almost anonymous despite the eponymous use of his name in everyday language).

For example, let's consider the word "sandwich" which was created in honor of the fourth Earl of Sandwich who liked to snack—with a slab of salt beef stuffed between two pieces of toast.

And here are some others:

MAVERICK
Samuel Augustus Maverick was a successful businessman who accepted a herd of cattle in exchange for a debt. Not caring for and not needing to care for the livestock, he allowed calves to wander about unbranded. The lack of a brand became a brand in itself: Whenever anybody found a stray calf with no markings, they said, “That there’s a maverick.”

GUY
Not unlike Halloween, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated across the United Kingdom with fireworks and bonfires. This has been going on for more than 400 years. It marks the November day in 1605 when a man, named Guy Fawkes, was arrested for being part of a Roman Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King James I, his family, and both houses of Parliament. In the end; he was hanged.

On the "holiday," children parade effigies of Fawkes through the streets chanting, “What shall we do with him? Burn him!” Upon reaching the central bonfire, the kids toss “the guy” into the flames. Over time, a “guy” came to mean someone of grotesque appearance, which came to include everyone, at least everyone in America.

DUNCE
John Duns Scotus was a Scottish theologian who had considerable influence in the Middle Ages as a follower of St. Francis. Duns Scotus’ followers, known as Dunsmen (pronounced DUNCE-men), dominated theology until another group, the Thomists (after Thomas Aquinas), rose to power. These new philosophers ridiculed the Dunsmen as being were impervious to learning anything new or different. Then in the radical changes of the Renaissance, the Dunsmen were ridiculed ever further. The worst insult a would-be man of letters could receive was to be called a “dunce.”

PANTS
Pantaleon was an unmarried physician and citizen of the pagan Roman empire who was a believer in Jesus Christ. He was said to be able to perform miraculous acts such as healing the blind. Pantaleon’s fellow doctors were predictably jealous and denounced him to the emperor. Whereupon Pantaleon proved the power of God by curing a man of paralysis. Having witnessed the trick, the emperor condemned Pantaleon to death for practicing black magic.

Martyrdom gave him a second life. Pantaleon became the patron saint of bachelors and physicians, and his name could be invoked to cure a variety of ailments. When the Black Death swept through Europe, St. Pantaleon’s stock went up dramatically in places like hard-hit Venice, where a spectacular church was dedicated to him. “San Pantalone” became so identified with Venice that his name was borrowed by the commedia dell’arte, the acting group.

Each actor of the troupe dressed in mask and costume. The costume signature of Pantalone was a pair of red leggings that reached the feet, a distinctively Venetian manner of covering the legs. Over the years and in various languages, the character’s name was borrowed to describe varying fashions of long trousers and related garments. By the mid-1800s, the Anglicized name Pantaloon had comfortably been shortened to “pants.”

FRISBEE (n.)
In the 1930s, a couple of drunk Yale students munched down a pie and started playing catch with the leftover tin plate. The game took off, and soon the whole campus was eating pies and playing the new sport. The students’ pastry of choice was made by Mrs. Frisbie’s Pies of Bridgeport, Conn.

At the same time, on the other side of the country, Fred Morrison had created a disk designed specifically for flying. But no one was buying them. Nevertheless it was noticed by the Wham-O corporation which had created the unbelievably successful Hula Hoop. They purchased Morrison’s designs, which up till then had had unappealing names like Pipco Flyin-Saucer and Pluto Platter. They soon learned there was already a better name for a flying disk—namely, Frisbie. Wham-O decided to call its plastic version the same thing, but to trademark the name, it changed the spelling to Frisbee. The Frisbee wound up being Wham-O’s most popular and enduring product.

If you'd like to delve further into this fun-filled, rich topic, go to http://anonyponymous.com/

Posted by Marion Blank at 05:38 PM
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