Language Facts

February 21st is International Mother Language Day Language is more than an aid in communication. It is shared culture, memories, identity, traditions, etc. Learning a foreign language is more than just vocabulary and grammar but learning a whole new way of thinking. It is what makes translators and interpreters so valuable. They are able to translate meaning between cultures and promote understanding between different peoples. Globalization has streamlined a handful of languages and made it possible for a variety of people to understand each other without the aid of linguists. But with a push to speak the few major languages…

You have a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) client from Peru. So you need a Spanish interpreter, right? Only about 84% of the Peruvian population speaks Spanish! Peru considers its official languages to be Spanish and any native language that dominates in any given region. So speakers of indigenous languages tend to communicate with government bodies in their indigenous languages. Okay, so the LEP doesn’t speak Spanish well and prefers an interpreter in an indigenous language from one of Peru’s regions. Simple… right? But even knowing the region from which your client comes from does not guarantee a linguistic match. There…

Imagine attorneys, court reporters, a deponent, and an interpreter all assembled and ready to go. The attorney speaks, the interpreter interprets, and the deponent… can’t understand a single word. It can be easy to assume that your Limited English Proficiency (LEP) client from Mexico speaks Spanish. Currently, 92% of Mexicans speak Spanish but not all Mexican speakers speak Spanish or are as fluent in Spanish as in their indigenous languages. Getting the wrong interpreter can be costly both in time and money, it can also affect the accuracy of their testimony and their case. Did you know that Mexico has…

Humans are social creatures; nothing is more proof of this than the variety of languages we have invented purely to communicate with each other. See below some amazing facts from around the world: The Silbo language of La Gomera on the Spanish coast is completly sung in whistles. Vowels and consonants and distingusidhed by dips and rises in a whistled melody and sung together they form a sentence. When speaking, Italians hold their hands high up and display what seems like affectionate touching. But is more of way of stopping the listener from interjecting. To interrupt, grab a hold of…