Dirty Little Secrets for Translators

13
Jan

What’s the best pet for freelancers?

Dog

Pros: Unconditionally loving, bright, happy to be with you; often good at taking orders. Excellent company when one is feeling the dreaded Freelance Isolation. Need for walks encourages exposure to sunlight, preventing rickets.

Cons: So social. So so endlessly social. Why did you leave the office if you’re constantly to be accosted every time you get up from your chair by a friendly busybody who wants to know where you’re going, please, and hey are you getting something to eat, and can I come can I come can I come? Predisposed to consume everything and anything, including deeply indigestible items that will then cause predictable, unpleasant stomach upset all over your carpet. Also, may eat you if you die.

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12
Jan

What the world will speak in 2115

In 1880 a Bavarian priest created a language that he hoped the whole world could use. He mixed words from French, German and English and gave his creation the name Volapük, which didn’t do it any favors. Worse, Volapük was hard to use, sprinkled with odd sounds and case endings like Latin.

It made a splash for a few years but was soon pushed aside by another invented language, Esperanto, which had a lyrical name and was much easier to master. A game learner could pick up its rules of usage in an afternoon.

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10
Jan

Poll for Freelance Translators

Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey about the use of accounting tools:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8ZC6Q5S

09
Jan

The mysterious origins of 21 tech terms

We use 21st century tech terms like hashtag, stream, and mouse with casual indifference, but how did these words get to be so commonplace in our everyday vernacular? We know the origins of Superman (kryptonite), Spider Man (radioactive spider), and Batman (rich boy’s revenge) but not “podcast,” “spam,” or even “hacker.” So I looked at 21 common tech terms that have been downloaded into our collective hardware and decoded them.

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09
Jan

7 books to read in less than a day

1) The Zoo: An Allegorical Adventure, Stephen Black
Recommended for lovers of satirical dystopias.

2) The Giver, Lois Lowry
Recommended for movie goers.

3) Ficciones, Jorge Louis Borges
Recommended for those looking for a literary challenge.

4) We the Animals, Justin Torres
Recommended for lovers of coming-of-age tales.

5) A History οf Love, Nicole Krauss
Recommended for romantics.

6) Pnin, Vladimir Nabokov
Recommended for aficionados of foreign literature.

 7) The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Recommended for the young-at-heart.

Source: Grammarly