GLOBISH

It’s everywhere and it’s invading the planet! I first stumbled across the term Globish in the Jordan Times when I was in Amman, Jordan and yet again while in Monterrey Mexico, colleague and friend Felipe Dell’Oro pointed out an article in Newsweek about no other than… GLOBISH!!

According to Wikipedia as the term is neither in Cambridge nor the Oxford dictionary, Globish is a subset of the English language formalized by Jean-Paul Nerriere. It uses a subset of Standard English grammar, and a list of 1500 English words. According to Nerriere it is "not a language" in and of itself, but rather it is the common ground that non-native English speakers adopt in the context of international business.

Interestingly enough the term Globish was coined by Jean-Paul Nerriere in 1995, but why the hype all of a sudden you may ask? Its all thanks to McCrum, an editor at the London Observer who claims in his recently published book “Globish: How the English Language Became the World’s Language”, that English has achieved a self-sustaining "supra-national momentum" that is carrying it beyond the reach of the cultures from which it sprang. As the property of all who use it, the language will soon, he predicts, "make its own declaration of independence."

The reality is that we use it and recognize it probably without even knowing “Globish” had a name and that it has actually taken on a life of its own!

As I said to my friend Frank Salazar, Internal Relations Coordinator for the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico during one of our many discussions “Yes We Can!” A phrase, which he instantly recognized from Obama’s presidential campaign and a stellar example of Globish.

Fun, Sweet & Sticky JAM Facts:

-In 2003 both Chile and Mongolia declared their intention to become bilingual in English

-2006 English was added to the Mexican primary-school curriculum as a compulsory second language

- By 2030 nearly 1/3 of the world’s population will be trying to learn English at the same time

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

METROsexual OR RETROsexual ?

I am the biggest advocate of a metrosexual man. There is nothing more sexy than a waxed, shaven, pedicured, moussed-up, with a skin care regimen, wearing a pair of skinny-jeans, and a smile backed by pearly whites … under 30 (that last bit is just my personal preference so it seems and a different blog altogether ☺). That was until, after a night out in Monterrey, Mexico, a metrosexual friend we will effectually call “anonymous” applied eye cream at 5AM. Yes, after an evening of extreme partying he is so pre-programmed that he felt compelled to proceed with his skin care regimen at 5AM! That left me wondering and days later while looking up a word in the dictionary I stumbled across Retrosexual. What is considered to a certain extent the opposite of Metrosexual.

Retrosexual Definition: a man who adopts a traditional masculine style in dress and manners

The definition was followed by a comment from West4th NY: "old-fashioned manners and clothes typical of the early 1960s (think Mad Men)"

So I did the natural thing and went digging some more for these MAD MEN. I stumbled across the official site for the show and you can even Mad Men Yourself! (That's me pictured above with the coffee cup).

About the show:

"Set in 1960s New York, the sexy, stylized and provocative AMC drama Mad Men follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell. The latest season of the show takes place in 1963..."

So whether your man is Metrosexual or Retrosexual… I still think eye cream at 5AM is where one should draw the line for a man who likes women. As for men who like men and us girls, different rules apply, we can apply eye cream whenever we want ☺

Metrosexual Definition: a man who is attracted to women sexually but who is also interested in fashion and his appearance

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

The Mother's Voice

Every mother at one point will spend time away from her child – whether it’s going back to work or them going to school, going away for a weekend or them staying over at a friend’s house.

The panic of being separated from your child for the first time slowly subsides (well it took about a dozen times before I was comfortable with leaving her with a babysitter). But sometimes you can’t help but think ‘I should be there to comfort my baby if anything goes wrong!’.

A recent study suggests that a mother’s voice is as soothing to a child in a stressful situation, as much as a hug. A mother’s voice can help create as much oxytocin (the love hormone) in a child as physical comfort. Oxytocin is believed to be strongly associated with social bonding as well as alleviating the affects of cortisol (the stress hormone).

Source.

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

Mexican-Dutch a Spicy Combination

Friend and colleague Ana Maria G. Landeta is “Mexican by birth but Dutch by choice”. Ana embarked initially on the challenge of going through the stringent Dutch Naturalization process, which lasted four years in total motivated by love. She had met a charming Dutch man in Washington DC during an Entrepreneur leadership conference. The connection was inevitable and before long they were inseparable. For the relationship to grow, however someone had to compromise. Mexico or Netherlands? In the end it was Ana Maria who took the plunge and relocated her entire life to the Netherlands. Aside from the cultural differences the biggest challenge was the language barrier. While Ana initiated self study of Dutch 6 months prior to departing for the Netherlands she confessed that it was a steep and frustrating learning curve to move beyond basic Dutch into a more sophisticated language essential to discuss relevant topics at VIP dinners with her partner’s social network or simply to be able to work in communication & marketing, her passion. The appropriate accent was critical but also the understanding of slang and innuendo’s, which can only be mastered after being exposed to the culture for a significant amount of time.

