Buried Moorish treasure

This bit from James Richardson, Travels in Morocco (1860) sounds like the many Spanish myths of troves (often guarded by dragons) left behind by the outscored hordes: The inhabitants of Barbary all bury their money. The secret is confided to a single person, who often is taken ill, and dies before he can discover the…

Antwerp talk

Check out Godzjumenas’ Antwerp dialect or language or whatever blog, Aentwaereps. The spelling system is of his own invention and he writes occasionally on grammar, which, as he says, is currently undocumented–most writers claim it has none ;-) (I love Antwerp. The harbour has some of the finest mafia bars in Europe; lose your heart…

Keenly awaited

Caffeind’s “physical evidence of intercourse across the North Sea for thousands of years back.” Language can wait.

Teachers/examiners with less skills than pupils/examinees

Story in Trouw about a German teacher who can’t speak German. This wouldn’t be so freaky in jobs-for-the-boys Spain, where the most important requirement of a foreign language teacher in the public sector is that they have a bagful of certificates in the local languages. The result is that most foreign language teachers aren’t very…