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"Three months before the start of the school year, on June 19, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Debon has ordered Introduction of English in primary cycle from next year. Was the decision well thought out or arbitrary? The debate has divided Algerians and continues to evoke reactions of incomprehension and, above all, concern among some proponents of Molière in a country with a long French-speaking tradition. The announcement renews a highly sensitive and passionate debate on languages in Algeria, a society that has been experiencing a kind of identity withdrawal since the end of the February 22, 2022 protest movement. This is reflected in the intensity of ideological and ethnic divisions, especially in social networks. Two questions emerge as leitmotifs from this surprise announcement. First: Are there pedagogical mechanisms to ensure English is taught in such a short period of time in Algeria? Second: Will it affect French in the school curriculum?" #metaglossia mundus
"Shi Ji,praised by Lu Xun as "the peak of historical works and the rhymeless poetry named Li Sao", is the first comprehensive historical masterpiece in the Chinese history. For many years, studying Shi Ji has attracted many scholars around the world. What are the similarities and differences between perspectives of Eastern and Western scholars on Shi Ji? What is the significance of studies on Shi Ji to the cultural exchange and mutual learning between the East and West? William H. Nienhauser, Jr., Halls-Bascom Professor Emeritus of Chinese Literature at the University of Wisconsin, recently gave an interview to the "W.E. Talk" of China News Service, telling how he has been translating Chinese classics with Western thinking." #metaglossia mundus
"Many moons ago, I received Intimations of Ghalib, a slim volume of translations of the timeless verse by the great 19th-century poet Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib. It has taken me quite a long time to read and savour the delightful rendition of Ghalib in English. Translating Ghalib in English, in my opinion, is the most difficult task for any literary scholar. Not that Ghalib is untranslatable, but it is the complexity and the deliberate playfulness of the poet’s diction that makes any such endeavor fraught with difficulties. M. Shahid Alam’s Intimations of Ghalib, therefore, is a departure from the literalism that plagues many a translation of Urdu or Persian poetry. Translating Urdu ghazal, defined by its non-negotiable metre, rhyme, alliterative infrastructure, is, according to literary critic Nasir Abbas Nayyar, challenging primarily for two reasons: “one, the language employed in (Urdu) poetry is so culturally distinct that its exact linguistic parallel cannot be found in any other language; two, ideas and thoughts of poetry are heavily soaked in emotions and feelings, expressed through a unique yet elusive cognitive process involving distinctive, metaphoric language.” Neither can be replicated exactly “by even the most skilled translator,” states Nayyar. And yet, despite this vast array of reasons, Urdu poetry, particularly that of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib has always been translated the world over. Frances Pritchett is perhaps the most well-known in this arena, having translated the complete ‘Dīwān’ of Ghalib into English, while struggling to maintain the essence that is Ghalib. Pritchett invested almost a lifetime in this pursuit. In part it is also related to the complexity of Ghalib’s thought. “Translating Ghalib,” she stated, “is a no-win situation… in all of world literature, there can be few genres less translator-friendly than the classical Urdu ghazal, and in all classical ghazal, there can hardly be a poet more resistant and opaque to translation than Ghalib.” British scholar-translator of Urdu literature Ralph Russel also noted that a translator of Ghalib should regard his (Ghalib’s) concern for “appropriate diction, rhyme, rhythm, assonance, alliteration and all kinds of verbal conceits is as evident as it is in his verse.” According to Russel, apart from the problem of completely mapping meaning onto another language, other factors are also impediments. The first of these is rhyme. The ghazal constitutes a number of couplets, usually following a uniform metre, and a rhyme scheme which follows: AA, BA, CA, DA, and so on. To map this rhyme scheme onto English and achieve the same effect as that in Urdu is a task almost impossible to achieve, he adds. “You are faced with the stubborn and unalterable fact that Urdu has rhyming words in plenty, and English has not.” In that case, as in most ghazal cases, one is compelled to “translate a poem knit together by a unity of rhyme into one where this kind of unity cannot be maintained.” The second is the issue of metre, for it varies greatly for Urdu and English. “In English, the essential determinant of metrical pattern is the inherent stress pattern in each English word; In Urdu, metre is essentially based upon quantity considerably modified, however, by the incidence of a sort of stress comparable to the beat in music.” In many cases, Russel adds, the rhythm of Ghalib’s verses is not adaptable to any other English pattern. And so, the best possible option is to achieve the same number of syllables with some discernible rhythm. Often, translators attempt to match Urdu phrases of Ghalib with what they know as proper English idioms, but sometimes they are unable to do so. Given such hurdles, Alam’s work is commendable. As he notes in his introduction, “I have tried to retain the imagery, metaphors, cadences, conventions, the Ghazals, dramatis personae, the