Kiswahili becomes Kenya's official language

Kiswahili has now been given the status of Kenya's official language - read the update here

Languages Racing to Extinction in 5 Global "Hotspots"

From Alaska to Australia, hundreds of languages around the world are teetering on the brink of extinction—some being spoken only by a single person, according to a new study. Research has revealed five hotspots where languages are vanishing most rapidly: eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, Oklahoma, and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. In the last 500 years, an estimated half of the world's languages, from Etruscan to Tasmanian, have become extinct. But researchers say the languages of the world are now vanishing faster than ever in recorded history. More than 500 languages may be spoken by fewer than ten people.

To read the full article, click here

New study sheds light on how sign language may be ordered in the brain

When people are communicating in sign languages, they also move their mouths. But scientists have debated whether mouth movements resembling spoken language are part of the sign itself or are connected directly to English. In a new study on British Sign Language, signers made different mistakes in the sign and in the mouthing—which means the hand and lip movements are separate in the signer's brain, not part of the same sign.

Read the full study here

Quirks continued...

Here are some more fun little English quirks...

13. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.
14. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
15. When you've seen one shopping centre you've seen a mall.
16. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine .
17. When she saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.
18. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
19. Acupuncture: a jab well done.
20. Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.
21. The roundest knight at king Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
22. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

English quirks

The English language is full of all kinds of quirks. A very remarkable language with an equally remarkable spelling system that we all somehow have learned...enjoy!

1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
2. A will is a dead giveaway.
3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
6. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
7. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
8. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
9. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
10. A calendar's days are numbered.
11. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
12. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

More quirkies later...stay tuned!

English turning into German?

What's this? A reformation of our English spelling system? Into German?

A fun little snippet about English spelling, enjoy!

The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).
In the first year, “s” will be used instead of the soft “c”. Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard “c” will be replaced with “k”. Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced by “f”. This will make words like “fotograf’ 20 per sent shorter.
In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horrible mes of silent “e”s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.
By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” by “z” and “w” by “v”.
During ze fifz year, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou”, and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.
After zis fifz year, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.
Ze drem vil finali kum tru.

Aboriginal placenames around Sydney chart

Here is a chart of place names for the coastal Sydney region in Australia, including current place names, references, and historical names and descriptions. A very interesting read of what our places were traditionally called before it was taken over by & renamed by the Europeans in the late 18th century.

In fact, a number of Councils in Australia have adopted, or are examining the adoption of, dual naming policies. Adelaide is one of the first major Australian cities to adopt this approach, and today you will find Adelaide's parks and many other places with dual name signage. Sydney Council has also begun to explore this option, and as a first move, in October 2002, the point where the southern end of the Harbour Bridge stands, known as Dawes Point, has also been signposted as Tara.

Ancient language mystery deepens

A linguistic mystery has arisen surrounding symbol-inscribed stones in Scotland that predate the formation of the country itself. To read the full article, click here

Did you ever wonder Who or Why?

Some ponderings I came across in my English studies...

Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
Is Disney World the only people trap operated by a mouse?
Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

Warlpiri

Here is a great website with information on the Australian Aboriginal language Warlpiri, spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia. There is info on the dialects, structure, & sounds of the language, plus other resources for more info on Warlpiri, for example, papers on Warlpiri grammar, etc.

Australian Aboriginal languages map

Here is a map showing all the Australian Aboriginal languages and where they are spoken within Australia. There certainly is a diversity of them spoken all over the continent.

Good old-fashioned phone calls going out of fashion

Apparently this new texting generation doesn't share the same enthusiasm for chatting away on the phone as previous generations once did. It's been found that a generation of e-mailing, followed by an explosion in texting, has pushed the telephone conversation into serious decline, and it's only those in their mid-50s and early 60s who are the only ones still yakking on the phone as they used to.

Click to get the full article here

More Students Choose a Junior-Year Abroad in the Middle East

This article is interesting: American college students are increasingly choosing to spend their traditional junior year abroad in places like Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, wanting to experience the Arab world beyond America’s borders and viewpoints.

Hebrew information & facts

Here are some interesting facts about the Hebrew language, including a list of words in English which are derived from Hebrew:

http://aboutworldlanguages.com/Hebrew/#fact