Stories about Language from June, 2009
Bahrain: What Does “Madrasah” Mean?
Bahraini blogger Cradle of Humanity is currently in the United States, and she recounts a misunderstanding that took place when she was asked if there are any madrasahs in Bahrain…
Russia: Buckwheat
Russian Blog posts an ode to buckwheat.
“Lao help Lao” mentality
Buc Kee Kark, writing for Lao Voices, analyzes and criticizes the “most enslaving Lao help Lao” mentality.
Russia-India: A medieval journey to India
Jost A Mon discusses his own and other translations of the 15th century memoirs of Russian merchant's Nikitin odyssey to India and elsewhere.
China: When plans overtake change
Maryannodonnell has some very interesting interpretations on Shenzhen government political slogan: “Plans overtake change”.
Bahrain: Should “Native Speakers” Be Given Preference?
Bahraini blogger Cradle of Humanity was angry about a recruitment advertisement at a college which stated that native speakers of English would be given preference, so she wrote to complain: “I don’t know if my email would mean anything, but I hope they get the message that, despite English being...
Trinidad and Tobago: Fighting Words
From Trinidad and Tobago, Mauvais Langue calls the Prime Minister's choice of words “improper, inappropriate, and tasteless for the political arena.”
Japan: On How to Perceive the Japanese Web (Part One)
Reporter Yuka Okada from the Japanese tech news site ITmedia brandished her well-regarded interviewing skills for a one-on-one session with Mochio Umeda. The result was “The Japanese web is ‘disappointing': An interview with Mr. Mochio Umeda” Part One and Part Two [ja]. In reaction, the Japanese blogosphere had to give...
Iran: FaceBook in Persian
Cyrus Farviar reports Facebook is about to launch its Persian-language version of the social networking software.
Iran: Google translates Persian
Several bloggers welcome this news that Iranians can now translate, in Google Translate, any text from Persian into English and from English into Persian — whether it's a news story, a website, a blog, an email, a tweet or a Facebook message.
Philippines: Word of the year
Morofilm is nominating the word “scripted” as the word of the year in the Philippines.
Pakistan: Chinese And Japanese Characters On Public Transport
Doodh Patti notices that “over the past few years, Chinese and Japanese characters have increasingly appeared on Pakistani public transport as decorations.”
India: rights of the linguistic minorities in Mizoram
Musings of a Chakma discusses the violations of the rights of the linguistic minorities in Mizoram by the state government.
North Africa: Berber Books Online
Lameen Souag links to Berber books available online for downloading.
Trinidad & Tobago, Bahamas: Online Poetry
Antilles interviews Bahamian blogger Nicolette Bethel, the editor of the online poetry journal tongues of the ocean.
Haiti: All Things Haitian
“Haitians are passionate, intelligent, dynamic. Artistic and creative”: The Haitian Queen explains why she chose her blogging moniker.
Indonesia: Wayang Kulit
The traditional wayang kulit is a famous shadow puppet play in Indonesia. lekhikaa blogs about a project to make the wayang accessible to foreigners.
Russia: Aleksandr Pushkin
Russian Blog marks poet Aleksandr Pushkin's 210th birthday.
Japan: Social translation tool
Masaru IKEDA from Asiajin introduced some social translation tools that are designed to fill up the gap between human profession and computer’s imperfectness.
Cayman Islands: Native Tongue
Islas Bellas says “there has been a little bit of a debate going on and around about speaking English while in Cayman.”
Barbados: Lamming Turns 82
Repeating Islands wishes West Indian writer George Lamming a happy 82nd birthday.