two-line format of the she’r and the compact appearance of the Ghazal on the page.” While such intimacy with the text is apparent from the translations in this volume, the real feat of Alam is to acknowledge the multiplicity of meaning in Ghalib’s verse. At the same time, he confesses that there may be limits to his understanding and grasp of the verse. This is why the translator, in some cases, offers two versions of the same original. For instance, taking one enigmatic verse of Ghalib, Alam offers five versions – and each of these versions uncovers the layer of meaning. نقش فریادی ہے کس کی شوخیٔ تحریر کا کاغذی ہے پیرہن ہر پیکر تصویر کا Shaped for eternity; Yet tied to times cross What did he think whose hands crafted us Another celebrated verse is interpreted twice. نہ گل نغمہ ہوں نہ پردۂ ساز میں ہوں اپنی شکست کی آواز No roseate song, no silk spun melody. I am the last echo of my old defeat. The second version is as follows: Not Canticle nor music weaving Listen to my heart grieving ..." #metaglossia mundus
"Minakshi Thakur has worked as a publisher and editor for sixteen years in book publishing. Also an author in her own right, she set up Eka – an imprint that publishes original texts and translations in nine Indian languages and English – for Westland Books after its acquisition by Amazon. Following Amazon’s exit, the multi-platform, multi-language, publishing platform, Pratilipi, is rebuilding Westland Books and its imprints, including Eka, with the same editorial team. Thakur spoke to Scroll.in about the future of publishing, especially in India’s non-English languages alongside English, translations, and digital platforms." #metaglossia mundus
"Talking about the decision to make a film in the ancient language, Chinmay Sudhir Shende, director of Balbhushanani, says Sanskrit was once the most widely spoken language in India but now it is being overlooked. Amid debates and controversies over Hindi as a national language often making headlines, an ancient Indian language has been finding its way back to people’s tongues..." #metaglossia mundus
"MIT, Cornell, and McGill University researchers have developed an AI system that can learn the rules and patterns of human languages on its own." #metaglossia mundus
"The Ghalib we encounter in 'Temple Lamp' – Maaz Bin Bilal’s translation of 'Chirag-e-Dair' – is not the Ghalib we know from his ghazals." #metaglossia mundus
"...Try to be a bit interested in everything. You don’t need to like everything, but you need to know a bit of everything. Watch a lot of TV. Go to the cinema, theatre, exhibitions and cultural events. Read books and newspapers to know what’s happening, locally, and around the world. In other words, know what people are talking about and what people will be talking about. We are in a profession that’s connected to human behaviour. The more we know about people, the more we can create work they can engage with and capture their attention. Second, be an ad nerd. Follow the current work of people, brands and agencies that makes a difference. Stay up to date daily with the main ad, design, and creativity blogs, but also study the work and the thinking that has already been created by the giants of this industry around the world. These are the people who have paved the way for all of us and laid the foundation for what creative excellence is. Third, surround yourself and work with people you admire both on a human level and a professional level. People you can ask for advice and learn from their experience and their work. This leads me to the last piece of advice: Be modest and kind, but at the same time be ambitious and proactive. Don’t ever be afraid to work hard." #metaglossia mundus
"For many, Arabic is a window into the culture and views of Palestinians. Others still learn it as the "enemy's language."" #metaglossia mundus
Excerpts" "..The sending of personal letters has become increasingly rare in our digital age where shooting off an instant message or text (or email if we’re feeling generous with our time) is so easy and convenient, but the value of an actual letter remains. Think of the last time you opened your mailbox to find a note from a friend hidden among the bills and junk mail. If you’re anything like the authors, just the sight of the envelope brought a smile to your face—not to mention the contents of the letter itself. Maybe it’s been a while since you received a personal letter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take an opportunity like World Letter Writing Day to provide that encouragement to someone else. If you don’t know where to start, give Philemon and 3 John another read (both are quite short) and consider using them as a pattern or launch point. A few handwritten lines of greeting, an encouragement to good works—perhaps inquiring about the recipient’s passion or calling—and a promise to keep them in prayer might seem small, but these things have the potential to make a lasting impact on another’s life. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” and Hebrews 10:24: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”)" "The Accessible Word of God The Bible is usually cited as the most-read book of all time and was also one of the first books printed by Johannes Gutenberg on his movable-type printing press in Mainz, Germany. Likely started in 1454, the first copy of the Gutenberg Bible was available for sale in March 1455. Gutenberg’s Bible was a copy of the Latin Vulgate. In the 1500s, William Tyndale was firmly convicted, despite tremendous opposition, that the common man should have access to Scripture in his own language and translated the New Testament and part of the Old Testament into English. Though he was martyred before completing his work, two of his friends are credited with finishing the Old Testament translation. The first book ever printed in the American colonies was the book of Psalms, printed in 1640 with the fanciful title The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre.2 But the first Bible printed in America (1663) was not an English translation but John Eliot’s translation of the Bible into Algonquin. In fact, the printing of an English translation of the Bible, or even just the New Testament, did not occur in America until 1771, when Robert Aitken printed his first edition of the New Testament. It was not until 1782 that the first entire Bible in English was printed on American soil. England had previously forbidden the printing of English-language Bibles in the Americas in order to give a monopoly to the British printers licensed by the Crown. Ironically (for those who insist the founding fathers wanted a separation of church and state), this first American Bible (termed the Aitken Bible) was officially endorsed by Congress (text below) on September 12, 1782. Whereupon, RESOLVED, THAT the United States in Congress assembled highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion, as well as an influence of the progress of arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work, they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize him to publish this Recommendation in the manner he shall think Proper.2 With modern printing methods, copies of the Bible are more plentiful than ever before and, at least in the US, can be found in nearly every bookstore today. However, many Christians often neglect it, instead getting caught up in busyness and entertainment to the exclusion of this precious and powerful Book. Though there is nothing inherently wrong with busyness or entertainment, the problem is when they are allowed to take the place of more important things—and certainly, reading the Word of God falls into the “more important” category. How might our hearts (not to mention the church and the world around us) be impacted if, on this National Read a Book Day, we intentionally dug into the Book of books and determined to make time in God’s Word an integral, daily part of our lives? World Literacy Day The idea for a World Literacy Day was conceived during the World Conference of Ministers of Education for the Eradication of Illiteracy in Tehran, Iran, in 1965. On October 26, 1966, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated September 8 as World Literacy Day to address global illiteracy. The first World Literacy Day was held in 1967, and it has been an annual event since. Biblical Examples It should be no surprise that the Bible has much to say about literacy. It should be no surprise that the Bible has much to say about literacy. The first mention of reading comes from Exodus 24:7 when Moses wrote down and then read to the people the words of the covenant between God and Israel that God had told him at Sinai. In Deuteronomy 17:18–19, God tells Moses to write that any future king of Israel must write a copy of the Law of Moses and read it throughout his life. In Joshua 8:34–35, we read that Joshua wrote a copy of the Law of Moses and then read it to the people on Mt. Ebal. In 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37, Sennacherib, ruler of Assyria, sent messengers with a threatening letter to King Hezekiah of Judah. In 2 Kings 19:14 and Isaiah 37:14, we read that “Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.” Reading that letter caused Hezekiah to plead with the Lord to exonerate his name upon the Assyrians and to request that God save them from the hand of Sennacherib. Later that night, the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. King Josiah (2 Kings 23:1–23) and Ezra (Nehemiah 8:2–8) are recorded as having read from the Law of Moses and then reading it to all the people. And, of course, one of the more withering replies of Jesus to the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees of Israel, who were supposedly experts on Scripture, was, "Have you not read?” Paul summarized this thought when he said in Acts 13:27, “For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.” And Paul, when writing an epistle, expected that most people would either read it or listen to it when it was read to them. Three times he emphasized the importance of literacy regarding his letters to churches: “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4). “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea” (Colossians 4:16). “I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers” (1 Thessalonians 5:27). Examples from Church History and Missionary Organizations This encouragement of literacy has continued to be an important part of the church’s work. For example, the original Sunday school—founded by Anglican Robert Raikes in the late 1700s—more closely resembled an actual school than our modern version does. This “school,” held on Sundays, was formed to teach reading as well as spiritual instruction to children in Gloucester, England. Eventually, the concept spread not only to the rest of the country but internationally as well. Christian missionaries have also historically promoted literacy within the people groups they served. There are too many to list in this article, but one of note is William Carey, a missionary to India, who started both Sunday schools (using the Bible to teach reading) and schools for primary and higher education in India. In addition, Carey translated Scripture into multiple Indian languages and was involved in printing Bibles, religious literature, textbooks, dictionaries, and other literary works, among other endeavors. Although there are many more examples of