A blog about translation, writing and language in all its glorious aspects
Ruth Webber, a friend and generous source of marketing wisdom, moved from Scotland to Australia earlier this year. So a new city and country to discover, and a new variant of English to explore. Here are Ruth’s first impressions of English, Australian-style. English as she is spoke in Sydney. Having been in Sydney all of …
Continue reading “English, Australian-style: impressions from Down Under”
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has published a survey calling for more training in foreign languages to help boost British exports. The BCC calls for: the National Curriculum to be revised so that studying a foreign language is compulsory until AS level additional financial incentives such as tax credits for small and medium-sized businesses …
Continue reading “Language learning matters. Word of the British Chambers of Commerce.”
I got a pleasant surprise a couple of weeks ago when I logged on to Twitter and found that several translators had been tweeting and retweeting the link to the “How to Be a Good Translator” page on my website. If you haven’t seen them, here are the tips from that page — I hope …
One of my very first dates with my (now) husband was a concert by Lucio Dalla and Francesco De Gregori in Taranto, in 1979. We were to meet in the doorway of the apartment block where I was living. Vito was about half an hour late, having forgotten the time while in the shower. For …
In my last post I mentioned Glasgow University’s School of Modern Languages and Culture’s success in fending off most of the course cuts threatened in 2011. Sadly, the Slavonic Studies Department isn’t out of the woods yet. The following is a message from Jan Culik, asking for support in the Department’s petition to the Scottish …
On 28 February the Guardian newspaper published a list of Modern languages and linguistics postgraduate and master’s courses available in the UK in 2012. For some reason, the list doesn’t include the post-grad courses available at Glasgow University from academic year 2012-13. Glasgow’s School of Modern Languages and Cultures will be offering an MSc in …
Continue reading “Modern Languages at the University of Glasgow (1): great new post-grad courses”
A recent article in the New York Times entitled “They’re, Like, Way Ahead of the Linguistic Currrrve” suggests that there’s a lot more method in teenage-girl-speak than young women are usually given credit for. The article’s worth reading (especially if you’ve got a teenage daughter…). The author cites a Saturday Night Live sketch with Maya …
Continue reading “Global. It’s, like, a relative concept. Whatevs.”
A buzzword, according to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, is: 1. a voguish word or phrase —called also buzz phrase 2. an important-sounding usually technical word or phrase often of little meaning used chiefly to impress laymen You can tell by the definitions that Merriam Webster isn’t very keen on buzzwords/phrases. Neither am I. And two …
I’ve got Google.com set up as my browser home page. I usually just glance at the little announcements under the logo and search box. However, this morning I noticed the announcement on the changes to their terms and conditions. It said: We’re changing our privacy policy and terms. Not the usual yada yada. Learn more …
Continue reading “Google adapts its terms and conditions – and its language”
I spend a lot of time singing the praises of language learning and trying to encourage school pupils to keep up their language studies. So it’s good to see more evidence that bilingualism is good for the brain, including in non-linguistic ways. According to a new study by researchers based in Barcelona, Hong Kong, London …
Continue reading “Brainy bilinguals: language learning makes for snappier decision-making”