Stories about Language from February, 2007
Burundi: Where No means Yes
Expat blogger BeneBurundi is learning about local culture (Fr): “Communicating with people from Burundi is all about subtlety and interpretation; for example if you're proposed to and you decline with a ‘no’, it is highly possible that what will be heard will be ‘yes, maybe one day if you insist’....
Hungary: British Council To Move Out
According to Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar, the British Council is closing 10 of its 19 offices in Europe, including the one in Hungary. The library will stay, though.
Sudan: Diversity And Identity Crisis
Many of the posts on the Sudanese blogosphere during the past 2 weeks discussed Sudan's diversity and also revolved around the issue of identity. Sudanese Thinker had an interesting post entitled “Sudan: Arab or African?” He was responding to a question posted on Sudan Watch: Since Sudan belongs to both...
Taiwan: Name-rectification Debate
The two terms “Taiwan” and “Republic of China” ( R.O.C.) has been intertwined together for the last decades. However, after several elections, with the switch in ruling parties from the pro- Chinese- unification party KMT to the pro- Taiwan- independence party DPP, these two terms are now at the focus...
Transylvania: Funeral of Farsang
Csikszereda Musings posts pictures and writes about a mock funeral held in a Transylvanian village on the weekend before Lent begins.
Haiti: Who Was Louis-Jean Beaugé?
Haiti d'Outre-Mer shares some delightful folk anecdotes about legendary Jérémie native Louis-Jean Beaugé and his descendants. The mythic figure's name has become a Haitian Creole expression to designate people who are fierce. The blog explains that (Fr): “Louis-Jean Beaugé was an officer in the Jérémie garrison in the beginning of...
Bahrain: Learn English With Bahraini Rants
The amalgam of dithering thoughts and foolhardiness has plummeted me down a path of distress to say the least, writes Bahraini blogger Bahraini Rants in his weekly word teaser.
Algeria: Arabic Threatened in Qatar?
Algerian blogger Lameen Souag argues that the Arabic language is being threatened in Qatar, where the emphasis is on teaching youngsters English at an early age.
Turkey is Typing….Food and Music
I'm reaching in a different direction this week. Let's talk Turkish food and music. Zen in the Kitchen talks about the simple pleasures in eating bread with fresh olive oil. Tastes of Mavi Boncuk gives us a background to the history of the Turkish national drink Raki, and Almost Turkish...
Ukraine: Dubbing
Ukraine List writes about the Ukrainian dubbing debate.
China and Japan: Chinglish and Japlish
Zhaihua discusses about the differences between Chinglish and Japlish (zh). He argues that Chinglish is speaking to foreigners hoping that they can understand, but Japlish is speaking to Japanese but taking English term for their own use.
Kuwait: From Novel Ads to the History of Bloggers
Q from Kuwaitism takes us on a flash back in time to when advertisements in Kuwait were creative and attractive. This time I’ll post an ad for Kuwait Airways that I liked a lot, when they first started their route to Paris back in 1965. Yet we are pulled back...
Ukraine: Language Non-Issue
Orange Ukraine writes about the language non-issue in Ukraine: “The status of the Russian language is only problematic just before elections.”
Hungary: News Roundup
Pestcentric covers the following topics in the most recent posts: the complexities of the Hungarian language; Hungary's “Turkeygate” scandal; Hungarian pseudo-terrorists posting videos on YouTube – here and here; construction of Central Europe's biggest shopping center in Budapest.
Israel: Did You Know..
Israeli blogger Yael K gives us interesting information tidbits here, including how Hebrew was a required language at all American universities as the “Puritans who settled the U.S. saw themselves as the “new Israelites” and the United States as the new Zion–and thus the hebrew language requirement.”
Bangladesh: Painted with my brother's blood
Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying on the song of freedom, love and loss. “There is a song that every Bangladeshi knows. It is a song that defines us as a people. It is a song about love and loss. The song in Bengali is called Amar Bhaier Rokte...
Turkey is Typing…Midnight Express, Sweaters, and a Jar of Peanut Butter
What do the above items have in common? All of them and much more will be part of our hodge-podge edition of Turkish is Typing. A couple of our bloggers have mentioned the film Midnight Express in their tomes lately, due to a new interview with the subject of the...
Bangladesh: Celebrating the Mother Language day
Today is the International Mother Language Day, an annual event in UNESCO member states to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. This is mostly the international recognition of Language Movement Day called ‘Ekushey February’, which is commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952, when a number of Bangla-speaking people were massacred...
Hong Kong: teaching Chinese writing course in English
Hegelchong complains about the universities’ language policy in Hong Kong. High ranking university officials have made the decision that from next term onward, all courses should be taught in English, no matter whether it is about Hong Kong society or Chinese modern history. Well, he is teaching a group of...
Bangladesh: International Mother Language Day
Rezwan on the International Mother Language Day. “21st of February is the International Mother Language Day, an annual event in UNESCO member states to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. This is mostly the international recognition of Language Movement Day called ‘Ekushey February’, which is commemorated in Bangladesh since...
Ukraine: Languages and Cars
Pass The Paska! talks to Ukrainian schoolkids about languages spoken in Canada (not Canadian and American, but English and French), and about the cars they (Canadians, not the blogger) have in Canada.
