Lingua Translations

If a person or company wants a technical report of some 600 pages translated in two days for use at an important international meeting, the translator will have to discuss this problem with the person concerned and offer suggestions on what is really required, since it probably will not be possible to make a full translation within the short time available. The price for the translation might also be discussed, since work at night or over the weekend could also be necessary

If the translator cannot produce the best possible full translation within the time available, then an “optimal” solution should be agreed upon.

Such translations could fall into one of the following categories:

- “a translation that provides what is necessary for the stated purpose”

- “as good as possible in view of the customer’s requirements”.

In the case of the 600 page technical report mentioned above, the “ideal” translation might consist of faithful adherence to the source text, which would involve full reproduction of the detailed report. On the other hand, providing the persons attending an international meeting with 600 pages of typescript is certainly not the best way of communicating the contents of the report to them. Due to the obvious time limitations, a summary could be proposed as an alternative. This could have the additional advantage in that key bullet points raised for discussion in the international meeting would be more easily accessible in a summary.

I love copywriters. The good ones have some of the biggest egos I have ever seen…and with good reason. What about you? If you’re first starting out as a copywriter, you might not be totally sure of yourself. However, if you want to make it in this business, you better get that ego in gear fast. This article explains why.

What a beginning copywriter may not seem to understand, usually because he’s just trying to make a few bucks, is that the fate of your client is in HIS hands. Think about it. This person is coming to you asking you to write a sales letter that is going to launch his product into six or ever seven figures.

But there is more to it than that, and the great copywriters at the Warrior Forum said it so much better than I ever could. See, a product creator, of whom I am one, wants a copywriter who believes in himself. He doesn’t want, as Mike Humphreys said so well, a copywriter who thinks “that maybe… well, possibly… they could write something that makes their clients a little bit of money.” Thanks Mike…you hit the nail on the head.

The product creator wants somebody with the chutzpa to believe that they walk on water and anything they put in writing is going to be gold for the product creator. This instills confidence in the person hiring the copywriter. I know personally, as a product creator, that this is what I would want.

English grammar is a subject that truly frustrates many people. Regardless of educational level, nationality or age, grammar and spelling seem to baffle many people. And if someone has a learning disability like dyslexia, using correct grammar seems like an almost impossible feat. Using correct grammar can be difficult for those who have English as their mother tongue, but for those who speak other languages, English and it’s complexities can be especially confusing. While a dictionary can be helpful, it will not give answers to grammar questions. Even word processing programs can fail to give the much-needed help in correcting grammar errors that are blatantly wrong.

So, how can a person improve their English grammar? There are several things that might help someone struggling in this area. First of all, it might help to be with people who use correct grammar when they talk and read material that uses good grammar structure within the English language. Since everyone learns his or her native language by listening, even from back to the time of infancy, it reasons that if he or she listens to and reads material with good grammatical structure, they will slowly learn the correct way to write and say things.

It may also help to study a grammar book that gives explanations for the rules of the English language, along with helpful examples. It may not be necessary to understand every detail and concept, but with good examples and practice exercises, one can learn much about correctly forming sentences that are grammatically precise. Learning rules and doing exercises can be monotonous at times, so it will take much patience to continue to learn. However, through consistent practicing, one can overcome most grammatical errors through trial and error.