Offensive Interpretation

There’s a lot more to finding a good interpreter than hiring someone who says they can speak the language. VIDEO All joking aside, it’s easy enough to offend someone when you’re trying to navigate the line between two languages– and cultures. That’s why it’s so important to have a interpreter who doesn’t just speak the […]


Pronunciation Poem

If you can correctly pronounce every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud. Try them yourself. Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation. […]


Shaping the English Language

The effect that one language has on another is often profound, especially when populations that speak both languages regularly interact and exchange ideas. That was how Welsh came to shape English so drastically, according to a recent article published by BBC News. English and Welsh-speakers have mingled for 1,500 years, so it’s natural they would […]


Construction Update

Hear ye, hear ye, it’s time for another update on the renovations at ALS Headquarters! We’ve finished downstairs to use as our language school, for interpreter orientation and the occasional presentation. Take a look! This is a look to the front of the classroom… … and here’s what it looks like looking back at the […]


Linguistic Diversity in Spanish Senate

Even for lifelong English speakers, regional dialects in the United States can be a stumbling block for understanding. Regions quickly develop their own cultural identities, which leads to idiosyncrasies in pronunciation and slang. However, the relative youth of the United States has kept mutations of the language relatively low. The differences in linguistic fragmentation between […]


Love Around the World

People across the world say it in different ways, but it comes down to the same thing– I love you!   Tell your honey you how you feel, regardless of where they are or what their native tongue is. How to say “I love you” in: Afrikaans- Ek het jou lief Albanian- Te dua Arabic […]


Business Jargon

You could say that every occupation has its own language– its own shorthand, or jargon. The business world is no exception. But now, Forbes is stepping in, calling for “a stop to the nonsense.” He’s hoping they’re not beating around the bush. Courtesy: thinkpanama Jargon-flourishing business people create a mysterious veil around themselves, hiding behind the […]


Tools for Travelers

It’s the heart of the winter, and around this time of year those of us in the Northern Hemisphere often entertain the idea of skipping town for a few days or weeks in favor of a warmer locale. If you’re one of the lucky ones who gets to take a break from life and travel […]


A Language Everyone Speaks

We talk a lot about… well, talking. But there’s one language everyone speaks, that you can’t slip into or out of. Body language. What’s this say to you? Here are some simple tips from RealSimple.com on how to read the faces around you. Blinking– The normal blink rate is six to eight times a minute, […]


Language and Its Influence on Our Lives

For a long time, the idea that language might shape thought was considered at best untestable and more often simply wrong. Research in my labs at Stanford University and at MIT has helped reopen this question. We have collected data around the world: from China, Greece, Chile, Indonesia, Russia, and Aboriginal Australia. What we have […]