the origin of place names

There is a fascinating book just out which looks at the origin of place names:

Found In Translation — Duncan Madden

Found in Translation: The Unexpected Origins of Place Names | Stanfords

Here are a couple of excerpts, published in the i-newspaper:

Land of rabbits and the canoe – five amazing stories of how countries got their names

From one of our favourite holiday destinations to far-flung Australia, the names of countries reveal a fascinating insight to their history

By Duncan Madden

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While you may take the time to learn a bit about the country you’re off on holiday to, have you ever thought about its name – what it means and where it came from? The study of etymology and how places got their names is a treasure trove of extraordinary stories – invasions and rebellions, cultures and religions, adventures and disasters – that can tell us a lot about the countries we visit and the histories that shaped them.

Argentina – ‘silvery land’

Argentina’s naming is a story of adventure, misfortune and almost unfathomable derring-do. It concerns the travails of Portuguese conquistador Aleixo Garcia who, shipwrecked on the Brazilian coast in the early 16th century, became obsessed with the legend of a White King and his vast wealth hidden somewhere in the South American interior, most likely to be in the borders of the Inca Empire.

Garcia spent eight years planning his assault and building an army before marching into Inca territory and, amazingly, escaping loaded with silver booty. But on his journey home following the Río de la Plata, “river of silver”, into Argentina, Garcia was betrayed and killed by a supposedly friendly indigenous tribe. Those in his army who did escape survived to spread the story of the land of silver beside the river of silver.

The final linguistic twist in the tale comes from the switch in language – plata is Spanish but argentina is Italian for silver. For this we can thank the Venetian and Genoese cartographers of the time, whose Italian language maps became the mainstay throughout Europe and in doing so cemented Argentina as the name of the silvery land – much to Spain’s annoyance.

Spain – ‘land of rabbits’

Talking of Spain, the world’s second most popular holiday destination has one of the more curious meanings of any country, dating back to the time of the Phoenicians.

Arriving on the Iberian Peninsula around 1,000 BC, said Phoenicians were met with an unexpected sight – millions of rabbits running rampant across the landscape. Never having seen such critters before, they assumed them to be a type of hyrax, sphan in their language (a furry mammal native to their homelands in the Middle East), and so named the land for them, I-Shaphan, “island of the hyraxes (or rabbits)”. And yes, the Phonicians assumed, wrongly of course, that they had landed on an island rather than the peninsula of Iberia.

Despite the strange circumstances that inspired it, the empires and cultures that followed the Phoenicians stuck with their name, adapting it along the way until the Romans were using Hispania all the way up until the Spain of today.

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Land of rabbits and the canoe - five amazing stories of how countries got their names

Of course, there is lots more:

Place name origins - Wikipedia

The History and Origins of Placenames

The origins of place names

How to Navigate by Nostalgia: The Linguistics of Place Names - JSTOR Daily

Origins of Canada's Geographical Names

Diversity in New York Place Names | National Geographic Society

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what are the new words in languages around the world?

Every language is taking in or inventing new words all the time:

FRENCH:

From covidé (infected with coronavirus) to confinement (lockdown) and éco-anxiété (climate anxiety) to verdissement d’image (greenwashing), the pandemic and the climate crisis account for most new French words, Le Monde has concluded.

But if 28% of recent additions are essentially English, according to an analysis by the paper, nearly half are French coinages, demonstrating what it called the language’s “great suppleness, as well as the creativity and humour of its users”.

New words in French dictionaries show ‘great suppleness’ of language | France | The Guardian

JAPANESE:

The term “Temaedori” refers to buying food products close to their sell-by date for immediate consumption. It gained recognition through efforts starting in June 2021 to reduce food loss, helmed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries with local governments and business associations.

What are Japan’s top 3 ‘words of the year’ for 2022? – The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Taipa, an abbreviation of “time performance,” was selected by dictionary publisher Sanseidō as its word of the year for 2022, reflecting young people’s desire not to waste a second.

No Time to Waste: “Taipa” Chosen as One of Japan’s Words of 2022 | Nippon.com

GERMAN:

A jury from the German Language Society (GfdS) has named Zeitenwende as the German word of 2022. The term, which can be translated as “sea change”or “era change”, was used by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a speech following Vladimir Putin’s February invasion of Ukraine. In his speech Scholz called the invasion, “eine Zeitenwende in der Geschichte unseres Kontinents” (“A sea change in the history of our continent.")

This is the German word of 2022

SPANISH:

Traditional Italian dessert 'Panettone' officially included in prestigious Spanish dictionary - Olive Press News Spain

REVEALED: The best new Spanish words added to the dictionary in 2022

RUSSIAN:

Russia bans the use of foreign words in the Russian language - Euro Weekly News

CHINESE:

Chinese buzzwords for 2022 unveiled - People's Daily Online

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what is the english word of the year?

Several dictionaries are saying different things as to what the 'word of the year' should be:

From 'Goblin Mode' to 'Gaslighting': Check out word of the year by different dictionaries

2022 Words Of The Year From Merriam-Webster, Collins, Macquarie, Oxford

Why 'Homer,' 'Permacrisis' and 'Gaslighting' have topped the 2022 Word of the Year lists | Euronews

Baseball, power and war - 2022's key words - BBC News

For example:

For the first time ever, the Oxford English Dictionary’s (OED) word of the year was left to the public to decide. Over 340,000 people participated, with ‘goblin mode’ receiving 93% of the total votes. The OED defines it as “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”.

Merriam-Webster dictionary chose ‘gaslighting’, after a 1,740% rise in searches for the term this year. According to the OED it means “manipulating (a person) by psychological means into questioning his or her own sanity”.

Dictionary.com crowned ‘woman’ as its word of the year, after a 1,400% spike in searches over 2022. The word was frequently searched as people explored what it meant amid debates over transgender rights.

