Writing

A sneak peek at what we’re learning — and an invitation to hear the full story Picture an elderly man in central Texas, sitting at his kitchen table, talking about his childhood. He’s describing something ordinary — a neighbor, a memory, a piece of farm equipment — but the language coming out of his mouth is absolutely extraordinary. He’s speaking Texas Czech. It’s a dialect that developed in near-total isolation: 19th-century Moravian Czech, preserved in farming communities across central Texas for over a hundred years, absorbing English along the way in ways that linguists describe as unique and irreplaceable. And he, like most of the people who speak it fluently, is in his 80s or 90s. ...

The Women Behind Texas Czech Preservation: Dr. Svatava Pírková Jakobson and Dr. Lida Cope When people ask about my work applying AI to Texas Czech preservation, they often want to know about the technology. But understanding the AI requires understanding the foundation: decades of meticulous archival work by two scholars, women, who recognized the value of a disappearing dialect. March is Women’s History Month, and here is a bit about each of them. ...

This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be writing on the Texas Czech Legacy Project Introduction: The Unexpected Journey If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be spending my time listening to transcripts of interviews with elderly Texas Czechs, I probably would have laughed and said, “Yeah I WISH.” After more than two decades as a professional linguist and technical expert, my language career has been defined by academic experience, government service, and the latest advances in all types of language tools. Yet here I am, volunteering my time to help preserve a unique Czech dialect in Texas—and I can honestly say it’s the most meaningful and fun work I’ve ever done. ...

What Translation Actually Is (And Why It Still Requires Human Expertise) What is translation, really? And why does it still require human expertise in the age of AI? The short answer: Translation is the professional practice of preserving meaning, intent, and cultural context across languages. It requires linguistic ability, cultural fluency, and strategic judgment about what matters in a given context. The longer answer - and the one that explains why I am so excited to continue my “word work” after two decades in the Intelligence Community- is more interesting. ...

Why I Volunteer with Translators without Borders (And Why You Should Too!) So there I was, doing my own thing browsing around the internet, when BOOM 💥 — an email lands in my inbox: “Ready to Make a Difference? Czech translators needed for WHO project.” Wait, what? I had completely forgotten I’d signed up to volunteer with Translators without Borders a couple months earlier. And now the World Health Organization (WHO) needed me? ...

Yes. Hello. I retired from the US Government after 21 years of service yesterday. The emotions! Joy, grief, excitement. Little bit of fear. But mostly gratitude. For a career with people and experiences that pushed me waaaay beyond what I ever thought I could do or become. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, NSA. And now it’s about what’s next. Earlier this summer I set up my sole-proprietorship Language Consulting firm – AC Stepan WordWorks, the focus of which is frankly still evolving. At first I wanted to do ALL THE WORD THINGS: Editing! Translation! Teaching! English! Slavic! ALL THE WORDS! ...