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travelworldnetwork · 7 years ago

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By Dena Roché

28 June 2018

Discurras ti rumantsch?

Despite Romansh being one of Switzerland’s four national languages, less than 0.5% percent of Swiss can answer that question – ‘Do you speak Romansh?’ – with a ‘yes’.

Romansh is a Romance language indigenous to Switzerland’s largest canton, Graubünden, located in the south-eastern corner of the country. In the last century, the number of Romansh speakers has fallen 50% to a meagre 60,000. Travellers in the canton can still see Romansh on street signs, or hear it in restaurants when they’re greeted with ‘Allegra!’ (Welcome in). But nearly 40% of Romansh speakers have left the area for better job opportunities in places like Zürich and it’s rare that you will see or hear Romansh outside the canton. In such a small country, can a language spoken by just a sliver of the population survive, or is it as doomed as the dinosaur and dodo?

View image of The Romansh language is indigenous to Graubünden, Switzerland’s largest canton (Credit: Credit: Josef Beck/Getty Images)

You may also be interested in: • The invisible lines through Switzerland • The mysterious origins of Europe’s oldest language • The town that’s losing its language

Romansh is believed to have originated around 15BC when the Romans conquered Rhaetia, which is now Graubünden. Romansh is the result of the combination of the Vulgar Latin spoken by soldiers and colonists, and Rhaetian, the language of the native people. This new hybrid language became the primary language of the area until the 15th Century, when the canton first came together in a loose confederation known as the Free State of the Three Leagues.

The leagues used German as their primary language, and because local villages were isolated in the mountainous area’s 150 valleys, Romansh fragmented into five somewhat different dialects, each with its own written language. This lack of a uniform standard hindered Romansh’s ability to grow the way German or French did in the country. More and more Germans came to the area, and by the 19th Century, the canton encouraged its Romansh residents to learn German. Today German is the prominent language in Graubünden.

You might think that would be the end of Romansh, but the Swiss are proud of their culture and in 1938 more than 90% of the country voted to make Romansh an official national language. The Swiss government spends about 7.6 million CHF annually to promote and preserve Romansh.

View image of Despite Romansh being Switzerland’s fourth national language, it’s rare to hear it spoken outside of Graubünden (Credit: Credit: Rico Baumann/EyeEm/Getty Images)

Because the economics and practicality of having an official language with five idioms was cumbersome, in 1982 an artificial, unified version of Romansh, Rumantsch Grischun, was developed by Heinrich Schmid, a linguist from the University of Zürich, and the Lia Rumantscha, a non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving and promoting Romansh language and culture. Since 1996, the unified Romansh has served as the administrative language, but the people of Graubünden have resisted giving up their own dialects in favour of the common version.

“The individual speakers regard unification as a major threat to their own original dialect or idiom,” explained Daniel Telli, head of the Unit Lingua at Lia Rumantscha. “They frequently consider the unified language as artificial, whereas the variety they use is the language of the heart.”

Without language you will lose many aspects of the culture

Language exists to convey a people’s culture to the next generation, so it makes sense that each area is protective of its unique dialect. When the world loses a language, as it does every two weeks, we collectively lose the knowledge from past generations.

“Language is a salient and important expression of cultural identity, and without language you will lose many aspects of the culture,” said Dr Gregory Anderson, Director of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages.

Without the Romansh language, who is to say if customs like Chalandamarz, an ancient festival held each 1 March in the Engadine Valley to celebrate the end of winter and coming of spring, will endure; or if traditional local recipes like capuns – spätzle wrapped in greens – will be forgotten.

The five dialects of Romansh

The dialects are divided into Rhine (more German influenced), and Engadine (more Italian influenced).

Rhine:

Sursilvan: The most common of the dialects is found in the Surselva area of the Vorderrhein Valley. Around 60% of the population considers it their primary language.

Sutsilvan: Only a small percentage of the 1,000 people in the Hinterrhein Valley still speak their dialect of Romansh. It is the least spoken dialect.

Surmiran: This version is spoken in the Albulatal and Vaz/Obervaz area.

