Language

‘Guaraní is identity’: How an Indigenous Paraguayan language has endured through the ages

Language

In Paraguay, the Indigenous Guaraní language is spoken as an official language alongside Spanish. Most Paraguayans speak Guaraní or a mixture of Spanish and Guaraní as their first language, whether they are of Indigenous descent or not. 

In front of a floor-to-ceiling glass door in the living room of Najannguac Dalgård Christensen, necklaces with amulets carved out of bone and seal claws dangle from a coat hanger.

Healing old wounds: The revival of Greenlandic Inuit tattoos in Denmark

Lifestyle & Belief
The exterior of the Ancient Church of the East in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 27, 2023.

A newly launched news channel in Iraq tries to preserve the ancient Syriac language

Language
People gather during the Kanua film festival in Ecuador.

Film festival makes its way through Ecuador’s Amazon by boat

Arts, Culture & Media
man at podium

Australians ready for a historic referendum recognizing First Nations people

Yahritza Martinez and her two guitar-playing brothers make up the trio Yahritza Y Su Esencia.

Mexican American teen star sings on after heated controversy with Mexican audiences

Identity

Yahritza Martinez, 16, went from apple picking in rural Washington, to becoming a TikTok sensation and chart-topping musician. But her career nearly came to a halt after her comments about Mexico went viral. Despite the controversy, Martinez played at a major Mexican Independence Day concert in Mexico City — but some fans were not yet ready to embrace her.

Cast members perform during a rehearsal of the opera "Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable" at the Emerson Paramount Center in Boston, Sept. 20, 2023.

A modern take on an ancient Chinese folk tale

Arts, Culture & Media

The new opera, “Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable,” had its world premiere in Boston over the weekend. The story is based on an ancient Chinese folk tale and uses modern and diverse cultural elements to create a unique rendition of the popular fable.

A woman working at a carrel in library stacks

Nonnative-English-speaking scientists work much harder just to keep up, global research reveals

Education

New research found nonnative-English speakers face higher rejection rates and 12.5 times more revisions than their native English-speaking counterparts. But there are solutions.

collections of Moomins things

Finnish Moomins book series finds new audiences in the US

Books

​​​​​​​The Moomins are troll-like characters from a Finnish children’s book series that became popular around the world starting in the 1950s. But they never really took off in the United States. The author Tove Jansson rejected Walt Disney’s offer to buy the brand. Now, a bookstore chain in the US is trying to popularize the Moomins here.

Noam Tsuriely is a 28-year-old Jewish Israeli hip-hop artist from Jerusalem, whose debut album will drop later this summer.

This Israeli rapper brings people together through multilingual lyrics

Planet Hip Hop

Noam Tsuriely is a 28-year-old Jewish Israeli hip-hop artist from Jerusalem He says he likes to rap in both Hebrew and Arabic to get Israelis and Palestinians to learn both languages, so they can understand each other better. Tsuriely’s story is the latest in The World’s summer “Planet Hip Hop” series.