One of the biggest challenges in any organization is effective communication. It is a skill that has to be learned by each member of the organization for communication to be effective. A lot goes into whether communication is effective or not, including knowing your audience, using the right medium, understanding and respecting differing communication styles, […]
Translation does not stop at identifying the target language. Translation and culture are very much connected, especially in business translation. A simple phrase that can appear easy to translate can become difficult because it may contain cultural subtleties that if not accounted for can bring the opposite meaning of what was initially intended and this […]
Everyone who has ever taken a foreign language course throughout their education can attest to the fact that learning a language is a difficult endeavor. Many people spend years in their secondary education taking courses in French, or Spanish, or German…. Only to be able to recite rudimentary greetings in a rigidly formal style. The […]
As businesses seek to expand their footprints and sharpen their competitive edge, the global market becomes a natural arena for expansion. Since Washington, D.C. is the global hub of government contracting, it’s a natural fit for businesses looking for international opportunities. Thus, the marriage of a D.C. location and a global business model is a […]
As English as a Second Language teachers, one of our main challenges in a one-on-one classroom environment is to get the student to open up to us so we can accurately evaluate their needs and make sure their classes are beneficial. Depending on what culture the student grew up in and ascribes to can greatly […]
There are those on both sides: grammar-philes and grammar-phobes. I, myself, am one of the lovers- I was diagramming sentences for fun when I was eight- and I found it very hard to believe when someone first told me that students don’t need explicit grammar teaching. I was horrified at the idea! I prided myself […]
People who are bilingual or multilingual have been a source of fascination for years, with various studies revealing that they are more accepting, tolerant and open-minded than others. The far-reaching impact of multilingualism does not end there, however, with recent research suggesting that the behavior and outlook of bilinguals also changes according to the language […]
Culture. We all have it. When most people think of culture, they think of the usual suspects: language, art, cinema, etc. But this only scratches the surface and might not say much about how you carry your culture with you in your most basic interactions. It truly is just the tip of the iceberg. The […]
“When art has changed, it’s because the world was changing.” –Corita Kent, creator of the “Love” stamp and activist Who knew that government procurement shared this quality with art? As the world changes, the government’s need for languages services also evolves. This means that LTC continually adapts its service offerings to keep up with the […]
I often have the privilege of teaching and mentoring the non-working spouse of my expat executive ESL clients. They generally also get 30-120 hours of language training along with the children in their families. My recent non-working ESL clients included five talented spouses. Four men from Brazil, Mexico, and Germany along with one woman from […]