Questions for undergraduate students

1. The year 1492 stands out in history for a number of reasons – one of them being the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Apart from this often-known fact, most do not know what happened to these Jews – Sephardim – following their expulsion. If you were to provide a brief synopsis of what happened post 1492, what information would you include?
2. Ladino, regularly referred to as Judeo-Spanish, is considered a Jewish language. What does it mean for a language to be considered “Jewish”? Do you know of any other language(s) that fall(s) into this category? For more information, consult the Jewish Language Project.
3. The Saved by Language (2014) documentary tells the story of Sephardic Sarajevo, Bosnia, through the lens of its remaining Ladino speakers. Watch minutes 33:58–41:50 of the film, which features conversation in Ladino (or, as speakers there prefer, Djidió). For those who speak or have studied Spanish, how much of the dialogue, if any, were you able to understand? How does one account for linguistic variation between these four speakers? If needed, enable subtitles in English. Which of the topics discussed stood out to you and why?
4. Visit the University of Washington’s Exploring Sephardic Life Cycle Custom’s exhibit and explore some of the ceremonies and traditions as well as the recordings and documents associated with them. Is Ladino evident in these pieces and throughout these customs? How about other languages?
5. Throughout the history of Ladino literature, the language itself has been constantly questioned by its users. Why do you believe this to be the case? Can you compare such a scenario to any of the languages you speak or have studied?

Questions for graduate students

1. Although Ladino is considered an endangered language, the vitality of a language can be measured in a number of ways and in consideration of a variety of factors. Consult the Ethnologue’s Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale, and determine at which level you might currently place Ladino. Why did you choose said level?
2. Select a document written in the cursive Solitreo handwriting from Documenting Judeo-Spanish and, utilizing the character map, try to decipher some of the content. Why do you think Ladino speakers no longer use Solitreo? What issues might arise given that Sephardim can no longer read documents in this script? Do you think speakers and learners of Ladino should return to using Solitreo? Why or why not?
3. Visit the National Library of Israel’s digital platform of periodicals and, after selecting Ladino from the language dropdown menu, review some of the digitized newspapers. Do you recognize any of the titles listed from what you have read thus far about Ladino? What years and how frequently were these papers published? Select a couple of newspapers and review the page length and format.
4. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, established in 1992, seeks to recognize linguistic diversity and encourage the use of said languages in both private and public domains. Consult the document “Languages Covered…” by each state party (at the bottom of this page) and search for Ladino. In which country do you find the inclusion of Ladino, and alongside which other languages? What impact do you think the incorporation of Ladino on this list has on the actual community of speakers in the location in question? For more information, see Abramac (2019).
5. On November 6, 2022, the Spanish Royal Academy recognized Sephardic Studies researcher Paloma Díaz-Mas by providing her a seat at this centuries-old institution. Díaz-Mas now occupies la silla < i > (the letter “i” chair). During her acceptance speech, she spoke on the topic of Ciencia en judeoespañol (Science in Judeo-Spanish). At the end of her speech, she remarked “Saber la historia de esos sefardíes vecinos nuestros nos hace comprender nuestra propia historia, sus casos se convierten en ejemplares para entendernos mejor a nosotros mismos” (“Knowing the history of those neighboring Sephardim allows us to better understand our own history; their case becomes a model for which we can better understand ourselves”). What do you think Díaz-Mas meant in comparing Sephardim to the general Spanish population? If you understand Spanish, review the previously hyperlinked text or video of her speech to include examples.