This post contains a weekly 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 and language change. Please contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to include.
Global English
Quebec warned to close language loophole.
The guardian of French in Quebec is warning the government to crack down on immigrants who send their children to English-language schools or face “social deconstruction” and the end of many years of linguistic peace.
Language change and slang
Washington poetry: Slams, open mikes thrive in the District.
Poetry is no longer the domain of the fuddy-duddy. Sure, it can be angry, profane, self-important at times. But it can also be — okay, we’ll say it — entertaining.
Turn a phrase and other old sayings.
English expressions that have strange origins.
Adults and baby talk.
Meanwhile, worldwide annoyance with the trend is ramping up.
Improve your English
5 Easy ways to learn grammar With The New York Times
It’s National Grammar Day, right?
Whether your approach to grammar is descriptive (scholarly) or prescriptive (nitpicking), March 4 is a day when we should all get along. Or perhaps a day on which we should all get along. Either way, March 4 is National Grammar Day.
Common errors in English
Language problems at the New York Times.
The Times itself, though generally very well written, is a rather carelessly edited newspaper that regularly allows some of the most common faults in contemporary usage to appear in its pages.
Things people say that I hate
The demise of standard English.
From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. That pathway was literacy … that teachers who endorse any kind of slang in their classrooms, including hip-hop lyrics, do their students a great disservice and only sustain illiteracy.
Books, words, science and the history of language
English-language book sales down in US and UK, up elsewhere.
Authors choose their favourite books of decade.
Authors including Ian McEwan, Philip Pullman and Roddy Doyle have participated in a survey to find a ‘writers’ pick’ of the past decade in books.
Tots don’t get their words worth from language DVD.
Regularly watching a vocabulary-building DVD doesn’t appear to help young children learn new words or improve their overall language skills, a new study reports.
UNESCO Publication: Twelve years of measuring linguistic diversity in the Internet: balance and perspectives.
New Chrome beta offers automatic webpage translation.
Oddest book titles prize shortlist announced
Mancakes
Cupcakes designed especially for men.
Language image.
Japanese people are unique!! They are so different and they have a complicated and rich culture!!! So much to learn!!! And to think…they have good things but also bad things.