Communication

Net neutrality has been the battle cry of many people who fear that business interests will take over what they consider a public tool supporting freedom and democracy. The FCC chair has finally come around to that view. His newly-announced plan, though, may not end the battle over control of the Internet.

Translation has an impact on our lives every day — and it has for centuries. Linguist and translator David Bellos explores the origins of translation.

Marco Antonio Tabin Garcia has never left Guatemala. When he was younger, he considered moving to the United States. But he decided against it and instead taught Spanish at a local school in Antigua for over 20 years. But in the past few years, he’s found a way to make a better living, by teaching Spanish lessons over Skype.

Years ago, political ads were ads that defined a time, defined a campaign. Today’s ads are mere soundbites, at least that’s what one advertising veteran said. He says both campaigns produced ads so bland they could have been produced by anyone, for any candidate. They’re just boring.

In many African countries, dozens of different languages are spoken by different ethnic groups. And while each country often has a European language as its “official” language, most people don’t even begin to understand it. That presents a problem for aid groups, trying to share information.