Stories about Language from August, 2007
Estonia, Russia: Battling the “Kommisars of the Net”
Itching for Eestimaa shares the techniques of “battling Russian nationalists” on the Web: “…a tutorial on how to flip their arguments on their head, and move the discussion into territory so foreign to them, they will find themselves actually agreeing with you because they have no idea what you are...
Estonia: Scandinavian Influence
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Scandinavian influence in Estonia (and the two Swedes who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002 and 2006).
Trinidad & Tobago: That is the Question
“Now I think I'm someone of at least average intelligence, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to answer this question”: Manicou is stumped when filling out an application for a Trinidad & Tobago birth certificate.
Japan: Street Artist in Tokyo
Hasan at hasanhujairi[dot]com writes about a street artist who draws calligraphy on the sidewalk in Harajuku, Tokyo. Hasan writes: “I couldn’t help but take in the site of him with an after-taste of envy; something about being a street artist always seemed radically magical to me.”
Malaysia: Looking Forward to Olympics Games and English Spellings
Journal of the Whills is humored by spelling and grammar on Chinese products and is looking forward for more enjoyment at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.
Oman: Translation Lesson
The Muscatis from Oman offer us a language in translation here.
Scandinavia: “Rysk Mosaik” Russia Bloghub
Rysk Mosaik is a new Scandinavian bloghub for blogs in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian, about Russian politics and society. It currently publishes posts from six Scandinavian blogs, but has the potential to become a regional Russia bloghub. The downside of it is that it is limited to blogs in Scandinavian...
Jamaica: Less is More
Sometimes, less is more. Geoffrey Philp explains.
China: Literary review blog back
Staff writer at the Chinese media news blog Danwei Joel Martinsen is back from beyond the great firewall of China with Twelve Hours Later, the latest location of Martinsen's ongoing translation and review of Chinese science fiction, fantasy and mainstream fiction.
East Timor: Four Official Languages
Beyond Teresa looks at how East Timor might end up having four official languages and would it too much for a small country.