Beyond Words - Language Blog
Recent Blog Posts
Did a Bad Translation Influence the Bombing of Hiroshima?
December 10, 2015
Inaccurate and culturally uninformed translations have been known to cause problems, but here is a case from the annals of history that, if true, shows the consequences can be catastrophic. A recent article by historian Sam Yamashita of Pomona College suggests that a bad translation by the Japanese War Ministry […]
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7 Questions to a Linguist: Framing the Issue with Dr. Julie Sweetland
December 9, 2015
In this installment of 7 Questions to a Linguist, the focus is on an organization that crafts metaphors for more effectively communicating social issues and scientific topics. The FrameWorks Institute, a recipient of this year’s MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions (the “organizational genius grant” awarded by the John […]
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7 Questions to a Linguist: Vyvyan Evans Shares the Bloody Secret Life of Theories
November 18, 2015
In the latest installment of 7 Questions to a Linguist, ALTA Language Services had the pleasure of catching up with Vyvyan Evans. Vyv Evans, PhD, is a professor of Linguistics at Bangor University, United Kingdom. The author of more than a dozen scholarly and popular books on language, meaning, and […]
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World Language Competency Credits Empower High Schoolers to Honor Their Cultural Heritage
November 12, 2015
More than 40 million people in the U.S. speak a language other than English in the home. This data, courtesy of the 2011 American Community Survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, should indicate a growing comfort and acceptance among young bilingual Americans and their peers. The reality, however, is […]
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7 Questions to a Linguist: Arika Okrent Follows Her Curiosity
October 28, 2015
Today’s installment of 7 Questions to a Linguist features a conversation with the popular, prolific, and Klingon-certified writer Arika Okrent, PhD. Not only is Okrent a frequent contributor to Slate, The Week, and Mental Floss, where she takes an entertaining approach to exploring and explaining linguistic phenomena, she’s also this […]
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From Head to Toe, Speaking Another Language is Good for You
October 22, 2015
One day, when I was 8 years old and still spoke with a thick Russian accent, my mother and I sat in the lobby of a dentist’s office. While we waited our turn to have modern dentistry reverse the effects of Soviet toothpaste (no fluoride!), I picked up a magazine […]
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7 Questions to a Linguist: John McWhorter Scales the “Mt. Everest” of Russian
October 9, 2015
In today’s 7 Questions to a Linguist, we hear from one of the language field’s most intriguing cultural commentators: author, linguist, and Columbia professor Dr. John McWhorter. A staple of media discussions surrounding the changing face of race relations, McWhorter has appeared on CNN Tonight, Meet the Press, The O’Reilly […]
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7 Questions to a Linguist: Steven Pinker Doesn’t Speak Motherese
September 22, 2015
In the latest entry of 7 Questions to a Linguist, ALTA Language Services caught up with psycholinguistics wunderkind Dr. Steven Pinker. The Harvard psychology professor, frequent TED speaker, and award-winning author staked his claim in contemporary discourse thanks to his user-friendly application of cognitive linguistics to society’s big questions. As […]
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7 Questions to a Linguist: David Crystal, OBE, FBA
September 4, 2015
In the second installment of 7 Questions to a Linguist, ALTA Language Services had the pleasure of catching up with language scholar, writer, lecturer, and broadcaster David Crystal. “Those linguistic experiences have long disappeared from my memory now, though I like to think that they might still be neurally lurking […]
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7 Questions to a Linguist: Dr. Farooq Kperogi on “Glocal” English
August 17, 2015
Welcome to the inaugural interview of our 7 Questions to a Linguist series! Over the next few months, we’ll be exploring some of the most fascinating, eye-opening, and unexpected insights from leading language professionals around the world. To kick things off, ALTA Language Services spoke with professor, journalist, newspaper columnist, […]
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