Stories about Language from January, 2011
Hungary: Filtering Foreign Media Content?
Hungarian Spectrum reports that the official Hungarian news agency seems to be supplying other media outlets with “wrong translations” of foreign media content, perhaps trying “to conceal some of the bad news–bad that is from the point of view of the government–from the Hungarian public.” Galamus Csoport, however, offers “accurate...
Pakistan: Slogans Of Revolution
iFaqeer opines that the most exhilarating part of a street movement is often the slogans being chanted. This Pakistani blogger urges to the protesters in Egypt, Yemen and Tunisia: “I would like to request, beg, supplicate those on the ground, and watching from afar and who speak Arabic to please...
Caribbean: Walcott Wins T.S. Eliot Prize
“He has won almost every other poetry award he’s eligible for, and this evening in London it was announced that Derek Walcott has won the 2011 T.S. Eliot Prize for his latest book, White Egrets”: Caribbean bloggers are thrilled at this latest literary accomplishment.
Trinidad & Tobago: Looking at Ourselves
From terrible driving to the lack of innovation, Coffeewallah vents some of her frustrations about living in Trinidad and Tobago.
Russia: Will Russian Language Be More Popular Online?
Blogger oleg-kozyrev writes [RUS] about the future of Russian language online initiating discussion in blog comments. The blogger concludes that the future of Russian language is strongly connected to the future of Russia's influence in the world.
India: Protecting Apatani Language
Dr. Hano Hailang at Arunachal Diary informs that Apatani language of Arunachal Pradesh in India has become endangered and a linguist named Nending Ommo is publishing a book on the sound systems of Apatani language to protect it.
Arab World: Racism and the Slave's Head Candy Controversy
Are we - Arabs - racist? It's really hard to tell. Some might argue that racism is against our religion, and that people are never discriminated against because of their skin colour. On the other hand, other tiny aspects of our lives might prove that we are. It seems to be normal, for instance, to make fun of black people [Ar] in the cinema, and even call a candy “The Slave's Head” because of its colour.
Lusophone Culture: Buala “Giving Voice” to Contemporary African Cultures
They propose “to create new views, free from prejudice and colonial judgment,” of contemporary African cultures, and in an interview with Global Voices, Marta Lança and Francisca Bagulho talk about the creation of Buala: “an interdisciplinary web portal for reflection, critique and documenting Portuguese-speaking Africa.”
Jamaica, Haiti: The “Baby Doc” Blues
Jamiacan diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp pens a poem for Haiti's reportedly “homesick dictator”.
Sri Lanka: Display Of Sinhala And Tamil Webpages On Mobile Phones
Dhanika has developed a mobile web browser which supports both Sinhala & Tamil Unicode text rendering making display of these languages on Android mobile phones possible.
Jamaica: Skin Bleaching
“All of a sudden the problem of skin bleaching is in the spotlight and we have top DJ Vybz Kartel to thank for it”: Active Voice explains.
Russia: Internet for Tatar Diaspora
Paul Goble writes about the role of the Internet in connecting dispersed Tatar communities both in Russia and abroad. “… the Tatnet is thus serving as a virtual space in which all of them can come together, something Tatars in Kazan have long dreamed of but up until now they...
China: Microbloggers meet their maker, but is he the only one?
Writer Ran Yunfei examines the scorching welcome China's most public Internet censor received when he tried to start microblogging last month, and looks at what this means for the future of companies hosting such services as well as despised government officials themselves.
Is “Communist China” an inappropriate naming?
Zhongnanhai picks up the Q & A at Quora on whether or not “Communist China” is an inappropriate way to refer to the People’s Republic of China.
Bangladesh: Introducing the Bangla Alphabets To The International Community
In preparation of this year's International Mother Language Day on the 21st of February, Jerome is posting one Bangla (Bengali) alphabet a day to introduce these alphabets to the international community.
Lusophone collective conscience and cyberspace
“Lusophony, identity and diversity in the network” [pt] is the title of an article written by the Portuguese researcher Lourdes Macedo (republished in the blog Buala), with reflections on the contribution that “cyberspace may offer to consolidate the collective conscience of a Lusophone community. “
Featured Translator: Sarah Standish
Sarah Standish is a young American teacher and blogger with a mission. In addition to teaching Arabic to high school students in the US, the Arabic Lingua member hopes to bridge the gap between the East and West and create more understanding of the Arab way of life and thinking. Shams Ahmad interviews her in this post.
Maldives: Thaana Fonts On Android
Jawish Hameed posts how Thaana fonts of the Divehi language can be installed in Android OS.
Paraguay: Government Enacts Law on Languages
E'a [es] reports that the Paraguayan government has enacted a Law on Languages. Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources explains that,”The law requires public institutions to use the Guarani language as determined by the Constitution.”
