An Age of Magic

Weightloss fads

Would you believe in a chocolate which promises to help you lose weight by actually burning calories as you eat it? It sounds wonderful I know – but if you also heard of a brand of icecream which vowed to shift all your cellulite after just five scoops would you believe it…?

It seems many people, desperate to lose weight of course, DO fall for these gimmicks. And they spend a fortune as they go from weight loss pill to diet shake to the latest body wrap.

Most of us can spot a con anywhere – but when it promises those magic words ‘lose ten pounds in ten days’ our guard gets dropped and our gullible side comes out.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Is it worth saving a dying language?

There are 2,500 dialects judged to be at risk on Unesco’s ‘Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger’.
The newly published maps show 200 out of our 6,000 world languages have become ‘extinct’ in the last three generations as langauges such as English become more commonly spoken around the world.

Take those such as Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx and Cornish – there are now only 44,000 Irish speakers and 58,552 people who understand Scottish Gaelic. Ned Maddrell, who died in 1974, was the last first-language speaker of traditional Manx, while the United Nations cultural body said the last traditional Cornish speaker died around 1777.

While these old tongues always defined the people who spoke them and the culture they lived in, is it really worth resurrecting them now – and if so for what reason other than cultural and maybe even nostalgic…?

Across the UK for example english is the common language and is also the common language increasingly across Europe and the world (much to the chagrin of the French). In Ireland the Irish language is not confined to one specific dialect – so if the Irish language is to be saved…which dialect are we talking about – that which is spoken in Donegal, or Cork or even Limerick…?

While it would be nice to see people speaking Cornish and Manx, etc, it is obvious that – in the UK at least – english must remain the first language of the people. To expect entire communities to once again speak ‘their own language’ would create the need for translations in just about every area of society for those who, say, visit from London or Kent. There is enough division in the world these days without bringing back even more barriers – and language can definitely be one of the biggest.

Popularity: 19% [?]