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Keyword: language

On a Day for Languages, Discovering, Celebrating, and Saving Our Mother Tongues

(RichVintage/iStockPhoto)
Education

On International Mother Language Day, Asia Society's Chris Livaccari argues that while a lingua franca is important, so is linguistic diversity.

February 21st by Chris Livaccari | Comments

A Rock By Any Other Name: Asia's Premiere Language Game of 2012

Education

What's in a name? Territorial disputes in the Pacific Ocean tap into a much older tradition of organizing reality and creating social order through naming.

December 27th by Chris Livaccari | Comments

How You Can Help Hurricane Sandy Victims in New York City's Chinatown

A darkened street in Chinatown, lower Manhattan, after Hurricane Sandy. (Several seconds/Flickr)
Lifestyle

CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities is providing supplies, electricity — and translation services — to those in need.

November 2nd by Liz Flora | Comments

To Boldly Go … Where Foreign Faces Speak Mandarin

A scene from Hunan TV's
Education

"When I first went to China in the mid-1990s," writes Asia Society's Chris Livaccari, "I often felt like a zoo animal with all the attention I got just from walking down the street."

August 14th by Chris Livaccari | Comments

Samosapedia: Decoding the UrbanDictionary of South Asia

Limca — an official
Multimedia

Founded in 2011, Samosapedia is a comical crowd-sourced guide to the lively linguistic stew of South Asia.

July 23rd by Vivek Gupta | Comments

Going, Going, Gone: Five of Asia's Most Endangered Languages

Japanese tourist with two Ainu in Hokkaido, date unknown. (Sgt. Steiner/Flickr)
Lifestyle

Meet the "hairy Ainu" of Japan, Taiwan's Saaroa, the Kusunda of Nepal, the last Manchus and the Jarawa of India's Andaman Islands.

July 6th by Sherley Wetherhold | Comments

Grads: Get 'Globally Competent,' Get a Job

Pedestrians crossing the street in the Central Business District of Hong Kong in October 2008. (Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images)
Education

Whether you are eight, 18 or 28, it's clear: global competence can open up new job opportunities for you.

June 13th by Heather Singmaster | Comments

Hyperpolyglots: Paragon or Folly?

(Flickr/IvanWalsh.com)
Education

Michael Erard's new book, Babel No More, demonstrates that there's much more to being fluent in another language than mastering grammar and vocabulary.

January 31st by Chris Livaccari | Comments

Three Questions for 'Chinglish' Playwright David Henry Hwang

Playwright David Henry Hwang congratulates actress Jennifer Lim at the 'Chinglish' Broadway opening night after-party at the Brasserie 8 1/2 on Oct. 27, 2011 in New York City. (Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)
Arts

Asia Blog caught up with the Asian-American Tony Award winner for a few quick questions about his latest Broadway play, Chinglish, which TIME magazine called "a serious and nuanced study of the Chinese/American cultural divide."

January 10th by Dan Washburn | Comments

Mandarin Face-Off: Huntsman vs. Rudd

Kevin Rudd, Australia's Minister of Foreign Affairs. (Jan Kuczerawy/Asia Society)
Multimedia

You know learning Mandarin is fashionable when it has become the selling point of a presidential campaign. Indeed, perhaps the most telling sign of China's prominence is the role that Jon Huntsman's Mandarin skills have played in his public persona. Huntsman's television appearances frequently include a snippet showing off his Chinese skills.

January 9th by Hanqing Chen | Comments

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