As You Like It
The Future of the English Language
This work examines the implications of current trends in the English Language for policy agendas. Run in association with Cambridge Assessment, and ESOL Examinations at the University of Cambridge, it will identify not only areas in which policy makers will have to change to meet the challenges posed by the emergence of variants of English - Englishes - but also how government and others can work with providers to take advantage of the many opportunites that 'Englishes' present...
International Quidditch
at 10:02am on Wednesday, 19th September 2007
Just a brief post to draw attention to this article in the Guardian.
Apparently, the English language version of the last instalment of the Harry Potter saga sells more overseas than in the UK - people don't want to wait for the translation. A million copies were sold last month in Germany alone, and the Chinese love it, racking up a number of pre-orders 200% higher than the last one.
Apart from wizard-fever, this shows how important popular culture is in relation to the globalisation of English, a theme we discussed in As You Like It. It's also pretty revealing, it's difficult to imagine either a German-language or Mandarin book selling 1m pre-order copies in the UK.
Apparently, the English language version of the last instalment of the Harry Potter saga sells more overseas than in the UK - people don't want to wait for the translation. A million copies were sold last month in Germany alone, and the Chinese love it, racking up a number of pre-orders 200% higher than the last one.
Apart from wizard-fever, this shows how important popular culture is in relation to the globalisation of English, a theme we discussed in As You Like It. It's also pretty revealing, it's difficult to imagine either a German-language or Mandarin book selling 1m pre-order copies in the UK.
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