Symposium on multilingualism in international organizations & cooperation, 10-11 May 2018

Taking the opportunity again this year to publicize the latest in a series of annual symposia in New York on language issues in international contexts. The last two dealt with language(s) and the Sustainable Development Goals. This year's edition, to be held on 10-11 May 2018, has as its title, "Multilingualism in International Organizations and …

International Mother Language Day 2018 & the Linguapax Prize

The annual observance of International Mother Language Day (IMLD) on February 21 focuses this year on multilingualism and linguistic diversity, with mention of their importance for sustainable development and peace. The theme has been seen in several forms, including: Acting together for Linguistic diversity and Multilingualism (per poster above) Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development …

[LI] Investing in translation; diverse approaches to problems

Two separate items posted on LinkedIn during July 2017. I found a common thread in the valuing of linguistic diversity.  "Why don’t companies invest in translation?" Teresa Sousa, Translation Journal, July 2016 (posted July 2017) Parts of this 7/2016 discussion by Teresa Sousa are also relevant to organizations working in international development. A couple of differences …

Terralingua “returns to its roots” (a CFP)

Langscape, the magazine of the NGO Terralingua, just extended the deadline of the call for abstracts for its spring issue. Extracts from the call (with February 7 deadline!) are copied below, but what caught my eye about this particular issue was how its theme, "Voices of the Earth," was framed as "going back" to Terralingua's …

2009 Linguapax Prize winner: Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira

Maori language activist, educator and author Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira of New Zealand (or Aotearoa as it is known in Maori) is the recipient of the 2009 Linguapax Prize (source, Hispanidad press agency). She has been active for 30 years on Maori language issues. In 2001 she was recognized in New Zealand with the Te …

2008 Linguapax Prize winner: Neville Alexander

The recipient of the Linguapax Prize for 2008 is Dr. Neville Alexander of South Africa. The prize is awarded annually (since 2000) in recognition of contributions to linguistic diversity and multilingual education. Although the Linguapax site does not at this writing have updated information, the website of the UNESCO Centre of Catalonia (which is connected …