Language of peace spoken in the Olympic Games
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201802090029.html
Japanese teams are made up of athletes from both the Kansai and Kanto regions and there is no language barrier to hinder communication. But what if Japan had been divided after World War II?

This thought popped into my head when I learned that a language issue faces members of the joint South Korean and North Korean ice hockey team.

A South Korean player was quoted by the media as saying, "When we are playing with our North counterparts, there are times when we can't understand what they are saying, and vice versa."

Even though they speak the same language, it has obviously evolved differently over time across the border. For instance, the word "pass," used in the South, is always spoken as "yeonlag" (meaning "contact") in North Korea.

The team's Canadian coach apparently gives instructions in English, and this is being translated into both the North and South versions of Korean.

This anecdote reminds us of that the Korean Peninsula has been divided for 70 years. A recent South Korean opinion poll revealed that younger people were less inclined toward Korean reunification, and were more likely to perceive North Koreans as "threatening neighbors" rather than compatriots.

In the Feb. 9 opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Korean squad will march under a united flag.

Even though politics must be kept out of the Olympics, it is never easy to completely rid the Games of political and nationalistic elements. This is precisely why I hope the audience will applaud athletes who give their all to their pursuits, irrespective of their nationality.

There is the caveat, "Do not be fooled by North Korea's false smile." This may well be on the money, given the military parade that took place in Pyongyang on Feb. 8 and the nation's continued nuclear weapon and missile development.

But without North-South cooperation, the Pyeongchang Games would be held under a constant fear of terrorism or military action.

There are limits to the creation of peace through sports. Still, I am reminding myself anew that the Olympics can be held only if there is peace, and that peace is what this quadrennial extravaganza seeks.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 9 2018

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tech-babbel/language-app-babbel-translates-european-success-to-u-s-market-idUSKCN1G40YR

TECHNOLOGY NEWSFEBRUARY 20, 2018 / 11:32 AM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
Language app Babbel translates European success to U.S. market
Douglas Busvine

BERLIN (Reuters) - It might seem a tall order to persuade people to spend as much to learn a language on their smartphone as it costs to subscribe to a music streaming or video-on-demand service.

But Berlin-based startup Babbel says that, after 10 years in business, it has finally cracked the U.S. market, where sales more than doubled last year and are on track soon to eclipse its home market in central Europe.

Babbel, the top-grossing language app worldwide, charges $8.95 a month for its most popular three-month deal that features interactive drills and conversational practice using speech recognition.

Its subscription business contrasts with that of U.S.-based rival Duolingo’s free, ad-supported model.

“Around June we noticed there’s a flywheel going,” co-founder and CEO Markus Witte said of the U.S. market in a recent interview. “We know that this market is big enough for us to grow there for a quite a while.”

Key was the hiring a year ago of Julie Hansen, previously of Business Insider, to lead the U.S. sales drive.

Babbel said its U.S. sales rose by 140 percent in the second half of 2017. It counted 70,000 new paying users in the United States in January, up from 40,000 last August.

New U.S. sales overtook central Europe in December and it will become Babbel’s biggest market soon, says the company, which does not disclose revenue figures for competitive reasons.

The biggest challenge for language apps is to encourage users not to give up - and to convince learners that Babbel is different from other providers, said Witte.

“There have been more or less successful language-learning companies in the U.S. before,” he told Reuters, “but nobody was really invested in the actual learning part; they usually invested way more in how do we sell and market it.”

Babbel says its average user stays the course for over 12 months. Of those who have tried to learn elsewhere, 87 percent say they are having more success with Babbel, its own customer research shows.

Worldwide, Duolingo had nearly three times the number of unique visitors – around 20.3 million – compared with Babbel’s 7.83 million over the last three months, according to data from browser and smartphone audience measurement firm SimilarWeb.

In the U.S. market, Silicon Valley based-Duolingo had nearly 10 times as many users as Babbel, while the two language apps are more closely matched in Germany, Babbel’s home market, and other European countries, SimilarWeb data showed.

