Stories about Language from November, 2011
East Timor: Building One Country Out of Many Languages
When East Timor became an independent country in 2002, both the Tetum and Portuguese languages were chosen as official for the newborn country. Nevertheless, the number of national languages is up to 16 and dozens of other dialects are used on a daily basis by Timorese citizens.
Russia: Siberian Light's This Week in Russia Blogs #1
Andy of Siberian Light presents This Week in Russia Blogs #1, a revamped version of Russia Blog Roundup weekly series. Anglophone posts highlighted in the current edition include A Good Treaty's take on the efficiency of the RuNet activism and Putinania‘s analysis of the United Russia’s prospects for the Dec....
Malawi: The President Talks Better in English Than Chichewa
Gregory Gondwe argues the Malawian president talk better in English than Chichewa, a Bantu language widely spoken in Malawi: “Whether it is a piece of fortune or a curse it is not for me to say. I believe there is evidence that two of our three Executive Heads that have...
Ukraine: Starbucks, Social Media Marketing, and “Language Issue”
Tetyana Bohdanova writes about social media marketing and the "language issue" in Ukraine - and a recent scandal caused by what turned out to be a fake Facebook page of Starbucks.
Japan: Top 60 buzzwords this year
Gakuranman explains (translation+context) to each of the words that made it into the annual list of top 60 Japanese buzzwords from the publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha.
Peru: ‘Sugar Camp Lima’ Aims to Give Children a Learning Platform in Their Native Language
“Inventors, artists, educators and citizens” are invited to participate in Sugar Camp Lima 2011 [es] on November 18 and 19 in Lima, Peru. Participants will work on the ‘Sugar’ learning platform for XO Laptops by translating content [es] into Quechua and Aymara and participating in a ‘Hacker's Space’ [es]. Registration [es]...
Ukraine: Photoshopped Chuck Norris and the Ukrainian Language Day
On Nov. 9, Ukrainian netizens marked the Ukrainian Language Day – UA Day 2011 [uk] – by posting and tweeting exclusively in Ukrainian. Cherkasy-based Fedir Gontsa [uk] decided to draw attention to the initiative by creating a photoshopped image of the American actor Chuck Norris posing with a Ukrainian language...
Cameroon: 5th International Festival of Fulani Arts and Tradition
The Bilitol fulfude association is organizing the 5th international festival of Fulani arts and tradition [fr] from December 8th to December 11th 2011. The festival will take place at Yagoua, a region of the far east Cameroon. The program has scheduled the following events: “educational discussions, […] traditional games, traditional...
Jamaica: Loving the Language
“The governor general of St Lucia, Dame Pearlette Louisy, gives part of her throne speech in Patois each year”: Jamaica Woman Tongue longs for the day that will happen in Jamaica, saying: “Patwa, Patois, dialect, Jamaican Creole or just plain Jamaican, whatever you call our local language, it has low...
Global Voices Podcast: Bridging the Language Gaps
In this edition of the Global Voices Podcast we discuss languages that are hard to find on the internet. Are you from a place where your mother tongue is not widely spoken? Then you may one of many people around the world who speak and write under-represented languages. We also look forward to the 11 Eleven Project on 11/11/11.
