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Have you ever wondered why some languages seem faster than others? And, if this were truly the case, would that mean some languages conveyed more information in the same amount of time than others? In an attempt to solve this spoken mystery, François Pellegrino of the University of Lyon conducted…

Being bilingual is something many people would envy you for. You can communicate with a wider range of people, you have more chances of getting a good job and it seems you are smarter than monolingual people. This is what has been claimed in an interesting article written by Yudhijit…

My father used to say, “If you know Chinese, Spanish, and English, you can communicate with one third of the world!” Whilst this may be an exaggeration, the growing numbers don’t lie! What we speak seems to be a great factor upon the influence we have. However, as we know,…

Narrative stories around the world have been using alien languages for generations. Sometimes completely made up, sometimes real but distorted, these languages add some mysterious dimension to their speakers. What are the top 10 Alien languages in movies, then?   Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the most…

A wasted letter, also known as a silent letter, refers to a letter within a word which does not contribute to the sound or pronunciation of that word, for example the ‘n’ in ‘autumn’ and the ‘k’ in ‘know’.  So, why do we spell ‘colour’ with a wasted ‘u’ when…

National identity, the sense of belonging to one state or nation, rather than another, is far from a natural phenomenon. It rather requires the presence of a number of symbols of various kinds, which people can identify with. These can include flags, songs, colours, the nation’s history (particularly the national…

Within the general “social class” theme (if there is still such a thing) that we are touching upon this month, the language-related section will be looking into the social stratification of people based on their language use and more specifically the way they pronounce (or not) a specific linguistic variable,…

Are you self-conscious about your grammar, accent, pronunciation of words, or are you maybe in the habit of saying uhmm and errrr a lot? All these are indications that you may not speak as clearly and properly as you could. You may therefore want to improve your techniques for speaking…

How to Make a Good Translation Below are some basic rules for making a good translation aimed at linguists working in the translation industry. This list is not exhaustive, but it is a starting point for whoever wants to develop a career in translation and is not familiar with the…

It is one of those things that we take for granted, we don’t stop to think twice about this impressive ability that humans have to acquire language so effortlessly. In the linguistic circles this is a popular topic however; there have been many studies and many linguists who tried to…

The Practical Importance of Stuying Phonetics   As a French native speaker, it became obvious to me very early on that I would need to learn at least one, and ideally two foreign languages, in order to optimise my chances of getting a good job in the future. How does…

Languages change so quickly that it’s a wonder how people of the same language understand each other, mind you talking to younger people of the same generation is often like trying to communicate with a foreign language speaker. Here are some of our tips on why language change is inevitable…

The issue of male versus female performance in translation and interpreting work is one that rarely comes up, but it is one where project managers may be surprisingly opinionated. The question of whether women or men make better translators or interpreters is not one that is frequently asked. Perhaps this…

A High Court in the UK recently ruled to uphold English language tests for immigrants wanting to live in the UK. The outrage from some couples caught up in this affair is understandable, but is it too much to ask immigrants to speak the language of their destination country? The…

Logic dictates that higher immigration levels increase the demand for language provision in both the healthcare and justice system. But what happens when increased demand and a need to cut costs meet head on? For the NHS, providing interpreters for patients who do not speak English is vital for patient…

“I am a citizen of the world”, this is what both myself and my two brothers, who also live abroad, think of ourselves. Having left home at 18 to come to the UK to study, when people ask me now if I miss “home”, sometimes I wonder: Where is home…

I have a tattoo, something which I don’t necessarily regret now, but should I have had my time again I think I would probably not choose to ‘scar’ myself for life with one Japanese symbol. I often forget it’s there until someone spies it and then asks what it means;…

The importance of foreign languages Having been immersed in a different language from a young age and subsequently pursuing my passion of learning and speaking languages throughout my school life and into my adult career I find it very hard to understand the lack of interest in foreign languages at…

I love English! It’s so versatile and rich in synonyms, turns of phrase and idiomatic expressions. In fact, I like nothing more than expressing something in the written word. When I was younger my mum used to bring out a poem after dinner on occasion, and if we had a…

Knowing a rare or less–used language has traditionally been considered as a resume advantage, a way to edge out the competition within the ever-shrinking jobs pool. But what do recruiters really think about the languages we know (or claim to know?) A spread of languages will undoubtedly make reading your…

The life, death and maintenance of languages is a concept that has kept me amazed since childhood. With recent talks of language extintion I explore the language life cycle to see how the world’s many languages can be kept alive. The Life Of Languages Since I started writing for a…

I know that China’s economy is booming and that it’s going to be the next economic giant, perhaps one day it will rule the world, so learning Chinese should be the option to choose if looking for an Asian language to learn. In fact, I would recommend that you do…

I recently read a fascinating article about the evolution of language (BBC Focus magazine), and was inspired to write today’s blog on the same subject. I’ve always been interested in language, the differences between them and, later in life, how we learn languages and indeed how the spoken word changes…

I think I often take for granted what I know about languages and translation, this is often brought home to me working here as many clients and potential clients are often (and I don’t want this to sound patronising in anyway) ‘clueless’ about the costs and time involved in order…

A sombre health warning has to be given first. The following advice is completely unsolicited, biased, quite possibly uncalled-for, and comes from a grumpy, balding, middle-aged and somewhat hungover principal owner of a UK translation company. If taken seriously, it might therefore eliminate any trace of illusion and, possibly, enthusiasm…

We have previously expressed thoughts on how to trust new translators. I would now like to attempt to answer a somewhat similar question: how can you trust a new interpreter?   In our industry we work mainly with freelance translators and interpreters. Whilst with translators you can test and "assess"…