Stories about Language from May, 2010
China: lost in translation
The machine translation of Chinese character into English can be really hilarious. PH from veggie discourse has a few examples.
Causes of Hatred in the Russian Blogosphere
Lj-user blondycandy received [RUS] more than 400 comments on the question “Why there's so much hatred in the Russian blogosphere”? Evgeny Gorny summarized [RUS] the most often suggestions: general ‘offline’ unhappiness, inferiority complex, impunity, lack of education, envy, specific ‘Russian mentality’ and so on.
India, Bangladesh: Unicode Adoption For Bengali Language
Golam Mortuza Hossain at On a trail less travelled analyzes the progress of Unicode adoption for Bengali language in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh.
East Timor: Portuguese Language in Debate
A heated discussion is taking place in the Timorese blogosphere regarding the implications of the adoption of Portuguese as one of the official languages in East Timor, along with Tetum. Kirsty Sword Gusmão, Goodwill Ambassador for Education, and spouse of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, reacts showing her concerns about education...
Philippine Literature in English
Shades of thought writes about the relevance of Philippine Literature in English.
East Timor: Short Story Competition in Tetum
Istoria Timor Short Story Competition in Tetum language is running until the end of June. The concept notes from the previous edition offer an overview to literacy and language in East Timor and can be found in this post.
Middle East: “Blood Borders”
Martin W. Lewis from GeoCurrent Event blog reviews Ralph Lewis’ “Blood Borders” article on the idea of a complete reshape of Middle East borders in order to fit more appropriately the ethnic and religious affiliations of the region.
Russia: RT's Gay Pride Coverage
Julia Ioffe writes at True/Slant about RT's coverage of the upcoming gay pride parade in Moscow.
Philippines: Tagalog and Filipino
Cribke muses on the difference between the Tagalog and Filipino languages.
Philippines: Linguistic Roots of Ancient Pot
Filipino academics retrace the linguistic roots of inscriptions etched in the rim of an ancient pot of high archeological value excavated in the Philippines.
Japan: 100 Japanese Books with Global Appeal
Tomo Akiyama links to Yurindo's book fair, which lists 100 Japanese Books with Global Appeal in English.
Philippines: The jejemon craze
As millions of Filipinos closely followed the recently concluded elections, another phenomenon by the name “jejemon” is stealing the spotlight for other Filipinos, especially online where jejemon enthusiasts and haters compete for attention
Caucasus: Google Translate in Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian
The Google Translate Blog announces the addition of five new alpha languages for its online translation service, including Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian. Likely to be considered in the same way in Azerbaijan and Georgia, The Armenian Observer applauds the move even at such an early stage and says the service...
Jamaica: 10 Things about Calabash
Tallawah blogs about “10 random things about the Calabash [International Literary Festival] experience” that he looks forward to each year.
Barbados, Jamaica: Happy Birthday Kamau
Bloggers pay tribute to Barbados-born writer Kamau Brathwaite on his birthday.
Pakistan: Internet and the challenge of language
This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet. Pakistan today would seem primed for rapid growth in internet use. The country has had explosive growth of FM radio, satellite and cable TV set in motion by regulatory changes that allow non-state ownership of mass media. Cell...
Trinidad & Tobago: CRB Online
“At long last the trail-blazing online version of the Caribbean Review of Books is on stream!”: Trinidad and Tobago's Pleasure calls this “a very, very pleasing development.”
Japan: Another language school banruptcy
The Eikaiwa Review blog covers the situation with GEOS, yet another language school in Japan to go bankrupt.
Jamaica: Red
“The term ‘red'…has had a long and dishonorable reputation in the Americas”: Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp seeks to change this through a poem in which “the speaker…turns away from the extremes of racial conflict and embraces his ‘red'ness.”
Guyana: Articulate Voice
Signifyin’ Guyana blogs about Guyanese writer Grace Nichols and her poetic tongue, saying that in her work, she “continues to produce articulate speakers who tell the stories of women’s lives…”
China: No school killings in the news
Kai Pan explains why the government doesn’t want school killings in the news.
