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Connect With Your Roots - Learn Your Family Language
There are lots of reasons why people learn a foreign language - love, business, travel, hobby, necesity etc., but one reason that seems to pop up more and more is to connect with their roots. Many learn in order to speak with or write to relatives...
Designing a Fun Family Coat of Arms
Armorial bearings, or coats of arms, take us back to the glamour of the middle ages. In days of old, knights displayed heraldic devices on their horses' caparisons, their servants' liveries, and on their banners and shields. As war medals are...
Family Meetings Help Kids Discuss and Build Character Too
When my boys were growing up, soccer, football, and basketball kept us on the run. Both my husband (Jim’s a psychologist) and I were therapists. We helped others manage their lives yet our own lives were spinning out of control. We knew we needed...
Parents Deciding Kids future
In countries like Pakistan ,my country,it is a moral value that what your elders decide goes no matter how big or personal the matter is that is even about their careers or even worse their weddings.
Hey I am not saying that these...
Want A Great Family Dog?
A breed of dog called a Boxer is very family-oriented and they always love to be around people. Treat them as family members. Never underestimate their need for human companionship, which is the most notable trait of this breed.
The Boxer is...
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Connect With Your Roots - Learn Your Family Language
There are lots of reasons why people learn a foreign language - love, business, travel, hobby, necesity etc., but one reason that seems to pop up more and more is to connect with their roots. Many learn in order to speak with or write to relatives still using the language, others learn just to make a connection with their ancestry, to immerse themselves in their own heritage.
How many people have a grandmother from 'the old country' who still speaks with a heavy accent, or an aunt who speaks more in her first language than English? Or how about some newly arrived cousins still struggling with English? Even if your family has been speaking English for generations, the vast majority of people whose native language is English have ancestors from other countries and communities whose native language was not English. Many of us still have a fascination and an affinity with things associated with that 'old country.' As an example, I see many people who have a Cead Mile Failte plaque outside their front door. It means "a hundred thousand welcomes" in Irish Gaelic, and is a proud declaration of their heritage, as well as a warm welcome into their home.
People of Irish ancestry living outside of Ireland (the U.S., Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia etc) often study Irish in order to make some connection with their ancestry, even if only to learn how to pronounce Cead Mile Failte or all those interesting looking place-names in Ireland. Celtic place-names have a peculiar tendency to last, even long after their original inhabitants have moved on and been replaced by people speaking different languages. Continental Europe has many such names, perhaps owing
to the unique qualities of the Celtic people embodied in their languages. To quote John Millington Synge - "There is no language like the Irish for soothing and quieting."
We often come to a time in our lives when we think about who we are and how we got here, and a lot of that was determined by our ancestors long before we were born. When combined with the needs and goals in our present lives such as business, travel and caring for our family this can become a powerful incentive to learn a second language, particularly a language which we already have a connection to.
The concept of family or community does not have to exist only in the present. There is a wonderful quote by Christopher Ricks which sums this up nicely - "When a language creates, as it does, a community within the present, it does so only by courtesy of a community between the present and the past."
In some small way, learning our heritage languages can open the door to understanding what kind of people our ancestors were and ultimately gaining a better understanding of ourselves. What better way to define who we are in the present than by reaching back into the past and learning more about our ancestors that got us here. About the Author
Ron is a long-time language enthusiast, exploring Spanish, French, Swedish, Esperanto and others. Learn more about studying a language on your own at Language Learning Advisor This guide for self-study language learners has reviews and recommendations of language learning methods and products, links to online learning resources, learning tips to maximize your study time and effect
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Family.org |
Offers practical help for marriage and child-rearing. Recent magazine articles, letters from Dr. James Dobson, news, and RealAudio broadcasts. |
www.family.org |
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FamilyFun: Fun stuff for Kids, Parents - and More Family Fun |
Family Fun is your online source for arts and crafts, recipes, and parties for every holiday, plus hundreds of ideas for kid crafts, birthday cakes, ... |
familyfun.go.com |
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Family.ca |
Take polls, rant and rave on Canada's family broadcaster site. Full of shockwave games, animation and information about the shows they carry. |
www.family.ca |
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Family.com - closed beta |
Features a to do list, calendar, and recommended sites for health, shopping, and recipes. |
family.go.com |
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FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records |
Search for family ancestors. Billions of free family tree, family history, ancestry, genealogy and census records. |
www.familysearch.org |
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Family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
A family consists of a domestic group of people (or a number of domestic groups), ... Members of the nuclear family use descriptive kinship terms: ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Family (biology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
The concept of rank at that time was still in statu nascendi, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera, ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Family Guy |
The official Family Guy website with everything you ever wanted to know about the show and more. |
www.familyguy.com |
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Parenting advice, child development and family reference at ... |
FamilyEducation.com provides parents with educational printables, games, activities, parenting ideas, tips, family advice, and information on learning ... |
www.familyeducation.com |
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Family Life Today |
FamilyLife, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ, provides practical, biblical tools to strengthen marriage and family relationships, including the ... |
www.familylife.com |
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WorldVillage - A Family Friendly Portal for Families, Kids, Adults ... |
WorldVillage is for families, kids, adults, parents and teachers. Features include coupon codes, online games, downloads, internet monitoring and internet ... |
www.worldvillage.com |
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Open Directory - Home: Family |
Family Check-up - Provides assessment activities and access to educational materials related to family health with respect to family life, finances, ... |
dmoz.org |
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Free Family Ecards, Family Greeting Cards, Family Greetings, Cards ... |
Express your appreciation to your family/ loved ones for all that they have ... Reach out to your friend/ family/ loved one and let them know how much you ... |
cards.123greetings.com |
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kids and family news articles - arizona education - arizona family ... |
Family News Articles - azcentral.com provides articles and reports on Arizona education and Arizona family events. |
www.azcentral.com |
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Google Directory - Home > Family |
Many articles dealing with a wide range of topics from single parenting, family life, child development and stress management. ... |
www.google.com |
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Family Research Council: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 |
Christian organization promoting the traditional family unit and the Judeo-Christian value system upon which it is built. Provides links, commentary, news, ... |
www.frc.org |
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Sesame Workshop - Home Page |
The non-profit educational organization behind the show and related educational outreach. |
www.sesameworkshop.org |
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National Sex Offender Registry |
Free national US search for registered sex offenders. Map registered sex offenders to see who lives in your area. |
www.familywatchdog.us |
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FHI Family Health International |
Provides the highest quality research, education and services in family planning, STDs/HIV and family health to improve the health and well-being of ... |
www.fhi.org |
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National Family Caregivers Association |
Caregiving advocacy organization with tips and statistics on caregiving in America. |
www.nfcacares.org |
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