The company, which has raised $33 million from investors in three funding rounds, says it is cash-flow positive, doesn’t need fresh funding to accelerate growth, and might consider “adjacent” acquisitions.

“Our focus is on healthy unit economics,” said Witte.

“We can’t acquire customers for more money than makes sense. We never did that and will never do that.”

https://qz.com/1212577/warning-thinking-in-a-foreign-language-transforms-mental-images-and-moral-decisions/
If you had the option of saving five lives by pushing one person into an oncoming train, what would you do?

If asked this question in your native language, you’d likely refuse to make the shove, studies have shown. But if the question was posed in a foreign tongue, you’d more easily conclude that five lives are worth more than one—and choose to push someone to their death.

Now scientists think they can explain this distinction. New research from the University of Chicago, published in the journal Cognition (paywall), suggests that our relationship to a language influences the mental imagery that our brains produce in response, and foreign languages give rise to less vivid mental imagery. “The languages we use are not simply interchangeable vehicles for transmitting ideas,” cognitive psychologist Sayuri Hayakawa, who co-authored the study, tells Quartz. “Rather, the language itself can change how we think and feel about those ideas.”

Hayakawa and his colleague Boaz Keysar devised three tests to examine the link between language, vividness of mental imagery, and moral choices. In the first, about 350 subjects were asked about the vividness of imagery that arose in their minds when discussing sensory experiences like sight and touch. English speakers produced less clear mental pictures when hearing sense words in Spanish than their native tongue.

The next test had participants judge shapes in order to examine the link between muted mental imagery and accuracy, using 300 Mandarin Chinese speakers living in Beijing, who spoke English. In one variation of a series of exercises, they were given certain words—for example, “pen,” “carrot,” and “mushroom”—then asked to choose which was shaped most differently from the other two. In this case, the answer was the mushroom. They were also asked which shape didn’t fit in the category based on meaning, which was the pen. For the subjects, taking the test in their native language produced more vivid pictures. When a clear mental image was produced, subjects could respond correctly. However, muted pictures made correct judgment more difficult. In English, the subjects didn’t see as vividly.

The third test tied muted mental imagery to moral choices. Previously, the researchers had found that people were up to twice as likely to make a utilitarian choice—sacrificing one life to save five—when asked in a foreign tongue as opposed to their native language. Since then, the finding has been independently replicated with hundreds of speakers of English, Korean, Spanish, French, Hebrew, German, and Italian.

This time, the researcher wanted to determine the relationship between the language spoken, the vividness of mental images produced, and the moral decision made.

Over 700 German speakers were asked to consider the moral dilemma of saving five lives by sacrificing one. The subjects didn’t grow up speaking English at home. On average they’d begun learning it at age 14, and had spent about 3 months abroad in an English-speaking country.

The group was randomly split in half, and asked to consider the problem in one of the two tongues, English or German. They rated their decisions on a scale of 1-7, with 1 being vehemently opposed to sacrificing a life, and 7 indicating absolute certainty that saving five lives is right. They also rated the vividness of the mental picture of the scene, the potential sacrificial victim, and the five people who could be saved on a 1-7 scale from “no image” to “absolutely clear image.”

Notably, vivid imagery of the individual to be sacrificed, even when produced in a foreign language, influenced the outcome of the subjects’ moral decision-making. So some speakers—about 7% of native German speakers being asked the question in English—could really see the individual involved, even when the rest of the scene was hazier, and that affected their choice. In other words, being able to clearly visualize who would pay the price for the choice made a difference in the decisions. But ultimately, native German speakers generally couldn’t see the scene, the individual, or the five people whose lives could be saved as clearly when listening to a description in English.

The three tests taken together “suggest that our mental images change when using a foreign tongue, leading to downstream consequences for how we make decisions,” the researchers write.

