The Week in Review - 5th June, 2011

Welcome to the end of another week, or the start of a new one if you're one of those weirdos who considers Sundays the 'start' of the week. ;)
 
This was the first week of our new posting schedule - once on Wednesdays and the review on Sundays, as usual. However, the surprise element has been our FaceBook page, which has allowed me to quickly frame my thoughts and post any interesting issues as they've come up. It also allows you other FaceBook peeps to quickly reply to these brain burps. Apart from a few funny, translating-related pictures and so on, let’s look back at some of the highlights of the past week.
 On Monday the 30^th, we looked at how to collocate ‘professional’. A line from an advertising text for a catering firm that I was working on read: "Nice and professional service, competitive prices."
 
This is an odd collocation, nice + professional. It sounds sort of contradictory, and many people do indeed believe that being professional means not also being nice. So any time you want to do something with 'professional' that isn't ultra hardcore business/banking/legal etc, go for the common collocation of friendly + professional. np.
 
"Friendly, professional service, competitive prices." Note that you will always use a comma, not a joining article. Another common collocation for professional is fast.
 
On Tuesday the 31^st we looked at an ‘inspirational’ photograph (includes a rude word, uwaga) that highlighted a notorious film title translation: Bruce ‘the King’ Willis’s legendary Die Hard, translated appropriately enough as ‘Szklana Pułapka’ (Glass Trap) for the first film. But how do you cope with the fact that the ensuing sequels were based in airports, cities and the Internet? Is the title still appropriate, or was it itself a kind of pułapka? Hmm.
 
Wednesday the 1st of June saw us flirting with noun usage, based on this line: "Supervision over the committee reviewing the entities' applications is conducted by a secondary team of experts and judges."
 
Correct usage of the noun supervision here is with of, never over. Put simply, you’d never write supervision over, only supervision of. Similar words and phrasing, that might be responsible for the confusion here, include 'look over', 'check over' and 'oversight', e.g. “to have oversight of sth.”
 
Thursday the 2^nd left two interesting items on the doormat (however, I’m only going to give you one here; you’ll need to go and look at the other one yourself – note that you DO NOT NEED TO HAVE A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT TO JUST VIEW THE BAD ARTICLE PAGE!!!!!). The first of these is a very, very important thing to learn and remember – I should point out now that things that appear on the FaceBook page that then appear here are in NO WAY LESS IMPORTANT than those items that appear here on Wednesdays (sorry for all the caps, but this stuff is important you know ;)).
 
1a. "This causes that people ..."
1b. "This means that people ..."
 1c. "This causes people to ..."

 Verb use of cause is often used wrongly (1a), and the safer, better bet is to stick with (v) mean instead (1b). Depending on the rest of the sentence and how much work you want to do on it, you can rephrase and keep the cause (1c) – just remember the key part: writing causes that can lead to premature baldness in men and advanced short-sightedness in women!

 That’s all for now, friends. It looks like it’ll be another hot, sunny day here in Kraków, so I’m off to open a window (hundreds of pages to read by yesterday, fast!). Enjoy yourselves. :)

 Jim :)

The Week in Review - 29th May, 2011

Another Sunday, another dollar. Or złotówka, or euro... Those of you with children will no doubt have been to, or are planning to go to, some kind of family picnic or other sort of public party in honour of Children’s Day, which hits us this coming Wednesday. The Little Proofreaders had a fun time yesterday – despite the rain – at our local dwór, meeting Bolek i Lolek, listening to live music and munching parówki.

 Meanwhile, work continues apace for the Big Proofreader; April and May are historically very busy months and this year has been no exception. Still, an end is in sight, which pleases my aching eyes and sore pupa, and worries my shrinking bank account. The srebrny lining to that impending chmura is that I have more time to think about the Article.

 After a recent unexpected hiatus this month which precluded any posting for nearly two weeks, I was finally forced to admit that our so-far packed schedule would have to be trimmed further down. So from now on, the schedule will look like this:

Wednesdays: New translating issue discussion,
Sundays: Sunday Review, which will be broader in scope and could contain minor flirtation with smaller translating issues,
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: Other Things, as and when (if) they occur.

 The upside is that the main Wednesday articles can be longer, more thoughtful, and contain more precise explanations. Last week’s look at dag is an example of what I’m thinking about here.

