2011年9月3日 星期六

Understanding The Origins Of The Italian Language To Assist With Completing Italian Translations

Compared to many other major languages in Europe Italian is spoken by a relatively small number of people. Primary Italian speakers add up to about sixty five million native speakers, with an additional fourteen million who speak the language secondarily. While other European languages are spoken by massive populations outside of Europe, Italian only receives an additional twenty million speakers, adding up to a total of about 80-85 million speakers these days.

The vast majority of these speakers live in Italy, though Switzerland and a few other countries feature statistically significant Italian speaking populations. When looking for an individual to perform Italian translation for you it's a good idea to have an understanding of where this language came from and how it reached its modern standing.

Many people make the mistake of assuming that Italian is essentially the modern form of the Latin language, due to the identical geographic base of the two. This assumption holds some merit, but isn't entirely true. Like other Romance languages (including French) the Italian language is primarily rooted in Vulgar Latin, yet a distinct language closely resembling modern Italian wasn't developed and identified until the beginning of the 1300's.

It was Dante Alighieri who actually, in many ways, formulated and systematized the Italian language. Dante combined a number of languages from the south of Italy, including heavy influences from Florence and Sicily, to write what would later be known as his Divine Comedy. It's hard to overstate or express the importance of Dante's writing when it came to systematizing the modern Italian language. Dante's works were incredibly widely read throughout the country, especially among the wealthy and educated members of society. Because they were read by all of the decision makers of the time the language Dante used in his poetry became the most common formulation and dialect understood by the largest number of influential people at the time.

While Dante's writing essentially made the speech patterns of Florence the standard for the entire country, Italy continued to utilize a wide variety of dialects in every day speech. Part of this had to do with the political nature of Italian society and culture, with each city considered to be its own semi-antonymous city-state. With the standardization of the Italian language these dialects retained many of their regional inflections, though for the most part these differences are cosmetic (relating to pronunciation) and not structural. While French influences entered northern Italy through both conquest (the Normans) and culture (the bards), overall it was Dante who is created with the formation of the modern Italian language more than anyone else.

Most of the resulting history of the Italian language is little more than a further standardization of the speech and writing, often through adoption by the nation's legal and religious institutions. The lyrical nature of Italian should make more sense now when you realize that it was primarily designed by a poet, making it obvious that you require a true specialist when it comes to understanding and navigating the tricky nature of Italian translation.

Charlene Lacandazo is a marketing executive for Rosetta Translation, a leading full-service translation agency in London, UK.

Rosetta Translation specialises in Italian translation, as well as interpreting services worldwide.


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2011年9月2日 星期五

Speaking and Writing Grammar Errors to Avoid in English - The Short List

However acceptable some English grammar usages have become, synesis (notional concord), split infinitives, ending a sentence in a preposition and the improper use of who and whom will cause problems in some circles. It is always wise to get these right, at least as they are perceived to be correct by many. It never hurts to use acceptable grammar unless you want to give the impression of one whose grammar is lacking.

Commonly condemned usages are:
Synesis defined as "A construction in which a form, such as a pronoun, differs in number but agrees in meaning with the word governing it, as in If the group becomes too large, we can split them in two."
Splitting an infinitive. To boldly go where no man has gone before.
Ending a sentence with a preposition. That is the sort of nonsense I will not put up with.
Using "none" as a plural noun. None of them were quite ready to be displayed in the curling club locker room.
The use of "who" as the object of a verb or preposition where "whom" is correct. Who did the provost direct to remove the badger from the auditorium? Who did you receive the holiday collection of industrial adhesives from?
A pronoun in the objective case after a comparative with "than" or "as" (sometimes called an elliptical reference): He is even more scrofulous than me. She is just as revolting as him.

A learned audience will not be impressed by correct grammar but may well be swayed by errors -- real or perceived -- which are regarded as non-standard. It is far more important to make sure that subjects and verbs agree, that parallel constructs are truly parallel and that all words are correctly used. If one's purpose is to offend and shock, however, the above should be ignored.

Other common errors are:
Verb pair confusion: lie/lay, rise/raise, sit/set and fall/fell.Sentence fragments and run-on sentences.Mass nouns and count nounsSubjunctive usageLists and coordinationMisplaced modifiersDangling participles

The exercises in SAT, ACT, TOEFL College Prep English practice text explains these at length with many examples and quizzes. The examples used are never prosaic or quotidian.