Hayakawa explained to Quartz how this works. When a scene is described in your native language, those words are intimately linked to a rich store of memories and associations, which help build a vivid image of what you’re hearing. But foreign languages won’t elicit as clear imagery because they’re less often associated with deep formative experiences.

If you’re an English speaker who took French in school, when you listen to a scene described in French, you understand the words. But their linguistic gravitas will be less weighty than a description in your first language, and the mental imagery your brain produces won’t be as clear or meaningful. The weight words have, which creates a more or less vivid picture in your mind, will shift depending on the tongue spoken. “As a result,” Hayakawa says, “the way you feel about and act on my words can vary depending on what language I choose to deliver the message.”

Familiarity with a language is, of course, not the only factor in our response to words at any given time. The weather, health, and happiness also influence responses, according to Hayakawa. Still, it’s worth noting the effect of words on the mind and the images we produce, because they can have a hidden influence on our choices.

“These findings speak to the complex and highly interconnected processes involved in seemingly simple acts. When I ask you to ‘imagine pushing a man off of a bridge,’ this involves unpacking the meaning of what I am saying, retrieving the appropriate exemplars from memory to build your mental picture, and reflecting and emotionally responding to this image,” Hayakawa says. “Using a foreign language could potentially influence how you carry out any of these steps, from the comprehension of the message to the construction of the image.”

By Allison McCulloch and Cera Murtagh March 2
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/03/02/northern-ireland-is-in-crisis-because-of-a-squabble-over-language/?utm_term=.2220a43aa43f
When Northern Ireland’s nationalists and unionists made peace in 1998, a key part of the deal was a power-sharing arrangement to run Northern Ireland’s government. That collapsed 13 months ago, and five rounds of talks have not been enough to bring it back to life. The latest talks ended Feb. 14, when Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster announced her party’s withdrawal. Here’s how Northern Ireland got into this mess, and here is what could happen next.
It may seem strange that the Irish language could provoke a crisis, when Northern Irish politicians could reach agreement on such contentious issues as the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons and devolution of policing. However, as the military conflict died down, conflicts over culture and identity, which were not resolved in the original peace deal, have increased. These cultural hot points include issues such as marches by the unionist Orange Order, flags and emblems.

Although the agreement pledges “parity of esteem” between nationalists and unionists, this was supposed to be just one part of a broader commitment to human rights and equality. However, the peace process has increasingly come to focus on cultural issues where the two sides disagree, so that other minority rights are lost in the shuffle, and questions such as same-sex marriage and welfare reform are being interpreted as markers in the fight between unionism and nationalism. Cultural issues can be indivisible in a way that standard security and power sharing is not so that there are winners and losers but no space for compromise.

The Irish language has become a proxy for these broader identity disputes. Language is a deeply symbolic, often zero-sum issue. The Irish language has been bound up with nationalist identity since the Gaelic cultural revival of the late 19th century and was used by Republican paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles to communicate without prison guards understanding.

Northern Ireland’s government collapsed over scandal and cultural conflict

A decade of power-sharing between the unionist DUP and nationalist Sinn Fein fell apart last January when Sinn Fein pulled out, primarily because of a scandal involving a botched renewable heating scheme. However, relations between nationalists and unionists had already been deteriorating because of other issues, including same-sex marriage (unionists are opposed), dealing with the past (Sinn Fein was intimately linked to the Irish Republican Army, but the nature and extent of that relationship remains contested), Brexit and a proposed Irish Language Act. The return of the Irish language question led to the latest breakdow. Sinn Fein has long made a point of promoting the Irish language, of which 11 percent of people in Northern Ireland have some knowledge. Yet the issue became more rancorous in recent months, with Foster commenting in March 2017 that, “if you feed a crocodile, it will keep coming back and looking for more.” The crocodile became a useful rallying symbol for Sinn Fein, which performed strongly in the subsequent elections.