missionaries who taught reading and writing (either in the missionary’s native language or the student’s) for the primary purpose of making it possible for their students to read Scripture for themselves, there are also many like William Carey who took things a step further: translating the Bible into various native languages (as organizations such as the Wycliffe Bible Translators and Tyndale Bible Translators continue to do today) and in some cases, even developing a written language for people who previously had none. The work of these men and others not only expanded access to the Bible but also served to help preserve languages and provide a means for many people groups to become literate in their native tongues. The development of the Gothic alphabet in the fourth century is credited to Ulfilas, a bishop and missionary who oversaw the translation of the Bible into the language of the Goths. The previously mentioned John Eliot did much the same in the 1600s—developing a written form of the Algonquin language using the English (or Latin) alphabet and translating the Scriptures into it. The work of these men and others not only expanded access to the Bible but also served to help preserve languages and provide a means for many people groups to become literate in their native tongues..." #metaglossia mundus
"Researchers from MIT and elsewhere developed a machine-learning model that can automatically learn the rules and patterns of human languages on its own, and also learn some inductive biases that are applicable across many languages. This work could pave the way for AI systems that could automatically learn a model from a collection of interrelated datasets." #metaglossia mundus
"A new book considers 177 classical Indian terms for emotions—from simmering wrath to six kinds of compassion—to explore how Buddhist texts expand our capacity to feel." #metaglossia mundus
"“I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations.” — Samuel Johnson
Mother tongue/ language is without any doubt the identity of any nation. It tells us where a particular person belongs to. It reflects the cultural ethos and social milieu of an individual. Every country holds its mother tongue dear, for it carries with it the overall identity of its speakers.
Every year, the International Mother Tongue/ Language Day is celebrated on 21 February to promote its linguistic and cultural importance. We do celebrate it with much fervour and enthusiasm but once the celebrations in the form of seminars etc are over, we throw to the winds everything about it and start talking in lingos that are alien and outlandish. Learning and speaking the languages of other nations is good but it should not be done at the cost of one’s own mother tongue.
The English language being an international/ global language has sounded a death knell to many languages of the world. People shun their own languages and do their utmost to learn English language. People fail to understand that English, like their own language, is only a language and nothing more than that. When we stop speaking our mother tongue and adopt other languages, we are actually doffing our identity badge and donning an alien badge of identity that does not suit us well.
When people fail to understand the importance of their own language, they avoid using it, and also refrain from teaching it to their posterity. This process is what the British linguist David Crystal calls “Language Death”. A language dies when its speakers stop speaking it, says Crystal.
These days the Kashmiri language has a dwindling number of speakers. The reason is that we don’t bother to teach it to our new generations. Modern parents with westernised education, globalised ideology and all that, consider it much beneath their social status to teach their children their mother tongue that is Kashmiri. They do not allow their kids to learn and speak Kashmiri. They consider it an inferior language lacking in richness of thought, influence and grace. They either teach them Urdu or English. But mostly English is prioritised over every other language. The irony is that well-educated Kashmiri parents instead of being the custodians of their language are proving destroyers of the same with their colonised mentality.
Teaching one’s children English, Urdu, etc, is good. The knowledge of other languages can widen their mental horizon and they will come to learn about the literature and culture of other nations as well. We have every right to make our children polyglots. But we should not shun our own Kashmir language at the same time. We should teach our kids our Kashmiri language and let them speak it at home. We have a number of places where we can use English, flaunt it and rule the roost. But we should speak Kashmiri language in our local festivals, cultural events, etc, in order to promote it.
The other glaringly manifest reason for the dwindling speakers of Kashmiri language is that it is not taught as a subject/ discipline at the elementary level in our schools with seriousness. Had it been taught in schools like English, Urdu and Hindi, the taste and aptitude for it would have been enormous among children who are its ambassadors in the true sense of the term. But alas!
Another tangible reason for its dwindling speakers is that the literature written in Kashmiri language has a minuscule number of readers. This readership is only that of old people. The people who try to keep it alive do so because they know our Kashmiri language is our sole and solid identity. They know we are Kashmiri because of our Kashmiri language. Modernised guys and gals, on the other hand, assume airs when they speak the hotchpotch of English and Urdu and feel embarrassed to speak Kashmiri.
