· September, 2008

Stories about Language from September, 2008

Afghanistan: Students on Hunger Strike

Azar Balkhi reports that following the language dispute in the Balkh province of Afghanistan, in which students of the local university entered into a clash with the police, the protesters...

29 September 2008

Blogger of the Week: Sami Ben Gharbia

This week's Blogger of the Week is none other than Global Voices Advocacy Director Sami Ben Gharbia, known for his dedication to the fight against oppression and censorship. Sami is originally from Tunisia, but has been based in The Netherlands since 1998. He blogs at fikra.

28 September 2008

Japan: The changing value of knowledge

Japanese Hatena user id:TomoMachi argues that now that everything on the Internet is so easily accessible to everyone, the value of simply “knowing something” is disappearing [ja]. User id:aureliano follows...

23 September 2008

Deaf Awareness Week: A different type of book signing.

Did you know that most deaf people who sign, consider sign language their first language and the written language as their second? I didn't, but thanks to the dozens of videos uploaded by members of the deaf community from all over the world, I've learned about this and many other things. International Deaf Awareness Week takes place during the last week of September, so I'll be showcasing different videos from or about the deaf communities around the world.

22 September 2008

Taiwan: the need for mother tongue education

Talking Taiwanese has written a long essay on the importance of mother tongue education. He discusses how the Taiwanese language is neglected in the education system and the implications this...

21 September 2008

Blogger of the Week: Leonard Chien

Today's Blogger of the Week series introduces us to Leonard Chien, English-Chinese translator and interpreter from Taiwan, and a Lingua powerhouse for Global Voices. When asked what he would chose for a superpower he said “May I increase my translation rates?” So what more can we learn about Leonard than his love for translating? Read more to find out.

21 September 2008

Japan: Hilarious Google translations

Blogger Cozy Ozy picks up a few simple sentences and compares English-to-Japanese machine translations [ja] from Google Translate, Yahoo, Excite and Korya Eiwa 2009. While translations by other services are...

17 September 2008

Jamaica, U.S.A.: In Memoriam

Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp is saddened over the passing of American poet Reginald Shepherd and also posts a poem in memory of the 9-11 firefighters, who lost their lives seven...

11 September 2008

Bahrain: Lost in translation

Coolred, an American living in Bahrain, reflects on the difficulty of not knowing the language her children are being educated in: “As she quickly dug a book from her bag...

11 September 2008

China: 2008 Internet Buzz Words Video

My mother doesn't know how to go online She looks very busy everyday She says the internet is no good Everything inside is very yellow and very violent Oh mama, who tells you so? Oh mama, what you say thunder-shocks me Oh mama, let your son tell you I go online to buy sauce (majority onlookers)

11 September 2008

Jamaica: Soon Come

“For me, this was like staring into a mirror and recognizing myself for the first time”: Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp reviews Hugh Hodges’ Soon Come, which he says “provides a...

10 September 2008