Languages- unlocking potential- young Africans click2x Africa is the home of 2144 languages. Oddly, most development theoreticians consider this a barrier to economic and social growth. Sociolinguists and educationists know better: the African continent’s multilingualism is a powerful resource. The problem begins at school, and continues right through the education system. I have watched South African university students’ call for “fees to fall”, and – coming as I do from a country that offers free primary through tertiary education and whose economy thrives partly for this reason – I fully support them. The continent needs a new strategy for mother-tongue based bilingual education, from primary through to tertiary level. Crucially in these countries, the mother tongue is not suddenly abandoned at university. Applying these lessons in postcolonial Africa means embracing truly multilingual education. Putting African languages first There are several objections to introducing African languages into the education system. There’s more.
George Saunders: what writers really do when they write | Books Many years ago, during a visit to Washington DC, my wife’s cousin pointed out to us a crypt on a hill and mentioned that, in 1862, while Abraham Lincoln was president, his beloved son, Willie, died, and was temporarily interred in that crypt, and that the grief-stricken Lincoln had, according to the newspapers of the day, entered the crypt “on several occasions” to hold the boy’s body. An image spontaneously leapt into my mind – a melding of the Lincoln Memorial and the Pietà. I carried that image around for the next 20-odd years, too scared to try something that seemed so profound, and then finally, in 2012, noticing that I wasn’t getting any younger, not wanting to be the guy whose own gravestone would read “Afraid to Embark on Scary Artistic Project He Desperately Longed to Attempt”, decided to take a run at it, in exploratory fashion, no commitments. We often discuss art this way: the artist had something he “wanted to express”, and then he just, you know … expressed it. Hoo, boy.
The battle over the words used to describe migrants - BBC News Images of people scrambling over barbed wire fences in Calais or crossing the Mediterranean in fishing boats have dominated the media over the last few months. And a debate has even emerged about the very words used to describe people. The word migrant is defined in Oxford English Dictionary as "one who moves, either temporarily or permanently, from one place, area, or country of residence to another". It is used as a neutral term by many media organisations - including the BBC - but there has been criticism of that use. News website al-Jazeera has decided it will not use migrant and "will instead, where appropriate, say refugee". There are some who dislike the term because it implies something voluntary but that it is applied to people fleeing danger. "Migrant used to have quite a neutral connotation," explains Alexander Betts, director of the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University. "Refugee implies that we have an obligation to people," says Betts. More from the Magazine
Christmas Below, you will find a wide range of ideas and resources to help you when you are teaching children at Christmas time. If you have any relevant resources to share, please email them and I will add them to this page. Thank you! Favourite Christmas Activities - Share your ideas for Christmas lessons and activities to use throughout the festive season. Advent Acrostic - Use this poster as a starting point for getting children to write their own acrostic poems. Donkey's First Christmas - Foundation Lesson Plan - A lesson plan for children aged 4-5, based on the book Donkey's First Christmas (available here). <A HREF=" Merry Christmas Banner - A long banner with the text 'Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year'. Find ideas and resources linked to popular Christmas books!
Languages of California – Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Two centuries ago, between 80 and 90 different languages were spoken within the boundaries of what is now the state of California. The indigenous languages of California belong to as many as 20 major language families; even accepting the controversial "Hokan" and "Penutian" groups, at least seven entirely unrelated language families are represented. For its size, California is linguistically the most diverse area of North America. To learn more about the languages of California, click on the interactive map below. Languages by family (see alphabetical list) California's indigenous languages and language families are listed below. Alphabetical list of languages (see by family)
Extremely Shortened Versions of Classic Books For Lazy People When it comes to classic literature, people can generally be divided into the following three camps: Show Full Text 1. Those who have read it.2. Those who pretend to have read it.3. Those who keep saying they’re going to read it, but never do. Hats off to the first camp, but we can’t really blame those from camps two and three. But thanks to Cartoonist John Atkinson, such literary behemoths need no longer be intimidating because he’s kindly reduced them all to just a handful of words in these funny illustrations below. John told Bored Panda that he’s planning on doing at least one more in the series, but he hasn’t decided which books to include yet.
Don't fear our changing language Change can be exciting or painful. Change can also be scary: Whether we are a toddler going from home to daycare, or a working adult moving into retirement, transitions can be difficult. But some changes are inevitable, and should be embraced; start with language: change in language is not harmful, is perfectly logical, and gives us insights into the workings of the human mind. All aspects of language change: the lexicon, the syntax (or grammar), the system of sounds (phonology), and meaning (semantics). Changes in the lexicon are very visible: We’re all aware of new words that come into use, some related to technological innovations (like the verb to google, or the noun app), some to new products or behaviors that become a public concern (like manspreading, the state of a man sitting with his legs spread widely on public transit). Changes in the syntax are also frequent and inevitable. Changes in the syntax are also frequent and inevitable, though perhaps less obvious.
