Blog in English

The Right Footware for Interperters

Following my New Year’s resolution to hit the road more often as an #interpreter, I bought a new pair of shoes for #business #travel. The picture here shows my purchase – what I call “hybrid” shoes - hybrid because they suit both business

Annoying Homonyms!

Let me write about how annoying #homonyms in the #Japanese language can be. ✅ Case Study The story comes back to my recent interpreting assignment in an industrial context. After weeks of hard work installing and commissioning a machine,

The Difficulty of Translating YES and NO into Japanese

Imagine you are translating specification tables containing YES and NO by the dozen. But all you have is an excel file with random entries of terms without any context. 🤷‍♀ Obviously, their straight translations, #はい and #いいえ do not work h

(Belated) New Year's Resolution

I spent the holidays at the end of the year in Japan. It was a time for a happy family reunion, rest and recouperation. But it also gave me the opportunity to reflect on myself. Last year marked a big change in my family life. My child mov

How a Hanseatic City Spelt in Japanglish

Japanglish or Japanese English is omnipresent in Japan. Upon touching down at the country’s international airport last month, I was confronted with a corporate slogan in English that sounded extremely odd due to the total lack of articles b

Happy World Book Day for All Those Supporting the World of Books!

On this World Book Day, let me shed a little light on the copyediting profession. Surely you have heard about “Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen” (by Mary Norris), which was the New York Times bestseller a couple years ago? H

Reading Between Lines Beyond Grammar Books

Have you ever been confronted with the task of translating #non-native #English? In my long career as a translator, I have come across many English texts in which the German structure in the author’s mind shines through. English tainted

In Memory of the Great "Interpreter" of Japanese Literature to the World

In the beginning was the #translation, and the translation was divine. The career of the legendary Japanologist, #Donald #Keene began in his youth when he found a cheap copy of “The Tale of Genji” (源氏物語) by Murasaki Shikibu, translated into

What Do You Mean by "Words"?

💬 The word count – it’s a basic principle in the world of translation. Ever since the introduction of #CAT #tools in our industry, pricing – as far as I know in Germany – has moved away from line counts of target texts to word counts of so

A Declaration of Love on This Valentin's Day

A declaration of love for the art of writing… Writing is an art. However, this claim is not only reserved for the creativity involved in writing a book. When it comes to translation, the author and reader come from different cultures. Bri

Calling You Names in Japanese

After posting on how to translate the word “you” in the Japanese business world, here I am dealing with different expressions for “you” in #personal #communication in Japanese. An intriguing book by Junko Sakai, “うまれることば、しぬことば” (its titl

Denglish and Japanglish for Job Seekers

In Japan, today is a public holiday called Labour Thanksgiving Day ( #勤労感謝の日 ). Historically speaking, it has its origins in 新嘗祭 (Niiname-sai), an ancient Shinto ritual practiced by the Emperor as a way of praying for a good harvest. You c

Translation Comes in Many Different Forms

Today is #InternationalDayofTranslation! But #translation comes in many different forms 🌈. Some are worth celebrating and some are not. Just look at all the different compounds that can be made using the Japanese word for translation (訳) a

Fully Armed as an Interpreter

👷 In the last few days I've been heavily equipped - with a helmet, a safety vest, goggles, safety shoes and … a #tour #guide #system. Fully armed, I took part in a tour of a heavy industry plant to interpret for #Japanese visitors. I also

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