26 May
By now, you’ve probably heard about Tanishq Abraham, the 12-year-old kid who is weighing admission and scholarship offers from the University of California (UC) Davis and UC Santa Cruz. He graduated from high school at age 10, and at just a few days ago, at age 12, from the American River College in Sacramento, California, […]
23 May
Whenever we speak with someone whose native language or culture is different from ours, we are essentially translating. Good translation requires much more than a vocabulary – it takes a nuanced understanding of both language and culture. Japanese, for instance, has different verbs for the same action, and using a less respectful verb in a […]
16 May
Writing is a curious job. Everyone who is literate can write. And everyone who can read has an opinion on it. So how can you tell the really good stuff even if doesn’t make the top spot on NYT bestseller list? And how can you improve your writing? These are important questions. Because, as with […]
9 May
Sometimes, students who are getting ready to go abroad to study have apprehensions about using words to describe race or ethnicity that may offend someone. Here’s a rough guide to talking about race. What is race? There is no scientific basis for race. No DNA defines black, white, or any other people. Some populations share […]
5 May
1. It marks a small but stunning victory. Many people celebrate Mexican culture on May 5 each year, but not many know the story behind it. On Cinco de Mayo (pronounced ‘singko de maa-yo’; Spanish for the 5th of May) in 1862, Mexico defeated France at the Battle of Puebla. The fighting lasted just three hours, […]
2 May
Last Monday, we argued about how language rules aren’t just for fools. This week we are going to look at 5 mistakes which are common and contrary to rules of good English usage. Language rules work like traffic rules – a combination of widespread practice and good sense. But common as these 5 errors might […]
26 Apr
I was privileged enough to spend a part of my childhood in sunny California, where I studied at an almost bohemian elementary school, complete with a farm that students tended, and teachers who felt more like friends. Coming from India, I often faced questions from students and teachers about my cultural background: Did India have […]
25 Apr
I love English. Even if I couldn’t tell you what the hell a dangling participle is, off the top of my head. Asked to define a split infinitive, I can only cite the Star Trek motto. Say orientated instead of oriented, however, and you will make me wince. But, if you were to say orientated […]
19 Apr
On January 15, my teammate Meha Gandhi and I submitted a video entry into the Marine Sciences category of the Advance to Australia film-making project. Our criterion was to make a three-minute video on the topic ‘Marine Sciences – India’s coastal and marine environments: A future for everyone?’ Instead of basing our video on the […]
18 Apr
Recently, a friend who is a professor of Italian language and culture expressed her frustration that an English-language textbook had translated “ricotta” as “cream cheese”. I remarked that it was like Indian cookbooks wrongly translating “paneer” as “cottage cheese”. She said that this was different because the author was a scholar of Italian cinema, and […]