Collins Dictionary describes ‘permacrisis’ as “an extended period of instability and insecurity”. The world has certainly faced a variety of crises this year, from the war in Ukraine to the cost-of-living crisis.

Japan’s kanji of 2022, decided by public vote, was the one denoting war or battle ‘戦’, the Guardian reported.

The 2022 'word of the year' according to different dictionaries | World Economic Forum

With a nice little English lesson from VOA:

What Is Your Word of the Year?

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new words in english are a gift

The English language has recorded lots of new words this year:

New Scrabble dictionary, 7th edition: New words—and its importance to American English.

2022's hottest words were peculiar and depressing, which makes sense | CNN

‘Goblin mode’: new Oxford word of the year speaks to the times | Language | The Guardian

Here's a very interesting piece on how new words get into the English language - which also raises the question of 'who owns English?' - as noted by the Oxford English Dictionary:

English is picking up brilliant new words from around the world – and that’s a gift

Danica Salazar

From ‘lepak’ to ‘deurmekaar’, terms borrowed from its 1.75 billion global speakers are enriching the language we share

Who owns the English language? The answer to this question is no longer as straightforward as “the English”. According to the latest figures from the British Council, English is “spoken at a useful level” by about 1.75 billion people. Counted among this vast anglophone population are not only the hundreds of millions who speak English as a first language, but also the hundreds of millions more who speak it as a second or foreign language in different parts of the world...

Today, the predominance of English as a language of science, technology, business, diplomacy and entertainment has given many people around the world a strong incentive to acquire the language. From Brazil to South Korea, Spain to Indonesia, millions of people are learning English, and they too are making their own mark on its development.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has documented many of the words that these new communities of English speakers have added to the vocabulary...

Speakers of world varieties of English are remaking its vocabulary to better express their identities, cultures and everyday realities. In Hong Kong, people exclaim add oil as a show of encouragement or support, an expression literally translated from the Cantonese gā yáu, with reference to petrol being injected into an engine. In the Philippines, many houses have a dirty kitchen, which is not actually a kitchen that is dirty in the sense you think, but a kitchen outside the house where most of the real cooking is done – a necessary convenience in a tropical country where it is best to avoid trapping heat and smells indoors. In Nigeria, a mama put is a street-food stall, and its name comes from the way that its customers usually order food: they say “Mama, put …” to the woman running the stall, and point to the dish they want so it can be put on their plate.

In Oxford University Press’s Gift of Words campaign this year, we have asked people who speak more than one language to “gift” a word from their first to their second language, and vice versa. The responses we have so far received highlight even more words that multilingual English speakers felt they had to borrow from their other languages for lack of a direct equivalent in English: words such as saudade (nostalgic longing) from Portuguese, gezellig (a sense of cosiness and togetherness) from Dutch, nomakanjani (come what may) from isiZulu, and apapacho (affection, comfort) from Nahuatl by way of Spanish.

Calling these borrowed words “gifts” is an important reframing, as many value language purity over diversity and consider external influences a threat to the integrity of a language. But this is in contradiction to how language works, as the borrowing of words is part of the natural evolution of all living languages. English is particularly notable for its ability to absorb elements from other languages, and the previously mentioned loan words join a host of others that English borrowed from Old Norse, Norman French, Latin and Ancient Greek much earlier in its history, including core words such as egg, fashion, universe and economy...

Changing our attitudes towards multilingualism and language variation is vital to fight the linguistic prejudice that causes people to be discriminated against for not using the “right” words or for speaking in the “wrong” accent. Despite all that they have contributed to the enrichment of English, many speakers of varieties other than standard British or American English still find themselves being mocked or losing out on educational or professional opportunities as they are effectively denied the right to use their own language in the way that they want.

It is only when we share ownership of English, and embrace the language in all its diversity, that it can truly be a gift that everyone can benefit from.

English is picking up brilliant new words from around the world – and that’s a gift | Danica Salazar | The Guardian

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phonesthemes

A very strange sounding thing is all about what words sound like:

A phonestheme is a particular sound or sound sequence that (at least in a general way) suggests a certain meaning. The adjective form is phonesthemic. For example, in words like glimmer, glitter, and glisten, the initial gl- phonestheme is associated with vision or light.

Definition and Examples of Phonesthemes in English

A phonestheme (/foʊˈnɛsθiːm/;[1] phonaestheme in British English) is a pattern of sounds systematically paired with a certain meaning in a language. The concept was proposed in 1930 by British linguist J. R. Firth, who coined the term from the Greek φωνή phone, "sound", and αἴσθημα aisthema, "perception" (from αίσθάνομαι aisthanomai, "I perceive").[2] For example, sequence "sl-" appears in English words denoting frictionless motion, like "slide", "slick" and "sled".

Phonestheme - Wikipedia

Here's Peter Trudgill of the New European:

Speech sounds do not normally have any meaning of their own. Vowels and consonants as such do not signify anything, although obviously they do combine together to form words (and the grammatical sub parts of words which linguists call morphemes), which do mean something.

The meaningless sounds b, a and g can be combined to form the meaningful word bag. And the meaningless z sound can also be added as a morpheme on to the end of that word to provide the grammatical information “plural”, as in bags. But none of those four speech sounds carry any meaning in themselves.

There is also no connection generally between how a word sounds and what it means – the link is totally arbitrary. This arbitrariness of the sound-meaning relationship is a fundamental and rather wonderful fact about human language. There is no reason, as Shakespeare more or tells us, why a rose should be called a rose. It just is.

This arbitrariness can be illustrated in many ways. A book can equally well be called a llyfr, as it is in Welsh; or a knjiga, as in Slovenian; or a vivlío, as in Greek; or a raamat like in Estonian. The arbitrariness of the relationship between sound and meaning is also clear from the fact that mark means “marrow” in German, “worm” in Norwegian, “field” in Danish, and “mark” in English. In Bulgarian ne means “no”; but the same sequence of sounds in Greek means “yes”. Albanian jo is “no” but in Norwegian it means “yes”.

