La befana

In Italy, Christmas officially kicks off with the Day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8. This is when decorations go up (both on the streets and inside Italian homes) and when some Christmas markets start. Decorations and huge Christmas trees can be found in main piazzas.

There is a festive atmosphere during the whole of December. Christmas markets with various stalls with typical food, Christmas sweets, and gifts can be visited in many towns especially in Italy's northern Alto-Adige Region. Along with the fancy lights, wreaths and trees, presepi (nativity scenes) are displayed in many churches and piazzas.

To prepare and purify their bodies for Christmas Day, Italians avoid meat on la Vigilia (Christmas Eve). Although the idea is to eat lean, most indulge on multiple courses of fish, sometimes as many as seven! After the family dinner, many Italians head to midnight Mass at their local church to celebrate.

After the “light” Christmas Eve dinner, on Christmas Day, Italians invite their family and friends for a large lunch that usually goes on all day. Many save up to have the most lavish celebration possible, serving up traditional dishes like pasta in brodo (pasta in broth), roasts and traditional desserts like panettone.  You might be thinking that kids receive their presents during this day, but the truth is that they have to wait until the 6th of January to unwrap their presents.

Celebrations often extend into December 26 with the national holiday of Santo Stefano; families get together and eat leftover Christmas dishes and sweets.

The official end of the Christmas season, though, isn’t until January 6. On that day, families usually prepare a large lunch to mark the end of the holiday season. This day is the most exciting day for Italian children. La befana—a kind of “good witch” who is believed to have followed the wise men, but got lost—drops off presents. Traditions regarding la Befana might change from city to city: la befana is a particular tradition in Rome and Bologna, where the main piazzas often host fun activities for children while in Venice, locals believe that la befana arrives every year by boat! Besides the presents, a popular tradition is to give children candies or coal (usually made of black sugar), depending on if they were naughty or nice. 

El Día de los Santos Inocentes

Christmas in Spain gets off to a rather peculiar and unofficial start on Dec. 22^nd with the Lotería de Navidad, which is likely the most followed Spanish lottery during the entire year. In Spain, when you hear the melodic sounds of the prize draw on the radio, you think: “Christmas time has arrived".

After the celebration of economic good fortune, Dec. 24^th is Christmas Eve (Nochebuena in Spanish), which is a family celebration in which Spaniards often gather around a table loaded with exquisite delicacies to have dinner together. Many Christians also attend the Misa del Gallo, a mass service offered at midnight on the 24^th during which Christmas carols are sung and accompanied by traditional instruments such as the zambomba (a type of seasonal drum), the carraca (a ratchet-like noisemaker), the tambourine, and of course the guitar. Contrarily to many countries, Spain do not really celebrate Santa Claus this day.

Another special day that comes around during Christmas time is Dec. 28^th, the “Día de los Santos Inocentes The Day of the Innocents observes the day when, according to the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible, King Herod ordered the baby boys under 2 years old in Bethlehem to be killed because he was afraid that the baby Jesus born there would become a rival. As it turned out, though, the baby Jesus had been taken away to Egypt by Mary and Joseph. So the "joke" was on Herod, and thus followed the tradition of tricking friends on that day. (This is a sad story to be sure, but according to tradition the babies murdered in Jesus' stead went to heaven as the first Christian martyrs.)

While Christmas Eve is a family celebration, New Year’s Eve (called Nochebuena in Spanish) is a time for partying with friends. It is a night for throwing fiestas called “cotillones” or for gathering in town squares under the old clock tower waiting in anxious anticipation for it to strike twelve. According to tradition, observers must wolf down 12 grapes at this time to guarantee good fortune for the New Year. Afterward, excited revelers often offer toasts to the New Year with glasses of cava. The festive spirit continues until the wee hours of the early morning and January 1^st is a day of rest for those who have partied away the last night of the old year.

On Jan. 5^th, many make their way to their favorite bakeries to order a Roscón de Reyes (a ring-shaped cake eaten on Jan. 6^th). Much more than a day for sweet traditions, the main focus here is on the kids, as parades roll through town in which the Reyes Magos (three kings) and their pages shower candy over delighted children. After all the high emotions, nervous kids will have a tough time falling asleep that night, particularly because the following morning is the feast day of the epiphany when the three kings will traditionally arrive from the east to leave gifts for the well-behaved.

Who is Christkindl?

Contrarily to many countries, Santa Claus does not bring the presents to German kids. The Christkind (sometimes known affectionately as Christkindl) is traditional German giver of gifts at Christmas and he is normally depicted as an angelic figure with blond hair and wings.If you are a German child, the 24th of December will be very exciting! The Christkind brings children their Geschenke(presents) on December 24^th and leaves them underneath the Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas tree). Parents tell their children that the Christkind won’t come if they try to spot him. He is not meant to be seen! Sometimes parents will secretly ring a bell to announce the arrival or departure of the Christkind, after which the children go running to find their presents.

You must be asking yourself why Germans do not celebrate Santa Claus! Here the explanation: Santa Claus originated as a Catholic figure while the Christkind was created by Protestants.

