Translation Theory and Practice

What Politeness Really Means in Different Languages “In English, you say sorry when you bump into someone.In some cultures, you say nothing.In others — you’re expected to explain your soul.”— Tymur Levitin At Levitin Language School, we don’t just teach students to memorize polite phrases — we teach them to feel the logic behind them. Because […]

Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinPart of the series: “Instinct. When language is not enough.” 🔗 Choose your language:➡️ Russian version➡️ Ukrainian version 🐺 Introduction She doesn’t scream her pain. She doesn’t flaunt her strength. She simply leaves—if no one listens. And if you’ve ever met one like her, you’ll never mistake her for anyone else. They call her many […]

Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinSeries: “Language. Identity. Choice. Meaning.” 🌐 Choose your language: 🔗 Read in Ukrainian / Читати українською🔗 Read in Russian / Читать по-русски 📍 Introduction This is not just a story about words.It’s a story told by a grown man.A teacher. A translator. A son. And it started with a simple question from a […]

What “Your Favorite Work” Really Means in German — and Why It’s Often Misunderstood 🟦 The Language I Live — Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinLanguage. Identity. Choice. Meaning. What kind of work do you love? If you’re learning German, you’ve probably learned that Arbeit means “work.”But does it also mean job? Or career? Or profession?And how would you say something like “my […]

A real story about sound, culture, and what words really mean 🪧 Choose your language: levitinlanguageschool.com/#languages Words can be dangerous — even when they’re correct In German, a tiny vowel can carry a world of difference.One student — a thoughtful, curious young man from Honduras — discovered this the hard way. We were practicing spoken German, and I asked: […]

Why Voice Matters More Than Translation «Здесь лапы у елей дрожат на весу…»The words are the same. But if you listen — it’s not the same song. When It’s Not the Voice Singing, But the Soul This song by Vladimir Vysotsky has been performed by many others —for example, the Russian band Chizh & Co. The […]

Words are not what they seem. They’re never just words. Every day, students ask me how to say something.They have the words. They have the grammar.But something still feels off. The meaning doesn’t land. The listener doesn’t react the way they expected. And then they realize:They translated the sentence — but they didn’t express what […]

👤 Author: Tymur Levitin — founder, director, and lead teacher🔗 View my teacher profile📝 Author’s Column: The Language I LiveLanguage. Identity. Choice. Meaning. ✨ Epigraph “We don’t always fall in love with the person in front of us — sometimes we fall for the echo of our own hopes.” A Voice That Sounds Like Memory Sometimes a song doesn’t […]

What “Shtil” and “Wind of Change” Reveal About Language, Culture, and Emotion Choose your language What if silence means something different in your language than in mine? What if the word “change” carries fear in one tongue and hope in another? And what happens when you try to translate not just a song, but the […]

Why One Word in Salinger’s Novel Says More Than We Think Language, identity, translation – and the loneliness no one sees 🔗 Choose your language: https://levitintymur.com/#languages ❝ Sometimes, a word we almost miss reveals everything. ❞ There’s a scene in The Catcher in the Rye that barely takes up a paragraph.Holden is sitting alone in a hotel room. He […]