Welcome to the inaugural interview of our 7 Questions to a Linguist series! Over the next few months, we’ll be exploring some of the most fascinating, eye-opening, and unexpected insights from leading language professionals around the world. To kick things...
Michael Kandel’s humility borders on self-deprecation. The leading English-language translator of Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem sees the translator’s lot as utilitarian, unromantic, invisible. His mantra is that failure is inevitable. And yet, the scope and significance of Kandel’s...
Recently a friend brought to my attention a delightful collection of William Safire’s articles from the New York Times Magazine. Many years ago, my friend wrote Safire regarding the origins of the word “trivia”, which the celebrated journalist had mistakenly...
Our translation department and our language blog, Beyond Words, often receive questions from students and individuals interested in becoming professional translators. In the past, we’ve written articles and gathered resources about existing translation programs, scholarships, and general advice for prospective...
With the recent Sony hack making the news, it’s hard not to wonder about the safety and confidentiality of information we move across the web. As the manager of ALTA Language Services’ translation department, I interact with clients ranging from...
We’ve all had a good laugh reading translations gone disastrously wrong. Warning signs, disclaimers, and company slogans seem to be particularly susceptible to hilarious results. Because they often involve a play on words or a reference to culture-specific concepts, corporate...
Not only does every September bring with it New York Fashion Week, but the month often marks a transition in the way we dress. As the season changes and we tuck away our summer clothes in favor of fall wear,...
Shadowy figures dart around corners and disappear into the fog. Hard-boiled detectives, commissioned by untrustworthy dames in expensive furs, toss cigarettes on the rain-slicked street and skulk into the night. Film noir is a genre of bad guys and worse...
Every year brings with it an eagerly anticipated summer movie season. Whether or not you personally enjoy 2014’s crop of action, superhero, comedy, and horror films, some may one day form part of their particular genre’s canon. Caught in the...
Is your company pushing the envelope to create disruptive innovations outside the box? Have you considered how scalable your department’s synergy really is? Can your sales reps proactively leverage their resources to snatch up the lowest-hanging fruit? And is that...
As intriguingly varied as world languages are, linguists agree that they share certain structural factors that broach continents and cultures. For decades, the roots of this phenomenon have been debated and explored; a study out of the University of Rochester...
Many of us remember the delightful Schoolhouse Rock video in which a sick little boy, a coy lady, and a jeering crowd yell out a plethora of interjections set to a catchy tune. Interjections are some of the most fun...
These days, we don’t always have the time to use full words or speak in complete sentences. The advent of text-speak and internet lingo has conditioned many of us to seek out the most efficient routes of communication. While far...
Mathematics has a language all its own – a rich tapestry of systems interconnected with ironclad logic. Linguistics, philosophy, and mathematics have shared insights for centuries – Sir Isaac Newton, for example, composed a hefty treatise in 1687 entitled Mathematical...
For as many texts that have been translated into English, scores more have not enjoyed the wider readership that the English language provides. Haute Culture aims to change that with a line of international books that have never before been...
Calling all language-lovers! If you’re looking for robust, personal, and in-depth language stories instead of snippets and sound bites, you may be interested in Schwa Fire – a digital publication dedicated to just that. A Kickstarter campaign is currently under...
Paul Mathis is proposing an “evolution in communication.” How you ask? The Australian restaurateur has created a proposed addition to the alphabet: Ћ. The letter is designed to be a stand-in for the word “the.” According to Mathis’ website, the...
Earlier this year, we shared information with our readers about the new online MA in Translation and Interpreting program offered by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Representatives from the MA program recently told us that the launch was...
The ever-blurring borders of nations and the subsequent cultural, linguistic, educational, business, and economic shifts that take place are not going unnoticed by the U.S. Department of Education. In November of this year, the Department released its first-ever document detailing...
1. It’s no longer called Foreign Language Proficiency Pay (FLPP). Now it’s called Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus (FLPB) or “Flip Bee.” 2. FLPB is designed to compensate soldiers that speak a foreign language for maintaining their linguistic skills. Provided a...
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