miércoles, 30 de septiembre de 2009

Becas para estudios de postgrado

Dirigidas a estudiantes universitarios de último o penúltimo curso de carrera que estén interesados en realizar estudios de postgrado en una universidad del Reino Unido.

La dotación varía entre 3.000 y 4.500 libras y el plazo para presentar las solicitudes finaliza el 20 de enero de 2010.

Fecha de fin de solicitud: 20/01/2010Dotación de la beca.

La dotación incluye subsidios para material de investigación, viajes, matrícula académica y gastos de instalación.

Cada beca será del orden de las 3.000 libras con un máximo de 4.500 libras en casos especiales.

Duración de la beca:Curso académico.

Requisitos.

Las personas interesadas en estas becas deberán cumplir los siguientes requisitos:

1. Deberán ser nacionales del Reino Unido o España, con miras a realizar estudios de postgrado y los estudios deberán tener alguna conexión con enlaces bilaterales y relaciones entre ambos países en algún campo de interés académico.
2. Deberán ser estudiantes de grado en su penúltimo o último curso de carrera, o ser postgraduados o estudiantes maduros que busquen, por ejemplo, extender su calificación o recomenzar una investigación ya iniciada.
3. Los estudiantes deberán haber sido aceptados en la Universidad/Academia de su elección.Proceso de solicitud Las solicitudes pueden ser enviadas en cualquier momento del año, pero la fecha cierre será wl 20 de enero del año para el cual se solicita la beca.Los interesados podrán enviar sus solicitudes directamente o a través de un sponsor académico.

Publicación de la convocatoriahttp://www.anglospanishsociety.org/573.html

Anglo-Spanish Society, 102 Eaton Square, London, SW1W 9ANTeléfono07903 801 576
Correoinfo@anglospanishsociety.org Webwww.anglospanishsociety.org

martes, 15 de septiembre de 2009

La variedad idiomática mundial. Casi 7000 lenguas y todavía no se ha terminado el recuento.


El número oficial de idiomas conocidos en todo el mundo aumentó considerablemente gracias al trabajo de dos investigadores de Melbourne, que añadieron treinta "nuevos" idiomas a la lista de los lenguajes vivientes.

El investigador Jamin Pelkey de la universidad La Trobe y su supervisor David Bradley descubrieron los idiomas en China.

Los descubrimientos fueron incluidos en Ethnologue: Languages of the World, un trabajo enciclopédico de referencia que cataloga los 6909 idiomas conocidos de todo el mundo en156 países.

La última edición incluye 83 "nuevos" idiomas de diecinueve países, una docena de los cuales fueron identificados por el profesor Bradley y dieciocho, por el Dr. Pelkey.

Entre los idiomas ―en su mayoría hallados en la provincia de Yunán, en el sur de China― se incluye el asha (hablado por 53.000 personas) y el fula, una lengua considerada en peligro y hablada por apenas doscientas personas en el noroeste del municipio de Guangnan.

"En la mayoría de los casos se trata de idiomas en peligro (reemplazados por el mandarín)", dijo el profesor Bradley. "Los niños ya no aprenden esa lengua y nadie la emplea fuera de aquel municipio", señaló.

Por razones políticas, hasta los años ochenta estaba prohibido sugerir que China tenía más de 55 grupos minoritarios, cada uno de los cuales hablaba su propio idioma.

Bradley, que ha trabajado en aquel país asiático desde 1982, dijo que el gobierno relajó esa norma porque era muy claro que había mayor diversidad, y se conocía la existencia de algunos grupos minoritarios que aumentaron el total de lenguas del país a unas ochenta.

Según él, en la selva amazónica y en partes de América Latina aún quedan muchos idiomas desconocidos para descubrir. Hay otros países, como Burma, con 135 grupos étnicos, en los cuales los investigadores tendrán mucho para descubrir el día que se les permita estudiarlos.

Bridie Smith, The Age
Artículo facilitado por Francisco Fdez Ferreiro, Docente de Inglés y Alemán

miércoles, 2 de septiembre de 2009

Caribbean English

Caribbean English is a broad term for the dialects of the English language spoken in the Caribbean, most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America, and Guyana.


Caribbean English is influenced by the English-based Creole varieties spoken, but they are not the same. In the Caribbean, there is a great deal of variation in the way English is spoken. Scholars generally agree that although the dialects themselves vary significantly in each of these countries, they all have roots in 17th-century English and African languages.


Overview


Examples of the English in daily use in the Caribbean include a different set of pronouns, typically, me, meh, or mi, you, yuh, he, she, it, we, wi or alawe, allyuh or unu, and dem or day. I, mi, my, he, she, ih, it, we, wi or alawe, allayu' or unu, and dem, den, deh for "them" with Central Americans. The so-called "dropping the 'h'" or th-stopping in th- words is common. Some might be "sing-songish" (Trinidad, Bahamas), rhotic (Bajan, Guyanese), influenced by Irish English dialects (Jamaican), or have an accent influenced by any of these, as well as Spanish and indigenous languages in the case of the Central American English dialects such as the Belizean Creole (Kriol), or the Mískito Coastal Creole and Rama Cay Creole spoken in Nicaragua. However, the English used in media, education and business and in formal or semi-formal discourse is the International Standard variety with an Afro-Caribbean cadence.


