There are fewer more in-demand specialised translation services than legal translation. Considering the stakes involved and the threat of potential law suits should any notable errors crop up, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, yet these are not the only factors that bring about such as high demand for the service.

Globalisation is seeing more and more companies branch out across the globe, leaving contracts, insurance policies, tax returns, warranties and numerous other legal documents all in need of translation. As well as obviously taking the linguistic side of things into account, there is also the matter of getting every document in line with differing laws and regulations that exist in every country.

Making the decision to become an interpreter is a fantastic choice for language professionals and could ensure you a long and interesting career. As with most jobs, there are certain character traits that often allow for certain people to be more suited to this role. To start with, enjoying human interaction is obviously a must, if you don’t like people than this definitely isn’t the job for you! It is also a must that you have a passion for, and interest in, languages. You must also be able to maintain a level of professionalism in your work whilst also being culturally sensitive and aware. Again, as with most jobs it is also essential that you are a reliable and organised person who is committed to being punctual.

Depending on where you eventually end up finding employment, you may find that your career is incredibly rewarding or on the flip-side, incredibly draining. The kinds of institutions that necessitate the skills of an interpreter range from hospitals and colleges to all kinds of businesses and social services.

An investigation conducted by the language police in Quebec has finally come to an end after five long months. After an anonymous complaint against an Italian restaurant in the region, the authorities sent a letter to the owner, informing him that by using too many non-French words on his menu, he had in fact broken the law.

The language police are a specialist unit within the government of Quebec that operates with the intention of preserving the French language and resisting the influences of others, especially English. People who feel that the French language is being intruded upon, in any aspect of society, can make a complaint to the language police and an investigation will take place.

A career in languages can be a very interesting and exciting one. If you possess the skills required to enter this industry then there are no limits to where, when or who you could work with! For those people who are bi-lingual from birth, this could indeed be the perfect job, similarly for those who have committed to study an additional language, working in translation is an attractive prospect.

If you have studied language at university level then you are likely to have strong oral and written communication skills as well as having good presentation abilities. It is also likely that you have lived in or travelled to a foreign country before. If you do have some experience of a foreign country then it goes without saying that you have encountered different cultures, people and languages to those you would consider the norm. All of these things put together make for the skill-set necessary to make a great translator! 

If you own a business that has a successful international arm or you operate in a multi-lingual community, employing the use of interpreting services can greatly benefit your business. These services can help you interpret audio and video into and out of any language you may need in order to promote your marketing and selling skills. This eliminates the need for you to learn multiple languages, which could be impossible especially if you don’t have a good head for languages. It also eradicates the need to hire individuals who are fluent in the languages you require as managing them would be a expensive and time consuming. The use of interpretation services can serve your business in several ways.

The National Chinese Language Conference has been taking place in North America since 2008. At present, it is the biggest such meeting in the region and has been heralded as a fantastic place to share ideas. Every year, the conference brings experts on relative topics to North America to discuss the past, the present and the future of the Chinese language and cultural education. The experts who are in attendance each year all share the same aims and are united in their commitment to bridging the cultural gap between China and the US.

There are approximately 1.3 billion Chinese speaking people in the world; Mandarin is the most spoken language around the globe. Chinese is also considered an extremely popular business language due to the massive amount of trade that is conducted in the region and the fact that China has the second largest economy in the world. 

If you’re considering expanding into a wider market by selling products or services overseas, then it’s essential to use a professional translation agency to make the most of your business.

To make sure that you do everything you can to increase your chances of global success, take a look at these four reasons why you need business translation.

The Bengali alphabet is culled from the Brahmi alphabet and is closely related to the Devanagari alphabet, from which it started to diverge in the 11th Century AD. The current printed form of Bengali alphabet first appeared in 1778 when Charles Wilkins developed printing in Bengali and a few archaic letters were modernised during the 19th century, but the overall the script and the alphabet have remained unchanged.

Today’s technology has made it much easier for people to communicate with each other across countries and continents, but in many cases the language barrier can still be a problem. In order for technology and medical science innovations to grow successfully it needs to be made accessible so that people around the world can understand it. Since the majority of medical, technological and scientific research papers are written in English, medical translation is needed in order to increase access.

