2014 | John Speak Language Trust

Yearly Archives: 2014

As two of Pakistan’s neighbouring countries, India and Afghanistan undergo general elections it is interesting to reflect on developments in one country affect the wider region. Both countries are geo-political heavyweights (due to a booming economy and the presence of NATO forces respectively) and as such the government ministers in…

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: Afghanistan, development, diplomacy, economy, elections, India, international relations, Pakistan, trade
Posted in Blog

A Greek Tragedy

Today I met a family originally from the Kailash Valley in Northern Pakistan. They were so kind, and one girl even donned some traditional tribal dress for a photograph. These people are descended from the soldiers of Alexander the Great, who, after waging war through much of Central Asia, reached…

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: Alexander the great, history, Kailash, Northern Pakistan, subculture, Valley
Posted in Blog

Making Myself At Home

I visited the house of a friend this evening, and whilst I was there one or two other visits came and went. In an off-the-cuff way I commented that the house seemed to have quite a few visitors that evening. They looked at me strangely at first, afterwards explaining that…

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: culture, friends, hospitality, visitors
Posted in Blog

A Waiting Game

I have been thinking that you can tell a lot about a culture by looking at the way people queue (or don’t as the case may be!). I was in the bank today to take out some of my penultimate scholarship instalment, and everyone waiting to be served was standing…

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: air-conditioning, bank, culture, Pakistan, queue, waiting
Posted in Blog

It’s All Relative…

As I sat down to write I began to think about how the meaning of the word ‘family’ here in Pakistan (and in South Asian culture in general) is rather different from how it is defined in the West. In Pakistan, if your third-cousin once removed is getting married to…

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: culture, distant, elder, family, marriage, relatives, tribal
Posted in Blog

The White Rabbit

I had the opportunity to visit a Gypsy tribe only last week, and what a fantastic experience it was. The children I saw were dirty, poorly clothed and unable to read and write (probably) and yet they were so beautiful. One girl in particular carried a perfect white rabbit beneath…

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: children, rabbit, rural, tents, tribes
Posted in Blog

An Aural Extravaganza

Today I thought about the menagerie of sounds that one hears on an average day in Pakistan. There is the ice-cream cart that plays an electronic version of ‘fur-de-lise’ on repeat, I wonder how it doesn’t drive the poor man bonkers. There are the cats and dogs. Nobody owns them…

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: atmosphere, horn, noise, Pakistan, sounds, stray animals
Posted in Blog

Making Light of Things…

Today has been a fairly relaxing day. The weather is changing here, slowly but surely the temperature is rising. Although fortunately the mosquitoes have launched a full-scale invasion as yet, and the ceiling fan has not been needed as yet. Every day the citizens of this country go without electricity…

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: electricity, Pakistan, routine, weather
Posted in Blog

Our Changing World

It is now drawing closer towards the final month of my scholarship, so I want to make an effort to blog more regularly. I would like to give readers an insight into what life is like here, and the potential ways to strengthen ties between the UK and Pakistan in…

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: cultural identity, development of languages, English, globalisation, Pakistan, Urdu
Posted in Blog, News