Does the language we speak shape the way we think?
In 1940, a chemical engineer working for an insurance company and moonlighting as an anthropology lecturer at Yale University published a paper that became wildly, internationally popular. Benjamin Lee Whorf convinced a generation that the language we learn as our mother tongue has an enormous effect on the way we perceive the world, and even […]
An International Survey of Spooks: From Baba Yaga to El Hombre del Saco
Not every country celebrates Halloween at the same time or in the same way as the USA. Most countries do, however, have a rich tradition of monster lore that reveals cultural norms, behavioral expectations, and methods for reducing wayward children into quivering heaps of terror. In the following selection, loosely categorized, you can see human […]
Self-Care Practices Around the World
Long before the term “self-care” was even a glint in the eye of a social media influencer, people around the world were using the resources available to them to follow simple wellness practices. These days, treating yourself to everything from manicures to Amethyst Infrared BioMats is marketed as self-care. Yet self-care practices don’t have to […]
Why Are So Few Translated Books Published in America?
Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Pippi Longstocking: although you may not have realized at the time, some of the first stories you remember reading or hearing were translations. In the US, until relatively recently, it was rare for a translator’s name to even be noted on a book’s cover (with […]
Six Lessons from a Polyglot to Help You Live Your Best Life in 2019
A language is the only thing worth knowing badly. Unlike a person who can play a few notes on the violin or your friend who took that one year of pre-med, the amateur language speaker gains something from trying rather than remaining silent. “Well-intentioned sentences full of mistakes can still build bridges between people.” This […]
Seven Foreign Language Horror Films to Watch for Halloween
Whether October has you curling up with Hocus Pocus and the Addams Family, or a level up in terror is more to your taste, it’s likely that you’ve watched your favorite scary movies over and over again. As a visually-focused genre reliant on universal tropes with often minimal dialogue, horror movies are the perfect medium […]
Language as Tool of Political Power: The Threat of Cantonese Extinction
China is a multiethnic country with a complex linguistic history. Aside from the dominant Han Chinese group, there are 55 ethnic minority groups living in China. These minorities have their own languages (an estimated 200 dialects) and writing systems. Referring to the languages spoken in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the umbrella term […]
Translating Harry Potter – Challenges in Translating Fantasy Literature
Lithuanian Haris Poteris and his Dutch best friends Hermelien Griffel and Ron Wemel attend a French school for magic called Poudlard (“bacon lice”), get in trouble with the Dutch Severus Sneep, and receive medical attention from an Italian Madama Poppy Chips. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it? A rose by any other name […]
Socio-Cultural Interactions – Small Talk in the U.S.A., Russia, and Beyond
A Russian and an American step into an elevator – let’s say the two know each other vaguely as colleagues at work. If this elevator happens to be in America, what ensues is likely a very uncomfortable (Russian) and confused (American) exchange, triggered by an innocuous American “How are you?” If the Russian is not […]