Stories about Language from May, 2012
Uzbekistan: Facebook Clone is Launched
YouFace is a new social networking site launched in Uzbekistan. Its interface is strikingly similar to that of Facebook except that YouFace quotes Uzbek President Islam Karimov on its welcome...
China: Netizens Want Confucius to Return Home
A new visa policy was announced on May 17, 2012 by the U.S State Department which put the Confucius Institute under the spotlight in the Chinese blogosphere. Chinese netizens take the opportunity to ask Confucius to return home and teach the poor Chinese kids instead.
Video: Defying the Stigma of Speaking Indigenous Languages
Al Jazeera's Living the Language video series brings us the stories of indigenous activists and communities throughout the globe who are standing up against stigma and are proposing solutions to recover the spaces for indigenous languages.
Russia: The RuNet's Top 10 Political Slang Words
Understanding political discussions in the Russian blogosphere requires a certain fluency in RuNet slang. For anyone interested in grasping the nuances of online satire and blogger arguments (or for those who seek to "troll" their own virtual opponents), the following list of ten popular slang terms should be particularly useful.
Bulgaria: Discussing the “European Idea”
Young Bulgarians and guests from Italy, with support of the New Bulgarian University and project “Beautiful Europe” [bg] will meet on May 23 to discuss the “European idea” and what...
French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique: Ministers Appointed for Skills or as Tokens?
With a great majority of voters for candidate Hollande in the French presidential elections hailing from the overseas regions, French-Caribbean bloggers were impatient to see which French Guyanese, Martinican or Guadeloupean politicians would be assigned a key government ministry.
Cape Verde: Encouraging Storytelling and Creative Writing
Set over the course of seven weeks, a creative writing competition promoted by the young Cape Verdean journalist Odair Varela on his blog, has led a dozen word lovers to get behind their keyboards and let their imaginations flow. The winners have already been announced and this article provides an overview of the stories told.
Guatemala: A ‘Guatemaltequismo’ A Day
Mario Cordero from Diario Paranoico [es] has opened a wikispace [es] where he posts one ‘guatemaltequismo’ (word that is used in Guatemala) per day. Mario also set up a Facebook...
Russia: Duma Deputy Wants Criminal Liability for Extremist Tweets
Yesterday, on May 14, Aleksandr Khinshtein, a Duma deputy and member of United Russia, wrote a letter to Yuri Chaika, the Prosecutor General of Russia. In that letter, Khinshtein noted emerging extremist trends on Twitter and Facebook, and called on the state to prosecute users who advocate violence and other illegal acts.
Venezuela: Video ‘Caracas, City of Farewells’ Sparks Discussion on Emigration
It only took a matter of days before the Venezuelan blogosphere heaped an avalanche of criticism and mockery on the video documentary "'Caracas, ciudad de despedidas" ("Caracas, City of Farewells"). The video compiles 17 minutes of interviews focused on emigration in Venezuela and the reasons which have pushed many to join the growing Venezuelan diaspora.
Jamaica: Better to Give
“The Bobo Shanti youth are well spoken and have a serene gentleness about them…[they] are excellent ambassadors of Rastafari”: Jamaian litblogger Geoffrey Philp finds himself “drawn to how they greet...
Spain: Historic Battle of Almansa Remembered in Valencia
Valencian netizens enthusiastically used the internet to take part in an annual remembrance of April 25, 1707: the day that Valencia lost its political autonomy to the Kingdom of Spain.