The Christkind was created during the reformation, in 16th and 17th century Europe, when Martin Luther wanted to de-emphasize the previous Catholic celebration of Saint Nicholas on December 6th, and invent a new celebration for the Protestants. This was because he did not want a Catholic saint (St. Nicholas – who we know today as Santa Claus) bringing Protestant children their gifts. Hence, the Christkind was born and would be in charge of bringing gifts on December 24th, the last day of Advent.

As Europe became more secular, the Protestant Christkind and Catholic St. Nicholas began to cross over. St. Nicholas became a secularized version of himself, now known in Germany as der Weihnachtsmann (“The Christmas man”), celebrated regardless of religion. Meanwhile, the Christkind transformed from a suggestion of Baby Jesus into a blonde, female angel.

Learning a Language! Necessity? Dream? Hobby? Passion?

Why do we Google on our search engines “Will learning Spanish/ French improve my resume”? Or “Looking for Spanish Classes around Indiranagar/Koramangala?

There has definitely been a steep rise over the past few years where in people from all walks of life have come forward and expressed a desire to learn a new language. Be it a 12 year old girl whose parents want her to start young or a 35 year executive who is getting a chance to travel abroad and needs to get in touch with his language side or a 65 year old man who wants to try something new and get back into action, everyone wants to learn and explore. And I was one of them, just out of college with a degree in computers and a job in the one of the top MNC’s, busy finding my groove. I did not want to get stuck in the 9 to 5 job so I basically never took up that offer and wandered around. As life throws various opportunities at you, it did, at me too. I joined one of the News channels in Bangalore but somehow that too did not last that long. And one fine day, going through the paper I saw an advertisement seeking young and dynamic people to apply as an Administrator at a Language School called IFLaC. And that’s how I bumped into this Language Institute and the relationship with them has lasted over the years. Run by two dynamic women, Mrs. Umita Melwani and Mrs. Sandy Mirpuri, IFLaC, Institute of Foreign Language and Culture, aims at providing an out of the world experience when it comes to learning European Languages. IFLaC had opened my doors to German, French, Italian and the one that I eventually picked up Spanish, and it was the first time I got to understand the true meaning of learning a language. The school boasts at providing the best, be it in terms of teachers and their study material or the ambience and their out of the box activities which makes learning all the more interesting and exciting. IFLaC, was also the first Institute in South India to introduce the DELE Examination (These exams are conducted by the Spanish Government and their certification is the top most for people learning Spanish). IFLaC was like a breath of fresh air for me, what started with administration later, under the guidance of Mrs. Umita Melwani changed into learning Spanish. As the years passed, I reached my B1 level and voila IFLaC arranged my first solo trip to Spain to pursue my Spanish studies further. Learning Spanish in Barcelona, well that was a different experience all together. IFLaC has tie ups with tops schools across Spain and offers custom made courses for each and every student which basically makes the whole idea of studying abroad like a walk in the park. Once back after soaking in as much Spanish as I could, IFLaC gave me the best opportunity, to teach Spanish at the A1 Level and to the little kids. Learning a language and then teaching the same, it’s no easy task. But thanks to the vast teaching material and support from my fellow colleagues Archana Gurumurthy and Dina Melwani, a nervous me stepped in to teach my first ever Spanish Class. And there was no looking back from then on. Mrs. Umita Melwani and Mrs. Sandy Mirpuri were always there at every step to guide me whenever I fumbled and encouraged me to do better in every possible way. There were ample number of new tasks that I got to witness at the Institute, from teaching, translating and bringing up IFLaC to well also partying. You cannot be surprised, having such spirited and zestful women heading us; we were always introduced to one or the other fancy places in Bangalore and treated with utmost care and love.

IFLaC really changed the way I was and has brought me to where I’m. After working for almost over a span of 5 years, it was time to bid Bangalore goodbye. But somehow I could not yet say adios to Spanish, therefore, yet again Mrs. Melwani assisted me and pushed me to get to New Delhi and pursue Spanish at Instituto Cervantes. It has been a privilege in being a part of IFLaC and yes to anyone who at this point, is trying to find a place where they can learn a new foreign language, I would personally advise to stop looking around and just get to IFLaC. The rest will be taken care of. I Promise.

Preeti Talwar, ex coordinator and trainer at IFLaC. 

What do you discover when you learn a new language?

In IFLAC, we want you to learn not only a new language but a new culture too. Our student Yashas answers some questions about why he is learning Spanish. There are many reasons to learn a new language and a powerful reason is getting involved in a new culture. Italy, Spain, and Germany have many stories besides their languages. One of them will take part tomorrow. Christmas is just around the corner hence Italians and Spanish people start to feel the atmosphere since late November, but the Christmas season officially starts on December 8th, the Day of Immaculate Conception. On this day many Italian families decorate their home and trees, bake cookies, wrap their presents, and schools and offices are formally closed. From this day on, up to December 26th, the holiday atmosphere gets bigger and bigger.

