In Nicaragua, we came up with the idea of underlining all proper names in
SW, much as proper nouns are capitalized in English. The need first became
apparent when we produced a text on Columbus and his three ships. The Nina
means "little girl", but by underlining it the students were clear that
"little girl" was just the name of the ship. Also, without underlining,
students were not always able to recognize proper names as such. They
would just think the sign was a word they didn't know, unless it was very
apparent from context that the word was someone's name or a geographical
location. Note, for example: People called Lindergh the lone eagle" vs.
People called Lindberg the Lone Eagle. We underline "Spain", but not
"spanish". We also underline initials: John Smith or simply J.S. --- James
Shepard-Kegl
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