When a witness reports, a document suggests, and a translation claims certainty A witness is interviewed after an incident. The investigator asks: “What did you see?” The witness replies: “I saw someone leaving the building shortly before the alarm went off. I think it might have been the technician.” The statement is translated for an […]
Tymur LevitinWe often imagine a word as a line of meanings placed one after another. But grammar does not always build words in a straight line. — Tymur Levitin Imagine that you want to say something very simple. I am resting. You know the action: resting. You know the person: I. In English, the two pieces […]
Tymur LevitinWhy a correct figure, an accurate measurement, or a convincing statistic may still fail to support the conclusion drawn from it. A school reports that its students achieved an average examination score of 82%. A company announces that customer satisfaction increased by 15%. A medical device displays a precise numerical reading. A researcher presents a […]
Tymur LevitinWhy translation can preserve every visible detail of a sentence while changing what the sentence actually does A translation can be grammatically correct, lexically accurate, and entirely understandable — yet still fail to reproduce an essential part of the original communication. Nothing obvious has disappeared. The names are still there. The objects are correctly identified. […]
Tymur LevitinYour words may be correct. Your qualifications may be genuine. But does an employer in another country understand what your CV actually means? By Tymur Levitin | Levitin Language School Imagine an experienced professional applying for a position abroad. They have ten years of relevant experience, a university degree and several important achievements. Their CV […]
Tymur LevitinThe mathematics of percentages is often simple. Understanding what those percentages actually describe is a different skill. By Tymur Levitin | Levitin Language School Two students improve their test scores by 20%. Two shops offer a 20% discount. Two companies report 20% growth. At first glance, these statements appear to describe equivalent changes. They do […]
Tymur LevitinTwo students take two different mathematics examinations. Both receive 80%. Their parents are satisfied. Their teachers record the same percentage. The school reports that both students achieved an equally strong result. But what does 80% actually mean? The first examination consisted mainly of routine calculations. The second required unfamiliar problems, mathematical explanations, and the evaluation […]
Tymur LevitinA grammatical category tells us which words belong together. It does not automatically tell us what people believe about the things those words describe. — Tymur Levitin Imagine opening a grammar book and discovering that the words for woman, fire, water, sun, dog, and scorpion can belong to the same grammatical class. Your first reaction […]
Tymur LevitinA student receives 90% on a multiple-choice examination, 65% on a written test, and 75% during an oral assessment. The subject is the same. The student is the same. The underlying knowledge has not suddenly disappeared between examinations. So which score represents the student’s actual ability? The highest? The lowest? The average? Or is the […]
Tymur LevitinWhen Feedback Helps Learning — and When It Interrupts Thinking A student begins speaking in a foreign language. The first sentence contains an incorrect preposition. The teacher interrupts and corrects it. The student continues. A verb ending is wrong. Another correction. The student starts a third sentence, hesitates over word order and receives another explanation. […]
Tymur Levitin
