· September, 2009

Stories about Language from September, 2009

Japan: Lessons in Communication from the Hatoyama Essay

  28 September 2009

When an online Op-Ed piece by current Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama appeared in the New York Times just days before the Lower House elections last month, national reaction ranged from surprise to consternation to pure mortification. “A New Path for Japan” was an abridged and translated version of “My Political...

Bangladesh: The Importance Of Learning A Foreign Language

  23 September 2009

“If manpower is our strength, proper foreign language training at home will be a small step in equipping them better to settle down in foreign territories. A change of perception at our language expertise and workforce, especially the young, is vital now,” comments Bangladesh Corporate Blog.

Laos: Monk Chat Blog

  21 September 2009

The Monk Chat program in Vientiane is a venue where Lao monks and foreigners can exchange in dialogue about their culture and religion.

India: Bangla Blogs

  19 September 2009

Diganta at The New Horizon informs that two new Bangla (Bengali) blogging platforms have been launched by Bangla speaking people in India.

Dominican Republic: three poets

  18 September 2009

Repeating Islands features a new bilingual edition of poems by three women writers from the Dominican Republic: Aída Cartagena Portalatín, Angela Hernández Núñez, and Ylonka Nacidit-Perdomo. “Each of them addresses shared political and cultural issues, illuminating what it means to be a woman living in the modern day Dominican Republic.”

Suriname: a word for freedom

  14 September 2009

“It’s hard for me to imagine a language or dialect without a word for ‘freedom'”: Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp reviews a new documentary film about the Surinamese poet Trefossa.

Jamaica: Truth & Laughter

  10 September 2009

“If death is the closing parenthesis on the fiction of every human life, then humor is the asterisk that proclaims the dignity of human life despite the many absurdities”: Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp explains.

Palestine: A Change Of Language

  7 September 2009

In Gaza, Abu el Sharif has decided to start blogging in English instead of Arabic: “I really need to be more rude, and talk a little more about the shit we live here, without thinking too much about the results!”

Translator of the week: Boukary Konaté in Mali

  6 September 2009

Boukary Konaté teaches French and English in a high school in Mali. Joining Global Voices in French has steered him onto a new path: he is now involved in Web projects to promote his native language, Bambara, and train rural communities in Mali to use the internet.

Jamaica: Reggae Shows Cancelled

  1 September 2009

As Jamaican reggae artist Buju Banton suffers from the cancellation of international shows thanks to his homophobic lyrics, The Wickedest Time says: “I don't get offended by the music, mainly because its practically a cultural norm…but we have to think about the people we offend.”