A professional medical translation should be performed by someone who is not only an expert in the language the document will be translated into, but also an expert in medical terminology. In many cases medical documents are translated by a team of people including doctors and medical experts to ensure that the up-most accuracy is maintained.

Interpreting agencies offer many different types of interpreting services today, all of which suit a variety of different industries, events and occasions. Going through an interpreting agency is always best as they can offer bespoke services, tailored to the particular needs of a client. Requirements might range from a specific subject at a conference to cultural preferences at a business meeting. Whatever the occasion, it is important to have an interpreter who fits the bill in terms of specialised knowledge. The best way to recruit an interpreter is to ascertain the fluency of their skills in the source language and in the target language.

Interpreting also comes in various forms depending on the mode of delivery.  If you have ever watched a televised foreign press conference, you will be aware of the art of simultaneous interpreting. This involves an interpreter working from inside a room or booth, listening to the conference through headphones and simultaneously interpreting into a microphone the spoken words in the target language. For this sort exposure the interpreter has to be quick, familiar with the jargon and fluent. A smaller scale scenario might see whispered interpreting also known by the French word for whispering as ‘chuchotage’. This type of interpreting can sufficiently serve a small group of four or less people wherein the interpreter restates to them in a whisper, to avoid disrupting the rest of a conference or meeting.

With the possible exclusion of Russia, the BRICS members are all developing or newly industrialised countries, but they are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies. Brazil is having a significant influence on regional and global affairs, having established them as the world’s fifth largest economy since the UK failed on its credit rating recently.

The five BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion people, with a combined nominal GDP of US$13.7 trillion, and an estimated US$4 trillion in mutual foreign reserves. The United States has had a massive impact on the way business and translation are influenced as Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language. With the exception of Brazil where Portuguese is the mother tongue, Spanish is the language of preference in Central and South America. This is mainly due to the fact Brazil was discovered and then later occupied by the Portuguese in the 1600s.

Marketing translations are business plans and documents that are required by companies that are seeking to enter foreign markets. For example, if a company from the UK wants to sell its products in Japan, to enter that market legitimately they would have to translate a variety of documents, from business and legal ones to marketing and publicity materials. This all helps to ensure that the business is set up properly and the product(s) reach the targeted country efficiently, in this case Japan.

Successful translation requires a high degree of skill and familiarity of the source language as well as the target language. The translator or the agency you employ to do the job must have staff who are highly qualified either in the field of copy writing, marketing, advertising or even journalism. The translation of even apparently simple documents requires intimate knowledge of the language, as well as its background including the culture of the place where it is spoken. In a country like Japan, business practices are not similar to those of the West.

New York City is home to nearly 9 million people and attracts tourists from absolutely every corner of the globe. As well as being a great place to party all night and shop till your credit card is rejected, it is also a haven for linguists and home to approximately 800 different languages.

It’s not difficult to hear a wide selection of languages in the city, by simply walking through the streets or jumping on the subway you can hear many different tongues from the people around you. It is also completely normal to see things advertised or displayed in different languages, such is the massive cultural diversity of New York. 

Very little has been recorded as to the linguistic wealth of the Burmese people over the years. This is perhaps owing to half a century of oppressive military rule, following decades of British colonialism. This has prevented the English speaking world from fully appreciating the literary wealth of this very interesting country.

The lack of a standardized Roman character translation system has meant that the literature that was available during the last 50 years was not only strictly censored by he former Burmese military junta, but also difficult to come by and even more difficult to translate.

Many people would love the freedom to work from home. If you have good bilingual or trilingual language skills, then providing telephone translation services is one way to make some extra cash without leaving your house. Nevertheless, before you get excited about becoming a phone interpreter, there are a few things you need to know - some pros and cons about this profession.

There is no shortage of telephone translation companies in North America, Europe, Canada or Australia. In-house operators and translators and work-from-home translators are hired for full-time, part-time and casual positions on a regular basis. The good news is you aren’t required to obtain any specific training or education for this job, however, if you have a strong degree of language proficiency, you can apply.

The continuing globalisation of business through the Internet has led to an escalating demand for organisations to communicate financial information in many languages. Maintaining the accurate details of financial information during a translation is of paramount importance to businesses, investors, clients and suppliers so there is no element of fraud. The smallest of errors could have drastic consequences and could easily lead to criminal investigations and in give your trading name a bad reputation.

