Language

I bought a pineapple at the grocery store, and the process of preparing it for dinner brought back a flood of memories. Suddenly I wasn't standing in my kitchen, but in a stark mission compound in San Jose, Costa Rica, helping to prepare a noonday meal. Two women worked alongside me. One was young and petite. The other was mature and large. Neither of them spoke much English. Everything was in Spanish, even the words on the microwave. Cooking together was interesting.

We have several exchange students at our school this year. It has been wonderful getting to know them over the past two weeks. I have to admit, though, that the whole concept of a teenager leaving home for nine months, living in a foreign country, within a different culture, all without the aid of their native tongue, baffles me. How can a 15-year-old do that? Or I should ask, how could their parents let them go? That would be extremely difficult for me as a mom. It's one thing if my kids want to study abroad during a semester in college.

An elderly woman heads into the emergency room with severe stomach pain. She hardly understand what's happening, let alone how the doctors will fix it. All she knows is that it hurts, she's alone and she doesn't speak English. As medical personnel come and go from the curtained examination area, she glances from one person to another, hoping to pick up a familiar phrase. But the woman has little more than a dozen words in her English vocabulary. And her husband, who is in the waiting room - the only family she has - is equally linguistically confused.

"Eating Your Words" by William Grimes; Oxford, 2004; $20. William Grimes, former restaurant reviewer for The New York Times, playfully uses a familiar phrase, "Eating Your Words," for the title of his new book. It's subtitled "2000 words to tease your taste buds. " "The vocabulary of food has exploded in recent years," Grimes writes, and France no longer enjoys a monopoly over the language of eating and cooking. So here is his primer of the new international language of food, including help with pronunciation.

bobp@herald-mail.com FREDERICK, Md. - The No. 3 St. John's-Prospect Hall Vikings fulfilled their second-language requirements on Thursday. But instead of learning Latin or French, the Vikings got a lesson in Mercersburg. They found out, the hard way, what LeBorious means for every question that arose on the court. "LeBorious ... he was the answer anytime they needed it," said St. John's coach Bruce Kelly after Mercersburg Academy laid a 78-64 decision on the Vikings for their fifth straight loss.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Bobbi Blubaugh's fifth-grade class has embarked on una nueva aventura this semester. Once every four days, the children spend 40 minutes in their first experiences with Spanish education at Fairview Elementary School. That time had been devoted to art class in the first semester. Now, Senora Migdalia Adams teaches the students basic greetings and questions. "She basically speaks Spanish the whole class session," Blubaugh said. The children have been successful in learning the language through context, she said.

Long known for teaching swimming, collecting blood and aiding disaster victims, the American Red Cross chapter in Hagerstown does all these things - and does it in more than two dozen languages if needed. This international flavor didn't happen by accident. Much effort has gone into recruiting area residents who have language fluencies that can be called into service in emergencies, officials said. "I've been involved for three or four years," said volunteer Agnes Supernavage.

The 2000 U.S. Census shows that about 17 percent of nearly 262.4 million people older than 5 in America speak a language other than English in their homes, including: More than 28 million people who speak Spanish. About 2 million who speak Chinese. About 1.6 million who speak French. About 1.3 million who speak German. About 1 million who speak Italian. About 1 million who speak Vietnamese.

No longer is the language of text-messaging limited to cell phones and computer screens. Now, many teens are using text-message phrases out loud. "I hear that all the time in the hallway at school," said Laura Bell, 15, of Hagerstown. So, instead of saying "Oh my god" out loud, in a normal conversation, you might hear someone say "OMG. " Or instead of someone saying something was funny - or laughing -you might hear them say "LOL. " (For those who don't know, "LOL" means "laughing out loud.

An elderly woman heads into the emergency room with severe stomach pain. She hardly understand what's happening, let alone how the doctors will fix it. All she knows is that it hurts, she's alone and she doesn't speak English. As medical personnel come and go from the curtained examination area, she glances from one person to another, hoping to pick up a familiar phrase. But the woman has little more than a dozen words in her English vocabulary. And her husband, who is in the waiting room - the only family she has - is equally linguistically confused.

