France’s Le Petit Robert dictionary is to incorporate “selfie”, “hashtag”, “MOOC” and “troll” in its 2015 edition, to the dismay of guardians of the French language. Despite France’s best attempts to find alternatives, the English words “selfie” and “hashtag” are now officially part of the French language according to Le Petit Robert, the renowned dictionary, whose…
Archive for: juin, 2014
Language translation apps have come a long way, offering various input methods and support for dozens of languages. Over the years, I have been fortunate to see so much of the world. I regularly travel to various foreign countries both for business and for pleasure. Although I always try to learn a few key phrases in…
Understanding the ins and outs of a big translation project can be tricky at first – there are so many new words and translation terms to understand that it can seem like you’re having a conversation in another language! For easy reference, here are some translation terms and definitions that will really help when you’re researching…
One of the features that Google’s Chrome browser offers that Firefox does not is the browser’s built-in translation feature. Whenever you visit a website that is published in a language that you have not installed in Chrome, a small translation bar is displayed at the top of the window that you can use to translate…
Now, don’t get me wrong. Professional translation is an absolutely critical piece to the global business puzzle. Without it, you can almost bet your messages will miss the mark with customers—or be ignored altogether. Neither situation is exactly worthy of doing a happy dance. And yet, it may not work for your business to rely…
There’s only one way to become a better writer, and that is through lots of practice. Some people are born with talent. Writing comes easily to them, but even the most talented writers have to work at the craft. After all, nobody’s born knowing how to write. Fostering good writing habits accomplishes two things. First,…
Why translation in the social media field Two months ago I started to work at HootSuite, a Canadian company that created a social media management tool. Although my background is translation, the passion for social media led me on this new professional path. Super excited of being immersed in this social media world, I found myself…
The company behind the most impressive Google Glass translation app demo I’ve seen has been bought by Google. Word Lens translated written words from one language to another and overlaid them back on top of the world with matched perspective, color and font — so it essentially rewrote the world into your own language as you were…
Have you ever had trouble communicating with English speakers if you speak Australian English? I certainly have. I’ve had misunderstandings with British colleagues, confused my American neighbours and once listened to a Scottish man at a party for 10 minutes before identifying the language he was speaking as English. What’s perhaps unique about my situation…
Turns out, the English language is one big brand graveyard. We have a lot of words that were once trademarked brands. Aspirin. Cellophane. Escalator. Yo Yo. Trampoline. Saran wrap. Yeah, Heroin was a brand. Like Nike. Or Aunt Jemima. “There used to be a branded form of morphine called heroin,” says Roger Schechter who teaches law at…
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