· October, 2009

Stories about Language from October, 2009

Reunion: Creole becomes second official language

  28 October 2009

In the midst of the International Creole Month, Guadeloupean blogger CaribCreoleOne discusses [Fr] the now official use of Creole language alongside French in all the administrative procedures and places, in the city of Le Port in Reunion.

France: Language Lessons in the Park

  27 October 2009

Sarah Hay blogs about the French lessons she gives to a group of young Afghan asylum seekers in a park in Paris. “They’re incredibly keen that I learn the Pashto for everything I teach them to the point of comical mishap, for example when I taught them the word metro…”

Myanmar: Gay slang

  25 October 2009

Writing for New Mandala, Violet Cho and Dave Gilbert observe that “Gay people in Burma are resisting homophobia and marginalisation through the creative use of new communication codes.”

Morocco: Education Under Bloggers’ Scrutiny

  23 October 2009

Torn between insistent calls for modernization and a powerful conservative drive; caught in an excruciating debate over which languages to include in its programs; overburdened by an opaque and centralized administration, the Moroccan education system has long been the target of passionate critiques, not least among bloggers.

Russia: Kindle

  21 October 2009

Profy reports on Amazon Kindle's “international expansion”: “This decision is obviously good at least because I personally don’t like any limitations and opening yet another window to the huge Russian market is hopefully a wise decision for Amazon. […] At the same time I myself suspect that the vast majority...

Israel: Exploring Hebrew's Latin Roots

  16 October 2009

BaLashon (On the Tongue) explores the Hebrew term kalgas קלגס, meaning soldier. He discovers Latin roots: “Caliga- Roman sandals, secured with nails (which made quite a bit of noise)- were apparently frightening enough to give their name to the Roman soldiers.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Set Up?

  15 October 2009

Jumbie's Watch is “vex enough to fart fire” over developments in a court case involving the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, which he believes “was a set up designed to have the case thrown out.”

Lebanon: Right to Left

  13 October 2009

Lebanese NightS remarks: “It has always bothered me the very limited collection of RTL(right-to-left) blog templates/themes..whether it’s for Blogger, WordPress or Drupal or any other Blogging platform or CMS.”

Estonia: Apples

  10 October 2009

Itching for Eestimaa writes about October, “the month when people are busy trying to think of creative ways to get rid of the avalanche of apples in their backyards.”