Language Referendum in Latvia

Feb 20, 2012 by

On February 18, 2012 Latvia held a referendum on the issue of Russian as a second official language. A turnout of more than 70 percent underscored the extent that this issue has stirred the public, and the results were overwhelmingly...

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A Brief History of the Language Laws of Quebec

Dec 8, 2011 by

BY CHIP SCHULMAN (“Languages of the World”) Ever since the British took control of Canada from France in 1763, the governing bodies in Canada have had to deal with a populace that spoke both English and French in large...

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Language situation and language policy in Latvia

Jul 16, 2011 by

The Ethnologue’s page on Latvia states that there are five living languages spoken in this Baltic country: Latvian, Latvian Sign Language, Liv, Baltic Romani and Eastern Yiddish. But this is true only in as much as only the...

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On language laws — again

Jan 28, 2011 by

I’ve written already about language laws and how ridiculous I think they are. But recently another such law was proposed, this time in our country. According to media reports, a New Hampshire state legislator Rep. Jordan Ulery...

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Language laws: necessary or ridiculous?

Jul 19, 2010 by

Belgium is without a government — again. Not that the international community is bound to notice as Belgium plays a modest role in international affairs, beyond being the seat of European government. But still. And what brought...

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