Hot post by Annie PaganoChances are you’ve used your smartphone or a virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa to ask a question with the hopes of getting a quick, simple answer. Have you adapted your business strategy to account for being visible to queries from these sources?
Want to learn Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic? Most of us know that learning an Earth language these days can only be a click or a download away.
Between apps, websites, school programs, etc. there are numerous resources and ways to learn an Earth language.
But:
What do you do if you find yourself wanting to learn a language from another land? Perhaps Dothraki from Game of Thrones, Klingon from Star Trek, Sindarin from Lord of the Rings or Na´vi from Avatar?
Welcome to our Translator Spotlight series! We look forward to sharing with you the real people behind the computer screen, the translators who put in knowledge, expertise and care into making every translation spot on. Each month we will feature a Q & A with one translator who has stood out for going above and beyond.
Hi friends! Today I have a very special Terpii adventure to share with you. I had to hop across many lands, worlds, and maybe even a digital dimension or two to get here but it was all worth it! I knew I had to get here this month in time for all the action…can you guess where I am?!
Welcome to our Translator Spotlight series! We look forward to sharing with you the real people behind the computer screen, the translators who put in knowledge, expertise and care into making every translation spot on. Each month we will feature a Q & A with one translator who has stood out for going above and beyond.
This month we are elated to present our conversation with Linda Hill, Chinese Mandarin interpreter and translator.
I was born and raised in Northern China. We lived in the northeast part of the country (Huhhot, Inner Mongolia). Even though there is a heavy accent in the local dialect we spoke, it is still very similar to Mandarin. My ethnicity is Han, the biggest ethnic group in China that also speaks Mandarin.
Many jobs require more qualifications and work experience than most beginning translators can show. However, there are always companies out there willing to take a chance on fresh talent. Check out some of these places to find translator jobs.
Hi friends! Quick Question:
How many Native American languages do you think are spoken in the United States right now?
If you guessed 2, 10 or even 50 you’d be way off!
Native American languages in the US have succumbed to linguicide over time. According to the World Atlas, approximately 300 languages were spoken in the US before colonialism. When the Europeans arrived, they forced Native Americans out of their land. The government tried to eliminate the Native American culture, including the languages, by forcing English. As a result of enforcing English in schools and in society in general, many languages were lost.
Language means so much more than communication between people – it represents culture, history, tradition and identity. According to UNESCO, there are more than 6000 languages in the world today. A startling fact is that about 97% of the world speaks just 4% of these languages, including languages such as English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Indonesian and Arabic. Only 3% of the population speaks the remaining 96% of the languages, many of which are indigenous languages.
Around 600 languages have already disappeared in the last century, and experts estimate that others will continue to disappear at a rate of one language every two weeks. If this trend continues, up to 90% of the world’s languages are likely to disappear before the end of the century. Why is this happening and what can we do about it?
