You are surrounded!
You are surrounded by language every day. So just how aware are you of the essential role played by language in your life? Are you really able to perceive the - sometimes beautiful, sometimes dangerous - effects language has on you?
Let's take Donald Trump's tweets for instance. Everybody will agree that he influences public opinion in several ways. This is through the images he uses, through his sometimes offensive language and, as some people would say, through his stupid messages – grammar and spelling mistakes included.
So, he influences public opinion. (Well, maybe not yours. Every rule needs an exception to prove it.)
Do you have direct access to Trump's tweets in your mother tongue? Or do they come to you in your second, third or fourth language?
Or in translation? Here’s some shocking news for you: Louisa spoke to French, Russian, Italian and Dutch translators about how to translate some of Trump's allegedly stupid and offensive tweets and guess what: they all agreed that Trump should be translated literally and that any stupid and offensive English tweets should be translated into stupid and offensive French, Russian, Italian and Dutch.
But what about bad English grammar and spelling errors? Should they be included? This question caused our translators to start to think about the consequences for their own reputation. How dumb, offensive and grammatically wrong can my translation be without risking my reputation as a translator? (No, tweets don't come with footnotes.)
And you can probably guess what these translators decided next.
Whatever the decision made by your translator, it will have an effect on how you perceive Donald Trump. So just how aware are you of the essential role language plays in your life? Find out for yourself with Louisa's Trumpslation Quiz.
Would you like to comment? Please use #trumpslation on Twitter and social media or send your feedback to Louisa Van Aeken (
Louisa (17) is studying French, Italian, Latin and History at Queenswood School, located just outside London. She spent ten days as an intern at The Language Sector / De Taalsector in Ghent in August 2017 as part of her EPQ (Extended Project Qualification). This quiz is the outcome of her internship project.
And now, good luck with the Trumpslation Quiz. Go!
https://goo.gl/forms/TEB2oS3lqRzxrLOE3