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Everybody knows Jackie Chan. He’s a martial artist, an actor, a filmmaker, a singer and more. What he is not is a bus stop in Sichuan, China.
As noted by Austin Ramzy (via Eric Jou) on Twitter, the bus stop named “The University Jackie Chan Campus Station” is apparently a computerised translation fail.
The institution is Sichuan Normal University, which is the oldest teacher college (aka normal university) in the region.
So, instead of “The University Jackie Chan Campus Station”, which is a great bus stop name and which is totally wrong, it should mirror the correct Chinese written on the sign and read, “The Sichuan Normal University Duang Campus Station”.
While you might think the sign looks Photoshopped, Chengdu Daily confirmed that it’s a real mistake and reports that the goof will be replaced.
I hope the new sign reads “The University Sammo Hung Campus Station.” As it should.
United Nations language staff come from all over the globe and make up a uniquely diverse and multilingual community. What unites them is the pursuit of excellence in their respective areas, the excitement of being at the forefront of international affairs and the desire to contribute to the realization of the purposes of the United Nations, as outlined in the Charter, by facilitating communication and decision-making. United Nations language staff in numbers The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals. Several hundred such staff work for the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, or at the United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva and Santiago. Learn more at Meet our language staff. What do we mean by “language professionals”? At the United Nations, the term “language professional” covers a wide range of specialists, such as interpreters, translators, editors, verbatim reporters, terminologists, reference assistants and copy preparers/proofreaders/production editors. Learn more at Careers. What do we mean by “main language”? At the United Nations, “main language” generally refers to the language of an individual's higher education. For linguists outside the Organization, on the other hand, “main language” is usually taken to mean the “target language” into which an individual works. How are language professionals recruited? The main recruitment path for United Nations language professionals is through competitive examinations for language positions, whereby successful examinees are placed on rosters for recruitment and are hired as and when job vacancies arise. Language professionals from all regions, who meet the eligibility requirements, are encouraged to apply. Candidates are judged solely on their academic and other qualifications and on their performance in the examination. Nationality/citizenship is not a consideration. Learn more at Recruitment. What kind of background do United Nations language professionals need? Our recruits do not all have a background in languages. Some have a background in other fields, including journalism, law, economics and even engineering or medicine. These are of great benefit to the United Nations, which deals with a large variety of subjects. Why does the Department have an outreach programme? Finding the right profile of candidate for United Nations language positions is challenging, especially for certain language combinations. The United Nations is not the only international organization looking for skilled language professionals, and it deals with a wide variety of subjects, often politically sensitive. Its language staff must meet high quality and productivity standards. This is why the Department has had an outreach programme focusing on collaboration with universities since 2007. The Department hopes to build on existing partnerships, forge new partnerships, and attract the qualified staff it needs to continue providing high-quality conference services at the United Nations. Learn more at Outreach. #metaglossia_mundus
"While English is becoming more dominant worldwide, it is also important to conserve the languages that are not as widely spoken Tell us your thoughts on passport-free QR code travel to Singapore by car and how it will impact travellers The Philippines has proposed a bill to impose fines on video content providers for dubbing English programmes. This has the potential to enhance students’ English language learning in the country significantly. Currently, students primarily focus on textbook grammar and academic English in their school curriculum, which can often be perceived as dull and detached from real-life situations. By incorporating English programmes into their learning, students would have the opportunity to engage with authentic, everyday English that caters to their practical needs. It is essential to recognise that these students will need English proficiency to communicate effectively in their future careers. In this context, being able to grasp authentic spoken English becomes paramount, as it equips them with skills to interact with others in professional settings. Authentic spoken English enables learners to understand colloquial expressions, cultural nuances, and the natural flow of conversation. The Philippines could also consider short-term immersion programmes starting with primary students. These programmes would strengthen the English-speaking environment in which students live. However, preserving languages that are not widely spoken is also of utmost importance. They serve as a significant representation of the culture and history of a particular region. When the mother tongue is lost, individuals could experience a profound sense of detachment and loss of identity. The mother tongue plays a vital role in shaping one’s sense of belonging to their roots as it carries the collective wisdom and artistic expressions of a community." #metaglossia_mundus
"March 17, 2024 The battle against the invasion of English at Dutch universities is a rearguard action: the future is multilingual for all, says Louise O Fresco. Something peculiar is happening to language in the Netherlands. While the use of English in higher education is being lambasted, multilingualism has become the norm in the big cities. Prick up your ears in the streets or at your local bar and it’s Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Italian, Polish and Spanish you will hear, and many other languages besides, emanating from the mouths of tourists, students and foreign workers. Dutch millennials and Generation X don’t speak German or French and their English is fairly basic. Meanwhile, everyday Dutch is bursting with anglicisms. At the same time, general Dutch language skills among schoolchildren are declining, particularly, but not exclusively, in families whose first language is not Dutch. Outward-looking So while internationalisation is making strides via the student population, young professionals and social media, some socially and economically disadvantaged groups remain inward-looking. Children whose parents’ command of the language is poor will start life with one hand tied behind their backs. At the same time, the Dutch language is being mauled in Whatsapp messages and sacrificed by teachers in favour of the execrable English in which they try to explain Multatuli to students, and by talk show hosts who have never read Multatuli and cannot string a decent sentence together if their lives depended on it. At first glance, these phenomena seem unconnected. But the growing dominance of English, the inroads made by English into our increasingly neglected mother tongue and the lack of integration are symptoms of a linguistic transition into a country in which Dutch is still spoken but is no longer the standard reference. Polarisation Hackles will, inevitably, rise. Polarisation will don the guise of protector of the language. Those in favour of the Netherlands, it will be said, are those who defend its mother tongue. But this battle has already been won. Of course, the Dutch language is closely connected with the history and culture of the kingdom and the language and its literature must be cherished. But it’s not a question of “either or”. The future of the Netherlands is multicultural and multilingual. Of the Dutch population of 17.9 million, some 2.6 million were born abroad. Around two million are second-generation Dutch and have at least one parent with a foreign background. By the end of this century people of European descent will account for just 10% of the world population, if that, and the Dutch will account for a fraction of the total. The culture of Europe, including the Dutch language and culture, will keep its place – alongside a multitude of other cultures and languages and versions – sophisticated or not – of English. Multilingualism will become the norm. World views Speaking languages apart from your mother tongue is such a bonus. One language is no language. Once you learn more than one language you will find your views of the world shift. Languages boost cognitive skills and promote empathy. There is a reason the the recently deceased Mathieu Segers advocated a “polyglot Europe”, as an “investment in cohesion and mutual trust”. The first step towards a polyglot society is to boost the range of languages at schools, at open universities and in the media. Why do we see so few films in Arabic or Chinese on our screens? Multilingualism is not just for people with foreign roots but for everyone. If you want to live in the Netherlands, learning Dutch is part of the package. English will be a must for all because of increasing internationalisation. In the future, everyone in the Netherlands will speak at least one other European language apart from their own and English, and preferably Arabic, Hindi or Chinese as well. In short: multilingualism for all! Louise O Fresco is a scientist, author and columnist. She is also a board member at several institutions, including the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. This column was published earlier in the NRC." #metaglossia_mundus
"The Pan South African Language Board has unveiled the first edition of the Nama language spelling and orthography rules book.
PANSALB started the project of compiling the book as far back as 2016.
It says it hopes the book will assist schools that are interested in using and teaching the language." #metaglossia_mundus
"The Babylon Union Free School District recently celebrated World Languages Week. This national effort showcases the importance and benefits of learning new languages in a globalized world. Each day of the week followed a theme, which together spelled the word “POWER” to illustrate the power of learning different languages. Monday’s theme was “People,” Tuesday’s was “Olympics,” Wednesday’s was “Wonders,” Thursday’s was “Eats,” and Friday’s was “Representation.” Each day featured different announcements, events, contests and prizes. The teachers added to the festivities at the high school by participating in a door-decorating contest, with doors decorated in the spirit of the different power themes. The decorated doors showcased international mathematicians and scientists, natural wonders of the world, culinary delights, artists, the Parisian Olympics and sports displays, people of different cultures and much more. Students and staff were invited to vote for their favorite doors. On Musique Miércoles, or Music Wednesday, Spanish and French language students held a challenge between Spanish and French music. World language voted on a song in the two respective languages, and while it was a close race, the French song prevailed this year. The World Languages Club also hosted an afterschool event featuring culturally themed power puzzles. Students from Babylon Memorial Grade school and the high school worked together to solve the puzzles and learned about each other as they worked. Additionally, at the grade school students celebrated World Language Week by learning different ways to say, "Good Morning." For Thursday, the world languages department invited students to share recipes from their families and the world languages club compiled them into a cookbook. Club members will present a copy of the cookbook to each Board of Education member and administrative staff. Finally for representation day on Friday, students at the high school were treated to an assembly by Rhythms from the Americas, a dance group that presented various Latino dances with highlights on their origins. The enthusiasm was infectious as hundreds of students volunteered to dance to salsa, bachata, merengue and reggaeton music. After the assembly, students in language classes were visited by community members who volunteered to speak to our students about their rich cultural backgrounds. They included people from Hispanic, Greek, Nigerian and Japanese descent as well as some Babylon students who spoke about their backgrounds and experiences.
