Since becoming a parent, I’ve gotten even more interested in children, their language acquisition, and their development, so I recently read The Scientist in the Crib by Alison Gopnik, Andrew N. Meltzoff and Patricia K. Kuhl. The book is about how children learn about the world and what we adults can learn from studying children, …
I like Michael Rosen’s work for children (I use The Sad Book in my children’s literature course at the university) and I’m always interested in what he has to say about language and lit. So I was excited to read his book, Alphabetical. What a fun, interesting book! You can dip in and out and …
In Bahrain, I was beaten. For example, they asked for tea. I gave tea leaves. I did not make the tea. She put her hand on my neck and moved me to tell, ‘Boil the tea leaves. Make tea’. They told me things in Arabic, I did not know Arabic. There was no other Bangladeshi …
Can English skills help end migrant exploitation? Read More »
Considered one of the most renowned and experienced literary translators in the business, Nabil Al Haffar has received numerous awards for his work. He began translating from German into Arabic in 1974. Here he discusses his work as a translator and the challenges it presents. Mr. Al Haffar, what project are you working on at …
“Always distance yourself from the original text” Read More »
There’s a growing need for having English-language legal representation agreements translated to languages spoken by the attorneys’ foreign clients to ensuring that foreign clients understand the scope and fees associated with an attorney-client relationship. In Schneider v. Jagar, the plaintiff filed suit seeking to recoup unpaid legal fees from a former Punjabi-speaking client who had filed for bankruptcy. As …
Software, application and game developers often make a serious mistake when they approach localization by assuming it can be handled once the coding is done in native language. In fact, you need to consider localization from the very moment you start designing your application – that’s internationalization. It’s not a one-man process either. You will …
After having read Catherine’s post on I-would-not-work-with-them-again types of PMs, I thought I could add to the story by sharing from my experience as a PM. The truth is that, after having worked for a few years as a translator and interpreter myself, and having come across all sorts of PMs, when I started my own …
Think you’ve heard it all? Dealing with translators Read More »
I recently had to revise a bilingual glossary done by someone who had not training in terminology management. Mind you, her intentions were good, but from 12 pages of terms (and non-terms) I reduced it to less than three pages. So, I think this is a great example to examine some of the pitfalls that …
By Noah M. Mintz There is a lot of conversation around “emerging” translators—and a lot of jokes made about cocoons and metamorphosis. But the fact is that the practice of literary translation is a lonely pursuit, and the mechanisms of the publishing business are often dauntingly obscure to the uninitiated. So though the term may be …
Dalit literature has emerged as an integral part of a larger political movement that offers substantive and detailed protest against the entrenched system of untouchability, or the socially institutionalized system of caste-based hierarchy and discrimination, in contemporary India. It traces its modern history to the early 1970s with the foundation of a literary-activist collective called …
Beyond “Untouchability”: Dalit Literature in Hindi Read More »
