Shana Tova! The Language of Rosh Hashanah
Tonight at sunset marks the end of Rosh Hashanah (literally translated “head of the year”), the Jewish New Year celebration. Beginning at sunset on September 8, this is the 5771st year in the Jewish calendar — a lunisolar calendar used mostly to indicate religious holidays and the reading structure of the Torah. The reasoning behind […]
A Poem Translated Into Any Other Name
The UK Guardian’s Books Blog recently posted an interesting challenge to its readers for the beginning of September: share a bit of your own translated poetry with the other readers of the blog. The responses range from adaptations or translations of well-known poets like Neruda or Baudelaire to updated takes on “Frere Jacques”: Hey bro, […]
Native Tongues: Speaking in Estonia
Just over a month ago, Arizona’s announcement that it will crackdown on teachers whose English is accented or ungrammatical surprised much of the United States. Similarly surprising was Alabama’s gubernatorial candidate Tim James’ trail pitch that “This is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it.” While some wholeheartedly support these […]
World Cup Report: The Languages of South Africa
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, starting June 11 and ending July 11. Beyond the hype over which team is favored to win (it seems that almost everyone has a different prediction—Spain, England, Brazil—), it is impossible not to recognize the congregation of languages that will occur during that one month. […]
The Etymology of Philosopher
Simon Critchley wrote an interesting commentary for the New York Times on Sunday, May 16, 2010, titled What is a Philosopher? He opens the article by stating the obvious—“There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers – perhaps there are even more”—and then follows a round-about, but highly informative history of Greek […]
Behind-the-Language: Summer Sports
With warmer weather comes an increase in outdoor activities—swimming, running, and biking, just to name a few. Although the Boston Marathon was held last month, many of the other big ones lie ahead—Chicago, New York, and Leadville—and the season has just started for triathlons and major cycling events. Given the world-wide popularity of these sports, […]
Language of the Oil Spill
On April 20, when the Deepwater Horizon Transocean-BP oil rig exploded, killing eleven workers and, two days later, sinking completely into the Gulf of Mexico, everyone knew that the damage was going to be immense—but no one knew it would be quite as far-spreading as it now appears. The Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater rig […]
5 Tips For Learning a New Language
For the last 30 years, ALTA has provided language training to corporate clients and government agents whose relocation to foreign countries requires them to achieve high levels of proficiency in a new language. High proficiency includes the ability to communicate in an advanced way with native speakers of the new language — a range of […]
The Most Popular Foreign Languages: Foreign Language Enrollment in U.S. Schools
Over the past few decades, the United States has seen a steady increase in college enrollment. With higher education readily accessible to more and more people—from 1987-1997 college enrollment increased by 26%, and, from 1997-2007, college enrollment increased by an additional 18%–the ability to learn a second or third language is available to a broader […]
Looking at Globish: A Note on the Impact of English
One decade in to the 21st century and we’re already starting to look for concrete trends that actually hold water. While fashion and the housing market and car design are mutable, where does language fit into the picture—and how will English impact global society? In a recent UK Guardian blog post, Robert McCrum, author of […]