My translation of this poem by Andrey Voznesensky (1933-2010) was commended by the judges of the Joseph Brodsky/Stephen Spender Prize 2014. archive.stephen-spender.org/2014_brodsky_prize/2014_brodsky_commended_PC.htmlMy submission also included the commentary that follows. Translation I am Goya!a crow — my foe — swooped on the barren field,and gouged craters in the globes of my eyes.I am grief.I givevoice to…… Continue reading I am Goya
Month: May 2021
Varning, vi bits!
Varning, vi bits. Couldn’t have put it better myself. Some odd things about this sign though. Why is the second language a Scandinavian language, not a more widely spoken one?Why does only the English version feel the need to specify that the vicious creatures are parrots? Of the others, only French even mentions birds. The…… Continue reading Varning, vi bits!
Even more cautiously optimistic
Talking a few days ago about reopening society after the lockdown, Boris Johnson said he was cautiously optimistic. Coming back to that topic last week, he said that he was now ‘even more cautiously optimistic’. He probably meant to say that he was now even more optimistic, but his careless phrasing was ambiguous. His words…… Continue reading Even more cautiously optimistic
Puzzle: answer
Last month I set the following puzzle. Here is a sequence of 11 consecutive instances of ‘had’: had had had had had had had had had had had I asked readers to punctuate this sequence to turn it into a perfectly valid English text. Here is the context: John and Tom had each written a…… Continue reading Puzzle: answer
Fear and loathing of the passive
Many of us use the passive too much in our writing. As a result, writing manuals and editors often advise us not to use it. But the passive does have legitimate uses, so we need to cut back on our use of the passive, not drop it totally. A few weeks ago, I was reviewing…… Continue reading Fear and loathing of the passive
While Sipping Scented Tea
I entered my translation of this poem by Heinrich Heine for the 2015 Stephen Spender prize. Like all entries for this prize, it includes my commentary on the translation Translation While sipping scented tea,About love they spoke a great deal.The lords were cognoscenti.The ladies were quite genteel. “Love must be platonic”The crusty noble declares.His lady…… Continue reading While Sipping Scented Tea
Puzzle: another hint
Last month I set the following puzzle. Here is a sequence of 11 consecutive instances of ‘had’: had had had had had had had had had had had Can you punctuate this sequence to turn it into a perfectly valid English text? Last week, I gave this hint: John and Tom had each written a…… Continue reading Puzzle: another hint
Languages in Luxembourg
The people of Luxemburg speak Lëtzebuergesch (Luxembourgish), which was officially designated as the national language in 1984. This is a Germanic language descended from a Moselle-Franconian dialect, but having numerous French loan words, particularly in the fields of business and administration. Many German speakers can understand spoken Luxembourgish to a greater or lesser extent. Until…… Continue reading Languages in Luxembourg
Mnemonics in language learning
Mnemonics can help in learning languages. Here are three I learnt at school. German: Fudgebow This mnemonic is of the 7 basic prepositions that take the accusative case: Für: forUm: aroundDurch: throughGegen: againstEntlang: along (actually a post-position, it generally follows the noun, all the others precede it) Bis: untilOhne: withoutWider: against (not to be confused…… Continue reading Mnemonics in language learning
Puzzle: a hint
Last month I set the following puzzle. Here is a sequence of 11 consecutive instances of ‘had’: had had had had had had had had had had had Can you punctuate this sequence to turn it into a perfectly valid English text? Here is a hint. John and Tom had each written a sentence for…… Continue reading Puzzle: a hint