USA – Page 2 – Language on the Move

Banal nationalism and the internationalization of higher education

Promoting the University of Bolton's Ras Al-Khaimah branch campus on the streets of Ajman The other day I was stuck in traffic in Ajman, one of the smaller of the…

Ingrid PillerMay 22, 2013

Language at work

Language and the stratification of restaurant labour

Different languages for different jobs in this Los Angeles restaurant Are there language requirements for working in restaurants in Los Angeles? These two employment signs that I saw in the…

Calvin N. HoMarch 25, 2013

Intercultural communication

Exclusion on campus

If you google images for "study abroad," you get many pictures of inclusive-looking racially-diverse groups of people such as this one. A persistent theme in research with international students in…

Ingrid PillerMarch 19, 2013

Migrant women’s empowerment in the city

Montana: the picture postcard state is not conducive to the empowerment of migrant women It is international women’s day today and the world’s women are on the move like never…

Ingrid PillerMarch 8, 2013

Is speaking English a civic duty?

In today’s immigration countries, adherents of the “one nation, one language” idea face a unique ideological problem: to claim that the national language is a sign of national loyalty and…

Ingrid PillerMarch 4, 2013

Multilingual families

Victory in battle to stream German content to USA

Maxdome This is a follow-up entry to a previous entry in which I wrote about the relationship between family language learning and Easy Hide IP, a proxy server software that…

Christof Demont-HeinrichJanuary 25, 2013

Multilingual families

Hiding my IP to learn German

The "Sorry" message of a German live-streaming site inaccessible to US-based viewers You’ve probably never heard of Easy Hide IP, an admittedly obscure software that allows you to surf the…

Christof Demont-HeinrichNovember 30, 2012

Language and migration

Bilingualism is good for your mental health

Bilingual kids are more resilient October is Mental Health month here in New South Wales. The campaign runs under the slogan “Celebrate, connect, grow” and includes some fantastic tips how…

Ingrid PillerOctober 8, 2012

Multilingual families

English dominates at German camp in USA

Eierlaufen (egg-and-spoon race) at German Camp, USA My two daughters – whom my wife and I are raising as English-German bilinguals in the USA – have been going to German…

Christof Demont-HeinrichAugust 7, 2012

Language learning

Saul Tello Jr., Orestimba High Valedictorian 2012 (Source: CBS Sacramento) When US high schools make international headlines, it’s usually because of a school shooting. But Orestimba High in Newman, a…

Ingrid PillerJuly 4, 2012

Multilingual families

Free language choice?!

Inspired by Quantum Cloud, Younghyung Chung, 2004 (Source: risknfun.com) I don’t like the word 'choice.' So, when I recently asked someone I know well to consider an action that would…

Christof Demont-HeinrichJune 29, 2012

Language and migration

Shopping while bilingual can make you sick

WSB TV report: Apple discriminates against Persian-speaking customers I’ve just found an e-mail from Apple in my spam folder with a ‘personal’ invitation to attend one of their new store…

Ingrid PillerJune 27, 2012

Language learning

Some bilingualisms are more equal than others

International symbol for deafness from Redeafined Bilingualism has been a media darling of late, and considering the intense focus of the current scientific community on bilingual brains and the breakneck…

Sara BlažićJune 25, 2012

Multilingual families

The high price of multilingualism

The high price of multilingualism When society doesn’t value something you, as an individual, do, you, the individual, end up paying for society’s lack of valuation. That’s the case with…

Christof Demont-HeinrichJune 18, 2012

Multilingual families

English only on this American playground please

I’ve written before that I’ve never had an experience in which someone responded negatively to me when I speak German to my daughters in public here in the United States.…

Christof Demont-HeinrichMay 5, 2012

Language learning

Is there such a thing as postmodern bilingual education?

I’m not a big fan of what I call “breathless academic postmodernism,” or what I view as the often naïve valorization of, among other things, hybridization, creolization, liminality, polysemy, multiplicity,…

Christof Demont-HeinrichMarch 3, 2012