1. What role does English play in our multilingual world? is the latest (ninth) episode of the British Council’s Our World, Connected podcast https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/our-world-connected-podcast/english-multilingual-world Harry Kuchah (in the studio in London) and Eric Mpozenzi (at home in Rwanda) join Christine Wilson for a lively discussion.

So, what does it mean to speak English in a world with over 7,000 languages? How does its popularity affect the quality of education, the learning of other languages, and the evolution of the English language itself? And how can teachers ensure inclusivity for all students, regardless of their English proficiency?

2. Elif Shafak’s latest post on her blog Unmapped Storylands, Upon The Ashes of Books, reflects on the recent disturbances in the UK https://elifshafak.substack.com/p/upon-the-ashes-of-books

We cannot be a country where people are targeted and attacked and discriminated against on the basis of the colour of their skin or their faith or their cultural and ethnic heritage. We cannot be a country where libraries are burned down so that ignorance and hatred can grow upon the ashes of books.

3. A free illustrated book from Geoff Stead and colleagues, Engines of Engagement, a curious book about Generative AI by Julian Stodd, Sae Schatz & Geoff Stead. Sign up for your copy here https://seasaltlearning.com/engines-of-engagement-generative-ai-book/

In this illustrated book, Julian Stodd, Sae Schatz, and Geoff Stead explore central questions that Generative AI raises within our organisations, from structures and systems to identity, trust, and the nature of truth. ‘Engines of Engagement’ traverses a broad landscape of change, with deep consideration of how these powerful systems will impact our familiar mechanisms of creativity and productivity, artistry and education at individual, organisational, and societal levels.

4. There’s a new (fourth) poster in the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) ‘Things You Might Not Know About The World of Languages’ series https://cdn.ecml.at/EDL/posters/EDL-infographic-languages-2024-EN.pdf PDF below.

Have you ever been responsible for an untranslatable culaccino? If not, never mind, you’ve almost certainly been guilty of niksen, equally untranslatable. Although I wonder whether David Cameron might translate it as chillax?

Plus, ‘Where am I?’ – a game played with twenty random photos which include minimal but sufficient linguistic clues to help you identify the country in each photo https://edl.ecml.at/Games/WhereamI/tabid/3263/Default.aspx

5. And, finally, Gay sheep and gaslighting: 10 of the funniest jokes from the Edinburgh fringe 2024 https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/aug/12/10-funniest-jokes-edinburgh-fringe-2024

Olaf Falafel – whose joke I didn’t get unaided, alas – also runs a successful YouTube channel (not just) for kids, Art Club https://www.youtube.com/@OlafFalafelArtClub Try Henri Matisse for Kids  https://youtu.be/5h6VlosEVXA or Joan Miró for Kids https://youtu.be/xXKquODMN5g