The Folding Hand Fan and its Secret Language

The folding hand fan might not be too common in the United States, but this small and handy fan, which provides cooling air during summer, is used by men and women in the East, particularly those living in Japan, China, South Korea, the Philippines and other Asian countries. Unknown to many, the hand fan has such a rich history. And to top it all, it was once used as a communication tool; with a secret language only users of the hand fan knew about.

Japanese Fan Dancers

During the 19th century the fan was used as a communication tool to send out secret messages during the time when outright verbal communication between men and women were controlled. Ladies then usually have chaperones to monitor their every move. In Japan, it was used in warfare by the Samurais as well as in dances. In Korea, folding fans were used as a fighting tool and likewise in one of their beautiful dances.

While there are newer ways to keep cool, a folding hand fan is very much in use today as in ancient times. And there remains the old language of the folding fans that is still recognized in the modern day.

James Bond at 50

Sean Connery as James Bond in "Dr. No"

We’ve all been thrilled by the swashbuckling and daring stunts, the beautiful ladies, the fantastic cars, beautiful international locations, flashy espionage gadgets, and the cool and handsome persona. The covert spy, the dashing and debonair Englishman, the ultimate secret of M16, the one and only Bond, James Bond. And it’s been 50 years since Dr. No, the first Bond film to grace the big screen, came out in 1962. Sean Connery was the first James Bond in the franchise, based on the novel of Ian Fleming. Connery was only 32 at that time.

The thrilling espionage movies caught almost everyone’s fancy. Men and women, young and old, got mesmerized by the charisma of the leading men who portrayed James Bond through the years. The series is a worldwide hit. The hit Bond movies have been translated into 11 languages including Spanish, German, French, Italian and Russian. The latest Bond film, Skyfall, will also be translated into Kazakh.

Daniel Craig From The Skyfall's cast and crew arrive on location in Istanbul.

Through the early years of the movie franchise, there were some criticisms that the movies strayed from the books by Ian Fleming. However, once James Bond has settled in as a stand-alone character free from his literary roots, the only thing that remained were the titles and the Bond girls which were either from the books or related to Ian Fleming in some way. The books have also gone on to have a life of their own. Ian Fleming's last book, Octopussy and The Living Daylights, a compilation of short stories, was published two years after his death, in 1966. Since then there have been 40 James Bond books written by a series of authors.

Understanding the silent but dynamic language of hands

sign language interpreter

Most of us have been exposed to people who cannot speak and who are hard of hearing conducting conversions with the use of sign language. Sign language though, is learned and needs enrolment in a special school. And it is not just them that need to learn it but also people close to them so that they could conduct conversations normally, even if silently.

They belong to an exclusive clique, since not everyone knows sign language. Persons with speaking and hearing disabilities are still somewhat marginalized. On the other hand, they are fortunate since they are able to communicate and understand one another through sign language.

While people with hearing and speaking disabilities have their own language, there is another type of language that is more universal. It is not a unique language that is spoken by a specific country. It is not oral, nor is it written. It is more visual, but could be more forceful and impactful when you know how to read it. It is called body language, or rather; it is part of general body language. We are talking about something more pinpointed – the language of the hands.

Hand gestures could translate into so many meanings, whether positive, negative or in-betweens. It is believed that the hands are the second richest source of body expressions next to the face. As the hands also interact with other parts of the body such as the face, particularly the eyes, ears and nose, you would then realize just how extensive the symbols and meanings hand body language communicates.

Even the infinitesimal hand movement might show a subconscious thought, although at times some are done exaggeratedly or used when a point needs to be emphasized. While deemed universal, caution should still be exercised as some hand gestures that others think are innocent might have a different translation and interpretation in another culture.

Translate French to English? Oh là là, Parlez-vous Français?

French is the official language of France. But apart from France, many countries and independent entities list French as an official language. It ranks fourth in the list of commonly spoken languages in the European Union.

French as an official language

Below are just some of the countries that use French as the de facto or official language:

• France
• Belgium
• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Canada
• Cameroon
• Chad
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Guinea
• Haiti
• Luxembourg
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Niger
• Rwanda
• Senegal
• Switzerland
• Togo

There are also independent entities like French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Aosta Valley that use French as their official language. In Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Mauritania, French is commonly spoken by one sector of the population although it is not an official language. In Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, it is not surprising to hear the elite and the elderly speak French. After all, these countries once belonged to the territory formerly referred to as French Indochina.

The Dominican Republic, the Land of Dominicanese and Fast Talkers

The Dominican Republic, one of two countries on the island of Hispaniola located in the Caribbean, was discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. The country was under Spanish rule for three centuries. Although the official language is Spanish, the form of Spanish spoken in Dominican Republic is not exactly the same Spanish spoken in Spain.

