Language Curiosities
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Authors
The editors of Quinto Lingo, Emmaus, Pa
Issue Date
1966
Volume
Issue
Type
Book, Whole
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Here is an unusual magazine, prepared apparently to encourage students of foreign languages, specifically French, German, Spanish, and Italian. After a few pages each of linguistic oddities and word origins, there are three fables, each presented in a two-page spread for each of the four foreign languages. Each pair of pages presenting a different language includes an English translation. The comments on the particular version then highlight important points of grammar. The Italian commentary on WC, e.g., has sections on stare, on the relative pronoun, on prepositional phrases, on possessive adjectives, on ficcare, and on mettersi. The wolf's invitational statement in this version is good: I would give anything if you would be good enough to take it out. The crane here asks the wolf to lie down on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. The moral is Gratitude and greed go not together. Each of the four versions for each fable has a different simple black-and-white drawing at the top of the two texts. The other two fables are The Man and His Two Wives and WL. The moral for the former is Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield. In the latter, the wolf begins the narrative by thinking There's my supper if only I can find some excuse to seize it. The moral here is apparently gasped out by the dying lamb: Any excuse will serve a tyrant. The illustrations for WL seem to have been stolen from classic presentations, including Bewick and Heighway. This booklet seems to represent a rather enlightened approach to languages for American students. I wondered what sort of publication Quinto Lingo was and searched a bit on the web. I found it! The famous multi-lingual magazine for language self-learners will be re-born on the Web in the Fall of 2006. Some of the great articles, stories, (and jokes) which appeared between 1964 and 1980 will see the light of day again with downloadable parallel texts in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian. Despite the promises, the major links recommended on the Quinto Lingo page are not operating, and their Fall of 2006 deadline seems to have come and gone. But they helped me to know more about their great magazine's past!
Description
Citation
Publisher
Editors of Quinto Lingo: Rodale Press
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
Identifier
6161 (Access ID)