El idioma de la semana: una introducción a los idiomas del mundo

This class will feature a different language each week. Students will learn about the people who speak the language, linguistic features of the language, and a few basic phrases in the language. Classes will follow the same structure every week. Content will not build, so students can join anytime. However, over time, students will begin to build basic linguistic skills, as well as the ability to recognize language features.  

Each week, students will hear a snippet of someone speaking a language. They will use that to guess which language family the language might belong to, or even what the language is. This will become easier for students the more times they attend this class, as they are exposed to more languages and languages families. Students are encouraged to discuss and debate with each other during this time, to help one another determine what the language might be. 

Once the Language of the Week is revealed, we will go over some basic facts about the language, such as number of speakers, where it is spoken, which language family it belongs to, and which writing script it uses. We will then look at the geography and some cultural aspects of the speakers. After this, we will discuss some linguistic features of the language. During this time, students will be introduced to some linguistic terms and learn details about studying language in general.

To wrap up the lesson, we will practice a few basic phrases in the language, such as simple greetings. Please note, this is not meant to be a language instruction class. Practicing basic phrases is meant to be fun and to allow students to practice speech sounds that we may not have in English. 

The lesson will be presented with slides, in an interactive lecture style. Students are encouraged to ask questions, add insight, and discuss the material with one another. If a student happens to be familiar with or speak the Language of the Week, they are encouraged to share their experience and knowledge with the class. 

Class topics are listed below. Topics are a clue to what the Language of the Week will be!

February 1: Moderately spoken language from the East
February 8: Indigenous, endangered language
February 15: Widely spoken language many of you may know!
February 22: Tonal language with some interesting sounds