25 Best Sites for Free Educational Videos RefSeek's guide to the 25 best online resources for finding free educational videos. With the exception of BrainPOP and Cosmeo, all listed sites offer their extensive video libraries for free and without registration. Academic Earth Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars. academicearth.org Big Think Video interviews with 600+ thought leaders in a range of fields. bigthink.com Brightstorm Short-form online video lessons by professional educators. brightstorm.com CosmoLearning Aggregator of free, online video lessons and documentaries. cosmolearning.com Coursera Lectures taught by world-class professors and reinforced through interactive exercises. coursera.org EdX Courses designed specifically for interactive study via the web. edx.org Futures Channel High quality multimedia content ideal for use in the classroom. thefutureschannel.com Howcast Professional and user-generated how-to videos. www.howcast.com Internet Archive archive.org iTunes U Apple iTunes - Apple iTunes Software Khan Academy Hulu
Mandarin Chinese Pinyin Chart with Audio - Yabla Chinese About Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Mandarin Chinese sounds into the Roman alphabet. It was invented in 1950s, and adopted as a standard in mainland China in 1958. Pinyin is used for several purposes, such as teaching Chinese, transcribing names and places into the roman alphabet, and used as an input method for typing Chinese characters. Pinyin is not the only system devised to transcribe Chinese sounds into roman letters. The j, q, x vs. zh, ch, sh sounds Native English speakers often have trouble distinguishing between these sounds. Below are links to videos in the Yabla format that illustrate the difference.
This new 'sexual consent and tea' video from Thames Valley Police is brilliant Sex and consent is a difficult issue, mainly because something that seems so simple is continually ‘misunderstood’ in rape cases. Thames Valley Police have highlighted the issue by promoting a cartoon comparing sex to a well known British pastime – drinking a cup of tea. The result is this simple, effective and at times quite funny video, which gives clear instructions as to what constitutes as sexual consent. MORE: Someone finally ‘fixed’ that letter written by the Stanford rapist’s father The clever video, illustrated by Rachel Brian at Blue Seat Studios and written by Emmeline May at rockstardinosaurpirateprincess.com, goes through all the situations in which can be twisted into ‘blurred lines’ territory by certain people, all the while keeping with the tea analogy. ‘Maybe they were conscious when you asked them if they wanted tea, and they said “yes”. The advert is part of the #ConsentisEverything campaign being launched by Thames Valley Police.
The word 'rape' is becoming a joke on Twitter. Are we in danger of sanitising the crime? Twitter threats sent to Caroline Criado-Perez (Photo: PA) Last week two people pleaded guilty to sending menacing tweets to Caroline Criado-Perez. I’ve written about trolling, especially the misogynistic variety, elsewhere. Common in the abuse hurled at Criado-Perez were repeated threats of rape. According to Criado-Perez, her case was just the “tip of the iceberg”. In an extended article in this month’s Pacific Standard, Amanda Hess documents her own experience of receiving rape threats from Twitter users. How far down does the iceberg go? First, the volume: Twitter gave approximately 30,000 tweets back. To take a more detailed look at how the word was used, we randomly selected 500 of these tweets and analysed them manually. First up, one in five of all tweets were more or less entirely irrelevant, mostly quoting or talking about the Nirvana song "Rape Me". The second most common use is perhaps the most surprising. And some very sexist and obscene general comments:
Inspiration from Ellen Degeneres Show: Never Have I Ever : present perfect I firmly believe that the way you present things to your students matters . From boring points of grammar to challenging speaking activities, there is always a way to get their attention. I am of the opinion that students learn much better if you completely discard from your teaching the idea of boring master classes where the only person in the room seems to be the teacher and choose instead a more interactive approach. There is also something I try not to forget. Image by Michael Rozman/WarnerBros Skill: Speaking Level: B1 upwards Aim: using the Present Perfect to talk about experiences. You never know where and who you’ll get inspiration from! This hilarious speaking activity is fairly simple and requires little preparation . ♥ Tell them you are going to ask a question to the whole class . ♥ Ask them to answer your question by putting up the YES, I HAVE or I HAVE NEVER sign ♥ Ask some students to explain their answers. Do you want to try? Have you ever skipped school?
The strange tales behind how some English words found their way into the Iraqi dialect of Arabic The British “Mesopotamian Campaign” of World War I took almost three years to get to Baghdad – and the occupying force faced many challenges once it arrived. In fact, Britain’s overwhelming predominance over Iraq from 1917 to 1947 was a time of rough and violent political and economic “communication”. But the interesting number of English “loanwords” in the Iraqi dialect of Arabic tell us that the communication was not always defensive. More important, the quality of borrowed words and the way they are twisted to fit Iraqi usage reflect the fact that Iraqis were fascinated by the language and culture of their occupiers whom they ironically nicknamed “Abu Naji” after the commonly held belief that Iraqi monarch Ghazi bin Faisal had been murdered at the behest of the British by his driver, Abu Naji, in a faked car accident. English loanwords in the Iraqi dialect are found in almost all the aspects of daily life. TS Eliot’s ‘sherbet’ He looked at us while we stared when we heard that word.
25 Illustrated Ideas That Could Change Your Life Socrates, considered as one of the founders of Western philosophy, was once named the wisest man on earth by the Oracle of Delphi. When Socrates heard that the oracle had made such a comment, he believed that the statement was wrong. Socrates said: “ I know one thing: that I know nothing.” You might be a wise person, but still, you know nothing. You can learn from everything and everyone. Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have great mentors, teachers, family, friends, that taught me about life. We might learn things quickly, but we often forget things at the same rate — and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of the things we’ve learned. Here are 25 of those reminders that others taught me. 1. Never say “I can’t take it anymore.” 2. Complaining is the biggest waste of time there is. 3. That’s your family and best friends. 4. I’ve done this more than once. 5. I didn’t get this until recently. 6. No, keeping a journal is not for children. 7. Say ‘thank you’ to everyone and everything.