From January 2005 the Mercator Common Newsletter is a monthly newsletter. This way you will be kept informed with more recent and updated information.
Mercator Education launches www.networkofschools.org
MERCATOR EDUCATION
The digital platform of the Network of Schools project has always been located at http://www.mercator-education.org . However, thanks to the success of the project, the platform has reached the point at which it deserves its own website. In 2005 the first preparations have been made to realize this and we are proud to announce that http://www.networkofschools.org has become a fact.
The site contains 8 sub pages: member schools; projects, teaching material, literature, blackboard; news; join the network and contact. Most items are derived from the information that was previously available on http://www.mercator-education.org. Under the button ‘member schools' the visitors of the site will find information and contact details of the schools that have joined our network, ordered by level of education and minority language region. Clicking on the button ‘projects' will lead to project suggestions, project reports and project funding information. In the ‘teaching material' section several good-example schoolbooks will be presented, and ‘literature' is a button that will lead to an overview of interesting books and publications in the field. The ‘blackboard' is entirely new and can be seen as a meeting point where teachers and other representatives of the member schools can exchange ideas and experiences. The concept of the blackboard is very similar to that of a forum. The ‘news' button links to past and present Network of Schools Bulletins, which can be easily downloaded. Advantages and expectations connected to becoming a member school can be found by clicking on ‘join the network' as well as the application form. The final button on our new site is ‘contact' and obviously this button will link through to our contact details.
We strongly believe that the dedicated website will not only improve the accessibility of the Network of Schools, it will also ease the process of exchanging information. Our advise to all of you is to visit www.networkofschools.org and to experience the advantages it offers yourselves!
News Feb. 2006 (links to the Mercator websites)
- Mercator Legislation supports a new Welsh Language Act [+]
- The Mercator Network launches a new website www.mercator-central.org [+]
- Ukraine's Central Election Commission does not recognise Crimea to stage a referendum on Russian language [+]
- Conference on regional and minority languages in education systems [+]
- Bilingual sign controversy in Carinthia [+]
- Occitan, mother language of the Olympic Valleys [+]
- Breton cartoons shown in Naoned (Nantes) while reductions in Breton language broadcasting keep going on public television and radio [+]
- Report issued on Macedonian Minority in Greece [+]
- Institut Ramon Llull sets up an extranet for lecturers in Catalan worldwide [+]
- New Manx guide targets business [+]
- Campaign for Predictive Texting in Irish [+]
- Jump TV to offer Basque TV and Radio programmes world-wide [+]
- Second Asturian Film Festival to be held in Uviéu (Oviedo) [+]
Breton cartoons shown in Naoned (Nantes) while demostrations against reductions in Breton language broadcasting in public television and radio keep going on
Almost 130 children gathered in Nantes on 24 March at Naoned’s Cinématographe cinema for a showing of cartoons in Breton. Samuel Julien, president of the association Dizale, which carries out Breton-language dubbing, introduced the showing which was organised with the assistance of the Office de la Langue Bretonne and the asociation Daoulagad Breizh. The screening was part of a tour of the whole of Brittany, which has taken place for several years now.
Despite this good news, on 25 March 300 people gathered outside the offices of Radio Bleu Breizh Izel to protest against the reduction in Breton language programming on public television and radio. In an unequivocal speech Patrick Malrieu, president of the Cultural Council of Brittany, denounced the “double standards of the state. The state which particpates in international conferences on cultural divsersity on one hand, but which has taken to seriously reducing this cultural diversity on the other.” Hervé le Gall, the co-ordinator of the association for the Listeners of Radio France Bleu Breizh Izel for the creation of programmes produced in Brittany (RFBBI) submitted a 1,000 name petition against centralisation of Breton radio to the director of Radio Bleu Breizh Izel, Mr Massiot. RFBBI believes that the current policies of those running France Bleu contradicts the aims the radio station claims to have, namely the provision of a territorially based public information service assisting cultural production in the region. In the face of what it says is France Bleu’s inability to repsond to the expectations of its listeners, the association is demanding the creation of a public service regional radio broadcaster in French and in Breton, covering the five Breton départements, i.e. to include Lore Atlantique, which has been administratively separated from the rest of Brittany by the French authorities. They further demand that in the meantime France Bleu immediately suspend the Paris-based broadcast recently introduced in the 12.30-14.00 slot and once again put broadcasts made in Brittany on air at that time, in the same way as has been done on Radio Frequenza Mora, the Corsican branch of France Bleu.