"Experience global cultures and languages at UNK's World Language Conversation Tables by Alexis Sander Wed, March 13th 2024 at 12:20 PM KEARNEY, Neb. — UNK has an opportunity that is open to the public to learn about multiple cultures, ethnicities, and most importantly, languages at the Nebraska Student Union. The World Language Conversation Tables is an opportunity at the University of Nebraska Kearney's (UNK) campus to practice or learn up to ten different languages other than English; it is also a place to learn about the many cultures from all over the world. “To come out and practice or learn languages other than English, to learn about other cultures, and to meet new friends and see old friends in the process,” said UNK French Professor Christopher Jacobs (CJ). The professors who take part in the conversation tables said your experience level doesn’t impact what you can learn. “No matter whether our students, and you don’t have to be a student, to attend the World Languages Conversation Tables. We neither require nor expect any specific language proficiency level. People are welcome and encouraged to come,” said Jacobs. When asked about their experiences at the Conversation Tables, this is what some students had to say. “It’s kind of like a way to push yourself to meet new people, talk to different people from different ethnicities which I think is pretty nice. You watch their different ways of writing, and you learn a lot about their culture which I think is pretty nice,” said students Sara Serrano and Marbella Rocha. These Conversation Tables take place every Thursday in the Nebraska Student Union on UNK’s campus. The event is open to both students and members of the community, providing an opportunity for all to come together and engage with others." #metaglossia_mundus
"Encyclopaedia Britannica seeking $1.34 billion valuation in IPO: Sources NEW YORK – Encyclopaedia Britannica, the education technology company and publisher of books that include the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is seeking a valuation of about US$1 billion (S$1.34 billion) in its initial public offering (IPO), according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Chicago-based company known for its historic namesake encyclopaedia is working with advisers and may launch the offering as soon as June. Britannica announced in January that it had filed confidentially for an IPO, according to a press release. Deliberations are ongoing, and details of the listing such as the valuation and timing could change, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. An IPO would end Britannica’s quest to go public stretching back at least two years, as first-time share sales entered a subdued period. The company was weighing an IPO and considering raising private capital ahead of the listing, Bloomberg News reported in 2022. Founded more than 250 years ago, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is the oldest English-language general encyclopaedia, according to the entry on its website. The publisher, purchased in 1996 by investor Jacob E. Safra, has pivoted in recent years from print encyclopaedias into digital editions and online learning. Its subsidiaries include Britannica Education and Melingo AI, an artificial intelligence-powered natural language processing platform used in language learning and dictionaries. Britannica’s products have over seven billion page views annually and are used by more than 150 million students, the website shows. Chief executive Jorge Cauz said in an interview in September 2022 the company would have revenue that year approaching US$100 million. BLOOMBERG" #metaglossia_mundus
"Sharjah 24: Under the generous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah, Chairman of the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah, the Academy organised, in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, the preparatory symposium to launch the “Arab-African Dictionary” project, with the participation of experts and specialists of linguistic dictionaries, with the aim of discovering and establishing the relationship between the Arabic language and African languages, most of which until recently used the Arabic script in writing texts. The symposium included speeches by Dr. Khalil Al Nahwi, Chairman of the Arabic Language Council in Mauritania, Dr. Abdullah Muhammad Abdel Malik, Professor at the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies and Research, Abu Bakr Al Haj Mahmoud Ba, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Promotion and Teaching of National Languages, and Dr. Abou Amadou Ba, Professor of History at the University of Nouakchott.
Dr. Muhammad Safi Al Mosteghanemi, Secretary General of the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah, said that in light of contemporary developments, there is an urgent need to look into the roots of the Arabic language and its profound influence on global languages. This is why the (African Arabic Dictionary) project is an important step in this context, as it reveals the close links between Arabic and African languages, and confirms that Arabic was never a language confined to geographical borders, but rather was and still is a source of inspiration and communication between the world’s civilizations. Al Mosteghanemi added that the interest of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in the Arabic language reflects an insightful vision of the importance of the language as a basic pillar in human civilization. With its ancient history and great influence, it has contributed to shaping the cultural identity of the African peoples, and it still plays a pivotal role in enhancing cultural communication between nations. Participants in the preparatory symposium for the “Arab-African Dictionary” project exchanged views on the best ways to organise lexical material.
Speakers discussed the experience of teaching African languages in the Mauritanian educational curricula, noting the importance of this step in forming a new generation of bilinguals who contribute to enriching research and studies related to the relationship between the Arabic language and African languages.
The Arabic Language Council in Mauritania also began implementing the recommendations of the Arabic Language Conference, which was recently organised in Gambia, and revealed a rich African heritage, during which Africans used the Arabic script in writing, documentation, and correspondence, over centuries." #metaglossia_mundus
"This paper examines the implications of AI and machine translation on traditional lexicography, using three canonical scenarios for dictionary use: text reception, text production, and text translation as test cases. With the advent of high-capacity, AI-driven language models such as OpenAI’s GPT-3 and GPT-4, and the efficacy of machine translation, the utility of conventional dictionaries comes under question. Despite these advancements, the study finds that lexicography remains relevant, especially for less-documented languages where AI falls short, but human lexicographers excel in data-sparse environments. It argues for the importance of lexicography in promoting linguistic diversity and maintaining the integrity of lesser-known languages. Moreover, as AI technologies progress, they present opportunities for lexicographers to expand their methodology and embrace interdisciplinarity. The role of lexicographers is likely to shift towards guiding and refining increasingly automated tools, ensuring ethical linguistic data use, and counteracting AI biases..." #metaglossia_mundus
"Enabel, Agence belge de développement, exécute et coordonne la politique belge de développement international, et travaille principalement pour le compte de l’État belge.
Présente en RD Congo depuis 2001, l’Agence belge de développement a un bureau de représentation à Kinshasa depuis lequel elle appuie et coordonne la mise en œuvre de 18 projets sur 9 provinces. Dans le cadre de ses activités, Enabel recherche : * Des traducteurs dans les 4 langues nationales + anglais ; Profil recherché : - Diplôme BAC+5
- 5 ans d’expérience générale ;
- Deux expériences/ projets spécifiques de traduction d’un document officiel pour une agence comparable à Enabel ;
Tous les fournisseurs/prestataires intéressés sont invités à déposer leur dossier, au plus tard le 01/04/2024 avant 16h00 sous enveloppe fermée à destination de la Cellule Marchés Publics & Logistique de la Représentation Enabel à Kinshasa. Le dossier doit contenir les documents suivants : - Formulaire d’identification (en annexe) ;
- Attestation d’enregistrement fiscal ;
- Attestation de non redevabilité aux impôts (DGI) si disponible ;
- Attestation de non redevabilité à la Sécurité Sociale (CNSS) si disponible ;
- Un extrait de casier judiciaire ;
- CV détaillé,
- Diplôme
- Deux exemples de documents traduits
Les documents sont à déposer à l’adresse suivante : Agence belge de développement en RD Congo Ambassade de Belgique Cellule MP & Logistique 133, Blvd du 30 Juin, C/Gombe Kinshasa Procurement.cod@enabel.be" #metaglossia_mundus: https://www.mediacongo.net/emploi-societe-37840_enabel_traducteurs_dans_les_4_langues_nationales_anglais.html
"Linfo.re - D’après une étude, les bébés issus de mères bilingues montrent des signes de sensibilité linguistique précoce. Une étude portée sur 131 nouveau-nés de 1 à 3 jours Dans le monde de la recherche linguistique, les découvertes ne cessent de surprendre. Des études antérieures avaient déjà mis en lumière les différences dans l’activité cérébrale des bébés de 4 mois vivant dans des foyers bilingues. Comment l’exposition prénatale à plus d’une langue impacte-t-elle les réactions cérébrales des nourrissons ? Cette question restait cependant sans réponse. Une recherche menée par Sonia Arenillas Alcón de l’Université de Barcelone et son équipe s’est penchée sur cette question, rapporte le magazine Slate. Ils ont étudié 131 bébés de 1 à 3 jours, dont les mères parlaient soit uniquement l’espagnol, soit l’espagnol et le catalan. En exposant les nouveau-nés à une série de sons pendant une brève période, les chercheurs ont enregistré leurs ondes cérébrales. Ils ont constaté une sensibilité accrue aux fréquences vocales chez les bébés nés de mères bilingues. Les expériences prénatales influencent l’acquisition du langage Les chercheurs ont expliqué dans leur article, publié dans la revue BioRxiv, que "le discours bilingue contient des signaux sonores plus complexes que le discours monolingue". C’est la raison pour laquelle "les bébés nés de mères parlant plus d’une langue sont plus sensibles aux fréquences vocales". Les différences observées dans les schémas d’ondes cérébrales sont attribuées à l’exposition prénatale aux langues. Cette recherche suggère que les expériences prénatales jouent un rôle important dans le développement du langage chez les bébés. Elle relève, par ailleurs, les défis auxquels sont confrontés les bébés prématurés, qui passent moins de temps dans l’utérus pour développer leur sensibilité linguistique." #metaglossia_mundus