If we won’t try to save our Kashmiri language from extinction, its repercussions would be damning and damaging for us Kashmiris culturally. Forthcoming will be the day when we will be the victims of identity crisis. We will have a generation of people who would be speaking everything but Kashmiri and we will feel ourselves alien and displaced in our own Kashmir! The death of our Kashmiri language would erode our cultural identity and all the aspects associated with it. So, let’s take a pledge to save it from falling in the list of extinct/ endangered languages." #metaglossia mundus
"Ancient DNA sheds new light on the origins of a lingua franca." #metaglossia mundus
"...“I feel like Arabs and the Indigenous people in Taiwan are similar,” Huang explains. “They’re both misunderstood.” It made her curious to learn more about the context behind what created this stigma about Arabs in Taiwan. One of her professors told her that Islam is not just a religion, it’s a culture. But it wasn’t until she travelled to Egypt to study Arabic that she truly experienced this reality. “It’s part of their daily life,” Huang says. “For example, every day when you go to Muslim countries, you can always hear Adhan—the calling for prayer—and you can also see Muslims praying at all sorts of places.” She also gained a great deal of understanding about Islamic dietary rules, including what is permissible under Halal. In addition, she gained insights into Zakat, which is a form of obligatory charity that literally means “to cleanse”. “I feel that this religion is very friendly,” Huang says. “Also, they are very flexible.” As an example, she points out that not everyone is required to fast during the holy month of Ramadan if it’s extremely difficult due to personal circumstances. Huang herself tried to go without food from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan after returning to Taiwan from Egypt. Her fast lasted for about 20 days. “What surprised me is I didn’t feel hungry that much,” she reveals. “I felt tired more than hunger.” In Egypt, she also became fascinated about the relationship that women had with the hijab. She interviewed several women about this, including some who chose not to wear it. “I asked each of them: ‘Do you think wearing a hijab is an obligation?’ Almost all of them answered that it depends on if you’re convinced that this is an obligation,” she says. Huang was also intrigued to learn that every woman seemed to have her own hijab story. Some told her that they didn’t want to wear it when they were young because they thought it was too traditional and conservative, but then changed their minds as they matured. Another woman who had a deep relationship with Allah told Huang that she did not want to wear a hijab because she wasn’t interested in publicly demonstrating her faith, preferring to keep it private. “This decision is like their inner journey,” Huang says. All of this was very different from the folk religions practised in Taiwan, she notes. Often, she says Taiwanese people visit temples because they need something or they want to improve their luck. “In Taiwan, religion doesn’t connect so closely with life like Islam,” she says. She shares her articles and talks about Islamic culture for the people of Taiwan on a website called “Islam Has No Veil”. She's also coauthor of Songs Blowing Over the Island. “I think the best way to fight stereotypes is not just to deny it, but to know the story behind it,” Huang emphasizes." #metaglossia mundus
"Beyond Language Abandoning the view that all knowledge is linguistic permits us to realize how much of our knowledge is nonlinguistic. While books contain a lot of information we can decompress and use, so do many other objects: IKEA instructions don’t even bother writing out instructions alongside its drawings; AI researchers often look at the diagrams in a paper first, grasp the network architecture and only then glance through the text; visitors can navigate NYC by following the red or green lines on a map. This goes beyond simple icons, graphs and maps. Humans learn a lot directly from exploring the world, which shows us how objects and people can and cannot behave. The structures of artifacts and the human environment convey a lot of information intuitively: doorknobs are at hand height, hammers have soft grips and so on. Nonlinguistic mental simulation, in animals and humans, is common and useful for planning out scenarios and can be used to craft, or reverse-engineer, artifacts. Similarly, social customs and rituals can convey all kinds of skills to the next generation through imitation, extending from preparing foods and medicines to maintaining the peace at times of tension. Much of our cultural knowledge is iconic or in the form of precise movements passed on from skilled practitioner to apprentice. These nuanced patterns of information are hard to express and convey in language but are still accessible to others. This is also the precise kind of context-sensitive information that neural networks excel at picking up and perfecting. “A system trained on language alone will never approximate human intelligence, even if trained from now until the heat death of the universe.” Language is important because it can convey a lot of information in a small format and, especially after the creation of the printing press and the internet, can involve reproducing and making it available widely. But compressing information in language isn’t cost-free: it takes a lot of effort to decode a dense passage. Humanities classes may require a lot of reading out of class, but a good chunk of class time is still spent going over difficult passages. Building a deep understanding is time-consuming and exhaustive, however the information is provided. This explains why a machine trained on language can know so much and yet so little. It is acquiring a small part of human knowledge through a tiny bottleneck. But that small part of human knowledge can be about anything, whether it be love or astrophysics. It is thus a bit akin to a mirror: it gives the illusion of depth and can reflect almost anything, but it is only a centimeter thick. If we try to explore its depths, we bump our heads. Exorcising The Ghost This doesn’t make these machines stupid, but it also suggests there are intrinsic limits concerning how smart they can be. A system trained on language alone will never approximate human intelligence, even if trained from now until