But why is December 8^th so important to the Italians? December 8^th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so it celebrates the  Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. It is celebrated on December 8, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary, which is celebrated on September 8 and in Italy, the feast of the Immaculate Conception (L'Immacolata Concezione) is a public holiday.

Since Italy is a religious country, the festival of Immaculate Conception Day is considered as an important religious day in their calendar. A day when many Italians attend a church mass to honor Mother Mary. In big cities, there are no processions but people go to churches to listen to a mass whereas, in smaller towns, the celebration consists of carrying statues of Mother Mary around the town as a procession along with street jugglers and street clowns.

Learn foreign languages to keep brain sharp

Learning foreign languages may sharpen your brain by enhancing its elasticity and ability to code information, a new study suggests. The more foreign languages we learn, the more effectively our brain reacts and processes the data accumulated in the course of learning, researchers said.

The neurophysiological mechanics of language and speech acquisition are underexplored when compared to the brain's other functions. The reason for such scarce attention is the inability to study verbal function on test animals.

Researchers from the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Russia together with colleagues from the University of Helsinki in Fin land carried out experiments where the brain's electrical activity was measured with electroencephalography (EEG). Ten male and 12 female participants, with the average age being 24, took part in the investigation. The subjects had electrodes placed on their heads and then listened to recordings of different words in their native language, as well in foreign languages, both known and completely unknown by the subjects. When the known or unknown words popped up, changes in the brain's activity were tracked. Researchers focused on the spe ed at which the brain readjusted its activity to treat unknown words.

The ability of the brain to process information depends on one's “linguistic anamneses,“ experts said. The study shows that the brain's electrical activity was higher among those who knew foreign languages.

Brain perceives taste with all senses: Study

Our brain relies on not just one but all the senses to anticipate taste, a new study suggests. The study, by researchers from the Stony Brook University in the US, may change the way neuroscientists think about the role of the gustatory cortex -the part of the brain responsible for the perception of taste. “We found that the gustatory cortex receives information from all the senses, not just taste,“ said Alfredo Fontanini, from Stony Brook University in the US. Gustatory cortex's ability to represent stimuli of multiple modalities is greatly boosted by learning that they can predict taste, the researchers said. 

Smriti´s tryst with languages

We would like you to meet one of IFLAC´s qualified and much loved trainers, Smriti. 

My tryst with languages began over a decade ago. Reading travelogues had always been a hobby and the lure of foreign lands and languages was strong. It was always something that I'd wanted to do but it had been on the back-burner, and a break from work seemed like just the right time to start. 

Of course, at that time, I had no clue about what language learning involved, so I went in hoping for a short-lived fun experience. As chance would have it, I landed up learning German, and was exposed to a language and a culture that I was completely unfamiliar with until then. And what an experience that turned out to be! Never before had I sat in a class where this level of interaction was encouraged. Never before had I such an in-depth view into another culture. Never before had I paid such close attention to the workings of a language. I soon realized, as one would put it in German „Sprachen machen Spaß“ (languages are fun).

The pure pleasure of learning the language spurred me ahead and I spent two years doing so. At the end of those two years, a wonderful opportunity cropped up, to use both my skills in the language as well as my expertise in the technical domain, and I spent a couple of very interesting and productive years working as a technical translator. It was amazing how a course that was taken up as a hobby had transformed my career. All throughout, my philosophy in learning the language could be summed up with my two favorite German quotes „Übung macht den Meister“ (Practice makes perfect) and „Anfangen ist leicht, beharren eine Kunst“ (To begin is easy, to persist is an art). Also, an opportunity to spend a few months in Germany - using the language I had been learning, and mingling with the people who spoke it, was one of the most rewarding experiences in life.

Meanwhile, I came across a really captivating book on the evolution and structure of languages called "The Unfolding of Language" by Guy Deutscher. This book inspired me further to learn more about languages and linguistics.

Marriage and foreign shores beckoned, and I found myself with a lot of time on hand in a place where Spanish is extensively spoken - California. What better chance would I get to learn Spanish?! The similarities to both English and German fascinated me, the differences excited me -- learning Spanish was an amazing experience. Then again, the beautiful beaches of Mexico, and the mystery and allure of both Machu Picchu and the vast Amazon jungle in Peru took on a fascinating dimension because of better connect I felt with the Spanish-speaking population. It was like a dream come true! In the words of Gabriel García Márquez, "No es verdad que la gente deja de perseguir sus sueños porque envejece, envejecen porque dejan de perseguir sus sueños" (It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams). 

The pursuit of languages to understand their workings is a pleasure in itself. In addition, the pure joy of being able to interact with different people all over the world is like no other. Since the past four years, I have been occupied in combining this passion of mine with another - imparting whatever knowledge I have of these two languages to a willing and enthusiastic audience. My association with IFLAC has given me this fantastic opportunity, and it is a pleasure to work in collaboration with a set of dedicated and enthusiastic teachers not only from India, but from all over the world.

As the Costa Rican life philosophy goes, "¡Pura Vida!" (this is the good life).