Hungarians in Romania Bilingualism: Bane or Boon?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Ingrid Piller

Hungarians in Romania Up until a few decades ago, the academic consensus – along with public opinion – was that bilingualism is detrimental to the individual and society. Nowadays, that has all changed and the new consensus is that bilingualism … Continue reading →

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eine ganz heisse nummer Language shift and phone sex

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Ingrid Piller

Ever since I left my native village in the Bavarian Forest more than 25 years ago, I have been returning for regular, even if infrequent, visits. Over the years, there have been many changes and two of them have been … Continue reading →

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2413351 Intercultural grocery shopping

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Vahid Parvaresh

It is now widely agreed that human beings have moved into a phase of modernity in which they have to tackle the extreme dynamism in modern institutions and provide an explanation for the discontinuities they experience. As a result of … Continue reading →

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English and ASEAN English and ASEAN

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Ever since I arrived in Bangkok in 2011, I’ve being witnessing the amazing spread of English fever. At the national level, Thailand is wholeheartedly invested in the promise of English – the idea that proficiency in English will make ‘it’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & globalization | Tagged , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Welcome-to-the-US Linguistic extremism

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Christof Demont-Heinrich

I know some people think what I am doing with my daughters – speaking German to them one-hundred percent of  the time even though German is a second language for me – is “extreme”. Since the very beginning, I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Language learning, gender & identity, Multilingual families | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments