King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language, SEF Launch Arabic Esports Glossary

King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language, SEF Launch Arabic Esports Glossary
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King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language, SEF Launch Arabic Esports Glossary

King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language, SEF Launch Arabic Esports Glossary

The King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language (KSGAAL) and the Saudi Esports Federation (SEF) have launched an Arabic esports glossary targeting gaming enthusiasts, and aiming to boost involvement in Saudi Arabia's esports events.
The move is part of the academy's strategic goals and aligns with the Human Capability Development Program (HCDP) under Saudi Vision 2030.
KSGAAL Secretary General Dr. Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Washmi noted that the academy is the primary reference for Arabic language in Saudi Arabia, SPA reported.

Previous collaborations between the two entities resulted in glossaries for government entities in areas like energy, digital government, data, and AI.
Al-Washmi stressed that the esports glossary bridges communication gaps, documents the sector's linguistic landscape and standardizes terms. It also addresses the influx of foreign terms and advances the use of Arabic terminology in esports. This aligns with Saudi Arabia's undertakings in the esports sector, including the National Gaming and Esports Strategy launched by HRH the Crown Prince in 2022.
The glossary stands out for its thorough inclusion of esports terminology, including newly coined expressions and their evolving interpretations. It employs a practical methodology by defining terms, tracing their origins, and providing accurate English translations that capture their specific usage in the esports realm.
Containing over 505 terms in both Arabic and English, each entry is accompanied by detailed definitions and grammatical annotations in Arabic. These terms are systematically categorized in various esports genres, like football, combat sports, adventures, racing, and wrestling.



South Korea’s Han Sells One Million Books after Nobel Win

 A visitor takes a commemorative photo after buying books by South Korean poet and novelist Han Kang near a special section for her at a bookstore in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. The letters read "Congratulations on Han Kang's the Nobel Prize award." and "Awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature." (AP)
A visitor takes a commemorative photo after buying books by South Korean poet and novelist Han Kang near a special section for her at a bookstore in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. The letters read "Congratulations on Han Kang's the Nobel Prize award." and "Awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature." (AP)
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South Korea’s Han Sells One Million Books after Nobel Win

 A visitor takes a commemorative photo after buying books by South Korean poet and novelist Han Kang near a special section for her at a bookstore in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. The letters read "Congratulations on Han Kang's the Nobel Prize award." and "Awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature." (AP)
A visitor takes a commemorative photo after buying books by South Korean poet and novelist Han Kang near a special section for her at a bookstore in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. The letters read "Congratulations on Han Kang's the Nobel Prize award." and "Awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature." (AP)

More than a million copies of books by Han Kang, the first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, have sold locally since the honor was announced, bookstores said Wednesday.

The short story writer and novelist is best known overseas for her Man Booker Prize-winning "The Vegetarian", her first novel translated into English.

The 53-year-old, who also became the first Asian woman author to win the Nobel, was chosen "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life", the Swedish Academy said last week.

Han's win has created a sensation in South Korea, with the websites of major bookstores and publishing houses crashing after it was announced, as tens of thousands rushed to order her books.

As of Wednesday morning, at least 1.06 million copies, including e-books, had been sold since last Thursday's Nobel announcement, three major bookstores and online retailers -- Kyobo, Aladin and YES24 -- told AFP.

"Han Kang's books are experiencing unprecedented sales. This is a situation we have never seen before," Kyobo spokesperson Kim Hyun-jung told AFP.

Online bookstore Aladin said Han's victory had not only led to a staggering 1,200-fold increase in the sales of her books compared with the same period last year, but dramatically boosted the sales of South Korean literature as a whole.

Since her win, "the overall sales of Korean literature increased by more than 12 times compared to the previous year", it said in a statement.

Sales of two books Han recently mentioned she was reading -- "Inventory of Losses" by Judith Schalansky and "Atlas de botanique élémentaire" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- had also surged, Aladin said.

Kyobo Book Center said while it does not have exact figures, Han's books had seen dramatically higher sales compared with other Nobel prize winners.

"We have been in the publishing industry for a while, but this whole situation feels very surreal even to some of us," a Kyobo employee told AFP.

South Koreans have been overjoyed by the news, with Han's alma mater, Seoul's Yonsei University, displaying banners that read: "Congratulations to the proud Yonsei alumnus, Han Kang, on winning the Nobel Prize in Literature."

In her hometown of Gwangju -- where a massacre occurred in 1980 that later inspired Han's acclaimed novel "Human Acts" -- a congratulatory banner was hung on a building fired on by a military helicopter at the time.

Local reports said some printing houses had been operating at full capacity on the weekend to meet the demand for Han's books.

"I've never been this busy since I joined the company in 2006," an Aladin employee told AFP.

"But it's all been very happy."