As with other types of professional translation, financial translation involves the conversion of sensitive accounting data, files, documents, reports, financial forecasts and web content from the source language to the target language. As well as needing linguistic expertise, financial translation is best left to experts who understand the unique terminology used in this specialist area. A financial translator will typically be qualified in their area of expertise, or would have spent a large proportion of their career in this sector i.e. like a stockbroker or an investment broker etc.

The cultural diversity of London is something that is becoming increasingly evident throughout the capital. Although it is something that has always existed in the city to some degree, in recent years the boom in migration has exacerbated the situation. The people of London are now notably diverse in origin, religion and spoken language, to name just a few.

Statistics taken from the 2011 Census further prove this point by showing that more than 100 languages are currently being spoken in almost every London borough. The amount of people who reside in the city and speak English as a first language is now at 78%. This leaves the remaining 22%, equivalent to 1.7 million people, having a foreign first language. Most concerning in terms of integration is that 320,000 of these people say that they cannot speak English well or at all. 

The government in Myanmar are seemingly ignoring a ceasefire in the region and have launched fresh airstrikes on Christian rebels. The attacks have taken place in the northern state of Kachin and have caused many to question the stability of the country and the direction of the peace process.

Violence between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar Army has escalated dramatically over the past few months. The Myanmar army have resorted to using fighter jets and helicopter guns in their attempts to subdue the KIA. A great deal of the fighting is taking place close to KIA headquarters near the Chinese border.

If you work within the automotive sector then why not consider expanding into a wider market with the help of automotive translation services.

Why Choose Automotive Translation Services?

If you already work in the automotive sector then you’ll know that technical jargon can be involved in many aspects of your business. If you want to reach an overseas client base then it’s essential to ensure that any documents are accurately translated so there’s no risk of miscommunication.

This applies to any documents that are exchanged between you and overseas businesses, such as contracts, staff policies, technical papers and legal documents. If you own an automotive company and manufacturing is carried out abroad then it’s essential that any assembly manuals are translated for non-English speaking staff.

These days it’s practically impossible to run a business without a website – and once you have your website in place it’s a good idea to make sure it appeals to as many people as possible so you can maximise your sales, whether you’re providing products or services.

If you’re planning to expand into the overseas market then it’s essential that you have a professional website translation carried out on your website. Here are five reasons why.

The importance of translation services in the world today is completely underestimated.  The global business world could simply not operate without translation services. The world market today is far more advanced than it was in the past and the global market is becoming a more dynamic, fast moving and fluctuating entity as time passes.

The World Wide Web represents a huge leap for mankind, aiding especially those sellers and buyers. They are no longer restricted by geographical limitations. A company in the smallest suburb situated on the south tip of New Zealand can now trade with a similar organisation based on the other side of the globe. The World Wide Web facilitated this expansion by breaking down all those extensive hurdles established by location. 

It has emerged that many interpreters, who have worked in alliance with the British armed forces in Afghanistan, are concerned for their own safety once the troops leave. The language experts who have risked their lives to work alongside the soldiers are now said to be starting legal proceedings against the UK government to ensure their safety. They say they are living in constant fear of the Taliban and it is of the greatest importance that they receive some kind of protection.

The rate at which troops are pulling out of Afghanistan is increasing as pressure is put on NATO from the government. When British forces pulled out of Iraq several years ago, a programme was put in place to ensure the interpreters who had assisted the troops were safeguarded in the UK with full asylum. It is now hoped that this policy will extend to interpreters from Afghanistan.

It has been revealed that under the current Tory government just 62 of the 11,861 prisoners in the UK have been deported to serve time in their home countries. This figure is made all the more shocking after David Cameron’s pre-election promise that this is something that he will crack down on. Cameron claimed he would remove several thousands of these foreign criminals from British prison systems, yet it seems to be just another promise that the Prime Minister has failed to keep.

The 11,861 foreign criminals account for approximately one in eight of all prisoners in the UK. On average it costs about £45,000 to keep a prisoner in a British prison for one year. This means the total bill for the taxpayer to house foreign criminals is around the £500 million mark.

