NEWSWORTHY
Japanese government says Reiwa's official translation is 'beautiful harmony'
The government said Tuesday that the official translation of the era name for the new emperor will be "Beautiful Harmony," setting off confusion while offices rush to make changes before Crown Prince Naruhito takes the throne. The Reiwa Era begins May 1, a day after ...
Foreign Minister Taro Kono suggests need to end reversal of Japanese names in English
Foreign Minister Taro Kono says his ministry will consider breaking with the tradition of reversing Japanese names in English and some other foreign languages.
To pass the test, applicants will need to have Japanese skills good enough for daily life.
Canada francophones gear up for fight over education, rights
A French-language university canceled by Ontario's government this month has kindled the passions of Canada's francophone minority, who are set to replay their historical rights struggle. In addition to nixing the proposed university that was to open in Toronto in 2020, the province with the ...
French universities to offer more courses in English to attract foreign students
France wants to boost the number of foreign students at its universities by more than half over the next decade and will offer more courses taught in English to attract them. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, announcing the plan on Monday, said increasing the number of ...
Te reo, New Zealand's Maori language, comes back from the brink
Beneath the carved timber roof of a traditional "marae" meeting house at Wellington High School, dozens of students watch entranced as a play performed entirely in the Maori language unfolds. Many only understand a smattering of the indigenous language, but pick up emotional cues from ...
Facebook adds Alaska's Inupiaq as language option among community translation tools
Britt'Nee Brower grew up in a largely Inupiat Eskimo town in Alaska's far north, but English was the only language spoken at home. Today, she knows a smattering of Inupiaq from childhood language classes at school in the community of Utqiagvik. Brower even published an ...
America is one of the few cultures with insults for smart people
Americans enjoy the dubious distinction of having a high degree of linguistic diversity it comes to mocking the smart and the educated.
Trump calls Comey a 'slime ball,' sparking rush to dictionaries
U.S. President Donald Trump's denunciation of former FBI Director James Comey as a "slime ball" on Friday triggered a jump of 60,000 percent in look-ups for the word on the website of dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's. The disparaging term was among the top words looked up ...
English school chain ECC Co. will launch a Japanese course in the Philippines in June in partnership with a local college amid growing interest in the language among Filipinos. The Osaka-based firm and the University of Perpetual Help plan to provide a 6-month e-learning program, ...
Two Koreas' Olympic ice hockey team faces unexpected challenge: language
The unified Korean women's ice hockey team faced an unexpected challenge at their first joint training session, reports said Monday — vastly different hockey terminology on either side of the divided peninsula. Seven decades of almost total separation after the 1950-53 Korean War, with all ...
Iran bans English in primary schools after leaders' warning of 'cultural invasion'
Iran has banned the teaching of English in primary schools, a senior education official said, after Islamic leaders warned that early learning of the language opened the way to a Western "cultural invasion." "Teaching English in government and non-government primary schools in the official curriculum ...
