Stories about Language from December, 2009
Japan: Spread the message, translate it
A video interview [en] of Kyo Kageura, head of the project Minna no Honyaku (みんなの翻訳, Translation for all) [ja], a new translation platform that helps NGOs and NPOs to spread their messages thanks to volunteer translators. Global Voices Japan asked him about the challenge of Minna no Honyaku [en], the...
Mozambique: How many languages are spoken in the country?
There are 20 languages spoken in Mozambique, according to the government website, apart from the official Portuguese. Carlos Serra [pt] wonders if there are more, according to two renowned linguists: “One told me that there were between 20 and 26; the other told me that there were 17 written and...
Cambodia: Gay novels on blogs
GK Network Blog shares links of Cambodian blogs which upload gay novels on their blogs
Israel: A Day of Bedouin Hospitality
Jerusalem Gypsy recounts her day trip to visit the Rashaida Bedouins of southern Israel where she milked a camel, was counseled on Arabic music, and learned the value of sheep's versus goat's wool blankets.
Poland: Language and Identity Abroad
Raf Uzar writes about the Polish language and identity abroad – here and here.
Hungary: Dunakeszi Marsh Rally; Slam Poetry
Belatedly, links to Marietta Le's posts on a recent environmental rally against construction that would destroy the Dunakeszi marsh, and on the Hungarian slam poetry.
Czech Republic: Christmas Carols
Czechmatediary posts lyrics of selected Czech Christmas carols (CZE).
Belarus, Ukraine: British Literary Translator Vera Rich Dies at 73
Belarus Digest writes about Vera Rich, a British translator of Belarusian and Ukrainian literature, who died on Dec. 20 at the age of 73.
Armenia: Embracing multiculturalism
Ianyan hosts a guest post responding to nationalist perceptions of identity, culture and language. The entry concludes that all nations and ethnic groups absorb other influences, benefiting from such a reality greatly while also evolving into something with their own unique peculiarities.
Russia: “Anti-crisis” is Word of The Year
Three most popular words dominated Russian society in 2009 according to a well-known “Word of the Year” contest on Imhonet.ru. Those words are “antikrizisniy” (anti-crisis), “zomboyashik” (zombie-box) as a description for TV, and “Medveputiya” (Medvedev and Putin).
Philippines: Learning Hiligaynon
Tuon ‘Ta Hiligaynon is a tutorial blog on simplified Hiligaynon, one of the main languages in the Philippines.
Syria: At the Second Arab Bloggers Meet
Italian Donatella Della Ratta, who lives in Syria, attended the Second Arab Bloggers meeting, which just ended in Beirut, and here are her observations.
Bangladesh: Independent media and Bangla blogs
Muktangan starts off an interesting freewheeling discussion about the role of Bangla blogs and why it is still not at par with some of the leading blog platforms around the world that have created equity for themselves as independent media.
St. Lucia: Considering the Blind
As new technology makes e-books accessible for the blind, St. Lucia's Caribbean Book Blog says: “It remains to be seen how the Caribbean will be able to justify the blind among us being left behind in the global quest for economic empowerment and basic human dignity.”
Friending is easy, unfriending easier
Blogger Charukesi at A Time to Reflect expresses her reservations about the ease of online ‘friending’ and ‘unfriending’.
Tweets from Beirut: Day Two of the Arab Bloggers Workshop
The second day of the Arab Bloggers Workshop kicked off with a presentation about Herdict Web, a site which uses crowdsourcing to gather reports of Internet filtering from users around the world. Qatari workshop participant Muhammad Basheer tweeted a photo from the presentation: Following the first presentation, Egyptian blogger Manal...
Nominations Open for ‘Best of the Blogs’ Award
Deutsche Welle has kicked-off the sixth annual international Best of the Blogs awards: the BOBs. This year there are new prizes for the best climate change bloggers, as well as a new language category for Bangla (Bengali).
Ukraine: Morality Commission vs Writer Oles Ulyanenko
IZO highlights an “example of the new Ukrainian morality committee (NEK) at work” by translating LJ user dadakinder‘s post (RUS) on the “compromise” reached between NEK and the Ukrainian author Oles Ulyanenko, whose novel had been deemed “pornographic.”
Mexico: Learning and yearning in Spanish and English
Lesley from The Mija Chronicles writes in English about her difficulty to learn Spanish in her first 10 months living in Mexico. Conversely, Jennívora questions her yearning of Mexican rituals and festivities after living in Scotland [es] exercising her particular Spanish-pocho [es] writing style.
