I saw on digg there was an article where a city board decided it was ok that a shop had a sign stating:
“This is America: WHEN ORDERING ‘PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH’”
Now without going into how stupid this is or reopening the whole debate on making English the national language of the US, I want to leave [...]
Posts under ‘News’
Tourism becomes impossible
UK children to start languages earlier
Well, it’s just a report at the moment, but the recommendation is to make languages a part of the curriculum from ages 7 to 14 in the UK. The report comes after the recent decision to stop languages being compulsory at high school level. It is hoped that if they can instigate these changes in the [...]
The language police
The Estonian Government is coming under fire due to their Language Inspectorate and some recent changes in the law. The Language Inspectorate’s job is to make sure everyone working in Estonia can speak a good level of Estonian. The new powers granted to the division mean that they can recommend the dismissal of an employee for [...]
And the winner is…
Not Babel. So, I haven’t actually seen it yet, but the general feeling seems to be it was robbed on the weekend. Other feelings seem to involve the Oscar nod going to Scorsese because they’d skipped him five times in the past. Pan’s Labyrinth walked away with some good wins which was nice and the [...]
Oscar, Oscar…who will win?
Well tonight’s the night, or day, depending on your time zone. With a host of foreign nominations, these awards are a celebration of the global filmmaking community. Let’s hope I’m still able to say that tomorrow when the awards have been handed out.
Of course, having seen very few of the nominated films so far, my [...]
It’s just good business
Want to obtain and keep precious export contracts? Taking the time to learn your customer’s language and customs may just help you do that. A report for the European Commission found that:
Just over 10 percent of 2,000 small and medium sized firms in 29 European countries sampled in the study have lost export contracts because [...]
Another benefit of languages – Thwarting hostage situations
Going travelling? You might even have a chance to put your new language to use before you get off the plane. A clever pilot, with the help of his passengers, managed to thwart a hijacking attempt. He realised when talking to the hijacker that he didn’t speak French, despite trying to force the plane to [...]
The world in your pocket
Tired of learning all those new languages while travelling? Well, of course you’re not. You’re here because you love learning languages and can’t get enough of them. However, there are some people who just want a nice easy solution. And sometimes you may even want to understand the answer to the question you just asked.
Well [...]
Speaking of text speak
I see that New Zealand have started to let students use text speak in exams where they are not required to demonstrate their use of the language. Have we already started down the slippery slope? Will linguists take a vow of silence? Stay tuned as the future unfolds before us.
Language evolution, the never ending debate
Things change, languages change, is it good or bad? This article discusses the arrival of Instant Messaging speak in schools. Students today are using it more as a form of note taking and it’s creeping into some assignments as well. Generally, this article is positive in that the students know when IM speak is appropriate and [...]