The Handbook of Translation and Cognition is a pioneering, state-of-the-art investigation of cognitive approaches to translation and interpreting studies (TIS). Offers timely and cutting-edge coverage of the most important theoretical frameworks and methodological innovations Contains original contributions from a global group of leading researchers from 18 countries Explores topics related to translator and workplace characteristics including machine translation, creativity, ergonomic perspectives, and cognitive effort, and competence, training, and interpreting such as multimodal processing, neurocognitive optimization, process-oriented pedagogies, and conceptual change Maps out future directions for cognition and translation studies, as well as areas in need of more research within this dynamic field

In Pura vida (Life is good)Spanish is more than vocabulary and grammar, just as Spanish-speaking cultures are more than products and practices. In this learner-centered introductory program, the authors’ commitment to a methodology based on true-to-life experiences brings Spanish to life. Pura vida is the discovery of a Spanish-speaking world through the experiences of real people who share anecdotes and reflections on those experiences. Students relate to these people and make deeper, more meaningful connections between language and culture, and acquire Spanish with an unparalleled sense of personal engagement. In this 12-chapter introductory program, students don’t only learn Spanish for real life, but also from real life. They discover that there is not just one homogeneous Hispanic culture, but rather that each Spanish-speaking country has its own rich, unique culture and that the people who live in these countries speak one common language with different accents, characteristics, and idiosyncrasies. The program offers truly seamless integration of cultural notions and language instruction and features 100% contextualized and personalized activities.

Is there any room left for freedom in a programmed world? This is the essential question that Vilém Flusser asks in Post-History. Written as a series of lectures to be delivered at universities in Brazil, Israel, and France, it was subsequently developed as a book and published for the first time in Brazil in 1983. This first English translation of Post-History brings to an anglophone readership Flusser’s first critique of apparatus as the aesthetic, ethical, and epistemological model of present times. In his main argument, Flusser suggests that our times may be characterized by the term “program,” much in the same way that the seventeenth century is loosely characterized by the term “nature,” the eighteenth by “reason,” and the nineteenth by “progress.” In suggesting this shift in worldview, he then poses a provocative question: If I function within a predictable programmed reality, can I rebel and how can I do it? The answer comes swiftly: Only malfunctioning programs and apparatus allow for freedom. Throughout the twenty essays of Post-History, Flusser reminds us that any future theory of political resistance must consider this shift in worldview, together with the horrors that Western society has brought into realization because of it. Only then may we start to talk again about freedom.

Although it has long been recognized that second language pronunciation is strongly influenced by the native language, second language phonology has only become a recognized area of study during the last thirty years. While English has been the most frequent target language involved, the learners' L1s have varied greatly. This is the first collection to gather together studies involving English learners whose L1 is Spanish or Brazilian Portuguese, two closely-related languages with important phonological differences. The research covers vowel perception and production, syllable simplification strategies, word and compound stress, and vowel reduction. While the papers confirm the important role of the native language, they also shed light on the sometimes subtle and unexpected ways in which this variable interacts with universal markedness relationships to determine the formation of phonetic categories and their use in perception and production. These eleven carefully conducted empirical studies will provide insights for practitioners and stimulate further research.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A “brilliant and fascinating” (Eben Alexander, MD, author of Proof of Heaven) exploration—rich with powerful personal stories and convincing research—of the many ways the living can and do accompany the dying on their journey into the afterlife. In 2000, end-of-life therapist William Peters was volunteering at the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco when he had an extraordinary experience as he was reading aloud to a patient: he suddenly felt himself floating midair, completely out of his body. The patient, who was also aloft, looked at him and smiled. The next moment, Peters felt himself return to his body…but his patient never regained consciousness and died. Perplexed and stunned by what had happened, Peters began searching for other people who’d shared similar experiences. He would spend the next twenty years gathering and meticulously categorizing their stories to identify key patterns and features of what is now known as the “shared crossing” experience. The similarities, which cut across continents and cultures and include awe-inspiring visual and sensory effects, and powerful emotional aftershocks. The book is filled with “moving and tender” (Jack Kornfield, PhD, author of A Path with Heart) tales of spouses seeing their loved ones reach the other side after decades together and bereaved parents who share their children’s entry into the afterlife. Applying rigorous research, Peters digs into the effects of these shared crossing experiences impart—liberation at the sight of a loved one finding joy, a sense of reconciliation if the relationship was fraught—and explores questions like: What can explain these shared death experiences? How can we increase our likelihood of having one? What do these experiences tell us about what lies beyond? And, most importantly, how can they help take away the string of death and better prepare us for our own final moments? How can we have both a better life and a better death?