Engadine:

Puter: Spoken in the Upper Engadine Valley, it is the primary language of 30% of the area’s residents.

Vallader: Spoken in the Lower Engadine Valley, it is the second most popular dialect and nearly 80% of the population there considers it their primary language.

“Romansh contributes in its own way to a multilingual Switzerland,” Telli said. “And on a different level, the death of a language implies the loss of a unique way to see and describe the world.”

But the number of Romansh speakers continues to dwindle as Graubünden residents place a bigger value on more mainstream languages. In many Graubünden schools, German is the main language of instruction, with only a handful of smaller villages continuing to teach in a mix of their specific dialect and the unified Romansh. Most schools offer Romansh language lessons, but it is not a required course. Maja Gartmann, a public relations professional who lives in Graubünden, for example, elected to learn French, Italian and English instead, languages that will make her more marketable in a globalised economy.

View image of Without the Romansh language, Graubünden’s traditions and recipes, like the one for capuns, may not survive (Credit: Credit: Bon Appetit/Alamy)

However, there is hope on the horizon: in recent years, there has been a slight uptick of interest in Romansh that could help revive the language.

Ironically, globalisation might be driving the trend.

“Years ago no-one wanted things that were traditionally Swiss, but now people are tired of everything being the same everywhere. It’s seen as hip and cool to go back to your roots and be more local than global,” Gartmann said. “Now people are proud to speak Romansh because it’s different and rare, and anything that is rare and exclusive is interesting today.”

The death of a language implies the loss of a unique way to see and describe the world

There is a Romansh TV and radio station and a Romansh newspaper, all of which use a mix of the unified language and the different dialects; and bookstores like Provini Il Palantin, which carries one of the largest selections of Romansh books in the canton. There is even a hip-hop group who rap in Romansh.

“Everyone in the band grew up in Grison [Graubünden],” said Johannes Just, a member of Liricas Analas (Ass Lyrics) “The language in rap is a tool for expression, and if you don’t rap in your mother tongue you’re more absorbed with the usage of that tool than the free expression of thoughts and ideas. It was never the idea to promote the language by our musical work, but if we can do our part [promoting Romansh] it is a welcome effect.”

View image of An uptick in interest in Romansh could help revive the language (Credit: Credit: volkerpreusser/Alamy)

And technology is helping resuscitate fading languages like Romansh. The language lives on websites and blogs; online apps like Memrise help teach the language; online translators like Romansh English Translator APK can aid communication; and social media sites allow Romansh speakers to connect, especially among younger people. Technology behemoth Google launched The Endangered Languages Project, to preserve the world’s most at-risk languages, including Romansh.

A line from 19th-Century poem Al pievel romontsch (To the Romansh people) by Giachen Caspar Muoth instructed people to ‘Stand up and defend your ancient language, Romansh!’ What remains to be seen is whether enough canton residents believe that preserving the area’s historic culture and language is a worthy thing to do in the 21st Century.

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blogbotgovind-blog · 8 years ago

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Which Nationalities are the Best at Learning Languages?

Language learning is often associated with cramming vocabulary and remembering grammar rules. While these are necessary to master a language, there are additional factors that play a role in how fast and how well you can be fluent in a particular language.

Countries across the globe have varying numbers of multilinguals. While some nations have a poor record in mastering languages that are not necessarily their first language, others seem to be gifted in their ability to be fluent in up to three languages.

Here we break down the nationalities that are the most multilingual and discuss what makes it easy for certain nationalities to be multilingual. Is it science or human determination? Or is it a combination of both along with some ‘learning hacks’?

Read on to find out.

Who Speaks What and Where?

Aruba

Dutch is an official language and is taught in all schools. Both English and Spanish are also required languages in Aruba's education system, and most students become fluent by the time they finish school.

India

India is the seventh largest country in the world, and it is no surprise that there are many languages present that are unique to each region. Though English is preferred over Hindi in southern India, each state in India has its own official language(s), most of which differ from English and Hindi. These languages are used in local media and on the street. Most educated Indians are at least trilingual, and people who move between states may have a working knowledge of additional languages. Many Indians are able to communicate and understand four or more languages.