the heat death of the universe. This is just the wrong kind of knowledge for developing awareness or being a person. But they will undoubtedly seem to approximate it if we stick to the surface. And, in many cases, the surface is enough; few of us really apply the Turing test to other people, aggressively querying the depth of their understanding and forcing them to do multidigit multiplication problems. Most talk is small talk. But we should not confuse the shallow understanding LLMs possess for the deep understanding humans acquire from watching the spectacle of the world, exploring it, experimenting in it and interacting with culture and other people. Language may be a helpful component which extends our understanding of the world, but language doesn’t exhaust intelligence, as is evident from many species, such as corvids, octopi and primates. Rather, the deep nonlinguistic understanding is the ground that makes language useful; it’s because we possess a deep understanding of the world that we can quickly understand what other people are talking about. This broader, context-sensitive kind of learning and know-how is the more basic and ancient kind of knowledge, one which underlies the emergence of sentience in embodied critters and makes it possible to survive and flourish. It is also the more essential task that AI researchers are focusing on when searching for common sense in AI, rather than this linguistic stuff. LLMs have no stable body or abiding world to be sentient of—so their knowledge begins and ends with more words and their common-sense is always skin-deep. The goal is for AI systems to focus on the world being talked about, not the words themselves — but LLMs don’t grasp the distinction. There is no way to approximate this deep understanding solely through language; it’s just the wrong kind of thing. Dealing with LLMs at any length makes apparent just how little can be known from language alone." #metaglossia mundus
"PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As autocratic politicians, gloomy doomsayers, angry nationalists, and pessimistic academics gain a greater voice in regions cross the world, the influence of globalists has declined. Such negativity has caused international thought leaders to question the validity of shared value systems. These same leaders have begun to believe that we are all doomed to an endless cycle of misunderstanding and conflict. In Jeffrey A. Sheehan's new book, "There Are No Foreign Lands," this negativism is shown to be unwarranted. A leading communications expert and globalist, Sheehan offers the world a more hopeful scenario, based on his observations gleaned from his travels to 85 countries on every continent. Along with his visits, became acquainted with 13,464 people, collecting a business card from each individual. Sheehan concludes that the key to positive and mutually rewarding intercultural communication is to look past the superficial differences represented by religion, language, culture, and history, and to focus on the values and dispositions that are shared by everyone. Sheehan's book is divided into two parts. The first part consists of concise biographies of 17 people from 17 different countries from all the inhabited continents, pursuing 17 different professions, speaking 11 different mother tongues, and following 10 different spiritual traditions. The second part consists of his explanation of 13 different values and dispositions shared by the book's 17 heroines and heroes. The values and dispositions are not unusual or difficult to understand, and include character, standards, forgiveness, ambition, adventure, resilience, spirituality (not the institutions of religion), and others. What makes them special is the remarkable prominence of each of them in all of the 17 people Sheehan profiles. This book will take the reader on a whirlwind tour of the globe, geographically and historically, stopping to visit a remarkable set of individuals whom the author calls the "harbingers of a global spring." Globalists of the world, take heart. It is not too late and you are not alone. Regardless of your political or national inclinations, you will think differently about the world after you read this book. You will come away with hope for the future and optimism about the prospects for a peaceful and prosperous world. "As a former central bank governor, corporate CEO, and Philippine ambassador to the United States, I have always thought that I was a knowledgeable and committed globalist," wrote Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. "Jeff's book has made me rethink my concept of 'foreign lands.' He has persuaded me that there are no foreign lands." There Are No Foreign Lands was published first in Chinese by the Shanghai University Press in 2019. The book was ranked #1 for two months on the bestseller list of the Chinese equivalent of Amazon. "I published it first in Chinese out of a commitment to make my book a contribution to intercultural communication, not American and English language hegemony," Sheehan said. "Cultural humility is one of the keys to our future as a species, and I want to do my part to endorse this priority."" #metaglossia mundus
"Translating a selection of well-loved Robert Munsch books into nêhiyawêwin (Cree) and denesųłıné (Dene) caps off a two-year project undertaken by University nuxełhot’įne thaaɁehots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills (UnBQ) to help revitalize Indigenous languages. Four books were translated into both languages, including audio recordings: Love You Forever; Ready, Set, Go; Blackflies; and Deep Snow. Also translated into nêhiyawêwin was Smelly Socks. Lynda Minoose is one of the translators. She’s been working as the language and culture director for Cold Lake First Nations since 2010 and has done a lot of translation work for UnBQ. She says translating is a lot of work, but also a good learning experience for her." #metaglossia mundus
"Remote business communications were not easily accessible before the global pandemic, and Covid-19 has exacerbated digital competency, collaboration technology, and cultural awareness concerns Image: Shutterstock
Managers are increasingly leading teams of people – employees, clients, stakeholders – from different parts of the world. In recent years, the number of people working in culturally diverse environments has grown, globalizing companies and introducing staff to other cultures worldwide.
