Tamil Language And Culture The Tamil language For those who haven’t heard of this language before, it is a language spoken primarily in India, and it is also the official language of many countries, such as Sri Lanka and Singapore. In 2004, the Tamil language was declared a classical language of India. Tamil is seen as a “divine” language by its speakers. Ancient writings say that the development of the Tamil language was in no way influenced by people. Since then, the writing system and spoken Tamil have changed significantly over time. Tamil food In ancient times, people used to serve drinks in silver tumblers, making their guests feel honored since they were being offered drinks in cups made of precious metal. In fact, the silver metal was germicidal and helped to prevent any bacterial infections that could be carried by other guests. Traditionally, Tamil food is served on banana leaves and eaten using the right hand only. The left hand was primarily used for personal hygiene, and to use it for eating or handing something to someone else, would have been considered an insult. Tamils enjoy hot and spicy foods, and their ancestors advised to start meals with spicy food and end it with sweets. Rice is a main staple in the Tamil diet, and they were one of the first people to incorporate it into their meals. It is quite probable that our word “rice” has its origins in the Tamil word “Arisi”. Due to mainly to religious reasons, many Tamils are vegetarians and enjoy different types of fruit, the most consumed being mangos, jackfruits and bananas...
Dear language friend,translation This June will see one of the world’s biggest sporting events take place in France, as teams from 24 nations come together to compete in the UEFA Euro 2016, to determine Europe’s top soccer nation. France will not only be host to 24 different teams, but also to soccer fans from all over Europe. They will come to cheer for their teams in the stadiums, celebrate together in pubs, and share a wonderful experience with locals and other fans from across the continent. Languages of the UEFA As one of the biggest sports organizations in the world, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has a staff of over 500 people from over 30 different countries, working in the administration, as coaches, media specialists – and of course, as translators. The UEFA has three official languages: French, English, and German. However, the UEFA represents national soccer associations from 55 countries, where not only Romance and Germanic languages are spoken, but also Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Czech, etc.), and Baltic languages (Latvian, Lithuanian). Even Hebrew is part of the UEFA, as the Israel Football Association joined in the 1990’s. Besides larger language communities like, German, English, French, and Russian, the UEFA also has members from smaller language communities, such as, Albanian and Estonian, to name a few. At this year’s tournament, countries with relatively small language families, like Iceland, Hungary, and Slovakia will compete. For those smaller members and competitors, translation plays a vital role in their participation within the organization. It also allows them to express their interests. If it wasn’t for translators and interpreters their...
Dictionaries and the Development of the English language Did you know that the word “nice” originally meant “stupid”? Or that “decimate” used to mean “to kill one in every 10”? The development of the English language keeps evolving , and we don’t even realize it. Anne Curzan, professor of English at the University of Michigan, studies how the English language works and how it has changed over time. In her TED Talk, she explains how various words have developed and what makes a word “real”. People usually think a word is real when it appears in the dictionary. However, most slang words don’t, even though they fill important gaps in the English language. Curzan notes that dictionaries are not timeless since words and languages change all the time. For example, if you wanted to write a business letter, would you use a dictionary from 1910? Probably not. You would use a recent dictionary. And why? Because we usually don’t use the terms any more that have been used 100 years ago, since language is constantly developing. Languages back then Curzan gives interesting examples during her speech. In 1875, Dean Henry Alford said that “desirability” is a terrible word. In 1760, Benjamin Franklin complained about the word “colonize”. However, today, these words appear in every dictionary and no one doubts their validity. Many words develop from other languages as well. In Germany for example, people use a lot of English loan words and sometimes mix both the German and English language to create new ones. These words may sound English, but English native speaker wouldn’t understand them. “Handy” is the...
Richmond’s Chinese and English population Richmond, located south of Vancouver, has grown into a modern and multicultural city. Its population of 213,000 people makes it the fourth largest city in B.C; and with an immigrant population of 60 percent, it has the highest in Canada. Over the years, Richmond has become a dynamic and multi-ethnic community, and 50 percent of its residents are Chinese. After World War II, large numbers of Asian immigrants from China and Hong Kong settled there and today many Chinese and English speakers call Richmond home. Advertisement signs in both languages In Richmond, there is advertising in both Chinese and English. Recently a huge debate has arisen regarding Chinese only advertisement signs, and whether or not they should be banned. This debate was sparked by Budweiser’s January 2016 advertisement of their beer in Chinese, with only a few words appearing in English. The Richmond city council voted against banning signs that are only in Chinese, but advised that at least 50 percent of advertisement signs should be in English. The Translink bus advertisement in Chinese which was not well received either. This debate has led to misunderstandings, since some residents think that Chinese people do not respect the English language community. However, this doesn’t hold water in the above case, since Budweiser is an American company, not a Chinese one. Furthermore, the problem is not as extensive as it seems since, in fact, less than five percent of advertising signs in Richmond are in Chinese only. Most of these businesses do not even realize that they are deterring business from English speakers. Advertisement in Chinese...
Cool Sports For the Olympics Every two years the Olympics come and an assortment of exciting and classic sports are spectated by millions. The most common of which include the well-known sports like Hockey, Soccer, Basketball, Swimming, Track and Field, etc. There are several sports around the globe that go unrecognised at the Olympic Games though, and there are five in particular I think would be awesome to implement in future games to amp the excitement up! Foosball (or Table Soccer, whatever you people call it) When I was a kid foosball was one of the most fun games I had ever played. It got extremely competitive between me and my friends and relatives, and I think it could have a place at the Olympic level. Just picture it like Tennis. There could be men and women’s singles matches, as well as doubles. I think it could do very well and be extremely popular. Dodgeball One of the best games ever invented? I think so! I have unleashed my wrath against my classmates so many times in dodgeball and I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who DOESN’T enjoy it. Throwing a ball as hard as you can at other people in order to win, how can you beat that!? Paintball A simulation to prepare soldiers for battle, this game is extremely tactical, strategic, and requires a huge amount of precision, skill and athleticism. Combining several exciting elements into one crazy sport, Paintball would be a great addition to the Olympic Games and would provide a very fast paced and exciting sport for spectators to watch. Sepak...
Inspirational Message Translation into Italian, French, Japanese, Slovak, Russian and Czech. Dear friends, one of the greatest inhibitors of success is fear. Fear of success is rampant in our society, and it prevents many people from achieving greatness. Only when your desire to be successful outweighs that of your fear of rejection and failure, can you truly achieve success. You will fail over and over before you finally succeed, and it is imperative that you take on the risk of failure with open arms because only by embracing failure can you truly win in life. Today’s inspirational quote is here to help you achieve success. Let’s inspire and support each other. Let’s share this motivating positive message with everybody. We are always happy to send your translations of the positive messages we prepare for you. Inspirational Quote in English: Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Italian: Non preoccuparti dei fallimenti, preoccupati invece delle opportunità che perdi quando non ci provi nemmeno. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into French: Ne t’inquiète pas de l’échec, inquiète-toi des chances que tu manques lorsque tu n’essaies même pas. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Japanese: 失敗を恐れる必要はない。恐れる必要があるのは、やりもしな いで逃がしてしまうチャンスのほうである。－ジャッ ク・キャンフィールド – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Slovak: Netrápte sa nad neúspechom, ale nad šancami uspieť, ktoré ste nevyužili. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Russian: Не переживайте насчет неудач, переживайте о шансах, которые вы упускаете, потому что даже не пытаетесь достичь успеха. – Jack Canfield Inspirational Quote Translation into Czech: Nebojte se neúspěchu, starejte se o šance, které zmeškáte,...
