New book on Naval slang

A collection of thousands of naval slang words and phrases known as "Jackspeak" has been published, highlighting just how many of them have crept in to the modern lexicon over the years.
Ever been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea? Or maybe you have been told to show a leg, been taken aback or have been made to run the gauntlet.

These men can laugh about working for the "Grey Funnel Line" (the navy)
If so, you have been using just a few of the thousands of slang words and phrases coined or adopted by the Royal Navy - the world's oldest organised fighting service - over the course of more than 400 years.

BBC website

Private language tutors to be targeted by HM Revenue & Customs

Private tutors are the latest group of professionals to be targeted in a crackdown on tax-dodging as HM Revenue & Customs said it was beginning to win the battle against avoidance, evasion and fraud.

HMRC said the so-called "tax gap" between what should have been paid by individuals and businesses and what was collected, had fallen by £4bn to £35bn.

The Guardian

Language teaching 'deplorable'says Bishop

Language teaching and learning in England is "deplorable" and declining drastically, a senior Church of England bishop has warned.

The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Bradford, called for the English to learn other languages to help deepen their understanding of the world.
The Independenthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Jewish US army translator who got close to the Nazis

A German Jew who became a US military translator is the last surviving member of a team that carried out psychological tests on leading Nazis after the war. They learned very little, he says - but he gained unique insights into their characters.

"If you took away the names of these Nazis, and just sat down to talk to them, they were like your friends and neighbours."

Howard Triest, 88, spent many hours with some of the most notorious leaders of the Third Reich, acting as a translator for American psychiatrists at Nuremberg.

BBC website

French Studies for the 21st century: new book

Many humanities programs -- and in particular many language programs -- have faced challenges in recent years of budget cuts and questions about their relevance. A new collection -- French Studies in and for the Twenty-First Century (Liverpool University Press) -- asserts that the field of French studies most certainly matters -- and should continue to be nurtured at top universities.

The book's editors are Philippe Lane, attaché for higher education at the French Embassy in London, and Michael Worton, vice provost and the Fielden Professor of French Language and Literature at University College London. Worton responded via e-mail to questions about the book and the state of French studies.

Philippe Lane and Michael Worton, French Studies in and for the Twenty-first Century (Liverpool University Press, 2011).

Interview with one of the editors, Professor Michael Worton In side HigherEd.com

Speaking assessment blamed for drop in numbers doing GCSE Chinese

The number of pupils taking GCSE Chinese dropped by a massive 42 per cent this year after the introduction of new speaking and writing assessments triggered an exodus to the IGCSE syllabus.

Numbers taking GCSE Chinese fell from 3,650 in 2010 to 2,104 this year, figures released last week reveal.

Teachers, academics and advisers working with community groups warned last year that a change to the rules on coursework would mean a drop in numbers.

The new rules meant that for the first time pupils studying certain community languages had to undergo controlled assessment of their speaking skills by a trained teacher in an examination centre, usually in their mainstream school.

Times Education Supplement http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif