It’s always a good day when I get a translation project for a language with which I am in no way familiar. Kannada. A gross misspelling of our northern neighbor? Thank God for Google. Kannada is considered a classical language of India, spoken by nearly 38 million people. And according to Britannica.com, “Inscriptions in Kannada date from the 5th century CE, while the first literary work, Kavirajamarga (“The Royal Road of Poets”), is a treatise on poetics from the 9th century”. 

(Beautiful, isn’t it?)

This is far from the standard language requests I get each day. And knowing this bit of history gives me a sense of continuity. A feeling that I am now a part of something much larger than myself and my little world. I am facilitating another piece of literature (regardless of content) to be born into this world in a centuries-old language. How humbling. Makes me want to know more. Almost makes me want to go buy Rosetta Stone.