Blog
How Sanskrit Became the Controversial Language of India
May 22, 2018
It would be hard to argue that Sanskrit and Indian culture are not intertwined; but it is precisely this relationship that has aroused public opinion in a nation where language politics has a... Read More
South Asian-American Students Dominate the Scripps Spelling Bee
May 21, 2018
Think you are ready to compete with some grammar school students on stage at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Well, here are a few words to warm up. How do you spell "cheiropompholyx"? I feel... Read More
Why English Drives People Crazy
April 24, 2018
American folk singer Pete Seeger began challenging the "powers that be" at an early age through poetic lyrics that often infringed on political and cultural rhetoric. After two decades of FBI... Read More
Do You Need to Communicate in Punjabi?
April 17, 2018
In recent years, the need to communicate in Chinese Mandarin has grown with China playing a major role in global business and worldwide trade. With a population of 1.38 billion, China has a... Read More
Digital Lingua Franca: Do You Speak Emoticon?
March 13, 2018
A smiley face was the original emoji, an ideogram used in the digital world that originated in Japan in 1999. Shigetaka Kurita is credited with creating the first emoji, a gumdrop shaped smiley... Read More
Why Do So Many Words Have Silent Letters?
March 13, 2018
Well, as for the English language, it might be easier to explain punctuation and why a comma precedes the word "which" and not the word "that". If you are a student of linguistics, you might be... Read More
Multilingualism in Morocco is a Sociolinguistic Phenomenon
February 8, 2018
From antiquity to present day, few parts of the world have experienced a more colorful blend of languages as Morocco. In part, it is one of only three nations (along with Spain and France) to... Read More
Could You Be Talking to Animals Soon?
February 7, 2018
With the speed at which technology has been putting new devices in the home, it is not that farfetched that the world will soon join Dr. Doolittle in talking to the animals. Who knows, maybe our... Read More
Translating and Interpreting Trump's Peculiar Political Style
January 18, 2018
It's undeniable that the current President doesn't have to worry about fading into obscurity with the media. All Trump has to do is answer a question, deliver a speech, make a remark, or post to... Read More
The Critical Role of Language and Semantics in Taiwan
January 18, 2018
Taiwan is a culturally rich, small island off the coast of China where "what you say" and "how you say it" can cause a quick rise in international tension. Already in 2018, the Chinese authorities... Read More
