International Network of Language Museums Makes its Debut

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July 3 – Milan, Italy

The International Network of Language Museums has been formally established and a Board of Trustees elected for 2016-2018. Ottar Grepstad of the Ivar Aasen Centre (Norway), Elaine Gold of the Canadian Language Museum, and Mark Oremland of Mundolingua (France) were elected to serve. Dr. Jill Robbins represented the National Museum of Language via Skype and spoke about developing virtual exhibits as a strategic response for language museums.

Member museums also finalized the organization’s platform and aims:

The International Network of Language Museums will promote the understanding of the role of language in society, the values of multilingual societies, and the importance of language museums.

Members made a commitment to direct their focus to the open exchange of ideas and information on issues connected to language matters, international projects, exhibitions, and cultural heritage.

The next scheduled meeting will take place in Paris, France, in 2018. Until then, we will keep you up-to-date on network news and activities. We are truly excited about the opportunity to participate in this valuable collaboration of language enthusiasts.

Read the official platform of the International Network of Language Museums here.

International Network of Language Museums – Current Members

Academy of the Hebrew Language, Jerusalem, Israel
Canadian Language Museum, Toronto, Canada
Dr. Johnson’s House, London, England
Esperanto Museum, Vienna, Austria
Ivar Aasen Centre, Ørsta, Norway
Initiative für ein Museum der Sprachen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
Institute of the Lithuanian Language, Vilnius, Lithuania
Mundolingua, Paris, France
Museum of Vuk and Dositej, Belgrade, Serbia
National Museum of Language, College Park, MD, USA
The English Project, Winchester, England
Photo Credit: janet galore

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Fanni is Radnóti's wife
Located near the Tang capital city of Chang’an, site of the modern city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province, in central China.
Soldiers of that time commonly wore a white head cloth, similar to what is still worn by some peasants in China today.  The implication is that the conscripts were so young that they didn’t know how to wrap their head cloths, and needed help from elders.
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
The area of Guanxi, meaning “west of the passes”, refers to the area around the capital city of Chang’an.
This is an alternative name for a province in western China, now known as Qinghai, which literally means “blue sea”.  Kokonor Lake, located in Qinghai, is the largest saline lake in China.  
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
Oulart Hollow was the site of a famous victory of the Irish rebels over British troops, which took place on May 27, 1798. The rebels killed nearly all the British attackers in this battle. (Source: Maxwell, W. H. History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. H. H. Bohn, London 1854, pp 92-93, at archive.org)
The phrase "United Men" is elaborated upon in the Notes section below.

Ghetto

An Italian word meaning “foundry.” It originally referred to a part of the city of Venice where the Jews of that city were forced to live; the area was called “the ghetto” because there was a foundry nearby. The term eventually came to refer to any part of a city in which a minority group is forced to live as a result of social, legal, or economic pressure. Because of the restrictions placed upon them, ghetto residents are often impoverished.

"You’re five nine, I am do-uble two"

A reference to the year 1959 and the year 2020.

"The Currency"

Meaning US dollars - this is drawing attention to the fact that Cuba is effectively dollarized.

"Sixty years with the dom-ino stuck"

This sentence is a reference to the Cold War notion that countries would turn Communist one after the other - like dominos. Cuba was the first domino, but it got stuck - no one else followed through into communism.

رحلنا

رحلنا, or "rahalna," means "we have left."

Habibi

Habibi means "my love."

Ra7eel

Ra7eel, or "raheel," means "departure."

3awda

3awda, or "awda," means "returning."

أهلاً

أهلاً, or "ahalan," means "welcome."

a5 ya baba

a5 ya baba, pronounced "akh ya baba," means "Oh my father."

golpe

Treece translates "golpe" as "beating", which is correct, however misses the secondary meaning of the word: "coup".

Carlos

The “Carlos” referred to in the poem is most likely Carlos Bolsonaro, a politician from Rio de Janeiro and the second son of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s current president. His and his father’s involvement in Marielle’s murder has been questioned and investigated.