For video clips of the protest and its speeches go to: http://www.agencebretagnepresse.com/fetch.php?id=3429
Report issued on Macedonian Minority in Greece
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has issued its 2006 Annual Report – The Macedonian Minority in Greece, outlining Greece’s systematic policy of forced assimilation and persecution of its Macedonian minority.
Greece vigorously denies the existence of any ethnic minorities on its territory and attempts to suppress any voices that advocate human rights. Simply raising the issue of the Macedonian minority in Greece causes Greek citizens and politicians alike to react in outrage. The majority of Greek society supports its government's non-recognition of and discrimination against its large Macedonian minority.
For the full text of the report please visit http://www.mhrmi.org/reports/06/annual_greece.html
Institut Ramon Llull sets up an extranet for lecturers in Catalan worldwide
The Institut Ramon Llull (http://www.llull.com/llull/), with the collaboration of the Telefónica Foundation, has recently begun offering Catalan lecturers a new virtual office for work and communication in the form of extranet. IRL's network of Catalan lectureships is currently made up of 82 lecturers and 5,000 students.
The extranet has the usual tabs linking to pages containing information and news, along with learning resources, chats and forums, internal and external mail, and a secretarial page where lecturers will be able to find administrative documents and instructions for dealing with a variety of tasks correctly. The IRL has also made a personal e mail facility available to lecturers, under the domain name lectorats.net (shortly to become lectorats.cat). The Telefónica Foundation has provided the technological platform needed to make the project possible.
The lecturer's post-box button on the resources page is worth a special mention. This section will enable lecturers to input material that they have produced themselves and worked on with their students, and which they consider would be of use to other lecturers and would like to share with them.
The extranet also includes the Aprencat project, which is being implemented in conjunction with DURSI and the i2cat Foundation, and whose objective is to facilitate audiovisual multiconferencing using the high speed internet connection called internet 2. For the time being, lecturers will be able to receive Televisió de Catalunya's live international broadcasts and, in the near future, various events organised by the IRL will be included, such as the Catalan awareness conventions held in Brussels, Barcelona and Naples (2005), as well as cultural documentaries.
In two weeks' time, the extranet will make a "lecture rooms" page available. This option will enable work and exchange groups to be established, either between lecturers themselves or between lecturers and their students.
New Manx guide targets business
A new guide aimed at encouraging and helping firms to use some Manx Gaelic language has been officially launched.
The booklet and CD, entitled 'Gaelg son Dellal-Manx for Business' has been produced by Adrian Cain, the Manx Heritage Foundation's Language Officer.
It is the latest in a series of publications by the foundation, all of which hope to raise the status and profile of the language.The foundation said the guide had been supported by a number of local firms.
It includes suggestions on how companies can use Manx, examples of good practice and a CD of Manx phrases suitable for different occasions.Mr Cain said: "Given the recent advances of the language within the education system, it was hoped that firms might consider using the language in ways that are appropriate for them. The language is a great cultural asset for the island and by using it firms can demonstrate a commitment to Manx as a living, relevant language for the 21st Century."
The guide, which is free, will be distributed at various outlets throughout the island.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/isle_of_man/4825082.stm
Campaign for Predictive Texting in Irish
With three quarters of Irish adults in possession of a mobile phone, they are one of the biggest users of predictive text messaging as a means of communication. Texting is cheap, easy to use, and if in English, extremely fast.
