Discourse Recourse

Musings on traveling the world and speaking different languages.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Australian kids need to learn another language

The Herald Sun had an interesting article today about the need for Australian children to learn languages. Apparently due to the country's remote location, and the increasing global dominance of English, most Australian kids drop second-language instruction once they are out of primary school. Educators are calling on Prime Minister to include compulsory language instruction in a new education plan, suggesting that each child learn one Asian and one European language to better compete in the international workforce. Certainly the United States is not an island, but many feel disinclined to learn another language unless it is for pleasure travel. It's still important to realize, wherever you are, that you can speak many languages in the most unlikely of places.

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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Mmm mmm good! Cooking in Spanish

One of the things I like to do when traveling is go to bookstores and check out what different books exist. I am often drawn to cookbooks, because it's hard to find authentic recipes, and sometimes the best way to get a good recipe is to go to the source! Inevitably, once I get home I need to look up most of the words in the recipe, many of which are specialized and not always in a standard dictionary.

That's where the food dictionary wordlist comes in. Check out the quick 500 word Engish/Spanish cooking dictionary, and your tastebuds will thank you.

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