English

Learning English from Obama

Jerry Weissman | Posted 12.11.2009 | Books

Read More: Barack Obama Oratorical Skills, Speeches, The Power Presenter, Barack Obama, Jerry Weissman, English, Language, Obama Nobel Speech, Learning English, The Speeches of Barack Obama, Books, Japan, Books News
Jerry Weissman

Since Obama took office, there have been many articles in the Japanese press about how the Japanese are learning English from him.

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Media Literacy 101: Losing Our Ability to Listen to the World (in English)

Susan Moeller | Posted 11.02.2009 | Technology

Read More: Blogosphere, Arab Media, Bloggers, Icann, Knight Foundation, English, Domain Names, Global Voices, Chinese, America First, Globalization, Official Language, Technology News
Susan Moeller

The decision to allow Web addresses to be written completely in non-Latin alphabets isn't just a huge deal for most of Asia, the Middle East and wide swaths of the rest of the world. It's a huge deal for Americans.

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Astoria Characters: The Yoga Guru

Nancy Ruhling | Posted 10.19.2009 | New York

Read More: English, Dahn Yoga, Astoria, New York News, Seattle, Los Angeles, South Korea, Chicago, New York News
Nancy Ruhling

Hee Jung works for Astoria's Dahn Yoga center, which has nothing to do with ladies in leotards performing pretzel poses. Its format is monkey posture meets meditation.

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Business-Building Telenovela Launches for Female Immigrant and Refugee Entrepreneurs [VIDEO]

Emily Goligoski | Posted 10.19.2009 | Impact

Read More: Telenovela, Immigration, Refugee, Financial Planning, Startup Business, English, Ceo Women, Impact News
Emily Goligoski

CEO Women's new telenovela series is helping low-income women start their own businesses from home.

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Back to School

Antonio Villaraigosa | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Education, Education Reform, Lausd, Antonio Villaraigosa, Back to School, Boyle Hieghts, Partnership School, Children, English, Mathematics, Los Angels, La, School Districts, Parenting, School Safety, S Status Quo, Los Angeles Mayor, Arts, Politics News
Antonio Villaraigosa

We are entering a new era of accountability and reform in the Los Angeles education system, where public schools strive for metrics-driven change -- and are held accountable to achieve it.

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Cutting to the Chase

Robin Lakoff | Posted 09.17.2009 | Living

Read More: Semantics, English, Linguistics, Portmanteaus, Language, Acronyms, Truncations, Brangelina, Through-the-Looking-Glass, Neologism, Twitter, Humpty-Dumpty, Latin, Lewis Carroll, Words, Spanglish, Chinglish, English Language, Misspeaking, Living News
Robin Lakoff

It seems obvious that people create shortened forms to save time. And yet, most often, we don't save that much time and may run the risk of endangering intelligibility.

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Israel Road Signs To Read In Hebrew Only

Huffington Post | Posted 08.13.2009 | World

Read More: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Israel Road Signs, Foreign Affairs, English, Israel Road Signs Hebrew, Hebrew, Arabic, Israel, Advocacy, World News

In what is sure to be a controversial move, the Israeli Transport Authority announced a new policy on Monday whereby all road signs will read only in ...

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British Banning 'I Before E' Rule

AP | Posted 07.23.2009 | Style

Read More: English, Spelling, Education, Grammar, School, Style News

LONDON — It's a spelling mantra that generations of schoolchildren have learned _ "i before e, except after c." But new British government guid...

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Let's Ban English in School ... Except in English Class

Jeff Goldstein | Posted 07.20.2009 | Comedy

Read More: Mathematics, Science, Education, Math, Science Education, Universe, English, English Language, Comedy News
Jeff Goldstein

Why isn't math a natural part of all the subjects taught -- as in the case of say .... English?

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CNN Reporter Turned Princess Starts Jordanian J-School

Magda Abu-Fadil | Posted 05.13.2009 | Media

Read More: Upi, Sciences Po, French, Iraq, Arabic, Paris, English, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Amman, Un, Royal Film Commission, Lakhdar Brahimi, Jordan, Nic Robertson, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, European Union, Jane Arraf, Facebook, Princess Rym Ali, New York, Iraq War, Le Monde, Cnn, Saddam Hussein, Cairo, Jordan Media Institute, King Abdallah II, Rym Brahimi, Francoise Chippaux, Baghdad, Queen Rania, Algeria, Italian, Saachi, Sorbonne, Zain, Amman-Jordan, Media News
Magda Abu-Fadil

Princess Rym's advice to young journalists today is: "Be persistent. Don't take no for an answer. Remember why you're doing this. It's not about you, it's about the story."

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"Jailhouse Talk"

Jerry Zezima | Posted 04.26.2009 | Living

Read More: White House, Songs, Humor, Writing, Daughters, George W. Bush, Fiction, Diplomas, Editing, Songwriting, Weapons, School, Guns, Barack Obama, Guards, English, Language, Puppy, Prison, Letter Writing, Bank, Knives, Nonfiction, Dogs, Family, Living News
Jerry Zezima

I knew it was only a matter of time before my journalistic crimes landed me in jail. I just didn't think I would end up on Rikers Island.

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English To Hit 1 Million Words In 2009

ABC News | Ruth Walker | Posted 02.03.2009 | Home

Read More: English Words, English, Language, Vocabulary, Home News

Scarcely has the new year begun before the calendar pages start filling up with lunch dates promised in Christmas cards and notes-to-self about next t...

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Actor Daniel Craig Talking About James Bond, Quantum of Solace and Saving the World

Brad Balfour | Posted 01.04.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: English, The Golden Compass, Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale, British, Judi Dench, Action, Terrorism, Hero, Daniel Craig, Defiance, James Bond, Corporate, Blond, Millions, Movies, Entertainment News
Brad Balfour

Agent 007 may not be available to save us in all his athletic and dashing glory, but in Quantum of Solace James Bond exhaustingly gives it a damn good try.

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The Most Annoying Phrases on Earth

Leslie Goldman | Posted 12.18.2008 | Style

Read More: Language, Literally, Damp Squid, Phrases, Annoying, English, Irritating, Like, Oxford, Top 10 Most Irritating Expressions, Oxford Language Study, 24/7, Lol, Overused Langauge, Overused Phrases, Grammatically Incorrect, Cliches, Style News
Leslie Goldman

You think it's annoying when someone starts a sentence with the word "ironically," when it most certainly is not? Or when McCain uttered "My friends" enough times to warrant a drinking game?

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Election 2008 Odds and Ends -- Waiting for Missouri and Alaska, Pro-Marijuana Initiatives and More...

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.11.2008 | Politics

Read More: Vice President, Vote Count, Ted Stevens, Ballot, Begich, Marijuana, Washington, Mail-In, Barney Frank, Dea, Provisional, Joe Biden 2008, Oregon, Medical Marijuana, Bilingual Education, Decriminalization, Mccain, Obama, Campaign, Sewage Plant, Missouri, President, Sarah Palin, English, Mark Begich, Stevens, Schedule I, Show Me the Votes, Dog Racing, Schedule II, Runoff, Saxby Chambliss, Laura Egerdal, Election 2008 Coverage, John McCain, Alaska, Assisted Suicide, Chambliss, 2008 Elections, 08, Election Results, 2008 Election, Official Language, Minnesota, Barack Obama, Biden, Election, 08 Election, Elections, Certified, Decriminalize, Vote, Palin, Barack, 2008 Presidential Race, Georgia, San Francisco, George W Bush, Recount, Absentee, Doctor, Jim Martin, Margin, Gay Marriage, Politics News
Chris Weigant

We have had a virtual news blackout on what is going on in the two states we're waiting for -- Missouri's presidential results, and Alaska's senatorial results. Here is what I managed to find out.

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Why Being Nouveau Pauvre Cheers Britain

Melissa Biggs Bradley | Posted 11.29.2008 | Style

Read More: Britain, End of Conspicuous Consumption, English Versus American Response, Hard Times, Reaction To, Divorce, Economic Crisis, Guy Ritchie, Affluenza, English, Madonna, Financial Crisis, London, Austerity, Style News
Melissa Biggs Bradley

Despite their ancestors' experience with war-time thrift, the average Brit may be deeper in debt than their American cousin.

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Chinglish and the Beijing Olympics: No More Stir-fried Wikipedia?

Megan Berry | Posted 09.08.2008 | Living

Read More: Beijing Olympics, China, Spanglish, Chinglish, English, Living News
Megan Berry

Bad English translations from Chinese have long been a comic favorite. One I like is a menu that offers stir-fried Wikipedia (does it let you edit your own meal?). Another great one I recently came across is a Chinese restaraunt called "Translate Server Error". Oops.

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