Last semester’s course “How to Translate Anything” went well but not as well as I would have liked. I had it basically divided into three parts, readings and discussions at the start, then a middle section on computer assisted translation, using SDL Trados, in the middle, then. a workshop segment at the end. These are… Continue reading Teaching Translation Postscript
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The Thaw
During two winters of Covid lock-down, I looked out a window onto the January snow and ice and wondered what it would be like when we all emerged, a little like the spring thaw, and I started working on this piece. At first it was just atmosphere, then it started to feel rhythmic, a little… Continue reading The Thaw
Ukraine Film Series and “Ukrainian Fury”
My colleague Sofiya Asher worked together with the Ryder in Bloomington to put together a series of films last month. The series, “Stand With Ukraine,” featured seven recent Ukrainian films (10 if you count the four shorts collected around the “I Love Mariupol” screenings) and an insert in the Ryder magazine, which is here. The… Continue reading Ukraine Film Series and “Ukrainian Fury”
Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass and the Senses of Provocation
When news broke that Russian forces had launched, on April 8, 2022, a missile attack on the Kramatorsk train station, which was filled with thousands of fleeing women and children at the time, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement calling it a “provocation.” The Russian Foreign Ministry took the same line earlier with… Continue reading Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass and the Senses of Provocation
Russia’s Special Operation on English
Language learners know about false friends. Slavic languages have some doozies. For instance, riječ in Croatian means a word, while реч in Ukrainian means a thing; запомніць in Bulgarian means to memorize, while zapomenout in Czech means to forget; proud Serbs might write понос (pride) on the side of a building, while their Russian brothers… Continue reading Russia’s Special Operation on English
Translators on Book Covers, Reading Habits, and Translation Practice
I’ve been following the latest efforts to advocate for translators’ names to appear on the covers of the books they’ve worked on with great interest. I admire this effort and think that every little bit helps in improving the working conditions of translators. There are other good things about this effort, but that’s not what… Continue reading Translators on Book Covers, Reading Habits, and Translation Practice
Seven Spot
Ba Ren Chi topped 6,500 listens on Jamendo recently, which is nice, but much nicer is this new piece I finished. “Seven Spot” is all about sevens, nines, and other assorted (mostly odd) numbers. I was busy with everything, but it was haunting me. Maybe it won’t be waking me up so much in the… Continue reading Seven Spot
How to Translate Anything
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m teaching a new course this semester, with a title I have borrowed (with permission) from Benjamin Paloff at the University of Michigan. “How to Translate Anything” is a course I have been threatening to teach for many years, and I’m finally doing it, beginning on Monday of… Continue reading How to Translate Anything
Those Taciturn Swedes
Prepping for my spring course “How to Translate Anything,” I came across this insight from David Bellos in his Is That a Fish In Your Ear?: Filmmakers dependent on foreign-language markets are well aware of how little spoken language can actually be represented in on-screen writing. Sometimes they choose to limit the volubility of their… Continue reading Those Taciturn Swedes
Box No. 26
As I mentioned in my legacy post last week, some of the books in the Heim collection are labeled with both Michael’s and Priscilla’s names, often with a date. Others have Mike’s name only. Quite a few, it turns out, have only Priscilla’s name in them. Their home library was a collective affair, with titles… Continue reading Box No. 26
Russell Scott Valentino 