Although nationalists believe that equality requires an Irish Language Act, which would bring language protections into line with other parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, unionists see it differently. Even though other parties support an act, unionists believe that Sinn Fein has been politicizing — even “weaponizing” — language rights as part of a broader agenda to turn Northern Ireland ever-greener on the way to a united Ireland. Even moderate unionist voices depict it as an attempt to remove “Britishness” from Northern Ireland.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/03/02/northern-ireland-is-in-crisis-because-of-a-squabble-over-language/?utm_term=.2220a43aa43f

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https://baikal24.ru/text/19-10-2020/002/
ДВФУ включил «VR-азбуку тофаларского языка» в программу всероссийской апробации

Сохранить культуру и исчезающий язык тофаларского народа через современные технологии помогает Центр Национальной технологической инициативы по направлению «Нейротехнологии, технологии виртуальной и дополненной реальности» Дальневосточного федерального университета (Центр НТИ ДВФУ по VR/AR). Специалисты центра учат вовлекать тофаларцев в изучение родного языка через формат учебного VR-курса.

Тофаларский язык — редкий и умирающий. По данным на 2010 год, из 775 представителей тофаларского народа (Иркутская область) на нем говорят только 93 человека. Для сохранения языка и национальной самоидентичности народа АНО «Образование 360» создало обучающую программу с технологией виртуальной реальности «VR-азбука тофаларского языка».

Курс в виртуальной реальности включает 10 уроков, составленных по методике действующей общеобразовательной программы. Специально разработанная методика позволяет изучать буквы и слова тофаларского языка. Ученики в виртуальном пространстве видят 360-фото и видео об истории, культуре, природе и традициях Тофаларии. Описания и названия подкреплены транскрипцией и сопровождаются произношением носителя языка. В конце занятия обязательно следуют интерактивные задания для закрепления материала.

Внедрением проекта в поселке Алыгджер занялась руководитель направления «Образование» Центра НТИ ДВФУ по VR/AR Юлия Хукаленко. Вместе с учителями она провела первые уроки в виртуальной реальности для учеников местной школы и познакомила педагогов с особенностями работы с новым для них оборудованием, а также возможностями применения VR/AR в других предметах.

«Приложение в виртуальной реальности нельзя назвать самостоятельной программой для изучения языка, но это мощный современный инструмент в руках учителя для повышения мотивации учеников. Основываясь на методических материалах в виде азбуки тофаларского языка, VR-дополнение не только демонстрирует школьникам звучание слов, но и вносит элемент геймификации в образовательный процесс благодаря интерактивным элементам. Несомненно, применение технологий виртуальной реальности для изучение других языков коренных малочисленных народов может способствовать укреплению их национальной самоидентичности и внести лепту в сохранение их уникальных культур», — рассказывает Юлия Хукаленко.

На протяжении недели более 20 учеников из четырех классов пробовали новую для них технологию. У молодого поколения восприятие виртуальной реальности не вызвало проблем, дети начинали быстро осваивать шлемы и интерфейс приложения. Первые же уроки показали, что к изучению родного языка в VR дети дети подходят с намного большим интересом, чем при благодаря стандартным учебникам.

«Новые средства обучения помогают пробудить в детях интерес к языку, культуре. Даже когда мы, консервативные педагоги, не спешим принимать что-то новое, блеск в глазах детей мотивирует нас к этому», — отмечает учитель тофаларского языка школы поселка Алыгджер Маргарита Метелица.

Проект также вошел в программу всероссийской апробации приложений виртуальной и дополненной реальности для образования, призванную в масштабах всей страны оценить возможность применения виртуальной и дополненной реальности в учебном процессе. Программа инициирована Центром НТИ ДВФУ по VR/AR, поддерживается Министерством просвещения Российской Федерации и направлена на решение задач, закрепленных в Национальном проекте «Образование», Национальной программе «Цифровая экономика» и федеральных проектах, входящих в их состав, а также в государственной программе «Развитие образования». В рамках апробации на рассмотрение экспертов поступило более 600 заявок от общеобразовательных школ из 40 регионов России и 28 образовательных проектов от компаний-разработчиков.