An estimated one out of every three Japanese are signed up to play games on their cell phones, helping to grow a mobile gaming juggernaut that’s currently dominated by a few Japanese startups. Now, those same startups are eyeing a new playing field â the U.S.
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/23/159575805/in-japan-mobile-startups-take-gaming-to-next-level
Online version of the weekly magazine, with current articles, cartoons, blogs, audio, video, slide shows, an archive of articles and abstracts back to 1925
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2011/09/05/110905on_audio_murakami?currentPage=all
The Dominican-American writer Junot Diaz got everybody’s attention, and a Pulitzer Prize, with his fierce, funny, tragic first novel “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” Now, in a big new essay, Diaz has moved on to bigger themes — like apocalypse and the fate of the human race.
Junot Diaz looks at our recent headlines of earthquakes, tsunamis, meltdown fears, and floods and sees revelation. Not of the hand of God, exactly. But of human realities running amok.
We avert our eyes, he says. But these disasters must be read.
This hour, On Point: Junot Diaz, on revelation and apocalypse.
If you have ever taught children, you may well have come across the ‘Let’s Go!‘ series, now on the third edition and a multimedia behemoth! I met with Barbara, one of the authors, at the ETJ Chubu Expo in October 2009 and she was kind enough to give this interview. She is delightful company and I wish I’d left the camera running because we talked for as long again after I turned it off. She has a lot to say about teaching children and professional development in particular, but we also touched on a few other topics. If you haven’t already, you should check out Barbara’s blog and have a look for her on twitter (@barbsaka ). Being in this part of the world opportunities to meet members of the online ELT community are limited, so it is always especially enjoyable to catch up with someone as lovely as Barbara… even if it is only a few times a year ; D
I talked to Professor Jennifer Jenkins about English as Lingua Franca, what it is and what it means to us as teachers. As usual, a google scholar search turns up quite a lot of good reading in this area, but I would recommend this short article as a good starting point.
Barbara Seidlhofer’s name came up in the discussion too, and I recommend this article as a very important one in the development of the field.
Seidlhofer B. (2004) ‘Teaching English as a lingua franca’. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics Vol.24: 209–239
The Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English is an ongoing attempt to build a sample of non-native interaction in English.
Here is a review (mine!) of her 2007 book ‘English as Lingua Franca: Attitude and Identity’
And finally, some commentary on David Graddol’s book (and a free pdf download of the whole thing) which we mention later in the podcast.
From this particular conversation? I am still in agreement with the philosophy behind ELF… but it ELF doesn’t need my permission, as a native speaker, to exist and thrive. The fact is that non-native speakers are now driving the language forward. My difficulty, as a teacher, is what I do about it. What is a mistake, and what is just a difference? How does this impact on my writing class? How long have I got to become fluent and fully literate in another language, before I become obsolete? Listen, enjoy, and comment please. But play nice – I know this topic can get particularly feisty….
from Skeptoid Yonaguni Monument is a great fractured sandstone feature off the coast of Japan, said by some to have been built by human hands. Skeptoid takes a look at the evidence for, and the evidence against.
Joi Ito is an investor in early stage internet projects, and he has backed some big successes including Twitter and Flickr. He thinks that about one in ten of these start-ups returns a decent amount, but the big ones - the Googles and the Yahoos - come once every five years. The trick he says, is to be in position when they arrive and his formula for doing so is a curious mix of networking, Buddhist philosophy and serendipity.
Tagged with joi ito bbc creative commons culture japan networking internet for:gunniho
Toyota, the world’s biggest car company, is in crisis, accused of putting the public at risk by selling cars that could potentially accelerate out of control. A company respected for years for its core principles, its reputation is now badly damaged. Justin Rowlatt asks how this happened and whether Toyota can recover.
Tagged with toyota cars safety consumer automobile japan automotive quality regulation business
For many in the U.S., life without a cellphone is all but unimaginable. But if you think you’ve maxed out its utility, a look towards Japan shows your cell can do so much more. OTM producer Mark Phillips phones it in from Tokyo.
Japan spent the 1990s slogging through the economic doldrums. Economist Adam Posen of the Peterson Institute says the misery could have been cut to three years if policymakers had acted boldly. Posen, author of Japan’s Financial Crisis and Its Parallels to U.S. Experience, says the Obama administration needs to get more aggressive with banks.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2009/02/hear_japans_lost_lesson.html
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