Protests Against Cyrillic Signs Continue In Vukovar
The Croatian and Serbian languages are similar, but Croats use the Latin alphabet while Serbs use Cyrillic. The protesters want Vukovar to be exempted from a law stipulating the use of Cyrillic in areas where Serbs make up at least one-third of the population. Vukovar was devastated by Serbian rebels during Croatia's war for independence in the 1990s. The city has been rebuilt but ethnic tensions remain.
China, U.S. governments cooperate to boost language study The U.S. Department of Defense and officials from China are working together to give more students in Washington state the opportunity to learn Mandarin. State officials have said they would like to have 10% of its schools offering Mandarin within the next two years. "If we're going to get kids bilingual, do it in a language that will really benefit them down the road," said John Boyd, executive director for the Highline School District in Burien, Wash. "We really need to do this. Not just to teach language, but at a professional level where students can do business with the language."