Examples:

1. Would _____ever the statuary director designated, please replace Prometheus' sword and remove the kangaroo?

2. Would _____ever put the Jello on the table of the last supper tableau please return the fish?

SAT ACT TOEFL College Prep English Practice (http://abacus-es.com/cpep/) by K. Titchenell covers the practical aspects of what language to use for a particular audience. Press release page: http://abacus-es.com/cpep/pressrelease.html. The Amazon.com page has the search-inside feature enabled.

About the author:
After ten years as a writer, editor and translator, K. Titchenell taught community college for many years, published several textbooks and edited numerous papers for publication in scholarly journals.


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2011年8月31日 星期三

History Of The Ukrainian Language And The Development Of Ukrainian Translators

From the beginning of its identification as an important and individuated area of the world the Ukraine has been a real melting pot of different cultures. The country is uniquely positioned in such a manner that it stands close to a few different powerful and influential cultures. Most notably the Ukraine is in direct contact with the Slavic nations of the north and directly accessible to the modern Middle East more to the south. These two different cultures formed the earliest influences on the region, which congealed influences from Turkey, Iran and the Slavic nations of the north. This conflicted space was eventually claimed and held by the Slavic nations and the language during this period connects clearest to older Russian. This Slavic language was really set into place by the fact that the written work of the region adopted it.

Ukraine then deviated from the Russian-flavored influence for a time when the region fell under Lithuanian and Polish rule. Both of these nations imparted a large degree of influence on the Ukrainian language and in time on Ukrainian translators, especially the Polish who made it all but necessary for higher ranking Ukrainians to learn and primarily adopt the Polish language. This was further strengthened by the widespread adoption of the Polish Catholic religion during these years, which helped spread the Polish language throughout both the religious and educational orders within the Ukraine.

As the Polish empire and its influence on the Ukraine began to fail the Russians reasserted their influence upon the region. There was even a linguistic split where a significant number within the country spoke Polish while the rest spoke Russian, imagine the effect this would have on Ukrainian translation services in the future. Traditional nationalism didn't play a large part in the Ukrainian character during this time. Such nationalism began to rise later in the nineteenth century, but was subjugated by the Russians fiercely, as they eventually incorporated all of the Ukraine into their empire.

Russian subjugation of the Ukrainian state and its language continued throughout the Russian Empire, and the language primarily existed within the rural regions of the nation until the Soviet Union rose and allowed the Ukrainian language to spread once more. While there was a regular back and forth throughout the years of the Soviet Union, in general the Ukrainian language was allowed to be used by a significant amount of people, and after the fall of the union the Ukrainian state instituted the Ukrainian language as the official tongue of the now-sovereign nation from where several Ukrainian translators are sourced today.

As you can see from this the Ukrainian language was developed over a long time under a wide variety of competing influences. Due to the fact that Russian was the strongest of these influences throughout the life of the region it's unsurprising that to this day Russian and Ukrainian are often considered to be near interchangeable languages, where understanding one usually results in the ability to understand the other.

Charlene Lacandazo is a marketing executive for Rosetta Translation, an international full-service translation company in London, UK.

Rosetta Translation specialises in Ukrainian translation, as well as interpreting services all over the world.


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2011年8月30日 星期二

Situations When You Wish You Knew Spanish!

Spanish is one of the fastest growing languages in the world. It has a rich history, embroidered in royalty. Spanish is a Latin language and shares its origins with English and French. This is why, it is considered to be the ideal second language for a person who is an English speaker.

However, learning a language isn't a walk in the park. This is why many people are apprehensive about taking on the challenge. Truth is there are several times in life when you wish you would know Spanish. It is better to learn it rather than regret it later on. Here are some examples from real life regarding the situations I am talking about. Maybe some of these will sound familiar to you.

Marriage

Yes, marriage has compelled several people to take Spanish lessons. The reason is that they are getting married to a latino/latina. Their spouses can speak English alright, but their families can't. So when things get intimate, you cannot avoid talking to their familia. This is why people learn up Spanish so that they can talk to their in-laws.