Leadership in a multicultural world is difficult enough, requiring unique managerial skills. Throw a global pandemic into the mix, and those skills take on even greater importance. The inability to travel or meet in person has introduced a new work culture – online culture." #metaglossia mundus
"Holding a wooden flute, Larry Martin stood during Mass July 10 and welcomed the congregation to join the responsorial psalm. He began: “Aw ge-chi-twaaa-wen-daa-go-zid, Gi-gi-zhe-ma-ni-doo-mi-nann.”" #metaglossia mundus
"The occasion for this study, 75 years of Indian independence and nearly 70 years of the existence of the Sahitya Akademi (established in 1954), is a good occasion for an audit of sorts. What was the Sahitya Akademi set up to do? It was one of three (or four, if one includes the National School of Drama) institutions established to direct sustained attention to the production and archiving of the nation’s languages and literatures. As is evident from studies across disciplines and practices of the initiatives that began in the decade following Independence, these were, in equal (or not so equal) measure, constituted of the producing of idioms and knowledge as much as of the “discovery” and archiving of the new nation’s diversity. Languages and literatures were as much a part of this schema as were idioms of performances or forms of visual arts. How important is culture to the nation state? Resource allocations, which tend to be meagre, belie the insistent calls to culture to affirm national identity. In the years post Independence, in the 1950s when the Akademis were set up, and today, the sphere of the cultural was and is understood as a key terrain for the production of a disciplined national citizenry. Yet, while the “national” desire for homogeneity was apparent everywhere, the Akademi in its early years fought that tendency, arguing against the forms of European nationalism that were constructed around the idea of around the idea of a national language." #metaglossia mundus
"As the country waves flags and celebrates the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, it is also time to take stock. What did India’s founders and citizens dream of, how has India fared, what have been our challenges and successes? The Wire’s reporters and contributors bring stories of the period, of the traumas but also the hopes of Indians, as seen in personal accounts, in culture, in the economy and in the sciences. How did the modern state of India come about, what does the flag represent? How did literature and cinema tackle the trauma of Partition? " #metaglossia mundus
"Among the challenges encountered by Tubosun while translating Murakami’s Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey (Ijewo Inaki Shinagawa Kan) were writing in an accessible language; capturing the essence of the original work in Yoruba language, in addition to, a few lexicon decisions. According to Tubosun, early Yoruba writers tilted towards the officious in writing and diction. The challenge was how to translate the text in a manner that isn’t too elevated to read, rather easy and accessible for all Yoruba readers. Next, he aimed at capturing the essence of the story, as the English translator did. Finally, he tackled decisions to either tonal mark and keep some Japanese words in the text, or simply translate them to Yoruba. He chose to translate them to Yoruba. “There are some words I retained, like the use of English words that mentioned names of musicians. I decided to keep that because it is a real person. These challenges were creative experiments for me, which I view as opportunities.” Although Tubosun knew of Murakami, he had never read anything of his until 2019, when he was browsing through a bookshop in a Turkish airport to kill time. He picked up What I Think About When I Think About Running, and was captivated by the writer’s ability to engage readers on such a boring subject. Afterwards, he looked out for the author’s work purchasing copies of his other works. Midflight to a residential programme in Spain he purchased Murakami’s First Person Singular and Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey. He was floored. “I picked up First Person Singular because it sounded like a grammatical text and as a linguist that was interesting to me. It turned out to be a collection of short stories of different human interaction. It was of complex stories written in simple language, which I finished at the airport. But when I got to Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, I thought “this is interesting and usual in so many ways.” Hence, he put aside the short stories by Nigerian authors he had planned to translate at the residency to translate Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey. Excited about the project, Murakami’s agent gave their consent with the condition that the translated work will be online, free of use, for a period of thirty days. Tubosun is in talks with Nigerian publishers to publish an illustrated copy Ijewo Inaki Shinagawa Kan. This milestone, he hopes will inspire others to translate more Nigerian and foreign authors texts into African languages..." #metaglossia mundus
