Metaglossia: The Translation World

Le président du Syndicat intercommunal du soutien à la culture basque, Jean-René Etchegaray, était à Cambo-les-Bains samedi. Il a présenté les orientations budgétaires pour l'année à venir, après...

Given what we do for a living, it's not all that surprising that we read up quite a bit on the cultural points at which language and the internet intersect. While the widespread global use of the internet has done some ridiculously amazing things for the understanding of languages, it has also led to some serious issues. That's why we were intrigued when we stumbled upon this article on an EU policy/debate site entitled "The Internet: A lifeboat for endangered languages?". While they could use some help capitalizing their article titles, the EU is an organization that knows a thing or two (or 23) about multilingualism, so their thoughts on the issue are definitely to be taken seriously.

Linguist Daniel Prado, who's something of a go-to-guy on these types of things, believes that the internet is both a blessing and a curse for the world's languages:....

The fact that the Jabbali language in the south of Oman is in danger of extinction cannot be denied. The younger generation do not have the same mastery of the language as their parents, who have even less command of it compared to their own parents. The UNESCO website lists Jabbali (which has a different spelling variation, ‘Jibbali’) as a 'severely endangered' language; and only about 5000 speakers are left.

En enero de 2011, el Senado español celebraba la primera sesión en la que se permitía a sus señorías utilizar cualquiera de las lenguas declaradas co...

Bien que la langue de Shakespeare continue de dominer la toile, la montée en puissance d'économies comme la Chine et la Russie a entraîné un regain d'intérêt pour des langues souvent relayées au second plan, ont pu entendre les participants à une...

Although the English language continues to dominate the Internet, the rise of global economic powerhouses like China and Russia has seen a surge in what used to be considered second-tier languages, a Brussels conference heard last week. Meanwhile, the UN predicts that half of the world's 6,000 languages will become extinct by the end of the century.
With the rise of the Internet, the 21st century could witness a renewal in linguistic diversity, said Daniel Prado, a renowned linguist of Franco-Argentine origin.

"Some languages can resuscitate, or even be reborn," said Prado, who was previously a senior official at the Unión Latina, an intergovernmental organisation.

"There is a new competition between languages," fostered by a kind of online "prestige", said the renowned linguist, who was speaking at a debate organised by DLF Bruxelles-Europe, an association promoting the French language in EU circles.

Le siège de la radio-télévision publique basque EITB à Bilbao accueille ce mercredi MinoriTB, une journée de débats dédiée aux télévisions en...

Hundreds of minority Amazigh Berbers warned Sunday of a steadfast campaign against the new government as they demanded an apology from Libya's premier for excluding their community from his cabinet.
"The revolution has not ended. It continues," shouted protesters as they pounded their fists and palms on the front wall and pillars of the prime minister's office building in Tripoli.
They marched to Abdel Rahim al-Kib's office from Tripoli's landmark Martyrs Square where they had gathered early on Sunday

Krio, a member of the creole family of languages, is Sierra Leone’s national lingua franca. The language has been designated as one of the four national languages; the others are Hu-Limba, Mende and Kʌ-Themnε. Many people in the diaspora may not be aware, but these languages are now being taught in schools and colleges; their orthographies have been standardized. In fact, Krio has a dictionary written in 1980 by two prominent intellectuals of Sierra Leone; the late Professor C. N. Fyle and Professor Eldred Jones, both of whom are native speakers of Krio. The dictionary was published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Bai-Sheka, a Themnɛ linguist, has written a dictionary of Kʌ-Themnɛ.

Following is an article from the Samaja (Cuttack-Morning   Nov 21, 2011   Page 6  online edition). My thanks to the honorable writer for very good analysis and logical conclusion.Click here ...

Upon the invitation of Prof Dzvimbo, Prof George Dei from the University of Toronto arrived at Unisa to deliver a series of guest lectures and seminars at the College of Education from 9 to 14 November. The topics ranged from ‘Indigenous knowledge in the academy’, to ‘Rethinking democracy, good governance, and development in Africa’, to ‘Towards a messy utopia in the academy: the desires and challenges of inclusive education in the 21st Century’. Prof Dei also offered a supervisor support workshop titled: ‘Studying, researching and teaching African Indigenous knowledge’s: challenges, possibilities and methodological cautions’.

Although they might not know the name of these Native people, many Americans celebrate the Wampanoag each year at Thanksgiving. But very few are aware that the group's descendants still live on their ancestral homelands.

Des enfants qui présentent leur arbre généalogique en duala, qui chantent, dansent, habillés pour certains aux couleurs du Ngondo. Sous le regard bienveillant des parents et des enseignants. Couleurs et ambiances d'une rentrée scolaire solennelle au collège Alfred Saker ce samedi 19 novembre 2011. Mais rentrée pour une autre sorte d'école, pas de maths ou de physiques au programme. Plutôt la langue et la culture duala, dont le cours d'apprentissage a amorcé sa quatrième année d'existence. Un cours au cours duquel, « on apprend à lire, à parler, à écrire la langue duala. On apprend également les danses traditionnelles sawa, les chants, les proverbes et tout ce qui constitue nos us et coutumes », explique le responsable pédagogique, Mpessa Essombe.

Education professor Mary Hermes combines the talents of Ojibwe speakers with video technology to help others learn the language by videotaping short movies of everyday situations.

African Languages Initiative
The African Languages Initiative offers Boren Scholarship applicants the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of, and proficiency in, African languages and cultures. Through the initiative, supplemental funding will be available for Boren Scholars to study one of the following languages at the University of Florida’s summer 2012 program prior to commencing their overseas Boren Scholarship funded program.

Akan/Twi
Swahili
Wolof
Yoruba
Zulu

Expert­s discus­s the downsi­de of techno­logica­l advanc­ement over the past 25 years. 

Globalisation, the linking and shrinking of the world into a global village, has affected indigenous languages badly, as more than 2,400 of the world’s 7,000 languages face extinction. At least 23 of 66 languages in South Asia are endangered due to “linguistic imperialism” existing in this part of the world.

Creative Writers in Kenya make up almost 40% of blogging community in Kenya, this is according to blogs_ Kenya an aggregator site that collects new posts from Kenyan bloggers and tweets the links to its followers. The latest statistics on Kenya Unlimited indicated that about 1024 blogs have so far been registered. This means that there are about 409 blogs run by Poets and Writers.
Out of the 409 blogs, most use English as the primary blogging language. The number of Creative Writer blogs written in other languages is a handful. It is a well known fact that language is the carrier of culture and traditions from one generation to another. We are however seeing an increased use of English not just in the blogs but even with poets in their performances.
What is the role of creative writers online in promoting the use of African Languages online especially through their blogs and other social media services?