facts Archives | Raptor Translations Magazine

15Oct

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Learning Languages

10 hardest languages to learn

When it comes to learning a language, some languages are harder to learn than others. Whilst some languages may be easy, others can be one of the hardest languages to learn. 10 hardest languages to learn (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 10. Estonian According to Estonian World, Estonian is the hardest language to learn when it comes to Latin alphabet languages. Estonian has around 14 cases that make Estonian incredibly complicated. Whereas, English has all, or most of its cases, it makes it quite the shock when an English speaker tries to learn Estonian. For example, English uses personal pronouns: forms such as I, he and we are used in the role of subject (‘I touch the book’), while forms such as me, him and us are used in the role of o...

8Oct

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Learning Languages

10 easiest languages to learn

Learning a language is never easy, just some languages are easier to learn than others. But, when it comes to learning some languages reign supreme in terms of ease. But what are the easiest languages to learn? 10 easiest languages to learn (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 10. Esperanto Whilst Esperanto may be a shock, there's a reason for it being on this list. But Esperanto is rather strange on this list- it isn't a natural language like Spanish, German or French but is man made. Without getting too specific, in 1887, L L Zamenhof published his book on the language under the name Dr. Esperanto. Just as Zamenhof hoped, it is an unofficial language of the world. Many global organisations and corporations use the language, such as the EU a...

Hyperpolyglots- What is it? Why are there only 1000 of them?

1Oct

By Gareth Seagull1 Comment

Facts

Hyperpolyglots- What is it? Why are there only 1000 of them?

When you meet someone who speaks one or two second languages, it’s impressive. But when you meet a hyperpolyglot, it will blow your mind... (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); But what exactly is a hyperpolyglot? Before we can define a hyperpolyglot, we need to define other language labels. These definitions come from those stated on ILanguages.org. Monolingual- someone who speaks only one language. Monolingualism constitutes roughly 40% of the world’s population.Bilingual- someone who speaks two languages to an equal level of fluency. Bilingualism constitutes roughly 43% of the world’s population. Trilingual- someone who speaks three languages to an equal level of fluency. Trilingualism constitutes roughly 13% of the world’s total popula...

What is the first language spoken by man?

10Sep

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Facts

What is the first language spoken by man?

Man has been around for 200,000 years. Many languages have been spoken since, but what was the first language spoken by man? What first language spoken by man is a difficult question to answer. Whilst there were undoubtedly languages before. We just don’t know their names or what they sounded like. They have simply been lost to history. The first languages were likely those in the cuneiform script, dating back to the 8 millennium BCE. However, other linguists claim that Sumerian or Egyptian are the oldest- simply because they have the oldest writing systems. What are the first languages spoken by man that we still use? Tamil (5000 years old)- Tamil was first spoken Sri Lanka. It is also the official language of both Sri Lanka and Singapore. It is spoken by 78 milli...

4Jun

By Gareth Seagull1 Comment

Facts

11 Weird Facts About Translation

Like everything, there are an array of extremely weird and intricate facts about translation and the industry. So, this begs the question, what are they? 1. A dedicated day Every year on the 30th of September, it is International Translation Day. It was started to promote and celebrate translators and their expertise, who would have thought that? 2. Patron Saint The translation industry has its own patron saint, his name is Saint Jerome. He gained this accolade and became the guardian of the profession after he translated the Bible into Latin in the 5th century (that Bible went on to be called ‘The Vulgate’). 3. Work load It’s no secret that being a translator is a physically and mentally demanding task. So it came as no surprise when a study showed that the average tran...