On International Mother Language Day, Canadians can celebrate multilingual heritage by recognizing flexible uses of languages.
Far fewer Americans speak a second language than in most other developed countries – and the problem starts in the classroom.
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Whether it’s due to native language loss or unsupported high school curricula, the lack of bilingualism in the US is notable. Why can’t more Americans speak another language? How should that change?
A billabong on SBS website My Grandmother’s Lingo, which takes viewers on an interactive journey through the Marra language.
My Grandmother's Lingo
A beautiful interactive SBS online documentary puts the spotlight on Marra, an Indigenous language spoken fluently by just three people.
Jamie Milpurr translates archived stories told by his grandfather Frank Ambidjambidj with help from his grandmother Margaret Marlingarr. The stories were told in Kun-barlang, a language spoken on Goulburn Island with 20 speakers remaining.
Steven Bird
There are hundreds of different languages spoken in the Pacific region that could be lost. So it’s important to safeguard what recordings we have in a digital archive available to all.
Every language contains a unique, and irreplaceable, worldview.
Reuters
Malcolm Turnbull’s tears have drawn attention to harsh truths about the loss of Indigenous culture. As a nation we should embrace Indigenous languages.
Members of the Chitimacha language team (from left to right) Sam Boutte, Kim Walden and Rachel Vilcan use the new language software for the first time.
In the face of war, disease and outside cultural pressures, the Chitimacha language has survived – and now thrives.
Literary translation has occurred for centuries (the Bible is a prime example). And with Nobel Prize winners like French author Patrick Modiano, it’s unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
Wikimedia Commons
I recently stumbled upon a post that describes the process of literary translation as “soul-crushing.” That’s news to me, and I’ve been engaged in literary translation for the better part of four decades…
How much Chinese will these adopted babies remember?
Adrian Bradshaw
How robust are languages learned in childhood but disused later in life? A new study by researchers at McGill University and the University of Montreal has found that the forgotten birth language of adoptees…
Associate Professor and Reader, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Research Unit for Indigenous Language, School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne