A Documentary by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, and Jeremy Newberger
Official Selection 2008 Sundance Film Festival
Khalili Lecture
School of Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square, London
Researchers estimate that there are 7,000 languages spoken across the world, and half are threatened with extinction by the end of this century. On average, one language disappears every two weeks.
THE LINGUISTS follows David Harrison and Gregory Anderson, scientists racing to document languages on the verge of extinction. David and Greg’s round-the-world journey takes them deep into the heart of the cultures, knowledge, and communities at stake.
In Siberia, David and Greg seek to record the Chulym language, which hasn’t been heard by outsiders for more than thirty years. The linguists encounter remnants of the racist Soviet regime that may have silenced Chulym for good.
In India, tribal children attend boarding schools, where they learn Hindi and English, a trade, and the pointlessness of their native tongues. Similar boarding schools for tribal children existed in the US through most of the twentieth century. David and Greg travel to the children’s villages, where economic unrest has stirred a violent Maoist insurgency. The linguists witness the fear and poverty that have driven youth from their native communities.
In Bolivia, the Kallawaya language has survived for centuries with fewer than one hundred speakers. David and Greg trek high into the Andes to unlock its secret.
THE LINGUISTS is a presentation of Ironbound Films, Inc. It is produced and directed by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, and Jeremy Newberger.
This UK Premiere screening is free and open to all. Prof David Harrison who is featured in the film will introduce it and answer questions from the audience after the showing. Seats are limited and will be available on a first-come first-served basis.
THE LINGUISTS is being shown during Endangered Languages Week 30th April to 8th May at SOAS. For more information about the film and other Endangered Languages Week activities visit our website at www.hrelp.org or email: elap@soas.ac.uk
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Endangered Languages Week 2008
30th April to 8th May 2008, School of Oriental and African Studies
Meet an Endangered Language
Half of the world's 7,000 languages are under threat from larger languages and are not being passed on to children. During Endangered Languages Week you can come face-to-face with an endangered language, learn about where it is spoken and why it is threatened, experience its culture, and pick up some basic words and phrases. Each session lasts 30 minutes and will be held at 1pm on R201 (near the 2nd floor stairs, SOAS main building).
Wednesday 30th April
Guernesias - spoken on Guernsey, Channel Islands
Guernesiais, a variety of Norman French, is highly endangered. According to the 2001 census, there were 1,327 fluent speakers or just 2.22% of the population (and 70.4% of them were over 64). This presentation will include a short language lesson, some cultural images and videos, and discuss recent examples of revitalisation measures in support of the language.
Thursday 1st May
Huave – spoken in southern Mexico
The Huave (Ikoots ‘all of us’) are a minority indigenous people of Southern Mexico comprising 17,000 people settled in four villages on the Pacific Ocean coast. Until a decade ago the Huave language (ombeayiüts ‘our mouth’) was spoken in four, quite divergent, varieties. At present only one of these varieties is still used by everybody, including children, in the village of San Mateo. In another village (San Dionisio) the local variety is obsolescent, and demands to start a revitalization project are currently emerging. In the other two Huave villages local varieties of the language have been replaced by Spanish. This presentation will illustrate aspects of Huave language and culture.
Tuesday 6th May
Talyshi – spoken in northern Iran
Talyshi is an Iranian language spoken in northern Iran near the Caspian Sea and the border with Azerbaijan. The language shows massive dialect variation and is under pressure from Persian. This presentation will discuss the language situation, and present an overview of Talyshi culture and language use.
Wednesday 7th May
Kolyma Yukaghir - spoken in Siberia, Russia
Kolyma Yukaghir is spoken by about 40 people who live in the north-eastern part of Siberia, on the banks of the river Kolyma. The language is linguistically isolated, and little is known of the history of the people who speak it. This will be a brief introduction to Yukaghir language and culture, including images, original music, and learning some basic speech patterns.
Thursday 8th May
Janonke – spoken in Guinea, West Africa
Jalonke is an endangered Mande language mainly spoken in the West African country of Guinea. The taster will give a brief introduction to the language situation and then focus on one of the areas especially elaborate in West African culture and crucial for every fieldworker and language learner to master, ie. greetings.
For more details and a full programme of Endangered Languages Week visit www.hrelp.org/elw
Meet an Endangered Language
Half of the world's 7,000 languages are under threat from larger languages and are not being passed on to children. During Endangered Languages Week you can come face-to-face with an endangered language, learn about where it is spoken and why it is threatened, experience its culture, and pick up some basic words and phrases. Each session lasts 30 minutes and will be held at 1pm on R201 (near the 2nd floor stairs, SOAS main building).
Wednesday 30th April
Guernesias - spoken on Guernsey, Channel Islands
Guernesiais, a variety of Norman French, is highly endangered. According to the 2001 census, there were 1,327 fluent speakers or just 2.22% of the population (and 70.4% of them were over 64). This presentation will include a short language lesson, some cultural images and videos, and discuss recent examples of revitalisation measures in support of the language.
Thursday 1st May
Huave – spoken in southern Mexico
The Huave (Ikoots ‘all of us’) are a minority indigenous people of Southern Mexico comprising 17,000 people settled in four villages on the Pacific Ocean coast. Until a decade ago the Huave language (ombeayiüts ‘our mouth’) was spoken in four, quite divergent, varieties. At present only one of these varieties is still used by everybody, including children, in the village of San Mateo. In another village (San Dionisio) the local variety is obsolescent, and demands to start a revitalization project are currently emerging. In the other two Huave villages local varieties of the language have been replaced by Spanish. This presentation will illustrate aspects of Huave language and culture.
Tuesday 6th May
Talyshi – spoken in northern Iran
Talyshi is an Iranian language spoken in northern Iran near the Caspian Sea and the border with Azerbaijan. The language shows massive dialect variation and is under pressure from Persian. This presentation will discuss the language situation, and present an overview of Talyshi culture and language use.
Wednesday 7th May
Kolyma Yukaghir - spoken in Siberia, Russia
Kolyma Yukaghir is spoken by about 40 people who live in the north-eastern part of Siberia, on the banks of the river Kolyma. The language is linguistically isolated, and little is known of the history of the people who speak it. This will be a brief introduction to Yukaghir language and culture, including images, original music, and learning some basic speech patterns.
Thursday 8th May
Janonke – spoken in Guinea, West Africa
Jalonke is an endangered Mande language mainly spoken in the West African country of Guinea. The taster will give a brief introduction to the language situation and then focus on one of the areas especially elaborate in West African culture and crucial for every fieldworker and language learner to master, ie. greetings.
For more details and a full programme of Endangered Languages Week visit www.hrelp.org/elw
Friday, April 18, 2008
Quebec, Louisiana and the Heritage of French North America- 2 day conference
To register please contact the Eccles Centre direct - details below.
Quebec, Louisiana and the Heritage of French North America
Public Lecture and Conference at the British Library Conference Centre, London
Monday 21st April, 18.30
Public Lecture:
"French North America: a journey through Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec"
by Lise Bissonnette, President & Chief Executive of Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec.
The lecture will be followed by a reception.
Entrance free by prior reservation. Email eccles-centre@bl.uk, or phone 020 7412 7757
Tuesday 22nd April, 10.00-17.00
Conference:
"Quebec, Louisiana and the Heritage of French North America"
An international conference to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City
Eight speakers from universities in Quebec, the USA, France and Great Britain will examine the history, literature and culture of French North America.
Registration £20 (students £5), includes buffet lunch.
Find more details and links to the full programme and printable booking form at http://www.bl.uk/eccles/events.html
Quebec, Louisiana and the Heritage of French North America
Public Lecture and Conference at the British Library Conference Centre, London
Monday 21st April, 18.30
Public Lecture:
"French North America: a journey through Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec"
by Lise Bissonnette, President & Chief Executive of Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec.
The lecture will be followed by a reception.
Entrance free by prior reservation. Email eccles-centre@bl.uk, or phone 020 7412 7757
Tuesday 22nd April, 10.00-17.00
Conference:
"Quebec, Louisiana and the Heritage of French North America"
An international conference to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City
Eight speakers from universities in Quebec, the USA, France and Great Britain will examine the history, literature and culture of French North America.
Registration £20 (students £5), includes buffet lunch.
Find more details and links to the full programme and printable booking form at http://www.bl.uk/eccles/events.html
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
LLAS Subject Centre e-bulletin April 2008
April 2008 e-bulletin
This month's ebulletin is now available on the subject centre website at:
http://www.llas.ac.uk/e-bulletin.aspx
We would be grateful if you would forward this bulletin to colleagues and relevant mailing lists. Please do not hesitate to contact the Subject Centre if you have any queries regarding this bulletin.
This month's ebulletin is now available on the subject centre website at:
http://www.llas.ac.uk/e-bulletin.aspx
We would be grateful if you would forward this bulletin to colleagues and relevant mailing lists. Please do not hesitate to contact the Subject Centre if you have any queries regarding this bulletin.
Languages of the Wider World: Valuing Diversity 15th - 16th September 2008, SOAS Conference website
*Call for papers - Deadline: Friday 2nd May 2008*
Organised jointly by the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS) and the SOAS-UCL Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Languages of the Wider World (LWW-CETL), this conference will bring together teachers, researchers, educational developers and policy makers to discuss practical and strategic issues relating to languages of the wider world in UK higher education.
Following the 2005 HEFCE-commissioned Report's identification of languages as strategically important and vulnerable subjects, significant funding has been released to promote and support languages across sectors, develop networks for the teaching of professional skills, and engage in research. This has led to an increased awareness of the strategic, civic and cultural importance of diverse languages and the establishment of initiatives such as Routes into Languages and the LWW-CETL.
This conference will build on the momentum by showcasing the range of work being undertaken within languages of the wider world in higher education. While each language has its own particular needs, the conference aims to identify common issues in order to facilitate collaboration, raise the profile, and make the case for increased HE provision of languages of the wider world.
Day 1 is themed 'Learning and teaching languages of the wider world: practitioner perspectives'. The format will be a series of seminars where practitioners can share and discuss good practice, present projects and initiatives, demonstrate resources, and network with colleagues.
Confirmed keynote speakers: Professor Richard Clément (University of Ottawa) and Dr Jim Anderson (Goldsmiths College, University of London)
Day 2 is themed 'Responding to the challenge of linguistic hyper-diversity' and will feature papers by, and discussion with, invited leading figures from the fields of languages and linguistics.
Confirmed speakers include: Professor Mike Kelly (University of Southampton), Professor Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (University of Roskilde, Denmark), Professor Robert Phillipson (Copenhagen Business School) and Professor Michael Worton (UCL).
Proposals for short presentations are invited for the *Day 1 seminars* on any of the following themes relating to languages of the wider world in HE:
1. Curriculum and materials development (e.g. e-learning, pedagogical strategies, ab initio teaching, managing diverse ability/prior knowledge)
2. Course recognition and accreditation (including widening participation and outreach, transition from school to university, employability and career pathways)
3. Staff training and accreditation (e.g. maintaining staff morale, training opportunities, staffing succession in teaching and research)
4. Translation and interpreting (e.g., training, career pathways)
Presentations will be 10-15 minutes plus time for discussion. The working language of the conference will be English.
To submit a proposal, please complete the attached form and send to s.holdom@soton.ac.uk. Deadline: Friday 2nd May 2008.
Organised jointly by the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS) and the SOAS-UCL Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Languages of the Wider World (LWW-CETL), this conference will bring together teachers, researchers, educational developers and policy makers to discuss practical and strategic issues relating to languages of the wider world in UK higher education.
Following the 2005 HEFCE-commissioned Report's identification of languages as strategically important and vulnerable subjects, significant funding has been released to promote and support languages across sectors, develop networks for the teaching of professional skills, and engage in research. This has led to an increased awareness of the strategic, civic and cultural importance of diverse languages and the establishment of initiatives such as Routes into Languages and the LWW-CETL.
This conference will build on the momentum by showcasing the range of work being undertaken within languages of the wider world in higher education. While each language has its own particular needs, the conference aims to identify common issues in order to facilitate collaboration, raise the profile, and make the case for increased HE provision of languages of the wider world.
Day 1 is themed 'Learning and teaching languages of the wider world: practitioner perspectives'. The format will be a series of seminars where practitioners can share and discuss good practice, present projects and initiatives, demonstrate resources, and network with colleagues.
Confirmed keynote speakers: Professor Richard Clément (University of Ottawa) and Dr Jim Anderson (Goldsmiths College, University of London)
Day 2 is themed 'Responding to the challenge of linguistic hyper-diversity' and will feature papers by, and discussion with, invited leading figures from the fields of languages and linguistics.
Confirmed speakers include: Professor Mike Kelly (University of Southampton), Professor Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (University of Roskilde, Denmark), Professor Robert Phillipson (Copenhagen Business School) and Professor Michael Worton (UCL).
Proposals for short presentations are invited for the *Day 1 seminars* on any of the following themes relating to languages of the wider world in HE:
1. Curriculum and materials development (e.g. e-learning, pedagogical strategies, ab initio teaching, managing diverse ability/prior knowledge)
2. Course recognition and accreditation (including widening participation and outreach, transition from school to university, employability and career pathways)
3. Staff training and accreditation (e.g. maintaining staff morale, training opportunities, staffing succession in teaching and research)
4. Translation and interpreting (e.g., training, career pathways)
Presentations will be 10-15 minutes plus time for discussion. The working language of the conference will be English.
To submit a proposal, please complete the attached form and send to s.holdom@soton.ac.uk. Deadline: Friday 2nd May 2008.
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