Only American English in America? No way, Jose!

Jan 4, 2011 by

Over the holiday break, I received an email from an anonymous correspondent, possibly a Belgian of Flemish descent, in response to my posting about the linguistic situation in Belgium and language laws more generally. I did not...

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Are we becoming “English-only?” I don’t think so!

Aug 20, 2010 by

In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Evan R. Goldstein notes that USA is becoming a de facto “English-only” country. This is both true and not true. As is pointed out by Mr. Goldstein, less and less attention...

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Heritage languages and the Melting Pot model

Jul 22, 2010 by

In yesterday’s posting, I introduced the topic of Heritage languages, that is languages spoken at home as part of one’s cultural and ethnic heritage. I also mentioned that Heritage languages as a whole are growing both in...

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Heritage Languages

Jul 21, 2010 by

Over 180 languages, from Adamawa Fulfulde (a Niger-Congo language from Cameroon) to Zoogocho Zapotec (an Oto-Manguean language from Mexico), are spoken in the U.S., most of them by immigrants from other lands. Naturally, immigrant...

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