How To Tell Your Browser What Languages You Speak
Posted on Thursday, 22 March, 2007
This is the first of two entries I have planned to write on language and content negotiation. A lot of non-techies do not even know what content negotiation means – which is not really a problem –, but they also miss out on an opportunity to improve their user experience on the Internet. Since in this post I am going to limit myself to language negotiation – as opposed to content negotiation in general –, I believe that it is particularly relevant to language professionals.
Categories: Language and Translation Web Development and Programming
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Back to the top of this pageQuite Some Characters: A Unicode Primer for Linguists
Posted on Monday, 19 March, 2007
For people who are part of a creation process as is the case for us linguists it often proves helpful to have at least a basic idea of the other aspects involved in that process even if, strictly speaking, they are outside our own responsibility. Since computers have become such an integral part of our lives and working environments, computer-related aspects of multilingual content should be of interest to anyone involved in a translation process. This knowledge may not be directly required for our linguistic work, but it can greatly facilitate collaboration and communication with engineers, graphic designers, etc. and make it easier to identify and analyse obstacles that we may encounter from time to time. Yes, you guessed it right, this article is dedicated to the horribly dull and nasty topic of text encodings, in particular, Unicode.
Categories: Language and Translation Localization and Internationalization
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Back to the top of this pageRegional Differences In Written German
Posted on Friday, 19 January, 2007
Now that I am doing freelance translation again, I notice that a lot of clients get confused by my regional adaptation skills. But also there is a lot of confusion in the industry as to when it makes sense to adapt copy specifically for a Swiss or an Austrian target audience rather than just to use a generic German version. Note that this post is about written German, not about spoken language.Categories: Language and Translation Localization and Internationalization
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Back to the top of this pageCucumis, a Social Translation Network – What Is It Worth?
Posted on Tuesday, 21 November, 2006
Today, Techcrunch featured Cucumis, a Paris-based free translation community. It is basically a platform for exchanging translations. To become a member, you have to know one or more foreign languages, and your translations will be rated by your peers. It is important to note that they do not sell translations, but merely act as a platform for exchanging services.
At first, I had mixed feelings. As a professional translator and a member of an association of professional translators, I should say something along the lines of how translators have an academic background for a reason and merely knowing a few languages does not make you a professional linguist. However, as a believer in all things Web 2.0, I cannot deny being intrigued by the idea. At the end of the day, it depends on the nature of your translation needs.
Categories: Language and Translation Localization and Internationalization
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Back to the top of this page“Am Ende des Tages” is an anglicism
Posted on Wednesday, 15 November, 2006
Time and again, I keep hearing the Austrian Minister of Finance say that “am Ende des Tages” the taxpayer will have to pay the bill for all those nice presents that all political parties like to announce these days. While I appreciate that he seems to be the only Austrian politician to acknowledge this fact, apparently he has fallen in love with a anglicism whose entry into the German language is quite recent, I believe, but that is about to become as wide-spread as the omnipresent “Das macht keinen Sinn” (instead of the idiomatically correct “Das hat/ergibt keinen Sinn” or “Das ist nicht sinnvoll”) or the annoying “Er hat einen guten Job gemacht” (instead of the correct “Er hat seine Sache gut gemacht”).
Categories: Language and Translation
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Back to the top of this pageThe Nicaraguan Sign Language
Posted on Friday, 3 November, 2006
Today's article on the popular “Damn Interesting” blog – nomen est omen – by Marisa Brook is about a phenomenon that is of particular interest to linguists. Marisa writes about the spontaneous creation of a highly complex sign language by deaf, illiterate children without any appropriate training in Nicaragua. To learn more about this exciting story, you may want to read Marisa's article.
What I found most interesting was one particular aspect:
Categories: Language and Translation
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Back to the top of this pageHappy Birthday, Ehrensenf – Congrats, Ruud Elmendorp – Long Live Internet Video Journalism
Posted on Thursday, 2 November, 2006
What the heck is Ehrensenf, you are possibly going to ask. Since you're asking, it's more or less like the German equivalent to Rocketboom. If you don't know Rocketboom, check it out. If you speak German and don't know Ehrensenf, have a look. Right, I am writing about video blogging/Internet TV/geek TV, whatever you want to call it.
Categories: Language and Translation Localization and Internationalization Loose Talk Web Development and Programming
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Back to the top of this pageLost In Translation: You Bet!
Posted on Saturday, 16 September, 2006
Back in Vienna after having spent two years in the UK, I have not experienced a serious culture shock yet – until last night, that is. It caught me unprepared. Watching “Lost In Translation”, I kept asking myself how I could ever bear watching dubbed films on TV before my stay in England. I am not used to it any more, it just does not sound right. Blame the war in Iraq, Guantánamo, or whatever you want for all that stupid anti-americanism in Europe, I blame badly dubbed American films.
Categories: Language and Translation
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Back to the top of this pageWhen the Translator is the Dumb One
Posted on Tuesday, 5 September, 2006
This is the first entry in my “Hall of Shame” of particularly embarrassing translation and internationalization mistakes. One might argue that this sort of post is somehow mean-spirited and it certainly is, but I think it's also a good way both to raise awareness about the challenges of language translation and to have a good laugh.
Categories: Language and Translation
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