Language

Historical Vocab: When We Get It Wrong, Does It Matter?

Geoff Nunberg — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:05:00 +0000

Has there ever been an age that was so grudging about suspending its disbelief? The groundlings at the Globe Theatre didn't giggle when Shakespeare had a clock chime in Julius Caesar. The Victorians didn't take Dickens to task for having the characters in A Tale of Two Cities ride the Dover mail coach 10 years before it was established. But Shakespeare and Dickens weren't writing in the age of the Internet, when every historical detail is scrutinized for chronological correctness, and when no "Gotcha!" remains unposted for long.

Supreme Court Justice Urges Funding For Video Translation

Alexandra Kocik — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:38:34 +0000

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court wants state lawmakers to fund video translation for people in court who don’t speak English.

"Talking Dictionaries" Help Preserve Endangered Tribal Languages

Tom Banse — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:22:13 +0000

VANCOUVER, Canada - Usually it is good news when the Northwest appears on a top five list. But this one is not. Our region ranks near the top of a list of global hotspots for disappearing languages. The reason is that speakers of Native American languages are dwindling. Correspondent Tom Banse reports on how digital technology is coming to the rescue of some ancient tongues.