 The other thing I’ve been thinking about is how to make it easier for you to talk here, if you so wish. I know many people have been having problems with the ‘log-in to comment’ system here on Blogger.com. Again, the easiest way is to use your Gmail or Google account details, since Blogger is owned and operated by Google.

 Even so, it doesn't always work so easily. So you may already have noticed the FaceBook comments box at the bottom of each page. Knowing that more people are signed in to FaceBook at any one time than any other website or service, I think that this will perhaps be a big help. You don’t need to write a whole thesis to comment or ask a question, plus it opens things up for you guys to talk amongst yourselves. Just remember that the comments are not specific to each page, but rather are universal across the whole blog.

 Even better, the whole thing is linked to our actual BadArticle FaceBook Page! Yes, that’s right, The Article is now on The Book! We’ve got pictures and videos already, and any other handy, illuminating or amusing resources we find can also find a home there. Have a look; it’s something else. :)

The Sunday Review, 08/05/2011

Not much to report today. Been busy with the ol' freelance stuff, most of which has consisted of extracting images from Polish PDFs and applying a fresh coat of English to their labels and signs. Always good fun because it's quite relaxing. The key is to use programmes you're comfortable with, and NOT get suckered in on the ground floor by PhotoShop if you're new to image editing. A better option is to start here, with Paint Dot Net.

In other news, our friends over at the FaceBook group Tłumacze z polskiego report the sad demise of the University of Westminster's MA Conference Interpreting course. Happily though, they seem to be replacing it with MA Interpreting. At any rate, Westminster is a very good school for linguists, so if you're thinking of going abroad to continue your education in this kind of direction, give them a look, here.

Anyway, must dash. Rest assured that there will be a few interesting things coming up this week, new items that I've been working on itd itp. Also, don't forget to sign in with your Google or Gmail accounts if you want to comment. I am looking at the possibility of transferring to WordPress or something similar, but don't hold your breath.

In the meantime, goodnight and dobranoc. Jutro is Monday znowu, so we'll need all our strength!

Jim :) 

The Sunday Review, 01/05/2011

What a wet day it is here in Kraków! Still, rainy days are a great excuse to stay at home and relax, and if you're in-between jobs at the time, so much the better. Today, being both wet and work-free, means that I can sit down and write the weekly review at leisure.

There are a couple of things I wanted to discuss with you about our Bad Article. The first is to review the kind of stuff we're doing here. As we enter our fourth month together, regular readers will know that most of the entries so far have been our little translating 'issues' - mis-use of words, correct use of punctuation, formatting stuff, all that kind of thing. These are the meat and potatoes of the blog, and the articles and other more abstract posts are the vegetables and gravy. I'm not sure where the wine is, I ordered it ages ago but it still hasn't appeared. Anyway.

The thing about our 'issue' posts is that, from my point of view, they're equally applicable to all translators, regardless of age, rank or experience. But I'm also aware that we need to do some more 'hardcore' stuff too, because some of you will not be affected by the simpler stuff. So, in future, I'm going to try and be a bit more proactive and take the time to prepare some heavier stuff. From what I've heard from you all so far, good article usage is of key interest, so as of next week we're going to start a regular series on this topic. Don't expect fireworks all at once; I'm thinking this will be more of  a slow romance, albeit with lots of flowers and nights out at the opera.

On the same note, I had always envisaged doing more of the abstract vegetables too, and although I geed you all up for some interviews and guest columnists, so far we've only heard from our media translator, Dotty. Well, I'm also planning on introducing some opinion pieces, where we take a more 'behind the scenes' look at the translating world. These will be based on my own experience, and I'd encourage you to agree or disagree on those pieces. With a very gruby work commitment now clearing up, I'll have more time to sort all this lovely stuff for you too.

Finally, I'd just like to reiterate that if you have a gmail address, or a Google account of any sort, you can use that to 'sign in' here and leave comments, which are always welcome. Remember, this is your blog too, so don't be shy about telling me what you want doing with it! :) 

So, let's proceed through wiosna to letnia with a spring in our step, and look forward to some variation in our diet at Chez Article. For now though, it's time to relax a little before Monday arrives to clobber us all once again...

TTFN,

Jim :) 

The Sunday Review, 10/04/2011

Good weekend to you, fellow wordsmiths. Won't you take a moment to join me in looking both ways before crossing the weekend road to next week?

It's been fairly quiet around these parts; illnesses fading, Small Proofreaders playing quietly together with their klocki. All in all, a rare blessing indeed. The one thing of related interest that did come up was a rather depressing negotiation with a client about a very large, very ongoing job which we're ploughing through as we speak and will probably keep us busy until autumn. 

Despite this being our third year together working for this end client, it turns out now  that my mostly monolingual-but-bilingual-where-necessary proofreading on this project is being monolingually proofread again by the agency, then passed to the client for final approval before being deemed as payable. 

Now, all of this is understandable - to an extent. You expect the agent to look over your work again themselves, it's common sense. But they're actually going over it in a very laborious way, which includes comparing the lengths of paragraphs between ST and TT and then emailing to ask if we missed a bit or added a bit. In that terribly polite, passive-aggressive way the English are World Champions at. 

Again, I'm always happy to deal with feedback and critique, especially if it will produce a better end result. I've always said pride and ego should have no place in the active work of this job. Of course, being proud of a job well done is something else. 

But what really gets my goat is that all of this post-return palava is resulting in 60 day+ payments! I long ago stopped working for anyone paying on 60 day terms when I realised how expensive it would be to fly around the world shoving exploding puddings through their letterboxes, but now I'm here again, watching the bills mount up while these phlegmatic Brits ponder their texts. 

*sigh* Well, it's my fault for not negotiating a better schedule at the outset, and hopefully now it's all sorted, but I can't help wondering how, of so many people further down the chain, no one said 'Gosh, we're taking ages with these things, I wonder how the translators are coping?'

Oh well, c'est la vie. Better things lie just around the corner. Like this, for example:

The Sunday Review, 03/04/2011

Another week goes by, and this time it drags a month off with it too. April greets us down here in Małopolska with warm, summery days that already see the parks filled with kids and sunglasses. Meanwhile, for some of us, work goes on...

But never mind, let's take a wee break and reflect a little. Here at the Article we had a pretty good week I think; only three posts since Monday, although on consideration, I think maybe three is enough. I had initially intended to do one every day. but after a week my friend pointed out that it was perhaps too much for most people to digest. I have to say he's probably right, so even after a few accidental misses recently, I'm thinking about a Monday, Wednesday, Friday format, with these informal meetings remaining on Sundays. Sound good?

In other exciting news this week, a friend of mine from my university days recently had her first book published. It's called You are Beautiful, and it's about how God can mend your broken heart and put a smile on even the most recalcitrant face (or something similar). If that sounds like your cup of tea, pop over here and have a look. Well done Dr. Joy, best of luck with that!

I also caught sight of another very interesting book in a recent copy of The Economist (far too businessy for me, but a visiting guest left it behind and I find it very good toilet-reading material ;). The Language Wars: A History of Proper English by Henry Hitchings is out now. The Economist's OP, which I thought was rather clever, goes:

"As everyone knows it is wrong to begin a sentence with 'and'. And a sentence cannot be grammatically correct without a verb. Ever. But where do such laws come from? Who institutes them, on what authority? Do such rules actually enhance the beauty and the meaning of the English language?" 

So if 416 pages of explanation and investigation behind the origins, uses and abuses of English light your fire, have a look at the amazon.co.uk page here - it also features an interesting video by the author. 

Righto then, back to the coal face. See you all tomorrow! :) 

The Sunday Review, 27/03/2011

A mixed week this one was; our translating rollercoaster went down, down the spiral of Missed Entries and climbed up, up to the heights of Guest Columnist. Personally, I really enjoyed being able to bring a different voice and a fresh outlook, particularly as it came from within your own ranks. There will be more, much more of that sort of thing. Unfortunately I’ve been so busy lately myself with the old eyeballing of words thing that I haven’t had time to send out my carefully-conceived-down-the-pub-after-three-G&Ts wywiady.

In other news, I fiddled around a bit back-stage and added some colourful buttons down the side, and an apparently non-functional FaceBook ‘Like’ button. I was assured we didn’t need an actual fan page for this, but oh well. At least I know how to do all that should the need, want or desire arise. What do you think, would it be cool/funny/life-enhancing to ‘like’ articles here that you, err, like?

Looking ahead, I can safely say we’re going to have more idioms, more formatting issues (seems to be a popular topic, the old formatting thing), and some more quiz work. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your weekend, and if you’re working now, powodzenia. :-)

The Sunday Review, 13/03/2011

This past week at the Article has been Time Travel Week – wherein all our little translating issues have been time-related, from since to possibility, at the turn of already existing. Doc Brown would surely approve!

