Tensions Rise in Malaysia over How to Tr...

People tend to perceive debates over translation as dry, scholarly affairs, but sometimes, disagreements about how to translate a word can aggravate existing tensions between groups, even escalating violence.  This was especially evident in the country of Malaysia last week, where a dispute about how...

Google Fined Over French Books...

According to the BBC a Paris court has fined Google 300,000 euros (£266,000) in damages and interest for copyright infringement of books owned by French publisher La Martiniere. La Martiniere was one of many publishers to take Google to court for digitising books without explicit permission. Google...

Confusion over Nazi Slogan Translations...

The federal court of justice has overturned the conviction of a man who was fined 4,200 euros for possessing and transporting 100 t-shirts which were to be sold with the words ‘Blood and Honour’ printed on the front. ‘Blood and Honour’ is a translation of the German ‘Blut und Ehre’ which...

Dictionary of American Regional English ...

The Dictionary of American Regional English has just been completed and is now available to the general public. Why would you need another dictionary, you may ask? The Dictionary of American Regional English is not a normal dictionary at all. 50 years in the making, it is a compilation of all the different...

Europa Editions Translates Novels for th...

Americans are not known for being avid consumers of foreign literature. In fact, last year, only about 2 or 3% of new titles published in the US were translations of titles by non-English-speaking authors. However, as the New York Times reports, an independent publishing company called Europa Editions...

Lá Nua Closes Its Doors...

Lá Nua, the only Irish language newspaper published on a daily basis, has closed down due to a lack of funding. Lá Nua, which means “New Day” in Irish, stopped its presses at the end of the year. The newspaper had been in print for more than 20 years, but according to Eurolang.net, there...

New spelling in Brazil...

Could you imagine what would happen if you had to adopt a new set of spelling and grammar rules? Well that’s exactly what has just happened in Brazil. I’m sure you know that Portuguese is different in Brazil and Portugal. It all stems from 1911 when Portugal (and its territories) commissioned...

Lost in Translation...

Last month at the Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the largest international literary gatherings, guess what American publishers lined up to buy? Work by other American, or at least British, authors. Apparently, according to the New York Times, large American publishing houses are afraid to buy publishing...