Pronouncing Foreign Names
Jonathan Kolieb is upset that Americans don't pronounce foreign names in the other country's mother tongue. I was flipping through the cable news channels the other night, and there were several segments on developments in Iraq. I found myself getting irritated, then angry: Why, five years after occupying a country, do we still not know how to pronounce its name? [...] Language and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 19, 2008 08:17
Army Linguists Net $150,000 Bonus
The Army is looking at paying incredibly large bonuses to people fluent in Arabic and other strategically important languages. The Army may begin paying a retention bonus of as much as $150,000 to Arabic speaking soldiers in reflection of how critical it has become for the US military to retain native language and cultural know-how in its ranks. Only one other job ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on August 5, 2008 14:15
A Helpful Shopping Tip
If you use the self-check at Walmart, pick the Spanish language option--that way the durn thing won't talk to you and tell you every inane thing it thinks you need to do. Since what one needs to do is pretty easy to understand, the inability to read the screen doesn't matter. So see, for those who get annoyed at "Press ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 29, 2008 22:03
Obama in Germany
Barack Obama arrived in Berlin a bit ago, "the first stop on a whirlwind tour that will take the presumptive Democratic nominee to Germany, France and Britain in an effort to burnish his foreign credentials." Patrick Ruffini created a minor stir in the blogosphere by pointing out that his rally posters advertising his speech was written in German. (Not noticed: He ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 24, 2008 06:45
Bloggers Not Swearing So Bleeping Much
NYT Katharine Seelye reports on a panel on bloggers and swearing at Netroots Nation (the successor to YearlyKos) and finds that the trend is toward less of it and that most of what remains is coming from Amanda Marcotte. Digby Parton, who writes on Hullabaloo.com, said she initially thought of her blog as an ephemeral form of conversation among friends and ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 20, 2008 07:26
When in Rome, Amigo . . .
President Bush had a minor language gaffe during a light and amiable luncheon with the other G-8 leaders: The life-of-the-party president, mingling before the meal, chatted animatedly about his parents’ health, his birthday and the corruption charges facing one of his best buddies in Europe, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. “Amigo! Amigo!” Mr. Bush called out cheerily in Spanish when he ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 10, 2008 14:02
OTB Radio - Tonight at 7 Eastern
The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live tonight from 7-8 Eastern. Dave Schuler and Alex Knapp will be joining me tonight to talk about recent events in the news. Possible topics include: Should Americans learn other languages? McCain's odd sense of humor Is forced voluntarism slavery or just an oxymoron? Rush Limbaugh's popularity Reforming the War Powers ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 9, 2008 16:30
More Language and Culture, Fewer Guns
Apropos our value of foreign languages discussion earlier, Andrew Krepinevich, a highly regarded military analyst, says the Pentagon needs to commit far more resources to just that. "If the experience of the last seventeen years tells us anything, it is that we are likely to continue to find our armed forces deployed... in operations among the indigenous populations, rather than around ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 9, 2008 15:33
Huzzah for Provincialism!
Today's Outrage of the Day on the right side of the blogosphere regards this latest bit from Barack Obama, regarding the need for our educational system to get better at teaching other languages. Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English -- they'll learn English ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 9, 2008 11:05
James Cason, Ambassador, Paraguay Singing Sensation
James Cason, the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, has achieved rock star status in that country. Literally. [H]e learned the obscure Paraguayan Guaraní language, recorded a music album of indigenous folk songs and sold 1,000 tickets to a concert in a downtown theater. Now, in the final year of his four-decade diplomatic career, Cason has suddenly become the toast of Paraguay, or ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 2, 2008 07:51
