International Mother Language Day
February 21 is celebrated worldwide as Mother Languages Day. In Pakistan too, even a cursory glance at the activities and events held in the country on the day this year…
Promoting mother languages
The Indus Cultural Forum (ICF) has been organizing the Pakistan Mother Languages Literature (PMLL) Festival in Islamabad for the last eight years. It coincides with the International Mother Language Day…
Language Day
LAST Monday was International Mother Language Day. In Pakistan some seminars were held but they had no impact on the national discourse. Few in this country consider language a significant…
The ignored Dardic languages
Pakistan is home to over 70 languages. Some ten of them are widely spoken; the remaining ones are struggling to survive. In the north of Pakistan, there is a vast…
The language debate
As the Single National Curriculum continues to be prepared to go into effect at schools by the end of summer this year, there is much debate over the situation of…
Which language?
THE medium of instruction in school is once again being hotly debated, not that the issue had ever been resolved. But now that the pro-mother language lobby has gained more…
Language and the written word
Speech predates writing. Oral language is the essential language. Technically, the writing of a language is just a graphic representation of said language; and it can never represent all the…
Language puzzles: Part – II
The second half of the programme focused on the plight of native languages and asked if they were dying in Pakistan and what might be done to arrest that. There…
Language myths
A MAJOR debate on education has been sparked by an announcement from Islamabad that a uniform curriculum for the country — from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Karachi — will be introduced.…
The language question
Winter brings its own festivities in Karachi. Last month, the three-day 2nd Sindh Literature Festival (SLF) concluded in the city. The event drew speakers from other parts of the country.…
