A translation agency recently sent me a one-page (270 words) document, asking me to quote for “a re-write, not a straight translation”. I did my sums and sent off the quote, without thinking too much about it. The agency got back to me a couple of days later and gave me the go-ahead. Fine. But …
Monthly archives: June 2010
Getting kids hooked on books… as art
My last post was about the unexpected pleasures that reading to children can bring – sometimes years afterwards. Another, more immediate added pleasure comes from children’s book illustrations. Here are two examples: The first two are from The Frog Who Wanted to See the Sea, by Guy Billout. And the third, sadly only published as a …
Getting kids hooked on books – payback time (in a nice way)
People talk of reading to young children as being a chore, and of parents rather than children falling asleep at bedtime out of sheer exhaustion. Well, there’s no denying that babies and young children are hard work and that sleep becomes the ultimate luxury. But reading to your kids can be great fun, not just …
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Getting kids hooked on books
Our next-door neighbours had their first baby a few weeks ago – Isadora, known as Izzi. When our own kids were born, friends and relatives gave us an abundance of (i.e. too many) baby clothes and toys. So we decided to buy Izzi a selection of books to see her from baby bathtime to school …
La plume de ma tante…
“La plume de ma tante est sur la table” is often cited as an example of the irrelevant rote learning that used to give language teaching a bad name. Here’s an overview of the etymology of “plume”: 1. From Online Etymology Dictionary: plume late 14c., “a feather” (especially a large and conspicuous one), from O.Fr. plume, from …