""L'anglais, un français "mal prononcé" ? Un universitaire provoque avec son nouveau livre 17 mars 2024 à 10:00•3 min Par AFP avec RTBF Culture Le linguiste français Bernard Cerquiglini aimerait envoyer un exemplaire de son nouveau livre "La langue anglaise n'existe pas - c'est du français mal prononcé" au roi Charles III, "écrit sous le signe de l'humour, délibérément de mauvaise foi, arrogant, chauvin". Avec ce titre provocateur, l'universitaire, qui a exercé différentes fonctions au sein d'institutions liées à la langue française, n'entend pas faire s'étouffer le monarque dans son thé du matin... Il veut mettre en lumière l'enchevêtrement linguistique transmanche depuis l'invasion du royaume d'Angleterre par le duc de Normandie Guillaume le Conquérant en 1066, pour mieux ridiculiser la résistance française aux "anglicismes". "Mon livre, on peut le retourner aussi en hommage à la langue anglaise, qui a su adopter tant de mots", explique-t-il à l'AFP. "Ce qui me frappe, c'est la souplesse de l'anglais. Il y a des mots viking, danois, français, c'est étonnant", relève ce vice-président de la Fondation des Alliances françaises dédiée à la promotion de la culture et la langue françaises. La conquête normande a introduit dans la langue anglaise le vocabulaire de la nouvelle aristocratie au pouvoir et doté l'anglais de mots comme "cabbage" (chou) qui vient en fait du normand caboche (la tête), dans les 150 ans qui ont suivi l'accession au trône de Guillaume le Conquérant. Les XIIIe et XIVe siècles voient une explosion des emprunts au français alors utilisé dans le commerce, l'administration et le droit. "Un emploi, des fortunes en terre ou en argent, le respect d'un contrat, la liberté ou même la vie d'une personne pouvaient dépendre de la maîtrise" de la langue, écrit le linguiste. La moitié de ces emprunts se produisent entre 1260 et 1400, comme le "bachelor" (célibataire) venu du français "bachelier" - jeune homme en apprentissage, notamment dans le monde de la chevalerie. Deux siècles plus tard, "40% des 15.000 mots des œuvres" du dramaturge William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) "sont d'origine française", souligne M. Cerquiglini. Mais aujourd'hui, de l'autre côté de la Manche, certains s'arcboutent contre la place des mots "anglo-saxons" dans le français moderne, notamment à l'Académie française, chargée depuis 1635 de préserver la langue dans sa forme "pure". "La langue en France est officielle, étatique, nationale. Et donc, nous avons forcément une académie" avec "des académiciens qui ont un costume ridicule, une épée, un palais au bord de la Seine" à Paris, se gausse M. Cerquiglini. L'Académie a bataillé contre les termes nouveaux de la tech, comme le "big data", non sans succès puisque le "logiciel" a désormais largement bouté hors du français le naguère très répandu "software". Elle s'est aussi insurgée contre les nouveaux mots de la pandémie de Covid-19, qu'il s'agisse de "cluster" ou de "testing". Mais souvent pour le linguiste l'arrivée de nouveaux termes "n'est pas une invasion" : "Ce sont des mots français qui sont allés en formation en Angleterre et qui nous reviennent", plaisante-t-il. Bernard Cerquiglini voit la riche pollinisation croisée entre l'anglais et le français comme un exemple pour la Francophonie - l'organisation qui rassemble les nations francophones. Madagascar utilise le français de la même manière que l'Angleterre il y a 800 ans, explique-t-il. "L'administration, le commerce, la littérature, tout s'y fait en français" parce que "pour l'instant, avec le malgache, on ne peut pas parler au monde, faire du commerce, de la science". M. Cerquiglini place de grands espoirs dans la traduction automatique, qui pourrait préserver les langues locales tout en permettant une communication fluide. Longtemps, il s'est "moqué de la traduction automatique". "Mais maintenant, c'est stupéfiant, (...) on traduit bien. En fait, on peut se comprendre, il y a mille façons, plutôt que d'appauvrir les langues". Il dit espérer que l'anglais survivra à la tendance des dernières décennies à une forme simplifiée parlée dans le monde entier - le "globish" selon ses détracteurs français. "Ce globish est une parenthèse, un anglais appauvri. Il faut sauver l'anglais britannique, il faut que Charles III agisse (...) parce que les gens, au lieu d'apprendre l'anglais, cette belle langue, vont apprendre une langue pauvre. Et on va appauvrir nos conversations"." #metaglossia_mundus
"Le français est l'une des deux langues officielles du Canada. Et pourtant, il est de moins en moins parlé. Alors, comment répondre à cette perte de vitesse ? Réponse de Liane Roy, présidente de la Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes du Canada." #metaglossia_mundus
"Par Mamadou Mouctar Souaré (Conakry, correspondance) Le 16/03/2024 à 15h01 De jeunes Guinéens passionnés de technologies ont l’ambition de valoriser les langues locales à travers un système conversationnel basé sur l’intelligence artificielle. Nma Xui en est à ses premiers balbutiements. Posez-lui une question en peul, il vous répondra en peul. Interrogez-le en soso, il vous répondra en français. Nma Xui est un prototype de conversation et de traduction en mesure traduire et de répondre aux questions dans une des langues locales de Guinée. Ce «totem conversationnel dopé à l’IA répond aux questions posées en poular», comme le présente un des concepteurs Philippe Kolama Guilavogui, a été conçu par une équipe de cinq personnes dont un développeur et un expert en intelligence artificielle. Mais beaucoup de défis restent à relever fait remarquer Philippe Kolama Guilavogui: «à la base, l’idée c’était d’aller sur deux langues. Une majoritaire et autre minoritaire. Nous étions partis sur la langue malinké avant finalement de choisir la langue peule». Au début, les concepteurs sont confrontés à l’épineux problème du choix des langues à intégrer dans le système. Pour ce faire, l’institut de Recherche et Linguistique Appliqué se propose de leur fournir des documents sur les huit langues nationales parlées en Guinée. Abdourahmane Kouyte, autre concepteur du projet dira que «pour traduire une langue, il faut au moins 30.000 mots dans les différentes combinaisons possibles. En Afrique, c’est compliqué parce que les ressources numériques sont rares». Une fois l’écueil de la langue dépassé, se posera un autre beaucoup moins important: «à la place de la voix métallique du robot, nous aimerions une voix plus humaine». Au final, l’idée est permettre aux Guinéens, alphabétisés ou non, de pouvoir travailler, communiquer ou simplement s’informer directement dans les langues locales du pays." #metaglossia_mundus
"Aya Nakamura aux JO : après les artistes, les linguistes prennent la défense de la chanteuse attaquée par des identitaires La chanteuse franco malienne est attaquée par des groupes identitaires. Selon les spécialistes de la langue française, l'usage de mots venus de l'argot africain enrichi la langue de Molière, en dépit des attaques des groupes identitaires contre lesquels une enquête a été ouverte pour plusieurs publications à caractère raciste. "Elle permet à la langue française de se réinventer", "elle fait résonner la langue de manière neuve", "sans le rap la langue serait momifiée"... Ce sont des linguistes qui le disent. Pour prendre la défense de l'artiste d'origine malienne, Aya Nakamura, attaquée par des groupes identitaires qui ne veulent pas que l'artiste chante Edith Piaf pour l'ouverture des JO de Paris. Après une défense assez molle du gouvernement, à l'exception de la ministre des sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, ce sont les artistes qui ont pris la défense d'Aya Nakamura. À l’instar de Patrick Bruel ou de Benjamin Biolay qui, sur RTL, a fustigé les "vieux boomers réacs et racistes" qui la critiquent. Comme Dutronc avec "crac boum hue" Mais la défense la plus virulente vient donc des linguistes. Sur France 3, Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus, sociolinguiste à l'université d'Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), assure ne pas être fan de la chanteuse mais estime "qu'elle apporte de la créativité. Oui, "Djadja", "Pookie", quand les gens répètent ça, ils jouent avec la langue française... On aime ou on n'aime pas, mais Dutronc fait pareil quand il fait "crac boum hue" ou "Merde in France", il s'amuse avec les sonorités de la langue, comme plein d'autres l'ont fait". Dans Le Parisien, le linguiste Julien Barret estime qu'Aya Nakamura "crée de l'art ou de la poésie, sans être forcément intelligible à chaque phrase". Et cite l'exemple du poète Antonin Artaud ou de la poésie médiévale "plein de fantaisie, très licencieuse, avec des gros mots". "Elle fait rayonner la langue française" Le Parisien qui rappelle ce que disait le plus populaire des linguistes Alain Rey avec le mot "daron, un mot du XIXe siècle, ressuscité par les banlieues, que Victor Hugo utilisait dans "Les Misérables". Aya Nakamura contribue au rayonnement du Français "bien plus que la plupart écrivains ou polémistes... qui râlent, mais qui ne font rien pour la langue française, sinon pleurer sa pseudo-disparition, son pseudo-déclin, ou sa pseudo-gloire passée. Elle contribue factuellement à diffuser et à faire rayonner la langue française", assure Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus. La linguiste Aurore Vincenti, l'usage d'un argot urbain de Côte d'Ivoire et de mots issus de plusieurs langues africaines dans les chansons, "contribuent à l'enrichissement de la langue française". Une langue qui se renouvelle est une langue qui se porte bien : "Quand le mot "djo" arrive, il ne va pas supprimer les mots "mec" ou "homme". C'est un mot de plus !"; assure Aurore Vincenti. Une enquête contre la haine en ligne Bernard Cerquiglini, professeur émérite de linguistique à l'Université de Paris, membre de l'Oulipo, était aussi sur cette défense en estimant sur France Culture que "La langue est le fruit d'une créativité constante et spectaculaire. Ne parlons pas de déclin, ne disons pas "les jeunes parlent mal", non, les jeunes sont bilingues, voire plurilingues. Ils parlent le français de référence et ils ont leur langue. Tous les petits groupes humains ont des langues". Une langue qui rayonne dans le monde : Aya Nakamura, c'est 950 millions de vues sur YouTube avec son hit "Djadja" et 6 milliards d'écoutes sur les plates-formes de streaming. Ce qui n’a pas empêché certains groupes d'extrême-droite de déployer une banderole : "Y’a pas moyen Aya, ici c'est Paris, c'est pas le marché de Bamako". Une enquête vient d'être ouverte par le pôle national de lutte contre la haine en ligne, après le signalement de la Licra pour publication à caractère raciste au préjudice de l'artiste." #metaglossia_mundus: https://www.midilibre.fr/2024/03/16/aya-nakamura-aux-jo-apres-les-artistes-les-linguistes-prennent-la-defense-de-la-chanteuse-attaquee-par-des-identitaires-11829975.php
