Tag: languages

• Why are there so many bottles of air and cat ovens in Indonesia?

  May 22

  Most languages have these accidental cross overs where one word looks exactly the same, or sounds the same, as a word in another language. But the meaning is quite different.… more ›

• The power of punk (and other music) for language learning

  Apr 21

  A few months ago I came across a song called ‘Aku Lapar’ from Fransoa, a Frenchman living in Bali. Sung to the tune of seventies hit ‘Ca Plane Pour Moi’,… more ›

• Words I’ve learnt from subtitles

  Apr 2

  Like pretty much everyone in Indonesia I watch a lot of subtitled television. Most of it is in English with Indonesian subtitles but occasionally I stumble across something more exotic.… more ›

• Best and worst of Indonesian picture books (continued)

  Feb 12

  In contrast to the books in the previous post, the following books were published first in Indonesia though not all were written in Indonesian. Despite its publisher having an English name (Great! Publisher)… more ›

• What we can learn from Esperanto speakers

  Dec 28

  The first language I started to learn was Esperanto, using a kit that dated back to the 1960’s. It was very interesting, this concept of a man-made language, though I… more ›