In the days of the coronavirus pandemic, people going about their day wearing a mask has become a usual sight. In some countries wearing a facemask has become obligatory and…
Author: Nikol Haytova
So close, yet so far: Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia
Malaysia and Indonesia are lands of diversity. One may discover such a colorful abundance of people, cultures and indigenous languages, if only one decides to look. In the splash of…
Kaiju – the monster from Japan and China that took over Hollywood
Halloween took place just about a month ago, but we`re here with some spooky stories about monsters from another land. You might be surprised to find out that Japanese culture…
Kawaii: the Japanese art of being “cute”
If you are a fan of manga, anime or Japanese culture as a whole, then you know pretty well that kawaii is not just another Japanese loanword. Kawaii is an…
Dialects – the riches of the Vietnamese treasure chest
“Never let it be said that dialect is a reflection of intellect. On the contrary, it is a reflection of the deep traditional values of a culture” – Patricia H.…
Beauty lies in the small details. Discourse particles on Malaysian English
We mention quite often the usage of English “dialects” such as Chinglish, Japlish, etc. In this article, we are going to take a look at the phenomena of discourse particles…
Ikigai – the Japanese “reason for being”
Every person has their own pace of life and each of us decides for themselves just how much work is enough work. There are some that prefer leisure to hard…
Konglish – another example of the vibrance of the “New Englishes”
The late part of the previous century marks the birth and growth of hybrid languages, more often than not mixing a country’s native language with a variety of English. This…
Bahasa Indonesian and its sweet peculiarities
Indonesian (or Bahasa Indonesian) is the official language of Indonesia and the Indonesian archipelago. It is a relatively new language that has quickly taken its place in the rank as…