Sometimes, though, we do come across combinations of sounds which actually seem to have some kind of significance of their own. In English, the gl- element in glare, gleam, glimmer, glint, glisten, glitter, gloss, glow seems to indicate something to do with light, although it is not particularly clear why this should be. Words like sneer, sneeze, sniff, snigger, snitch, snivel, snooty, snooze, snore, snort, snout and snuff all have some connection with the nose. Equally, the fl- of flap, flash, flick, flinch, fling, flip, flitter, flounce, flourish, flow, flutter, fly and flurry indicates movement of some kind.

English words like bump, clump, dump, hump, jump, lump, stump, thump also all seem to have something – perhaps something rather heavy – in common. You will not find -ump in the dictionary, but its occurrence in so many items with somewhat similar meanings cannot be a coincidence – there is some kind of sound-symbolism here, with the sound–meaning relationship not being totally arbitrary.

Sound sequences carrying some kind of meaning, such as gl-, sn-, fland -ump, are referred to technically as phonaesthemes – a term first used in 1930 by the linguist JR Firth (the first British professor of general linguistics).

An interesting question for linguistic scientists is whether phonaesthemes may in some way be universal or are specific to particular languages. Swedish also has the phonaestheme gl-, as in glimma “glimmer”, glittra “sparkle”, glans “shine”, glöd “glow” – but Swedish is a language which is historically related to English.

It is perhaps more significant that English “mumble” translates into Czech as mumlat, Finnish mumina, Welsh mwmial, Lithuanian murmeti and Samoan muimui.

But arbitrariness remains the norm: there really is no reason for a rose to be called a rose, except that it just is.

A rose by any other name - The New European

Finally, here's something very academic:

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY OF PHONAESTHEMES

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fun with english words podcasts

Playing with words on stage is no new thing - but here's a show where two people passionate about words have lots of fun exploring them:

Something Rhymes with Purple Live | Trailer - YouTube

Something Rhymes with Purple

Yes, they've got a podcast:

Something Rhymes with Purple (free but with ads)

And here are some more:

This is an extraordinary exploration of the english language:

The History of English Podcast | The Spoken History of a Global Language

This is the long-standing BBC radio programme with Michael Rosen:

Word of Mouth - BBC Radio 4 Podcasts

"Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing and feed your love of the English language:"

Grammar Girl - Quick and Dirty Tips ™

Finally, here's an old favourite from the teaching and learning English world:

Luke’s ENGLISH Podcast | Learn British English with Luke Thompson

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the meaning and use of the word 'woman' is changing

The 'meaning' of words is not fixed: it's primarily about the 'use' of words:

The symbolic nature of our communication is a quality unique to humans. Since the words we use do not have to correspond directly to a “thing” in our “reality,” we can communicate in abstractions.

3.1 Language and Meaning – Communication in the Real World

For example, 'female':

1 a(1): of, relating to, or being the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs

b: having a gender identity that is the opposite of male

Female Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Or 'woman':

1a: an adult female person

Woman Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

The Cambridge Dictionary gives similar definitions:

an adult female human being:

an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth:

WOMAN | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

But the English-speaking world has suddenly got rather agitated:

Cambridge Dictionary expands its definition of 'woman' to include transgender women - ABC News

Cambridge Dictionary updates definition of ‘woman’

Cambridge Dictionary changes definitions of ‘woman,’ ‘man’ to now include trans people - The Washington Post

Cambridge Dictionary changes definition of 'man' and 'woman'

Cambridge Dictionary has an update on definition of 'woman', with examples | World News - Hindustan Times

Cambridge Dictionary Alters The Definition Of 'Man' And 'Woman'

Cambridge Dictionary accused of kowtowing to 'woke activists' after updating definition of 'woman' | Daily Mail Online

Fury as Cambridge Dictionary updates definition of word 'woman' | The Sun

Cambridge Dictionary changes definition of 'man' and 'woman': '1984 wasn't supposed to be a how-to manual' | Fox News

Cambridge dictionary expand definition of 'man and woman' to include transgender - BBC News Pidgin

The interest has been huge since the 'change' earlier in the week - so that the word is about to become 'the word of the year':

Dictionary.com 2022 Word of the Year is woman after 1,400 percent surge in searches | Daily Mail Online

In today's EL Gazette, Melanie Butler gives a very entertaining look at the story - and quotes the Cambridge Dictionary people - that it's all about 'use':

A spokesperson for Cambridge University Press and Assessment told The Telegraph, “Our editors made this addition to the entry for women in October. They carefully studied usage patterns of the word woman and concluded that this definition is one that learners of English should be aware of to support their understanding of how the language is used”.

Dictionary definition sparks global culture clash | E L Gazette

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highlighting wonky translations gives language learners permission to make mistakes

We all know the language-learning app Duo:

Duolingo - The world's best way to learn a language

It's just opened a gallery in Tokyo:

Language-learning app Duolingo has opened a ‘Museum of Wonky English’ in Harajuku, Tokyo, and is giving mundane phrases that have been mistranslated new and surprising meanings. In one, viewers see a coffee pot with a sign next to it reading: “When coffee is gone, it’s over.” As well as the in-person event and hero film, Duolingo is inviting people to share their own mistranslations on Twitter, with the best submissions being exhibited in the museum.

Ad Of The Day: Duolingo Creates Exhibition Of Dodgy Translations In Tokyo | The Drum

Here's the short film:

Museum of Wonky English | Duolingo - YouTube

The advertising industry likes it:

Duolingo launches Japan’s Museum of Wonky English - More About Advertising

As does the design industry:

'urinate with elegance': duolingo exhibits wonky english mistranslations in tokyo

And the teaching of English industry.

