· January, 2013

Stories about Language from January, 2013

Debate over Kazakh Script Reform

  27 January 2013

While some analysts remain skeptical about Kazakhstan's Latinization reform, bloggers offer [ru] practical proposals on how to do the reform ‘right’ and analyze [ru] the experience of other former Soviet countries that switched from Cyrillic to Latin script. Yet comments under these blogs show that the reform remains very controversial and, even...

Uzbekistan's Useless Latin Script

  24 January 2013

[Over the almost twenty years since Uzbekistan switched to Latin script] it has become clear that the new script in itself does not create the knowledge of foreign languages... Besides, the Russian language has proven to be more in demand [than Latinized Uzbek].

Decades-old Banned Song Inspires Many in Japan

  23 January 2013

The Annual New Year's Eve music show by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) intrigued many because of a performance by Akihiro Miwa. He sang Yoitomake no Uta (Song for the Yoitomake) which had been banned from broadcasting in Japan for decades.