The Language Feed - March 6, 2005

[Harold F. Schiffman]

The Language Feed
March 6, 2005

This issue and archives can be read on the web at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~smorris2/feed
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Apun ka style ka maamla hai
Financial Times, March 6
Nearly 1,000 Indian words have been added to English dictionaries in the
last 20 years. From a business communication perspective, the language
is undergoing further transformation in India. “There’s been a shift
   from British English to American English.
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=84484


Low German dialect gets its revival
Kansas City Star, March 5 (email: language at yahoo.com; password: language)
When Don and Dorian Bisping are at home, they almost always speak to
each other in Low German, the language of their ancestors.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/11057078.htm

Breaking America's language barrier
Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 03
Meeting the gaze of another, exchanging a smile, gesturing wildly with
our hands -- such pantomime comes in handy when we're trying to
communicate with someone who doesn't speak our language.
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/110984582619340.xm
Language program marks 20th year
Metro West Daily News, March 2
In 1984, Christine Taylor started a part-time job teaching English to a
group of 15 immigrants eager to learn the language of their new homeland.
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=92052


Breaking the language barrier
Boston Globe, March 6
Like the countless toddlers who've learned to speak a little Spanish by
counting along on ''Sesame Street," Sara Mailander's introduction to the
language came at a tender age.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/continuing/articles/2005/03/06/breaking_the_language_barrier/


Language issue calls for cool heads
Cape Argus, February 28
Language is a very emotive issues as it is strongly linked to our
culture, history and sense of being. In South Africa it was used by the
colonialists to dominate the country's indigenous people and the
vanquished Dutch and their settlers.
http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=460&fArticleId=2428284


Class helps sign language users improve English grammar skills
The Olympian, February 28
The students in Saskia Akyil's class at South Puget Sound Community
College were born and raised in the United States. But for them, English
is a foreign language.
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20050228/southsound/96745.shtml


Knowledge fades as Africa languages die
Kansas City Star, March 5 (email: language at yahoo.com; password: language)
A U.N. Conference on Trade and Development report on protecting
traditional knowledge argues that beyond a devastating impact on
culture, the death of a language wipes out centuries of know-how in
preserving ecosystems - leading to grave consequences for biodiversity.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/11062319.htm

King introduces bill to make English the official U.S. languageDes
Moines Register, March 2
U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa embarked on a new push Wednesday to
establish English as the official language of the United States,
introducing a bill that's drawn the support of 57 other members of Congress.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050302/NEWS/50302010/1001


Ed official stirs debate by backing street slang
Flint Journal, March 02
Dr. Debra Robinson wanted to get people talking, and did she ever.
Robinson, a former Flint resident who is a school board member in Palm
Beach County, FL, has garnered a lot of attention with her suggestion
that teenagers be allowed to continue to embrace street slang without
being judged poorly by their elders or harangued to learn "standard
English."
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-27/1109780489193060.xml


Tools for the college vocabulary
GW Hatchet, February 28 (username: language; password: langfeed)
What do garden hoes, hammers, men in designer jeans and class suck-ups
have in common? They're all tools, according to many GW students.
http://www.gwhatchet.com/news/2005/02/28/Style/Tools.For.The.College.Vocabulary-879413.shtml


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