Here's the ever-vigilant Liz Granirer:

UltraSuperNew is a creative agency in Tokyo and it’s recently opened a new exhibit sponsored by the language learning app Duolingo at its UltraSuperNew Gallery that heroes ‘bad’ translations of English into Japanese. Examples include ‘Please urinate with precision and elegance’ and ‘Please do not eat children and elderly’. In fact, you can giggle at 16 of these deliciously mistranslated statements and even submit ones you discover. The ones chosen to be exhibited alongside those already in the museum win a month’s free subscription to Super Duolingo. That’s because Duolingo has always championed wonky translations, believing that highlighting them gives language learners permission to make mistakes.

“Why do mistakes have such a bad rep?” asks UltraSuperNew’s associate creative director, Andrés Aguilar, as reported by lbbonline.com. “They’re the unsung language-learning heroes and we wanted this campaign to settle the scores. There’s a treasure trove of meanings you can only access when lost in translation and that’s what we wanted people to experience in the Museum of Wonky English.”

Tokyo has a new attraction for those who enjoy ‘bad’ translations | E L Gazette

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upgrade english for speakers of other languages in the uk

Liz Granirer writing in the latest EL Gazette looks at how important teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages will become increasingly important in Britain: 

The double whammy of Brexit and the Covid pandemic has conspired to leave the United Kingdom with a shortage of workers in a number of areas. Everything from hospitality to healthcare is being affected by the lack of those able to take up the jobs.

English key to tackling UK’s skills shortage | E L Gazette

The research is published by politics.co.uk: 

Upgrade English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provisions to supercharge skills, says new report

A new report by the Lifelong Education Commission argues that enhancing English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in the UK could be key to tackling national skills gaps and shortages. The research comes at a time when the country is facing acute skills crises in many sectors, which is constraining growth and productivity.

Fortunately, there is a ready source of skilled workers available: migrants already in the UK. In 2021, it is estimated that nearly 10 million people (16% of the UK population) were born overseas.

However, many migrants and asylum seekers are held back by their lack of English Language  proficiency, especially in speaking and writing abilities that are essential for high-skilled jobs.

Andy Forbes, Head of Development at the Lifelong Education Commission who authored the report, outlines his solution to this problem: “In the face of an acute skills crisis in Britain, better provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages – ESOL – should be a key strategy for tackling skills gaps and shortages. In the UK, we have a growing pool of migrants, many of them skilled and experienced professionals, who are unable to access the labour market due to poor English proficiency. Greatly improving the delivery of ESOL is therefore the best way to tap this hidden reservoir of talent, and greatly improve economic productivity and growth in the process”

Upgrade English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provisions to supercharge skills, says new report - Politics.co.uk

As covered in the professional press:

Upgrade English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provisions to supercharge skills, says new report | FE News

Here's the full report:

ESOL-for-Skills-LEC-Report-1.pdf

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christmas video snippets for advent

There are lots of wonderful shorter videos to enjoy over the Advent period...

MUSIC:

Jay Doubleyou: favourite christmas carols

Jay Doubleyou: favourite christmas music

Here are some great versions of favourite carols:

Jay Doubleyou: new versions of traditional christmas carols

FILM:

Here is the opening to an animated version of a favourite story:



A Christmas Carol, 2009 : Opening Scene (Rescored by SUN) HD 720p

There's more...

What's your favourite Harry Potter Christmas scene?



Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - christmas at Hogwarts (HD)



Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - christmas scene (HD)

Godric's Hollow | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1



Harry Potter: The Ultimate Christmas Scenes | Christmas in the Wizarding World

TRADITIONS:

Jay Doubleyou: favourite christmas food

In Denmark, there is julehygge (Christmas-hygge)

Jay Doubleyou: hygge

Jay Doubleyou: let it snow

BOOKS, POEMS, LITERATURE:

There are some great bits of reading over the Christmas period:

Jay Doubleyou: twas the night before christmas

This is one of the most popular Christmas stories:

A Christmas Carol - Fairy tales and stories for children

There's more here:

Jay Doubleyou: charles dickens at christmas

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superdiversity and diverse national origins

The UK census has just produced some figures - and the major cities are indeed multi-ethnic and mult-cultural:

Why Nigel Farage is wrong about London being 'minority white' - BBC News

And this means that it's also multilingual, as reported recently in the Guardian:

In modern Britain, millions of kids grow up learning two languages or more – and experts believe fluidity in language has some surprising advantages 

For many three-year-olds growing up in the UK, it’s challenging enough to learn and master one language, usually English. Yet there’s another rising demographic of young children who are acquiring and absorbing vocabulary from multiple languages before they even start primary school.
In 2021 there were around 6 million people with non-British nationality living in the UK, with 9.6m people born abroad – 35% of whom live in London. In the social sciences, this relatively new landscape of such diverse national origins is often referred to as “superdiversity” – a term coined by the German anthropologist Professor Steven Vertovec. The UK’s superdiversity is reflected in our school system, with around 20% of pupils speaking English as an additional language. In London schools, more than 300 different languages are spoken. 

This intimate moment speaks to a broader truth: if we cultivate a system where language diversity is celebrated, people can be more fully themselves. In global Britain, surely this is something to strive for.

Britain’s multilingual children: ‘We speak whatever language gets the job done’ | Language | The Guardian

For more of an academic understanding:

About superdiversity - University of Birmingham

Superdiversity - Wikipedia

But it's not just academics who are interested:

Britain, a diverse country for decades, is now superdiverse | The Economist

And it's also of interest to other countries, such as Germany:

Superdiversity – Why It Is Not Just About Origin - TwentyThirty.

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can you win a war by bombing civilians?

Is it possible to defeat a country by destroying their cities?

No: Spanish Civil War:

Despite the world’s horror at the 1937 German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, commemorated by artist Pablo Picasso in his 1937 painting, the Germans realized how useless attacks were on non-combatants, and instead focused their scarce air power resources on achieving victory on the battlefield by supporting the army’s advance, which was much faster in producing results, and consequently cheaper. 