Standard English - Where is that boy? (pronounced /hwɛər ɪz ðæt bɔɪ/)


Barbados - 'Wherr iz dat boi?' ([hwer ɪz dæt bɔɪ]) (Spoken very quickly, is choppy, rhotic, and contains glottal stops; The most distinct accent)


Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda- 'Whierr iz daaht bwoy?' ([hweɪr ɪz dɑt bʷɔɪ]) (Distinctive, sporadic rhoticity; Irish and Scottish influence)


Trinidad and Bahamas - 'Wey iz dat boy?' ([weɪ ɪz dæt bɔɪ]) (Very similar to the accents of south western England and Wales; Have no rhoticity)


Guyana, Tobago, St. Vincent - 'Weyr iz daht bai?' ([weɪɹ ɪz dɑt baɪ]) (Many variations depending of Afro- or Indo- descent, and compentency in standard English; Sporadic rhoticity )


Belize, Panama, Nicaragua, The Bay Islands, Limón, and the Virgin Islands - 'Wehr iz daat bouy?' ([weɹ ɪz dɑt buɪ]) (Distinct, sporadic rhoticity, pronunciation becomes quite different from "Creole" pronunciation.)


The written form of the language in the former and current British West Indies conforms to spelling and grammar styles of Britain. Essentially, Caribbean English writing system is based on British English, but forbids the British accentuation, this by eliminating the glottal stop and the short a, which makes words have a question like sound.


Artículo extraído de la wikipedia y enviado por Tom Watkinson (docente de Inglés)

Notting Hill - Europe's biggest carnival



When, in 1964, a members of a Trinidadian steel band were invited to take part in a street festival in Notting Hill, none of them realised that they were going to give birth to Europe’s greatest street carnival.

There had been racial tension in the late 1950’s, and the Black people who had come over from the West Indies to work in London found it hard to mix with Londoners. As a way of breaking the ice, the idea of a street festival was suggested; street festivals being popular events on the Caribbean islands, the original organisers suggested that the sight and sound of a Trinidadian steel band playing on the streets of Notting Hill would encourage local residents, both black and white, to come out on the street and enjoy themselves for an afternoon.

The first festival was an immediate success; once the black people of Notting Hill heard the music of the steel band, they came out into the street to dance and enjoy themselves as they might have done back home in the West Indies; attracted by the unusual and rhythmic sound of the steel band, others too came along to share in the experience. In short, the first festival was such a big success that the organisers decided to organise another one the following year.

Since then, the Notting Hill Carnival has evolved into a huge multi-cultural arts festival, attended by up to two million people; besides being the annual high point of London’s Afro-Caribbean community, it now attracts hundreds of thousands of people from all over Britain and other countries, and has become the world’s second biggest carnival, second only to Rio.

Over the years, the carnival has grown in variety, reflecting the multi-coloured and cosmopolitan nature of modern London; recent carnivals have seen the participation of groups from Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Russia, and many other countries, as well as musicians and dancers from other parts of Britain. In addition to the procession of exotic costumes and steel bands, there are now almost fifty static stages with bands playing different types of West Indian music, but also jazz, soul, and other popular varieties.

With so many people in attendance during the two days of the festival - the last Sunday and Monday in August - moments of tension and the occasional scuffles with the police are inevitable; yet in spite of the crowds, serious problems are rare. The vast majority of those who come to this festival come to have a good time, to finish off the Summer holiday period with a day or two of exoticism and colour; they do not come looking for trouble.FROM TRINIDAD TO LONDON In Trinidad during the days of slavery, black slaves were forbidden to play musical instruments and wear costumes except on the occasion of the traditional imported European carnival, that took place six weeks before Easter. Slaves were also forbidden to be on the streets after dark, unless they were accompanying their master.

When slavery was abolished in British colonies in 1833, slaves took to the streets in song and dance; to celebrate their new-found freedom, they dressed up in fancy and colourful clothes and powdered their faces white, to mimic their former masters and show that they could be masters too. In the years that followed, as slavery eventually disappeared from other parts of the new World, carnivals developed into great moments of celebration for the former slaves throughout a large part of the region; from Rio to New Orleans, by way of the Caribbean, people vied with each other to produce the most exotic and exciting carnival costumes. Even in 19th century Trinidad, it was amazing what some people managed to produce using the very limited resources available to them.

Today the situation is quite different; and although many Carnival costumes are now made up from left-overs and snippets, others are carefully made from material bought specially for the purpose. Yet regardless of how the costumes are made, the result is spectacular; a flamboyant display of colour and originality that has earned itself a highly deserved place as the most important annual street festival in Britain.

Word guide:steel band: percussion band with home made instruments - enjoy themselves: amuse themselves, have fun - West Indies: Caribbean islands - attended by: visited by - static stage: fixed platform - in attendance: present - scuffle: struggle, small fight - fancy: fantastic, fantasy - vie: compete - left overs: surplus and unused material - snippets: small pieces cut from a big piece (to snip = to cut) - purpose: reason .Photo:Notting Hill Carnival in 2008 - licence CC by Jig O'Dance.

Artículo extraído de http://linguapress.com/advanced/notting-hill-carnival.htm y remitido por Tom Watkinson (docente de Inglés)

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