Hong Kong Book Fair Seeks to Develop Global Profile

The Hong Kong Book Fair, which is known for its sher enormity, has made an effort to modernize and expand its reach.

Maybe because most of the books are in Chinese-language material to local buyers, or because it is more like a raucous and populist event, the Book Fair has not quite found its place on the global stage yet.

"Our goal is to put it on the map internationally," said Joe Kainz, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, which organizes the fair. In this year's seven-day fair, more international authors, more English-language material, and a new area dedicated to e-books and digital media have been brought in. To help visitors who might be intimidated by that second language they learned in school, the Fair's organizers held sessions like "Chip Tsao's Reading Guide to Renowned English-language Authors."

Mr. Tsao, a British-educated local commentator, addressed a standing-room-only seminar on the first day. After a short introduction, he began reading in a slow, clear British accent while pointing to a screen with the first page of Mr. Horowitz's "Point Blank," part of his "Alex Rider" series of crime thrillers aimed at younger readers. Mr. Tsao translated difficult words into Cantonese and peppered his talk with jokes. "You don't have to run to the dictionary everytime there's a word you don't recognize," he reassured. "You don't need to know what a Beretta sub-compact, semi-automatic pistol is. You just need to know this man has a gun."

"I'm bowled over that there are a million people interested enough in books to show up." said the guests speakers who seemed overwhelmed by the crowds, "I was struck by how by how many young people are here. It made my old heart quite happy."


Source: The New York Times

Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/arts/30iht-fair.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

English As A Second Language Flourishes

In 2007-2008 the Norriton Area School Dstrict had 615 English as a Second Language (ESL) students, and in 2008-2009 that number increased to 657. Most of the young enthusiastic English language learners are Latinos from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and several Latin American Countries.

Among the at least 20 laguages, which are sopken by the students in the district, Spanish is the majority, which is the native tongue of 95% of the ESL students. Others are Arabic, Chinese, Gujarati, French, and Vietnamese. The reason of the growth of ESL students is that most of them were born in the U.S. or came directly from their mother countires.

Li, who has been teaching ESL classes for 10 years in the district, believes that writing in English is the most difficult task for ESL students to master. Leaf, the district's ESL coordinator, states that it takes an average of five to seven years to reach English language proficiency in reading, speaking, listening, and writing.

Source from: http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/07/22/king_of_prussia_courier/news/doc4c437e785a60f748203787.txt

Referees’ Calls May Get Lost in Their Translation

“We are used to moving our eyes left to right so we have a preference for viewing events left to right,” said Alexander Kranjec, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Because of this preference, events moving from right to left are perceived as atypical, and referees may be more likely to call fouls, Dr. Kranjec said.

Previous studies have suggested that such directional effects are reversed in those whose languages read from right to left.

“It would be interesting to do this with Hebrew- or Arabic-speaking soccer experts,” Dr. Kranjec said.

He and his colleagues conducted the study on varsity soccer players at the University of Pennsylvania. The players assessed foul calls on images of plays, and were then asked to do the same on mirror images of the same plays.

On average, they called about three more fouls on action going right to left.

The news is unlikely to have any application to disputed calls in soccer since the referee’s ruling is absolute. It would also depend on the position of the referee and the language or languages he reads. So there’s little chance that science will calm the arguments that are as much a part of the World Cup as the games themselves.

NY TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13obrefs.html?_r=1

A version of this article appeared in print on July 13, 2010, on page D3 of the New York edition.

Three Things We Will Never Forget About The 2010 World Cup

In yesterday's final, Spain scored the only goal in the 116th minute, getting a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands. Thus, Spain achieved the country's first-ever world championship, and became the eighth team to win the World Cup.

Though the South Africa 2010 World Cup is over, soccer fans will probably never forget:

1. “Goal! Goal! USA!” Landon Donovan’s stoppage-time score against Algeria was the high-water mark of the Americans’ solid run.

2. Hand of not: Luis Suarez took the most beneficial red card in history in the quarterfinals, clearly handling a sure Ghana goal late. Asamoah Gyan choked on the ensuing PK, giving Uruguay a road to the semifinals.

3. Star-struck: Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo was average at best; Argentinean Lionel Messi looked good on the field, but didn’t score any goals; injuries limited Didier Drogba; Michael Ballack didn’t even play. It was not an auspicious tournament for some of the world’s brightest lights.

Source from: http://metro.us/us/article/2010/07/12/04/2652-82/index.xml