A blog about translation, writing and language in all its glorious aspects
One of the messages I try to convey to school pupils when I talk to them about language learning is that languages are relevant and might actually help them in later life. So I was delighted to read about a study (by Panos Athanasopoulos of Newcastle University, and others) on how language affects the way we see …
Continue reading “Yet another business case for teaching the language love”
I wrote a post last June entitled “La plume de ma tante…”, about the associations of the word “plume”. In 2010 we had the ash plume from Eyjafjallajökull, in Iceland, and the plume produced by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. And now we’re hearing about a radioactive plume from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear …
More gloomy language news. First, from the BBC: Three of the BBC language services are going off air later, as a result of cuts to the World Service budget. The BBC Serbian and Latin American services end more than 70 years of broadcasting on radio, but the Latin American service continues online. The Portuguese for Africa …
Staff at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Glasgow have organised a petition to Help Save Modern Languages at the University of Glasgow, which are under threat from proposed spending cuts. If you care about languages and their importance for our economy, our culture and our young people, please sign the petition. As well …
Glasgow University’s senior management group has drawn up plans to scrap or merge a raft of courses as part of moves to save £20 million over the next three years. The proposals, which will be put out to consultation, include drastic cuts to Modern Languages and — disgracefully — to evening and weekend classes, which …
Itchy Coo Press, the Scots language publisher specialising in children’s books, has announced that it’s closing down. Creative Scotland, “into which the Scottish Arts Council was merged last year”, has decided to withdraw their subsidy. There’s a full report in today’s Scotland on Sunday (20 February 2011). Matthew Fitt and James Robertson, who run Itchy …
Continue reading “Funding cuts and language (1): Itchy Coo Press closing down”
At the hairdresser’s today, for a much-needed cut by the wonderful Carol, we got to talking about books. I don’t usually go to the hairdresser’s expecting literary chat (more fool me). However, I came away with some great recommendations, including the advice to stop off at the Oxfam bookshop nearby, which Carol said is really well-stocked. …
Here in the UK inflation is still rising and the recent 2.5% increase in Value Added Tax will add to the upwards pressure on prices. Not to mention the mutterings about interest rate rises further down the line. If you’re self-employed and want to maintain your spending power your options are: Work smarter — make …
Continue reading “Fees: to raise or not to raise? Take our poll”
One of the New Year’s Resolutions I recently suggested for small-business owners was to get involved in educational outreach. Tess Whitty has done just that and has written a marvellous guest post (our first ever!) describing her experience. Here it is. School Outreach – spreading the love of languages and translation I grew up in a bilingual …
Continue reading “Spreading the language love (3) by Tess Whitty: our first guest post!”
Do our clients make New Year Resolutions? Or, given that as business owners we too are clients (to our accountants, designers, marketing advisers, lawyers, printers…), do we ever make resolutions wearing our client hats, rather than our “own business” hats? Here are some resolution suggestions for anyone wanting to be a better client. Resolution 1 …