How to be good (1). Tips for translators

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 …

Modern Languages at the University of Glasgow (2): help needed for Slavonic Studies

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 …

Modern Languages at the University of Glasgow (1): great new post-grad courses

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 …

Global. It’s, like, a relative concept. Whatevs.

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 …

Buzzwords

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 …

Google adapts its terms and conditions – and its language

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 …

Brainy bilinguals: language learning makes for snappier decision-making

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 …

What’s in a name: spelling “Gaddafi”

The “As a Linguist” blog has a new post, Wait, who just died?, on the problematic pronunciation and spelling of Colonel Gaddafi’s name. I’ve been “translating” his name (from the Italian version, Gheddafi) just about every day since the Libyan uprising began (I work with another translator on the English version of the Italian Foreign Ministry’s website). So …

Ge tem, mona mour…(?) Punctuation (and spelling) botheration, Italian style

It seems that Italy too has got problems with spelling and punctuation, though in this case at graffiti rather than local authority level. The text in black above should read “L’orgoglio non serve”. Roughly translated, “Pride doesn’t serve any purpose”, to which an Italian Lynne Truss has responded “But apostrophes do”. This picture is from a …

Punctuation botheration (as resolved by Victor Borge)

UK local authorities seem to have a fraught relationship with punctuation and spelling. Birmingham City Council decided in January 2009 to remove the possessive apostrophe from its place names — presumably the issue was too contentious to resolve otherwise. St Paul’s Square, King’s Norton and Druid’s Heath have thus become St. Pauls Square, Kings Norton and …