For Japan With Love
- At March 17, 2011
- By gloria
- In Personal
0
I have decided to join in the great initiative promoted by Ever Ours (Lydia) and Utterly Engaged (Lucia and Henny). For Japan With Love and the Bloggers’ Day of Silence (March 18) will help raise funds for disaster relief, emergency shelter and supplies via Shelterbox. Please visit For Japan with Love and donate! Donations will be accepted until March 31, 2011.
If you are on Twitter, please spread the word and use the tag #forjapanwithlove! Thanks!
Language Diversity in the USA
- At March 16, 2011
- By gloria
- In Linguistics
- 0
Language Diversity in the USA
“You’re in America, speak English. It’s our official language.” “Today’s immigrants are not learning English as quickly as those of the past.” “Multilingualism threatens our national unity.”
The author defines these statements “myths” and profiles the top 12 minority languages in the USA (Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, French, Vietnamese, German, Korean, Russian, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish), with an additional chapter about Native American languages. She discusses the features of each language and concludes every chapter with a prediction about the future longevity of each one of them.
Overall, the book allays possible fears that either English or American national identity should be threatened by language diversity, which the author sees as a resource for the US.
An argument along the same lines was made by David Crystal in his English as a Global Language
Changing Pronounciation
- At March 04, 2011
- By gloria
- In Linguistics
- 0
An interesting article about the changing pronunciation of some words in British English: “The Pronunciation of Controversy“.
The interesting fact is that, while most changes are due to the influence of American English on British English, in some cases such as the one at issue, the change has nothing to do with the American standard and appears to be an “internal British affair”.
Apparently, there is some debate about whether English spelling needs to be simplified: “Unthinkable? Simpler spelling” and a reply: “These variations on English spellings simply won’t work“.
Wasn’t it already complicated enough?!