It is no secret that in our ever-growing industry the need for automation, AI and modern technologies is a thing that pulls us forward. At the same time these might…
Category: Languages of Asia
Interesting phrases in Malay for your business
Located in southeast Asia, Malaysia occupies parts of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo. The beautiful country is known for its beaches, rainforests, and mix of Malay, Chinese,…
Simplified or Traditional: the best Chinese fonts to use
Most of us living in the West are used to the concept of 1 country=1 language=1 alphabet. But when it comes to Chinese things are a bit more complicated. Okay,…
Korean language trends – growing popularity and demand in 2020
Were you around when Psy’s “Gangnam Style” song hit the global billboards and reached billions of views worldwide in the space of weeks? It’s hard to forget this. But then…
A deeper dive into Filipino culture through their holidays
You can understand people more by learning their history. And there’s no better way to find out about a country’s history than by looking at their holidays, festivals, and celebrations.…
Why Koreans say “us” and “we” rather than “I” or “me”
South Korea is an incredibly beautiful country that has an advanced economy and a very rich culture. If you’re planning on traveling there for pleasure or for doing business, your…
Burmese script and punctuation – everything you need to know
Burmese language Burmese language is the official language of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and is nowadays spoken by more than 30 million people. It is one of the representatives…
So close, yet so far: Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia
Malaysia and Indonesia are lands of diversity. One may discover such a colorful abundance of people, cultures and indigenous languages, if only one decides to look. In the splash of…
How to win Filipino clients
Situated in south-east Asia, the Philippines is a magnificently beautiful country, home to over 7,000 islands, some of which have either not yet been explored, or have not yet been…
Proper punctuation when doing DTP in Japanese
In English, punctuation might be taken for granted. After all, the comma that adds a natural pause in a sentence or the period that marks its end are things seemingly…
Honorifics in Korea: language and culture explained
As a foreigner in South Korea, you might feel overwhelmed by the plethora of questions asked of you by your hosts, including and especially, what your age is. While it…
Taglish – the mastery of code-switching
There are numerous interesting topics on language and culture that we cover on our blog weekly. We have already talked about the colorful language of Tagalog, and we have talked…
Dialects – the riches of the Vietnamese treasure chest
“Never let it be said that dialect is a reflection of intellect. On the contrary, it is a reflection of the deep traditional values of a culture” – Patricia H.…
Translating “Eva dislikes John” and vice versa – how difficult could it be?
The two seemingly inconspicuous sentences, “Eva dislikes John” and “John dislikes Eva” might seem easy to translate into the Korean language at first sight. After all, they each contain a…
Beauty lies in the small details. Discourse particles on Malaysian English
We mention quite often the usage of English “dialects” such as Chinglish, Japlish, etc. In this article, we are going to take a look at the phenomena of discourse particles…
Konglish – another example of the vibrance of the “New Englishes”
The late part of the previous century marks the birth and growth of hybrid languages, more often than not mixing a country’s native language with a variety of English. This…
Bahasa Indonesian and its sweet peculiarities
Indonesian (or Bahasa Indonesian) is the official language of Indonesia and the Indonesian archipelago. It is a relatively new language that has quickly taken its place in the rank as…