Dyslexia is a learning disability derived from a neurological developmental disorder. Persons with dyslexia do not necessarily manifest any physical, psychological nor sociocultural disorders. They experience difficulty reading as a consequence of an impairment related to visualizing words. Persons with dyslexia usually invert the words in whole or in part, jumble the letters, write the […]
In an interesting article published in Tufts Magazine, author Colin Woodward caught people’s attention when he described what he sees as new nations within the United States of America. He expressed that “There’s never been an America, but rather several Americas—each a distinct nation.”1
As a translator, I am constantly surprised by the number of projects that are translated into U.S. Spanish. I know there are many variants or “flavors” of the Spanish language (Spain, Latin America…) but I find it peculiar that a historically English-speaking country such as the U.S. could have its own Spanish variant. In an […]
In my previous post “Understanding English-Language Idioms,” I discussed the peculiarity of idioms. Idioms are expressions used in informal language that don’t actually mean what their literal meaning would suggest, which is often rather strange. We use idioms every day without putting much thought into their literal meaning or their origin. However, idioms can also […]
Las aventuras de Hijitus (The Adventures of Hijitus) was an animated series created by the great Spanish cartoonist Manuel García Ferré, first broadcasted in 1967. Ever since, it has formed part of the cultural heritage of Argentina, not only for its tender and humorous cartoon episodes, but also because it perfectly reflects Argentine idiosyncrasies, primarily […]
Both of them are Romance languages, but Catalan—contrary to popular belief—is not a dialect of Spanish, but rather an entirely different language. In fact, looks nothing like the Spanish that today’s Spanish-speakers use. If we were to compare it with another language, it would appear more similar to Portuguese or French. The Catalan language comes […]
The Spanish language is very rich in aphorisms, idioms, axioms and other sayings. To speak Spanish fluently, one must understand these phrases that are so ingrained in out literary history and the daily lives of those in Spanish speaking countries. This is why, for translators it is of extreme importance (especially for non-native speakers) to […]
Can language affect the way we experience emotions? More than ever, researchers are finding that language not only affects the way we communicate, but also the way that we think (see my previous post) and as has recently been discovered, the way that we experience emotions. This may come as no surprise to those who […]
It has been said that 95% of the world’s languages will become extinct within the next 100 years and that there is also very little documentation available for them. The Rosetta Project relies on the collaboration of language specialists and native speakers around the world in order to create a publicly accessible digital library containing […]