· December, 2007

Stories about Language from December, 2007

Kazakhstan: Debates over Latinization of Kazakh Language

  25 December 2007

Kazakhstan intends to switch the state language to the Latin script. It was announced that the transition will take 12-15 years. As adam_kesher writes, the plan stirred many disputes and arguments – in particular, Russia and a part of Kazakhstan’s Russian-speaking population considers switching to Latin is an adverse move...

Ukraine, Russia: On Tymoshenko, Yanukovych and Putin

  21 December 2007

Foreign Notes writes about Yulia Tymoshenko's TV address and Viktor Yanukovych's “shadow opposition government” – as well as Vladimir Putin's misrepresentation of Ukraine's Russophone population in his Time Magazine interview and a subsequent reaction of the head of Donetsk region, who “emphasized that the Russian-speaking population of his oblast, which...

Brazil: We will write in Portuguese indeed

  20 December 2007

Felipe Lobo [pt] analyses the many reactions brought by a post published in Portuguese at the American site propeller, among which comments like “Our national language is English! If you want to post something, do so in English”. The Brazilian blogger believes they will carry on speaking in Portuguese and...

Armenia: Robinson Crusoe in Kurdish

  20 December 2007

Kurdistan and Hayastan — Hand in Hand posts a scan of the front page of the Kurdish translation of Daniel Dafoe's classic book, Robinson Crusoe. The book was translated and published in the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish in 1936.

Taiwan: Gtalk Translation

  20 December 2007

PipperL is checking the accuracy of Gtalk translation from English to Chinese (zh), e.g ‘He looks fine’ is translated into ‘he is looking forward to have a fine’ in Chinese.

Russia: Lyudmila Ulitskaya

  20 December 2007

Russian Blog writes about Lyudmila Ulitskaya's latest – and, possibly, her last – novel, “Daniel Stein, translator”: “After being such a prolific writer for many years, and after the huge work she put into her last effort, she of course deserves a break. Anyone who has read this masterpiece would...

Kuwait: Dude, Where is my Winter ?

  10 December 2007

This week, a Kuwaiti blogger dishes out advice on how to behave this winter while others continue to give comedy act Axis of Evil raving reviews. Also from Kuwait is a visit to the Car Show and a price hike at Starbucks.