Tag: Languages
When Planning a Trip, Do Local Politics Matter?
by Jenna Schnuer | 01.30.09 | 11:57 AM ET
No, you didn’t imagine that loud (and long-lasting) yay coming from Nashville on Jan. 22. It was the sound of the city’s English-only? seriously? contingent celebrating after the ridiculous measure was defeated in a (costly) special election.
While nothing could come between me and my Nashville (cause it’s a pretty damned fantastic city), it did get me wondering how much local politics play a role in other people’s travel choices. Have you ever put the kibosh on a trip because you didn’t like the politics of the place?
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Yahoo! BuzzMorning Links: City Bans Apostrophes, Russians in Goa and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.30.09 | 8:06 AM ET
- Russians heart Goa.
- But how will the free-falling ruble affect Russian travelers—and travel to Russia?
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles writer Jennifer 8. Lee collects toothpaste from her travels.
- Slideshow: Inspired by brothels in Pakistan.
- “Bread for the World ” and “The United States of Europe” highlight Rick Steves’ MVBs. I believe that means his most-valued books.
- Charles Darwin’s house: Future World Heritage site?
- In Slate’s latest Well-Traveled, June Thomas asks: “Am I too frivolous for Japan?”
- An Italian city in Tuscany says no to ethnic restaurants in its central district.
- Tikrit unveiled a shoe sculpture to honor the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at former U.S. President Bush.
- PEE. SUX. BOO. Just three of the funniest airport codes from around the world.
- In the U.K., the Birmingham City Council banished apostrophes from its road and street signs. The Apostrophe Protection Society says, “It seems retrograde, dumbing down really. It is setting a very bad example.” I agree, and I’m sure the typo vigilantes do, too.
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Ni Hao from Down Under
by Julia Ross | 01.29.09 | 11:21 AM ET
I gave President Obama high marks last week for trying out his Indonesian while on a visit to the State Department. Well, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd does Obama one better. Here he is, wishing China a happy new year in perfectly fluent Mandarin, apparently the only world leader to record such a message.
What We Loved This Week: Street Food, Obama’s Inauguration and More
by World Hum | 01.23.09 | 4:42 PM ET
Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Frank Bures
I loved my new cookbook, The World of Street Foods: Easy Quick Meals to Cook at Home, which has everything from Tanzanian mango fritters to Thai tom yam to Libyan almond cookies to Mexican hot chocolate. Based I what I know, these recipes look like the real deal.
Jim Benning
Malcolm Gladwell’s hour-long talk on Book TV—you can watch it online here—about the role culture and communication can play in plane crashes. It’s utterly fascinating and changed the way I think about such things. (It’s also, it turns out, quite controversial.) Still, it makes me want to pick up his new book, Outliers: The Story of Success.
Valerie Conners
The inauguration of President Barack Obama, of course! But really, as I’ve tried to absorb the enormity of Tuesday, I’ve been moved by images from around the globe, particularly in this slideshow from Boston.com, which have offered such great perspective on how this moment has affected people well beyond U.S. borders.
Michael Yessis
Going to the National Mall and watching the inauguration. So, so cold out, but an overwhelming, beautiful experience.
Julia Ross
Of the many high points this week, I loved that Obama hightailed it over to the State Department on day two in office, bucked up our diplomats, and broke out his Indonesian. A global president = priceless.
Morning Links: Buffalo-Wing Boycott, Nashville’s English-Only Measure and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.23.09 | 8:18 AM ET
- Nashville votes no and nyet and nein to English-only ballot measure.
- Video: Spending Time With Poster Boy, a street artist who prowls the New York City subway system.
- Even the U.S. Marines are avoiding Tijuana these days.
- A different take on Mexico: How U.S. media perpetuates cliches about the country.
- An exhibition of Robert Frank’s The Americans recently opened at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Slate has a slideshow.
- Aboard the slow train through Senegal.
- Aboard the other bullet trains of Asia.
- Are high-end adventure outfitters rising “above the global financial crisis and recession”?
- Buffalo-wing lovers in Buffalo, New York, call for a Buffalo-wing boycott on Monday. It could get worse: Supplies are so low and prices so high for wings that there may be a shortage on Super Bowl Sunday. What will we ever do, particularly with all the accompanying blue-cheese dip?
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Morning Links: A New Way to See the Prado, Cuban Tourism and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.14.09 | 8:00 AM ET
El Tres De Mayo by Goya (via Wikipedia) - An American in Spain writes about studying Euskera, the “clearest sign of Basque identity.”
- Greenpeace buys land in effort to halt a third runway at Heathrow. It’s now the prime minister’s move.