Ukraine Can Beat Russia in the Bombardment War of Attrition | RealClearDefense

No: World War Two:

The victorious allies in World War II did emphasize a strategy of heavily bombing cities, which is part of why countries have come to repeat this so many times since. Cities including Dresden and Tokyo were devastated, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and forcing millions into homelessness. Still, historians generally now argue that, even if that did play some role in exhausting those countries, it was largely because of damage to German and Japanese industrial output rather than the terror it caused...  German leaders had hoped that turning whole blocks of London into rubble would inspire Britons to turn against the leaders who insisted on staying in the war. But British approval of their government rose to near 90%.

Bombing Kyiv into submission? History says it won’t work. | The Japan Times

No: Hiroshima:

We know that some of Truman’s closest advisers viewed the bomb as a diplomatic and not simply a military weapon. Secretary of State James Byrnes, for instance, believed that the use of atomic weapons would help the United States more strongly dominate the postwar era. According to Manhattan Project scientist Leo Szilard, who met with Byrnes on May 28, 1945, “[Byrnes] was concerned about Russia’s postwar behavior…[and thought] that Russia might be more manageable if impressed by American military might, and that a demonstration of the bomb might impress Russia.”

The War Was Won Before Hiroshima—And the Generals Who Dropped the Bomb Knew It | The Nation

The Soviet declaration of war changed the calculation of how much time was left for maneuver. Japanese intelligence was predicting that U.S. forces might not invade for months. Soviet forces, on the other hand, could be in Japan proper in as little as 10 days.

The Bomb Didn’t Beat Japan … Stalin Did – Foreign Policy 

No: Vietnam War:

Operation Rolling Thunder, which was implemented by President Lyndon Johnson and designed to be a ceaseless and relentless bombing campaign against North Vietnam, was ultimately regarded as ineffective.

strategic bombing | military tactic | Britannica

No: Asymmetrical War:

Insurgent groups have likewise adapted this tactic, to little more success. Northern Irish groups struck repeatedly in London, hoping to dispel British commitment to the territory. Instead, the bombings led to more severe measures by British authorities in Northern Ireland. Palestinian groups that ignited bus and cafe bombs in Israeli cities during a period of conflict in the 2000s found much the same result.

Bombing Kyiv into submission? History says it won’t work. | The Japan Times

No: Syrian Civil War:

After the Assad regime crushed a rebellion by Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islamists in 1982, it sought to demobilize both its religious and secular opponents by dismantling the Muslim Brotherhood, coopting potential opponents, infiltrating and splintering opposition groups, and sponsoring small Salafi militant networks. In short, Syrian state policy atomized civil society in the decades prior to 2011. When Syrians rose in rebellion for a second time in 2011, they did so from scattered pockets of opposition, not from a single cross-cutting social base like the Muslim Brotherhood. This, in turn, led to today’s intensely fragmented civil war.

How Assad Won the Syrian Civil War Before It Began - Political Violence at a Glance

No: overall:

Civilian victimization was not relevant to victory or defeat in cases such as the Boxer Rebellion, ethnic cleansing in the First Balkan War, Turkey in World War I, the Greco-Turkish War, the Soviet Union in World War II, and Armenia–Azerbaijan, but in some other cases it may have contributed to the victory.

Targeting Civilians to Win? Assessing the Military Effectiveness of Civilian Victimization in Interstate War | Rethinking Violence: States and Non-State Actors in Conflict | MIT Press Scholarship Online | Oxford Academic

No: Ukraine War:

Russia Bombing Kyiv Civilians Won't Help Putin Win Ukraine - Bloomberg

Why Airpower Can't Salvage Russia’s Doomed War in Ukraine

Former Estonian Military Chief: 'Ukraine Has Already Won' In War With Russia

the prevailing historical evidence is that for Ukraine to win the war, it must paradoxically maneuver to ensure that Moscow continues its barrage of missiles against civilian, rather than military targets. The demand for victory in the air defense war is primarily driven by the political imperative to reduce suffering among Ukraine’s civilian population, but carried through to its logical conclusion, it will prove prohibitively expensive. This imperative is also the result of four common miscalculations of the effects of bombing.

Ukraine Can Beat Russia in the Bombardment War of Attrition | RealClearDefense

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the japanese are not learning english

English is being learnt by more and more around the world - but not in Japan... 

Education First puts Japan at 53rd out of 100 countries measured on English proficiency. The number has been dropping steadily for years. So why does Japan have such low rates of English ability compared to countries that have less than half the time in school and spend far less money on education?

The REAL Reasons Why Japanese People Can’t Speak English | Live Work Play Japan

Many reasons are cultural - with a very interesting look here at the issues:

Japan Doesn’t Want to Become Another Casualty of English

English skills bring status, but the public remains stubbornly bad at learning.

In a 2019 survey, Japan dropped to 53rd in global English proficiency, squarely in the “low proficiency” band. Japan ranks near the bottom of Asian and developed countries alike despite constant reshuffling and refinement of the English educational curriculum in schools and the frequent assertions, acknowledged by Japan’s Ministry of Education, that English-language skills are needed to compete in the modern economy.

The failure to adopt English is particularly unexpected given that the English language—and the whiteness associated with it—signifies privilege in Japan. Countless advertisements flaunt white foreigners on TV and use English aptitude as the basis for selling products. Top companies such as Rakuten, an e-commerce website and the Japanese competitor to Amazon, place immense weight on English proficiency, whether or not English is needed for an employee’s role. Eikaiwa (English conversation) programs run daily on TV, and accounts featuring videos of Japanese American children speaking English cultivate tens of thousands of Instagram followers.

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Why Japan Doesn't Learn English

A lot has to do with the education system - and the way the Japanese language works:

6 Reasons Why Japanese Cannot Speak English According to a Japanese Local | tsunagu Japan

Reasons why the Japanese are not fluent in English - fromJapan

And with the sounds of English being so different:

The reason Japanese have difficulty with English is because of the limited range of vocalization used in the Japanese language. Unless pronunciations and nuances of foreign languages are learned in childhood, the human ear and brain has difficulty in discerning them.

