Sunday 19 February 2012

News Brief: Discount meals for speakers of oppressed languages

Tuesday (Feb 21st) is World Mother Language Day for the promotion of threatened minority languages. In a related activity in Taiwan running all this week, almost 100 stores are offering discounts to people shopping in their mother tongues.

No, that doesn’t mean English &c. for foreigners, or even Mandarin for  descendants of Taiwan's 1 million+ 1949 immigrants, but the local, previously discriminated-against Hoklo Taiwanese, Hakka and Aboriginal languages.

In addition to some bookshops and even dentists, many participating outlets are restaurants ranging from Mom&Pop stands to haute cuisine establishments. CNA reports today (full Chinese-language article here).

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