Tag Archives: China
Ai Weiwei’s translator, Belgium during linguistic wartime, and Rastamouse
Arrested Chinese artist Ai Weiwei wrote a blog that was, if anything, even more provocative than his art. We hear from Beijing-based translator and art critic Lee Ambrozy who has translated Ai’s blog posts into English. Next in the pod, … Continue reading
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The vocoder, the linguistic robot and the Dead Rabbit
This is how it didn’t happen: Winston Churchill is at home tapping his toes to his favorite Afrika Bambaataa number. The robot-like distortion of the vocals means that Britain’s most famous cigar afficionado cannot make out the lyric. “Hmm,” he … Continue reading
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The events of English and the future of Tibetan
Five language stories from the past month with Patrick, Carol and Rhitu… 5.Tibetan in schools Tibetans have been protesting over the potential loss of their language in schools. It started after the Chinese Communist Party’s Qinghai province chief, Qiang Wei … Continue reading
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Speaking in Tongues and Dreaming in Chinese
A new PBS documentary, Speaking in Tongues, follows four students and their families at dual immersion schools in San Francisco. The film offers evidence that the study of math, science and other subjects in more than one language gives students … Continue reading
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Packing flashcards, Pandas and Polyglotty Olympics
So it’s another edition top five language stories of the past month, with The World’s cartoon queen and podstar Carol Hills. 5. The End of Bo. As repeat readers and listeners know, I’m on the fence when it comes to … Continue reading
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A Chinese Valentine’s pod
Hundreds of language programs at public schools have become victims of shrinking budgets. Not Chinese. We visit Medgar Evers College Preparatory School in Brooklyn, NY, where 400 students are learning the language. Many of the students at the school are … Continue reading
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Spelling Obama in Chinese, oratory, and chop suey love
How do you spell Obama in Chinese? Depends who you are. The Chinese news media spell it 奥巴马 (àobāmǎ). But the US Embassy in Beijing recently launched a campaign to change it to 欧巴马 (ōubāmǎ). Why no agreement? The embassy … Continue reading
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Twitter freedom, a zeitgeisty Chinese word, and Lakota immersion
Question: what happens when a court gags a newspaper? Answer: The gag sags, 140 characters at a time. That’s what happened this month when microbloggers tweeted what The Guardian couldn’t report. Plus, they tweeted that The Guardian couldn’t report that … Continue reading
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