German Word of the Week: Sonntagsfrage

“Wenn am nächsten Sonntag tatsächlich Bundestagswahl wäre, welche der folgenden Parteien würden Sie dann wählen?” (“If the Bundestag election were next Sunday, for which party would you vote?”) asks a typical Sonntagsfrage poll question, asking citizens to envision how they would cast their ballots if the election crept up on them unexpectedly.

Read more in the current German Word of the Week article, published by the German Information Center USA, at http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/__pr/GIC/TWIG__WoW/2013/32-Sonntagsfrage.html

"Translators Are a Waste of Space"

Really?

Make sure you watch the whole video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGYL5sUwr2Q
before you make up your mind!

Leicester accent and dialect undergoing biggest change for decades

See recent article in the Leicester Mercury at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-accent-undergoing-changes/story-19642610-detail/story.html

Germany Seeks a New Longest Word

This is fascinating, don't you think?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/germany-seeks-a-new-longest-word-a-903470.html

A slightly more 'sober' report on the issue can be found on the Tagesschau website at
http://www.tagesschau.de/schlusslicht/rekordbandwurmwort100.html

What makes a good translation agency?

An article I had published in the July-August 2009 edition of the ITI Bulletin provides some answers. It seems to be as topical as ever. Click here to download it.

Note:
Unfortunately the link to the Universitas magazine containing the interesting and entertaining Gratisschnitzel article, which appears in the PDF file, is out of date. Click here to download the magazine. 

The ITI Bulletin article was subsequently re-published in issue 4/2009 of BDÜ's MDÜ magazine, in the February 2010 issue of Translorial (Journal of the Northern California Translators Association), in issue 1/2010 of Hieronymus (journal of the Swiss translators' association ASTTI) and on pp. 8-10 of issue 5/2010 of the Swedish Translators' Association magazine (in Swedish).

What is translation?

According to latest issue of Jost Zetzsche's excellent Tool Kit newsletter, translation is not "something" that multilingual people do, but a profession of highly qualified individuals who themselves can do a lot to make this apparent for anyone who cares to look.

Jost goes on to distil some overarching themes from the recently published book, The Prosperous Translator, into six useful bullet points:

• Writing skills in the target language are one of the key components to success as a translator.
• Above-average subject-specific knowledge is another key to success.
• There is great value in membership and active participation in professional associations.
• Networking with colleagues and clients is essential.
• Low prices devalue your proposal and make you less attractive.
• There is lots and lots of work out there for lots and lots of us, provided that we adhere to the points listed above.

Jost concludes that: the (translation) world would truly be a better place if we followed these suggestions (and if those who can't would choose a different profession!).

German Communication Styles

I just came across an illuminating web page explaining German communication styles (and the proverbial/alleged lack of humour). You can find it here.