Via the predictive text messaging system, the phone quickly predicts the exact word, making sending a message fast and simple. Unfortunately for Irish texters, there is no such system for the Irish language. Youth Organisation, Na Gaeil Óga (http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~wilburt/), have a campaign underway to make Irish a choice of language on phones. Since the beginning of the campaign, Na Gaeil Óga have received enormous support, having received over 3,500 text messages to date, and more still coming in.
Na Gaeil Óga are putting pressure on the various phone companies in Ireland, to provide Irish speakers and texters with the choice to use their own language. Speaking to TG4 News, a vodafone spokesperson has confirmed the company has made a start on this development and will have Irish on their phones within the next year.
The campaign can be supported by texting the word "GAEILGE " to 53033 in the Irish Republic & 88122 in the 6 counties of the north.
Jump TV to offer Basque TV and Radio programmes world-wide
Andoni Ortuzar, the general director of the Basque broadcasting corporation, EiTB, and G. Scott Paterson, president of Jump TV, signed an agreement on March 16th, allowing Internet broadcasting diffusion of Canal Vasco and ETB Sat with high quality image and sound.
Jump TV is an online broadcasting company for television networks around the world, with its headquarters located in New York's financial district. The company broadcasts more than one hundred television channels from all over the world.
Canal Vasco was already present in this Internet platform that groups the world's main television channels but from now on its quality will be higher, above all with broad band.On the other hand, ETB Sat will enter this important Internet window for the first time. This channel offers half its programmes in the Basque language and will be available all over the world. Apart from the international television channels, Jump TV will offer the group's radio stations: Radio Euskadi, Euskadi Irratia, Euskadi Gaztea, Radio Vitoria and EiTB Irratia.
"The agreement's main goal", explains José Félix Azurmendi, director of EiTB Internacional, "is spreading programmes in the Basque language as it is one of our highest demands, in particular programmes for children". Thanks to the agreement children and young people’s programmes, sports events or ETB-1's best programmes will be available on the Internet in their original version. Being present in Jump TV guarantees reaching a new audience on line.
In the near future Jump TV will offer a Video-on-demand service and, thus, the Net user will have the opportunity to download à la Carte products from EiTB's present programmes and its rich archives. More than 200 hours permanently available for Internet users.
Access to Canal Vasco and ETB Sat will be free during the first month; from the second month on a minimum fee will be charged. According to José Félix Azurmendi, this agreement opens endless short-term and medium-term possibilities for Euskal Irrati Telebista and it adds value to its archives' culture capital.
Source http://www.eitb24.com
Second Asturian Film Festival to be held in Uviéu (Oviedo)
The second Asturian film festival will be held this year from the 7 to the 11 April in Uviéu (Oviedo), the first having been held last April in Madrid. The festival celebrates the 101st anniversary of Asturian cinema and will give awards for the best works in two categories (one for works in Asturian and one for works in other languages) as well as for best actor, best actress, best script, best director and best documentary. A leading figure from Asturian cinema will also be honoured.
For more details contact: festivalcineastur@wanadoo.es
Miscellany Song contest Liet - Lavlut is looking for candidates! - MM On Saturday the 14th of October 2006 the city of Östersund in Swedish Sámiland will host Liet - Lavlut 2006, the one and only song contest for singers and bands who sing in a European minority language. The organisation calls upon bands, singers and cultural organisations throughout Europe to come forward with names of candidates for the fourth edition of our song contest. Liet - Lavlut 2006 is the follow-up of Liet Ynternasjonaal, the song contest which took place in Friesland, the Netherlands in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In those years Liet Ynternasjonaal presented an interesting variety of artists from e.g. the Basque Country, Brittany, Catalunya, Cornwall, Friesland, Friûl in Italy, Galicia, Occitania, Sámiland and Wales. The European Union has only grown since the beginning of our festival. Liet - Lavlut 2006 therefore also calls upon minorities from new member states and candidate member states to join our family and present themselves with a new song in their own language.