Luxembourg

This tiny European nation's populace is fluent in four languages. When conversing with one another, locals use Luxembourgish. This tongue is related to German, but incomprehensible to native German speakers owing to its large number of French loan words. French and German, both co-official languages, are spoken by everyone and are a required part of every child's education. Official government business is conducted in French. In addition, a fourth language, English, is a compulsory subject in schools.

Malaysia

Malaysia is country with various ethnic groups. Malaysians whose ancestors came from India can speak their familial language in addition to Malay and English. Chinese Malays learn Mandarin in school, but most also speak other dialects (such as Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka) at home or on the street. In big cities like Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru, it is not uncommon to find Chinese Malaysians who can speak two or three Chinese dialects in addition to Malay and English.

Singapore

Singapore has four official languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Signage in this ethnically diverse city-state contains all four of these languages. However, hardly any resident actually speaks all four, though most are fluent in at least two.

South Africa

South Africa is a country with a whole load of languages that are unique to the continent. Many South Africans speak English in addition to a language that is prevalent in their hometown. Some might even have fluency of up to three or more tongues, such as English, Afrikaans and regional languages such as Zulu or Swahili.

Switzerland

The four national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh. All but Romansh maintain equal status as official languages at the national level within the Federal Administration of the Swiss Confederation. 64.9% of the population speak German, 22.6% French, 8.3% Italian, and 0.5% Rumantsch Grischun (Romansh), and all have the right to address the federal assembly in their own language. The Swiss federation consists of 26 cantons, or states, all with much more control over their own affairs, including education and language policy, so who learns which languages depends on which canton they are in.

Although there are differences between the languages and its Swiss version i.e. Swiss German, Swiss French, Swiss Italian, “It’s the same dish but the spices are different," as described by Andres Kristol, director of the University of Neuchâtel’s Centre for the Study of Dialects and Regional French.

Plus, although English isn't an official language, it's widely spoken and understood, especially in cities.

What's your next language?

Key Drivers

A Diverse Environment

When you're traveling, you open so many doors for language acquisition by immersing yourself in the local language. Many nationalities that are multilingual often have an array of languages practiced in their local communities. This enables every generation to pick up these languages instinctively and immersively. Studies conducted by various researchers show that the ease with which a language can be picked up depends on the exposure that person has with that particular tongue.

Educational Strategy

In many cases, national educational strategy and finding drives linguistic success, with commitment to the four skills and a required level of proficiency. Any school can say that a language is compulsory, but following this through with engaging, communicative teaching and a required proficiency to be met means that it becomes simple math for genuine multi-lingualism.

Economic Drivers

Where a country has more that one official language for historical and cultural reasons, or where it's economy relies on target markets of specific native speakers, results in organic bi-lingualism.

Practice and Body Language

Consistent practice and then making body language associations were seen to help out those trying to learn a new language. For instance, European Spanish, Italian and French come from different parts of your mouth, and even postures can vary. From tonal modifications to physical gestures, body language plays a key role in picking up a language.

The Science Behind It

Lingual diversity helps people be fluent in multiple languages due to constant practice. This linguistic mixture develops for differing reasons. It can be caused by a complex colonial history, by strong regional loyalties or even by the unavoidable cultural influence of nearby superpowers.

For certain people, genes may prime the brain to be good at language learning. In fact, recent studies are starting to pinpoint a few brain regions that are extra-large or extra-efficient in people who excel at languages. In a linguistic study in the journal Cerebral Cortex, researchers found better language learning abilities in college students with a larger Heschl's gyrus, an area on the left side of the brain that processes pitch. But that finding only applies to learning tonal languages like Mandarin, said study author Patrick Wong, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

However, not everyone is genetically gifted. For most of us, it's more a matter of being determined and motivated enough to put in the hours and hard work necessary to learn new ways of communicating.

Never fear, help is here! Learn the easy way, with one single login to 160+ languages.

#language countries topnationalities learn success cudoo win mondays

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