Legislation that is currently in place in Britain means that a foreign prisoner can’t be deported to their home country without their consent, something which the majority of people are unwilling to give. In 2010, Cameron promised to remove such legislation however only the policy with Saudi Arabia was renegotiated. Following the new agreement, no Saudi Arabian nationals were sent home.

No business can expect to develop in the climate that exists in 2012 without reaching out and capitalising on lucrative new emerging markets. Sometimes businesses shy away from overseas markets because of difficulties in overcoming language barriers. However, these days as we rely so heavily on the Internet, and almost one- third of British business comes from overseas, we must not choose to ignore this area.

The only way businesses can usually do this is by using a translation agency to aid them in their attempts to move in on these lucrative target markets. This includes having translations to describe products or services, marketing translations, and all-important website translations to keep in line with the way the commercial world is moving forth today. 

Who are they?

Highly skilled individuals linguistically, not only bilingual but trained in the complex field of simultaneous interpreting. They are often used for large business or corporate events, or simply as on-hand interpreters for individuals or small groups.

Simultaneous interpreting is not simply a matter of vocal translation, but a real-time exact interpretation of speech with at most just a few seconds of lag time between speaker and interpreter.

Simultaneous interpreters must have a comprehensive background in interpreting, with experience working in professional environments, in real time, and with complex vocabulary and contextual references.

In order for your business to grow globally, and for you to take advantage of the Internet for some basic selling and marketing skills, you are going to have to utilize a professional translation company. This is imperative to presenting your company's services and products in languages which native people understand. There has been a huge escalation in demand for professional financial translation services especially when as an entity you could be launching a new product that is specific to a particular area of the globe.

Maintaining accurate financial records is a sign of good housekeeping, and, reflects the continuous changing status of your business. Providing you keep a detailed database, you will be able to monitor the success of your business at the click of a mouse. By making the effort to obtain financial translations, you can easily share vital information with business partners and shareholders overseas without any fear of fraud or other irregularities. Regardless of whether you are a big corporation or a small venture, to be successful in the target country, your documents must be legal and meet all the requirements for tax and revenue purposes.

Despite the traffic, hurried food purchases, marathon cooking and swapping of tables and chairs, this Thursday’s Thanksgiving will be a welcome break to the many who haven’t stopped to take a breath since summer. The autumn season, in the lead up to Christmas is one of the longest working periods, and with the effects of the recession and outdoor temperatures plummeting to new lows, the holidays couldn’t have come sooner.

But for those who have been hit harder than most, many victims of Hurricane Sandy will have to forego their Thanksgiving festivities this year, as they struggle to rebuild their homes.

2014 is set to see an unprecedented surge in the number of Bulgarians and Romanians entering the UK. It is predicted that twenty nine million people from Bulgaria and Romania could earn the right to live and work in Britain, a move that could pose a huge threat to the already precarious British economy.  Experts have predicted that the new laws regarding freedom of movement from these countries could lead to the kind of social reaction that occurred when Poland and other Eastern Europeans were given the same rights eight years ago.

Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007 and therefore had their rights to come to Britain limited; these restrictions are set to end on the 31st of December 2013, allowing all citizens of these countries access to the UK. Political tension between Britain and Europe has been increasing for many years now with some blaming the influx of Europeans for the low job prospects of British nationals. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has made her stance on the issue quite clear and has expressed her desire to end the freedom of movement that EU workers have. 

The medical area of expertise within the translation profession is one of the most intricate, exciting and difficult to get into. To become employed as a translator is an opportunity that is potentially open to any fluently bi-lingual person, however if you want to specify in a field such as law or medicine, then the inclusion criteria and selection process is much more rigorous. Medical translation has become such an important role within the world of language solutions that many higher education providers now offer this as an entire degree, thereby giving prospective translators the opportunity to really specialise in the area.

A familiarity with medical terminology is absolutely essential to become a medical translator and the majority of people will have actually worked as a healthcare professional previously. It is also common practice, generally as well as specifically, that a translator will translate into their native language. This is a tried and tested way to eliminate any error.

