Let's see now if we can sort out a few principles. Life is what you make of it. There are certain constraints, but if persistently prodded and poked, most people will eventually succumb, and agree that this statement is generally true. For a moment, let's dispense with the idea of God, or any other higher... Continue Reading →
What is German?
A regular client (agency) sent me 160 words for urgent translation this morning. I opened the document to discover that it was already in English. I sent a quick reply and let her know that even with the best will in the world, translating that short piece into decent German would be impossible for me.... Continue Reading →
Pruned
For those hailing from southern Africa, or indeed South America where the tree originated, seeing a row of severely pruned Jacaranda trees is painful to the quick. Deformed, naked, stunted, pleading. Weird imitations of lampposts on this first fine day with spring in the air. The sky is blue, yet the trees are bare. Weeds... Continue Reading →
Rethinking Facebook
Private and Personal I freely admit that up until very recently I answered all translator forum polls regarding Facebook with the comment that I reserve Facebook for friends and family, and use ProZ, LinkedIn and Google+ and, to a certain extent, my blog, for interaction on a professional level. I had this idea that I... Continue Reading →
The Village
I live in a village in the Algarve, in the south of Portugal. There are over 26,000 such villages in Portugal. I cannot give you a link to this information because I heard it on television a couple of years ago, and Internet searches to confirm the exact number have proven futile. Things I like... Continue Reading →
Scatterling —published!
Have barcode, will publish Proof that with a bit of help from CompletelyNovel in getting the barcode to appear on the back cover, even techno-eejits like me can self-publish. Scatterling is published! Click on the image below to read online: I hope you enjoy the preview enough to buy your own copy. The format and the print... Continue Reading →
Scatterling, the book
A potted story of me so far As memoirs go, mine are intentionally short. They are composed of 45 stories. Each story is around 150 words long and has a cartoon drawing to go with it. This is about the right size of book for the kind of life I have had so far. I... Continue Reading →
Industry: Other
I got all excited when today's exercise tidying up my e-mail folders revealed that The Economist Intelligence Unit had sent me a complimentary copy their special report entitled "Industries in 2014". If you haven't clicked away from this page already, let me tell you a story about how this is connected to language in general... Continue Reading →
A bowl of cherries
Or, in my case, as I write, a bowl of dried figs, removed from the freezer and cut in half to facilitate chomping. I am definitely a proponent of the "no crumbs in my keyboard" philosophy which fellow translator Emma Goldsmith introduced in the recent video discussion while being interviewed by fellow translator and agency... Continue Reading →
You know what thought did
"But, I thought..." Whenever we uttered this as children, some adult or other would invariably reply, "Well, you know what thought did." This was a very long-winded way of saying "shut up", but it worked. We were quiet. End of argument. Then one day, when I was at university, walking along the road with a friend,... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 