Stories from Quick Reads and Language
Moldova chose finalists of the national selection for the Eurovision 2024
Among them, there are nine women and only two men, two songs called "Fever," and 10 out of 11 compositions are in English.
At a crucial time for global crises, X (formerly Twitter) dilutes its violent speech policy
X has softened its violent speech policy significantly, decreasing both the scope of its provision on violent speech as well as the consequences imposed when such speech is detected.
Russian diplomats react to a new law on language in Kyrgyzstan, bringing back colonial past
The Kyrgyz language is an integral part of national identity. It is vital for the survival of Kyrgyz people as a separate ethnic group and Kyrgyzstan as a nation.
A rapper in Uzbekistan is challenging widespread social issues through his songs
Konsta’s songs focus on Uzbek society, its problems, and the role of each individual in unfolding events.
Moldova refused to use language constructed by Soviet cultural policy
The Moldovan language was constructed during the early Soviet cultural policy. Now, the parliament changed its name to Romanian because they are practically identical languages.
Is OpenAI biased? We checked so you won't have to
Global Voices explored how an AI image generator rendered pictures from different languages. We typed in the same phrase in nine languages and got wildly different results.
Popular Russian singer answers ‘Glory to Ukraine’. Now they want to revoke his citizenship
Singer Valerii Meladze has been openly against the war since February 2022. Now he may face harsh consequences for the words he said off-the-record in Dubai in support of Ukraine.
Twitter account “No Context Russia” is sad yet hilarious
A Twitter account shows images from Russia without context, portraying the country in sad and ironic tones.
Peruvian Ministry of Education Makes 24 Indigenous Alphabets Official
The alphabets of 24 indigenous languages were made official in Peru as a result of joint efforts by the Ministry of Education and numerous indigenous communities. The documents were adopted by consensus and will be used to help preserve and improve the use of these languages, both in their written and spoken forms. De ese modo, los...
Peru Sets Up First Bilingual Spanish-Awajun Civil Registrar
May 21 marks the National Day of Cultural and Linguistic Diverisity, and to commemorate the occasion, the Peruvian National Registrar of Identification and Civil Status (Reniec) launched the Awajun-Spanish bilingual civil registrar: Las actas generadas de esta manera tendrán el mismo valor oficial que las actas tradicionales en castellano, y...
Second Most Spoken Languages in Africa
Don Osborne discusses a news feature on the Olivet Nazarene University website showing a map of “The Second Most Spoken Languages Around the World.” He points out key problems from the map: The first issue is assuming that “The most spoken language in any country is often obvious; usually, it’s...
Peruvian Web Users Take the #LanguageChallenge
International Mother Language Day was celebrated on February 21, as a commemoration of the right every nation has to keep its own language, a key element of cultural identification. In Peru, there are 47 native languages, spoken by about 4 million people. To mark the occasion, the Office of Indigenous...
Discover Yemen through its Literature: Six Contemporary Authors Worth Reading
On Arabic Literature in English, M. Lynx Qualey presents six contemporary Yemeni authors worth discovering. She points out: As you might expect from a troubled nation with relatively little modern literary output, there aren’t many translations of Yemeni work available in English. However, there are some, as several Yemeni authors have received regional...
Indigenous Tweets Highlight International Mother Language Day in Australia
Wamut,aka @kriolkantri on Twitter, and blogger of ten years, shared indigenous tweets on Storify: “February 21 is International Mother Language Day and this year, Australians showed off Aboriginal and Islander languages in a spectacular way and highlighted the amazing-yet-fragile linguistic diversity found across the continent”. Happy International #MotherLanguage Day! We're...
The Translation Detail Everyone Missed in the China Internet’s Incredibly Surreal Anthem
Below is an edited version of “The Translation Detail Everyone Missed in the China Internet's Incredibly Surreal Anthem“ by Jason Li, originally published on the blog 88 Bar and republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement. In case you missed it, the New York Times, ProPublica, the Guardian and the Atlantic all wrote about...
Argentina Creates Registry of Interpreters of Indigenous Languages
Argentina creates the Registry of Interpreters of Indigenous Languages, following the case of Reina Maraz after being in prison for three years without knowing why, for not having Quechua language interpreter in the country.
What is Sinology?
Sinology is still unknown to many people, as Isma Ruiz writes after attending the I International Congress of Sinology in Spanish, last June at the University of Tamkang – Tamsui, Taiwan. Although the focus was translation and interpretation of classic Chinese books, the necessity of learning a new language when...
In new iOS, Apple Introduces Five Indic Language Input Methods
Computer giant Apple in its newest release of iOS8, expands its languages by adding more input methods and interface languages.
Misdiagnosis of Poor Standard of Education in Malawi
The language of instruction debate is attracting attention in Malawi after the government's decided that students would be taught in English from Standard One. Steve Sharra joins the debate arguing that the problem of education in Malawi has been misdiagnosed: There are good reasons why many Malawians are happy with...
Wanna Learn the Khmer Language? Check Out this Audio Dictionary
Kheng.Info is a useful portal to learn Khmer, the official language of Cambodia. Aside from word translation, the website also offers an audio recording of Khmer words which is helpful to understand the meaning of the Khmer script. Check out how the word ‘love’ translates to Khmer:
An Urgent Call for the Protection and Preservation of Tibetan Language
Khenpo Tsultrim Lodoe is an influential Buddhist teacher at Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Tibet. His article which addresses the relation between language and identity and urges for the preservation of Tibetan language was posted on an official educational website for Tibetan middle schools on July 4, 2014. High Peaks...
