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Ambiguity in languages shows how complex verbal communication might be and instead of regarding it as a problem we should perceive it as an element adding value. It occurs when we can understand something in two or more different ways; if it happens in one word is lexical and if it appears in a sentence it is called structural. In the first case, “Note” refers to “a musical note” or to “a short written message”. In the second case, “Steve likes to paint her model standing” (Who is standing? Steve or his model?)
We tend to think that language is a clear way to communicate ideas in a concise manner but when we use the language literally, misunderstandings arise and changes in the meaning occur as well. People can be ambiguous deliberately or not. Ambiguity is in some way a poetic means as human nature tends to find a meaning in every exchange of ideas. A text is given to us and in exchange, we provide our interpretation of it. Our own skills allow us to understand what is presented before us. Most ambiguities are easily solved through our ability to understand them using the context and our experience and knowledge of the world, which by the way, is impossible for a computer as they have comprehensive lists of vocabulary but cannot interpret or translate a meaning just by the reference on the context.
Nevertheless, in Translation we have to handle ambiguity with extreme care as in some cases we must present the information almost literally, i.e., exactly the way it is used and not in the way we interpret it but in other cases we need to be more expressive and less literal in order to be more precise allowing the reader to get the information and understand it.

Paulina Torres De Witt
www.goihata.com

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I read about a study where a magnetic resonance imaging machine was used to map the language centers in the brain on multilingual individuals. Some of the people learned a second language as children while others learned it in high school or college.
Among those who learned it as children, the study shows the brain dealt with the languages in the same area: a yellow area, for example, representing the Croatian language, and a red area representing the English language. There was also in the study a large orange area showing common characteristics in the way the brain merged the verbal communication capability.
In the case where people learned additional languages but later in life, the study indicated that the brain used a separate area to deal with the new language and this is possibly related to the brain finding it easier to use a different area of the brain for the second language. The study also showed that the brain processes the information in a total different way depending on the age of the learner.
Although there is still a lot to learn about the way our brain deals with languages, the study is already being utilized by brain surgeons as now they can easily locate the language centers or the area where speech production is managed in the patient’s brain so they are able to avoid language centers during surgery.
Experience puts in the picture that children seem better suited to picking up new languages, but there is not a clear explanation why. So, the questions arise: When is it easier to learn a second language? In early childhood or adulthood? Are learning, storage, and usage of the languages more efficient as an adult? While researchers investigate I will continue as an English Trainer for both adults and kids!
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com