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 →
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 →
Oddities – the 2014 version
Here are a few oddities: I have been rushed off my feet with work since before Christmas, yet I have been taking stock. I love my sleep, yet I have not had very much of it – unless you count the last four nights. I have many plans, but no concrete plan in place for 2014.... Continue Reading →
Stray thoughts for day one
Today These two daisies - one white and one purple, both fully open for the first time - greeted me as I gazed out of the kitchen window this morning. Neither has any thought for yesterday, yet without the sum of all yesterdays neither would be here today. The same is true of me -... Continue Reading →
A difficult balance
I do have a good laugh when I choose to write on a subject about which I know so very little. When I was still at school, we had to read a novel by George Duhamel entitled Le Notaire du Havre which, as now expected with so much of modern literature, had nothing - and... Continue Reading →
Cândido Guerreiro revisited
According to my blog statistics, someone read my post of August 2012 entitled, Now or never: translation of a poem and other things I do not know. I felt bad, because before, you could not see the poem and my draft translation side by side. Well, now you can. Head over there to have a... Continue Reading →
Tired old soap operas do it
As I have already indicated, tired old soap operas do it, so I am going to. I am giving you a recap. I am drawing your attention to some bits of my blog you may have missed. I am astounded that my previous post, published in the wee hours three days ago has attracted so... Continue Reading →
Trumpets and translation
Even though we strive for – and frequently achieve – excellence, we translators are normally quite a modest lot. Except today, I received such wonderful feedback from an agency, I could not contain myself. I blew my own trumpet on Facebook, which I reserve for interaction with family and friends. In typical translator fashion, I quoted the... Continue Reading →
Old translators never die
The cadence of one of my translated sentences yesterday reminded me about the fate of old golfers, and I could not remember whether real men eat quiche or not. If the truth be told, I was not entirely sure if Kisch was involved. That advice about sounding out the word in your head in order... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 