Tag Language
New faculty focus: Anthony Cerulli
Anthony Cerulli's fascination with world religions began in high school and led him to texts as diverse as the Bhagavad Gita and the writings of Jack Kerouac. He came to UW–Madison because of its international renown in South Asian Studies. Read More
A century on, celebrating the first Yiddish-language college course
Louis Wolfenson started teaching Yiddish at the UW in 1916, more than 30 years before Yiddish classes originated in New York City. Read More
Words jump-start vision, psychologist’s study shows
Cognitive scientists have come to view the brain as a prediction machine, constantly comparing what is happening around us to expectations based on experience - and considering what should happen next. Read More
Linguist helps open doors to Wisconsin’s Pennsylvania Dutch communities
For German Professor Mark Louden, translation isn't just about language. Through outreach with Wisconsin's Amish and Old Order Mennonite ("Plain") communities, Louden is working to break down stereotypes of these misunderstood groups - and to build stronger bridges between the state's different cultures in the process. Read More
UW-Madison language learning resource preparing to support bilingual preschoolers nationwide
Preschool teachers who work with bilingual or multilingual children in five states across the country, and as many as 13 additional states, soon will begin using new learning tools and receiving specialized training developed and provided by WIDA, an international nonprofit specializing in English and Spanish language development based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Read More
Students take top honors at Chinese speech contest
Eight University of Wisconsin–Madison students spent Easter weekend showing off their Chinese speaking skills. The UW–Madison team won a haul of medals at the Midwest Universities Chinese Speech Contest Saturday at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Read More
DARE publishes companion volume to landmark dictionary
The dictionary known as DARE, a landmark project housed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, now has a companion volume that gives readers a chance to dig deep into the definitive source on American speech from the first colonists to our neighbors today. Read More
UW-Madison joins initiative to provide language instruction for ROTC cadets
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has joined more than 25 other universities nationwide in an effort to help address the U.S. military's need for critical language specialists who understand foreign cultures and can communicate in regions of strategic and economic importance. Read More
Tracking the vampire in myth, culture and politics
After Tomislav Longinovic left his homeland, Yugoslavia splintered into seven nations. Read More
Workshop to prepare teachers to make stronger case for French language
They teach what Bloomberg Rankings has identified as the third-most-important business language in the world, after English and Mandarin. Yet, as budgets for public education continue to tighten, teachers of French are struggling to keep their programs off the chopping block in Wisconsin and across the United States. Read More
Curiosities: Why are so many Hispanic names hyphenated?
The two surnames names are ancestral, with the father’s family name followed by the mother’s family name. In Colombia, for example, “Ernesto Escobar Vega” uses… Read More
Summer program offers intensive study of Baltic area languages
UW-Madison is an international leader in foreign languages, offering instruction in more than 80 modern and ancient languages, from Akan-Twi to Zulu. The campus also houses 11 area-studies centers, the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages and the National African Language Resource Center. Read More
World Languages Day expands with special community event
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has always been a leader in language instruction and study abroad activities. Community members will now have a chance to experience what thousands of Wisconsin high school students have learned over the past decade: language and culture add meaning to our lives. Read More
French master’s program opens doors to work opportunity
The Professional French Masters Program at UW–Madison is one of the only program in the country that offers a graduate degree that combines language skills with study in other academic areas. Read More
Study debunks myth that early immigrants quickly learned English
Joseph Salmons has always been struck by the pervasiveness of the argument. In his visits across Wisconsin, in many newspaper letters to the editor, and in the national debates raging over modern immigration, he encounters the same refrain: Read More
Notable graduates: Ryosuke Shibuya — Breaking through language barriers
When Ryosuke Shibuya came to Madison in 2002, he had more of an adjustment to make than the average freshmen. Arriving from his home country of Japan, Shibuya did not speak any English. Six years later, he's graduating with a degree in history. Read More
Hundreds of high school students to participate in World Cinema Day
For the past five years, the University of Wisconsin–Madison has welcomed hundreds of Wisconsin high school students and teachers to World Cinema Day, a program of the Language Institute and the Wisconsin Film Festival to raise cultural awareness and deepen understanding of diverse perspectives through international film. Read More
Local competition exposes high schoolers to the study of linguistics
While the average U.S. high school may not offer classes in Turkish or Indonesian, an international competition will soon be bringing them to Madison's high school students. Read More