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Language Resources and Celebrations, plus Guess-Their-Country Game

In this post, it’s as easy as A-B-C to learn a little more about the variety of languages and cultures found in Monterey County.

(A) Just for fun: play the “GUESS-THEIR-COUNTRY GAME”—or simply enjoy viewing its 20-photo gallery of people from many nations who were biking Monterey County.
(B) LANGUAGE CELEBRATIONS in Monterey County.
(C) LANGUAGE RESOURCES—Spanish. (For other languages, click here.)
At the end of the page, see a RELATED NOTE too.
Bicycling Monterey’s

(A) GUESS-THEIR-COUNTRY GAME

Although most of these visitors to Monterey County speak English, some fluently, they also speak other languages. Bicycling Monterey’s founder met all these people biking in Monterey County. Photos 1-16 were shot by the founder, between 2009 and 2017. Photos 17-20 were provided by the people in those photos. Respect copyright. 

You can play this game alone, or invite children, teens, and adults, including elders, to play with you.  Play just for fun, or—if you who enjoy competition—for points: give yourself one point for each country you guess correctly. The maximum number of points you can earn is 20. Feel free to add a comment, perhaps about something you learned from playing the game.

How to play:

1. Guess what country the people in the photos are from.
2. To find the answer, click on their picture. That will take you to a Bicycling Monterey post where you will see them again—in the very same photo—and the name of the country they’re from.

No hurry, this isn’t a timed game. Enjoy!

And if you think it’s hard to guess, you’re right. It’s virtually impossible to tell by looking at someone just what country they are from. We’re all family!
Nonetheless, it can be fun to learn where these people who bike are from.

Okay, begin.

 1. What country do you think the man below is from?  ____________________
2. What country do you think the woman below is from?  ____________________
3. What country do you think man below is from?  ____________________
4. What country do you think all four women in this photo are from?  ____________________ (And by the way, the man in the photo happens to be from another country too, Germany—which is not where these women are from.)

5. What country do you think the couple below is from?  ____________________
6. What country do you think the woman below is from? ____________________
7. What country do you think the daughter and dad below are from?  ____________________
8. What country do you think the couple below is from?  ____________________
9. What country do you think the little girl below is from?  ____________________
 
10. What country do you think the woman below is from? ____________________

11. What country do you think the trio below is from? ____________________
12. What country do you think the man below is from? ____________________

13. What country do you think the couple below is from?  ____________________
14. With the photo below, you get two chances! These women are from two different countries. Guess either one or both of them correctly to give yourself one point.  What country do you think they are from—
The woman on the left, in navy blue?  ____________________
The woman on the right, in orange?  ____________________
 15. What country do you think the couple below is from? ____________________
 16. What country do you think the woman below is from?  ____________________

17. What country do you think the couple below is from?  ____________________
18. What country do you think the girl below is from? ____________________
19.  What country do you think the girl on the left is from?  ____________________
(The others in this picture are her friends from Santa Cruz County.)
20. And last of all, what country do you think the man below is from?  ____________________

(B) LANGUAGE CELEBRATIONS

Monterey County boasts being the Language Capital of the World, a trademarked slogan approved by the U.S. Library of Congress, as reported in the Monterey County Herald. Check out the annual Language Capital of the World Cultural Festival: http://www.lcowfest.com

Tip: That festival is usually held in car-free Custom House Plaza, alongside California’s State Historic Landmark #1. That’s one of many plazas in the City of Monterey; for others, see “Where the Plazas Are in the City of Monterey–and How to Preserve Their Charm.” And for additional historic spots, see “Cycling to Monterey County’s History Spots.”

The Defense Language Institute’s annual Language Day, for high school students and their chaperones (check with DLI for any updates). Details: http://www.dliflc.edu/languageday/

In addition, a wide range of other popular Monterey County events highlight languages and cultures. Among those (not a complete list):

International Day happens at the Naval Postgraduate School most years, free of charge and open to the public. Details: https://bikemonterey.org/international-day-at-naval-postgraduate-school.html
Movimiento Cultural de la Union Indigena, a festival held annually since 2009. For info, check with the City of Greenfield’s Cultural Arts Center: https://ci.greenfield.ca.us/Facilities/Facility/Details/Cultural-Arts-Center-2.
Other cultural festivals in Monterey County include the following and more:

(C) LANGUAGE RESOURCES— Spanish

For languages other than Spanish—plus some history and resources about love of languages and culture in Monterey County—see Bicycling Monterey’s “Other Languages: Resources for people who bike.”

Spanish is widely spoken here, so Bicycling Monterey created back in 2010 a large compilation of Spanish resources: Información en español sobre las bicicletas. 

In addition to that compilation, you may be interested in…

Spanish, for California:
Spanish, for Monterey County:

You may also be curious to hear a Radio Bilingüe live broadcast from June 20, 2016 of the youth-focused program “Alza Tu Voz / Speak Out.” Co-hosts Felicia Aguilar and Ali Manouchehrizadeh interviewed youth bike advocate Jerry Ramos and Bicycling Monterey founder Mari Lynch. Radio Bilingüe is referred to as the leading National Latino Public Radio Network.

RELATED NOTE

The majority of Monterey County residents are Hispanic/Latino, and many speak Spanish as their primary language at home. That’s why—except for English—we share more Spanish language bicycling resources than for any other language.

The top indigenous languages spoken in Monterey County are Triqui, Mixteco, Zapoteco and Chatino–all native to Oaxaca, México. See an excellent resource, which is based in Monterey County, Indigenous Interpreting +.

To learn more about the diversity of Monterey County, you may want to check out these posts on the Bicycling Monterey website: (a) “Salinas Valley, Salad Bowl of the Nation — Who could be hungry?” ; (b) “ICE Advisory for People Who Bike – Immigrants and Law Enforcement in Monterey County” ; (c) “Aussies, others ask: Immigration – What’s up with U.S. policies?”; (d) “‘East of Salinas’ and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals / DACA Renewal Clinics”; and (e) Inmigrantes / Immigrants: “Haciendo una vida – El conocimiento es poder” / “Making a Life – Knowledge Is Power.”

This post was published on 19 April 2018. One or more changes last made to this post on 17 March 2020.

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