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Ways to Pass the Time for the Linguistically-Inclined: Crossword Puzzles

Do you know your classical architecture? Can you glean "DNA" from the clue "Letters from your parents?" Does your knowledge flow seamlessly from ancient Greek philosophers to today's sitcom stars? If so, you may well be fluent in "crosswordese," a lexicon seldom used in day-to-day speech but one that's naturally and necessarily acquired by crossword […]

Lessons from a Graduate Student in Translation: Simultaneous Interpretation

At the highest rung of the translation and interpretation ladder lies simultaneous interpretation—the kind practiced at a host of international organizations like the United Nations and European Union, as well as at most major global conferences. Simultaneous interpretation happens in real time, with interpreters stationed in booths and equipped with headsets and microphones to interpret […]

Learning English across the Globe: Results of the 2011 English Proficiency Index

The British company Education First has compiled a worldwide English Proficiency Index (EPI) in conjunction with the Cambridge University Research Centre of English and Applied Linguistics. The index collected data from 2.3 million adults who took free online English tests over a period of 3 years. According to Education First, this group of test takers […]

New Study of Phonemes Sheds Light on the Roots and Origins of Language

For centuries, linguists have examined a host of components within language to attempt to trace its roots and place its origins. While language is nearly as old as the people who speak it—or at least began to emerge some 50,000 years ago when human beings dispersed from Africa and spread throughout the globe— few linguistic […]

Lessons from a Graduate Student in Translation: Trials and Tribulations

It is an unfortunate fact of the profession that translators and interpreters seldom receive the respect they deserve. Beginning interpreters and students are expressly forewarned to never kowtow to employers and to never — never — fetch a cup of coffee or a stack of documents. The implication in this warning is that professional interpreters […]

Lessons from a Graduate Student in Translation: Market Overview

As the semester draws to a close, it may be beneficial to look at one of the most relevant elements of any career — and one that has been on every one of my classmates’ minds for some time: salary. While translators and interpreters are no starving artists, all but the most prominent ones cannot […]

Lessons from a Graduate Student in Translation: Consecutive Interpretation

An interpreter typically works in one of the two primary modes of interpretation — simultaneous and consecutive. Simultaneous interpretation involves an interpreter listening to a speech and reproducing it in the target language in real time as the target audience follows along with the aid of headphones. This type of interpretation takes place during large […]

Lessons from a Graduate Student in Translation: Tasks of the Translator

So far during classes, every day has proven more challenging and eye-opening than the last. While I’ve found the teaching of interpretation to be more practice-based, translation studies have involved more than their fair share of theory. People have been translating texts for as long as they’ve been speaking and writing in different languages, but […]

Lessons from a Graduate Student in Translation: Language and the Military

Monterey, California, is a strange little town, comprised of a diverse, if often incompatible, array of people. In Monterey, you’re either a student, a tourist, a retiree, a soldier, or a sea lion. The city’s radius is only a few miles, but that’s enough to house several universities and two extensive military training facilities — […]

Latino Children and the American Education System

For many immigrants with school-age children, parent-teacher conferences are a family affair. The student arrives with a slew of relatives in tow, all with varying degrees of English proficiency, and all working in tandem to fill out paperwork and make sure that the child knows where to catch the bus and how much to pay […]

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