Modern Language: Sound smarter without trying harder
By Adams Media
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Modern Language - Adams Media
The Very Lazy Intellectual
Modern Language
Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Avon, Massachusetts
Contents
Introduction
American Sign Language
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese
Endangered Languages
English
Esperanto
French
German
Hindi
International Language
Italian
Japanese
Portuguese
Romance Languages
Russian
Spanish
Linguistics
Cheat Sheet for Modern Languages
Also Available
Copyright Page
Introduction
If we were to look up the term lazy in a dictionary, we might expect to find some unflattering connotations. Let’s skip over such definitions as adverse or resistant to work,
slothful,
and sluggish,
and adopt a more positive, charitable perspective. If instead we consider lazy as economical
or avoiding waste,
we get a much better picture of the idea behind The Very Lazy Intellectual series.
This series of books is a set of short, economical references full of the fundamental knowledge you need to know to sound as if you really know something about a particular academic subject. The Very Lazy Intellectual: Modern Languages lays out the indispensable facts, sample words and phrases, and fascinating elements of the world’s most commonly spoken languages to build your knowledge foundation.
Whether you want to refresh your memory of a long-since forgotten course, or merely wish to be able to say something intelligent about or in another language, this book will help. Enjoy the low-effort scholarship of The Very Lazy Intellectual: Modern Languages.
If you’d like to learn more about modern languages and more, check out The Lazy Intellectual, available in print (978-1-4405-0456-3) and eBook (978-1-4405-0888-2) formats.
American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete and complex language that uses hand signs and other movements, including body postures and facial expressions, for communication. It is the first language of many deaf people in North America.
Other than its means of expression, sign language resembles spoken languages in every way. This includes the lack of a universal sign language; even ASL and British Sign Language are so different as to be mutually unintelligible. This situation also demonstrates that sign languages are not dependent on oral languages but have developed on their own.
The exact origin of ASL is not clear. French Sign Language was brought to this country in 1817 and used in the first school for the deaf in the United States, the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. As a result, ASL and French Sign Language share a large vocabulary but