The Language Feed - March 13, 2005

[Anonby]

I've been following with interest the Hawaiian revival. I'm wondering
if there are children growing up with Hawaiian as their first language. If
not, we might have a situation like Irish, where large numbers of people
learn it as a second language. However, Irish isn't hailed as a success
story.

Stan


----- Original Message -----
From: "Harold F. Schiffman" <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
To: "Language Policy-List" <lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 5:18 PM
Subject: The Language Feed - March 13, 2005


> The Language Feed
> March 13, 2005
>
> This issue and archives can be read on the web at
> http://mason.gmu.edu/~smorris2/feed
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Bonuses for language schools
> Times Online, March 11
> The Government will offer cash bonuses to secondary schools today in an
> attempt to arrest a sharp decline in the study of foreign languages.
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,591-1519569,00.html
>
>
> Lawmakers try again to make English the official language
> Arizona Daily Sun, March 11
> Nearly seven years after a voter-approved law making English the state's
> official language was overturned, Arizona lawmakers are considering
> whether to put the question on the ballot again.
> http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=104891
>
>
> BCC says extra language investment for schools is not enough
> Personnel Today, March 11
> The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned that greater
> investment on language learning in schools will not stop young people
> leaving school without the necessary language skills for business.
> http://www.personneltoday.com/Articles/2005/03/11/28623/BCC+says+extra+language+investment+for+schools+is+not.htm
>
>
> Ambushed: Volunteers test OSU’s foreign language skills
> Daily O'Collegian, March 11
> Language Ambush workers asked 250 students and faculty to answer a
> question in a foreign language. More than 250 Oklahoma State University
> students and faculty members were ambushed by a foreign language
> Thursday afternoon.
> http://www.ocolly.com/new_ocollycom/show_story.php?a_id=25783
>
> County's diversity shown in language
> SGV Tribune, March 10
> Looking for a conversation in Efik? How about Wu? Want to chat over
> coffee in the language of Ladino or Frisian?
> http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205~12220~2756558,00.html
>
>
> Md. teen protests foreign language Pledge
> Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 10
> A ninth-grader is protesting his school's decision to broadcast the
> Pledge of Allegiance in foreign languages as part of National Foreign
> Language Week.
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Pledge%20Foreign%20Language
>
>
> Language skills legacy
> Malaysia Star, March 10
> My mother-in-law, who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese, used to comment
> that it was difficult communicating with my son, Ian, when he was in
> kindergarten. Ian only spoke English when he was a toddler. “It’s like a
> duck speaking to a chicken,” my mother-in-law would say. I see the same
> thing happening with my six-year-old daughter, Erin.
> http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2005/3/10/features/10234616&sec=features
>
>
> U of A prof creates language for videogame
> The Gateway, March 10
> A U of A linguist and computer game company BioWare have joined forces
> to create a realistic, mythical language for the soon-to-be-released
> computer game Jade Empire.
> http://www.gateway.ualberta.ca/view.php?aid=4154
>
>
> Sioux Falls area ranks high in language diversity
> Aberdeen News, March 10
> Although the vast majority of residents here primarily speak English,
> the greater Sioux Falls area ranks among the top 10 percent in the
> country for language diversity.
> http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/11100633.htm
>
> Beijing police hone their language skills
> People's Daily Online, March 10
> Education should have been the last thing on the mind of Xu Jie, now a
> 39-year-old Beijing police officer - but he ended up with a schoolbag
> and became a full-time student at a foreign university.
> http://english.people.com.cn/200503/10/eng20050310_176236.html
>
>
> District immersed in Chinese language
> News & Observer, March 9
> In Chapel Hill's Glenwood Elementary School, special "dual language"
> classes are cleanly divided in half between U.S.-born youngsters and
> native Chinese students.
> http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2192263p-8573372c.html
>
> Program helps language skills
> Minnesota Daily, March 9
> Some retired professors at the University are putting their teaching
> skills to work again by helping international teaching and research
> assistants with their English skills through the Partners in English
> program. The goal is to help the assistants with conversational English
> they encounter in their classrooms. The program will result in a more
> efficient class for both the student and teaching or research assistant.
> http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/03/09/63622
>
>
> Take my word for it
> The Guardian, March 13
> Nicholas Ostler's fascinating history, Empires of the Word, examines why
> some languages survive while others die out, and why English reigns
> supreme.
> http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/history/0,6121,1436277,00.html
>
> It's never too late to learn a new language
> Press and Sun-Bulletin, March 13
> ¿Hablas Español? Parlez-vous Francais? Sprechen Deutsch? Parli l'italiano?
> If not, would you like to? Is it ever too late to pick up another
> language?
> http://www.pressconnects.com/today/lifestyle/stories/li031305s153788.shtml
>
>
> Hawaiian language enjoying revival in its homeland
> North County Times, March 12
> "E heluhelu kakou," Nako'olani Warrington tells her third graders --
> let's read together. But there's no need to translate at Ke Kula Kaipuni
> o Anuenue, a public immersion school where all instruction for the 350
> students is in the Hawaiian language.
> http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/03/13/special_reports/books/15_35_323_12_05.txt
>
>
> Scots Gaelic is in peril. It is our duty to save it
> Sunday Herald Online, March 13
> Muriel Gray argues that multicultural Scotland should give priority to
> protecting our most endangered species, the native Gaels, before we
> start worrying about those who speak Punjabi, Urdu or Arabic.
> http://www.sundayherald.com/48303
>
>
> Alphabet soup
> St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 13
> I am the world's worst speller. I have been all my life. My homework —
> from Miss Pedrow's third-grade language arts class to Dr. Gurevitch's
> doctoral seminar in persuasion and attitude change — all came back with
> the measles, solid red marks from top to bottom. "Good writing,
> atrocious spelling" was the verdict of just about every essay contest I
> ever entered (even those I won).
> http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/11102923.htm
>
>
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