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DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 The Linguist 15
FEATURES
In numbers
1. Following the end of the Ebacc
consultation in January, what percentage
of students does the UK Government now
say should attain the qualification, which
includes a language GCSE?
a. 60%
b. 75%
c. 90%
2. How much funding
did the Government
pledge towards the
teaching of English
to 190,000 Muslim
women as part of its
'anti-extremism
blueprint', despite
cutting funding five
years earlier?
a. £5 million
b. £20 million
c. £50 million
3. How many new rules protecting workers'
rights to use Welsh came into effect
in March?
a. 176
b. 87
c. 34
4. How many court cases were adjourned
between 2011 and 2016 due to failures
in the interpreting service run by Capita,
according to figures released by the
Ministry of Justice in May?
a. 2,661
b. 3,899
c. 5,031
Political dealings
1. What role was it recommended that the
government introduce (by the 'Value of
Languages', Cambridge Public Policy
Strategic Research Initiative) in order to
secure a series of goals centred on the
UK's needs in areas of diplomacy, security,
economy, defence, cultural capital, social
cohesion and education?
2. What was Cornish, recognised by the
European Charter for Regional and
Minority Languages in 2003, lamenting
in April?
3. What was controversial about French
President François Hollande's words
during a White House roundtable
discussion with President Obama and
diplomats in April?
4. Why did the UK All-Party Parliamentary
Group on Modern Languages launch a
language checklist in October?
5. What is Y Gornel Gymraeg ('the
Welsh Corner')?
Who said…
1. "A moosie taen a daandir throo thi daip,
derk waid. A tod saa that moosie an that
moosie looked gaid"?
2. "Roast grandmother", "dynamic stew"
and "chicken asshole house"?
3. The treatment of Afghan interpreters was
"inexplicable, inhumane and a matter of
shame for all of us"?
4. The Russian Foreign Minister is a "sad
little horse" from "Mordor"?
True or False
1. One German football team offered
Liverpool fans a Scouse-German dictionary
ahead of a Europa League match.
2. Speaking both Geordie and Scouse has
as positive a cognitive effect as speaking
French and Mandarin.
3. Scientists can check aptitude for language
learning through a series of hearing tests.
4. The campaign for iPhone 7, 'This is 7',
failed in parts of China because it
translates as 'This is faulty' in Mandarin.
Answers on page 27.
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
Who's who?
Can you identify these people and the reasons they came to The Linguist's attention this year?
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