Language Cascades
Posted on | November 6, 2009 | 14 Comments
About 3 weeks ago, I accompanied my 4-year-old to play in a public play area. Watching her running around, I suddenly heard a mother beside me yelling at her kids, “¡Ven acá!” (come here).
My first impression was – ok, the Latino population has indeed increased in my area. My second thought was – what is the difference between “ven aquí” and “ven acá”? (‘aquí’ and ‘acá’ both mean ‘here’).
I didn’t put in a lot of thought until a few days ago, the phrase came up in my mind again. So I decided to look it up on the Internet. No doubt, someone already came up with this question. One of the answers explained that “ven aquí” means “come here” and “ven acá” means “come right here”. What caught my attention was the illustration that followed:
“Most of the time I hear ven aca used in this particular area (like when a mother yells at their kid to come here in the store).”
However, an answer from the WordReference forum said the contrary:
Aquí mean here as in right here, acá is more flexible and mean closer from me than from you.
These contradictory explanations seem less important to me now. I bet if I encounter this phrase again, instead of thinking whether ‘aquí’ is more ‘flexible’ than ‘acá’, or the other way round, I will just remember this “mother yelling at her kids” incident. This is precisely what Dr. J. Marvin Brown in his book “From the Outside In” refered to as a ‘cascade’:
“It was like a cascade of light and sound waves rushing in and washing over nerves in my eyes and ears and then cascading on into my head to sculpture a device that could echo back similar waves on demand. A mechanism that could repluck the same nerves that had formed it.”
Dr. J. Marvin Brown is the creator of the ALG language course. According to his book, the fundamental idea behind his course is to have a lot of these “cascades”, so the students will remember what they have learned vividly through experiencing them, instead of being spoon-fed using traditional methods.
I thought for a moment. Perhaps it would be a good idea to share my own cascades in my blog. But then I think about the many times I read the “words of the day” from other people, I just seem not to be able to connect with their ‘cascades’. Surely, we need to be personally involved in them for the greatest effect.
Having said that, if you have any ‘cascade’ in any language you may want to share, you are more than welcome to leave it in your comment.
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14 Responses to “Language Cascades”
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November 6th, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
It’s interesting how these kinds of memories stick so well in our memories. One ‘cascade’ I had while learning Korean was a time I was shopping for t-shirts in downtown Seoul. At the time, I didn’t know how to say: “This/that one, please.”, so I just used what I knew: “Here, please” and I pointed at the t-shirt.
The salesperson kind of smirked and shook their head and repeated: “This one, please.” a few times until I figured out she was trying to teach me the proper phrase. I still remember that incident after nearly 6 years…and am reminded of it every time I put on that t-shirt.
November 6th, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
NB,
It is funny. I remember listening to a short episode of Korean 101 podcast a while ago, which taught exactly the same phrase “this one, please”, and also “that one, please”. Of course, I have forgotten how to say them already.
November 7th, 2009 @ 9:30 am
Cascades are most often used by children shows I believe, for the toddlers to pick up more complex English language skills. However, Dora the Explorer also teaches some Spanish alongside the traditional English and this allows the viewers to accept cascades. I.E. Arthur the Aardvark at the spelling be is an infamous Canadian cascade from a kid’s show.
My conclusion is that scripting material for a blog post could work around a cascade, even an essay could introduce cascades, or a straight up blog post about a story, such as this, and now I have accepted the cascade for asá.
December 29th, 2009 @ 8:14 am
Hello,
My name is Ivone and I would like to ask you to join our affiliates program. Could you please give me an e-mail account where I can write to you?
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January 27th, 2010 @ 6:02 pm
Hello,
I read your Nov 2009 post about aqui and aca – that was interesting.
Read your profile and nice to know that a fellow Canadian has this valuable knowledge about languages and multicultural issues. I, too am from Asia!
If you have the time or the inclination, you can visit my blog at http://www.francais-anglais.blogspot.com where I build lexicons used in various fields of endeavour.
Keep up the good work. I’m glad I stumbled on your blog!
February 13th, 2010 @ 6:32 pm
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you.
February 18th, 2010 @ 2:15 am
I tried many times to learn foreign languages but give up after some attempts.
I joined NLG recently. I have to see how it works.
February 22nd, 2010 @ 9:01 am
I know that his wasn’t the main point of your post, but I wanted to say that all mothers I have ever heard say “Ven…” have always followed it with “…acá!”, never aquí. I have lived in Ecuador for a year and I have associated with Mexicans and El Salvadorians for 6 years.
My point is that I don’t think that mother misspoke out of frustration, I think that is what they all say.
P.S. – I can’t get a definitive answer on the difference between the two words either.
February 22nd, 2010 @ 12:33 pm
More on topic: I think that is why mnemonics work well. They could be considered a simulated cascade.
March 9th, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
Well, also in Italian – Viene qui! Viene qua! One is a bit closer.
But, I would say that the right here is an excellent explanation. In truth, it’s the same effect as when your mother calls you by your full name…
To post your language mishaps, check out: http://www.upyourbottom.com
March 12th, 2010 @ 12:58 am
I think that any company that takes their online presence seriously should look into having a blog. It is a way to engage with your customers on a more personal level.
October 25th, 2010 @ 3:45 am
This a really good writeup by you hope to visit more really soon.
October 30th, 2010 @ 4:44 am
You you could make changes to the post name Language Cascades Tower of Confusion to more better for your content you make. I liked the blog post still.
December 1st, 2010 @ 9:19 pm
Insightful points=D I am going to require a good amout of time to entertain your article:D