Various (fwd)

[Harold F. Schiffman]

RUSSIA: LANGUAGE AND CITIZENSHIP

The lower house of Parliament backed a law making fluent Russian mandatory
for citizenship. The law would also deny citizenship to felons.  To become
law, the measures must also be passed by the upper house and signed by
President Vladimir V. Putin, whose legislative envoy supports the measure.
(Agence France-Presse)

ESPERANTO, ANYONE?

About half the world's 6,000 languages could disappear, driven out by
dominant tongues or repressive government policies, according to a Unesco
study. In Australia, hundreds of Aboriginal languages are extinct as a
result of harsh assimilation in the past. In the United States, fewer than
150 Indian languages survive of several hundreds spoken before the arrival
of the Europeans. There are 50 languages at risk in Europe, including 14
in France and several Saami or Lappish tongues in the north. But
multilingual policies in India help keep local languages alive.  (AP)