October 2006
Language and the brain
October 30, 2006
I’ve been thinking about the way the brain processes language, admittedly in a rather unscientific way, prompted by my own experience of interpreting and reading several articles on the Internet. While reading one of my favourite blogs, The Dilbert blog,...
The end of interpreters?
October 26, 2006
A "Tower of Babel" device that gives the illusion of being bilingual is being developed by US scientists. Users simply have to silently mouth a word in their own language for it to be translated and read out in another....
Paris Syndrome
October 24, 2006
Around a dozen Japanese tourists a year need psychological treatment after visiting Paris as the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets clashes with their expectations, a newspaper reported on Sunday. "A third of patients get better immediately, a...
My new business cards
October 20, 2006
Last week I was interpreting when one of the people in the group asked me whether I had a business card, as she might need to use my services at a later time. I scrabbled around in my bag and...
Murray's postbox
October 17, 2006
Today is an important day of action in the History Matters campaign, so I thought I would write about a landmark which has a very special place in the history of the English language. This postbox is unique in the...
How to get rid of spam
October 13, 2006
I went from receiving around 150 spam emails a day to around 3. The best thing is, I used a simple method that everyone can apply provided they have a gmail account. Gmail is the webmail program from Google; it...
Céline’s 10 Tricky Situations Translators Might Find Themselves In and How To Get Out of Them
October 11, 2006
Being a freelance translator isn't just about having the ability to take language from one culture and turn it into another. As I allude to elsewhere in this blog, there are aspects of this career which require negotiation skills and...
Downs
October 9, 2006
Design by the Brighton and Hove City Council Creative Services Team and Jo offer Downs Old English dún, hill. Old Dutch dúna (Middle Dutch dúne, Dutch Duin, whence Modern Low German düne, French dune, sandhill). An open expanse of...
Inglenook
October 5, 2006
A corner or nook near a fireplace ; chimney corner (1765-75) From: ingle 1 a fire burning in a hearth 2 a fireplace, hearth [Origin: 1500–10; Scottish aingeal fire] nook 1 a corner, as in a room [Origin: 1250–1300; Middle...
Cinema classics
October 4, 2006
This weekend I mentioned that I had never seen Grease, and next thing I knew, I was plonked in front of a television with a glass of wine and crisps and ordered to enjoy myself. It’s a film that had...