Comments on: Language museum in london http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/ language-related musings - one language is never enough / dydy un iaith byth yn ddigon Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:02:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: Sion, Aberystwyth http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84522 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:18:13 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84522 I understand there's also a Museum (and monument!) to the Afrikaans langauge in Paarl which sounds like an excellent idea as Afrikaans is a much more interesting and multi-ethnic language than most people believe it to be. http://www.taalmuseum.co.za There should be a musuem to the Welsh language in Wales ... though they'd need to careful how to sell that as opponents of Welsh tend to refer to it as a 'dead language' which should be in a museum! ;-) I understand there’s also a Museum (and monument!) to the Afrikaans langauge in Paarl which sounds like an excellent idea as Afrikaans is a much more interesting and multi-ethnic language than most people believe it to be. http://www.taalmuseum.co.za

There should be a musuem to the Welsh language in Wales … though they’d need to careful how to sell that as opponents of Welsh tend to refer to it as a ‘dead language’ which should be in a museum! ;-)

]]> by: Peter K. Austin http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84424 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:18:32 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84424 Simon, Your news story dates from 2007 and unfortunately it looks like nothing is going to happen on this front for London, despite the good efforts of David Crystal and others. The <a href="//www.hrelp.org" rel="nofollow">Endangered Languages Project</a> at the School of Oriental and African Languages was involved in the discussions Reuthers reported on. <i>Linguamón - Casa de les Llengües</i> is going ahead rapidly -- the Catalan government set aside land for the project in 2006 and a design for the buildings was established in 2007 with building works this year. David Crystal and I are on the international scientific committee. The University of Iceland is also working on a proposal to establish a <a href="http://www2.hi.is/id/1022572" rel="nofollow">World Language Centre</a>. They held a workshop on the topic in Reykjavik last year. There are also plans for an <i>International Language Museum</i> in Denmark, according to this <a href="http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/18/18-1750.html" rel="nofollow">report</a>. Simon,

Your news story dates from 2007 and unfortunately it looks like nothing is going to happen on this front for London, despite the good efforts of David Crystal and others. The Endangered Languages Project at the School of Oriental and African Languages was involved in the discussions Reuthers reported on.

Linguamón - Casa de les Llengües is going ahead rapidly — the Catalan government set aside land for the project in 2006 and a design for the buildings was established in 2007 with building works this year. David Crystal and I are on the international scientific committee.

The University of Iceland is also working on a proposal to establish a World Language Centre. They held a workshop on the topic in Reykjavik last year.

There are also plans for an International Language Museum in Denmark, according to this report.

]]> by: Antoine Cassar http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84361 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:04:25 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84361 This is truly great news. I work as a translator in an international organisation and spend most of the day surrounded with the sounds of over a dozen tongues, yet despite living in a small trilingual country, out in the street I often feel that we are not all that conscious of the incredibly broad variety of languages spoken across the globe, nor, quite unfortunately, of the danger posed to a large proportion of them... When you compare to the legal regimes of India, Indonesia or Australia, you may find that the EU is not so great a pioneer of multilingualism as it could seem. But how far can a supranational entity take action, in the face of powerful private companies seeking ever greater homogenisation, and the romantic pride of nation states looking in a similar direction? This is truly great news. I work as a translator in an international organisation and spend most of the day surrounded with the sounds of over a dozen tongues, yet despite living in a small trilingual country, out in the street I often feel that we are not all that conscious of the incredibly broad variety of languages spoken across the globe, nor, quite unfortunately, of the danger posed to a large proportion of them… When you compare to the legal regimes of India, Indonesia or Australia, you may find that the EU is not so great a pioneer of multilingualism as it could seem. But how far can a supranational entity take action, in the face of powerful private companies seeking ever greater homogenisation, and the romantic pride of nation states looking in a similar direction?

]]> by: Joe DeRose http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84339 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:06:55 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84339 There's also a <a href="http://www.jaars.org/museum/alphabet/">Museum of the Alphabet</a> in Waxhaw, North Carolina (a small town that few people from more than 100 km away have ever herad of), near Charlotte (which is recognizable in the U.S., but probably not elsewhere). I am dubious about it because (1) it doesn't look like much on the website and (2) the use of the word "alphabet" in the title suggests a naïve understanding of the complexity of writing styles. But a friend of mine who is well-traveled, well-educated, and difficult to impress found it quite enjoyable and has been trying to talk me into going there. -- Joe / Atlanta / USA There’s also a Museum of the Alphabet in Waxhaw, North Carolina (a small town that few people from more than 100 km away have ever herad of), near Charlotte (which is recognizable in the U.S., but probably not elsewhere).

I am dubious about it because (1) it doesn’t look like much on the website and (2) the use of the word “alphabet” in the title suggests a naïve understanding of the complexity of writing styles. But a friend of mine who is well-traveled, well-educated, and difficult to impress found it quite enjoyable and has been trying to talk me into going there.

– Joe / Atlanta / USA

]]> by: Joanne http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84318 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:31:24 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84318 Wow! Another great reason to visit London! And I'm very excited about the Maryland museum as well. I'm definitely planning a trip this year! Wow! Another great reason to visit London!

And I’m very excited about the Maryland museum as well. I’m definitely planning a trip this year!

]]> by: Cakra http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84289 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:47:28 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84289 That's great. Hope there will be one in Asia. That’s great.
Hope there will be one in Asia.

]]> by: Aaron http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84276 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:13:10 +0000 http://www.omniglot.com/blog/2008/04/17/london-language-museum/#comment-84276 That is fantastic... I study linguistics at College Park, &#38; I hadn't heard about the museum. Thanks for letting me know! That is fantastic… I study linguistics at College Park, & I hadn’t heard about the museum. Thanks for letting me know!

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