RIP Boa Sr, Last Speaker of the Bo Langu...

On Friday, Boa Sr, the last surviving member of the Bo tribe of the Andaman Islands, died. The Bo language, of which she was the last surviving speaker, died with her. The Bo tribe is believed to have inhabited the islands for over 65,000 years. Boa Sr was born in the northern Andamans, when her tribe...

I Love You in 25 languages...

To help you to be extra romantic this Valentine’s Day we have added the language translation of ‘I love you’ below… I love you in Bulgarian: Обичам те I love you in Catalan: T’estimo I love you in Chinese: Cantonese: 我愛你 – Mandarin: 我愛你; 我爱你 I love you in Croatian:...

The Language of Love...

Valentine’s Day is approaching fast, a time when we express our love with cards and presents. Love is honoured on this day throughout the world. Valentine’s Day is shrouded with myths of sacred marriage, fertility and romance. The true St. Valentine was a Christian saint but very little...

Chinese Takes Over in American Schools...

American school systems, often strapped for cash and forced to divert resources toward preparing kids for standardized achievement tests, have been slowly decreasing their foreign-language offerings. According to the New York Times, “thousands” of American schools have dropped languages from...

CIA Increase Language Requirements for T...

The Central Intelligence Service (CIA) announced on Friday that it is increasing its language requirements for employees looking to be promoted to the top ranks of the agency, the Senior Intelligence Service (SIS). Agency director Leon Panetta sent out a note to all CIA staff, stating that he expects...

One Step Closer To Native Web Addresses...

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, aka ICANN, is one step closer to allowing the first Internet addresses written completely in non-Latin characters. Previously, in October, ICANN had voted to allow non-Latin web addresses. On January 21st, they approved the first four non-Latin...

Do Prairie Dogs Talk?...

Prairie dogs are small, burrowing rodents native to the United States, where they are often treated as vermin by farmers and ranchers. However, scientists are now discovering that these ground squirrels may have some of the most sophisticated linguistic abilities in the animal kingdom, second only to...

Mel Gibson’s Next Movie to Be Shot...

Mel Gibson is making a Viking movie. The movie doesn’t have a title yet, but William Monahan is writing the script, and it will star Leonardo DiCaprio. Oh, and the movie will be shot entirely in period languages. That means Leonardo DiCaprio will most likely deliver his lines in Old Norse or perhaps...

Day Care Aims to Teach Cornish to Toddle...

Cornish toddlers can now learn the Cornish language through a Saturday day care program at Cornwall College in Camborne. The program teaches the tots language through play while their parents take an adult Cornish language class. So far, according to the BBC, seven children have been registered for...

Tensions Rise in Malaysia over How to Tr...

People tend to perceive debates over translation as dry, scholarly affairs, but sometimes, disagreements about how to translate a word can aggravate existing tensions between groups, even escalating violence.  This was especially evident in the country of Malaysia last week, where a dispute about how...