For many, learning even one language is considered a challenge. Can you imagine trying to learn several? How about before age 18? In this interview with Lane Greene, author and editor of The Economist's Johnson blog, 17-year-old polyglot...
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About: The Global Language Network (GLN)
Recent Posts by The Global Language Network (GLN)
Хотите изучать русский язык? Meet Susannah!
Всем привет!
Hello everyone, my name is Susannah Powell. Neither I nor my family is Russian, but thanks to a wonderful woman named Faina Piven, I have a lifelong fascination with Slavic culture and languages. Along with teaching high school Russian, Ms. Piven was a survivor of the siege of Leningrad, a certified yoga instructor and practiced African dance in her spare time. Also, under hypnosis, she discovered that she was a light bulb in a former life. I learned little grammar or vocabulary from Ms. Piven, but I quickly decided that, if her compatriots were half as eccentrically intriguing as she was, I had to learn Russian in order to get to know them better.
Two study abroad trips to Moscow, three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine and a year of grad school in St Petersburg just confirmed the unpredictability of Eastern Europe and its people. I spent the following three years as a Russian translator in a very dry, technical field. My new job better fits my personality, but I miss using foreign language on a daily basis. Teaching with GLN helps fill that void.
Which country tastes the best?
Image by jaaron
In the never ending debate over which country has the best food, Lonely Planet has picked its top eleven. For the garlic and chili fans, Thailand offers some delicious options, and there are classic options like enchiladas in Mexico, pastas and pizza in Italy, and dumplings in China.
Indonesia, Spain, and Greece also make the list.
In my limited travel experience, no culinary experience has yet beaten a pint of Guinness and hearty pub food in Ireland. How about you? What is your favorite cuisine? What’s the top culinary destination in the world?
A Potential Renaissance: Are the Arab Countries Doing Enough to Promote Translation?
Earlier this month, Ursula Lindsey discussed the rise of translation in Arabic-speaking countries in this piece for the online publication Al Farner. In this article, Lindsey comments on initiatives sponsored by Arab governments in response to the U.N.-sponsored Arab Human Development Report from 2003, which criticized the academic and cultural environment of these countries. Focusing on translation, which was described in the report as “chaotic and static,” Lindsey writes:
“Although Arab governments condemned the U.N. report they also responded to it, particularly in the Gulf. Many members of the United Arab Emirates have started translation programs, including Abu Dhabi, which began Kalima, a project that has translated 300 general knowledge books into Arabic so far. Qatar established a Translation and Interpreting Institute in the collection of academic institutions known as Education City, in Doha. Along with the efforts to translate important books into Arabic, there is also a groundswell to translate Arabic fiction and poetry into Western languages to make it more widely available.”
Lindsey goes on to discuss current problems that are hindering these efforts to promote translation, addressing the critique that these efforts do not go far enough. Focusing on sociology and literature, she also summarizes the importance of translation in academia, as it enables the exchange of ideas between non-Arabic and Arabic speaking countries.
Readers interested in resources for Arabic translation and literature will find also find a list of links at the end of the article.
Shoot like a pro: taking better travel pics with your smartphone
Yes, you can even learn to make obligatory food pics better!
For those of you taking advantage of some summer vacation time to go practice your language skills in foreign countries, Yahoo! Travel recently put together a cool slideshow of ways you can take better travel photos.
The best part is, the tips are designed for smartphones. Did you know when you use the iPhone Camera app, if you tap and hold for a few seconds you can lock the exposure? And shooting from low down or high up makes for a more interesting photo. It doesn’t take much to make some really interesting and memorable travel pictures, so study up, get away, speak a different language, and take awesome photos!
Silesian Gone Viral: The Rise of Polish Dialect Memes
This recent blog post from Lexiophiles discusses the increased prevalence of internet memes in Polish dialects, a trend that began in 2012. Among the dialects featured in these memes are Goral (spoken in southern Poland), Silesian (southwest Poland), and Podlasie (eastern Poland).
In the case of the the Silesian internet memes, the blog mentions that they are the product of “the growing awareness of Silesians’ own ethnic and linguistic heritage” that had “recently led to calls for more recognition on the official level, and among other things, the creation of the absolutely official Silesian Wikipedia.“ Another reason for the growing appeal of these memes in Silesian is that “Internet-era Silesian humour, combined with the widely stereotyped lingo, proved a magnet not only to Silesians, but also to everyone else who half-understood their utterances.”
For examples of Silesian memes, as well as of the other dialects featured in this post, the links below will lead you to a facebook page specializing in memes related to one of these dialects:
Gorals memes: fb.me/GwaraGoralska
Silesian memes: fb.me/Slonskisuchar
Podlasie memes: fb.me/ howorymoposwojomu