‘Japanglish’: Why Do Japanese Have Difficulty Speaking English? | JAPAN Forward

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are indians rejecting english?

When he came to power in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Modi made a big thing about rejecting English for his native Hindi:

Narendra Modi may join the list of world leaders who don’t want to speak English - The Washington Post

India rejects Cultivated English. Modi’s Gujarati and Hindi swamps the old school tie | Thuppahi's Blog

India PM Modi Demands Hindi, Not English For Social Media

But Indians are native speakers of English, after all:

Jay Doubleyou: what is a native speaker teacher of english?

English is an Indian language - The New European

English is an Indian language - The Hindu

Hindi is the native language of only one section of India's population

Just 26% of Indians speak Hindi as mother tongue - The Hindu

Hindi Isn't India's National Language. Why Does the Myth Continue? | The Swaddle

But Hindu nationalists would like it to be the national language:

People from different states should speak in Hindi, not English: Amit Shah | India News,The Indian Express

Modi Government’s Plan to Make Hindi India’s National Language Stirs Conflict – The Diplomat

But others disagree:

Non-Hindi speaking states want English: DMK hits back at Amit Shah's 'language of India' remark - India Today

It really doesn't make sense to get rid of English and impose Hindi:

Justifications such as Hindi as an “important part of the unity of the country”, “people should communicate in the language of India” and “Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English” don't hold much water as there are countries with several official languages.
Bolivia has the greatest number of official languages tallying up to 37. And although 78 per cent of the US' population speaks English, it has still not been granted the status of a national language - all these exhibit a tranquil coexistence.
I neither entertain Hindi-phobia, nor am I a Hindi-hater. But if someone can assure me that when Hindi becomes a national language, millions of jobless youths can find jobs, all Indians can avail basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter, and India can emerge as a 'city upon a hill', I would have no hesitation to learn it.

Why I learnt English and wouldn’t learn Hindi- The New Indian Express

Ultimately, though, it's a political question:

70 years on, India is still fighting over a national language | India News - Times of India

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overtourism

It's just getting too much:

Overtourism in the West Country - Vision Group for Sidmouth

And now a travel company is recommending to stay clear of Cornwall:

Cornwall listed as a destination to avoid as well as other hotspots including Barcelona | Travel News | Travel | Express.co.uk

Fodor's Travel tells tourists to avoid Cornwall as holiday destination - Cornwall Live

Here's a model showing the impact of tourism:

Butler Model of tourist resort development

What about your own local area?

What about the impact of your own travel to places?

Is this a solution?

Sustainable tourism - Wikipedia

What is sustainable tourism? - Travel Foundation

What is Sustainable Tourism? Here's the Definition | GSTC

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writing activities for the esl class and beyond

Writing is good for you if you want to learn English (or any other language!) 

Jay Doubleyou: writing (by hand!) helps you pick up a language

There are lots of things you can do:

Journals, diaries and the commonplace book:

Jay Doubleyou: class journals from the british council

Jay Doubleyou: the commonplace book as a language-learning tool

Dictation:

Jay Doubleyou: short texts for fun dication

Jay Doubleyou: practical dictation > online texts and audio

Jay Doubleyou: dictation can be fun

Don't worry too much about getting it right:

Jay Doubleyou: how to write good

Here are some good lists for what to do in the classroom:

Writing Tweets. ...
Writing Emails. ...
Writing Ads and TV Commercials. ...
Error Correction. ...
Collaborative ESL Writing Activity. ...
Association game. ...
Structural Writing. ...
Image-Based Story Writing.

10 Creative ESL Writing Activities For Young Students - VIPKid Blog

Text lingo
Writing correction code

Guided writing: Writing a story on the OHP

Guided writing: Writing an article using the OHP

ChatA business letter

Poems for the future

Writing through 'reverse reading'

Postcards

Role-play writing

Creating a framework for writing

A perfect story

Note writing

A creative writing activity: A dark and stormy night

Eliciting vocabulary before writing narrativesImproving paragraph writing

Songs and storytelling

Freeze the writing - A way to make writing tasks a group activity

Helping students organise argument essays

Writing activities | TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC

Writing for fluency:

7 Effective Strategies to Build Writing Fluency | EnglishPost.org

Fluency in Writing—What Does It Mean?

Writing For Fluency: Classroom Activities | Cambridge English

Writing a leaflet/advert/copy:

Example of Leaflet Writing (10 Tips in Writing Your Own Business Leaflet)

Top 10 Essentials Of Effective Leaflet Advertising

How to write perfect copy for a leaflet - Printing.com Blog

Using connectors/linking devices:

English grammar - linking words in English | Learn English Today

Connectors and linking words - exercises

Connectives and Linking Phrases - Online Exercises - English Grammar

Writing Cambridge Exam-type texts:

CAE Writing Text Types – Tim's Free English Lesson Plans

https://www.fceexamtips.com/writing#:~:text=You%20have%2080%20minutes%20to,should%20be%20140%2D190%20words.

Write & Improve with Cambridge

Rewriting from Rinvolucri's Grammar Games:

gymnasium23.edu.kh.ua/Files/downloads/Grammar Games.pdf

Writing for learning:

“Short, impromptu or otherwise informal writing tasks that help students think through key
concepts or ideas presented in a course. Often, these writing tasks are limited to less than
five minutes of class...” (Definition from theWAC Clearinghouse). Writing-to-Learn
activities can be used in any situations where students could benefit from thinking deeply
about what they are doing in class, or why they’re doing it.
At the end of the class:
Purposes
 To help identify what students have learned
To assess their understanding
To help students better retain the material they learned in class 

(The National Teaching& Learning Forum)
Examples
In a few sentences, tell about the lesson from the previous day to a person who missed
the class the day before.
Imagine that you have to explain today’s lesson to a little child. How would you do it?
Imagine that you have to go home and tell your parents about today’s lesson. What
would you tell them?
Tell me about your two favorite activities from class today.
What is the top single concept that you learned in class today?
The most difficult concept/topic/principle/rule/word for me today was...because...
Tell me what the most interesting/important word that you learned today was. How
and in which situations will you use this word?

