Stories about Language from July, 2012
Wales: Imagining the Welsh Language Web
For the 600,000 speakers of Welsh the Internet represents a galaxy of new opportunities to use and see their language. But what exactly is 'y we Gymraeg' - the 'Welsh language web' - and how can it benefit the language's speakers?
Africa: Speaking My Language
Read Ngugi wa Thiong’o's address at the 2012 Sunday Times Literary Awards in South Africa: “One of the basic, most fundamental means of individual and communal self realization is language....
Global: A Marathon to Translate the Declaration of Internet Freedom
The Olympic Games are taking off in London, but Global Voices Lingua translators are also excited with another marathon: the Internet Freedom Translathon, a challenge to get the Declaration of Internet Freedom translated in as many languages and dialects as possible in 24 hours. Global Voices Lingua project is curating translations: you don't have to be an Olympic athlete or professional translator to join us!
Language War in the Hong Kong Book Fair
A Cantonese-Mandarin language war broke out in a talk given by movie director Pang Ho-cheung for the 2012 Hong Kong Book Fair. To serve the big mainland Chinese market, the...
United States: Weaving Poetry on the Streets of New York
The most recent edition of the multimedia poetry series "El Tejedor" [The Weaver] features the work of Latin American and Caribbean poets in New York City.
Wales: The State of Welsh Language Blogging
In the 1990s, William Owen Roberts, a Welsh author and playwright, remarked that writing in Welsh is akin to "writing on the edge of catastrophe". If that is the case, a Welsh language blogger might be half way off the edge already.
Myanmar's Unique Naming System
Most Myanmar citizens do not have a family name. Ever wonder how they fill out forms which ask for both first name and last name or wonder what is the meaning of 'Daw' in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? Here's a look into Myanmar's unique naming practices.
Croatia: 2.8 Million “Inappropriate” Books “Purged” During the 1990s
In “Libricide,” Ante Lešaja has documented the process of “purging” of “unsuitable” books from Croatian schools and public libraries by the right-wing HDZ government in the 1990s. According to a...
Arab World: Detect Dialect Search Tool for Twitter
On Twitter, @Detect_Dialect is pushing for Detect Dialect – a dialect-specific search tool for Arabic content on Twitter. In addition to Classic Arabic, Arabs speak their local dialects, which sometimes...
#TwitterEnCatalà Provokes Tweets of Joy and Hate
Thousands of Catalan-speaking netizens celebrated the fact that Twitter finally speaks their language. The hashtag #twitterencatalà quickly became a trending topic in Spain.
Puerto Rico: Bilingual Schools Revive Debate on Language
The government of Puerto Rico wants to gradually replace Spanish with English as the official language of education in the country's public schools. The measure has provoked strong reactions from supporters as well as critics, reviving the old debate on language and culture in Puerto Rico.