The Country of India is one of the most fascinating and beautiful in the world. There is so much to discover in terms of the people, their culture and their traditions, that you could quite literally spend a lifetime there doing just that. It is officially the seventh largest country in the world and the second most populated. The majority of this amazing country (approximately 80% of people) follows the Hindu religion, however there are several other religious groups, such as Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and more. As well as having many diverse religions, India also has a multitude of languages that can be heard throughout its many regions.

It is not uncommon for a state to have more than one official spoken language that is recognised by the central government. It is also not uncommon for a state to have a selection of different languages that aren't considered official or aren't recognised by the government at all. In this instance there is often some kind of political struggle occurring in order to encourage the government to accept the unofficial languages. The Hindi language is the most commonly spoken and widely accepted language in India, with over 180 million speakers, but this isn't true of every separate state. 

The Hurricane Sandy death toll has almost hit 100 as rescue and recovery efforts continue in the US. The storm, which hit less than a week ago, has caused mass flooding, chaos and destruction in many parts of America. Over 4 million people in 12 separate states are still without power and massive fuel experiences are being experienced by many.

In response to the emergency, the National Guard is set to deliver one million meals and bottled water to all New Yorkers who have been affected by the super storm. The death toll in America currently stands at 90, above the 69 people who were killed when the hurricane struck the Caribbean. Emergency services are still searching amongst the wreckage for those who are missing, many already presumed dead. Emergency messages are still being sent out in various languages to keep everyone informed, especially in the Spanish, French and German languages.

In the wake of the libor rate-rigging scandal that rocked the Barclays administration, the bank are now facing a fresh $470m fine from US regulators of the American energy markets. Barclays bank has been accused of manipulating the Californian energy markets between the years of 2006 and 2008.  The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission but has been vehemently denied by everyone at Barclays bank. Barclays have 30 days to contest the charges before the fine is implemented.

It is alleged that four traders from the Barclays’ West Coast power desk manipulated the power prices to gain $34.9 million for themselves. Their actions also caused a $139 million loss for rival power traders.

There are many benefits to being able to master learning various languages. This is an advantage for every person especially if one is used to travelling and learning about different cultures. Other than learning common international languages, if you are going to visit Kenya, then learning the Swahili language will also be to your advantage. Swahili is largely the language of different ethnic groups in the countries of Somalia up to the Northern Mozambique. Learning the Swahili language is also important because it is business language in most of East Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At first look, as Swahili is so different from any European or Asian language, learning it will seem to be a difficult task to undertake. However, through the aid of the internet technology, and useful software, numerous simple ways of learning the language are now most readily available. One good example of learning Swahili fast is using a tool called Link Word memory method. This type of method teaches a small amount of vocabulary of the language within two to three hours.

Every day throughout the world there are many different people, with many different reasons, who seek the services of a professional translator. However there is one thing that all of these people have in common – they all want a completely accurate translation from the best translator possible. If you have a document and you need it converted into another language, for absolutely any purpose, then it is common sense that you require a top quality company to complete this task for you. If you decide to settle on a company that is less than reputable, then you are likely to receive a flawed document and be generally unsatisfied with the service.

The Arabic language is wide spread in the West, yet lots of individuals agree that it can be tricky to master mainly due to the nature of the written script. Learning another language besides your natural tongue is regarded as highly beneficial, especially if you want to improve and move onto a better job or even develop your business interests. While it is likely you may not see yourself moving forward in the near future to working in the Middle-East, having the ability to speak Arabic is certainly a skill you can show off about on your resume.

Since Arabic is actually difficult in comparison to other languages, this demonstrates that you have the potential to learn this above other languages. You could be also designated English to Arabic translation tasks, and this means an additional income, but only if you can express yourself fluently without distorting the meaning of what you are translating. Arab countries, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are great places to work due to the well paid tax free income that you can earn. If you were determined to move to this part of the world to pursue a career, then learning Arabic would be wise. 

The definition of prostitution is one that needs no explanation, however apply the same term to politics and you’d be forgiven for being confused. The term ‘political prostitution’ has been coined as to mean offering political allegiance and cooperation in exchange for either a material benefit (cash, property etc) or power and influence.  In present day Malawi it seems this is a practice that commonplace and, in some circles, is even considered acceptable.