"Malik Cocherel Collaboration spéciale 16 mars 2024 Ce texte fait partie du cahier spécial Francophonie Sous couvert de francisation, les immigrants sont souvent priés de laisser leurs bagages linguistiques à la maison. Comme si le français ne pouvait cohabiter avec d’autres langues. Cette diversité qu’on souhaiterait enterrer a pourtant un rôle à jouer pour soutenir la vitalité d’une société francophone aux identités multiples. Il y a près de 35 ans, l’énoncé de politique en matière d’immigration et d’intégration Au Québec pour bâtir ensemble misait beaucoup sur les nouveaux arrivants pour contribuer au redressement démographique comme à la pérennité du français. Aujourd’hui, on a malheureusement un peu tendance à l’oublier. Certains sont même allés jusqu’à présenter les immigrants non francophones comme un danger pour la « cohésion nationale » en s’appuyant sur des études mettant en lumière le déclin du français dans la province. « L’immigration a d’abord été pensée sur le plan politique comme un outil pour maintenir un certain taux de francophones au Québec et au Canada », rappelle Corina Borri-Anadon, professeure en sciences de l’éducation à l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. « On a l’impression aujourd’hui, dans le discours politique, qu’on ne se le rappelle pas souvent. On va plutôt voir l’immigration comme une menace, sans nécessairement réfléchir à comment elle peut être un vecteur de contribution au fait français. » Des langues en concurrence La première chose à faire serait de revoir la notion même de francisation, qui a un peu trop tendance à mettre de côté les bagages linguistiques des immigrants. « Derrière la francisation, il y a cette idée qu’on va remplacer les langues existantes par le français. Ce qui témoigne d’une certaine visée d’assimilation », indique Mme Borri-Anadon, qui travaille sur ces enjeux de la francisation en qualité de codirectrice du Laboratoire Éducation et Diversité en région (LEDIR). Les mots ont parfois tendance à avoir plus de portée qu’on pourrait l’imaginer. Surtout quand on touche à un sujet éminemment politique. Plutôt que de parler de francisation, il serait plus adéquat de parler d’apprentissage en français ou de développement de compétences en français. « Cela permettrait de se reposer sur ce qui est déjà là, le bagage linguistique des apprenants, dans une perspective d’interdépendance des langues, plutôt que dans un esprit de compétition et de concurrence entre les langues », explique Corina Borri-Anadon. Un mythe tenace Au Québec, le français cohabite avec l’anglais, les langues des Premières Nations et les langues de l’immigration. Mais les personnes multilingues se retrouvent à vivre dans un environnement qui continue de fonctionner sur le mythe d’une société monolingue. « C’est un mythe très difficile à déconstruire, constate Mme Borri-Anadon. Cela a beaucoup de conséquences dans le parcours des personnes qui arrivent au Québec et qui ne maîtrisent pas le français. » Dans le cadre de ses recherches, la codirectrice du LEDIR a réfléchi notamment sur la façon dont les écoles pourraient reconnaître le bagage linguistique des allophones pour soutenir leur apprentissage en français. « Il faut permettre aux acteurs scolaires de bien comprendre qui sont ces élèves et comment ils se sont développés dans d’autres langues que le français, afin d’avoir une vision plus juste de leurs capacités et d’éviter une suridentification trop rapide des élèves en difficulté », dit-elle. Un projet de société Les parents doivent aussi être impliqués dans ce processus très important, afin d’établir un partenariat fondé davantage sur la réciprocité. « L’école transmet des informations aux parents, mais on doit aussi permettre à ces parents de communiquer avec l’école à partir de leurs bagages linguistiques, en favorisant par exemple le recours aux interprètes », avance Corina Borri-Anadon, qui a dressé, avec le LEDIR, le portrait de la diversité linguistique en milieu scolaire. Certains ont pu être surpris, à cette occasion, d’apprendre que pas moins de 44 langues maternelles différentes avaient été déclarées par les élèves en Mauricie. « Ces données, qui datent de 2016-2017, sont en train d’être réactualisées. Et il est clair que le nombre va encore augmenter, indique Mme Borri-Anadon. Souvent, ce sont des langues qui restent confinées dans l’espace du foyer, et on n’est pas nécessairement au courant qu’elles cohabitent avec le français. » La reconnaissance de ces ressources linguistiques qui font la richesse du Québec d’aujourd’hui apparaît essentielle pour soutenir la vitalité d’une francophonie aux multiples visages et en finir avec le mythe du monolinguisme. « C’est une question de projet de société. Ce sont des éléments qui permettent de participer et de contribuer à la société. Une société francophone, bien sûr, mais aussi une société pluraliste qui reconnaît les bagages linguistiques des personnes qui la composent », conclut Corina Borri-Anadon. Ce contenu a été produit par l’équipe des publications spéciales du Devoir, relevant du marketing. La rédaction du Devoir n’y a pas pris part." #metaglossia_mundus
"Deux Montois lancent Neurooo, un outil de traduction basé sur l’intelligence artificielle : “il prend davantage en compte le contexte” Ils l’assurent : les traductions sont meilleures que sur d’autres outils, par exemple Google ou Deepl. - Publié le 15-03-2024 à 17h06
L’un s’est tourné vers l’informatique, l’autre vers la traduction. D’abord étudiants et colocataires, Michaël Hoste et Didier Toussaint sont aujourd’hui collègues. Ensemble, ils viennent de lancer Neurooo, un outil de traduction en ligne totalement gratuit, basé sur l’intelligence artificielle, en l’occurrence ChatGPT. Si l’outil est encore tout récent, il fait déjà des émules..." #metaglossia_mundus
"traduit de l'anglais (kenya) par Sylvain Prudhomme « Ce livre est mon adieu à l’anglais » : Ngugi wa Thiong’o, romancier kényan, n’y va pas par quatre chemins, il décide que désormais, il n’écrira plus qu’en kikuyu. Pour un auteur dont les œuvres sont largement diffusées dans le monde anglophone, c’est une lourde décision, dont Décoloniser l’esprit, écrit en 1986, explique les raisons. L’origine remonte à une « Conférence des écrivains africains de langue anglaise », organisée en 1962, en Ouganda : elle excluait les auteurs écrivant dans l’une ou l’autre des langues africaines, et le jeune Ngugi se posait alors la question : « Comment a-t-il été possible que nous, écrivains africains, fassions preuve de tant de faiblesse dans la défense de nos propres langues et de tant d’avidité dans la revendication de langues étrangères, à commencer par celles de nos colonisateurs ? » À travers son parcours personnel de romancier et d’homme de théâtre, Ngugi wa Thiong’o montre que le rôle donné aux littératures orales africaines, la vision de l’Afrique comme un tout et non comme un découpage issu de la colonisation, la référence aux traditions de résistance populaire, tout cela qui passe par la langue est la condition nécessaire pour décoloniser l’esprit. Ngugi Wa Thiong'o Il est actuellement professeur et directeur de l’International Center for Writing & Translation à l’université de Californie à Irvine." #metaglossia_mundus
"Conférences : le 23 mars 2024, à Moëlan-sur-Mer (Finistère) - horaires, tarifs, renseignements. Conférence "Les arabismes dans la langue bretonne" Conférence de Michel Mermet, docteur en celtique, chercheur membre associé au Celtic-BLM (Bretagne et Langues Minoritaires) Rennes 2, sur le thème "les arabismes dans la langue bretonne" (en français), proposée par l'association Pregomp Asambles. Michel Mermet est l'auteur des livres "Goulavarioù Albert Boché - contribution au lexique breton" et "An diwyezhegezh abred er skol" (le bilinguisme précoce à l'école), édités aux éditions Skoliuz. Renseignements Médiathèque Ellipse, Rue Pont-Ar-Laër29350 Moëlan-sur-Mer Dates et horaires : - Samedi 23 Mars 2024 de 15h30 à 17h
Tarifs :
"Le cerveau des polyglottes ne traiterait pas toutes les langues vivantes de la même façon Si vous êtes polyglotte, vous avez certainement déjà remarqué que vous avez plus de facilité à penser et à vous exprimer dans votre langue maternelle. Une étude américaine, parue dans le journal Cerebral Cortex, se penche sur ce phénomène et montre que notre cerveau traite différemment notre langue dominante. Notre cerveau a plus de facilités à traiter des informations dans une langue que l’on maîtrise depuis l’enfance, selon une étude américaine. Les signataires decette recherchese sont appuyés sur les conclusions d’une étude datant de 2021, qui suggèrent que le cerveau d’un polyglotte s’active moins que celui d’un monolingue quand il doit traiter des informations dans sa langue maternelle. Les chercheurs ont voulu approfondir cette découverte pour comprendre ce qu’il se passe réellement dans le cerveau des polyglottes quand ces derniers écoutent des langues qu’ils maîtrisent plus ou moins. Evelina Fedorenko, professeure agrégée en neurosciences au Massachusetts Institute of Technology, et ses confrères ont donc mené une expérience impliquant une trentaine d’individus parlant au moins cinq langues. Si certains des volontaires étaient plus polyglottes que d’autres, ils avaient tous pour point commun de ne pas être multilingue depuis l’enfance. Chaque participant devait écouter des passages de la Bible et d’"Alice au pays des merveilles" lus dans huit langues différentes - dont certaines qu’ils ne maîtrisaient pas du tout - pendant que les chercheurs analysaient leur activité neuronale grâce à un appareil d’IRM fonctionnelle. Les universitaires ont constaté que le cerveau des polyglottes réagissait différemment en fonction de la langue qu’ils écoutaient. Ainsi, les réseaux de traitement du langage, qui se situent dans l'hémisphère cérébral gauche, s’activaient le plus quand les participants écoutaient des langues qu’ils maîtrisaient bien. Toutefois, ils réagissaient peu quand ces derniers entendaient leur langue maternelle. Evelina Fedorenko émet l’hypothèse selon laquelle le cerveau s’active dans une moindre mesure avec la langue maternelle parce que c’est celle avec laquelle on est le plus familier. "Ces résultats suggèrent que la première langue que l'on acquiert a quelque chose d'unique qui permet au cerveau de la traiter avec un minimum d'effort, affirment les chercheurs". Par ailleurs, les chercheurs ont remarqué qu'un réseau cérébral connu sous le nom de "réseau à exigences multiples" s'active lorsque l’on écoute des langues qui diffèrent de celle maternelle. Cette découverte est significative étant donné que le réseau à exigences multiples intervient lors de l'exécution de tâches cognitives complexes et exigeantes. Cela prouve que notre cerveau a plus de facilités à traiter des informations dans une langue que l’on maîtrise depuis l’enfance. La plupart des polyglottes participant à cette étude ont commencé à apprendre une autre langue que celle avec laquelle ils ont grandi quand ils étaient adolescents ou adultes. À l’avenir, les chercheurs prévoient d’étudier le cerveau des personnes multilingues dès l’enfance. Quoi qu’il en soit, il ne fait nul doute quela maîtrise de plusieurs languesest une bonne façon d’entretenir sa santé cérébrale. Il a, par exemple, été prouvé que le multilinguisme permettrait de retarder l’apparition de démences, comme la maladie d’Alzheimer. © Copyright 2024 ETX Studio" #metaglossia_mundus