Ayako Shiga, the Japanese language teacher at Boonsboro High School, was named Washington County Public Schools' 2013-14 Teacher of the Year on Wednesday night. “I truly feel honored to accept this award on behalf of all the teachers - hard-working, wonderful teachers of Washington County Public Schools. Thank you very much,” Shiga told the crowd of about 170 people at the Fountain Head Country Club. Shiga, 35, of Chambersburg, Pa., was one of five finalists for the award, which is sponsored by the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

I bought a pineapple at the grocery store, and the process of preparing it for dinner brought back a flood of memories. Suddenly I wasn't standing in my kitchen, but in a stark mission compound in San Jose, Costa Rica, helping to prepare a noonday meal. Two women worked alongside me. One was young and petite. The other was mature and large. Neither of them spoke much English. Everything was in Spanish, even the words on the microwave. Cooking together was interesting.

Waters' column misrepresented Rosen's comment To the editor: In response to Lloyd Waters' smackdown of Hilary Rosen disguised as a Mother's Day wish, once again Mr. Waters presents himself as a well-informed, educated source of wisdom to his readers. He shamelessly used Mother's Day as an excuse to bash Ms. Rosen about her statement that Ann Romney never worked a day in her life. I know Mr. Waters is not that clueless. He absolutely knows what Ms. Rosen meant by her statement: Ann Romney is not the person her husband should be consulting about the challenges most women in this country face every day. And if any women out there really think Ann Romney knows your pain, think about it again when you are clocking in at 4 a.m. for that job with no health benefits, minimum wage and no chance for advancement.

Less than a week ago, five Japanese language students from Boonsboro High School were on their way home from a spring break trip to Japan with their teacher, Ayako Shiga. On Saturday, the school's 25 Japanese students, including Japanese exchange student Yukiko Shinoda, will represent Boonsboro High at the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade inWashington, D.C. “It's a huge privilege to be in the parade. We're walking behind the Japanese ambassador,” Shiga said. The students are to arrive at the school at 6 a.m. Saturday, with the parade kickoff at 10 a.m. The parade will mark the 100th anniversary of the gift of the cherry blossoms trees from Tokyo toWashington, D.C. Thanks to a grant from the Japan Commerce Association of Washington, D.C.Foundation, money was provided for materials to build the “mikoshi” - a replica of a nonreligious portable shrine traditionally carried in Japan during harvest festivals.

“Felicitaciones,” “gratulatione” or “congratulations” might be in order for Waynesboro Area Senior High School's foreign language department, which recently won a statewide award for its programs. The Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association recognizes private and public schools with four levels of “Globe” awards each year. The association looks at criteria that include enrollment in programs, retention of students in those programs and cultural offerings outside the classroom.

Shepherd University will be offering the course, Turkish Language Culture, that will span approximately 12 weeks during the spring 2012 semester. Starting Jan. 25, sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. in White Hall 209.  Through Shepherd's Division of Graduate Study and Continuing Education Adult Education Program, instructor Yasar Aydin will offer lessons on a variety of topics related to Turkish language acquisition and...

Anyone can learn a language from books, but books don't teach anyone how to pronounce what they read. That assessment came from Shepherdstown resident Robert Savage, creator of Pronunciator, a free-to-use interactive website that teaches 60 languages, both written and spoken. “I wanted to develop a truly global site,” said Savage, 49. He said he developed the site working 12 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week in his home. Not only did he have to develop the site, he had to recruit native-language speakers to be translators and voice-over artists for the site.

The email came into the office and included the following words: "WARNING: The raw video is posted and includes GRAPHIC LANGUAGE. (Understandable considering the circumstances!)" Now, this is not the kind of email we receive every day at The Herald-Mail, so our collective curiosity was piqued, to say the least. The email was sent from the director of digital media at WDBJ, a television station in Roanoke, Va., owned by Schurz Communications, the parent company of The Herald-Mail.