Writing-to-Learn Activities | TESOL Blog

What is Writing to Learn? - The WAC Clearinghouse

Jeremy Harmer: How to Teach Writing

Chapter 3: Writing in the language classroom (p31)
Writing for learning:
reinforcement writing (eg: grammar point just taught); preparation
writing (time to think before an activity); activity writing (eg: while listening; as part of another activity)
Writing for writing:
“our objective here is to help students to become better writers and to learn how to write in various genres using different registers.” “It is about helping student to communicate real messages in an appropriate manner.” (eg: letter writing) Also: writing purposes and creative writing.

How to Teach Writing by Jeremy Harmer - PDF Drive

Process Writing

In process writing, students have the chance to think about what they are going to write,
produce drafts, revise, edit, and give and receive feedback on their work before coming up
with the final version of the text. A process approach to writing contrasts with a product
approach, where the main idea is to reproduce a model text.

https://sites.tufts.edu/tuftsliteracycorps/files/2020/10/Process-Writing-Article-with-Teaching-Notes-Added.pdf

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is the process of breaking down a larger writing assignment into smaller
assignments that focus on the skills or types of knowledge students require to successfully
complete the larger assignment

Writing Center | University of Colorado Denver

8 Ways to Scaffold Writing for English Learners – Seidlitz Education

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americanisms in british english

We Brits are horrified by the invasion of our gentle tongue by the Yanks:

How Americanisms are killing the English language - BBC Culture

With an English teacher looking at that article:

120. Americanisms | Luke’s ENGLISH Podcast

Brits can get rather sniffy about the English language – after all, they originated it. But a Google search of the word “Americanisms” turns up claims that they are swamping, killing and absorbing British English. If the British are not careful, so the argument goes, the homeland will soon be the 51st State as workers tell customers to “have a nice day” while “colour” will be spelt without a “u” and “pavements” will become “sidewalks”. The two versions of English are intelligible but have long had enough differences to inspire Oscar Wilde to claim: "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the language."

The Americanisation of the English language: a frightfully subtle affair

As the video would have it:

Top 10 Americanisms That Really Annoy British People - YouTube

Yes, we do find them annoying:

Top Americanisms the British Find Annoying | Blog | Pangea Localization Services

They are everywhere:

Americanisms in British English | Cambridge English

And there's a whole list:

Glossary of American terms not widely used in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

However, the most prominent British word-person loves them:

Countdown's Susie Dent reveals her love of Americanisms | Daily Mail Online

Countdown's Susie Dent: Why we shouldn’t trash American English | Radio Times

BBC Radio 4 - Americanize!: Why the Americanisation of English Is a Good Thing

American English: How have we gotten here? A lecture by Susie Dent for

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china, mandarin and domestic dominance

The French state only recognises the French language as 'official':

Language policy in France - Wikipedia

Although in the US, there is no 'official language':

FYI: English isn't the official language of the United States | CNN

On the other hand, the Chinese government wants to impose Mandarin on the rest of the country it controls - simply as a means of control:

Cantonese v Mandarin: When Hong Kong languages get political - BBC News

The quest to save Cantonese in a world dominated by Mandarin - Los Angeles Times

China Plans Mandarin Domestic Dominance by 2025 - Language Magazine

The New European's linguist Peter Trudgill looks at the issue:

The land of the midnight sun

Despite its vast size, China insists on having only one time zone. It shows the same rigid approach to language
PETER TRUDGILL
The fact that the USA is now the only country in the world to measure temperature in Fahrenheit rather than Celsius can be interpreted as indicating the relative lack of interest many Americans have in the world beyond their own borders. Similarly, the extraordinary fact that China has only one time zone can be interpreted as indicating the lack of regard the Chinese state has for many of its own citizens.
China is approximately the same size as the USA. Both countries are very roughly three thousand miles across. But whereas the USA has four time zones – Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern (plus two more for Alaska and Hawai’i) – China has only one – Peking or Beijing Time. Three thousand miles is as far as London is from Quebec City, far away on the other side of the Atlantic, and in terms of time zones five hours behind the United Kingdom.
This centrist Chinese policy is very symbolic of the remarkably autocratic and anti-democratic nature of the Chinese system, which in the case of time zones is very hostile to the needs of many Chinese citizens as human beings. In China’s westernmost regions, sunsets can be witnessed at midnight; and people have to get up to go to work many hours before sunrise. When it is 7am in the Chinese capital, it is also 7am three thousand miles to the west.
Unsurprisingly, the persecuted Turkic-speaking Uighur people of Xinjiang, in the far west of China, very often ignore Beijing Time and instead use their own unofficial local time zone, Xinjiang or Ürümqi Time, which is 2 hours behind Peking Time. (Ürümqi is the capital of the Uyghur Autonomous Region, although “autonomous” is a rather misleading term these days.) If you arrange to meet someone in Ürümqi at 11 o’clock, you will need to know if they are an indigenous Uighur or a colonial Han Chinese, because otherwise you might be two hours early (or late).
The purpose of this time-zone policy, as inherited from Chairman Mao with his Communist Party goal of total control, is apparently “to unify the nation”.
This is the same objective which is, sadly, wreaking havoc on the many different languages of China. The languages of the colonised peoples of China, such as Tibetan, Mongolian and Uighur, are predictably under very considerable pressure, official and unofficial, from Mandarin Chinese.
But perhaps more surprisingly, the many different non-Mandarin Chinese languages of the Han Chinese people themselves, such as Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Shanghainese – often wrongly referred to as “dialects” in China – are also under attack in the interests of “national unity”.
China’s autocratic president, Xi Jinping, has tried to reinforce a single, uniform Chinese identity through discouraging the usage of all languages except Mandarin, and indeed Mandarin now seems to be being spoken by over 80% of the population, as compared to perhaps 70% 20 years ago.
Many younger people are no longer able to speak their local Chinese language, and it does not help that local TV stations are often banned from broadcasting in these languages. Even the Szechuanese language of the former paramount leader of China, Deng Xiaoping, seems to have disappeared from the airwaves, and civil servants have been banned from using it in their places of work.