"To understand the future of generative AI, we need better language to describe it Our new series about generative AI and its use in games suggests some words to use Feature by Michael Cook Contributor Published on March 18, 2024 54 comments Electric Nightmares is a four part series about generative AI and its use in video games. In Part 1, Our Generation, Mike Cook takes a look at what people mean when they say 'generative AI'. If you've ever tried to play a hardcore RPG that's way above your brain's pay grade, or got lost in tutorials that use complicated words and bizarre jargon, then you've probably felt right at home reading headlines about AI recently. Why are people angry that this character has seven fingers? Why does Nvidia want me to talk to a robot about ramen? Why is everyone saying AI is smart when it still can’t manage its Classical Era luxury resource economy in Civilization properly? In this new series, we’re going to explore what 'generative AI' is, why it’s arrived now in the games industry, and what it might mean for people who make, write about and play games in the future. In my day job, I'm a Senior Lecturer at King's College London's Department of Informatics, where I lead a research team dedicated to studying how AI might change creativity and games. You might have seen some of my research on RPS before, such as the game-designing AI Angelina. I've been doing this research since 2011: before AI Dungeon launched on Steam; before OpenAI Five took on DOTA 2's world champions; before Lee Sedol’s historic loss to DeepMind’s AlphaGo. When I started studying AI as a PhD student, it was a field very few people were interested in, and the idea of studying AI for games or creativity was a niche within a niche. Since then, I've watched as public opinion has gone from one extreme to another, and now the main problem I face as a researcher isn’t people underestimating what AI can do, but rather overestimating it. In this four-part series, we’re going to try to find that middle ground between the extremes, and from there see what’s really on the horizon for the games industry. First, an important question: what does 'generative AI' mean? That’s something even I’m not always sure about. As AI has become more popular, we've lost our grip on what most of its terminology's come to define. Even the term 'AI' itself has lost all meaning as it's been applied to every technology product in existence. Did you know you can get gamer headphones with “AI Beamforming” technology in them, for example? Generative AI might be especially confusing for people who play PC games, too - weren't games like Spelunky and Minecraft using procedural generation to make their levels and worlds back in 2010? Heck, weren't Rogue and Elite using it in the 1980s? Isn't that generative? Today, 'generative AI' most often means a machine learning system that has been trained to produce some kind of creative content, especially artistic outputs like art, music or writing. These AI systems can usually be ‘prompted’ by writing a request in plain language, which is where we get famous systems such as Midjourney, which you can get images from simply by describing what you want with words. Using AI to create art or music isn’t new. In fact, it stretches back decades, long before my PhD. But it’s shot into the popular consciousness now that machine learning models have provided simple interfaces and higher-fidelity results. New AI results went viral from time to time on social media, then they popped up as little demos you could try yourself, and before long it began to feel like a product. Then, suddenly, it was a product. It might seem like generative AI is already taking over the games industry. Earlier this year, GDC released their annual State of the Industry survey, in which they claimed that 31% of surveyed developers used generative AI in their workplaces, and 49% of studios were using it. But 'generative AI' can describe anything from people using AI image generators to create every single art asset in their game, down to people who just use ChatGPT to write their emails. Generative AI is not a single concept, and using it for one area – such as programming – might feel and work very differently to using it in another – translating dialogue, say. Regardless of any studies, headlines or big press releases, generative AI is a big, messy, controversial idea, and it won’t affect all parts of the games industry in the same way. To help you think about some of these differences, I’ve got some suggestions for new words we can use to talk about generative AI systems. The first is ‘online’ versus ‘offline’ systems (which I’m borrowing from research on procedural generation). Online systems generate content while you’re playing the game – AI Dungeon is an example of an online generative AI system, because it writes in real-time while you’re playing. Offline systems are more for use during development, like the use of generated AI portraits in the indie detective game The Roottrees Are Dead. Portraits and other artwork were generated using Midjourney and added to the game, but the game itself doesn’t generate anything. As you’d expect, online systems are a lot riskier because developers can’t test every possibility in advance, but they can also lead to more exciting and innovative game designs. Offline systems are easier to test, secure and validate, which might make them more popular with big studios who can’t afford to take risks with unpredictable technology in live games. The home start screen of AI Dugeon Released in 2019, AI Dungeon is a text-based, AI-generated fantasy sim that lets players create and share adventures using custom prompts. | Image credit: Latitude Another way we can categorise generative AI systems is between “visible” and “invisible” systems. Visible systems produce content that you directly feel the effect of – things like art or music - while invisible systems generate content that the average player might not be as aware of. For example, some programmers use GitHub Copilot, a generative AI system that can write small sections of program code. If someone used Copilot to write the multiplayer networking code for your favourite MMORPG, you almost certainly would never hear about it (unless something went wrong). The same goes for many aspects of game development that we don’t necessarily see directly – if the finance department uses ChatGPT to compile their monthly reports, for example, or if concept artists produce some pre-alpha artwork using DALL-E. The visibility of a generative AI system may be increasingly important as backlash against the use of AI tools rises, because developers may feel safer employing generative AI in less visible ways that players are less likely to feel the presence of. The third category, and maybe the most important one, is whether the AI is “heavy” or “light” – thanks to my colleague and student Younès Rabii for suggesting the names for this one. Lots of the most famous generative AI tools, like ChatGPT or Midjourney, have been trained on billions of images or documents that were scraped from all across the Internet; they’re what I call heavy. Not only is this legally murky – something we’ll come back to in the next part of this series – but it also makes the models much harder to predict. Recently it’s come to light that some of these models have a lot of illegal and disturbing material in their training data, which isn't something that publishers necessarily want generating artwork in their next big blockbuster game. But lighter AI can also be built and trained on smaller collections of data that have been gathered and processed by hand. This can still produce great results, especially for really specialised tasks inside a single game. The generative AI systems you hear about lately, the ones we’re told are going to change the world, are online, visible and heavy. We’re told that generative AI is going to live inside every video game, changing its look, mechanics and story in real-time, and use big names like ChatGPT to make it happen. The history of technology in games tells us that’s probably not going to be how it plays out. The technology that will likely become persistently useful will be offline, invisible and much lighter. As an example, we can look at the history of pre-2015 generative technology in the games industry. Despite all the potential and excitement around procedural generation, the most enduring and widespread tool in the industry is SpeedTree, a very specialised tool for generating trees and other flora, used mostly by environment artists for over twenty years. You may not have even heard of it. But that kind of hindsight is still a long way off for generative AI, and in the meantime there’s a storm of court cases, hopeful start-ups and confused game design pitches for us to weather. Tomorrow, we’ll sail headfirst into the choppy waters of ethics and the law. Until then, keep counting those fingers, and don’t talk to any strange robots." #metaglossia_mundus
"ArtCenter’s Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography (HMCT) in Pasadena is currently hosting an exhibition titled “Quasi: Experimental Writing Systems.” The exhibition delves into writing systems as a medium for creativity and expression and showcases new configurations of signs and symbols that transcend traditional boundaries. “Quasi” opened in November and runs through April 14. The ArtCenter said the inspiration behind “Quasi” stems from a blend of personal experiences and artistic fascination. Lavinia Lascaris, the exhibition’s designer and curator, shared insights into the exhibition’s theme and recounted inventing her own cipher based on the Greek alphabet at a young age. “It’s a cipher that’s based on the Greek alphabet. I’m from Greece, and I used it to write secrets basically,” she said. “In my teens, I was very interested in Tolkien’s world and fantasy and very fascinated by his word building and his language creation. And then another decade after that, I got into graphic design and typography. As a typographer, I worked very closely with language. So it’s sort of these three things that came together.” “Quasi” features a diverse range of works, including imaginary or invented scripts and asemic writing, all inspired by themes such as mythology, science fiction, codes, modern technology, sound, nature, and communication with the deceased. During the curation process, artists were invited to submit their creations, resulting in a showcase of innovative approaches to writing systems. One of the exhibition’s highlights is a project by the Repository of Wonders, featuring a device to communicate with the dead using a planchette. Attendees have been fascinated by this interactive installation, spending time engaging with the spirits through the device. Another notable work is a typeface based on tracing beaver teeth marks on wood, highlighting the intersection of nature, technology, and artistic expression. Lascaris said the exhibition’s goal is to spark dialogue about language play, imagination, and the significance of linguistic diversity in reshaping narratives. She hopes visitors, including graphic designers, typographers, and the general public, would take away a deeper appreciation for the creative potential of language and its impact on collective narratives. “For students, I’m hoping that they can see what potential this path could have for them as graphic designers,” Lascaris said. “They don’t only need to go into the corporate world – that is one option – but designing and playing with language can also be a profession. So I’m hoping that would be the takeaway.” The exhibition has attracted a diverse audience, from art enthusiasts to those with a curiosity for innovative language exploration. Attendees during ArtNight Pasadena last week reflected this diversity, with varying levels of engagement and excitement about the showcased works. The exhibition is open until April 14, with daily hours from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, visit www.artcenter.edu/connect/events/quasi-experimental-writing-systems.html." #metaglossia_mundus
