Is banning swearing the answer to stopping violent incidents? Shanghai’s city council thinks so. In addition, to cleaning up its rude reputation, they hope this will be another benefit to banning swearing in public places. So, how does this get policed? Surely, if someone is around to stop people swearing, they should be able to [...]
Posts from ‘January, 2007’
Invest in your children’s future
Learning a second language is becoming more important in the international economy of today and the future. In the next decade, five of the top ten projected growth industries (government, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, trade and natural resources and mining), all have a need for bilingual and culturally aware team members. With increases in exporting [...]
When language use goes bad
When language falls into the wrong hands it can be used for pure evil. Ok, so maybe that’s a little extreme but language can definitely be misused to the speakers benefit. Take a few examples from the article below:
The debate over the national language turned into a debate about what to actually call the “national [...]
The language we all use but few know
Body language is said to account for about 90% of our communication. Not only is this useful for everyday situations, but also for learning languages. This will never be more apparent to you than when you are living in a foreign language speaking country…and never be more critical!
The good news is, we can learn this [...]
And the Oscar goes to…multiculturalism
After the Golden Globes I was about to launch into a post ranting about how foreign language films never seem to get the recognition they deserve. After the Oscar nominations were announced, I’m glad I held my tongue.
Babel is competing in seven categories, which is a good number for them since they use an impressive [...]
And then I just feel pride for my country
At the same time as the US tries to ban other languages. New Zealand goes and takes a step forward by trying to include the Maori language on road signs. It was all sparked off by a school principal trying to use the Maori word for bus, ‘Kura’, on their school buses.
The problem is that the [...]
One giant step back
In the US, there is currently a congressional bill on the horizon that is trying to make English the official language. It is already the official language in a few states, including Iowa, but this law will force all states to fall into line. Sounds fine, except for some very scary revelations from the article below:
The [...]
One Step Forward
I love news stories that talk about the spread of different languages. I personally feel that the more languages we speak, the better. So when I see stories like the ones below, I smile.
First, we have British Police Officers in East Lancashire being funded to learn foreign languages. Due to the increase in European immigrants, [...]
Mandarin gaining popularity, French losing
For a long time, I have held the view that China is going to dominate the world as an economic power during the next few decades. Relating this to languages, I enjoy discussing whether this will create a change in terms of using English as a business medium.
My conclusion in the past has been, unfortunately, [...]
Ever wondered where Romanian came from?
Here’s an interesting article about the origins of the language. While it’s a little confusing with all the different cultures merging, I’ve put together a few interesting snippets for your reading pleasure:
It has its roots from 2000 years ago when the Dacians (pronounced dachyanz), of Indo-European stock, lived where Romania currently is.
It’s a Romance language (Eastern branch), [...]