The Language Feed - February 20, 2006 (fwd)

Mon Feb 20 21:20:47 UTC 2006

The Language Feed
February 20, 2006

This issue and archives can be read on the web at
http://www.languagefeed.com.
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A good initiative, in any language
Newsday, February 13
A new public diplomacy strategy unveiled by the Bush administration last
month puts America's two- and four-year colleges and universities at the
front lines of the government's efforts to "win hearts and minds" in the
Mideast. Spreading messages of tolerance, equality, friendship and
opportunity to counterparts abroad is a welcome challenge - one to which
our nation's institutions of higher learning are ideally suited.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-oppip134625300feb13,0,963409.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines

San Mateo Medical Center aims to lower language barriers
San Mateo Business Journal, February 10
San Mateo Medical Center will become the first public hospital in
Silicon Valley this month to bring medical interpreters to its hospital
and clinics through a novel use of Internet-based technology as it tries
to lower language barriers between its staff and patients.
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2006/02/13/focus2.html?jst=cn_cn_lk

DOI Commends Founding Of Samoan Language University
Pacific Magazine, February 14
The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) has commended the founding of the
first Samoan language university, AMOSA o Savavau Tutuila ma Manu’a,
which officially opened in American Samoa last month.
http://www.pacificislands.cc/pina/pinadefault2.php?urlpinaid=20281

New cultures, challenges: It's a polyglot world
The Seattle Times, February 19
Soon after he arrived at the upscale Wegmans Food Markets store in
Dulles, Va., last year, executive chef Llewellyn Correia discovered that
many of the 120 employees he supervised had not been attending the
company's mandatory safety and sanitation classes. The reason? "The
courses were in English, and many of my employees don't speak English,"
he said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002814701_language19.html

Confessions of an ex-ESL Teacher
American Chronicle, February 17
I was once an ESL teacher—for one day. That's right, I taught English as
a Second Language for exactly one day. The story behind this is not as
strange as it may appear. It started when my wife, who was teaching a
class too large and too mixed with different levels of students, asked
me to get involved. So, I did. What I discovered taught me two things.
One is that my wife is a braver man than I am and two, that teaching ESL
in the country of Mexico is a nightmare.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=5972

Interest in speaking Chinese on the rise
Muncie Star Press, February 19
The hottest new export out of China these days? Its language.
Nationwide, experts say there’s been an unprecedented increase in the
number of students studying Chinese at the college level.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/13909132.htm

Towards a bilingual nation
The Age, February 20
Michael Clyne, a passionate advocate for bilingualism, practises what he
preaches. He grew up in a family that spoke English and German at home.
As a father, he spoke (and still speaks) only German to his now adult
daughter; her mother spoke to her in English.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/towards-a-bilingual-nation/2006/02/18/1140151820165.html

Children Driven to Learn English
Korea Times, February 19
Koreans ranging from children to adults have been preoccupied with
English while attending schools or searching for a good job after
graduation. Amid such a frenzy, an increasing number of Korean children
are trying hard to earn a good score on English proficiency tests.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200602/kt2006021918295811960.htm

Sanskrit Language Loses Favor in Nepal
Ohmynews International, February 20
Is not it surprising to hear that the name of the German airline
"Lufthansa
<http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh_com/de/homepage?tl=1&ctest=54082766310&l=en>"
is derived from a Sanskrit word? Of course it is. The word "Lufthansa"
means "The Flying Swan" in Sanskrit, an ancient language spoken in Nepal
and other parts of South Asia.
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=5&no=275283&rel_no=1

Brazilian Language: a Sea of Metaphors
Brazilmax.com, February 19
Every culture and every language lives not only through its concrete
vocabulary, but most vividly through its stock of poetic imagery and
metaphor. (The most compelling imagining of this may have been that
episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where Captain Picard was
literally unable to communicate with an alien until he began to inhabit
the other’s references to literature and myth.)
http://www.brazilmax.com/news2.cfm/tborigem/fe_society/id/25

Future uncertain for Internet English test
The Minnesota Daily, February 20
Years ago, English language proficiency exams were taken with a standard
No. 2 pencil and paper. In the technology age, it is no surprise that
the testing has been upgraded to computers and the Internet. However,
simpler might be better in the end. Beginning in February, there are
more locations throughout the world that provide the Test of English as
a Foreign Language where Internet-based testing is available.
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/02/20/67229

Lee language specialist will do national training
The News-Press, February 20
Felicita Sanyet shares her advice on teaching new immigrants and other
limited English-speaking students with Lee County teachers, aides and
administrators. Now, she'll offer her wisdom to teachers from across the
country. Sanyet, 45, was one of 75 educators selected for the
Teacher-to-Teacher Training Corps, a U.S. Department of Education
program that invites teachers to share their experiences with their peers.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060220/NEWS0104/602200367/1075

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