Language equality in the digital age (EU survey)

Posted on 22.09.2021 by Richard Samson

We are happy to pass on this EU survey, which we were learnt of through APTIC.

European Language Equality (ELE) is a large-scale EU-funded pilot action whose primary goal is the preparation of a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda and Roadmap in order to tackle the striking imbalance between European languages in terms of their support through language technologies (LTs) over the next decade.

We would kindly ask you to contribute to the ELE project by filling out an online questionnaire with questions evaluating the current situation regarding the level of language technology support for European languages, including in particular lesser-used languages. In this questionnaire, we also invite you to indicate challenges and to share your needs and expectations for the future of LT in Europe. The questionnaire takes between 10 and 15 minutes to fill in – we would be grateful if you found the time. We would appreciate it if you could also forward this questionnaire to your colleagues to fill it out.

This is a joint pan-European effort that will impact the field of LT in Europe for the next 10-15 years, including the funding situation. Join us and be part of it!

Have your say in the online survey:
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/LTusers-consumers

At Tradiling we plan to publish the results of this survey when they are made available.

 

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Gallimarsot, lesbiana, bullera, bollera?

Posted on 16.09.2021 by Caterina Riba
Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde (1980), foto de K. Kendall

Recentment s’ha publicat en català el llibre Els diaris del càncer de l’escriptora i activista nord-americana Audre Lorde (Nova York, 1934 – Saint Croix, 1992), un referent tant dins el panorama literari del segle XX com dins els moviments feministes. Lorde, que es definia a si mateixa com a dona, negra, lesbiana, guerrera i poeta va lluitar tota la seva vida per trencar el que ella anomenava “la tirania del silenci”.

Va fer sentir la seva veu, i va obrir espais perquè altres persones també poguessin fer-ho. Va denunciar tota classe de violències sistèmiques i, quan l’any 1978 va ser diagnosticada amb càncer de mama, va decidir publicar un llibre sobre l’experiència d’una malaltia que fins llavors havia estat tabú. Es tracta d’una amalgama d’entrades de diari, reflexions personals i conferències que feu sobre aquesta qüestió, en què posa de manifest la dimensió política entorn de càncer de mama i, ben especialment, sobre la reconstrucció de pit. Una petita joia d’una extraordinària força poètica en què l’autora, relatant com afronta la pròpia mort ens ofereix eines per encarar la vida de manera conscient. Continue reading →

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Leaning into the new academic year

Posted on 09.09.2021 by Richard Samson

Book cover of Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg

Do you use the expression “lean in[to] [something]”? Do you know what it means? I have noticed this expression become more common in English over the past few years. I find this intriguing since the creation of a new phrasal / prepositional verb is not so common.

“Lean In” is the title of feminist icon and Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg’s self-empowerment book, published in 2015, which caused a sensation, though her message has since lost some of its gloss. Sandberg did not invent the expression but she certainly helped to popularise it. What precisely does it mean?

Merriam-Webster has a Words We’re Watching: ‘Lean in’ page, where they discusss the origin and meaning of the expression. They consider it an interesting neologism but not yet sufficiently consolidated to merit an entry in the main dictionary. (That begs the question, How much evidence do they need?)

Here are some examples of current webpage titles for content that includes the expression “leaning into it”:

  • Finding Your Podcasting Style And Leaning Into It
  • Leaning Into Discomfort for Growth
  • How Leaning Into Your Anxiety Can Help You Manage It
  • Trump acts like he knows he’s losing — and he’s leaning into it (October 2020)
  • Lean into it! Turn struggling into your best friend

Continue reading →

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Un relato de multiculturalidad e interculturalidad

Posted on 02.09.2021 by Lucrecia Keim
Alter Marktplatz Bielefeld

Alter Marktplatz, Bielefeld
(foto de SPBER, CC BY-SA 3.0)

En verano suelen aparecer algunos documentos olvidados o traspapelados que, de pronto, sitúan a una en otra época o en otro momento de la vida. A veces, las relecturas desde otro momento vital y con un bagaje profesional aumentado permiten lecturas más ricas. Así me ha sucedido con un relato autobiográfico escrito a finales de los noventa del siglo pasado sobre mis experiencias como individuo multicultural en Alemania entre los ochenta y los noventa. Quiero compartir aquí dicho relato e incluyo en él enlaces a lecturas desde la perspectiva actual de 2021. El texto original está escrito en alemán y aquí presento una autotraducción.

Bielefeld, comienzo de los noventa del siglo pasado

Vivo desde hace más de diez años en Alemania, en Bielefeld para ser más exactos. ¿Dónde demonios está eso? Esta es la pregunta habitual que se me hace cuando vuelvo a España de visita. Entre Colonia y Hannover suele ser mi respuesta estándar dibujando al mismo tiempo una línea en el aire en la que sitúo Bielefeld en un punto más bien cerca de Hannover. El punto siempre me queda más cerca de Hannover de lo que debiera, pero pienso que es igual cuando descubro en el semblante de la persona que pregunta la satisfacción que supone poder situar en un mapa mental un lugar geográfico desconocido.

Que yo viví un choque cultural al llegar a principios de los 80 a Bielefeld lo sé hoy tras haber trabajado desde un punto de vista académico la bibliografía sobre el tema. Y me explico. Continue reading →

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Arts or sciences?

Posted on 02.08.2021 by Richard Samson
Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciencies (2098137524)

City  of Arts and Sciences, Valencia

The long-running debate about the relative value of the arts and sciences, or the humanities and the sciences, received an unexpected contribution last week. Apparently – I do not read the magazine so I can only infer this from the reply that has gone viral on social media – a Private Eye* columnist put the British Prime Minister’s alleged habit of bare-faced lying down to the fact that he studied Classics (Latin and Greek) at university.

The subsequent reader’s reply on the Private Eye letters page ranks as one of the great take-downs. While reaffirming the value of both sciences and humanities, Private Eye reader John Bothwell put Boris Johnson firmly in his place:

Sir,

It’s unkind to use a classics degree as shorthand for the “bluster, lies and deceit” that characterise the current government, and I say that writing from my office in a university bioscience department.

The sciences can and will save your lives, especially in the face of climate change and current and future pandemics, but classics and the other humanities are going to be what makes those lives worth living afterwards.

The problem with Boris Johnson’s response to the pandemic isn’t that he studied classics: it’s that he’s a twat.

John Bothwell, Durham

Congratulations to Mr Bothwell on his impeccable logic and glorious vulgarity.

Tradiling wishes a wonderful August to all our readers.

* Private Eye is a fortnightly UK satirical magazine.

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