"Décoloniser les esprits pour aller vers le développement du pays A la 13e réunion du Forum des groupes de reflexions Chine-Afrique, le Professeur Gabriel Zomo Lebe a déclaré à TV+ Madagascar : « Nous apprenons le chinois mais il est important que les Chinois apprennent les langues africaines. Nous n’allons pas faire comme par le passé où les Français sont venus nous imposer leur langue en nous faisant oublier notre propre langue. Il y a toute une richesse culturelle derrière cela ». A La Réunion, l’usage unique du français a été la politique de la France à La Réunion pendant plusieurs décennies après l’abolition officielle du statut colonial, cela signifie que la colonisation des esprits a continué. Grâce à la lutte du PCR et des militants culturels, la reconnaissance du bilinguisme réunionnais a fortement progressé, l’État va même le développer dans ses services. Mieux vaut tard que jamais, car les dégâts de cette politique coloniale ont été considérables. Faire dans la loi du créole une langue égale au français à La Réunion peut contribuer à cette décolonisation indispensable à tout projet de développement. Par ses directives, l’Union européenne peut peser sur la France pour l’obliger à faire du créole à La Réunion l’égal du français. D’où l’importance de députés communistes au Parlement européen. Vendredi dernier lors de la conférence de presse annonçant la candidature d’Ary Yée Chong Tchi Kan, membre du PCR, sur la liste d’union conduite par le PCF aux élections européennes, Isabelle Erudel était intervenue sur le thème de la culture. Elle avait indiqué que l’Union européenne soutient les langues régionales. La présence de communistes au Parlement européen peut être un moyen de faire progresser la reconnaissance du bilinguisme à La Réunion, en particulier la place du créole qui est loin d’être aussi présent dans l’espace public et les administrations que le français. Cette différence entre l’Union européenne et la France s’explique par des situations différentes. Des pays européens ont plusieurs langues officielles car l’appartenance à une nation ne signifie pas parler la même langue. C’est par exemple le cas de la Belgique où le néerlandais, le français et l’allemand sont des langues officielles, il n’existe pas de langue appelée le belge. Il est à noter également que nombre d’Etats européens n’ont jamais eu de colonies, et n’ont donc pas été imposé leur langue dans d’autres pays. « Les Français sont venus nous imposer leur langue en nous faisant oublier notre propre langue » Pour La Réunion, ce point est important, car le traitement réservé au créole au fil du temps illustre le rapport colonial existant entre La Réunion et la France. La 13e réunion du Forum des groupes de réflexion Chine-Afrique s’est déroulé le 9 mars dernier dans notre région, à Dar es Salam. Cette question du passé colonial s’inscrit dans les débats. En effet, la Chine est devenue le premier partenaire commercial de l’Afrique et elle partage avec ces pays le fait de n’avoir pas envahi des pays pour les coloniser. Le Professeur Gabriel Zomo Yebe, de l’Université de Libreville, faisait partie des participants. A la chaine malgache TV+, il a souligné l’importance de la culture dans les échanges entre les peuples. « Nous apprenons le chinois mais il est important que les Chinois apprennent les langues africaines. Nous n’allons pas faire comme par le passé où les Français sont venus nous imposer leur langue en nous faisant oublier notre propre langue. Il y a toute une richesse culturelle derrière cela ». L’apprentissage des langues africaines progresse, mais en France ou à La Réunion ? Cet apprentissage des langues africaines est un facteur qu’intègre la Chine. Par exemple, la page Facebook de l’Ambassade de Chine à Madagascar est rédigée en malgache. Les États-Unis ont également mis l’accent sur l’apprentissage des langues propres aux pays. Sur sa page Facebook, les posts sont écrits en malgache et en français, les deux langues officielles du pays alors que les Etats-Unis sont principalement anglophones. A leur arrivée à Madagascar, les jeunes volontaires du Peace Corp prononcent d’ailleurs leur serment d’intégration en malgache. A contrario, l’Ambassade de France à Madagascar ne diffuse que des informations en français sur sa page Facebook, or c’est la langue officielle la moins parlée chez nos voisins. A La Réunion, l’apprentissage des langues africaines n’est pas une priorité alors que La Réunion se situe en Afrique, et est voisine de pays où des langues africaines sont majoritairement parlées par la population. Vouloir éradiquer le créole fut une politique coloniale La déclaration du Professeur Gabriel Zomo Yebe rappelle que la colonisation est liée à la volonté de la puissance coloniale d’imposer sa langue au détriment de celles parlées par les indigènes. Force est de constater qu’à La Réunion, la date officielle de la décolonisation est le 19 mars 1946. Au cours des décennies suivantes, Paris a voulu éradiquer le créole en imposant l’usage du français partout. Ceci illustre donc le maintien durant cette période d’une situation coloniale à La Réunion. Grâce à la lutte menée par le PCR et les militants culturels, le créole réussit à avoir le droit d’exister dans l’espace public. A l’initiative de Lofis la lang, des chartes bilingues ont été signées par des collectivités. Cela signifie que dans ces lieux, le créole est reconnu au même titre que le français. Récemment, l’État a dit vouloir développer le bilinguisme dans ses administrations. Mieux vaut tard que jamais, car les dégâts de cette politique coloniale ont été considérables. Par exemple, de jeunes mères créolophones ne parlent que français à leurs enfants car elles pensent que leur langue maternelle est un obstacle à la réussite. Si dans les faits, le statut colonial n’existe plus, la décolonisation des esprits à La Réunion est encore loin. Décoloniser les esprits Faire dans la loi du créole une langue égale au français à La Réunion peut contribuer à cette décolonisation indispensable à tout projet de développement. Par ses directives, l’Union européenne peut peser sur la France pour l’obliger à faire du créole à La Réunion l’égal du français. Mais pour cela, il faut au Parlement européen des députés qui soutiennent la décolonisation de La Réunion. Sur ce point, la meilleure garantie est la présence de députés communistes. C’est en effet le soutien des communistes français qui permit aux Réunionnais d’obtenir l’abolition du statut colonial à La Réunion le 19 mars 1946. M.M." #metaglossia_mundus
"A book a day keeps illiteracy at bay A local teacher discusses the problem of illiteracy in SA and the rest of the world. In May 2023, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) released its 2021 results which revealed that 81% of South Africa’s Grade Four children could not read for meaning in any language, almost the same proportion as in 2011. The study assesses reading comprehension and monitors trends and indicators of growth in reading literacy. The child literacy rate observed by PIRLS in 2011 was 82% and 78% in 2016. This therefore suggested that eight out of 10 children struggle to understand written text in any of South Africa’s 11 official languages. The Krugersdorp News approached Sandra Siebert, an English teacher at Alma Mater International School, to hear her opinion on the matter, saying ‘there is a problem with illiteracy in SA and the rest of the world’. Sandra added that Covid-19 had a significant impact on the facilitating of learning as most learners did not have the opportunity to experience a structured framework during which learning could take place. She went on to say that the foundation phase is so important because, during this time, children do not only learn academic skills, but they also learn how to manage their time, cultivate positive habits, develop self-discipline and a love for reading develops in a supportive environment. According to Sandra, parents who are not involved in the reading process by reading with their children either because they do not have the time or because they have a problem with reading, are also a major cause of illiteracy. A lack of a reading culture as well as language barriers, where teachers are not trained adequately, also has a major impact on the children’s illiteracy. When asked what is she doing as a teacher to improve their learners’ literacy skills she said, “We have an allocated online reading period from Grade Two up until Grade Eight.” The programme evaluates the children’s reading speed, their comprehension skills, cognitive abilities, and memory. The programme also allows the teachers to follow the learners’ progress and intervene where necessary. Sandra said she tries to make reading fun for children by having Flashlight Fridays, especially during the winter, when learners bring their favourite book, a flashlight, and a blanket. “They build themselves a little den under their table to sit and read using their flashlight.” She concluded by saying that parents and teachers have to work together to ensure that a love for reading is instilled in children from a young age." #metaglossia_mundus
"Back in 2016, you may recall, there was an explosion of disparaging commentary about Hillary Clinton’s voice. It was shrill, people said, and too loud; it was harsh and flat and “decidedly grating”; it was the voice of a bossy schoolmarm whose “lecturing” or “hectoring” tone was widely agreed to be a total turn-off. No one, they said, would vote for a president with a voice like that. As feminists immediately recognized, this criticism wasn’t really about Clinton’s voice. Her voice was just a symbol of everything her critics didn’t like about her, beginning with the simple fact that she was a woman who wanted to be president. The words her detractors used, words like “shrill” and “harsh” and “bossy”, are commonly used to express dislike and disapproval of “uppity” women, women who occupy, or aspire to occupy, positions of authority and power. That these words have little if anything to do with what an individual woman actually sounds like is demonstrated by the fact that they’re contradictory—Clinton’s voice was said to be both “shrill” (high and piercing) and “flat” (low and monotonous)—and are applied to women who sound totally different (Greta Thunberg and the late Margaret Thatcher have both been described as “strident”). What “grates” is not the voice itself, but the temerity of the woman who raises it in public and expects others to listen to what she says. Calling her “strident” or “shrill” is a way of shaming her for that. Male politicians are not subjected to this voice-shaming: they may be criticized for any number of other things (as Trump was in 2016), but their voices rarely become an issue, because men’s right to a public voice is not in question. I found myself thinking about this last week while watching another female politician being voice-shamed: Alabama Senator Katie Britt, who responded on behalf of the Republican party to President Biden’s State of the Union address. As you’d expect, she was critical of Biden; as you’d also expect, her performance attracted a lot of criticism from non-Republicans. But much of that criticism focused not on what she had said, but on how she had said it, and especially on her use of something called “fundy baby voice”. Here’s one example, written by Cheryl Rofer for the leftist blog Lawyers, guns and money: I wasn’t going to watch the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union speech. But then social media posts started popping up: “What am I seeing?” “This porn sucks.” “Who is this?” …a United States Senator who presents herself with a dipping blouse neckline showing a gleaming stone-encrusted cross, speaking in a breathy childlike voice from a darkened and apparently unused kitchen… …That bizarre voice is called “fundy baby voice.” It is cultivated by women in what let’s call the fundy bubble…they use it deliberately to signal that they belong to that bubble and all it implies about women – submissive to men, stays in the home, and certainly no attempt to control the relationship of sex to pregnancy. …Her emotional presentation was also bizarre, with much too much smiling as she spoke about rape and household finances. But women are supposed to smile – men thought Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren should smile more. …Here was a woman who is willing to smile more, before our very eyes. And also to choke up her voice as if she was about to cry, to show us how very sensitive she is to others’ plights. The way of speaking referred to here as “fundy baby voice” (“fundy” = [Christian] fundamentalist) is evidently in the process of being what sociolinguists call enregistered. Enregisterment happens when a linguistic phenomenon (usually one that’s been in existence for some time) becomes sufficiently noticeable to be identified, given a name (e.g., “Estuary English”, “uptalk”) and commented on. “Fundy baby voice” doesn’t yet have the same level of popular recognition as, say, uptalk: as last week’s commentary demonstrated, you still have to explain what it is if you’re writing for a general audience. But people who are aware of it can tell you not only what it’s called, but also who uses it (prototypically, white southern evangelical women), what it signifies (feminine submissiveness) and what its most salient characteristics are (it’s high in pitch, has a breathy or whispery quality and is produced with a smile). The discourse through which a way of speaking is enregistered doesn’t just explain what it is: typically it does two other things as well. One is to construct a stereotype—a generic representation which captures what makes the way of speaking distinctive, but which is simpler and more extreme than any real-life example of its use. When I listened to Katie Britt’s speech, for instance, I realized that the descriptions I’d read had exaggerated some elements of her performance while leaving out others entirely. Her voice was definitely breathy, but not as high-pitched (or as southern) as I’d expected; I was also surprised by how much she used creaky voice (which is not part of the stereotype: it’s similar to vocal fry, associated with speaking at a low pitch, and it doesn’t sound sweet or babyish). The only thing I thought the commentary hadn’t exaggerated was her frequent and incongruous smiling. The second thing this kind of discourse constructs is an attitude to the way of speaking that’s being enregistered. In the case of fundy baby voice that attitude is strongly negative, as you can tell not only from what is said about it (e.g., Cheryl Rofer’s description of it as “bizarre”), but also from the name it’s been given, which is obviously not neutral—it’s not a label you’d expect evangelical women to use themselves. Discourse about fundy baby voice is largely a matter of people outside what Rofer calls the “fundy bubble” criticizing the speech of women inside it. Which is not, of course unusual: commentary on uptalk, vocal fry and other alleged “female verbal tics” is also produced by people who don’t (or think they don’t) talk that way to criticize, mock or shame those who do. There are, to be fair, some exceptions: there’s a more nuanced take, for instance, in a post by the former Southern Baptist and now self-described “rural progressive” Jess Piper. Piper wrote about fundy baby voice well before Katie Britt made it a talking-point, and when she revisited the topic in the wake of Britt’s speech she reminded her readers that it isn’t bizarre to women like her who grew up with it: I know that voice well…in fact I can’t shake it myself. It was ingrained in every woman I knew from church and every time I speak about it, folks will point out that I sound that way myself. Yes, friends. That’s the point. Be sweet. Obey. Prove it by speaking in muted tones. Whereas Rofer suggests that evangelical women use fundy baby voice “deliberately”, Piper points out that speaking is a form of habitual behaviour shaped by lessons learned early in life. Though she no longer identifies with the values the voice symbolizes or the community it signals membership of, she hasn’t been able to eliminate the habits she acquired during her formative years—habits which were modelled, as another ex-fundamentalist, Tia Levings, explains, by “older generations speaking in a soft baby whisper to the younger”, and reinforced through “an invisible reward system of acceptance and attention”. Girls learned, in other words, how to speak so that others would listen to them. That is not, lest we forget, something that only happens in the “fundy bubble”. We are all products of gendered language socialization, which is practised in some form in all communities. Of course, the details vary: when I was a girl what was modelled and rewarded wasn’t the “soft baby whisper” Tia Levings and Jess Piper learned. But it was just as much a linguistic enactment of my community’s ideas about “proper” femininity. Sounding “ladylike”, for instance, was constantly harped on: girls got far more grief than boys for things like yelling, laughing loudly, using “coarse” language, speaking with a broad local accent and addressing adults without due politeness. And the process continues into adulthood: it’s what’s happening, for instance, in all the modern, “diverse” and “inclusive” workplaces where women are told they sound too “abrasive” and need to “soften their tone”. At least in the “fundy bubble” the speech norms prescribed to women are consistent with the overtly professed belief that women should be sweet and submissive; they’re not enforced by bosses who claim they haven’t got a sexist bone in their body. Jess Piper thinks we shouldn’t be too quick to judge women like the ones she grew up with, who “used the voice because they were trained to use it”. They aren’t all terrible people: in many cases, she says, They are kind women who show up for others in sickness and in need. They take care of their families and their neighbors and their church sisters and brothers. They are living the life they feel called to lead—I give them grace and understanding. They are not out to harm others. Piper does not, however, want to give “grace and understanding” to women like Katie Britt, who have real power and who do want to use it to harm others. “I am jolted awake”, she writes, “when I hear the voice dripping sugar from a mouth that claims to love all while stripping rights from many”. If her point is that these women are hypocrites, then she’ll get no argument from me. But is it right, factually or morally, to make that argument only about fundamentalist women? Isn’t anyone a hypocrite who claims to follow Jesus’s commandment to “love thy neighbour as thyself” while preaching intolerance towards anyone who isn’t white or straight or Christian? Even the hypocrisy of a woman who forges a successful career in national politics while maintaining that women’s place is in the home is not hers alone: presumably women like Britt made their choices with the support of the husbands, fathers and pastors who, as Piper says herself, have more power within the community than they do. If those men are happy for some women to pursue high-powered careers because they think it will advance the community’s political goals, then they are hypocrites too. But by making a specifically female way of speaking into a symbol of the hypocrisy of the religious Right, we are, in effect, scapegoating the women. To be clear, I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t criticize Katie Britt. But it would surely be possible to hold her to account—for what she said in her speech, for her record of espousing repellent political views, and indeed for her general hypocrisy—without bringing her voice into it. Is the voice-shaming of right-wing Christian women by leftists and feminists not itself hypocritical? How is it different from what feminists objected to so strenuously in 2016, the voice-shaming of Hillary Clinton by conservatives and woman-haters? Some feminists might reply that the question is obtuse: the two cases are obviously completely different. Whereas Clinton was criticized for flouting patriarchal speech-norms (e.g., that women should be nice, be humble, speak softly and wear a smile), Katie Britt and other fundy baby voiced women are putting on a bravura display of conformity to those norms: criticizing their way of speaking is therefore a feminist act. But while I do understand that logic, there are two reasons why I don’t accept it. First, it is my belief that when anyone sets out to shame a woman for something they wouldn’t shame a comparable man for, be that her marital status, her sex-life, her weight, the clothes she wears or the sound of her voice, that is, by definition, sexist. It relies on the existence of a double standard which feminists should be criticizing, not