Idioms are those phrases that mean more than the sum of their words. As our Open Translation Project volunteers translate TED Talks into 105 languages, they’re often challenged to translate English idioms into their language. Which made us wonder: what are their favorite idioms in their own...
Inventing a language from scratch might seem like an odd way to spend your time, but there are good reasons to do it. People create languages for scientific, cultural and artistic purposes: to test theories about how the brain works, to help people communicate, to...
If you read a sentence (such as this one) about kicking a ball, neurons related to the motor function of your leg and foot will be activated in your brain. Similarly, if you talk about cooking garlic, neurons associated with smelling will fire up. Since...
In addition to making you a better communicator, problem solver and team player, emotional intelligence allows you to step into other peoples’ shoes and walk a few miles. This of course, is critical for entrepreneurs and innovators. In order for entrepreneurs to be effective and...
Being able to speak different languages is a coveted skill. It doesn't come easy to everyone, however. I've observed friends and family members learning Italian, Japanese, Spanish, German, Greek, French, and Irish Gaelic. Still, according to Gallup, only one in four Americans can hold a conversation in...
Skype Business meeting broadcast is innovative in that it allows a small number of speakers to broadcast a presentation to up to 10,000 viewers. This feature can be beneficial for webinars, company meetings and other large occasions. But, what if you don’t speak the same...
The opening song of "The Lion King" has some pretty distinctive lyrics, though few of us actually know what all of them mean. "The Circle of Life," starts out in Zulu before switching over to English. Here are the immortal words of Elton John, Tim Rice,...
Dogs have interacted with humans for thousands of years and in that time, people have learned that dogs have a special way of communicating with them that are unique to dogs. In recent years, there are an increasing number of studies examining the way dogs...
If you’re looking to develop a mobile application for tablets and phones, and your intention is to go beyond your home market, you need to have a translation strategy in place very early on. Remember that 72% of potential users will not be native English speakers. Most software...
There are always obstacles when translating from one language to another and this happens most times with idiomatic expressions and slang. These pose problems occurs because they do not mean what the individual words mean literally, and these idioms often involve cultural history that a...
