Evening The evening slowly dons the changing clothes a rim of ancient trees holds out for it; and as you watch, before you two lands separate, one travelling heavenwards and one which falls; and leave you fully part of neither one, not quite so darkly silent as the house, not quite so surely summoning eternity... Continue Reading →
L’Infinito by Giacomo Leopardi (Infinity)
Giacomo Leopardi is generally described as the greatest Italian lyric poet but you don't really need to know anything about him to appreciate his poem L'Infinito. I see the title often translated as The Infinite, but I am not sure that means anything in English, so I am going to opt for Infinity. Here then... Continue Reading →
The Poetry of Google Translate
And the long road ahead, I go to bed And the long road ahead, I go to bed Google Translate is amazing when it works. Unfortunately, it only works about half of the time. Even more unfortunately, unless you already know the languages you are trying to translate, there is no way of knowing... Continue Reading →
Zen and the Art of Taxation
Zen Buddhism has a number of koans, the most famous of which is “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” Reflect long enough upon riddles like these and you may reach enlightenment, it is suggested. I would think that the same effect could be attained by meditating on section 509 (a) of the US... Continue Reading →
My Accidental Greek Wedding
I have an irrational passion for phrase- books. Whenever I go to a country where I don't know the language I take along a phrasebook. I often take one with me even when I go to a country where I do speak the language. Sometimes in a foreign country I suddenly stop in the middle... Continue Reading →
Reciprocating Soup – The Tantalising Cuisine of Google Translate
The last time I went to Istanbul I had supper at Çiya Sofrasi, a restaurant which is by now famous (a long article about it appeared in the New Yorker and it has also been mentioned by the New York Times). It serves traditional food from distant Turkish provinces which is so different from the standard fare of Istanbul that the... Continue Reading →
Leopardi’s Infinity
Giacomo Leopardi is generally described as the greatest Italian lyric poet but you don't really need to know anything about him to appreciate his poem L'Infinito. I see the title often translated as The Infinite, but I am not sure that means anything in English, so I am going to opt for Infinity. Here then... Continue Reading →
Say it in Terpreting
(This piece first appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of Communicate! - a webzine for conference interpreters and the conference industry: Those who aren't acquainted with the ins and outs of conference interpreting might be baffled by some of the details of the job but will surely be able to empathise with the general feeling... Continue Reading →
Ho Xuan Huong
While I was looking for information for my post about Huong Thanh, I came across a dozen other references to things I didn't know about Vietnam. One of these was to a woman named Ho Xuan Huong (Hồ Xuân Hương) who was probably born in the period from 1775 to 1780 and lived till 1822. Ho Xuan... Continue Reading →