Cervantes Counters Spanish Sexism
On International Women’s Day last month, Spain’s Instituto Cervantes and publisher Penguin Random House launched the Guide to Non-Sexist Communication (Guía de comunicación no sexista) in Spanish, designed to help prevent discrimination against women...
Move to Egalité for French in Canada
Since its adoption of the Official Languages Act in 1969, Canada has been an officially bilingual country—that is, the nation has recognized both English and French as its official languages on a federal level....
Pakistan Set to Make Arabic Mandatory
After a near unanimous vote, the Senate of Pakistan has adopted a new education policy requiring students in the capital city of Islamabad to learn Arabic from grades one through twelve. While the policy...
White House Relaunches Spanish Website
In his first day in office, President Biden’s administration relaunched online Spanish-language communications that had been previously discontinued under the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration was the first in two presidencies not to maintain...
US Looks to Taiwan for Chinese
Through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), the U.S. and Taiwan have launched the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, which is aimed at “expanding access to Mandarin and English language instruction, while safeguarding academic freedom.” The move comes after...
Canada Launches First Indigenous-Language TV Channel
A new, all-Inuit Inuktut language channel has been launched in Canada, serving as the country’s first channel broadcast entirely in an Indigenous language. Devised by the team at Nunavut Independent Television (NITV), Uvagut TV...
Desafío al español causa protesta
El mes pasado, la octava ley de educación en la historia democrática de España fue aprobada por el congreso, lo cual generó una tormenta de ira y protesta. Uno de los aspectos más controvertidos...
Challenge to Spanish Causes Outcry
Last month, Spain’s eighth education law in democratic history was passed by congress while creating a storm of anger and protest. One of the most controversial aspects of the bill is the elimination of...
ASL Interpreter Signs at White House Briefing for First Time
Many deaf and hard of hearing Americans have noticed an absence of American Sign Language interpreters at the White House’s regular COVID-19 press briefings throughout the coronavirus pandemic—that won’t be the case any longer,...
The Other Spanish Golden Age
Students encounter excellent cultural references in today’s Spanish language textbooks. Striking photographs, stunning videos, and authentic materials bring the art, music, cuisine, and literature of the Spanish-speaking world to learners. But where are the...