Sep 14, 2008 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Have you ever been greeted with a nice “sup!?”, or has a friend wished you “hf” when you were about to leave for an event? Did his choice of words leave you with a puzzled face? Welcome to the world of Internet language. Those are actually acronyms and abbreviations of real words or even whole sentences! Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director. Thanks for reading. “thx 4 reading” What is Internet and SMS (Text) language? Though chatting on the Internet and phone is very interactive and live, it is by no means as fast as oral communication. Because of this reason, some other ways were developed to increase the electronic communication speed. Internet slang became one of the ways to increase electronic communication speed, and it is also used for texting. This is quite handy, not only in terms of speed, but also in terms of efficiency. Internet slang tends to be shorter than actual orthography, leaving space in the message for more words. As texting has a character limit, this is a good way to cram more information into one message. As cell phones are gaining popularity, more texts are sent daily. Many people use acronyms because it is faster, more comfortable and easier to type short words. This abbreviated language is of course preferably used in informal settings, e.g. between friends and family members. Acronyms and Abbreviations In Use Nowadays, there are so many acronyms and abbreviations around, so it is impossible to list them all. Below, we will provide a few examples of acronyms and abbreviations and categorize them into 5 forms of shortened...
Aug 14, 2008 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Ever complained about the unpredictable spelling of English words? Or even French? Indeed, these mismatches between pronunciation and spelling have been categorized as major flaws of our National Languages by poor spellers, and spelling errors have been a major “needle in the eye” for linguists since the Renaissance period and even earlier on. Contributed by Annie Pei. Thank you for reading. The Challenge of Words For many of us, spelling is definitely a challenge. Looking back on our elementary school years, some of us relive the glorious marks on our spelling quizzes whereas others… well… let’s just say those quizzes really weren’t golden moments in their lives. Sometimes, the errors are humiliating, such as when the word love mutates in a very sad fashion to become “luv”. But just when those unfortunate few thought they had their native language all deciphered, along comes the challenge of learning a second language. Suddenly, “random” slashes on top of certain letters appear (French and Spanish, for example), dots appear on top of e’s and o’s, etc. Gradually, the longing for words to be spelt the exact way they’re pronounced dominates the thoughts of those poor language students who are unable to spell in their native languages let alone others. School and other sites providing language courses induce nightmarish scenarios and the non-linguistically talented pupil has no escape. Change is Coming But lo and behold! Throughout the years, many languages have sought to reform the ways certain words are spelt. In the year 2004, France acknowledged changes to the spelling of approximately 2,000 words in the French vocabulary (“levraut” has...
Jul 14, 2008 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Over the course of history, there have been many who have attempted to create new languages. J.R.R. Tolkien would be a prime example, creating a whole new dialect used by the Elves in his famous series, The Lord of the Rings. However, there is one language that stands out in particular, one that even has native speakers-Esperanto, a language created with the objective of bringing the world together. Read on for further information regarding this intriguing tongue that was once expected to bring world peace and facilitate negotiations! Contributed by Annie Pei. Thank you for reading. The Importance of Communication It is no surprise that since the beginning of time, mankind has been striving to achieve universal linguistic comprehension. Politicians depend on the absence of language barriers to negotiate, challenge, and propose ideas that are understandable amongst other municipal, provincial, and world leaders. Economically, one of the key reasons why trade has been able to cross nations, oceans, continents even, is due to the work of business partners speaking the same languages around the world, or at least using interpreters and translators to facilitate communication. Even socially, language communication is a main factor in the relationships we form with others and how we interact with friends and strangers in everyday life. But there are times when no one is able to relate to another, posing problems for everyone. Realizing this, in the year of 1887, one man formed a new language, a language we now recognize as Esperanto. What is Esperanto? In 1887, Doctor L. L. Zamenhof, a Polish man of Jewish descent, created a language...