The land of the midnight sun - The New European

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creating learner independence outside of the classroom

How do we create learner independence outside of the classroom?

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING

Well, we know children can teach themselves - without needing a school, classroom or teacher:

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education | TED Talk

Jay Doubleyou: teaching the teachers: the future of education

On the other hand, you can encourage students to be more independent - starting in the classroom:

How to promote independent learning in the primary classroom | DoodleLearning

Ways To Help Students Become More Independent Learners

BLENDED LEARNING AND THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM

A starting point is to blend or mix spaces inside and outside the classroom [and you can skip the middle section]:

The Basics of Blended Learning - YouTube

This helps students to become independent learners - as well as enables a very flexible approach to what happens in and out of the class:

A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning, which aims to increase student engagement and learning by having pupils complete readings at home and work on live problem-solving during class time.[1] This pedagogical style moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. With a flipped classroom, students watch online lectures, collaborate in online discussions, or carry out research at home, while actively engaging concepts in the classroom, with a mentor's guidance.

Flipped classroom - Wikipedia

We can use technology in the flipped classroom - with an inspiring video here:

Teaching for Tomorrow: Flipped Learning - YouTube

Jay Doubleyou: blended learning and the flipped classroom

NO CHOICE: TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC:

Of course, the last two years have been very difficult for both students and teachers - as everyone had to try and make use of digital technology:

Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow

And it threw open all sorts of challenges:

Jay Doubleyou: digital learning solutions

RESOURCES

Where can we go for digital learning platforms outside the classroom?

How can these make learners more independent and effective?

There are lots of excellent eady-made videos:

• Khan Academy - YouTube

• Let's use video to reinvent education | Salman Khan - YouTube

Here's an excellent guide to which resources can be used for independent learning - also for outside the classroom:

Fostering learner independence in your classroom will give your students the best chance of future success. Help your students to be less reliant on you, and more actively involved and invested in their learning in the classroom and beyond, with these 5 tips for teachers!

5 ways to foster learner independence in the ELT classroom | Cambridge English

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using digital technology in a student-centred classroom

Where is a good place to start with using digital technology in a student-centred classroom?

SMARTPHONES

Students will already have a piece of digital technology in their pockets - and they can do a lot with them:

• take a photo of the board to look at for homework
• record your voice to compare with a model
• use voice-recognition technology to reproduce sounds correctly

What other ways are there to make use of this device for learning language in the classroom?

Using smartphones for ESOL learning | ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES

Whitepaper-mobiles-in-class.pdf

10 Ways to Use Smartphones to Teach English

TINKERING

Students like to be given problems to solve, to fix or build something, or to work to some sort of final result, for example:

Jay Doubleyou: questioning and problem-solving

Jay Doubleyou: task-based learning

Jay Doubleyou: play and learning

Here's another example - where kids are playing with dangerous things:

Gever Tulley teaches life lessons through tinkering - YouTube

Jay Doubleyou: tinkering school

How can this be done using digital technology?

Try doing things with your digits (or fingers!) and doing things digitally:

• students build a lego model in a team 
• an observer takes notes on their mobile and takes video shots
• following feedback, the team write up a report on a laptop and create a presentation on teamwork
• the team repeat the exercise, with observer and report-writing

(PDF) Conversation PDF - PDFSLIDE.NET (page 117, activity 67)

We like lego because it's something very different from 'technology':

Easy to Use STEAM Lesson Plans for All Ages | LEGO® Education

Ways To Use Lego In The Classroom | Teaching Ideas

STUDENT-CENTRED

The point of all these activities is that digital technology can enable student-centred learning in the classroom - which is quite critical of traditional ways of learning:

Jay Doubleyou: student-centred learning

There's quite a lot of theory behind it: 

Through peer-to-peer interaction, collaborative thinking can lead to an abundance of knowledge. In placing a teacher closer to a peer level, knowledge and learning is enhanced, benefitting the student and classroom overall. According to Lev Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD), students typically learn vicariously through one another. Scaffolding is important when fostering independent thinking skills.

Student-centered learning - Wikipedia

But it's actually a very practical approach:

A “student-centered” approach shifts the focus of activity from the teacher to the learners. The teacher moves into a facilitator role and pays close attention to each student’s interests, abilities, and learning styles. Common student-centered learning activities include:

• active learning (problem solving, answering questions, discussing, formulating questions, debating)
• cooperative learning (collaboration with classmates)
• inquiry-based instruction
• project-based learning

Technology In The Classroom: A Student-Centered Approach - Knowing Technologies

The technology to help this happen has been available for some time now:

Using Technology to Create Student-Centered Learning Environment (from 2013)

And through technology, students can learn better:

Below we’ve listed ways in which adopting a student strategy that makes judicious use of technology in the classroom environment can improve engagement and pushing up student success rates:

• Helps connect students to the real world:
• Prepares students for the workforce:
• Encourages collaboration:
• Supports different types of learners:
• Access information more easily:
• Teaches students how to be responsible online:
• Adds a fun-factor to learning:

7 Reasons Why Students Need Technology in the Classroom

And so we are back to tinkering by using smartphones:

Inquiry-based learning - Wikipedia

Project-based learning - Wikipedia

GETTING TECHNICAL:

To finish, the terminology can be a bit too much - but here's a handy overview:

Digital technologies in the classroom

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