This post contains a selection of links related to language and words in the news. These can be items from the latest news, blog posts or interesting websites related to global English, language change, education in general, and language learning and teaching in particular.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to include, or just add a comment to the post, with the link(s) you’d like to share.
Global English
Deep impact
The reality is that, to a deeper extent than commonly realised, German is changing under constant influence from English.
Language change and slang
Was Freakonomics Right About Baby Names?
Every name now represents its own subculture and worldview, and poorer parents aren’t following in the steps of the wealthy. They’re aggressively blazing their own trails.
These 3 Words Are the Telltale Sign of a Rubbish Script
There are actually, in my experience, two giveaways for crummy screenplays or teleplays. The first is the extent to which characters address each other by name.
Books, dictionaries, words and language
Flann O’Brien on translating Ulysses into Irish
I believe this passage from his article ‘J.J. and Us’ (J.J. meaning James Joyce), about a plan to translate Ulysses into Irish, to be essentially on the level.
Spotlighting Australia’s Languages: Tamil
Most Tamil speakers have arrived in Australia (mainly from India and Sri Lanka) in the last three decades or are the children of those migrants.
Competition
Babel’s Young Writers’ Competition
Babel magazine has a competition for young linguists. There are two age groups and the prize is publication in the magazine.
