Porfiriy over at New Dominion has translated an article on Mandarin-Uyghur bilingual education. Here’s a snippet:

The so-called “bilingual” education policy, based on forcing Uyghur children to speak Chinese, has aroused intense discontent among Uyghur intellectuals both within and outside the Uyghur homeland. Critics draw attention to the potential of “bilingual” education to threaten the normal development and healthy thinking of immature children and accuse bilingual education of being a planned and deliberate assimilation policy.

As he notes in the comments, in this particular piece “the phrase-ology seems more like op-ed talk than news reporting.” That said, he’s using the article to bring up very complex issues of cultural identity, economic reality, and who should make the key decisions. No easy answers here. It’s great to see the New Dominion up and running again after a long dry spell.

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Translation / linking note: the New Dominion article above shows the original Uyghur text as you mouse over the article. This is critical. Charles Custer pointed out yesterday — when I complained that mainstream media does not do enough linking to original sources — how important it is to create a copy of the original text and make it available at the same location as the translation. His blog, ChinaGeeks, also does this through mouseover text (see example here).

I couldn’t agree more. Originals disappear and get modified, not just on the mainland because of net nanny issues but also elsewhere for a variety of reasons. Maybe the not-very-pithy maxim should be: Link to the original but make a copy for posterity.

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Comments have been closed on this post. Head over to the New Dominion to take part in the discussion.　　- Kellen