Globally Speaking

Global naming trends: unusual names

Here are reports on two naming trends--one from the U.S. and another from China.

The first article, US babies get global brand names, decribes an unusual trend in the U.S. Americans are naming their children after big brand names such as Canon, Timberland, and Armani. Two little boys have even been named after the TV sports channel, ESPN. Imagine naming a baby ESPN, Chevrolet, or L'Oreal!

The second one, China Youth Take Names From West: Hi Medusa!, describes a surprising naming trend in China. Young people in China are choosing English names for themselves, not names like David or Amy, but names inspired by sports, culture…even English dictionaries. They are coming up with unusual names for themselves such as Echo, Feeling, or Medusa!

What do you think of these naming trends? Do you know of any other unusual naming trends? Post a comment.

Blunders in international advertising

Corporations are eager to market their products around the globe, so they advertise internationally. However, they sometimes get into trouble because they fail to take into consideration language and cultural differences when they create their advertising.

Read about some of their blunders in Advertising Slogans Gone Wrong…

Post a comment about this topic.

The global spread of AIDS

Demonstrators from around the world demonstrated at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand last week to raise awareness on AIDS-related issues. United Nations chief Kofi Annan and South African Nelson Mandela challenged world leaders to unite and do more to combat this growing global epidemic.

In 2003, the disease killed close to 3 million people worldwide, and it continues to spread. Go to BBC’s The Global Spread of HIV – The AIDS Debate. Click on the links on this page to learn more about where it is spreading, how fast it is spreading, and how many people are likely to be living with it by the year 2010.

Should world leaders be doing more to combat the AIDS problem? Should rich countries spend more money to combat it? Post a comment with your opinions on the global spread of AIDS.

Children around the world love toys

Children around the world have always played with toys, but over the years the types of toys they enjoy playing with have changed. More modern high-tech toys such as cars with remote controls, lego technical sets, or robots, have replaced traditional toys such as yo-yos, spinning tops, building blocks, paper dolls, and marbles.

Read what a woman from Venezuela has to say about children's toys in Venezuela: Traditional Toys vs. High-Tech Toys.   Then take a look at a 2002 BBC Online article about the popularity of robot toys in that year:  Robot toys are tops.

Post a comment. Write about a toy you had when you were a child. What kind of toy was it? Why did you like to play with it. Do you still have it today?

Global play: children's traditional games

Worldwide, children love to play games. Browse through the pages of Children's Games from Around the World in TOPICS Online Magazine to discover how children from many countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Korea, Japan, China, Germany, Indonesia, and Nepal, play different versions of the same traditional games such as jump rope, marbles, tag, hopscotch, and jacks.

Read descriptions of games from at least three different countries. Did you play a version of any of these games as a child?

Post a comment. Tell us about a game you enjoyed playing when you were a child in your country.

Worldwide concern over video game addiction

Around the world, parents worry that their children are becoming addicted to video games and are neglecting other interests.

Dr. Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University, an expert on video game addiction, expresses his views about video game addiction in a BBC World News article: Video Games, Cause for concern?

Playing computer games too much might also have harmful physical effects on children. To learn more, read the BBC article: Computer games pose injury risks.

What are your views on this issue? Is this a problem in your country? Should parents worry about their childrens' passion for playing these games? What do you think are some of the most serious effects of this addiction on young people? Post a comment.

International, cross-cultural aspects of sports

Soccer is a global sport. Baseball also has an international flavor. Team members on any one team may come from different countries, including the U.S., Japan, Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Italy, Canada, and Australia.

Although sports often pit nations against one another, they can also highlight cross cultural issues. Many movies deal with these issues. View the movie trailer of Bend It Like Beckham, a cross-cultural comedy about an Anglo-Indian teenager who idolizes soccer star, David Beckham. When the page opens, click on the link 'Trailer and clips.'

What do you think? Can sports like soccer and baseball create cross-cultural bonds, or are they more likely to create competition and conflict between nations? Post a comment expressing your ideas.

Designer babies: our future?

The power to change the human species is an issue of great importance. Genetic scientists believe, in the next few decades, we might be able to design our future babies—to choose the features we want our children to have even before they are born. For example, we could choose to have a beautiful, intelligent, or warm-hearted child.

In addition, we might be able to have our unborn child’s genes tested to detect any genetic disorders and have doctors modify a defective gene or even replace it to make sure our child is born disease-free. Advances in genetic engineering techniques may soon give us this power to change the human species, but do we want that power?

It’s important to think about this question. It raises serious ethical questions: Would this technology be available only for the rich? What if everyone decided to have only boys? What if everyone chose to have only extremely intelligent babies? What if people chose characteristics for their babies for the wrong reasons? What if...? What if...?

Read this BBC World News article, Designing babies: the future of genetics to learn more.

Post a comment. What is your opinion about genetically engineering a child? Is it right to choose or change a child's genes? Why or why not?

Tackling obesity

As concern grows over the rising problem of obesity, people around the world are tackling the problem and trying to find solutions.

In the U.S., they're starting young! Babies as young as 2 months old are participating in exercise classes! Read the Netscape News (CNN) article, Babies Work Out in Bid to Counter Obesity, to find out more.

A CBS News article, It's a Fat, Fat, Fat World, reports 22 million children under 5 around the globe are overweight or obese.

Meanwhile, no country is immune to obesity. Read the CBS News article, Fighting fat on a global scale. This is an interesting report on the spread of globesity in countries around the world—Mexico, the U.S., China, Italy, Iceland, the Philippines, the South Pacific Islands, Greece, Kuwait, and many, many others. It explores how and why the global trend towards weight gain is happening.

Sound off! Do you think having babies exercise will help? Why do you obesity is becoming a global epidemic? How can we fight obesity? What suggestions do you have? Post a comment.

Debating the death penalty

Around the world, the debate over the death penalty continues. Some countries use it; others have abolished it. Some individuals stand firmly in favor of it; others are strongly opposed to it. Go to Speaking Out about the Death Penalty to read what some international students have to say about it.

What are your thoughts about the death penalty? Post a comment.