Friday saw part three of our series on becoming a translator as we looked at some of the stresses and strains involved. We’ll be hearing more about the ‘hidden dangers’ of the profession in a forthcoming interview with a work-from-home translator and mother of two. But more on that later, for now we’re still cleaning out our trans-perambic combobulators and throwing the sheet back over the trusty DeLorean.

Looking ahead to the week to come, we resume our normal, pedestrian stroll forwards through time, perhaps stumbling over a surprise or two, but in the meantime, trzymaj się ludzie, Monday comes! ;)

Best,

Jim. :)

The Sunday Review 06/03/2011

With the weather in Kraków being a little ‘fresher’ than two recently chory little boys would like, here at the Article we decided to stay indoors and try to beat our record for building the tallest ramp for toy cars to zoom down and crash into Star Wars figures from.

Speaking of records, it’s been a record week for us too, with nearly 600 hits from visitors around the web, most of whom stopped by on Thursday after we posted on the forums of various translating sites around the web. We also rolled through February and into a new month, which for those of you unfamiliar with how the Blogger.com system works, means that our previous articles can now be found by clicking ‘February’ in the Archive tree on the right.

Some of those hidden treasures include part one of our ongoing series on becoming a translator (part two appeared on Friday), as well as an apparently thought-provoking look at some common formatting problems (the first of many more to come!). Some small tweaks to the appearance of the site also took place, including a new background image (with plenty of home-made ‘charm’), inspired by our loyal Nowy Targ agent, Sabina Ptas. Thanks Sabi!

Behind the scenes we moved closer to bringing you the first of our ‘celebrity’ interviews, as well as taking a significant step in terms of content distribution, or in other words, we’re posting one article a day now – wouldn’t want to impinge on anyone’s FaceBook time now, would we? ;)

Join us tomorrow as we fling ourselves with abandon at another exciting week of translating and interpreting fun!

Regards,

Jim :-) 

The Sunday Review, 27/02/2011

Ahh, Sunday. A time for rest and reflection after a busy 24 hours of hard-core raving and shape-throwing down the local meat market. When the dust has settled and the bacon has fried, it’s time to pour a hot black coffee and settle down with the ‘papers. After that, maybe a nice ramble over Hampstead Heath or, if that’s approximately 1,430 km inconvenient, a stroll around park Jordana* and a quick stop to tag the new Wisła stadium with some good old fashioned Cracovia graffiti. Or if the big breakfast and jug of coffee weren’t enough to motivate you, how about just relaxing here with me whilst we look back over the week gone by, and squint our eyes as we peer into the next seven days...

Wednesday the 23^rd of February (note the dramatic inclusion of the and of in that date; two essential items for all but the most hide-bound legalese!) was the magic day that this wonky endeavour cracked open it’s bleary little eyes and squawked ‘mama’ for the first time. A triple bill featuring a welcome letter and introduction from yours truly, plus the first of many translating ‘items’ delivered this blog kicking and screaming into the world, followed by a quickly established pattern of one translating item in the morning and a feature article in the evening (or at night, depending on how soon I can find the keys to the drinks cabinet).

Here at the Article, we foresee weekends being a little quieter content-wise, with just our Sunday review and preview and perhaps a small morsel of interest on Saturdays to distract you from the usual weekend routine of sprawdzenia and crack cocaine.

Looking ahead into our cracked and oddly lumpen crystal ball, some very exciting things are looming out of the psychic fog. Negotiations are currently under way between Uncle Proofreader and a series of very different, very interesting translators and interpreters. Interviews are being planned, guest columnists approached (stealthily, and from behind), and soon other voices will be heard on this blog. An even bigger surprise awaits the loyal reader in March, as we debut an occasional series of new and exciting columns by friends of the Article. Perhaps you’ll be one of them? As always, all of your comments and opinions will be greeted with open arms, hugs, slaps on the back and a round of grilled cheese on toast by the fireplace. It doesn’t matter if you’re a brand new translator or even a slightly soiled one – there are no stupid questions and no boring ideas here, only interesting, friendly people who share a common goal.

There are many more exciting things afoot here, so stay tuned. Competitions, interviews and our usual blend of feature articles and spotlights on common En<>Pl translating mistakes are just the tip of the raspberry-flavoured iceberg!

Have a relaxing Sunday,

Uncle Proofreader. :-)

*Dr. Henryk Jordana was a doctor, yes. But what kind? First one to post the correct answer in the comments section wins a random book from Uncle P’s library!