International Women’s Day is on 8th March, a time to appreciate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. To celebrate, we would like to recognise the contributions of three outstanding female translators who have helped to bridge linguistic and cultural divides. Constance Garnett (1861-1946) Constance Garnett was an English translator who is best […]
Category: Languages and Culture
Wonderful Winter Word Translations
As the temperatures drop and the dark nights get longer, we all need a thing or two to bring a smile to our faces, and you can always rely on whimsical word translations to do just that. So, we’ve sought out four of our favourite winter words and shared their origins and most interesting translation […]
Festive Winter Traditions from Around the World
While many of the UK’s streets are lit up with Christmas lights and cupboards filled with festive treats, people elsewhere in the world have celebrated (and some continue to celebrate) a range of other festive winter traditions. This blog shines a twinkling light on some of the most fascinating ones. The Feast of Juul On […]
Discover Halloween traditions from around the world
If you’ve bought a pumpkin ready for carving into some spooky shapes or have some wickedly witchy costumes ready for a party this Halloween, have you ever wondered where these traditions originate from? In this blog, we explore Halloween traditions from around the world and seek to uncover the roots of this haunting celebration. What […]
Learnings from a language tree
When studying linguistics, you’ll often come across the use of trees and branches as metaphors for how languages have developed and what their links are. This idea was beautifully captured in a language tree infographic by Swedish illustrator Minna Sundberg and became highly regarded in the linguistics world. We explore what we can learn about […]
Invented languages: Their value in the story
What do Babm, Blissymbolics, Fremen and Vampirese have in common? Not sure? Perhaps you’ll have a clue if we add Klingon and Esperanto to the list. Yes, they are all examples of invented or constructed languages, languages that have been artificially created by humans rather than evolving naturally over time. When thinking about these […]
Endangered languages: What we can do to help
While a lot of focus currently is on the conservation of our planet, there’s another sort of conservation that also needs our attention: conservation of culture, or more specifically, our languages. There are approximately 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, but with most of the world speaking only one of 20 languages, 42% of our languages are […]
Why Spanish localisation is relevant for US companies
More than 500 million people worldwide speak Spanish. It is the official language in 21 countries and a significant minority language in four more territories, including the USA. These stats alone should make Spanish localisation a priority for any company looking to grow its reach. However, in this blog, we take a closer look at […]
6 Wonderfully Weird Easter Traditions from Around the World
If you’re in the UK, you may have seen or perhaps bought a batch of hot-cross buns to enjoy on Good Friday or have a few chocolate eggs stashed in your cupboard ready to delight your children on Easter Sunday. These Easter traditions, symbolic of the Christian faith, are pretty well-known to us. However, around […]
5 Valentine’s Day Traditions from Around the World
The 14th of February is more than just exchanging cards and gift flowers with your loved one. Around the globe, we can find a variety of different and meaningful traditions with a historical origin that people still celebrate today. Read on below to learn more about these incredible Valentine’s customs. Mr Jack Valentine, England Every […]