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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: foreign languages

foreign languages stories: 9 news summaries

 Après Le Deluge: 
 French Battle 
 Anglo Terms 
 in Web Age 

Experts struggle to create equivalents for terms like 'cloud computing'

Oct 14, 09 4:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Defenders of the French language are fighting a rear-guard action against a flood of Anglo-Saxon computing terms. In a process that lags far behind advances in technology, experts are tasked with finding French equivalents for new computing technology. The terms must then be passed by a panel of linguists and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • France • language • translation • terminology • foreign languages • computing • French

ANALYSIS

Going Public in Bear Market Is Risky Bet for Rosetta Stone

Firm could make less money due to bear market

Apr 16, 09 12:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Rosetta Stone, the popular language-learning software maker, holds its initial public stock offering today—a risky move in a bear market, Jennifer Collins reports for Marketplace. Rosetta Stone’s profit has quadrupled since 2007, but it could make twice as much by waiting. It’s possible Rosetta needs cash now,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
competition • IPO • software • stock • language • Rosetta Stone • foreign languages

Speak Another Language? CIA's Got a Job for You

Agency running ads to recruit minorities, foreign-language speakers

Mar 31, 09 10:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - The CIA has no trouble finding recruits. But that doesn’t mean it gets the recruits it wants, so the CIA is running a radio ad campaign targeting potential spooks fluent in a second language, Time reports, and nonwhite. “I’d like to get to a point where every... More »

MORE ABOUT:
CIA • ethnic diversity • Leon Panetta • foreign languages

COMMENTARY



 The Insult 
 That Hurts 
 Worldwide 


Mar 14, 09 4:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Next time you want to indulge in a pulse-pounding, worldwide tradition, call somebody a motherf**ker, Nina Shen Rastogi writes at Slate. The Chinese, Africans, and Arabs are among those who have hurled versions of the indignity for generations. Anthropologists say it works because, like religion and scatology, family and sex... More »

MORE ABOUT:
language • foreign languages • insult

 Obama Speeches Help 
 Japanese Learn English 

Students use his speeches to learn language

Feb 21, 09 9:55 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama is fast becoming a popular English teacher—in Japan. His speeches have become a hit for people learning the language there, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama's slow and careful enunciation make him a particularly good model, teachers say. One book of speeches, complete with a dictionary for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Japan • English • speech • foreign languages • English language

 Obama Speeches Teach English, Hope to Japanese 

Dem's speeches good for language-learners, more inspiring than local pols'

Jan 21, 09 10:46 AM CST
(Newser) - The Japanese version of Amazon.com features an unlikely bestseller: the collected speeches of Barack Obama, with Japanese translation and accompanying CD, Reuters reports. Obama’s inspiring but straightforward rhetoric is perfect for teaching English in a country that hankers to learn the language. He “uses words such as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Japan • language • English • translation • book • Japanese • foreign languages • Amazon.com • best seller • President Obama

Texting Could Save Dying Languages

Linguists push to
get more of them
on cell phones

Jan 2, 09 8:25 AM CST
(Newser) - Linguists trying to save the world's endangered languages believe cell phones—more specifically, texting—can give them a vital boost, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, but predictive text software currently exists for just 80. Experts believe developing the technology for more tongues will... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cell phones • language • text message • texting • foreign languages • mobile phones

 Italians Protest English Words 

Society not 'OK' with native speakers using Anglo shortcuts

Sep 10, 08 2:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - One cultural institution is not "OK" with Italians speaking Anglitaliano, the BBC reports. "Weekend" and "OK" topped a list of least-favorite foreign words among visitors to the Dante Alighieri Society website. It shows Italians want more respect for their language, the group says. More »

MORE ABOUT:
globalization • European Union • Italy • Italian • foreign languages

Philly Steak Shop Can Keep
'Please Speak English' Signs

Statement political, no service denied: panel

Mar 20, 08 5:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - The owner of a Philadelphia institution can keep signs that ask customers to order their cheese steaks in English, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. A city agency ruled the signs at Geno's Steaks—"This is America. When ordering, please speak English"—do not violate discrimination rules; owner Joey Vento... More »

MORE ABOUT:
immigration • America • Philadelphia • language • English • Joe Vento • cheese steak shop • Geno's • foreign languages

9 Stories


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