May 14, 2008 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Spring finally came to Vancouver! With the arrival of the nice warm weather, my spirits are lifted with the breeze. I personally came from Japan and this is my second spring in Canada. In spring time, I always feel like trying something new. Have you ever felt like that? So last spring, I started doing yoga. Since then I have been practicing yoga regularly, and as a result, developed an interest in India. In this newsletter, I will talk about Indian languages and one of the popular Indian exercises – yoga. Contributed by Makiko Hirota, an aspiring translator of Japanese at LingoStar. Thank you for reading. Languages in India In India, more than a hundred languages are spoken. The languages of India primarily belong to two major linguistic families – the Indo-European and Dravidian families. The northern Indian languages from the Indo-European family such as Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Bengali and Oriya evolved from Old indo-Aryan such as Sanskrit, while Hindi, Urdu and the closely related languages were strongly influenced by Persian and Arabic. The south Indian (Dravidian) language has a history independent of Sanskrit. However, in later stages all the Dravidian languages were heavily influenced by Sanskrit. The major Dravidian languages are Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Indo-Canadians (Canadians whose origins trace back to the Indian sub-continent) In Canada, Indian community has been growing fast. There are close to 400,000 people whose mother tongue is Punjabi in Canada. With the latest census showing a 35% increase in Punjabi speakers since 2001, Punjabi has become the 4th most spoken language after English, French and Chinese...
Mar 14, 2008 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, The other day an interesting article caught my attention. The focus was on the use of English at the upcoming Olympic events in Beijing. In this issue of our Newsletter we will look into “Chinglish” signs that are being scrapped from buildings in Beijing. And, in the aftermath of the Tibetan events, we will give you some background information on the Tibetan language, its origins and future. Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director and the LingoStar Team. Thank you for reading. Chinglish and the Beijing Olympics The summer Olympic Games in Beijing are approaching and those who are visiting the Chinese capital for this huge event are advised to learn some Chinese. Otherwise you might end up ordering “steamed crap” from a restaurant menu which has exclusively been translated for YOU! There are numerous faulty translations displayed on signs, shop names and restaurant menus all around the city. Some might make you laugh but most of them will make you want to learn some Chinese. Here are some examples of “Chinglish” translations of signs that tell you what to do and what not to do: – Please keep your personal information out of other people when shopping in our store. – Your careful step keeps tiny grass invariably green. – Please don’t cross any railings lest suddenness happens! – There are dangerous animals please don’t near. – No Photoing. No Smiking! Tibetan versus Chinese in Tibet Chinglish signs are being removed from important locations in Beijing but Chinese signs are waiting to be put up in Tibetan Lhasa. Tibetan protests earlier this month have to do with...
Feb 14, 2008 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, I’m sure you have all heard about Chinese New Year, but perhaps you did not know that the Koreans celebrate KOREAN NEW YEAR! In this Newsletter we will introduce you to the customs of a Korean New Year. We give our thanks to our Korean colleague Jy Hye Kim for the contribution to this Newsletter. Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director. Thanks for reading. Koreans do celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1st, but the lunar New Year is in fact more important and more popular in Korea. This Korean New Year (Seol-nal) is the first day of the Korean lunar Calendar (generally between January 12 and February 19), and the celebrations last for three days. Koreans celebrate lunar New Year on the second of the three days; on the first day the women need to prepare everything, especially food, for the following day. All family members get together and celebrate the arrival of the New Year. Religious Service For Their Ancestors So, HOW DO KOREANS CELEBRATE THE LUNAR NEW YEAR? This depends on the family’s religion and tradition, but most families perform a religious service for their ancestors in the morning. This entails the women preparing about 44 different kinds of food over the course of more than two days. However, you cannot put just anything on the table. Food that is not allowed on the table during the religious service: – Any spicy food – Soups (interestingly, only the solid ingredients of soups are served, not the liquid) – Fish with scales that have the word ‘chi’ in their name (e.g., gal-chi, kkong-chi, sam-chi) –...
