Metaglossia: The Translation World

L'anglais menace de plus en plus les langues officielles de Suisse...

These biodiversity hotspots and wilderness areas must be among our top priorities for terrestrial conservation if we hope to preserve Earth's natural ecosystem services and biodiversity for future generations of people.

Imaginez-vous perdu à Helsinki la capitale finlandaise Vous cherchez le métro Le passant à qui vous demandez votre chemin ne parle ni français ni anglais Alors vous...

Parce que la corsophonie n'a pas à rester en exil de la littérature du monde, l'associu pè una fundazione di Corsicaa décidé de repenser l'apprentissage de la langue corse. L'opération Tradilingue, présentée hier matin au lycée Giocante-de-Casabianca, exprime un manque mais aussi l'envie de proposer « un mariage entre la langue corse et les grandes œuvres du monde entier qui ont un jour touché, ému les lecteurs corsophones ».

ABU DHABI – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) won the “Cultural Personality of the Year” Award of the Sixth Session of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for the key role it plays in preserving the global cultural heritage liberated of prejudice or discrimination and embracing the inter-cultural communication among peoples since its inception.

The announcement of the Award came after the Board of Trustees of the "Sheikh Zayed Book Award" under the chairmanship of Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, met to review and discuss the report of the Award’s "Scientific Committee", with respect to the recommendations of the works and organizations nominated to win the prizes of the Award’s different categories at its sixth session, in preparation for the Annual Award Ceremony, which will be held on the 29th of the current month of March, at the "Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center".

And after thorough discussions and extensive review of the nominated works by the judging panels and the Scientific Committee, the following has been decided:

“Young Author” – Layla Al Obaidi from Tunisia for her book “Al Fakh in Islam” (Humor in Islam) published by Dar al Saqi).

A l’occasion de la Journée internationale de la langue maternelle, le 21 février, sur le thème du « multilinguisme pour une éducation inclusive », retour sur les actions de l’OIF en faveur de l’enseignement du français en contexte plurilingue, notamment le programme « Elan-Afrique » : Ecole et langues nationales en Afrique.

En lieu et place de Bonjour, Goog morning, où encore le bien nommé Shalom, j’aurai pu dire, Mè yéga bé, Mé labtè, Mbolo et que sais-je encore, tant le Cameroun regorge d’une inépuisable richesse linguistique, et dont on aurait en principe aucune raison d’en faire la fine bouche.

Un thème unique à l'occasion du Salon : Le français et les langues africaines.

As a language teacher, I have been following the furore about African languages being axed from schools with great interest. I have been reading and trying not to be cynical about every new article announcing that yet another school will no longer offer isiZulu or isiXhosa in the foundation phase. There have been interesting comments made on this topic which I find hackneyed, and it is an issue we really need to stop evading in this country. Why are we surprised that African languages are being marginalised in South Africa, especially in our classrooms?

Seeing as there are distinct systems of education in this country — one for the rich and one for the poor — there are different arguments for teaching African languages (other than Afrikaans, for example, isiXhosa or isiZulu) depending on the system of education learners are in.

Julie Sedivy is the lead author of Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You And What This Says About You. She contributes regularly to Psychology Today and Language Log. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary, and can be found at juliesedivy.com and on Twitter/soldonlanguage.
Due to a migratory childhood (born in Czechoslovakia, and eventually landing in Montreal via Austria and Italy), English was the fifth language I had to grapple with in my tender years. On my first day of kindergarten, I spoke only a few words of English. I could see that my teacher had some concerns as to how well I would integrate linguistically; my stumbling English was met with pursed lips.

THE government’s constitutional obligation to ensure the equal status of official languages should see at least three languages used by government services, including public enterprises such as Eskom, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile said on Friday.

Mr Mashatile said the use of African languages by the government was not just necessary because of constitutional obligations, but would also ensure high levels of public service to speakers of African languages.

The draft South African Languages Bill is before Parliament and aims to provide for regulation and monitoring of official language usage by the government.

National and provincial government are required to use at least two official languages.

English and Afrikaans, however, are predominant, and critics say indigenous African languages are being sidelined.

SA does not have legislation regulating language use by the government, with the Cabinet having rejected a Language Bill in 2007. The Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb), the chapter 9 institution set up to promote indigenous languages, has been criticised as dysfunctional.

However, critics say in its current form the bill is unlikely to result in government departments using more than two languages.

India is fast turning into a nation of linguistic half-castes with English-speaking youths unsure of their own mother tongue, warned diplomat, writer and translator Pavan K Varma on Sunday.

The language policy is holding children back.

This view emerged on Tuesday when MPs and members of the public met in Cape Town to discuss the SA Languages Bill, now before the National Assembly’s arts and culture committee.

The draft was criticised by representatives of linguistic, cultural and academic organisations who said it fell far short of the government’s constitutional obligation to “take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of (indigenous languages)” and to ensure the 11 official languages enjoyed “parity of esteem” and were “treated equitably”.