The love story that catalyzed her move to the Netherlands ended but her Dutch identity remains. While Ana Maria is Mexican to the core, she always travels with a bottle of chilies (it is true!). She is, as she likes to say, Dutch by choice, an accomplishment she is most proud of and one that changed her life forever.

*Ana Maria G. Landeta pictured above the day she was naturalized as Dutch

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

The missing "P" in Arabic

Jad (جاد) our fantastic driver in Amman, Jordan is extremely endearing.

Just about every time I get in the car he asks me “Ms. Maria will you be going to BOLO today?” His English is impeccable and I know he means POLO but it’s not his fault. There is no “P” sound in Arabic and therefore all “P”s get turned into the nearest sound of “B”.

Just imagine in the states how it must have been for a native Arabic speaker to see “PUSH” on all the doors, for they read it as “BUSH”. They must have thought we Americans were really patriotic J

Cheesy jokes aside, in practice though even if “Pakistan” is spelled “Bakistan” in Arabic, the speaker will pronounce it as “Pakistan” given that the sound/word in this case is widely recognized.

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

Taxistas em Sao Paulo

One of the best sources of Portuguese for me are the taxi drivers. Like most taxi drivers around the world they can entertain you on your journey with stories of their lives and families, their opinions on the economy, their favourite restaurant or football team.

There is a Ponto de Taxi just around the corner from where we live and every morning when I walk by they shout out their 'Bom Dia's' and 'Tudo Bom's' as I've probably caught a ride with almost all of them, if not once then at least a couple of times. I know some of them by name and some of them go to Cesar's barquinho too. My taxi rides double up as portuguese lessons too (that's how I justify it to my husband!).

I have a list of questions that I use to initiate a conversation:

'Você e Paulistano?'

'Você tem crianças?'

'Onde você mora?'

Some of them take into account that I'm just learning and speak slowly, stay on topic and we can have a reasonable conversation. Others lose me on the second sentence and even though I can catch a word or two, I just take a wild guess at what he's talking about. I'll then answer completely off topic which just allows him to either ignore me and continue or start on this new topic. I'll never know!

- One taxi driver told me I spoke really good Portuguese and that he could understand about 50%...

- Another told me about his three ex-wives and how 'loca' they were

- I've discussed the pros and cons of bringing up children in the country vs the city with another

- Tim can get them really going about last night's football game

- I thought one 68 year old driver knew the way until he got out at a traffic stop to walk over to another taxi 2 lanes over to ask directions

The one thing you can't avoid here in Sao Paulo is traffic (well unless you have a helicopter) but instead of getting really stressed about being late (everyone is late here anyhow), take it in your stride and use the time to practice a little more Portuguese!

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

Amman, Jordan - The Arabic Teacher

I just arrived in Amman, Jordan and I thought I would polish up my Arabic with some one to one tutoring. I asked the concierge of my hotel for a recommendation. At first he said he didn’t know of anyone but mentioned there were some nearby schools. Then like an after thought he smiled and said “Ah yes, I have a friend who teaches English and Arabic”. He arranged the whole thing and by the evening I had an Arabic teacher waiting for me in the lobby.

Mr. Asim was most peculiar . . .

He spoke very slowly and loudly in an extremely animated manner raising his eyebrows and moving his hands around. He said to me as he pulled on his ears “A good student must listen” ….“A good student must be a good imitator”. Then he stuck out his tongue and said “A good student must pronounce like I do”

Wow what a piece of work this guy! I couldn’t stop giggling, but he just carried on. Out of the blue he said “ I bet I’m the oldest teacher you’ve ever had” to which I replied politely “oh no…” but he insisted and said “I’m 67 years old!” to which I replied “Oh, well you look great!” and then he said the unexpected “Oh its because I like my wife” “if you decide to take lessons with me I will give you advice about how to be a good wife, all in Arabic off course!”

Well he was funny and seemed harmless enough so I decided I would give him the chance. So I asked him how much he charged for the lessons. He replied, “ oh, I don’t like this question! You can pay me as much as you can!!” We talked some more and then he randomly said in Arabic “I love milk”, I repeated “I love milk” and he repeated, “I love milk” and then asked me “do you know what I mean?” I just had a blank look because honestly I had no idea where he was going with this. He finally blurted out “I love milk, every time we meet for the lesson, please bring me a glass of milk”

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!