Tag: language

‘Everyone will acknowledge greatness Of Tamil language and culture, if people unite’: P Chidambaram

His remarks come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Howdy Modi event in the US, had said the country's various languages are an important identity of its liberal and democratic society.

September 29, 2019

Congress opposes Amit Shah’s ‘one nation one language’ pitch

According to the Official Languages Act, 1963, Hindi and English are the official languages for the Union government and Parliament. A total of 22 languages of the country are recognised under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

September 15, 2019

Hindi Diwas: MK Stalin takes a dig at Amit Shah, says ‘This Is India, Not Hindia’

Earlier on Saturday, Shah emphasized on the need have a common language throughout the country, and Hindi by virtue of being “widely spoken” could fulfill that need.

September 14, 2019

Overcoming the Tower of Babel

The main dilemma of language teaching is this: the teacher is with the student only for a short time, while language learning is a life-long process.

April 11, 2019

Communication, emotions and AI

One of the main characteristics that distinguish humans from other living beings is their ability to communicate among themselves, both verbally as well as in writing. Humans interact using specific languages which have well-defined vocabularies, grammars and compositions. It would be interesting to examine what advantages we gained from this ability and to what extent …

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November 4, 2018

Subaltern siege

It is a measure of a robust movement for their language and script that the Santhali segment of the subaltern class could on Monday render railway operations out of joint in Bengal’s Junglemahal belt as well as Jharkhand and Odisha. The region, that straddles what was till recently the Maoist bastion, was cut off from …

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September 27, 2018

Sushma Swaraj, Shashi Tharoor trade barbs over Hindi

A question on making Hindi an official language at the United Nations saw External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor trading barbs in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Even as Swaraj said India was ready to bear all expenses, if necessary up to Rs 400 crore, to make Hindi one of the …

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January 4, 2018

‘Anti-Memoirs’ : This photo exhibition looks back to look ahead

Carefully housed in a separate setting at the ongoing Serendipity Arts Festival here is an exhibition titled “Anti-Memoirs: Locus, Language, Landscape”, a reflection on the purpose that memoirs — both photographic and written — serve in recording that which is in the past. Memoirs are quite the trend in contemporary Indian publishing, but little do …

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December 21, 2017

Mirror or game? A philosopher’s quest to gauge language’s reality and limits

One thing that exalts the human above all other sentient creatures is its capability for speech, facilitated by language that is a medium of communication, of expression, of representation and so on. However, how does language relate to reality, and does it have infinite capacity for its functions? This may seem obvious. But is it, …

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December 5, 2017

Mamata Banerjee bats for language education

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that students in the state would be encouraged to learn different languages but stressed that Bengali, being the regional language, should also be studied in parallel. “For several years, generations were not allowed to learn English here. I want students to learn English. We will back …

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September 5, 2017

Springdales celebrates National Inter-School English Festival

“Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides,” American writer once said. Celebrating the beauty of a language, Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan, hosted the 15th Kusum Verma Memorial National Inter-School English Festival on Tuesday. The school organised the event, in collaboration with the Old Springdalian Association (OSA), in memory of former Head of …

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August 30, 2017

‘Baby talk’ important part of evolution

 Australian researchers have unlocked the reason why adults use infant directed speech or baby talk when addressing infants. According to a new study published on Wednesday, the Western Sydney University revealed that mothers unconsciously raise the pitch of their voice as an evolutionary trait in order to comfort their babies and make themselves appear friendlier, …

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August 2, 2017

‘Baby talk’ important part of evolution

 Australian researchers have unlocked the reason why adults use infant directed speech or baby talk when addressing infants. According to a new study published on Wednesday, the Western Sydney University revealed that mothers unconsciously raise the pitch of their voice as an evolutionary trait in order to comfort their babies and make themselves appear friendlier, …

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August 2, 2017

Babies start learning language in the womb

Language learning begins in the womb, say scientists who have found that babies can distinguish between someone speaking to them in English and Japanese a month before they are born. Previous studies have demonstrated this by measuring changes in babies' behaviour – for example, by measuring whether babies change the rate of sucking on a …

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July 18, 2017

The essence of life

Communication – be it verbal or non-verbal – forms the essence of everything in life. An integral part of verbal communication is a language. In today’s globalised world, where almost everything is so fast paced, understanding this world of ours, which is constantly ‘shrinking’ is vital, and an important aspect of this understanding is the understanding of …

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July 14, 2017

Jamia Millia Islamia to launch Korean courses

Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) is set to launch a Korean language programme from the 2017-18 academic session. JMI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Korea Foundation to teach certificate and elective courses in Korean language. Korea Foundation has appointed a visiting professor to teach these courses. A high-level delegation from the Academy …

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June 21, 2017

AICC member criticises delay in postings at language academies

The three language academies in Karnataka for Tulu, Beary and Konkani were facing neglect due to the state government's 'indifferent' attitude deciding on the chairpersons and members of the bodies, All India Congress Committee member P V Mohan has said. In a statement here, he said the situation was 'pathetic' as these academies had made …

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June 20, 2017