THE LINGUISTS: A documentary

A documentary feature THE LINGUISTS was selected to world premiere in the newly minted Spectrum: Documentary Spotlight" category at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

THE LINGUISTS is the first documentary supported by the National Science Foundation to ever make it to Sundance.

The trailer is at:

http://www.thelinguists.com.

Here's a brief synopsis:
It is estimated that of 7,000 languages in the world, half will be gone by the end of this century. THE LINGUISTS follows David Harrison and Gregory Anderson, scientists racing to document languages on the verge of extinction. In Siberia, India, and Bolivia, the linguists' resolve is tested by the very forces silencing languages: institutionalized racism and violent economic unrest. David and Greg's journey takes them deep into the heart of the cultures, knowledge, and communities at risk when a language dies.

Fewer adults in evening classes

Nearly 700,000 fewer adults attended evening classes in England this year than last year, figures show.
The drop represents a fall of more than a fifth or 21.7% in learner numbers in publicly-funded adult education.

[...]
LSC chief executive Mark Haysom said he was pleased with the figures and that they were in line with the council's funding strategy.

This is dictated by government policy which encouraged colleges to end subsidies for adult education courses undertaken for pleasure such as languages and pottery.



BBC website
Thursday, 20 December 2007

Schools to get £340 for languages

Primary schools in England will receive about £340 extra each next year to support compulsory languages teaching.
From September all those over seven must learn a foreign language.

Wednesday, 19 December 2007
BBC website

Learning the lingo

New England manager Fabio Capello has vowed to learn English in a month, but can he and does he need to?

"But in this moment my English is not so well."

Fabio Capello's explanation at his first press conference as England manager indicated two things.

Those people who said he had no understanding whatsoever of English were wrong. And those people who said he actually spoke English were wrong.

Tuesday 18th December 2007
BBC website

USA "w00t" crowned word of year by U.S. dictionary

BOSTON (Reuters) - "w00t", an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary.

Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster said "w00t" -- typically spelled with two zeros -- reflects a new direction in the American language led by a generation raised on video games and mobile phone text-messaging.

It's like saying "yay", the dictionary said.

Wednesday 12 Decemeber 2007
Yahoo

Lost without translation

The UK's population is growing. Part of that increase is fuelled by women from other countries having children here.
And as the Local Government Association (LGA), representing 400 councils in England and Wales, outlines to a House of Lords select committee how migration stretches community services, one midwife tells how the changes affect her

BBC website
Tuesday, 11 December 2007

Primary curriculum to be reviewed

A "root-and-branch" review is planned into what is taught in English primary schools to allow more time for reading, writing and maths, Ed Balls has said.
The children's minister said some set subjects and "clutter" would be cut to allow more flexibility and all primary pupils to be taught a foreign language.

Tuesday 11th December 2007
BBC website

Councils urged to translate less

Councils are being advised to "think twice" about spending money on translation which might be better spent on English classes.

Announcing new government guidelines, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears urged councils to use common sense before deciding what needs translating.

BBC website
Friday 7th December 2007

LLAS December e-bulletin

This month's ebulletin is now available on the subject centre website at:

http://www.llas.ac.uk/e-bulletin.aspx

Yorkshire fabric company named top Business Language Champion

Camira Fabrics with King James' High School in Huddersfield have been named Business Language Champion Partnership of the Year 2006-2007. The prize, awarded for inspiring students and demonstrating the real life relevance of language skills, was announced at the National Education Business Partnership Network annual conference in London on Monday 3 December.

http://www.cilt.org.uk/news/pressoffice/pressrelease/2007/pr0735blcp0312n.pdf

http://www.cilt.org.uk/employment/blc/index.htm