Raptor Translations Archives | Raptor Translations Magazine

12May

By George SanghviNo Comments

Learning Languages

17 oldest languages in the world!

Many languages vie for the title of being the oldest language in the world. However, there is only one that can be the oldest, so what language is it? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 17. Icelandic (1200 years) Icelandic is perhaps one of the oldest languages that is still spoken in the world today. Icelandic is native to the island of Iceland, as well as 350,000 native speakers. Icelandic began as a combination of Danish and indigenous languages. However, once the Danish stopped bringing new colonizers during the twelfth century, Icelandic became akin to a language isolate. Icelandic is a very good indication of what Old Norse and Old Danish looked and sounded like. As a result of its age and its isolation, Icelandic has become one of t...

10 best jobs for linguists that aren’t a translator

3Dec

By Alexander PaskNo Comments

Facts

10 best jobs for linguists that aren’t a translator

For some linguists, the idea of becoming a translator just doesn't suit them. But, these linguists still want to use their language skills as part of their job. This begs the question, what are the best jobs for linguists that aren't a translator? 10 best jobs for linguists (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 10. Speech therapist Whilst this one may come as a surprise, speech therapy is one of the best jobs for linguists. Thanks to linguists knowing how to speak several language, they know how to make sounds from the different shapes of their mouth. This allows them to help deaf people and other people with speech impairments to speak again. Whilst you may occasionally work with adults, children will make up the bulk of your patients. A spee...

26Nov

By Alexander PaskNo Comments

Facts

9 most useful languages

A while ago, we covered the most useless languages, now we will cover the most useful languages. So, what are the most useful languages? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 9 most useful languages 9. Hindi At first, it probably surprises you that Hindi is even on this list in the first place, but when you think about it, it does make sense. India is the world's 7th largest economy, so a lot of business is done there, which would make it quite useful if people knew how to speak Hindi. If Hindi was more well spoken, we'd all be better off, no longer would Indian manufacturers and Western companies have to communicate through an intermediary. This would allow for cheaper prices on Indian-made goods, which would make them even more attractive to...

19Nov

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Facts

12 completely extinct languages

Languages come and go, those languages that go are called extinct languages. Just like other species, languages can go extinct, sometimes, there is a revivalist movement centuries down the line, which saves it, and other times, not. So which languages are extinct? 12 extinct languages (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 12. Breton We spoke about Breton in our previous article- 12 useless languages. In that article we talked about how in 2009, the UN reported that the language was officially considered one of the extinct languages. Breton was previously the most spoken language in Brittany, a Celtic language, spoken from the descendants of the Britons (a Celtic people who lived in present day Britain). This was up until it began to be overtak...

12Nov

By George SanghviNo Comments

Facts

12 useless languages

When it comes to learning languages, linguists normally have their heart set know a few to learn. Normally, this is because there is something particular that the language has to offer, or that it will be useful in later life. But, not all languages are equal, some are useless languages that serve little to no purpose for the speaker. I was recently talking with some translator friends of mine when we got around to how translators show off to non-translators. After much back and forth, we came to one that most of us had done- use a language we didn't know to impress someone- usually a girl they liked. Most of the time, these languages were useless languages spoken by less than 10 million people in Africa, or a small pocket elsewhere in Europe. Or better still, they were ...

7 things I hate about being a translator

5Nov

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Uncategorized

7 things I hate about being a translator

A few weeks ago, we did an article on 10 best things about being a translator. Now, I aim to show the flip side of that article with the 7 things I hate about being a translator. This is quite a personal article as I love my job, but there are certain things I hate about being a translator. 7 things I hate about being a translator (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. People who say "Can you just translate this?" I get asked this a lot, my wife likes to introduce me to her friends by telling them I’m a translator. Normally, I get one guy, normally a boyfriend of my wife’s best friend, who thinks he can speak Spanish. Normally, his grasp of the language is pitiful, and he makes himself look like a complete idiot in front of everyone. Nor...

29Oct

By Gareth Seagull3 Comments

Uncategorized

Should there be a Universal Language?

Have you ever been on holiday and realised that on your trip, you couldn't communicate with someone, and wished that there was a universal language that all of humanity could use? How would one work, and how would we implement it? Believe it or not, this globalised society has not been the first to want a universal language. The ancient Greeks and Romans too wanted one quite badly, and gave it a unique name, Lingua Franca. But yet, even as late as the Victorian era wanted a common language. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Who Was L.L. Zamenhof and what did he do for Universal Languages? L.L. Zamenhof was a Polish-born Linguist, who created the Esperanto Language. He took apart European Languages, and synthesised a brand new one, he had h...

22Oct

By Gareth SeagullNo Comments

Facts

10 best things about being a translator

We have talked quite often about becoming a translator, but not being a translator. Like many jobs, there are an abundance of upsides of being a translator. Just what are they exactly? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. Fulfillment Most people hate their jobs, that’s been shown hundreds of thousands of times, with countless studies. The most common reason for people hating their job is the lack of fulfillment. However, translators have one of the lowest rates of job dissatisfaction. This is normally due to the wide array of tasks a translator has to do. One day a translator may be translating a vital document for one of the world’s largest corporations. But the next, he is translating a document for an SME that helps them to grow....

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...