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,...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
As the coronavirus continues to make international headlines, interpreters may be weighing their own personal risks against their need – or ability – to work. Interpreters who operate as independent contractors often work in multiple settings across a variety of...
What animals make the following sounds: “oink-oink” “knor-knor” “groin-groin” “boo-boo” and “nöff-nöff”? Trick question – all these sounds are made by a pig, albeit in English, Dutch, French, Japanese, and Swedish, respectively. If you listen to a pig in Sweden...
Hospital interpreters are some of the most careful people I know when it comes to infection prevention. In the first hospital where I worked, my colleagues regularly wiped down their desks with disinfecting wipes at the end of the day....
As more non-English speakers enter the United States, the demand for interpreters — who convert oral conversations from one language to another — is growing fast. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of interpreter jobs in...
Many large internet platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, are beginning to rely on artificial intelligence to help stop the spread of hate speech online. The hope is that AI programs using complex natural language processing technology will eventually be...
Even if you’re not bilingual, you likely have a much more robust foreign-language vocabulary than you think. That’s because many words in other languages – especially the Germanic and Romance languages – have twins in English. Sometimes they’re fraternal, and...
It’s an age-old question, and one that continues to be widely debated in the scientific community: can animals talk? And if so, might we someday be able to converse with some of our furry, scaly, or otherwise slimy counterparts? Over...
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