International

Thumbnail image for Texting in Endangered Languages

Texting in Endangered Languages

by Richard Kazandjian January 18, 2012 Education

If you’re trying to preserve an endangered language, technology can be both your best friend and your worst enemy. More and more frequently, however, technology has become an ally in the quest to keep indigenous languages alive. Apps and computer programs have been developed to bring these previously left-behind languages into the digital age. That [...]

1 comment Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Who is Santa Claus?

Who is Santa Claus?

by Richard Kazandjian December 23, 2011 Entertainment

Santa Claus is a familiar figure to children and adults across the world; a “jolly old elf” who rides through the night sky on a sleigh, bringing presents to all the good boys and girls. But who is Santa Claus, really? Where the does the legend come from? The English name “Santa Claus” comes from [...]

1 comment Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Duolingo

Duolingo

by Richard Kazandjian December 15, 2011 International

What language does the Internet speak? All languages, of course, but English much more so than others. Per Wikipedia, anywhere from 65 to 85 percent of the content on the World Wide Web today is written in English. That’s great for all of us English speakers, but what about the huge chunk of the world [...]

1 comment Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Another Week, Another Tech Translation Fail

Another Week, Another Tech Translation Fail

by Richard Kazandjian October 28, 2011 Entertainment

Last week, Apple was roundly mocked for using the name “Siri” for its new voice-controlled personal assistant.  Apparently, they didn’t bother to see if the name would have any negative connotations in other languages. In fact, it sounds very much like “buttocks” in Japanese and is a particuarly crude way of referring to one’s penis [...]

1 comment Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for A Second Language May Delay Alzheimer’s

A Second Language May Delay Alzheimer’s

by Richard Kazandjian October 27, 2011 International

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most heart-breaking diseases of the elderly, and one of the  most poorly understood.  The causes are unclear; while scientists believe that genetics are part of the picture, they also believe that environmental factors have a role to play in how and when a person develops the disease. Also unclear [...]

1 comment Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Languages Sound Faster Than Others‎

Languages Sound Faster Than Others‎

by Richard Kazandjian September 12, 2011 International

Have you ever wondered why some languages sound faster than others? Researchers at the Universite de Lyon may have stumbled on the answer. They analysed several different languages to determine how much information each one was able to stuff into a single syllable. Then, they had speakers of several different languages read the same texts [...]

0 comments Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Brain of a Bilingual Baby‎

Brain of a Bilingual Baby‎

by Richard Kazandjian September 8, 2011 Education

New parents are bombarded by well-meaning advice about how their parenting techniques could affect their child’s developing brain. A lot of this advice is exaggerated, like the potential benefits of showing your tots “Baby Einstein” videos. However, there’s a scientific consensus that infancy and early childhood is the best time to become bilingual, and that [...]

0 comments Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Translation Higher Priority‎

Translation Higher Priority‎

by Richard Kazandjian August 23, 2011 Customers

You’re familiar with the phrase “The customer is always right,” right? Unfortunately, when it comes to translation, new research from TransPerfect shows that businesses aren’t taking that advice to heart. The survey examined attitudes towards translation among consumers and executives from across the globe. Clear, quality translation was a priority among the respondents who completed [...]

0 comments Read the full article →