"This year sees the very first Edinburgh Deaf Festival, part of the family of festivals that take over the city of Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh festivals can be an overwhelming experience for anyone, but particularly for deaf people looking for accessible shows and deaf-friendly spaces. Whilst the Scottish Government wants Scotland to be “the best place for British Sign Language (BSL) users to live, work, learn and visit”, to date the access for deaf people to this major cultural event has been patchy and un-coordinated. I am a deaf BSL user and have been CEO at Deaf Action in Edinburgh since 2017, and one of the first things that struck me about this amazing city is the vibrancy of the festivals and how much I wanted deaf people, culture and arts to be part of the family. Deaf Action have been a pioneering force at the forefront of the deaf community for nearly 190 years, so making the festival season accessible with the add-on provision of captions and BSL/English interpreters didn’t feel enough. We wanted the deaf communities to really be present and integrated into the experience. We have set out to change the face of deaf arts in Edinburgh; both for festival goers to enjoy and for deaf artists to showcase and hone their talents. And so we welcome to the stage, the Edinburgh Deaf Festival. From 12-19 August 2022 you will find a week of deaf culturally-specific events, deaf spaces, deaf performers and artists, exhibitions and socials – alongside an accessible festival season spanning the whole month. Deaf culture has a proud place in Scotland in terms of language, history and heritage. As home to Deaf Action, the world’s first deaf organisation, it feels right that Edinburgh should celebrate, promote and raise visibility of deaf culture. We want deaf visitors to the festival to be able to go to a performance with an interpreter or captioner in the morning, watch a deaf artist in the afternoon, and socialise in our bar in the evening. The best of all worlds. Hearing festival goers will also find deaf performances in mainstream venues throughout the city, and can be emersed in a whole new world to open their eyes to our fabulous culture. Deaf people usually have to attend performances at pre-defined, often inaccessible times – such as subtitled cinema screenings at a workday morning. We want to change this by establishing customer-driven access, so have developed an ‘interpreter on request’ service for the festival season. This means that deaf people can choose the performances they want to see, at the times they want to see them, and request an interpreter for that performance. This is the vision for the annual Edinburgh Deaf Festival, although this year, we are being cautious with the new venture. We aim to grow this over the next few years, and hope that the interpreting, performance and deaf communities will get behind our vision and help us grow and improve the service. We expect the impact of Edinburgh Deaf Festival to last far beyond the end of August, when the performers and visitors have returned home. The number of people who will have seen deaf artists, interpreters and captioners in action will have grown and subliminally they will take this experience with them, maybe influencing their work or social lives. Deaf young people will have seen deaf adults perform and perhaps inspire them for involvement in the arts as well as strengthening their deaf identity. It will empower all deaf people to take pride in their cultural identity and ownership of their culture, and their stories. Deaf performers will have had a much-needed opportunity to join the circuit, hone their skills and meet other performers. Festival planners will be more aware of the barriers deaf people face and will make accessibility provisions for their diverse audiences. Many prestigious careers have started or been boosted at the Edinburgh Fringe and other festivals. Early career interpreters will learn new skills from experienced interpreters that they can adapt and take back to their work in the community. Hopefully a new cohort of multi-skilled interpreters will grow out of the Festival, able to provide for the wide variety of access requirements and platforms that exist here. Deaf Action are also working with Heriot-Watt University to provide a safe space every day during the Deaf Festival for interpreters to meet with a trained mentor or supervisor in order to debrief, rant, prepare or have a social chat. We want to look after all people who make this festival possible." #metaglossia mundus
"We live in an Age of Actualisation for Natural Language Programming (NLP) and especially transformer-based Large Language Models (LLMs). Firstly, NLP models are on the rise, advancing a fascinating field of AI with applications to shape the very future of human lives, tackling an array of tasks including conversation, text completion, and even coding. This has been fuelled by advances in accuracy, scalability and production readiness. Indeed, research conducted by John Snow Labs last year revealed that 60% of tech leaders indicated their NLP budgets grew by at least 10% compared to 2020, with a rel="nofollow" third (33%) reflecting a rise of at least 30%. Special attention has been afforded to LLMs for their key role in re-imagining two key branches of AI: language and vision, with NVIDIA's NeMo Megatron a superb example, providing an end-to-end framework from data curation, through to training, inference and evaluation. LLMs are trained on huge amounts of data and enable learning from text with applications across text summarization, real-time content generation, customer service chatbots and question-answering for conversational AI interfaces" #metaglossia mundus
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