The Bengali writing system is not purely based on an alphabetic script such as the Latin script; rather it is a variant of the Eastern Nagari script used throughout Bangladesh and eastern India. Experts of the present day Bengali language believe it to be derived from the modified Brahmic script around 1000 CE. It is similar to the Assamese script, the Oriya script and Mithilakshar.

The Bengali Grammar is different from that of Hindi as the Bengali nouns are not assigned gender, the verbs do not change in accordance with the noun. There is also minimal changing of adjectives in the language.

The evolution of Bengali Literature started in the later half of the 19th century when the need to communicate by writing grew due to increasing trade within the region. Bangladesh’s first truly romantic Bengali novel is Bankim Chandra's Durgeshnandini (1865), while the first Bengali novel of social realism is Peary Chand Mitra's Alaler Gharer Dulal (1858). The leading novelist of the age was Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, who gave the nation its national song Vandemataram from his political novel Anandamath. This century also saw the development of the periodical press in the form of Digdarshan, a monthly magazine and Samachardarpan, a weekly paper, both published by the Serampore missionaries.

A business, whether large or small, needs to take two things into account in order to succeed. Firstly it needs a saleable service or product and secondly it needs to effectively communicate with consumers.

When you’re marketing in your own language, it’s easy to ensure that your website, brochures and business documents convey the right message, but if you’re expanding into a country such as France, it’s practically impossible to effectively sell your wares if you don’t speak the language.

In order to ensure that your message is correctly conveyed it’s essential to utilise professional French translation services or it’s unlikely that your product, no matter how incredible, will make a dent on the market.

English and German both have their origins in Germanic languages. When you study German it’s easy to see similarities and connections between the two tongues. Learning to speak and understand basic German is comparatively easy, but when it comes to professional standard translation, things aren’t so simple.

Inflections

For many people, English can be a baffling language to learn, but German is even more complex with three genders (neutral, masculine and feminine) and four cases (genitive, dative, accusative and nominative). In addition, there are several different dialects spoken in Germany which a basic German speaker would have great difficulty in understanding. The lexicon, syntax and phonology of these different dialects all vary from standard German, meaning that expert German translation services are required in order to fully understand them.

There are many reasons why people study languages. Very often it may be for a personal reason or it may be because they acquired it at school, it could also be because of a work necessity. Learning languages has many benefits and advantages in today’s world. Mandarin Chinese is one of these languages that can be of benefit to us in many ways.

Almost one quarter of the world’s population are speakers of Chinese. This in itself is an overwhelming reason to learn the language because there are over 1.3 billion people in China itself, not to mention the millions elsewhere in Singapore, Taiwan, South East Asia, America and Europe that also speak Chinese. It is obvious that the language is spreading and growing around the world and that the Mandarin culture is highly influential. Being able to speak the language to some level will obviously open up billions of new friends, customers, possible partners or new markets than you have never had before.

Kenya’s coastal history is one of great turbulence and tells of invasions by many African kings, Omani sultans, Indonesian cannibals, Chinese emperors, Portuguese explorers, American whalers and British missionaries. Over 2,000 years the hundreds of miles of African shoreline, homeland of the Swahili people, has been invaded and exploited by explorers, merchants and men from the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, China and India. These invaders sailed down the African coast to the tropical islands of Lamu, Mombasa, Zanzibar, and plundered them for slaves to work on sugar-cane farms in places like Brazil, Colombia and North America.

The Beauty of French

French is a beautiful sounding language with connotations to romance, love and fine culture. It can also remind us of times in the classroom, learning and reciting phrases in front of our classmates and teachers by rote, repeating numbers, questions and verb conjugations. Can this be the reason why Franglais is quite popular in English culture? From the early days of Shakespeare and Chaucer, French is one of those languages that we love to speak in half translation – as I’ve heard many people say before “that was très funny!” instead of “très amusant!” So where did this Interlingua of Franglais (portmanteau of French and Anglais) come about and why is it so popularly used?

Dead Languages of the World

A language is called a dead language when it is no longer spoken by people as their main language. In contrast to extinct languages that cease to have any speakers, dead languages may continue to be used in legal, scientific and religious fields. Besides Latin, Sanskrit, Biblical Hebrew, Coptic, Avestan and Old Church Slavonic among others are dead languages which are largely used for religious functions.

An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication. However, language extinction and language death are often equated.