Italian words spread to English language
By Harold Raley, contributor, Galveston Daily News

Italian was the last Western European language to develop.

For many centuries, Latin continued to be the language of science and learning in Italy, and since the Italian peninsula was not united politically, it was a land of many spoken dialects, few of which were written.

But due to the writings of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio in the 14th century, the dialect of Tuscany, the region around Florence, became the predominant form of Italian.

It became influential in humanities, arts and music. Italian words soon spread to other languages, including English. Here are a few samples:

Alarm — from all’arme, which was a call to take up arms against an invader
Alert — from allerta, which literally means to be on the ascent
Ballerina —the same word in Italian meaning a dancer
Bankrupt — from two Italian words, banca (bench) and rotta (broken). From the practice of breaking the benches of money lenders or bankers who defaulted.

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Language, politics and social mobility
By Oliver Geronilla, The Korea Times

Language is power, isn't it? Well, George Orwell affirmed that many years ago, and that still holds true.

In the Philippines and perhaps the world over, people's social standing is not just determined by how much material wealth they have. More often than not, they are judged based on how they measure up to the existing social norms; and not surprisingly, socio-linguistic competence, being one of the easiest to spot, remains one of the benchmarks.

Given this situation, it is important that we speak and write our national or official language with a certain level of mastery so that we can function well in the society where we live, which regards language proficiency as a vital factor in moving up the social ladder.

Koreans, as we all know, go a notch higher by learning English through language immersion. That accounts for the increasing number of Koreans who flock to many English-speaking countries year in and year out despite the economic crisis. The good news is that in the span of 10 years, there's been a noticeable improvement in their ability to use the language both pragmatically and strategically.

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Vancouver's own not-so-quiet revolution
By Henry Yu, Vancouver Sun

On the eve of the Winter Olympics, there is a not-so-quiet revolution going on here every bit as important as that which transformed Quebec a half a century ago, even if the anglophone journalists and commentators of this city and of our nation seem oblivious to its consequences.

Inexorably, the tenor of civic debate in this city is no longer being carried out only in the colonial language of English. But rather than in French, it is in a multiplicity of Asian languages -- Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Tagalog -- that the voices of people long silenced are talking. What are they discussing? Important issues that bespeak both the deep colonial past of "British" Columbia and the need for a frank and open discussion about our collective future.

Our city will soon be over 50% "visible minority," with the vast majority of these "non-whites" of Asian heritage. The very term "visible minority" has become an oddity, raising questions about who is the "minority" in a city that has such strong historical and demographic connections across the Pacific.

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The new sarcasm punctuation mark is going to destroy sarcasm
By Andrew Lidwell, The SkylineView.com

So as I'd feared, the new sarcasm punctuation mark (SarcMark) isn't just some colossal Internet joke—it is in fact a reality.

For those who don't know, the SarcMark is a new punctuation mark intended to denote sarcasm in sentences, much like the question mark indicates that the preceding statement is a question. I can understand the potential use for something like this, especially over the Internet where the meanings of words aren't always clear.

I hate it, though. I hate the idea that someone out there thought the essence of sarcasm could be distilled into a simple punctuation mark. Worse, their invention of this supposedly hip new punctuation actually manages to completely defeat the purpose of sarcasm altogether.

I guess nobody ever got around to telling the SarcMark inventor that sarcasm is supposed to be subtle. It's a reward for the intelligent, allowing multiple meanings and scathing wit, without having to beat the listener over the head with a bat to get the point across. It's not supposed to be a jackhammer but that's what this new SarcMark would reduce it to.

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Language schools collapse into administration

Eight English-language schools run by GEOS International Colleges Oceania have been placed in voluntary administration, leaving 2,300 international students facing the prospect of losing their places.

The administration, announced late on Friday, covers schools in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns.

The schools have about 390 employees and about 2,300 international students from a number of different countries.

Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young have been appointed voluntary administrators to nine companies which operate the eight schools.

"School operations have been temporarily suspended while the financial situation of the companies and ability to fund future operations of the schools is assessed over the next few days," the administrators said in a statement.

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