exploiting—especially if we’re going to criticize it when it’s used against us. Which brings me to the second point. Making high-profile women the subject of endless public commentary about how nasty or stupid or babyish they sound is a form of sexist language-policing that has a negative effect on all women. Not just the ones who really are nasty or stupid; not even just the ones who are individually subjected to criticism. What gets said about those women is intended to teach the rest of us a lesson—to make us more hesitant about speaking publicly, more self-conscious about our speech and more cautious about how we express ourselves. If we think that’s a problem, we can’t pick and choose which forms of it to be against. We can’t argue that it’s OK when the targets are reactionary anti-feminist women, but totally out of order when they’re on our side of the political fence. Any woman who chuckled at the tweet quoted by Cheryl Rofer—“this porn sucks”, a reference to the fact that fundy baby voice has things in common with the more overtly eroticized “sexy baby voice”—should remember that ideas about how women should or shouldn’t speak are many and varied, and available to be used by anyone who feels the urge to put a woman—any woman—in her place. You may not talk like Katie Britt, but you almost certainly talk in some way that someone somewhere could decide to mock or shame you for—because the basic problem, whether you like it or not, is one that you, like every other woman, share with Katie. None of this is meant to imply that feminists shouldn’t be critical of the norms which define “feminine” speech: what I’m saying is that there’s a difference between critically analysing those norms and criticizing, mocking or shaming women whose speech exemplifies them. I (still) don’t understand why language-shaming is so often seen as acceptable when other kinds of shaming are not. If feminists wouldn’t criticize a female politician by making disparaging comments on her appearance–for instance, saying that Marine Le Pen looks like an old hag and Giorgia Meloni dresses like a bimbo–it’s odd that they don’t seem to have similar scruples about mocking the way women’s voices sound. But even if you don’t share my reservations about voice-shaming women whose politics you don’t like, in this case it could be seen as a trap. When we ridicule Katie Britt’s performance (as Scarlett Johansson did in her “scary mom” parody on Saturday Night Live) we may actually be doing her a favour, politically speaking, by treating her as a joke rather than a threat. On that point we could learn something from the great Dolly Parton, who has often said that she built her career on being underestimated by people who couldn’t see past the surface trappings of her femininity—the elaborate wigs, the breasts, and indeed the voice (high, sweet and southern accented)—to the inner core of steel. Katie Britt and her ilk may not share Dolly Parton’s values (or her talents), but they are no less ambitious and determined; the threat they represent is real, and we underestimate them at our peril. I didn’t watch the first series of The Traitors (I’m not generally a fan of reality shows where people compete for money), but the buzz it generated made me curious enough to start watching the second, which the BBC is showing this month. It’s now reached the halfway mark, and I’m still watching. If you’re interested, as I am, in the way people talk–and more specifically in how gender affects group interaction–this show offers plenty of food for thought. In case anyone’s unfamiliar with the format, here’s a quick rundown. Twenty two players are gathered in a Scottish castle and sent on “missions” where they work in teams to earn the prize money they’re hoping to win. A small number of them have been secretly assigned the role of Traitors, and if any of them make it to the end they’ll take all the money, leaving the non-Traitors (“Faithfuls”) with nothing. By that point most players will have been eliminated: the Traitors murder one Faithful each night, meeting in secret to choose their victim, and there’s also a daily Round Table meeting at which the whole group banish someone they think is a Traitor (or in the case of the actual Traitors, someone they want the others to think is a Traitor). This process starts with an unstructured group discussion, and ends with each person casting a vote: whoever gets the most votes must leave, revealing their true allegiance (Traitor or Faithful) on their way out. Verbal communication plays a central role in this game: to succeed, players need both the ability to read people (paying close attention to their actions, demeanour and–crucially–their speech) and the ability to speak persuasively in a group (since decisions require majority agreement). Individuals will vary in how they approach these tasks and how skilfully they perform them, which is partly a question of experience and temperament. But what happens in group talk isn’t just about individuals: it’s also affected by social factors...." #metaglossia_mundus: More at https://debuk.wordpress.com/
"Amanda Buckiewicz | CBC Radio | Posted: Friday, March 15th, 2024 7:58 PM | Last Updated: March 15th New book details all the ways the biological activities of animals make and remake our world From the tiniest insects to the largest whales, biologist Joe Roman says animals play an important role on our planet through the sheer act of eating, pooping, and even dying. Whether it's in downtown metropolises or remote volcanic islands, Roman says animals act as conveyor belts, moving nutrients across long distances. And through that movement, they sustain life as we know it. In a new book, he details all the ways that the biological activities of animals make and remake our world, and how the restoration of wildlife populations can help fix our current climate crisis. In your book, you say that if forests are the lungs of the planet, then animals are its circulatory system. What do you mean by that? I think most of us are familiar with what trees and plants do, right? They absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. But the one thing about trees and plants is they tend to stay in one place. Animals, on the other hand, can walk, swim, and fly vast distances, sometimes thousands of kilometres. And when they do, they eat in certain places, and they poop in others, and they can even die in others. Think of something like a seabird: [it] eats in the ocean, comes to an island or a beach in order to breed, and poops, right? One pasty poop at a time, they're releasing nutrients from the ocean onto land. And every animal does something like this. Now you also say in your book that this is an overlooked process. Why do you think that is? I think one of the reasons for that bias is we live in a world that's really bereft of wild animals. I was shocked to find when I was working on the book that right now 96 per cent of the biomass of all mammals on the planet is either humans or domestic animals like cows and sheep. Only four per cent of all mammals on the planet are wild. So it kind of makes sense that we don't think they're that important because we've taken them out of the systems, not only where we live but also out of the oceans. Do you think part of the issue of dealing with this nutrient conveyor belt, as you call it, is because we don't really like talking about poop? Yeah, there's probably some of that too. Unless of course you have a five-year-old. But you're right, we haven't really thought about the role of feces in lots of ecosystems. Because very few of us have probably ever seen a whale poop. I have, and it's beautiful. What's our understanding of how whales contribute to this so-called conveyor belt? There's two ways that whales can influence ocean ecosystems. One is what we call a whale pump and that's by diving, feeding and taking the nutrients from deeply beneath the ocean surface, coming to the surface and releasing these fecal plumes. But what whales do also, is most whales migrate thousands of kilometres every year. They feed off the coast of, say, Alaska or off the coast of Nova Scotia, and then they breed in places like the Caribbean or Hawaii. What the whales are doing is feeding in high nutrient areas, migrating down to these tropical islands and releasing all these nutrients. When a whale dies, that carcass is enormous. Hundreds of species can either feed on that, whether it's sharks or crabs. But also there are some, like worms, that don't have mouths or guts or anuses that just live on the bones of whales. So not only is it this movement of nutrients, but it's also dead whales form these unique habitats throughout the world. You have a wonderful chapter in the book where you talk about your adventure to the island of Surtsey off [the coast of] Iceland, which is a brand new island. [You talk about] the volcano that emerged out of the depths, and how life began there in this sterile land, starting with seabirds. Tell me about that. So it erupted in 1963. Initially some biologists and volcanologists landed on the island, but it was still too active for people to stay. So they would come on and then they would rush off. There's very little life. A few seeds were landing there, but only the maritime seeds that brought their own nutrients could survive on the coastline. But then everything started to change about five years after the eruption with the arrival of Herring gulls, black-backed gulls, fulmars, and other bird species. They of course got their food in the ocean, but they nested on land. When they got to the land, they would spread their feces at about three ounces per day, each bird. And if you look up Surtsey now you can see a bright green meadow on the middle of black lava, and that's where the breeding birds were found. How did life get established from seabird feces up to a meadow? They land in this area and not only are they defecating, but they're also releasing seeds. The estimate is about two thirds of all the plants on the island arrived on the feathers and wings and legs of seabirds. So not only are they the transport, but they're also the fertilizers. And this benefits the birds as well because now they have more places to nest, right? So you can see this ripple effect. Do you think we can restore this conveyor belt and keep these nutrients flowing around the planet through the animals? I'm sure we can do this because I've seen the changes. Two examples: Humpbacks off the coast of Australia are now back to the [population] numbers they probably were before people arrived. They were down to 600. They're up at about 25,000. And similarly for for sea lions. Elephant seals in the North Pacific were once down to 25 individuals. They're now well over 100,000. So we can do it animal by animal, but it really takes an ecosystem." #metaglossia_mundus: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/how-animals-act-as-the-circulatory-system-of-our-planet-by-eating-pooping-and-dying-1.7144905
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