Liet - Lavlut 2006 is open to all linguistic minorities in Europe. We are looking for bands and singers who present new songs in their own language. Liet - Lavlut is not a stage for traditionals, but we welcome music which reflects the cultural heritage and identity. Liet - Lavlut always attracts a lot of international media attention and therefore is an interesting stage for bands who sing in a minority language. In the past TV-stations such as BBC World, CNN, Nederland 1, NRK, Omrop Fryslân and S4C Wales reported on this song contest. This year’s edition will be aired live throughout Sweden by SRK, and several TV channels have already expressed their interest. Liet - Lavlut 2006 aims to present twelve bands and twelve new songs representing the cultural diversity of Europe. An international jury will determine which songs will be selected for Liet - Lavlut 2006.
The deadline for candidates to come forward is Monday the 17th of April 2006 (Easter). The selected bands or singers will be informed of the decision of the jury before the 17th of May 2006.
The rules are as follows:
· Both the music and lyrics of the song have to be original. The candidate should be able to present the song at the festival in the same way as the song is presented to us on cd.
· The lyrics must be written in one of the lesser used languages of the European Union. Liet Lavlut 2006 makes no distinction between languages spoken in more than one state or so-called unique minority languages such as e.g. Welsh.
· All types of contemporary music are welcome, e.g. ballads, folk, pop/rock, hiphop, jazz etc.
· The song should be no longer than approximately three and a half minutes.
· The song should be reasonably new.
· Candidates may send in more than one song.All entries should be sent before April the 17th 2006 on CD to:
Liet Lavlut International
c/o Birger Winsa
Rapsodivägen 48
142 41 Skogås
SwedenSpellchecker for Gaelic launched by Scottish Executive - MM A Scottish Gaelic spellchecker containing more than 525,000 words can now be downloaded onto a computer free of charge. The European Language Initiative's spellchecker project, Proiseact an Dearbhair, took three years to complete and cost £105,500. Education Minister Peter Peacock said: "The launch of this spellchecker is proof, if proof were needed, that Gaelic is a living language." The executive hopes the spellchecker will be a useful everyday tool which will help to unite Gaelic-users behind a nationally-agreed standard. r Peacock added: "For the growing number of people who are learning and using Gaelic, I'm sure this will quickly become an invaluable tool in their daily lives."
Project director Clive Leo McNeir, head of The European Language Initiative, said: "I would like to make it clear that the spellchecker is being offered as a support to the Gaelic community, not an imposition.
Its first year of operation should be regarded as a consultation period. We invite everyone to participate and contribute to the project. We would like to know if there are extra words that should be added, or if any errors are spotted. No database of this size can expect to be perfect. Working together we can make a good tool even better."The spellchecker is available to download free from the Gaelic Online website: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/gaidhlig/spellpress.asp
Catalan-Spanish erotic dictionary goes on line - MM Thanks to the creation of the first edition of the Saló de Sexe en Català (Catalan Sex Fair) a Catalan-Spanish dictionary has been put online.
The dictionary, created with the collaboration of on-line visitors, is published in the fair's official website: http://www.sexecatala.com/diccionari.htm. To add new words or phrases is fast, easy and anonymous with the form provided on the website.
'It seemed logical to ask everybody to construct an erotic glossary, further away from the anatomical definitions. Our aim is that it should contain not only words but also popular expressions related to eroticism,' said Bibian Norai, spokesperson for Saló de Sexe en Català.
The idea goes well with the rest of the fair's goals: to increase the use of the Catalan language in Catalan products and technologies related to the erotic industry, as well as on labels, dubbings, magazines, websites, etc.
Manresa will become the capital of sex from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th of April, when the first 'Saló del Sexe en Català' will take place in Fira de Manresa. This will inclde many shows, art exhibitions, concerts and other activities.
More information at: http://www.sexecatala.com
Email: info@promopress.com
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