Starmer says migrants should speak English – but all of the UK’s languages are important for integration: William Perugini/Shutterstock When Keir Starmer said: “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English”, it laid bare an assumption – that English is the only language that counts in the UK. This view not …
Child support in South Africa: mothers speak about the struggle to get fathers to pay in a system rigged against women: Child maintenance – the duty to support a child – is more than a right. It ensures children have their basic needs met. It also means single mothers don’t have to shoulder the responsibility …
Mr Bates vs The Post Office depicts one of the UK’s worst miscarriages of justice: here’s why so many victims didn’t speak out: The new ITV drama about the Post Office Horizon IT scandal is an incredibly important vehicle for getting the story of what is increasingly recognised as one of the greatest miscarriages of …
‘No one would ever speak up again’: servicewomen feel military culture stops them from reporting sexual assault: An inquiry into the death of a 19-year-old soldier in the British army found that relentless sexual harassment by her line manager was “almost certain” to have been a causal factor in her death. Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley-Louise …
‘Peter Pan’ Enahoro, Nigerian journalist and publisher, was not afraid to speak his mind: The late Peter Enahoro. New African magazine There are some people whose lives intersect with yours even if you never meet them in the flesh. One of these was Peter Osajele Aizegbeobor Enahoro, the Nigerian journalist who was also known by …
Male video game characters speak twice as much as females, largest study of its kind reveals: lightningreturns Video games are played by nearly three billion people worldwide and make more money annually than the film industry. Around 50% of gamers are female but gaming has chronic problems with gender bias. Female players have recounted receiving …
Curious Kids: who was the first person to speak English?: Anglo-Saxon village re-enactment event in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, 2008. Simon Annable/Shutterstock Who was the first person to speak English? – Grace, aged eight, Belfast, Northern Ireland The first speaker of English did not sound like you or me. That’s because language changes all the time. You …
How Black children in England’s schools are made to feel like the way they speak is wrong: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock Whiteness is an invention of the modern, colonial age. It refers to the racialisation of white people and the disproportionate privilege – social, linguistic, economic, political – that comes with this. Crucially, as an invention, …
When did humans first start to speak? How language evolved in Africa: Descendants of the indigenous San people in the Kalahari Desert. Eric Lafforgue/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Image When did humans first begin to speak, which speech sounds were uttered first, and when did language evolve from those humble beginnings? These questions have long fascinated people, …
Code-switching: the pressure on people to change how they speak: mentatdgt/Shutterstock Have you found yourself altering how you speak when you find yourself in a more formal situation? Do you tone down your accent or stay away from words that may only be known in the area you are from? If so, you may already …
Four of Shakespeare’s plays and how they speak to the current political situation in Britain: New prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is the latest to take on the leading role in this unravelling Shakespearean drama. Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy The last few years in politics have gifted the keen observer many allusions to some of Shakespeare’s …
Why many Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language: President Putin at an annual ceremony marking the Kyivian Rus. Sodel Vladyslav/Shutterstock The issue of the Ukrainian language and who speaks it has become highly politicised during the Russian invasion. Vladimir Putin has even used it as a cover to annex some occupied areas of Ukraine …
Sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers in DRC: fatherless children speak for first time about the pain of being abandoned: A UN peacekeeper on patrol as a resident gathers wood in the Beni region of eastern DRC in 2014. UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti My father left my mother while she was pregnant – she gave birth when …
Plurilingual parenting: why many experts think families who speak multiple languages should just go with the flow: A plurilingual approach means parents celebrate their child's speech, in whichever language it occurs. Rawpixel.com | Shutterstock Many of us live not just in diverse societies, but what anthropologist Steven Vertovec terms “super-diverse” societies. More and more people …
Roe v Wade: men benefit from abortion rights too – and should speak about them more: It’s striking that, as with many other gender equality issues, the positions of men in relation to abortion are rarely discussed. In some regards, this is for good reasons. Abortion is a healthcare issue for women (and trans and …
Idle and frustrated: young South Africans speak about the need for recreational facilities: A gang member shows his tattoos. Per-Anders Pettersson/ Getty Images Recreational facilities play a crucial role in youth development. Research has shown that sports and fitness centres, community halls, parks, libraries, cultural centres and other facilities can keep young people out of …
Rape culture in Côte d’Ivoire can shift if survivors get support to speak without blame and shame: An activist holds a placard reading "my outfit is not an invitation" during a demonstration against the television channel Nouvelle Chaine Ivorienne following a shocking programme on rape. SIA KAMBOU/AFP via Getty Images In August this year, Yves …
South Africa in the news: Africa leaders to speak of shot inequity at UN: The inequity of COVID-19 vaccine distribution will come into sharper focus Thursday as many of the African countries whose populations have little to no access to the life-saving shots step to the …: “South Africa” – BingNews The Latest: South Korea …