I hope I wasn’t the only one who was shocked to hear that thanks to a new LPGA policy, it will be compulsory for all female golfers on the world tour to speak English.
Coming so soon after the Beijing Olympics, a time when I regularly admired the excellent English language skills of many of the [...]
Languages just can’t be trusted. As a language teacher, I often see how dangerous it is to simply translate any concept word for word - relying on a dictionary as your only way of learning a language is bound to lead to problems. One really good example of that is the seemingly harmless verb, invite.
The [...]
I admit that I usually get a good giggle out of photographs of so-called “Chinglish” or “Japlish” signs: those curiously-translated instructions that sound almost lyrical instead of comprehensible. But I usually get a dose of guilt along with the laugh. Who are we to laugh at an attempt from a Chinese or Japanese speaker [...]
Formal and informal ways to speak to people in other languages is a can of worms that I was reminded of last week as I watched one of my favourite Austrian TV shows - one of very few German language shows that are broadcast here in Australia - and I’m not ashamed to admit that [...]