Interpreters’ brains are extraordinary. When we are hard at work, our brain is carrying out multiple processes simultaneously, in demanding bursts of mental gymnastics that would be impossible for most non-interpreters. We also use our short-term memory in more complex ways than other people do. We first have to listen and understand the speaker’s...
Interpreting is one of the most stressful jobs there is. So how do we make sure we stay on top of our game? One of the ways to do that is by eating healthy. The term superfood has been used to describe a foodstuff that contains a lot of beneficial substances such as vitamins and antioxidants, or that offer some form of protection, like helping to...
A beautiful find from a holiday in the Algarve. Spotted in the Old Town of Albufeira, a town on the Atlantic coast. I have been trying to find out what this place is exactly but no luck so far…
1. Pictures. Few things have the potential to do as much good or ill to a professional’s professional image as, well, images. Remember the meaning of ‘code’ in ‘dress code’ — it matters how people see you; the convention you is choose a coded message, a shorthand for a lot of things. If you prefer to keep it laid...
October 21st, 2015. To some people this was the day Marty McFly arrived in the future, but I find myself celebrating an event fifty years in the past, namely one of my dearest friend’s birthday. Instead of opting for a more traditional party, he has gathered a group of friends in the Mosel valley to walk the Moselsteig with him. This party of...
La traduction de la littérature est extrêmement difficile, elle exige énormément de travail et une connaissance très profonde des deux langues… C’est ce qu’on dit souvent. Je n’ai pas trop d’expérience dans le domaine de la traduction littéraire, je n’ai pas traduit beaucoup de bouquins, à peine une dizaine (dont le dernier roman de Michel...
As spotted in an Esselunga store in Florence.
My fascination with English stemmed out of a year in a US high school, made me read the entire fiction section of the US embassy and British Council libraries in Krakow, ranked me high enough at a Polish English-language competition to get exempted from entrance exams which, combined with my laziness and mercantilism, led me to study English at...
The image projected by many domain names may be costing you work. Having your own can be a game-changer. What does your email address say about you? More than perhaps you think. And probably not what you want! Are you a dinosaur, amateur or serious business person? Read on!
Last year, a “translation table” explaining Brit-speak was making the rounds on the internet, with some poignant and humorous (and mostly true) examples of how non-Brits may misinterpret the British. You know, things like “I’m sure it’s my fault” as actually meaning “It’s obviously your fault”...