Metaglossia: The Translation World

While giving a TED Talk may raise an academic’s visibility online, it has little impact on how researchers are viewed within their own disciplines, a new study suggests. Specifically, the study found that giving a presentation at TED, an annual conference on technology and society, appears to have no effect on the number of citations a scholar’s work receives after a video of the presentation goes online.

The study was led by Cassidy R. Sugimoto, an assistant professor of library and information science at Indiana University at Bloomington. An article describing its findings, “Scientists Popularizing Science: Characteristics and Impact of TED Talk Presenters,” was published on April 30 in the journal PLoS One.

In the study, Ms. Sugimoto and her co-authors sought to shed light on how science is popularized within a field as well as among the public. Their findings dispute one conclusion of a 2002 study that decried the news media as contributing to negative public perceptions of science and technology. But the media outlets for scientific communication have expanded rapidly since then, particularly in online formats like TED Talks, which surpassed the one-billion-views mark last November.

The authors of the new study found that TED Talks given by academic presenters were actually preferred by those watching the videos online, demonstrating “positive associations with science and technology information.” However, they found no corresponding increase “in the traditional metric of academic capital: citations.”

The Mission Viejo Library has organized some 50 local teens to run a book review blog and earn community service credit.

The word Geekery has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary, along with the words Tweet (the digital kind), e-reader, and dad dancing. Find out how these new entries break rules and redefine culture under the cut.

Noun and verb in the social networking sense added to dictionary, along with "live blog" and "flash mob".

All aspiring writers need to be magpie-like in their reading, and both classic and contemporary novels can provide a rich source of inspiration

Depuis l’implantation du premier institut Confucius d’Afrique au Cameroun, les centres culturels chinois ne désemplissent pas sur tout le continent. A tel point qu’à Yaoundé, l’établissement peine à répondre à la demande.

OTTAWA - Après le pot, les fleurs. Le commissaire aux langues officielles a publié mardi un rapport encensant les Forces canadiennes pour leurs progrès en matière de bilinguisme, lui qui trois ans plus tôt leur avait durement tapé sur les doigts.

En juin 2010, Graham Fraser avait dénoncé le problème «récurrent» de l'accès inégal pour les francophones et les anglophones à l'instruction dans leur langue au sein de l'armée.

Les failles étaient nombreuses: pénurie d'instructeurs aptes à enseigner en français, énormes délais de traduction du matériel pédagogique et piètre accès à la formation en langue seconde.

M. Fraser avait à l'époque établi une liste de 26 points à améliorer pour redresser une situation qui avait été déplorée par un de ses prédécesseurs une première fois en 1989.

Trois ans plus tard, le portrait s'est éclairci. Cinq de ses recommandations sont mises en oeuvre et 18 sont en voie de l'être. Pour le commissaire, les Forces armées ont fait preuve de «sérieux» dans cette tâche qu'il a qualifiée lui-même «d'énorme».

If you’re not confident in your writing skills, can you still be a great blogger?

Let’s be honest. Good writing matters. But there are a few simple ideas any one can learn to dramatically improve the quality of their blog posts. Let’s take a look at a few tricks of the trade that are explored in detail in a new book I’ve co-authored with Stanford Smith called Born to Blog:

“I feel like you’re talking to me.”

That’s common feedback I receive about my books and blog posts. If you can’t write, you can still talk, right? I suggest that you literally read your blog posts aloud before publishing. If something does not roll off the tongue in a natural and conversational way, change it.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/blogging/do-you-have-to-be-a-great-writer-to-be-a-great-blogger-0519920#EUt2ygkj7I9ToE2K.99

The most recent isInuvialuktun One By Yamózha Kúé Society "…Paarutit! The Government of Northwest Territories Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre are delighted to present an Inuvialuktun language app now available FREE on the iTunes App store. This app offers language learning, practice, games and quizzes in many everyday categories such as greetings, phrases, vowels, expressions and much more. Learn your language and surprise your elders. Quyanaq!.."
This free app is designed for both iPhone and iPad

It's a rule-breaker but the Oxford English Dictionary is adding a new word.

Google says Internet balloons will benefit small business: Google's plans to beam the Internet from giant balloons sent to the
stratosphere could boost small ...

The United Nations launched UN Language Days on February 19, 2010. The initiative seeks to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the Organization.

UN duty stations around the world would be celebrating six new observances dedicated to a UN official language: French (March 20), English (April 23), Russian (June 6), Spanish (October 12), Chinese (November 13) and Arabic (December 18).

The new initiative – which seeks to increase awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community – is part of this year’s observance of International Mother Language Day, observed annually on February 21.

Background

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed in 1999 at a UNESCO General Conference. It has been observed every year since 2000 to focus on endangered languages and the importance of preserving these languages.

Module 1 (Introductory session) is compulsory if you wish to go on to section 2.

Module 2 consists of three separate one-hour workshops which you can mix and match to suit your needs.

Module 3 will be arranged once we have been in communication with our attendees from section 1, to ensure that we tailor the sessions to suit you.

All sessions must be booked separately and each costs £21 (plus UK VAT where applicable). To register and pay, click on the links below.

Note: If you think you will be on holiday in mid-August, don't forget that you can log in from your hotel, or wi-fi spot while you are away. We chose these dates deliberately because it's usually a quiet time for conference and business interpreters.

 Qualified ATA members may log 1 CE point for each session. Otherwise each session is worth 1 hour of CPD.

Module 1: General Introduction

This session is compulsory if you wish to go on to Module 2. Click the purple link to register.

Module 2: Advanced Note-taking

Choose the session(s) you want. Click the purple link to register:

Module 3: Specialist Note-taking Mini-Seminars

1 hour each (these sessiona have not yet been scheduled and are not yet open for registration).

(CNN) -- The Oxford English Dictionary has finally gotten around to acknowledging that tweeting isn't just for the birds. In its latest update, the dictionary that describes itself as "the accepted...

Twitter tiene ya siete años y ha tenido que esperar ese tiempo para ver sus ‘Tweets’ formar parte del diccionario Oxford...

Des fonds de la stratégie fédérale d'appui aux communautés francophones minoritaires du pays serviraient en réalité à enseigner l'anglais aux nouveaux arrivants,...

JCDC Creative Writing Competition Deadline Extended To July 8, 2013

The Warlpiri people, an indigenous group that lives near the remote Tanami Desert of Australia's northern territory, have kept a lot of things the same for centuries, such as living within unique kinship structures and performing traditional tribal dances. But now, they've done something totally new: One Warlpiri community has invented an entirely original language.

The eponymous Warlpiri is an endangered language with only about 4,000 speakers. But now, a researcher has detailed how one community of Warlpiri have blended elements of English, Kriol (a local, English-based dialect), and Warlpiri to create Light Warlpiri, which contains elements of all three, plus some new words and structures.