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Mercator
Newsletter - n.24, May 2006 |
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From January 2005 the Mercator Common Newsletter is a monthly newsletter. This way you will be kept informed with more recent and updated information. |
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Mercator Legislation - ML |
| In a resolution approved by the plenary, the European Parliament calls on the citizens studying or working in the Union “to have a practical grasp of at least two languages other than his own”, as “the acquisition of just one common language of communication (as a lingua franca) is not sufficient”. According to the resolution, a good knowledge of languages is an essential skill all the European citizens should have in order to create a genuine European employment market. The text was approved on April 27th by 435 votes in favour to 22 against with 23 abstentions. One of the measures included in the resolution is the creation of an European Indicator of Language Competence common to all member states, which will seek to prevent divergent criteria for assessing language competence in Europe. The resolution shares the Commission's view that “in the initial phase this indicator should be used to assess linguistic proficiency in the five most widely taught languages in the Union (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) and calls on the Commission and the Council, however, to take the necessary measures to extend these tests to a wider range of official Union languages. The resolution also endorses the Commission proposal regarding participation by the Member States and regional authorities with competence for language policy in developing the indicator to the full. It remains to be seen whether this measure leaves a door open for non-official European languages to be included in the Indicator of Language Competence programme, since the document do not mention them at all. Related links ...European Parliament resolution European Indicator of Language Competence Communication from the Commission “A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism |
| News May 2006 (links to the Mercator websites) |
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Welsh animation reaches Brazilian Festival Pupils from a school in Caernarfon in the north of Wales have produced
an animated film in Welsh which has been selected for one of the biggest
animation festivals in the world. The film, which is entitled Carnifal
Cymru, and was created by 13 pupils, has reached the short list of Animamundi
in Brazil and has also been sent to the Chicago International Festival
of Children’s Films. It is based on the World Cup and was made
in just a fortnight, with the help of the Welsh poet Mei Mac and animators
Meic Roberts and Chris Glyn from the company Dinamo. The effort received
sponsorship from HSBC Bank. Valencians lose free access to Catalan TV The frequency that has been used for years by a private cultural organisation in Valencia, Acció Cultural del País Valencià (ACPV), to allow the two million Catalan speakers in the region to watch TV3 - which broadcasts only in Catalonia through its relay stations - has been taken over by a monolingual Spanish station, La Sexta, thanks to a Spanish government decision. In the meantime, ACPV has opened up access to TV3 through the new Digital Terrestrial Television system . Those wishing to watch TV3 will however have to buy a descrambler, which costs between 50 and 150 Euros, according to ACPV. (Source: Eurolang) New Portal for Basque Learners on the Internet HABE (the organisation for the promotion of the learning of Basque
as a second language) has developed and placed on the internet a new
portal for students of Basque known as Ikasbil (http://www.ikasbil.net).
It has the aim of bringing together in one interface all services aimed
at students of the language, which are at present dispersed, and also
of providing euskaltegis (centres for the teaching of Basque) and their
students with adequate tools and resources. Numerous educational resources
are offered, which are easily manageable according to individual requirements,
thanks to a search engine. At present, the portal offers free of charge
more than 8,000 items (texts, audio, videos etc) catalogued according
to educational criteria (level of Basque, teaching aims etc). Technology and Irish Course Launched by Minister Tom Kitt, TD On Wednesday, 24 May 2006, Minister Tom Kitt who is responsible for
the Information Society in the Government, launched Comhdháil
Náisiúnta na Gaeilge and Gaelchultúr's new one
day course, Technology and Irish. |
| Projects |
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Mercator Education is happy to announce that two new schools joined our Network of Schools. Up till now we have welcomed 59 schools to the network, originating from 19 different European language communities. The first new school is a Sardinian school in Italy, ‘Porcu Satta’, which teaches in four languages; Sardinian, Italian, French and English. The other new school, ‘IES Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia’, teaches in the Catalan and Spain languages in Spain. Both schools teach in the secondary level of education. Please visit our website http://www.networkofschools.org to learn more about the Network of Schools. |
| Miscellany |
| Research by Media Organisation Reveals Extent of Jewish Media in Yiddish and German - MM |
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Internationale Medienhilfe (http://www.imh-deutschland.de/page/index.php), an organisation bringing together foreign language media in the German-speaking countries and German-language media further afield has recently conducted an investigation into the numbers of Yiddish and German speaking Jews in Europe and the level of media provision available to them in their languages. It was established that over 1 million Yiddish or German speaking Jews live in Europe and that in Europe outside Germany 30 Jewish media organs exist in these languages, including such titles as Dos Jidisze Wort in Poland and Der Yidishe Tamtam in France. Although the majority of German and Yiddish speaking Jews today live in the USA and Israel, the German Jewish and Yiddish culture is currently undergoing a renaissance in Europe. |
| New Technology Facilitates Bilingual Computing– MM |
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On Thursday, June 1st, the Welsh Language Board launched a public trial of a brand new computer application to allow users to choose between a Welsh and an English interface in Windows XP and Office 2003. As so many of Wales’s households and institutions are bilingual, computer technology must be able to be switched between Welsh and English with ease. Welsh speakers and non-Welsh speakers may share the same terminals at home or in work, which further emphasises the need for trouble-free UI (user interface) switching. The Language Control Centre, which is available to download free of charge from the Board’s website (http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk), facilitates the use of Welsh in bilingual households and workplaces by offering a language choice to all. Besides allowing users a choice of interface language, the LCC also provides tutorials on how to type accent marks and to spell-check in Welsh and includes a handy vocabulary list of technology terms in Welsh and English. This will mean that users will not need to be concerned about whether, for example, the technician at work or the staff at the local PC shop do not speak Welsh. It is now possible to flick between Welsh and English at will. One of the aims of the Board’s recently published IT Strategy for the Welsh Language is to facilitate switchability between Welsh and English in technology. This is part of the Board’s wider commitment to further developments in Welsh Language Technology. The Board will welcome feedback by e-mail to post@welsh-language-board.org.uk
on the Language Control Centre. |
| Wanted: A Medium who can Work through the Medium of Irish - MM |
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The Irish television production company, Eo Teilifís, which makes TG4's soap-opera 'Ros na Rún', are developing a new light-entertainment series for TG4. The current working title is 'Five Go Paranormal'. The series will follow five well-known personalities as they try out different psychic or paranormal activities. These include all forms of 'psychic readings' (everything from tea-leaves to Tarot); past-life regression; a séance; a ouija-board session; a night in a haunted house (possibly including 'clearance' of the spirit). Eo Teilifís are currently seeking practitioners of these 'psychic events'. It's not essential that the Practitioners are all Irish-speakers but they are particularly interested in Mediums who can conduct a séance through Irish. Further Information: |
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