A blog about translation, writing and language in all its glorious aspects
One of the participants at the Web-Writing Webinar on 11 April asked me how translators should deal with keywords when working on website translations. The question threw me for a minute, but I realised afterwards (as you do) that the answer should have been: “With great caution”. Selecting keywords is an important part of the …
Continue reading “Web-writing for translators: keywords. Should we be going there?”
I’m delighted and honoured that eCPD Webinars has invited me to present a web-writing webinar on 11.30 am (UK time) on Wednesday 11 April 2012. While eCPD focuses on continual professional development for translators, Wednesday’s webinar will include tips and insights for anyone interested in writing good web copy. It will also give you an overview …
We had a Twitter conversation a couple of weeks ago about Zodiac signs and the sort of character traits that make for good translators/editors. I thought it would be interesting — and fun — to see if there’s any correlation between a person’s zodiac sign and their choice of translation/editing as a career. So I’ve devised this …
In my last post, I gave some tips on “How to Be a Good Translator”. Good translators (editors, web designers, accountants, insert profession of your choice) tend to be even better when they’re working with good clients. The tips listed below (from my website article How to Be a Good Client) were written with translation …
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 …
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”
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”
January will soon be here and it’ll be time to make yet another New Year’s Resolution to declutter. But sometimes it pays to be selective about what you throw out. I submitted a bid recently for a contract to translate “documents relating to the policies and administration of the European Union”. To take part, you had …
Continue reading “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath-water. Or, go easy on the decluttering”
Alexander Anichkin’s blog post, When the Poet Died, was written a few months ago (June 2011) but makes timely reading today, Remembrance Sunday. Alexander’s post starts from his translation of Gilbert Bécaud’s song “Quand il est mort, le poète” (lyrics by Louis Amade). So it gives us an insight to the challenges faced by translators in translating songs (or …
Continue reading “When the Poet Died: on translating remembrance”
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 …