A very original blog idea by Buenos Aires based food and travel journalist Layne Mosler - every week she gets into a taxi and asks the driver to take her to his favourite place to eat. She writes about what she finds (and eats) there in Go Where the Taxista Takes You.

As to be expected in Argentina, she eats a lot of grilled meat. She also picks up some nice stories from the taxistas along the way…

Today is International Mother Language day, and also the launch of 2008 as the International Year of Languages, led by UNESCO.

Global Voices online published ‘Are languages free?’ an article from Bangladesh on the importance of mother languages, especially minority languages and those in danger of extinction. According to the article, it has been proven that we learn more easily if we are taught in our mother tongue. Unfortunately many people around the world do not have the opportunity to learn in their own mother tongue.

Read more about the International Year of Languages here.

Has the use of english as global language of international communication gone so far that it will never be overtaken? Or is it destined to go the way of Latin and Ancient Greek as the balance of power between civilisations shifts and other languages gain in importance?

Apparently experts are divided on this question. Across cultures, English is the word is a very interesting article from the International Herald Tribune discussing the issue.

Meanwhile a post from Chinese in Vancouver blog Is Chinese culture going mainstream? highlights the rising importance of Chinese culture and language in Hong Kong, the USA and Canada.

The old silk road cities of Tashkent in Uzbekistan and Almaty in Kazakhstan have seen enormous changes since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

This article from Saudi Aramco World magazine discusses cultural identity in Central Asia and also describes the modern day silk road nomads (businessmen who roam by plane and SUV instead of camel), Tashkent´s thriving theatre scene and the rise of Korean restaurants in this historic region.

Background Links:
Photos
Hearts of the New Silk Roads (Saudi Aramco World)
Uzbekistan (Wikipedia)
Kazakhstan (Wikipedia)