· May, 2007

Stories about Language from May, 2007

Jamaica: Thank You, Miss Lou

  30 May 2007

“Miss Lou in her life and poetry had many things to teach us. And she taught in a way that only the best teachers can—without us knowing.” Geoffrey Philp pays tribute to a Jamaican cultural icon.

Uganda: What if we blogged in local languages?

  28 May 2007

Country Boyi asks, “What if we blogged in local languages?“: “I've been thinking. It took a workshop on writing for children in Ugandan local languages to have me thinking: what clearly is the importance of indigenous languages, and would it add any value if we blogged in our home languages?”

What terms for parents are popular in Korea

  27 May 2007

A blogger discovered what terms for parents are popular in Korea through the search engines of several major portal sites. According to the table and graph that he (she) made, father (a-beo-ji) is used more than dad (a-bba) and, on the other hand, mom (eom-ma) is used more than mother...

China: China Children's Times

  25 May 2007

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a blog post by Tu Guowen about a Children newspaper, China Children's Times, published during China's Republican era.

Taiwan and China: Chinese speech

  24 May 2007

ESWN translated a debate over a popular song called Chinese Speech by S.H.E. The song criticized by Liberty Times (pro-independent newspapers) for misleading and corrupting the next generation in Taiwan into thinking that they also use ‘Chinese speech.’

Japan: Japan Brand

  24 May 2007

Adamu from Mutantfrog blogs about a new logo “Japan Brand” for promoting exports, boost tourism, and take control of how Japan as a nation is perceived abroad.

Estonia: Demography and Ethnicity

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia's demography and interethnic relationships: “Still, the reality for Estonia is, no matter what historical spin you put on it, there will be a large Russian-speaking community in Estonia for many years to come. Because of recent events in Tallinn, many are wondering what can...

Latvia: Interview with Aleksejs Tapins

Peteris Cedrins of Marginalia interviews Aleksejs Tapins of All About Latvia: Why do you blog? – […] At one point, it's become a search for my own identity. Who am I? Am I Russian/Latvian/American? I tried answering my own questions in hopes to show what some Russian-speaking people in Latvia...

Indonesia: Saying Thanks in Indonesia

  23 May 2007

Sarapan Ekonomi starts of a debate on his blog by posting findings of a linguistics expert. The expert says that some Indonesians do not thank people whom they consider to be from a lower social group.

D. R. Congo: Park Rangers Attacked, Flying over Katanga, Music meets Social Activism, and Ants 2 – Brian 0

  22 May 2007

Access to the Internet in the Democratic Republic of Congo is gradually improving (World Bank figures suggest there are already over 6 million users), but will remain prohibitively expensive as long as service providers are dependent on satellite connections. In such a context, it should come as no surprise that there are only a handful of Congolese bloggers. Chatrooms and instant messaging are very popular, however, and with the influence of the Diaspora, it’s easy to imagine that many more young Congolese people will soon be following the footsteps of pioneers like Cedric, perhaps blogging in Lingala, Luba, Kikongo and Swahili as well as French.

China: Harmonizing Property Ads

  22 May 2007

DANWEI puts together and translates reports, commentaries on the recent attempt by Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan in harmonizing property Ads: advertisements should be cleaned up because they revealed a massive wealth disparity and threatened social harmony.

Russia: Blog Ranking

Krusenstern, host to the Blog-Carnival Russian Media (in 11 days now!), posts a ranking of Russia blogs (in German), and Siberian Light writes about it in English.

China: history of Chinese characters

  21 May 2007

Granite Studio blogs on a recent discovery in the study of Damaidi carvings, which carry symbols that resemble early Chinese writing. If the researchers are correct, then these pictographs would be by far the earliest extant examples of proto-Chinese characters.

Hong Kong: Indecent Google Link

  21 May 2007

Because of the recent debate about the ruling of Obscene Article Tribunal in Hong Kong, the mainstream media found out that the Tribunal had once ruled a Google search hyperlink to an online novel which depicted violent acts as category II indecent article. Charles Mok questioned (zh) the credibility of...

China: Harmonious Wording for Advertisement?

  18 May 2007

Wangxiaofeng criticised [zh] the hypocritical nature of the criticisms towards housing property advertisements which used words like “supreme”, “luxurious”, etc. Can we change the reality by changing the wording of ads?

Russia: Nashi's Bad English; NBP

Via La Russophobe, the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi demonstrates poor knowledge of English (among other things) – a forged International Herald Tribune headline in the Nashi‘s brochure reads: “Russian soldiers, that were named a heroes for the acting in chechen war, were nailed charges in murder of chechen rebels.” A...

Arabeyes: Memorial Translations

Whether it was a genuine mistake or part of a calculated propaganda strategy, the Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) sure has a lot of explanation to do as bloggers across the region started questioning their motives this week after glaring mistakes were spotted in the translation of a Palestinian children's television programme.