Tag Archives: language

Punjabi: A Unique Indo-Aryan Language

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When it comes to popular languages to learn we tend to go with the trend and think of things like Mandarin, Spanish and English. But if you look at any top ten most widely spoken language list, and there will be all sorts of other languages that are worth your consideration. This time, Punjabi is(…)


“Inclusive Writing” for Gender-Based Languages

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Jumping off of the last article discussing possible inherent sexism embedded within a language, inclusive writing in terms of gender should really not be the new trend in writing that it seems to be. However, for some of us, it is. With that in mind, how does attempting to writing more inclusively work when you(…)


Arabic: A Language with a Global Reach

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When we think of languages that have a global reach, we’re probably biased enough to think first of English, and then of perhaps Mandarin, or Spanish. But another language that is always in top ten lists of most widely spoken languages yet gets neglected despite being spoken in numerous countries in the world is Arabic.(…)


Can the Words We Use Stop Climate Change?

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Climate change terminology used to be subject-specific vocabulary for those working in the fields of environmental science, but through both our scandal sheets and serious news has seeped into everyday conversation. Our world is changing, bearing scars as evidence of events that most scientists would argue we have brought on ourselves. The responsibility of creating(…)


Remaining Neutral: Gender Roles, Pronouns and Language Change

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Gender roles and understanding gender fluidity is a very much 2018 sort of topic. With so many countries, policies and attitudes moving in the direction of acceptance and anti-discrimination, languages, not just English, are ever-evolving. At the end of the day, the language we use about ourselves and others is ultimately what defines us. And(…)


Black Panther Brings Xhosa into the Limelight

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Black Panther is currently and rightfully getting all sorts of attention for so many important, beautiful things. Even if you watch films just for the sake of watching films, oh, what a film Black Panther is to watch. From our perspective though as language people, we have an additional reason to love Black Panther even more: its(…)


Top Ways to Reduce the Physical Strain of Travel

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Whether you’re a young person ready and eager to explore the world, or more of a late-bloomer on the travel front, there’s no denying that travelling takes a toll on the body. From the unhealthy habits of sleeping sporadically and downing junk food on the road to lifting heavy luggage and being exposed to the(…)


Immerse Yourself in these 5 Oscar-nominated Foreign Films

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Oscar season is always an opportunity to discover new things to watch; especially those epic movies of the year that win despite not one member of the general public having seen them to determine whether they really are epic or not. As language lovers, we’d like to take a look at the Oscar nominees for(…)


Learning a Language through Social Media

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There’s a lot of things to be said about social media, both good and bad, and chances are there is at least a couple of social media apps on all of our phones. We know about the importance of networking, creating the right image, even using the latest meme to get our point across, but(…)


Explaining “High German” and the Many Other German Variants

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Sometimes us native English speakers forget that the variety we see in our own language is to be found in other languages as well. That is to say, for every American correcting a Brit on spelling, for example, there is a Brit looking down on what some see as the simplification of English by Americans,(…)