Does Language Shape Our Thought?
The idea that different languages may bestow different cognitive abilities has existed for hundreds of years, but only recently have cognitive researchers gradually uncovered evidence that the language we speak may have an impact on the way we think and process events that take place in the world around us. According to scientists, our understanding […]
Spanglish Spoken Here
Spanglish, the love child born of the relationship between Spanish and English, features a rather inventive mix of the two languages. English words frequently get a “makeover” before being adopted by Spanglish users, with spelling often changed to loosely fit the rules of Spanish. Check out these examples of Spanglish at its finest. Breakfast might […]
English Words that Take on Alter Egos in Spanish
As a non-native speaker of Spanish, it’s a given that certain words will occasionally throw me for a loop during the course of a conversation. What I don’t generally expect is that those words will be from my own language! A number of words such as chequear (to check) and frizar (to freeze) have passed […]
Lunfardo: The Meaning of ‘Curda’
Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a defining […]
Teaching Spanish to U.S. Students through Computers
As the U.S. Hispanic population continues to grow in size and influence, knowledge of Spanish is quickly becoming a more crucial skill for Americans. To that end, an interactive program is being launched at select schools to test out a new model of Spanish language instruction. With the aid of specialized software, students are able […]
Trends in the Global Translation Market
Companies and multinational corporations operating in the global market require translation services for many aspects of their business. Marketing materials, websites, help forums, compliance documentation, technical handbooks, and human resource manuals all require language support. To meet demand, departments routinely contract with various translation service providers from around the world; however, in light of budget […]
Five Term-Search Resources for Translators
Sometimes even seasoned, professional translators come up short in the hunt for a tricky term. Here are five resources available on the Internet where you can search for translations of terms or discuss terminology with fellow translators. Remember: Seek, and ye shall find. ProZ.com ProZ.com offers a searchable database of personal glossaries and an […]
The Meaning of ‘Morfar’
Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a […]
STATS: English, Spanish and Portuguese on the Internet
English, Spanish and Portuguese comprise three of the top five languages on the Web. Let’s take a look at some statistics reflecting these languages’ influence on the Internet. English Number of native English-speaking users on the Web: 565.0 million (as of May 31, 2011) % of English-speaking Internet users with respect to total population of […]
Found in translation: 2011 a year of word acceptance for slang, social media
Even in the realm of words, 2011 has been a revolutionary year. Indeed, some words that originated in the spontaneous and unorthodox social media have been finally accepted by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which is by far the most formal dictionary of the English language. So, slangy words like LOL and OMG are now […]
