Accent Reduction in English: American English

Next month I will begin to teach an American English conversation course in a hospital in Indianapolis. This class is part of a program called American English for Internationals, which is designed to help international physicians, medical researchers, and other healthcare professionals to modify their accents in English to speak more like Americans. This will help them communicate more effectively with their colleagues and patients, and in social situations with neighbors and other Americans they associate with. Modifying your accent in a foreign language as an adult is not easy, but it can be done with practice and patience. Language habits, as with all habits, can be hard to change, but it's worth the effort. Your thoughts?

Present Tense in English

What is referred to as "simple present tense" in English, isn't really present tense at all. See my July 15 blog about tense and aspect in Spanish. Linguists refer to tense as when some event or action happens in time (past, present, future, for example), and aspect as how the event or action happens (habitually, repetitively, continuously, intermittently, etc.) So the the verb in the following sentences is referred to as "simple present tense."

John eats hamburgers.
Sarah plays soccer.

The verb in neither of these sentences refers to the present time, that is, right now, at this moment. Instead, they mean that John usually or routinely eats hamburgers, and Sarah usually plays soccer. So what is called "present simple tense" in English does not refer to the present moment in time, but rather to habitual or routine aspect. The reference to tense, or time, is not specific.

When we want to refer to the present moment in time in English, we use what is called the "present continuous tense," which also includes the aspect that the event or action is continuous, as in the following examples;

John is eating a hamburger right now.
Sarah is playing soccer right now.

In English, as in other areas, things are not as simple as they might first appear.

Language Interpreters and Translators

From the beginning of time there has been a need for someone to help people who speak different languages to understand each other; this is what language interpreters and translators do. I work as a freelance English-Spanish interpreter and translator. You might wonder what the difference is between interpreters and translators.

Interpreters work with spoken language. When two or more people need to communicate but don't understand each other because of language differences, the interpreter acts as an intermediary. Example: Juan and Bill need to talk about something. Juan speaks Spanish, but not English. Bill speaks English, but not Spanish. So they find an interpreter who speaks both English and Spanish to help them understand each other. Juan says something in Spanish to Bill and the interpreter tells Bill what Juan said in English. Bill replies to Juan in English and the interpreter tells Juan what Bill said in Spanish. And so the conversation can continue because of the interpreter. Professional interpreters play this role in a variety of settings in courts, hospitals, schools, businesses, government agencies, wherever language differences create a barrier to communication.

Translators, on the other hand, work with written language. They translate legal documents and agreements, books, pamphlets, Web sites, anything that is written in one language that needs to be translated into another language.

Because of the modern global economy and business and political dealings between people from different countries, there is an increasing need for interpreters and translators to facilitate communication. Many companies and individuals offer interpretation and translation services in different languages for different purposes. To be a professional interpreter or translator an individual needs to be very fluent in at least one other language besides his or her native language. This is referred to as the interpreter/translator's language pair; Spanish and English, in my case. There are courses and training programs for interpreters and translators and tests for certification in different types of interpretation and translation. One basic principle that both interpreters and translators follow is that their role is to act as a conduit for communication, adding, omitting or changing nothing in the process.

This might sound simple, but it can be difficult and challenging work, given the nuances of languages and cultural aspects of communication. For me it has been challenging, enjoyable and rewarding.

Spain Beats Germany

!Ganó España! Goooooooooooooooool. ¿Fue un milagro? No lo creo. Se me hace que España jugó mejor que Alemania y por eso ganó. No fue ni milagro ni suerte. Veremos si pueden ganar a Holanda este domingo. España nunca ha ganado la Copa Mundial. Quizás este es su año.

Spain won! Goal! Was it a miracle? I don’t believe so. It seems to me that Spain played better than Germany, so they won. It was neither a miracle nor luck. We will see if they can beat the Netherlands this Sunday. Spain has never won the World Cup. Maybe this is their year.

Sports Metaphors and Life

Sports metaphors and sports quotes are often used in the business world, especially in sales. When I worked in sales in publishing, my manager was a big sports enthusiast who loved to use sports quotes and metaphors to motivate me and the other sales reps who worked for him to do our best. Sometimes when he started with the sports metaphors, we would just roll our eyes--here he goes again! People who talk and write about success, motivation, and self improvement often use sports quotes and metaphors. Here are some common examples.

Sports Quotes

"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." Vince Lombardi (NFL football coach)

"Sports is human life in microcosm." Howard Cosell (sports announcer)

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming." (John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach who won more championships than any coach in any sport)

"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character." (John Wooden)

Sports Metaphors

The one-two punch (boxing) (to do two powerful things to get the sale, etc.)
Leave it all on the field (football) (give all you have to win or be successful)
To choke (basketball) (to miss the shot because of nerves, to fail because of nerves)
To hit a home run (baseball) (Hit the ball over the fence and score a point, to do something really good in life or business to be successful)
Suck it up! (football) (even though you are tired, do all you can to win or succeed)
Do it for the team! (general) (put the success of the team ahead of your own success)

Do you have your own favorite sports quotes and metaphors that are used in business and life?


ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY'S RIDDLES.

ENGLISH RIDDLE: Nothing.
SPANISH RIDDLE Nada. (A fish swims (nada). A fish does nothing (nada).