Dominican Spanish is a language influenced by other cultures. When the Spanish arrived in the Dominican Republic, it was populated by the Tainos. During the Spanish rule, the Taino language was used less and less. However, the Tainos language still left its mark on both the language and culture of the country. The African language also influenced Dominican Spanish. African slaves that were transported to the Caribbean islands provided another layer to the language of the country.

Don't get it wrong - Cross-cultural awareness in professional translation.

Mistranslations and cross-cultural miscommunication sometimes arise as a result of insufficient knowledge of certain languages and cultures. It is wrong to assume that fluent speakers of a second language are able to produce a high quality translation without any other skills or qualifications. A professional translation is more than just identifying equivalent words in a dictionary or using an online translator; professional translators are able to bring valuable cultural knowledge to the translation work, which machine translation tools cannot produce yet.

Restaurant entrance sign

Spanish edition of Garry Hoyt's "Isla Verde" novel to be released.

Garry Hoyt, a recognized designer and sailing innovator, is also an author of four books. One of his books titled "Isla Verde" will soon be published in Spanish, a wonderful news to all his international readers. For updates about the book, please visit amazon.com or Garry Hoyt's website.

Excerpts from Amazon.com (English version):

If translation didn't exist...

"Common European thought is the fruit of the immense toil of translators. Without translators, Europe would not exist; translators are more important than members of the European Parliament". Milan Kundera.

We live in such a modern world and we are now used to so many technologies and devices that we hardly value or stop to think about the different disciplines and arts that make so many things possible…

There's one good example of great importance because of everything that has been created and transformed thanks to it, and that is translation. Translation has united cultures, societies, artists, writers, businesses, countries and people around the world within the passage of time.

The art of translation has made possible that the most amazing history, poetry and literature works of the greatest thinkers and authors of all times can be read, studied and understood by millions of people that speak hundreds of different languages.

The fact that there are professionals dedicated to study languages and specializing in really knowing the cultural details and customs of different countries and regions has made possible that persons from really faraway places of the planet can establish communication and find that they actually have things in common.

Since there are more than 300 spoken languages in the world, if translation didn't exist, you wouldn't be doing a lot of the things you do in your daily life. For example, you wouldn't be able to watch thousands of movies from directors of different countries because there would be no way for you to understand them, since there wouldn't exist subtitles for you to read the dialogs in your own language.

Also, many television shows that have been adapted from the originals from other countries wouldn't reach your national television providers guide, because they would be in their original languages…Furthermore, a lot of great famous books that have been adapted to the big screen couldn't possibly be so because of the fact that the books are written in the author's native languages, which can't be comprehended by the scriptwriters.

There are countless examples in countless fields that transform your everyday life because of the possibilities that translation has brought to life. The world would be a completely different place and wouldn't be so culturally rich and so full of knowledge if it weren't for translation and, of course, for translators.

Even scientific inventions and science development have advanced much more and faster because of the possibility of uniting the knowledge and the experiments of scientists from around the world that do research and work in their own languages.

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Opening new doors through languages

Languages mean new universes of people and cultures. When you learn a language or have anyone to translate some content or dialog for you, you open yourself to different points of view and new knowledge that you might not find in the same way in your own language, which, generally, involves the people you already know or have contact with.

Also, languages that are different from your own are universes of needs that might be new for you, as they have been out of your reach until the moment you open your door to them. That means that not only personally, but also in business aspects, a new language represents great opportunities of enrichment and can become a new market, new ideas, new customers, new business, new profits.

But don't worry! You don't have to actually learn the language to enter into this endless possibilities world. You can do it if you want and you have the time, but if not, there are simple ways of starting and entering step by step.

One first step could be translating your website. As you probably already know, Internet has infinite tools and contact possibilities that erase geographical boundaries and allow you to travel in seconds and find that thing or person that you need anywhere in the world. So, if you translate your website to another language, the people and organizations that will have access to your companies' information and services will multiply for a big number.

Obviously, you should do this if you really are willing to provide your services to people and organizations outside your country and that speak another language. For that you would need someone in your company to have great command of the particular language or, optionally, you could hire external services from translators and interpreters that could handle the language part for you.

You can go ahead and take the risk! Maybe you haven't seen this side of your business growth possibilities and it might really surprise you. We're talking about a whole new universe of people with all their needs. They could find what you do very interesting and useful, and they can become just what you were looking for.

It's not that complicated. You can start with getting some professional advice, having your website translated by experts that know exactly what you need and that can direct you to your target, and just staying alert and open to any new opportunity that appears. It might need a little investment at the beginning but I'll surely pay off.

Open yourself to new universes through languages! You have nothing to lose and so much to gain!