Whether you receive foreigners or travel abroad, cross-cultural awareness is a key factor in doing business.“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” goes the old saying. If only cross-cultural communication and awareness were so simple! The fac…

Whether you receive foreigners or travel abroad, cross-cultural awareness is a key factor in doing business.“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” goes the old saying. If only cross-cultural communication and awareness were so simple! The fac…

The 1st annual North American Summit on Interpreting was held in Washington, DC in June 2010. One of the feature events of the Summit, organized by InterpAmerica, was a presentation of the results of a comprehensive study of interpreting in North Ameri…

Anyone who has studied a foreign language knows that dealing with “the real lingo” can be a hurdle to effective communication.Many English-speakers who travel abroad hoping to make good use of their high school foreign language skills come in for a…

Edited by two Michigan universities, the Linguist List provides an astounding array of resources for linguists.Even after writing this blog for over four years, I am always discovering amazing online resources – and they aren’t always new, …

An online debate sponsored by The Economist magazine has brought up this thorny question. So far, participants are answering with a resounding “no.”Just about everything can take place online, including old-fashioned Oxford-style debates. The subje…

The Center for Translation Studies of the University of Texas at Dallas has identified key advantages of translation.In its “Manifesto for Translation Studies,” the University of Texas at Dallas spells out the benefits of translation in ver…

A former British minister has pronounced French a “useless” language. So what exactly makes a language “useful?”In a highly publicized and controversial statement, a former British Foreign Office minister called French “useless.” In…

A grant will allow Fresno’s Children’s Hospital Central California to better communicate with limited-English proficiency patients.Although the grant sum is relatively modest — $167,000 – the additional equipment will play a significant role…