Vietnam: Taking Steps to Improve Foreign-Language Instruction

July 26th, 2019 The Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam has made great efforts to improve the quality of foreign-language instruction. The understanding is that foreign-language instruction could greatly improve the overall quality of the country’s education system. According to Vietnam’s Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha, the government’s expected goals have […]

USA: A Potpourri of Accents, Cultures, Languages, and More

June 21st, 2019 Image credit: Korean-Born Artist Sungho Choi explores the inherent cultural diversity of the United States in this cermaic on wood installation titled “My America.” In this week’s blog we would like to share a few interactive maps produced by The Business Insider that show immigration patterns in the U.S. and a few […]

Who Needs an English Language Proficiency Test?

September 21st, 2018 English proficiency tests are typically associated with international students, but there are a wide variety of reasons that organizations of all types would need an accurate English language proficiency test. Companies, governments, as well as educational institutions at all levels have a need to precisely determine the English language skill of large or […]

The End of Foreign Language Education in US Schools

January 12th, 2018 When I read in a recent NYT’s article that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has decided to ban the teaching of English at primary schools because it views it as “culturally invasive,” I wondered why they are not considering doing the same for Arabic language which is now a […]

Global Youth

August 18th, 2017 Americans get a bad rap for speaking only English, of making no effort to learn the languages of other cultures. For the most part, this is true. Unlike Europe, where an hour drive might find you in a completely foreign land, the furthest the average American will make it as far as […]

How to Be a Responsible Foreign-Language Learner and Speaker

August 25th, 2016 As participants in the 2016 Many Languages One World essay contest, we had to submit an essay on multiculturalism and multilingualism. Writing about multiculturalism and multilingualism is a tough and broad task, but what we can do, as individuals, is write about our own experience.  As a student in Chinese department and […]

Intensive English Programs (IEPs) Are in Trouble Again

July 28th, 2016 Once again, we find ourselves in very challenging times for intensive English language programs in the US. These enrollment valleys occur once every ten years or so. One can cite a variety of reasons for the declining enrollments; however, the primary one is the decline in Saudi Arabian scholarship students. Other factors at […]

The Brain: Foreign Accents and Discrimination

March 17th, 2016 I always cringe when I’m asked the dead-end question: “Where are you from?” (It’s got so old having lived here in the US for nearly 40 years.) And when I answer with a question: “Why do you ask?” The answer I get 99.9% of the time is: “I heard a slight accent.” […]

Heroes, Activists, and Martyrs: Lending their names to the streets of Tehran

January 24, 2013 When I heard the story of Granada, Spain planning to approve a measure to name a square in honor of the British punk band The Clash’s Joe Strummer http://www.theworld.org/2013/01/spanish-square-to-be-named-in-honor-of-the-clashs-joe-strummer/ I was reminded of the battery of street name changes that Iranian cities underwent immediately after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The changing […]

Reflection, Renewal, and Red Underwear

December 20, 2012 At the close of this year—at least in the Gregorian calendar— which is celebrated in Europe and in the Americas, I find myself reflecting on what entering a New Year means to people around the world. As I am at the end of my first year living abroad, the differences and similarities […]