It may take a budding Latina tween with warm dark eyes and undaunted courage to ready America’s children for our multicultural future. After dominating children’s television for a decade the heroine most…
One thing’s clear, there’s a whole lot of duckspeak afoot.
Texas A&M University-Commerce Marketing Communications Photography/Flickr
Writer Will Self grabbed headlines earlier this week by referring to George Orwell as the “Supreme Mediocrity”. He wrote: The curious thing is that while during the post-war period we’ve had many political…
Listicle: an article made up of lists. This may be regarded as [Bare](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bare#bare21) lazy as it obviates the need for coherent paragraphs, or as Douchebaggery…
Transgender and gender non-conforming lives are becoming increasingly visible. Debate about the lives and legitimacy of trans people is being conducted in the most mainstream of media outlets: Time magazine…
There has been a bit of a kerfuffle down at the village hall. Has the vicar cheated in the beetle drive again? Or has Miss Perkins’s fabled home-made jam turned out to be Hartley’s? Worse still, I’m afraid…
While sometimes I teem with opinions jostling to be exercised over the page, at other times I’m drawn into meditation, where my engagement with the happenings, and the actual materiality, of fashion loosens…
Three works by the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez are suggested for Spanish A Level.
Leonardo Munoz/EPA
As part of its revamp of the A Level curriculum, the government has launched a consultation on the way modern languages are taught at sixth form. If introduced, the changes herald a real boost to the teaching…
So much so that it doesn’t matter any more?
andres musta
The phrase “that’s so gay” has traditionally been understood as homophobic. Stonewall’s School Report argued this position, and it will be discussed in their upcoming Education Conference. Stonewall argues…
Not only has new Indian prime minister Narendra Modi replaced English with Hindi when talking to audiences in non-Hindi parts of India, he’s also addressing other Asian leaders in Hindi.
Shutterstock
Narendra Modi just returned from his first foreign trip as India’s prime minister. The two-day Bhutan visit focused on mutual trade and development, but one of the biggest stories in India was Modi’s use…
Thank you - for not only speaking English.
Thank you via ivosar/Shutterstock
There are now more than 1.1 million children in our schools whose first language “is known or believed to be other than English” according to the latest government figures. This confirms a continuous upwards…
Talk to me, Dad.
Father and son via sashahaltam/Shutterstock
The rate at which children learn language varies substantially from child to child. Some children show rapid vocabulary growth before they go to school, while others learn so slowly that they can end up…
The grammar Nazis are literally out there.
Twitter/@ANP14
You have to look long and hard to find a joke with “grammar” in the punchline. But recently, a very funny grammar joke turned up on Twitter, thanks to the American Nazi Party, which feels bound to maintain…
Australian slang is alive and well, but where does it come from?
Shutterstock
I recently read an article bemoaning the “decline” of Australian slang, pointing out that the latest edition of Tony Thorne’s Dictionary of Contemporary Slang has but a handful of new Australian entries…
Well-coined neologisms have the potential to go viral – but their survival isn’t guaranteed.
possumgirl2
As you may have seen, the Daily Telegraph blogger Tim Blair ran a much-tweeted-about poll yesterday asking: “Who is Australia’s craziest left-wing frightbat?”. Leaving aside the backlash, which was considerable…
RuPaul’s Drag Race: season six queens.
Logo TV/Mathu Andersen
A siren sounds in the workroom and the contestants, still in their street clothes, stop their conversation. “Oooh, girl! You’ve got She-Mail,” says a shrill voice. For those of you just tuning in, you’re…
Bowe Bergdahl was released in a prisoner exchange on 31 May.
Intelcenter Handout/EPA
When US soldier Bowe Bergdahl was released after being held captive by the Afghan Taliban for five years, his father said his son was “having trouble speaking English”. Many will find this statement incredible…
Whatever you call it - climate change, global warming, or the greenhouse effect - it’s increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
How we talk about climate change has a lot to do with how we feel about it, and what we’re willing to do to act on it. Recent research from the US found that the terms “global warming” and “climate change…
Learning braille is liberating so it’s time to modernise.
Dave Halberstadt
Even in a world of digital devices, braille continues to be a vital part of life for blind people. For nearly 200 years, this versatile writing system has allowed them to learn, work and live in a more…
Don’t make linguists angry; you wouldn’t like them when they’re angry.
katmary
Recently on The Conversation, Baden Eunson argued that the current uses of “hopefully”, “literally” and “begs the question” were prime examples of “atrocities in English [that] are committed every day…