Search
Close this search box.

5 Fascinating Facts about the Icelandic Language

Iceland is a small island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean that is home to about 340,000 people. The Icelandic people trace their origins to Northern Germanic ethnic groups. Only about 350,000 people speak Icelandic worldwide. Most native speakers live in Iceland, but others live in Denmark, the United States, and Canada. Ready to learn […]

The Danger of False Cognates in Healthcare

Learning a language is full of excitement, frustration and many times, embarrassment. This was perfectly illustrated to me one day when a coworker of mine, Clara, who was in the process of learning Spanish, was doing her best to make small talk with a Spanish-speaking family. Frustrated by her mispronunciations she said “estoy embarazada!” Estoy […]

Meet the Schwa, the Best Friend You Never Knew You Had

English speakers use the schwa all the time. It’s our most popular vowel sound, and yet we don’t have any written symbol that corresponds to it. That’s because English spelling – a topic I love to rant and rave about – is a very poor guide for pronunciation. English is one of the least phonetic […]

How Much Money Do Translators Make?

If you are fluent in more than one language, your job prospects as a translator — converting written text from one language to another — are growing at a rapid clip in the U.S. market. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of translator jobs in 2018 topped out at more than […]

Is learning math harder in English?

In recent years, research has shown that languages like Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Turkish, and Japanese use more simple number terminology and express math concepts like fractions more clearly than English. This makes it easier for speakers of these languages to grasp basic concepts of arithmetic at an earlier age. English has more than two dozen […]

What Makes a Vowel a Vowel?

Can you name the English vowels? If you rolled your eyes and answered A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y, you’re on the right track, but you’re still missing nine out of fourteen correct answers, including epsilon, open o, ash, and the schwa. But let me back up for a minute. Before we can […]

All for Love: How Pediatric Medical Interpreting Changed My Mind

When I tell people that I work in a children’s hospital, their first reaction is often, “Wow, that must be very difficult!” When I reflect and ask them in what way, typically they will mention two things: 1) medical terminology, and 2) how hard it would be to work around sick children. For a long […]

Americans have a bias against Southern Accents – even if they have one

Biases, opinions, and judgments surround accents. Think about the stereotypes associated with a Southern American accent. Sure, some people affiliate the twang with Southern hospitality and politeness. But according to studies, people with Southern accents are consistently rated as sounding less intelligent by their Northern accented peers, even among children. Children are not born with […]

5 Fascinating Language Facts: Balochi

The Baloch people are an ethnic group that live in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. Historians believe this group originated from the southeast Caspian region. Most Baloch people speak Balochi, which is also referred to as Baluchi. This is one of the oldest Iranian languages still spoken today. Ready to learn more about the Balochi language? […]

Does language change how you perceive colors?

If you look at a color spectrum, you will find the number of colors is infinite. The spectrum has no end or beginning, and there is no limit to the number of gradations that exist. When an English speaker looks at that spectrum, however, they tend to identify 11 broad color categories: black, white, yellow, […]

Preparing for your test?

View our test prep materials or FAQ’s for common questions about taking a test.