“Of the 6500 languages spoken in the world today, only half will make it to the next century,” says poet Bob Holman, one of the founders of the Endangered Language Alliance and host of a new travel series spotlighting the cultures of endangered languages, premiering February 1, 2012, on LINK TV. “While endangered plants and animals are protected by law, who is looking out for the cultures and ways of life held in these words? That is the heart and mission of this series.” Encounter the distinct cultures and peoples of West Africa, Asia and the Middle East in the three-part documentary On the Road with Bob Holman and discover ancient languages on the brink of extinction. Each of the half-hour shows, produced by Rattapallax in association with Bowery Arts and Science, will air on Link TV, which is available on local cable channels, DVD, online, and on DirectTV channel 375 and Dish Network channel 9410.

“The way Anthony B

Avec OLIVIER AMIEL, docteur en droit, délégué du Mouvement républicain et citoyen (MRC) chargé de la culture. DOMINIQUE BUCCHINI, président de l’Assemblée de Corse (PCF et Front de gauche). RENé MERLE, historien, auteur.

Rappel des faits Le corse, l’occitan, le basque, le breton, le catalan, l’alsacien et autres langues régionales ou minoritaires parlées sur le territoire national sont aujourd’hui reconnues comme appartenant au patrimoine culturel de la France.

Faut-il encore que les conditions soient réunies et les moyens accordés pour assurer leur apprentissage et leur promotion. La pluralité culturelle et le plurilinguisme sont des enjeux qui prennent pleinement place dans le débat de la présidentielle. Rejetant tout repli identitaire, la valorisation des autres langues de France s’inscrit dans une ouverture aux autres et au monde. Elles ne menacent pas, comme certains s’en inquiètent, l’unité de la République ou le devenir de la langue française. « Les cultures et les langues sont égales entre elles, comme les citoyens d’une même République », écrivait Félix Castan. Écrivain occitan et théoricien de la décentralisation culturelle, il n’a eu de cesse de militer pour une « nation une politiquement et culturellement plurielle».

L'office public de la langue bretonne, la mairie de Ploumagoar et l'inspection académique travaillent à l'ouverture d'une classe maternelle bilingue français-breton en maternelle, à l'école Christian-Le Verge.

« Le bilinguisme précoce est une chance pour les élèves. Il favorise l'apprentissage d'autres langues et contribue fortement au développement intellectuel de l'enfant », défend Guillaume Morin, de l'office public de la langue bretonne. La connaissance du breton favorise le lien social et compte aussi dans le monde professionnel (plus de 1 200 emplois nécessitent la maîtrise du breton). Cette classe sera ouverte à tous les élèves de la commune et des communes voisines où ce type d'enseignement n'est pas proposé à l'école publique. Les filières bilingues concernent 14 000 élèves en Bretagne, dont plus de 700 dans le pays de Guingamp. La plupart viennent de familles qui ne pratiquent pas la langue bretonne.

The word “minority” is perhaps a well used in Indonesia’s public sphere. Despite the fact that, in terms of legal status, we do not recognize ...

English really isn't a Native American language, but virtually all of today's Indians speak this as their first and primary language. During the past several centuries the English-speaking Europeans and their descendents who have come to occupy what is now the United States and Canada have consistently shown intolerance for other languages. Consequently, native languages have been suppressed. Native Americans have been required to learn English, and have not been allowed to use their native languages.

Programme XXI° Rencontres Inter-régionales des langues et cultures régionales et minoritaires de France 11 au 13 janvier 2012 en Martinique Média et LCR Organisées par Conseil de la Culture, de l’Education et de l’Environnement de la Région Martinique...

I came across mention of this book when I was doing a post, several weeks ago, about using the computer to translate from one language to another. Since I'm interested in anything to do with langua...

The South African constitution, one of the most enlightened and liberal founding laws in the world, for instance, states everyone has the right “to use the language and participate in the cultural life of his or her

choice — though no one may do so in a manner inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights”.
The constitution provides for eleven official languages: English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda and Xitsonga.
Not only are the eleven official languages named and their uses and right to promotion specified, but specific attention is also paid to the Khoi, Nama and San languages and to sign language as well.
In addition, there is mention of “all national languages commonly used by communities in South Africa” and those used for religious purposes.

I enjoy and respect the diversity of world's languages. As a computer nerd I'm less excited about a diversity of writing systems. There's a lot of national and cultural pride in having your own writing system, Cherokee being a successful example. The Mormon Deseret is a fascinating example of a failure, doubly so since it was an alternate writing for English.

Still, I have to wonder whether a Roman script transliteration (or Arabic) wouldn't work just as well as a writing system for Manding languages; the Wikipedia article says both are in common usage. The obvious benefit is that literate Manding speakers could then use mainstream software without special effort or adaptation. The question seems particularly germane for a relatively new script like N'Ko. The question is balancing the value of a unique script for cultural identity vs. the limitation of delaying texting culture by years.

Expected March 2012. vi, 357 pp. + index
Publishing status: In production
Hardbound – Forthcoming 
ISBN 978 90 272 0405 9 | EUR 95.00 | USD 143.00

“ Endangered Metaphors offers a fascinating collection of articles looking at metaphoric language in languages that are slowly vanishing from the world's landscape. These chapters focus on many issues related to metaphor theory, including questions on the universality and cultural specificity of conceptual metaphors, and topics associated with globalization in human languages and culture. The range of linguistic data explored is incredibly impressive [...]. Endangered Metaphors is a wonderful addition to the new book series on Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts.
”
Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., University of California, Santa Cruz