- Here’s an interesting project: Masterpieces from the Prado on Google Earth.
- Jonathan Raban on the best presidential writers. He notes some of the travel bits of Barack Obama’s “Dreams From My Father.”
- Cuba reported huge tourism numbers in 2008. It could grow if Obama implements the policy outlined by Hillary Clinton.
- A steady flow of flights from Europe—and “tightened restrictions in Thailand and elsewhere in Asia”—are fueling sex tourism in Mombasa, Kenya.
- A couple of long-term travelers share ten lessons of the road. No. 2: Smile.
- The BBC offers some tips on landing that best job in the world.
- Lawlessness reigns at San Diego’s skate parks. Given the city’s financial shape, officials decided not to staff them. Skateboarders have flocked to the parks for the “[f]reedom to smoke while they skate, drink beer, bring dogs, ride minibikes amid the skateboards and scrawl graffiti.”
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English Everywhere
by Eric Lucas | 01.12.09 | 8:55 AM ET
REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom It's the universal, global, one-size-fits-all language. Eric Lucas says it's not enough.
The World in Spanglish
by Michael Yessis | 10.13.08 | 11:13 AM ET
The latest World in Words podcast features interviews with Ilan Stavans, who is translating the first 2,000 manuscript pages of Don Quixote into Spanglish, and Bill Santiago, who does stand-up comedy in Spanglish. Intriguing discussions about the rise of “the fastest growing language in America.”
Traveling ‘Typo Vigilantes’ Sentenced in Arizona
by Eva Holland | 08.25.08 | 5:01 PM ET
When I first heard about Jeff Deck’s traveling typo hunt this past spring, I never dreamed that his quest would lead him to a criminal record. But, as the AP reports, a rogue apostrophe on a vintage, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park was his undoing: Deck and an accomplice pleaded guilty to defacing the sign (to correct the error), and were given probation, along with a one-year ban from all national parks.
My Senegalese Cousin, the Rice-Loving Pig
by Katie Krueger | 07.15.08 | 11:53 AM ET
Photo by Katie Krueger. When the woman selling peanuts at a Samba Dia market learned the Senegalese name adopted by Katie Krueger, negotiations took an insulting turn
Why the World is Avoiding America
by Eric Lucas | 04.04.08 | 3:00 PM ET
U.S. policies keep many international travelers out of the country. Eric Lucas says he and his fellow Americans are missing out on more than just money.
The Cost of Kindness
by Joanna Kakissis | 11.26.07 | 3:09 PM ET
Photo by Joanna Kakissis. The boy with the toothy grin led Joanna Kakissis on a personal tour of Tripoli, Lebanon. Afterward, she wondered: What, if anything, did she owe him?
Can I Have Meaningful Experiences Abroad if I Don’t Speak the Language?
by Rolf Potts | 11.06.07 | 7:31 AM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel
We’ll Always Have ‘Charlie’
by Jerry V. Haines | 06.20.07 | 9:13 PM ET
In the spirit of global misunderstanding, Jerry V. Haines reveals the worst phonetic alphabet ever
The State of Regional Dialects and Accents: “Hahvahd Yahd” is Here to Stay
by Michael Yessis | 10.24.06 | 10:22 AM ET
Conventional wisdom says that, given the rise of mass media, regional accents and dialects would disappear and “everyone would sound as distinctly indistinct as a television newscaster.” It won’t be so. In fact, “The Atlas of North American English, the first work to plot all the major speech patterns in the continental United States and Canada, has found the opposite: regional dialects are actually becoming more pronounced,” according to a story in October’s Smithsonian.
Lust in Translation
by Jim Benning | 05.01.06 | 8:20 PM ET
iStockPhoto When the phone rang in his hotel room in Xian, China, Jim Benning expected to face a frustrating language barrier. He never imagined a woman with a sultry voice at the other end.
Signs of Confusion
by Rolf Potts | 12.03.04 | 9:32 PM ET
Bad translations abound. In a Thai restaurant, Rolf Potts struggles to make sense of them.
Lost in Translation
by Rolf Potts | 01.09.04 | 9:45 PM ET
The Phraselator will soon find its way into independent travelers' bags, but Rolf Potts prefers a more sublime kind of communion
Morning, Not Smart
by Katherine LeRoy | 04.16.03 | 9:53 PM ET
Photo by Katherine LeRoy. She coped with the slamming car doors and the fumes from the gas station next door. But Thai pop gave Katherine LeRoy a hot heart.
Chasing Monks
by Maria Möller | 12.28.01 | 11:51 PM ET