Tag Archives: Chinese
In Vietnam, a Nation Learns English
In Vietnam, history is daily life. So says economist Le Dang Doanh. So history might be a good indicator of which foreign languages the Vietnamese would be more inclined to learn. French? Russian? Mandarin? English? The Vietnamese have gone to … Continue reading
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The Chinese Yuan, the US Dollar and the Currency of Language
Imagine a time in the not too distant future when global business deals are mainly conducted in Mandarin Chinese. Contracts outlining sales of, say, Brazilian planes to India are written in Mandarin, the payments made in yuan. The websites of … Continue reading
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Inventing a Word for a Facebook Relationship
Whichever language any of us speak, we have rarely shied away from coming up with new words. Now of course, unnamed new things surround us every day—especially new things on the internet. We forget that only in the recent past, … Continue reading
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Corporate Spelling Experiments and Fear of a Chinese-Speaking Planet
For our once-a-month-ish gab fest, Carol and I just couldn’t pass this one up. Sometime, corporations knock it out of the park with their inventions, or re-inventions, of words. Who can argue with Coca-Cola? And it’s not like they’re alone. … Continue reading
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Are Chinese Kids Losing a Part of Their Language?
In China, authorities are worried that the technical ease of typing Chinese characters means that people are forgetting how to write them. As a result, they are urging schools to re-introduce mandatory calligraphy classes. I’m learning Chinese, and so I … Continue reading
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Fictional Chinese Names, and the Value of Fiction
Fiction is good for you. Good thing really, given the untold hours I’ve spent reading Voltaire, Dostoyevsky and um, Jackie Collins. I’ve always believed, in a vague, unsubstantiated way, that reading made-up stuff makes me a better person. There is … Continue reading
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From Cicero to Lynne Truss with Robert Lane Greene
As soon as I saw the new book by Robert Lane Greene You Are What You Speak, I know he and needed to speak. Not just because we both speak Danish (we didn’t even talk about that). It’s mainly because … 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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The English-only movement in America
A conversation about making English the only official language in the United States. Tim Schultz, lobbyist with Washington-based US English makes the case for this, ahead of an English-only vote in Oklahoma. This is not the usual fare on The … Continue reading
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