user-richardTo English speakers, the idea of arbitrarily assigning gender to words is a strange concept. In our eyes, an apple is simply that, an apple. Not a masculine or a feminine apple, just a plain old apple. However, it’s actually English that’s the strange language for NOT having genders. English used to have genders years …
“You’re going to Seville?” People would ask me. “You won’t be able to understand them.” They told me. And, five months later, they’re mostly right. The andaluz dialect is certainly a challenge, but that is why I came to Seville after all. Linguists debate on whether andaluz constitutes a genuine dialect of Spanish or just …
Read moreThe Guiri in Sevilla’s guide to the andaluz dialect
If you’re bilingual or multi-lingual, you’ve probably been in a situation where you have to quickly switch between two or more languages during one conversation. This linguistic phenomenon is called code-switching, and it has a huge effect on the lives of multilinguals. What are some of the reasons people code-switch? Code-switching is very common among …
Read moreCode-switching – or ese momento when you start pensar en dos idiomas at the same tiempo
My six-month internship here at CBLingua in Seville will soon be at an end. I thought I’d reflect on the experience. Hopefully this will help any students who are thinking of doing a translation internship, maybe even at CBLingua! What is an internship at CBLingua like? When I first arrived at the office I didn’t …
Read moreWhat is an internship at CBLingua like? Final thoughts and reflections
Answer to the riddle (Before I start this entry, the answer to the riddle from last time is: The doctor is the boy’s MOTHER. Perhaps your brain automatically assumed the doctor was a man? The word has masculine connotations but the gender was never specified. In Romance languages this is even more prevalent – the …
Whether you like it or not, language governs every aspect of life. If you want to communicate with someone, you need to use language. It’s inescapable, so much so that life becomes virtually impossible without it. If you’ve ever studied or mastered a foreign language, you will understand that words and concepts don’t translate very …
Read moreLinguistic Relativity and why you should care about it