Facebookers Celebrate Quirks of Quaker Language
October 25, 2010
Inspired by the success of International Talk like a Pirate Day, a small but loyal group celebrated International Talk like a Quaker Day on October 24. Traditional Quaker English is famed for its unique grammar. As an extension of his belief that all people were created equal, Quaker founder George Fox … » read more
Row over Future of Welsh Language TV
October 25, 2010
Supporters of the Welsh language have criticized the British government for handing over the Welsh-language TV station S4C to the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC has pledged £83 million to fund the channel, which has fallen on hard times. But the Welsh Language Board has hit back at the … » read more
Tibetans Protest China Language Policy
October 25, 2010
Tibetan students have taken to the streets to protest the Chinese government's announcement that Mandarin is to be made the official language of all schools. Estimates of the number of protestors last weekend range from 1,000 to 9,000. The activist organization Free Tibet said that "all … » read more
Francophones Angry as Quebec Language Bill Passes
October 18, 2010
Language became a source of fierce debate once again in Quebec, after liberals pushed through a language bill in the face of staunch opposition. Bill 115 states that French students have to attend an English private school for at least three years to qualify for a place in one of the Canadian province's English … » read more
Microsoft Joins Wikipedia in Translation Project
October 18, 2010
Microsoft Research has partnered with Wikipedia to create a tool that enables users to translate English-language encyclopaedia articles into their native language. Using the WikiBhasha application, editors can draw on the original English articles, highlighting content they wish to translate, and automatically render it in any of 30-plus languages to create new articles or … » read more
Sri Lanka Models Tri-Language Policy on India
October 18, 2010
Sri Lanka is looking to India's language policy for guidance on easing ethnic tensions. The Sri Lankan government is sending an official from its human resources department to investigate the neighbouring nation's tri-language policy, which designates Hindi its first official language, English its second, and a … » read more
Linguists Discover New Indian Language
October 11, 2010
Researchers in north-eastern India have stumbled on a previously unknown language. A team of linguists working on the National Geographic Society's Enduring Voices project were in the Arunachal Pradesh state, in the foothills of the Himalayas, to study Aka, a dying language spoken by just a few … » read more
Genius Grant for Linguist Reviving Dead Language
October 04, 2010
A Native American linguist has won a $500,000 grant to help her attempt to revive the language of her ancestors. Jessie Little Doe Baird is one of 23 people to become a 2010 Fellow of the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, receiving the prize known colloquially as the "genius grant." Baird, 46 … » read more
Foreign Films in Oscar Nomination Race
October 04, 2010
Controversy and speculation abounded as submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film category in the 2011 Academy Awards closed on October 1. Selections for the Oscars category are made through a unique process, with each country submitting one film of its choice for consideration. Members of the … » read more
Boston Schools Violated Students' Language Rights
October 04, 2010
A Massachusetts school district has agreed to new provisions for thousands of students who cannot speak English fluently, after a federal investigation found it was failing them. Boston Public Schools had violated the human rights of students by not assessing their fluency correctly, according to the US Department… » read more
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