Musings from an overworked translator

TGIF: 4th of July fireworks July 3, 2009

I know most of you aren’t located in the United States, but I have fireworks on the brain. I have been busy the last couple days translating 6,000 words of cooking instructions and ingredient lists. The agency gave my client an extension, but I still wanted to get it done by Thursday night so that I could enjoy the holiday weekend. I didn’t manage to do that, because I was downtown last night listening to the Cleveland Orchestra and watching the fireworks afterward. The file is now delivered, and I’m heading out for the weekend. I hope you all have a great weekend. To those of you in Europe suffering from the 30°C heat – stay cool!

TGIF: Do you suffer from grammar obsessive disorder? July 3, 2009

Here is a cute little video on grammar obsessive disorder, in which the folks at Ragan Communications “look at the symptoms of this scourge of professional communicators and offer help on how you can cope with its virulent manifestations.” You know you have Grammar Obsessive Disorder when…

TGIF: Interjections June 26, 2009

This is the video that started me off on sharing Schoolhouse Rock videos with you. The ALTA blog had posted it, and that sparked a need in me to watch them all again. It’s been a great time, and I hope you all enjoyed it as well – especially those of you who didn’t grow up in the United States in the 1970s.

As the video clip explains, “Interjections show excitement, or emotion. They’re generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong.” I hope you all have a great weekend.

TGIF: The Tale of Mr. Morton June 19, 2009

This is the Tale of Mr. Morton… featuring predicates. I bet only a few of you English native speakers can explain what a predicate is. I know I couldn’t until I looked it up. It’s been over twenty years since I truly studied the fine details of English grammar. The predicate is basically the rest of a sentence apart from the subject. As Wikipedia so succinctly explains, “a predicate is one of the two main parts of a sentence (the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies)… The predicate must contain a verb, and the verb requires, permits or precludes other sentence elements to complete the predicate. These elements are: objects (direct, indirect, prepositional), predicatives (aka predicate complements: subject complements and object complements) and adverbials (either obligatory or adjuncts).”

This Schoolhouse Rock clip first aired in December 1993 and features Jack Sheldon, who was a frequent contributor to Schoolhouse Rock. As I’ve said before, he sang most of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock clips, including Conjunction Junction and the wonderful I’m Just A Bill.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll be offline, because I will be walking a total of 30 miles (17 on Saturday, 13 on Sunday) in preparation for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. I am training to walk 60 miles in 3 days from July 31-August 2. We are just ending Week 7 in the training plan. I have raised $2780 so far. And if you want to donate to my walk I certainly won’t say no 🙂

TGIF: Busy Prepositions June 12, 2009

It’s Friday, and you all know what that means – TGIF video time. I want to apologize for my lack of posts in the last few weeks. I have been working on a large project. I just submitted the fourth batch of files today. The job is supposed to end in the next few weeks and will then hopefully start back up in July. That leaves little time for things like housecleaning, spending time with Lily and blogging. I need to get better at managing my time. I’m sick of living in a pig sty :-). I’m planning on spending today cleaning, doing laundry, washing the floors and finishing up odd chores – in addition to a little translating.

We are coming to the end of the Schoolhouse Rock videos on grammar. I don’t know about you, but I have really been enjoying this little trip down memory lane. I have even had the opportunity to share them with my 4 and 6 year old nieces when I babysat them, and they now ask to see them again when they see me. These songs are so catchy that I still can sing along – and it’s probably been 35 years. These last two, Busy Prepositions and The Tale of Mr. Morton, aired in 1993. Even if they are more recent they are still catchy. I will post the one that started it all – Interjections – to end the series.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

TGIF: Unpack your adjectives June 5, 2009

There are nine Schoolhouse Rock – Grammar Rock videos in total. We are getting down to the end. Today’s video is on adjectives and features Blossom Dearie on vocals. According to Wikipedia, “Blossom Dearie was an American jazz singer and pianist, often performing in the bebop genre and known for her distinctive girlish voice.” A camping theme is used in this video to describe adjectives. As we all know, adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence. I personally love the turtle. He’s adorable. I hope you enjoy this one and have a great weekend!

TGIF: Lauren gets worked up over her French exam May 22, 2009

I interrupt the regularly scheduled Schoolhouse Rock videos on grammar to share this fun little video clip. Here is another hilarious moment from Catherine Tate’s BBC comedy sketch show. You might remember I posted her sketch as an interpreter who interpreted 7 languages back in July. Thanks to Sarah Dillon for tweeting about it a few weeks ago.

Those of us in the United States will be celebrating Memorial Day on Monday; however, just about every translator I know will be working that day. Ah, the life of a freelancer… Business has really picked up in the last week or so for just about everyone I have talked with, so maybe, just maybe, we’ve seen the bottom of our recession. I hope you all enjoy the weekend and the video!

TGIF: Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here May 14, 2009

Following the theme of Schoolhouse Rock videos on grammar (we’re getting close to the end now!), here is the classic clip on adverbs, Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here. This clip first aired in 1974. If you have problems understanding the lyrics, you can find them here. My dad used to drill the fact that adverbs usually ended in -ly into my sister and my head growing up, so I’m a big fan of adverbs.

As Wikipedia explains:

An adverb is a part of speech. It is any word that modifies any other part of language: verbs, adjectives (including numbers), clauses, sentences and other adverbs, except for nouns; modifiers of nouns are primarily determiners and adjectives. Adverbs typically answer questions such as how?” (or “in what way?), when?, where?, why? and to what extent?. They often end in -ly.

As Schoolhouse Rock explains:

An adverb is a word… (That’s all it is, and there’s a lot of ’em!)
That modifies a verb… (Sometimes a verb! Sometimes…)
It modifies an adjective,
Or else another adverb.
And so you see that it’s positively, very, very, necessary.

Enjoy – and have a great weekend!

TGIF: Schoolhouse Rock – Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla May 7, 2009

This particular Schoolhouse Rock clip on pronouns is a personal favorite.  It first aired in 1977. Jack Sheldon must have practiced for weeks in order to sing this song. Jack Sheldon is a trumpet player, vocalist, and all-around great entertainer. He sang most of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock clips, including Conjunction Junction and the wonderful “I’m Just A Bill.” I promise his songs will stick with you. They are very catchy. Enjoy!

Now, I have a friend named Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,
And I could say that Rufus found a kangaroo
That followed Rufus home
And now that kangaroo belongs
To Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla.

Whew! I could say that, but I don’t have to,
‘Cause I got pronouns,
I can say, “HE found a kangaroo that followed HIM home and now IT is HIS”

You see, (uh) HE, HIM, and HIS are pronouns,
Replacing the noun
Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,
A very proper noun.
And IT is a pronoun, replacing the noun, kangaroo!