Language Log

Chinese military urged to overhaul English teaching to improve language skills
Senior lecturers warn that troops are not being given the communication skills they need to operate on the international stage
William Zheng, SCMP (18 Feb 2026)

You can read this many different ways.

The report said English language skills were important for UN peacekeeping missions.

The People’s Liberation Army has been urged to overhaul English language teaching at its military schools and recruit professionals to improve soldiers’ communication skills on the international stage.

This is a story about the love between a man and a woman who don't know each other's language and haven't learned it either.  The man is an American from New Haven, and the woman is a Chinese from Xi'an, China.  He speaks English and she speaks Mandarin.  They converse through Microsoft Translator.

They met in Xi'an in 2019 when the man went to see the sights (Terracotta warriors, Buddhist temples, and so on).  After he came back to America, they continued to communicate through messaging.  But then Covid struck and they were cut off from each other.  After Covid restrictions were relaxed, she decided to come to America in 2022 on a one-way ticket and stayed here.

This is the regular script form of the Chinese character for horse:  馬.

When I used to give talks in schools, libraries, and retirement homes, anywhere I was invited, I would write 馬 (10 strokes, official in Taiwan) on the blackboard or a large sheet of paper and show it to the audience, then ask them what they thought it meant.  Out of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people to whom I showed this character, not one person ever guessed what it signified.  When I told those who were assembled that it was a picture of something they were familiar with, nobody got it.  When I said it was a picture of a common animal, nobody could recognize what it represented.  

All the more, when I showed the audiences the simplified form of the character, 马 (3 strokes, official in the PRC), nobody could get it.

Sino-Platonic Papers is pleased to announce the publication of its three-hundred-and-eighty-first issue:

“Relations Between Greece and Central Asia in Antiquity: An Examination of the Written Sources” (pdf) by Yu Taishan.

Among numerous articles and press releases on this sensational discovery, here are the first three that I encountered, all dating to February 11-12, 2026:

This article in the South China Morning Post twice mentions "laisee" without explanation:

China delivery firm offers kneeling service to send Lunar New Year greetings for customers
Paid for holiday festival package includes door cleaning, couplet hanging; critics say offer cheapens sanctity of filial piety, is disrespectful
Zoey Zhang, SCMP (2/12/26)

From Barbars Phillips Long:

A Reddit thread beginning with a complaint from a student taking Spanish at a U.S. high school hinges on whether the teacher should call the student by his preferred name in English or translate it into Spanish. I never really thought about the practice of using or assigning Spanish names in Spanish class, or French names in French class, even though I did not have a French name in French class (possibly because my junior high French teacher was Puerto Rican and my high school teacher was a Hungarian refugee who had studied at the Sorbonne). But since I was in high school in the 1960s, sensitivity about names, naming, pronunciation of names, "dead names," and other assorted naming issues are a much more prominent part of advice/grievance columns and forums.

Taiwan education ministry adds AI to English speaking test:
New system gives students instant feedback on spoken English
Lai Jyun-tang, Taiwan News | Feb. 3, 2026

Is this a first in the whole world?  Or is it already common in many countries?

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s education ministry has added artificial intelligence to its English speaking assessment system to help students better learn and practice spoken English.

Liberty Times reported Monday that the upgraded system uses artificial intelligence to score pronunciation and analyze spoken answers in real time. Education officials said the move supports Taiwan’s 2030 bilingual policy by placing greater emphasis on practical communication skills.

Japanese Inscription, Kanheri Caves, Cave no. 90, Maharashtra, Late 13th century CE or later

Inscription records a devotional chant honoring the Lotus Sūtra and Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk and philosopher born in 1222 CE.

It was likely inscribed by a Japanese pilgrim,… pic.twitter.com/Ww2BUEl4W0

— Satavahana (@SatavahanasIN) February 8, 2026

A Julesy bonus

From Keith Barkley:

There was a story on Morning Edition this morning about using “thing” as code for something you don’t want the government to overhear:

'La cosa': In Cuba, this single phrase carries coded truths
Eyder Peralta, Morning Edition, NPR (February 6, 2026)

Listen to the 4-minute audio recording (linked in the title above) and / or read this transcript: