This month we’re honoring Maryem Rah as Interpreter of the month. Maryem is a Qualified Medical and Legal Interpreter at Affordable Language Services, and also takes on Educational and Social interpreting roles. She’s always willing to juggle her schedule to accommodate a heavy load of interpretation jobs. We feel we’re truly sending one of our […]
It sounds nearly impossible, right? How could one language be implemented across cultural divides to encompass each culture’s unique linguistic needs? Well, DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is giving it a go. But in this instance, they’re not trying to push a new language on anyone other than robots and machinery. They are […]
It may sound like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, but that’s exactly what happened on the day after Thanksgiving 2009. The wife of one of our interpreters went into labor with their first child. At the time, she was just learning to speak English, and her mother did not speak any English at […]
Going into a medical setting can be a difficult job for an interpreter. There are added legal restrictions that must be kept in mind to protect the patient’s privacy, high tensions surrounding diagnoses, and the ever-watchful eyes of friends and family. Sometimes, the patient may not “get it” the first time, so as an interpreter […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]