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How Many Tests of Nativeness in a Language Are There?
Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1842. Most people don’t understand what the concept of being native in a language really...
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Our Translators/Interpreters Must Periodically Pass Rigorous Tests and Other...
About 25 years ago, in 1988 or 89, I passed with flying colors a difficult test administered by Berlitz Languages, a well known translation agency, to aspiring interpreters who wanted to interpret...
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Is a Universal “Fair Translation Rate” Possible?
The subject of a “fair rate” or a “living wage” is often discussed with passion on translators’ blogs and on social media. At least one translation blog is dedicated entirely to this subject. As...
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No Direction Home
This tunnel on the border between a country that was then named Yugoslavia, and Austria, called Loiblpass in German, was the last thing I saw 34 years ago as I was attempting to illegally escape from...
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The Well-Balanced Lifestyle of a Self-Employed Professional
When I lived in Prague, I used take tram No. 20 at around 8:20 AM, Monday through Friday, to Hradčanská metro station to change there to the metro which took me straight to my job at Václavské...
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Admitted as a Refugee, 8-3-82-NYC
More than 33 years ago, I arrived to La Guardia Airport with all of 500 dollars in my pocket as a refugee from communist Czechoslovakia via West Germany. The refugee visa was stapled to page 9 of my...
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What Makes Some People Want to Learn Foreign Languages?
Because I was born in a small country, a country that was controlled for more than 40 years by a big superpower before the superpower imploded as they all eventually do, the first foreign language...
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Collaboration, Autonomy, and Models of Translation (Guest Post by Kenneth...
Today’s guest post is an interesting analysis by Ken Kronenberg of several issues in the current corporatized version of “The Translation Industry” that we all love so much. It was originally...
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It Is True That Most Adult Immigrants Are Unable to Learn a Foreign Language
It is true that most adult immigrants, refugees and migrants are not really able to learn a foreign language. Some of them learn it to some extent, some of them very well, but many learn it only to a...
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The Limits of Censorship and the Power of Rock ‘n’ Roll
When I was a child, my parents had two radios in our apartment in a small town in Southern Bohemia. The radio in the bedroom was a big traditional radio with four beautifully glowing vacuum tubes that...
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