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Language News
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Archive news from across the online press (including BBC News) on language, accents and dialects.

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May 2005
UK 'loves languages after all'
Seven out of 10 people have tried to learn a language at some point in their life and most wish they could speak one more fluently, a survey found.
(BBC News, 25th September 2005)
 
Diversity of languages is hailed
The growth in communities teaching their own languages in the UK should be seen as an educational asset, language experts have said.
(BBC News, 22nd September 2005)
 
Call for class help on languages
The government should guarantee funds to help schools with children who do not speak English, a council says.
(BBC News, 22nd September 2005)
 
Manx Gaelic revival 'impressive'
The campaign to further revive the use of Manx Gaelic is "progressing well", according to a champion of Scotland's native language.
(BBC News, 22nd September 2005)
 
US Welsh teacher inspired by Ioan
An American woman who moved to Wales to learn Welsh after seeing Ioan Gruffudd on television, is about start teaching the language in California.
(BBC News, 21st September 2005)
 
Tingo, nakkele and other wonders
English is a rich and innovative language. But you can't help feeling we're missing out. While English speakers have to describe the action of laughing so much that one side of your abdomen hurts (hardly an economical phrase), the Japanese have the much more efficient expression: katahara itai.
(BBC News, 26th September 2005)
 
Store group's pledge over signs
A retailer caught up in a Welsh language row said it hoped its new store in Bangor, Gwynedd would be used as a blueprint for others in Wales.
(BBC News, 1st September 2005)
 


'Schools plan would hit language'
More than 1,000 children would cease to be automatically taught in Welsh in Carmarthenshire under a shake-up of schools, language campaigners claim.
(BBC News, 16th May 2005)
 
Mebbies lost in translation: how wor Billy is ganun awa wi' morder
A canny bairn divant wanna box. Eed be in bother wi' his ard man when he finds his bairn ganun be a dancer and gan ti London.This, as explained in its native Geordie, is the plot to Billy Elliot, the hit film starring Jamie Bell and Julie Walters, that has just spawned a West End musical.
(The Independent, 14th May 2005)
 
Expletives repeated
At a time when worries have been expressed about the hood-hidden faces of the young, my own concern has been about what comes out of their mouths. (contains strong language).
(Guardian Unlimited, 14th May 2005)
 
Language dispute divides Belgium
The Belgian government has won a vote of confidence in parliament after months of failed negotiations about language rights in an electoral district on the edge of Brussels.
(BBC News, 13th May 2005)
 
MP swears oath in Cornish
An MP from Cornwall has used the Cornish language during the swearing of allegiance to the Queen in Parliament on Thursday.
(BBC News, 12th May 2005)
 
The language battle that is tearing Belgium apart
Language wars between French and Flemish-speakers in Belgium have reignited, sparking riots, bringing the Government to the brink of collapse and prompting some commentators to say that the country is "finished".
(Times Online, 9th May 2005)
 
Amazonian chief gives 'rare talk'
An Amazonian chief from Brazil is visiting the University of Manchester to talk about the preservation of his people's dying culture and language.
(BBC News, 9th May 2005)
 
Pc appointed to aid ethnic groups
Minority communities in Wrexham have been given their own community beat officer.
(BBC News, 9th May 2005)
 
In search of an Asian lingua franca
Is use of the English language at its high-water mark? One might not think so in Asia. Millions of Chinese are learning it, thousands of already fluent Indians are changing their accents to meet the demands of call centers.
(International Herald Tribune, 28th May 2005)
 
Bid to save nearly-lost language
It is spoken by only a handful of people but, after 5,000 years, a rare native American language is to get its own dictionary.
(BBC News, 26th May 2005)
 
City names mark changing times
A long-running row over a move to rename the South African capital, Pretoria, is a reminder of the popular significance attached to city names - and the sensitivities that can be stirred by trying to change them.
(BBC News, 26th May 2005)
 
Podcasting for Zimbabwe
Anyone wishing to learn Zimbabwe's main language, Shona, now has a new option - the Shona podcast.
(BBC News, 26th May 2005)
 
Steve rings their bells
The Welsh - represented by celebrities such as T4 presenter Steve Jones - come third in a national survey of who women say have the best telephone accent.
(Daily Post, 23rd May 2005)
 
Virtual signer for deaf web users
A "virtual signer" is to provide information to deaf people online.
(BBC News, 3rd May 2005)
 
news archive

August 2005
Icelanders speak up for languages
East End Cockney accent 'fading'
Muslims 'want surmons in English'
More...

September 2005
Manx Gaelic revival 'impressive'
UK 'loves languages after all'
Tingo, nakkele and other wonders
More...

January 2006
Web to preserve Romani heritage
Mind your PMQs? It's eff this and eff that
The C word
More...

August 2006
Armageddon isn't upon us
Tongue-tied
Why are fewer students choosing to study foreign languages at GCSE?
More...

January 2005
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