Venustum

On 14th July this year, New Zealand intends to commemorate Maori New Year while simultaneously observing its most recent public holiday for the second occasion, following its statutory recognition last year.

On Thursday, at the Dark Sky Sanctuary situated in Lake Tekapo of New Zealand's South Island, festivities preceding Matariki began with the inauguration of a booklet containing karakia (Maori prayer) designated for each of the nine stars of Matariki.

Matariki represents a significant event in the New Zealand calendar, in which the commencement of the Maori New Year is recognized through the reemergence of the Matariki constellation of stars in the evening skies.

According to the Minister of Maori Crown Relations, Kelvin Davis, the booklet will be widely disseminated to schools and communities throughout the country, in order to assist individuals with their respective preparations for commemorating Matariki, thereby serving as a valuable resource.

Matariki was marked for the first time as an official public holiday last year.

"It was a beautiful moment to see how the nation took joy in celebrating and embracing Matariki last year," Davis said.

According to the data, a minimum of 87 percent of the New Zealand population has acquired a certain level of comprehension regarding the purpose and significance of Matariki, David said.

May 3 (UPI) -- Local officials in New South Wales, Australia, are asking residents to keep a respectful distance from a rare animal spotted in the area: an albino echidna.

The Bathurst Regional Council said in a Facebook post that a council employee snapped photos of the ghostly white echidna while out walking Tuesday.

The echidna, named Raffie by locals, is albino, meaning its entire body lacks pigment.

"If you see Raffie out, please feel free to take a couple of snaps but do not approach, touch, or try and contain him. It is important to leave wildlife alone, as you could risk them losing their scent trail or leaving young unattended in the burrow," the council wrote.

Resident Geoff Hadley said he helped Raffie cross a road recently.

"I've seen hundreds of echidnas but I've never, ever seen a white one -- it was just crazy," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Seems neat, I'm sure it reaps your data, but you could try it on a browser you just use for browsing, it's also on firefox

it claims to not sell your data though

https://jointoucan.com/privacy

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/toucan-language-learning/

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With Toucan installed for either Chrome, Edge, or Safari, the first time you visit a website or click on an article, you’ll notice something strange: Some of the words on the page will change, and translate to your chosen language. If you’re trying to learn Portuguese, you might see a sentence like esta, but one or two palavras will be translated.

Hover your cursor over the translated word, and a pop up will reveal what it means in English. (“Esta” is “this;’ “palavras” is “words.”) This pop up gives you additional interesting controls, such as a speaker icon you can click to hear how the word is pronounced, a mini quiz to see if you can spell the word, and a save button to highlight the word for later.

It starts out with one word at a time, but as you learn, Toucan ups the ante, adding more words in blocks, or “lexical chunks.” It makes sense, since languages don’t all share the same grammar structure. By building up to larger groups of words, you’ll more naturally learn word order, verb conjugation, and the general grammar of your chosen language.

The extension also offers “shortcuts,” which are a bit more like a traditional language-learning experience. These highlight key words and phrases you’ll use in common situations, such as greetings or going out to eat. Interestingly, shortcuts only work on Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, and Google.

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Muslims around the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan—a time of self-discipline and character-building that includes abstaining from food and drink, from sunrise to sunset, to create empathy for those less fortunate who do not have access to food. Breaking the day-long fast is also central to Ramadan traditions, and while the significance of the celebrations is shared by the 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, how people break their fasts represents each community's unique combination of religious, regional, and culinary traditions.

Here's the most important—and delicious—vocabulary about Ramadan!

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Chinese people believe that letters are as valuable as gold. For thousands of years, letters, across mountains and oceans, have been delivering the writers' sentiments and conveying friendship and expectations.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, has managed to find time to reply to some letters from different sectors of the society and different parts of the world despite of his busy work schedule.

Through his letters, Xi has corresponded with international friends from all walks of life on numerous occasions, part of a series of excellent stories of China's international exchanges in the new era. The letters have also added vivid colors to the diplomacy between China and other countries.

The Global Times traced and contacted some of the recipients of Xi's letters, to hear the inspiring stories behind the letters and their communications with the Chinese president.

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Probably not practical for a lot of people here, but cool if you want to pick up a few words

The free app, called Dakhód Iápi Wičhóie Wówapi, was unveiled in February

Khloe Cavanaugh learned some Dakota words from her grandfather growing up on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota. He was one of the few fluent first language speakers on the reservation.

“I have an Indian name and I didn’t know how to say it in Dakota, so he taught me how to say it and how to introduce myself,” said Cavanaugh.

“Haŋ Mitáuyepi, Čhaŋte waštéya napé čhiyúzapi. Dakȟóta ia Heȟaka Thašina Wakȟaŋ Wi emákiyapi. Wašiču ia Khloe Cavanaugh emákiyapi.”

“(Hello my friends and relatives, I greet you with a good heart and handshake. My Dakota name is Heȟaka Thašina Wakhaŋ Wi and my English name is Khloe Cavanaugh.)”

Cavanaugh, a freshman at the University of Minnesota, is studying beginners Dakota and considering a major in American Indian studies, with a focus on developing mastery of the language. And now, she has a new tool — co-created by her Dakota teacher, Šišókadúta — to help her remember vocab words and work on pronunciation: a Dakota language dictionary app.

The free app, called Dakhód Iápi Wičhóie Wówapi, was unveiled last month at an event at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Onamia, Minnesota. It contains over 28,000 words in Dakota and includes a Dakota language keyboard and audio recordings of first language speakers — both men and women — saying the words so users can learn how they are pronounced. It’s a vital resource not just for preserving the language, but also for learning vocab on the fly. There’s no Google Translate or other online dictionary for Dakota.

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When Kylee Gray first laid eyes on the creature, she couldn’t help it: She gasped aloud. Then, the Australian park ranger picked up the cane toad and the surprises kept coming. Gray simply “couldn’t believe how big and heavy it was.” And she was right to be shocked.

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