... LANGUAGE PAGE 1 ...

'Twas said, "Let there be light" ... INTELLIGENCE ... and then there was language.
To paraphrase Whitman, "I hear languages singing."

... Recommend this page to a friend.

"... Es verdad, pues reprimamos esta fiera condition, esta furia, esta ambition, por si alguna vez, soñamos. Y si haremos pues estamos en el mundo tan singular que el vivir, solo es soñar. Y la experiencia me enseña que el hombre que vive, sueña lo que es hasta despertar. Sueña el rey que es rey, y vive con este engaño mandando, disponiendo, y gobernando. Y este aplauso que recibe prestado, en el viento escribe, y en cenizas le convierte la muerte, (desdicha fuerte.) ¿Qué hay quien intente reinar viendo que ha de despertar en el sueño de la muerte? Sueña el rico en su riqueza que mas cuidados le ofrece. Sueña el pobre que padece su miseria y su pobreza. Sueña el que a medrar empieza. Sueña el que afana y pretende Sueña el que agravia y ofende. Y en el mundo, en conclusion todos sueñan lo que son, aunque ninguno lo entiende. Yo sueño que estoy aqui, de estas prisiones cargado, y soñé que in otro estado mas lisonjero me vi. ¿Qué es la vida? Un frenesi. ¿Qué es la vida? Una ilusion, una sombra, una ficcion. Y el mayor bien es pequeño, que toda la vida es sueño, y los sueños sueños son."

"... It is true, then let us restrain this fierce condition, this fury (rage), this ambition should we ever dream again. And so we shall (and dream we will) because we are in a world so singular that to live, is only to dream. And experience teaches me that the man who lives, dreams who he is until he wakes (dies). Dreams the king that he is king, and he lives with this delusion commanding, disposing, and governing. And this renown which he receives, in the wind it is written, and to ashes it is converted by death, mournful fate. (dreaded misfortune.) Who is there who would want to reign seeing that he has to awaken in the dream of death? Dreams the rich man in his wealth which brings him greater troubles. Dreams the poor man who suffers his misery and poverty. Dreams he who's beginning to prosper. Dreams he who works hard and tries. Dreams he who injures and offends. And in the world, in conclusion, all dream who they are though no man knows it. I am dreaming that I am here, weighed down in these chains, and I dreamed that in a different, happier situation, I saw myself. What is life? A madness. What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story. And the greatest good can be insignificant, in that all of life is a dream, and the dreams are dreams."

Of course, having just seen such a magnificent example of Spanish literature, you are now jumping to learn the language. Well, don't give up, and never despair.

So here we go ... Learn Spanish ... Me llamo Buddy.

Who says you need to enroll in night school or buy a wheelbarrow full of cassette tapes to learn Spanish? This website will teach you to Habla Espanol for free. Work at your own pace through 75 clearly written tutorials, each covering a different topic. You can also practice vocabulary words, which are sorted into convenient groups like Downtown and Restaurants. Perfect your pronunciation by listening to audio lessons and attempting to repeat them. Or practice conjugating verbs by taking an interactive quiz. If you get stuck, just type a word or phrase into the Translator (Spanish to English or English to Spanish).

This is a very unusual but meaningful paragraph even if read a bit unconventionally. It is called a "boustrophedon" ... which is a method of writing or printing, alternately from right to left and left to right, like the path of oxen in ploughing ... in Greek, "bous-strepho" means ox-turning.

Puzzled? Okay, just read it again but when you get to the end of a line, don't shift back to the left side ... but just continue reading from right to left ... just like you usually do when you are reading your Hebrew ... but then back from left to right ... shifting back and forth, it certainly saves a lot of eye movement, doesn't it? - Damnit, you know, this really isn't easy to explain.

All articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous.
(All that glitters is not gold.)

Sorting on the part of mendicants must be interdicted.
(Beggars cannot be choosers.)

Male cadavers are incapable of rendering any testimony.
(Dead men tell no tales.)

Neophite's serendipity.
(Beginner's luck.)

A revolving lithic conglomerate accumulates no congeries of small, green, biophytic plant.
(A Rolling Stone gathers no Moss.)

Members of an avian species of identical plumage tend to congregate.
(Birds of a feather flock together.)

Pulchritude possesses solely cutaneous profundity.
(Beauty is only skin-deep.)

Freedom from incrustations of crime is proximal to rectitude.
(Cleanliness is next to Godliness.)

It is fruitless to become lachrymose of precipitately departed lacteal fluid.
(There's no sense crying over spilt milk.)

Eschew the implement of correction and vitiate the scion.
(Spare the rod and spoil the child.)

The stylus is more potent than the rapier.
(The pen is mightier than the sword.)

It is fruitless to attempt to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.
(You cant teach an old dog new tricks.)

Surveillance should precede saltation.
(Look before you leap.)

Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid minim.
(Twinkle twinkle little star)

The person presenting the ultimate cachinnation possesses thereby the optimal cachinnation.
(He who laughs the last, laughs the best.)

Exclusive dedication to necessitous chores without interludes of hedonistic diversion renders Jack a hebetudinous fellow.
(All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.)

Individuals who make their abodes in vitreous edifices would be advised to refrain from catapulting petrious projectiles.
(Those who live glass houses should cast no stones.)

Where there are visible vapors having their provenance in ignited carbonaceous materials, there is conflagration.
(Where there is smoke, there will be fire.)

No remittance is given for actions which are taken counter to the codified body of juris prudence.
Crime doesn't pay.)

All right, what do we remember from school, so let's see if you did your homework. A simile is a figure of speech which, unlike a metaphor, is a comparison using words like 'as' and 'like' ... for example, �a heart as big as a whale� or, �her tears flowed like wine.� I suppose �as clear as mud� would also be considered an oxymoron simile ... a few more 'as' examples are found below.

Now a metaphor is different in that the comparison is implicit: no use of comparison words 'as' or 'like' ... for example, �all the world's a stage� etc ... get it? ... �all the world's a stage� ... and �all the world's like a stage� ... get it? ... Ahaaaaaaaah ... sorry.

BALD as a coot. BIG as a whale. BITTER as gall, soot. BLACK as ink, as a coal, as a crow BLIND as a bat, a beetle, a mole. BLUNT as a hedge-hook. BRAVE as Alexander. BRIGHT as silver. BRITTLE as glass. BROWN as a berry BUSY as a bee. CHATTER like a jay. CLEAR as a bell, as crystal. COLD as ice, as a frog, as charity. COOL as a cucumber. CROSS as the tongs, as two sticks. DARK as pitch [pitch-dark]. DEAD as a door-nail. DEAF as a post. DRY as a bone. FAIR as a lily. FALSE as hell. FAT as a pig, as a porpoise. FLAT as a flounder, as a pancake. FLEET as the wind, as a racehorse. FREE as air. GAY as a lark. GOOD as gold. GREEN as grass. HARD as iron, as a flint. HARMLESS as a dove. HEAVY as lead. HOARSE as a hog, as a raven. HELPLESS as a babe. HOLLOW as a drum. HOT as fire, as an oven, as a coal. HUNGRY as a hunter. LIGHT as a feather, as day. LIMP as a glove. LOUD as thunder. MERRY as a grig, as a cricket. MILD as Moses, as milk. NEAT as wax, as a new pin. OBSTINATE as a pig (pig-headed.) OLD as the hills, as Methuselah. PALE as a ghost. PATIENT as Job. PLAIN as a pikestaff. PLAYFUL as a kitten. PLUMP as a partridge. POOR as a rat, as a church mouse, as Job. PROUD as Lucifer. RED as blood, as a fox, a rose, a brick. ROUGH as a nutmeg-grater. ROUND as an orange, a ball. RUDE as a bear. SAFE as the bank [of England], or the stocks. SAVAGE as a bear, as a tiger, as a bear with a sore head. SICK as a cat, a dog, a horse, a toad. SHARP as a needle. SLEEP like a top. SLOW as a snail, as a tortoise. SLY as a fox, as old boots. SOFT as silk, as velvet, as soap. SOUND as a roach, as a bell. SOUR as vinegar, as verjuice. STARE like a stuck pig. STEADY as Old Time. STIFF as a poker. STRAIGHT as an arrow. STRONG as iron, as a horse, as brandy. SURE as a gun, as fate, as death and taxes. SURLY as a bear. SWEET as sugar. SWIFT as lightning, as the wind, as an arrow. THICK as hops. THIN as a lath, as a whipping-post. TIGHT as a drum. TOUGH as leather. TRUE as the Gospel. VAIN as a peacock. WARM as a toast. WEAK as water. WET as a fish. WHITE as driven snow, as milk, as a swan, as a sheet, as chalk. WISE as a serpent, as Solomon. YELLOW as a guinea, as gold, as saffron.

---

Did you ever ask yourself how languages came about? We take it for granted, and yet all over the world so many languages are spoken ... the little baby hears sounds, makes sounds, gradually connections are made in the brain, and then very suddenly, behold a miracle, two people are talking, communicating, just like that, and they are saying wonderful things to each other ... now think about it ... isn't that a miracle?

�A hundred thousand miracles are happening everyday."
Rogers and Hammerstein

Language Page 2