Business

You have a business and it is thriving. All your staff is native English speakers who don't know any other languages. One day, you get an order from a Mexican client. The only catch is that he doesn't understand a word of English. You and all your staff don't know Spanish. So, learning Spanish can help you expand your client base. In fact, people have studied Spanish because all their clients were Spanish!

Moving to Mexico

People do move to Mexico for some reasons or the other. There, finding a person who speaks English is a tough job. All the natives are glued to Spanish and they don't like talking in any other language apart from their own. In case you have any plans to move to Mexico or any other Latin American Spanish speaking country, make sure that you learn Spanish beforehand.

Interacting with Hispanics

There are over 40 million Hispanics in the US. You just cannot avoid running into them. Some people have a lot of Hispanic friends so they decide to learn Spanish so that they can interact with them in their own language. This gives them a chance to explore their culture as well. Some people just like Latinos/Latinas and want to approach them so they learn Spanish in a bid to impress them.

The best resource for you to learn Spanish is the Spanish Learning Factory. They provide private lessons, software and books which would have you speaking Spanish like your ancestors came from Chihuahua.

SpanishLearningFactory Provides affordable Spanish books and cd's from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced to learn Spanish, sitting at home. Visit website SpanishLearningFactory.com to listen and watch testimonials about online Spanish classes and programs.


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2011年8月29日 星期一

Learn to Appreciate Chinese Culture by Learning Mandarin Online

Chinese culture is one of the oldest and richest in the world, and learning how to speak the language online is an essential step in coming to understand and appreciate it. Dating back thousands of years, China has a wide variety of customs and traditions spread among 56 distinct and recognized ethnic groups as well as a geographical area that is one of the largest in Asia. The pre-eminent ethnic group, however, is the Han Chinese and much of what we think of today as "Chinese culture" derives from their customs. Mandarin is the dialect spoken by the Han; at present, Mandarin has over a billion speakers in China alone.

There are two philosophical systems from which most of Chinese social values are derived - Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism is derived from the teachings of the revered Chinese philosopher Confucius and teaches that human nature can be perfected through constant striving and self-cultivation. Taoism, on the other hand, is a religious tradition that stresses the relationship between man and the cosmos and emphasizes the basic virtues of humility, compassion and moderation. In addition, the concept of guanxi is also very important in Chinese culture. Guanxi is a word that means either "relationships" or "connections" and stresses the primacy of a personal relationship in which one party can prevail upon the other one for a favor.

Learning Chinese online will also enable you to enjoy the many pleasures afforded by Chinese music, literature and movies. For example, knowing how to read Chinese will enable you to read the works of writer and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, who won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle for human rights in China, in the original Mandarin. Or if that seems too heavy for you, you can use your proficiency in the language to enjoy popular Chinese music and movies. C-pop or Chinese Popular Music is an increasingly popular genre not only within China and Taiwan but also abroad due to the growing number of Chinese communities overseas. Chinese movies have also seen both critical acclaim and box-office success worldwide, spurred by the work of directors such as Zhang Yimou (Hero), Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and John Woo (Hard Boiled) as well as actors including Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi and Chow Yun-Fat.

Being fluent in Chinese will also give you more insight into the culture of your Chinese friends as well as helping improve your relationships with them.? Even if they know how to speak English, they would surely appreciate your efforts to reach out to them by learning how to converse in their language. Being able to talk in Mandarin will also help you to appreciate nuances that otherwise would go unnoticed if you were conversing in English.

While learning to speak Chinese online may initially seem to be insurmountably difficult, with the wide variety of learning modalities available from the various websites offering online Chinese language lessons, you'll surely find one that you'll feel comfortable with and you'll be speaking Mandarin fluently in no time.

One of the objectives of Chinese Online is to ensure your learning experience is not only relaxing but fun as well. The teachers are graduates from renounced China universities and the courses are designed by universities' professors who specialize in the Chinese language. They understand your needs when learning the Chinese language online. Go to http://www.chineseonline.sg/ today!


