Stories about Language from August, 2007
Ukraine: Crimea
On the last day of summer, here's a translation of LJ user drugoi's photo report on his trip to Crimea, one of the favorite summer tourism destinations in the Soviet times, now facing fierce competition from resorts in Turkey and Egypt.
Russia: “Anti-Akhmatova”
Languor Management writes about Tamara Katayeva's “600-page assault on the literary legacy Anna Akhmatova”: “This reminds me of Emma Gerstein's Moscow Memoirs, which was supposed to have debunked Nadehzda and Osip Mandelshtam's literary legacy, and really just portrayed them as particularly difficult people going through particularly hard times.”
Romania: Esquire
The Romanian edition of Esquire is to be launched next week. Owlspotting writes: “Esquire will be a novelty on the Romanian magazine market, and the first outlet to promote long-form writing and narrative journalism. These forms are almost inexistent in Romania.”
Russia: Novaya Gazeta in English
Robert Amsterdam and Sean's Russia Blog link to Novaya Gazeta's recently launched English-language site featuring translations of some of their investigative stories. Sean wrote in a reply to a reader: “The more Russian media accessible to English readers the better.”
Arabeyes: It's All in a Sign
Signs are an important means to get first-hand information or advertise messages necessary for everyday life. But what happens when the signs are misleading and don't serve the purpose they were put up for. Amira Al Hussaini takes us on a tour of blogs in the Middle East which take a closer look at signs.
Jamaica: Bilingual?
“The very worst thing to do is to pretend that no language difference exists, and to proceed as if you are being fully understood”: Francis Wade examines the language barriers that exist in Jamaica.
Trinidad & Tobago: Costly Mistake
“For an event that is asking people to pay $100,000 per plate you would think that they would at least get the invitation right!” Now is Wow has a bone to pick with the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
Bermuda: Responsible Headlines
Politics.bm thinks newspapers “have a responsibility to be more accurate” in their headlines.
Estonia: Russia
Yet another blog battle is raging in the comments section of Edward Lucas’ post on the Russo-Estonian relations.
Russia: Speaking Russian Properly
Megan Case writes about a somewhat annoying initiative to get everyone to speak Russian “properly.”
Albania: Poetic Grammar
Wu Wei attempts to study some Albanian grammar and concludes that Albanians “must spend a lot of time dreaming or writing poetry.”
China: New Web Vocabularies
Josie Liu from China in Transition blogs about the documentation of new web vocabularies by Ministry of Education. However, many netizens found themselves nearly illiterate in front of a list of new vocabulary.
Israel: Firefox and Israeli Blogs
Ouriel Ohayon wonders why Hebrew Israeli blogs “are not working well or not working at all with Firefox.”
Estonia: Gay Pride in Tallinn
All About Latvia shares his thoughts on Tallinn and the Gay Pride Parade there.
Jamaica: Bridges to Memory
“The poems…are rooted in the crucible of the Caribbean/African American Diaspora”: Geoffrey Philp's Blog Spot features Jamaican author Marva McClean as she discusses her new book of poetry.
Russia: St. Pete Pics; A. Kostia's Short Story
Random pictures from St. Petersburg, including one of a pub called Puberty – at Megan Case's blog. Also, a translation of A. Kostia's short story, Mama.
Korea: National Hero or Terrorist
What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘terrorists’? The word is at the center of a controversy over a lecture given on Korean modern history by a foreign professor. Marmot’s Hole, an American in Korea, writes about the issue. Foreign Professor Calls Kim Gu, Yun Bong-gil ‘Terrorists’: Report...
Syria: US Afraid of Arabic
Syrian blogger Yaman asks: Who is afraid of the Arabic language, following an outrage in the US over a T-shirt which has the Arabic inscription Intifada written on it.
Bahrain: Top Tips for Secret Smokers!
Children are the future, right? Some bloggers in Bahrain are not too optimistic. We find others who are fed up of religious leaders, are enjoying watching people, and are smoking in secret. Two bloggers are moved by the sound of Arabic – one by the classical language, another by a local dialect. We start with a question regarding Muslims and the debate about globalisation.
Russia: “Criminal Moscow”
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow posts his old translation of the intro to Nikolai Modestov's Criminal Moscow: A Documentary Chronicle of the Lawlessness of the '80's and '90's.
Slovenia: Slovinglish, etc.
A link to the post on “Slovinglish” as well as other picks – in this week's Best of the Slobs roundup at The Glory of Carniola.
