New America | Jan. 3, 2018
 Gala Soe and his family sit on their living room floor, watching his infant daughter play with bright plastic balls on a colorful mat. Portraits of family members line the walls of their trailer.
"Because my dad, every year he tries to take a picture for a memory," he said.
Gala Soe and his family are originally from Myanmar, members of the Karen (pronounced kuh-RIN) ethnic group. They fled persecution in their home country and spent a decade in a refugee camp in Thailand. Gala Soe said there was little work in the camp, food was scarce and the water was dirty.
"That's why me and my family are really happy that we could come to the United States for a better life," he said.
Gala Soe's family originally resettled in Connecticut, and moved to Guymon after a few years to work in the Seaboard pork processing plant. Now, nearly every adult member of his family has a job there
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The Boar | Jan. 2, 2019
Warwick University takes a lot of pride in its international community. As Professor Seán Hand,
the university's Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor said, we are "committed internationalists" who are dedicated to "global perspectives". This comes with a high number of both students and staff who speak two or more languages. While being proficient in multiple languages is definitely a skill, many students feel that it can affect the ways in which they communicate. But is this a disadvantage?
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Rutland Herald | Dec. 29, 2018
VERMONT -
From Gaagudju in Australia, whose last native speaker died in 2002, to the Cromarty dialect of Scots that died in the United Kingdom in 2012, to Nuchatlaht, which perished with Alban Michael in British Columbia in 2016 - languages around the world are disappearing. Of roughly 6,700 languages worldwide, nearly 40 percent are considered in peril. They are across the globe, around the United States, and here in Vermont.
Language plays a crucial role not just in communication, but also in cultural identity. Recognizing this decline and its cultural cost, the United Nations has declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
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Voice of America | Dec. 31, 2018
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Associated Press | Dec. 29, 2018
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Houston Chronicle | December 28, 2018
HOUSTON - As a former civil engineer on a U.S. military project, Mohammed, 36, qualified for and eventually received a special immigrant visa (SIV), designated for people who worked with the U.S. military in war zones, most commonly as interpreters. Most SIVs today are granted to Afghans, with a few still being granted to Iraqis.
There are tens of thousands of people, like Mohammed, who work with the U.S. military during wars in their home countries, putting their lives and their family's lives in grave danger and forcing them to sometimes need to flee as a result. But the numbers of special immigrant visa granted have been slashed in half nationwide between fiscal years 2017 and 2018 - a drop advocates say is an affront to the service those who qualify have provided to the U.S.
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Language Magazine | December 28, 2018
The Association of Language Companies (ALC) will be hosting its annual UNConference January 17-19, in Huntington Beach, California. While this gathering of the brightest minds and leaders in the language service industry always sparks meaningful conversation and idea-sharing, this year's UNConference features a special focus on the worker classification issue, an issue that has the potential to have profound effects on the industry and on the many sectors of the economy that it serves.. Read more.
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Valley News | December 27, 2018
SACRAMENTO - The decision impacts how businesses classify an independent contractor versus an employee. If they were to classify a contractor as an employee, businesses would need to comply with state and federal rules on wages, hours, working conditions and pay for Social Security, insurance and other taxes. Luke Wake, a senior staff attorney with NFIB, discussed the new ABC test and its impact on the previous Borello test standard. Read more.
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ABC | December 30, 2018
AUSTRALIA -
Charles Qin knows the pressure of being the man in the middle.
He is one of Australia's top interpreters, having been the intermediary translating sensitive discussions for four Australian prime ministers in China.
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Daily Excelsior | December 27, 2018
WASHINGTON - The US Army has awarded SOS International a more than $191-million contract for base life support and security services in Taji, Iraq, the Department of Defense announced in a news release.
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The Association of Language Companies hosts its UNConference Jan. 17-19 in Huntington Beach, CA. The UNConference emphasizes breaking into smaller groups so that individuals can actively participate, not just hold the wall. All attendees are encouraged to become participants, while facilitators will provide a touch of moderation and structure. This participant-driven meeting allows you to have thought-provoking discussions with some of the brightest minds in the industry--about the issues that matter to you most.
Register here.
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With more than 170 education and networking sessions, no other event can provide you with this level of professional development at this price. This year the conference will be held in Palm Springs, California (October 23-26, 2019). Registration opens in late July.
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Call for Papers Deadline: January 18, 2019
The 11th International Language Teacher Education Conference welcomes proposals for papers and symposia on all aspects of the education and professional development of language teachers. Papers and symposia may report on empirical research, theoretical and conceptual analyses, or practices in language teacher education
. Submit Online!
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The Institute of International Education (IIE) is pleased to share with you application guidelines for the Language Training Center (LTC) Program. Through this solicitation, the LTC Program is seeking proposals from U.S. Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to accelerate the development of foundational or higher-level expertise in strategic languages and regional studies for Department of Defense (DoD) personnel.
The deadline for the receipt of proposals is Wednesday, March 20, 2019. We ask that you share this information broadly with individuals that may be interested in this opportunity, including your institutions' deans and colleagues in area studies or other relevant areas. The request for proposal can be accessed online on the LTC website at http://www.dodltc.org/request-proposal. Learn More. Submit a proposal.
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(competition expected in February or March 2019)
The UISFL program provides grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs), consortia of IHEs, partnerships between nonprofit education organizations and institutions of higher education, and public and private nonprofit agencies and organizations, including professional and scholarly associations, to strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign languages. Contact: Tanyelle Richardson at [email protected]
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(competition expected in January or February 2019)
This program provides short-term seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities to improve their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries. Educational lectures and activities are designed specifically for each seminar group, including visits to local schools and organizations, meetings with educators and students, and visits to cultural sites. Participants draw on their experiences abroad to create new curricula for their classrooms and school systems back in the U.S. FY 2019 programs will be offered in Czech Republic/Slovakia, Taiwan, and Uruguay. Contact: Maria Chang at [email protected]
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This $1,000 scholarship is intended for a high school senior who plans on a career as a world language educator.
The scholarship is sponsored by Ken Stewart (pictured), Spanish teacher, former SCOLT Board member and 2006 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year.
Click here to complete the application form.
Applications are due January 31, 2019
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FEDERAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
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Solicitation Number: USAGM-PNN-RFQ-19-005AM
Agency: U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)
Office: Director, Office of Contracts
Location: Office of Contracts (CON)
Response Date: Jan 04, 2019 4:00 pm Eastern
ARABIC TO ENGLISH -- NATO BI INTERPRETATION
Solicitation Number: HQ0013-19-Q-0010
Agency: Other Defense Agencies
Office: Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Location: Defense Budget and Contracts
Response Date: Jan 11, 2019 11:30 am Eastern
Solicitation Number: HE125419Q0004
Agency: Other Defense Agencies
Office: Department of Defense Education Activity
Location: DoDEA Headquarters Procurement Branch
Response Date: Jan 07, 2019 8:00 am Eastern
Solicitation Number: RFI-TRCProjectDesign_Build-18
Agency: Department of Energy
Office: Oak Ridge National Laboratory - UT Battelle LLC (DOE Contractor)
Location: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Response Date: Feb 01, 2019 4:00 pm Eastern
Find more at www.fbo.gov
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