Beyond Words - Language Blog
Recent Blog Posts
Why are fewer students learning a second language in England?
September 17, 2019
According to British Council’s Language Trends 2018 report, fewer primary and secondary school students in England are learning second languages. One of the clearest reflections of the decline is the statistics from the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). GCSE is a series of exams taken by U.K. students at […]
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5 Fascinating Language Facts: Wolof
September 10, 2019
There are more than 350 languages spoken in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That may seem like a lot – but compared to the number of languages spoken world-wide, it’s only a small fraction. The world is home to over 7,000 languages, but most people are […]
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Are Translators and Interpreters Part of the “Gig Economy?”
September 5, 2019
On August 12th, the California State Legislature held a committee hearing on a controversial bill known as “AB5.” The bill is an expansion of the groundbreaking California Supreme Court decision made last year, in which the courier service Dynamex was ruled to have misclassified its workers as independent contractors rather […]
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Fighting an illness, losing a battle: Do war metaphors impact patient experiences?
September 3, 2019
In our ongoing series discussing the impact of metaphors, we examined how language of war is used for debates and arguments. The use of war metaphors in the English language extends beyond arguments. Metaphors help us link abstract concepts and experiences with more concrete ones. But metaphors can also inform […]
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Dancing over dueling: How English metaphors make arguments a matter of war
August 27, 2019
In our last post on metaphors, we discovered that much of our daily language contains metaphors we’re unaware of – like spending time or falling into a coma. In this post, we are going to explore war metaphors as applied to debates and arguments. Metaphors can deeply shape our thinking, […]
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5 Fascinating Facts about the Sinhala Language
August 23, 2019
Sinhalese, also known as Sinhala, is the native language of the Sinhala people. Over 16 million Sinhala people live in Sri Lanka, making them the island’s largest ethnic group. Sinhala people can trace their origins from Indians who traveled to Sri Lanka around 540 BC. Most Sinhalese speakers live in […]
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Eight travel destinations where English alone won’t cut it
August 16, 2019
English speakers have it relatively easy when it comes to traveling abroad – it’s the most popular second language in the world, commonly studied in 55 countries. And in most major international cities, even in the countries on this list, you will have an easier time finding English speakers than […]
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Ten Interesting Animal Etymologies
August 12, 2019
The animal kingdom brings us a wealth of fascinating, unusual, and enlightening etymologies from around the world. In this article, we explore ten of them. Camel This beast of burden traces its linguistic heritage from the Latin camelus and Greek kamelos. The word has resonances with the Arabic jamala, which […]
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Why being bilingual isn’t enough to be a translator or interpreter
July 30, 2019
Many people are bilingual. They might have grown up in another country, had relatives who spoke another language, or they have studied for years to become an expert. They might even sound like a native in either language. However, having knowledge of another language isn’t the only skill required to […]
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4 Ways That People Around the World Celebrate Summer
July 25, 2019
Cultures around the globe have rejoiced in the bounty of summer since ancient times. Although many of these celebrations have changed shape in our contemporary era, the original sense of appreciation for nature’s offerings continues. Festive days and action-packed evenings are the hallmark of these exciting international celebrations below: Latvia […]
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