Say “nee hao”: now CBeebies is teaching toddlers Mandarin | Television & radio | The Guardian

I always wonder how much a pre-schooler can take in of another, very complicated language. The Lingo Show is another flagship moment for CBeebies following the controversial Rastamouse and the heartthrob Mr Bloom – you’ve got to hand it to it, it’s a far less risk-averse channel than BBC1: in its opening episode, Chop Chop, the aim was to teach children Mandarin future episodes will tackle Urdu, Punjabi, Somali and Polish. “It’s not going to work on that one,” said my mother, pointing at my two-year-old. “She barely speaks English.” “Yes she does,” I said, outraged. “No way!” said the infant. I don’t know whose side she was on. Hopefully mine.

“Nee hao,” said an animated bug. “Say nee hao.” It means hello. “Miaow,” said the child. “This is going to take a really, really long time,” said my mother.

via Say “nee hao”: now CBeebies is teaching toddlers Mandarin | Television & radio | The Guardian.

Strange Random Mandarin Quote:

“Employers tend to find foreign educated, Mandarin-speaking graduates attractive” – David Arkless

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British graduates not fit to start work, say majority of bosses – Telegraph

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The survey of some of the country’s biggest businesses found three in four bosses believe graduate skills are poor.

The poll, of firms including HSBC, Santander, KPMG and Procter & Gamble, found widespread concern of the quality of potential recruits.

Researchers found that thousands of young people arrive at interviews without the “vital employability skills” required by employers such as having a suitable grasp of English, being punctual and having a general “can do” attitude.

The study, commissioned by the Young Enterprise charity, found that the problems compounded the current recruitment crisis affecting young people from teenage school leavers through to university graduates.

Asked to identify which skills were lacking in their new recruits, one told researchers that there were “too many to list”.

via British graduates not fit to start work, say majority of bosses – Telegraph.

Strange Random Hard Work Quote:

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. – Thomas Edison

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BBC News – South Sudan adopts the language of Shakespeare

Cover of William Shakespeare

The young nation of South Sudan has chosen English as its official language but after decades of civil war, the widespread learning of English presents a big challenge for a country brought up speaking a form of Arabic.

I knew there might be problems as soon as I arrived at Juba International airport – and was asked to fill in my own visa form, as the immigration officer could not write English.

The colourful banners and billboards hung out to celebrate South Sudan’s independence back in July, and still adorning the streets now, are all in English. As are the names of the new hotels, shops and restaurants.

After decades of Arabisation and Islamisation by the Khartoum government, the predominantly Christian and African south has opted for English as its official language.

via BBC News – South Sudan adopts the language of Shakespeare.

Podcast including this news item is available for free download here.

Strange Random Language Quote:

“Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages”

Dave Barry  (American Writer and Humorist best known for his weekly newspaper column. b.1947)

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Sarah Ferguson on Oprah

Sarah Ferguson appearing on Oprah to explain what she thought of the Royal Wedding, even though (or perhaps because) she wasn’t invited. She also does some criminal things with the English language.

Strange Random Invitation Quote:

“The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving any excuse” – Jules Renard (French Writer, 1864-1910)

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He is unlucky when he thinks

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How can I call someone stupid? Let me count the ways …

It started with one “simple” expression (pardon the pun), s/he is one sandwich short of a picnic, also known as one banana short of a bunch and other derivatives. At the Omniglot site you can find a whole page devoted to more expressions of this type in English and a variety of other languages.

What you find is that most languages have an expression to do with “missing” a screw or similar or that this object is loose. For example, in Croatian and Serbian you lack a plank, in Dutch, you don’t have all your 5 senses in a row and in German, you’re missing some cups in the cupboard. Only in Czech do you have something extra, an extra wheel – curiously, for the Italians, this is what you lack …

Another widespread idea is that of the attic or roof, for example having birds (Latvian), monkeys (Portuguese), rats (Danish) or even brownies (Swedish – no joke) in the attic or the roof being full of holes or just plain missing.

After that, there are the absolutely bizarre, probably-missing-something-in-translation, type of phrases. Our favourites follow …

Turkish takes the prize with no less than four phrases:

Kafadan kontak – The contacts in his brain are cut / Keçileri kaçırmıs – His goats fled

Kafayı yemiş – He has eaten his own brain / Tırlatmış – He purred

Our title for this post comes from Swedish:

Han har otur när han tänker – He is unlucky when he thinks

Croatian brings us the painful Vrane su mu popile mozak – Crows have drunk his brain, while a personal merit award goes to Czech for the bizarre Šplouchá mu na maják – It’s splashing on his lighthouse! I think we can all relate to that one …

Strange Random Stupidity Quote:

“The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” – Harlan Ellison

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