William Shakespeare, long regarded as greatest wordsmith of the English-language, celebrates his birthday (and strangely also his death day) today - April 23rd. As well as being known for his extensive catalogue of plays - required high school reading in most English-speaking countries - he also coined a number of his owns words, many of which are still commonly used today.
With an estimated 186 million native speakers, Arabic belongs to the Semitic group of languages. Although this language can take many years to learn, it is up to you determine the way that suits you best. We hope that the following five ways will help you do just that.
Tom Chatfield's book, Netymology: A Linguistic Celebration of the Digital World, delves into the origins of the vocabulary that has come to define the current era of the internet. We then decided to look into the most popular digital neologisms and their translation in other languages. In an article for the Guardian, Chatfield looks at some of the most common neologisms that we encounter when surfing the web - words such as "avatar", "LOL" and "trolling".
Mexico Barbie, part Mattel's "Dolls of the World" line, does not sit well with some sections of the US's Hispanic community. Others, however, refuse to make a deal out of it. The case highlights the thin line that sometimes separates cultural representation and ethnic stereotypes. The recent controversy surrounding Mexico Barbie serves as an interesting case study for any company looking to shape their product around specific traditions.
Here's some food for thought for electronic device manufacturers looking to translate and localise their products - does it support a non-Latin alphabet? This week, Amazon has been on the receiving end of language compatibility complaints on its Kindle e-reader series. First, Welsh publisher Y Lolfa is leading a campaign make Welsh, or Cymru, books available for Kindle.
Click-through rates for digital adverts reported to be significantly higher in east Asian states than in the more mature North American market. It's no surprise that digital advertising is the rising star of the advertising game. A survey published by the the online marketing group DG MediaMind revealed that digital advertising currently accounts for 19.8 per cent of all worldwide advertising revenue, and will rise to 21.7 per cent by the end of this year.
We are sad to hear that Aga Man Pete Digby, a close friend of Today Translations, has had to cancel his bid to run the London Marathon pulling an AGA oven. Despite pulling all the string possible to comply with the marathon's rules and regulations, Pete was told that we would not be permitted to run with the AGA, which he had christened Agatha.
The British Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce has bagged the award for European Chamber of the year. The award was announced at the 40th Anniversary Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe (COBCOE) in the City of London's Guildhall. It serves as a recognition for the entrepreneurial and creative talents that promote trade links between Great Britain and its partner countries, both within Europe and further afield.
Local interpreters have formed the backbone of the coalition war effort in Afghanistan. Now, however, they risk becoming the war's forgotten heroes. The UK Government's reluctance so far to introduce a resettlement programme has left hundreds of former interpreters and their families in fear of retaliatory attacks from the Taliban.
The Partha Darshini Seva Trust, an India-based NGO, has revealed it plans to publish and distribute a trilingual dictionary, said to be the first of its kind. India has always been a bit of a linguistic babel. The world's second most populated country (roughly 1.2 billion) has no bona fide or practical official language.
