Author Archives: ALTA Language Services
Recent Blog Posts
Top U.S. Translation Schools: Online Programs
June 10, 2019
Looking to start your career as a translator or interpreter, but can’t seem to find a good program in your area? There are a number of certificate and master’s programs offered entirely online, allowing students to set their own pace of study regardless of their physical location. The list we’ve […]
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What does it mean to be “Fluent” in a language?
June 7, 2019
Many people dream of becoming fluent in a foreign language. Whether you want to land a new job, travel abroad, or understand what your new in-laws are saying, becoming fluent in a foreign language has its benefits. What are the steps? Whatever your reasons for wanting to become fluent, you […]
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What is the Difference Between a Translator and an Interpreter?
May 31, 2019
In our increasingly global society, it is often necessary to communicate to an international audience, whether it’s communication from a multinational corporation, an event that is being broadcast around the world, or an author who wants to translate his or her work of fiction. In order to speak to people […]
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The Rise of Invented Languages, From Klingon to Dothraki
May 22, 2019
Oel naati kam? That’s ‘I see you’ – a typical greeting in Na’vi, the Avatar language. Yes, I’m talking about the big blue people, though if you’re a science fiction fan, it probably doesn’t surprise you to know that an entire constructed language, complete with complex grammar and syntax, corresponds […]
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The Importance of Cultural Competency
May 21, 2019
My German friend, Klaus, did an exchange program in Mexico during his third year of undergrad. After a couple of weeks in the bustling metropolis of Mexico City, he had made a few friends. One night, over some beers in his new friend Juan’s apartment, he was invited to a […]
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A Cup o’ Joe and a Heart Attack on a Rack, Please – The Delicious History of American Diner Lingo
May 11, 2019
Along with Uncle Sam, Civil War daguerreotypes, and hot apple pies on Thanksgiving, diners are one of those nostalgia-inducing cultural artifacts that somehow get under the skin of millennials and baby boomers alike. Diners have long been a quintessential element of Americana, but along with bottomless coffee and the time-honored […]
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Cinco de Mayo: A Minor Mexican Holiday Turned Major American Drinking Day
May 2, 2019
In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is a day synonymous with tequila, recurring ethnic and culturally charged controversies, and more tequila. Long regarded by Americans as the boozy day in which both we and Mexico celebrate the independence of our neighbor to the South, many might be surprised to […]
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Esperanto – The Language of International Peace
April 26, 2019
Bonan matenon, kiel vi fartas? That’s Esperanto for ‘good morning, how are you?’ If you’re trying to remember what country Esperanto is spoken in, don’t flex those brain muscles too hard. Because while around two million people from more than one hundred and twenty countries speak Esperanto, you’ll be hard-pressed […]
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Could Texting Be Making Us Linguistically Smarter?
April 17, 2019
Communication via complex language is perhaps the single most defining characteristic of humankind. But if the birth of spoken language was charted as hour zero on a twenty-four-hour clock, and the moment that you’re reading this article represents twenty-four-hundred-hours, written language would have only appeared about fifty-three minutes ago, at […]
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Why Do We Change the Way We Speak Depending on Whom We’re Speaking to?
April 9, 2019
In a recent BBC article, subtle changes in Meghan Markle’s accent following her marriage to Prince Harry were brought into question. The Duchess of Sussex hails from California, but linguistics experts have noted that, recently, she has begun slipping in and out of more British inflections, pronunciations, and expressions. Marisa […]
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