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2011年8月28日 星期日

How Learning Mandarin Can Enhance Chinese Business Communication

The most important thing to understand about Chinese business communication is that so much of it relies on what is unsaid, rather than on what is spoken aloud. Thus, while it is very important to gain proficiency in Chinese through online lessons if you are planning to do business in the country, it is just as essential for you to gain a basic understanding of Chinese cultural norms so as not to inadvertently give offense and damage the association before it has even started. Learning how to speak Mandarin also helps you to build a personal relationship with a potential business partner, in the spirit of the Chinese concept of guanxi ("connections"), before a professional association can occur.

When you are fluent in Mandarin, you can open an initial meeting by sharing small talk and pleasantries since it is Chinese custom not to come to the point immediately, unlike in the West where a business transaction can be completed in minutes with neither of the participants knowing anything more about each other than their names. This importance of building relationships is also the reason why you should not bring your lawyer to any preliminary meetings since it may cause offense, as the other party may believe you don't trust him or are trying to get the better of him.

At the same time, you should also not be too informal or too personal. You can talk about topics like your family, your marital status and your job but avoid talking about your feelings. Make sure you answer any question put to you; don't appear that you are avoiding answering since this makes you look untrustworthy. And unless you can speak Mandarin very, very well you should avoid humor, since jokes are always lost in translation and you may end up inadvertently causing offense.

One of the most important concepts to understand in Chinese business communication is the concept of face. The word 'face' in Chinese is roughly translated to respect or good reputation and to lose face is to be deeply humiliated in front of others. This is why the American businessman who wants to do business in China should get away from the mindset of arguing with or correcting somebody if you think they're wrong; never contradict someone in China or say no since this will cause them to lose face. Again, this is where the importance of being fluent in Mandarin comes in since you will be able to communicate your corrections in such a way as to allow the other party to still keep face. It is a delicate balancing act and possible only if you can converse clearly.

Ultimately, the value of learning Mandarin for Chinese business communication is that it frees you from struggling to communicate verbally so that you can also focus on non-verbal communication, such as observing the other party's body language. Proficiency in another language is the best way to bridge the gap between two parties so that connections can start to be made, which hopefully will grow into a mutually profitable relationship.

Consider carefully the choice of courses you want to enroll to learn Chinese/Mandarin online especially for Chinese business communication. Look at the courses provided by Business Chinese Online before making any final decision because doing business in China is a serious business!


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2011年8月27日 星期六

Good Ways To Learn French

French is spoken by over 110 million individuals globally. The language is spoken in many nations including France, Canada, and a few others. A number of U.S. citizens within the states of Maine and also Louisiana are actually native French speakers. The language is also a standard for many global organizations such as the United Nations. If you're thinking about learning another language for a profession or simply for personal enrichment, give some thought to learning French. French is the most beautiful spoken language and also suggests class and distinction. Mastering this language could be a great asset in your own profession and may also improve your experience when you visit French speaking countries.

If you choose to learn this language, you have a number of options. You might earn a degree in French from a university or college. A degree gives you expert knowledge of the language, both written and verbal. You might have already established yourself as a professional, and believe that understanding the language may help augment your career. If so, you may learn French online using a course, such as Rocket French, which is certainly a great way to study in your own convenience. They provide a free six day trial for their study course. Learning French this way will be a quick and easy way for you to master the language.

Of course, if you have time, another great way is an immersion program. In this manner, you have an opportunity to experience French culture. You will actually be residing in France and experience the daily life and culture of the French people. This really is the quickest option to learn French. You can expect to communicate with native French speakers each day. Most of the people will not be able to speak in English. For that reason, you must communicate with these people in French. You will be completely absorbed into French everyday living. You will take classes that can help you to write and speak in French. An immersion program is the most effective method for learning French fluently.

Being fluent in a second language offers benefits as a professional. For instance, you may attain certification to be a foreign language translator. This particular career opportunity presents lots of challenges and benefits. There are a lot of foreign language agencies that provide full-time jobs to translators. A translator ordinarily helps a company translate their particular business files and also company websites. You may want to work as a freelancer, taking care of your individual workload, and may set your own schedule. Another possibility may be to teach English in French speaking nations. Just by knowing French and English, it's possible to succeed in any French speaking country.

Mastering French offers you a chance to begin a new job or further build up your job just by working abroad. Additionally, you will enhance your trips in the French speaking nations. Learning another language will be a rewarding achievement. It is easy to learn French online right now by going to Rocket French.

Read related articles here: Rocket French Review


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