Letters to the Editor

Volume 2, No. 2
April 1998

The Editor/Webmaster welcomes comments and suggestions from the readers of the Translation Journal. Only letters signed and provided with a return e-mail address for verification will be considered for publication.
Send your comments and suggestions to the Editor/Webmaster.

Survey Results

Translator Profiles
No Regrets
by Diane Di Biasio

Translating Social Change

Translation and Transliteration of the Mongolian Language
by Michael C. Walker

Art & Entertainment

A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards
by Dr. Fotios Karamitroglou

Translator Education

Including Technical and Academic Writing in Translation Curricula
by Dr. Tibor Koltay

Science & Technology

A Translator’s Guide to Organic Chemical Nomenclature XI
by Chester E. Claff, Jr., Ph.D.

Finding a Handle on Physics
by Ben Teague

Diesel Engines: A Brief Overview
by Charles Heidenberg

Caught in the Web

Web Surfing for Fun and Profit
by Cathy Flick, Ph.D.
Translators’ On-Line Resources
by Gabe Bokor

Translators’ Events

Letters to the Editor

Call for Papers

Letters to the Editor

You have already received a lot of praise for the journal, but since it’s a lot of work, you can probably take a little more praise from time to time.
    My first visit to your page was a “fateful” one; I read the article by Cathy [Flick] on how she became a science translator, and got in touch with her because I had been thinking about doing the same for a while—she encouraged me, and here I am now, thinking of myself as a translator and scientist now.
    Since such a big part of the translation work is necessarily done in solitude, all means of getting in touch with other translators for information exchange and just “company” are welcome, but I must say that the TJ is an outstanding one—well organized, very helpful, very interesting, nice to look at, a boost to the general translator’s self-esteem, and last but not least, it’s free and therefore readily available to us beginners who aren’t making the big bucks yet.
    Thank you, and my best and warmest wishes for the new year.

— Dr. Ulrike Walter, Berlin, Germany

Gabe e Equipe! Parabens! Estou colecionando os artigos sobre Química Orgânica [pelo Dr. Chester Claff] e lendo com grande interesse todos os outros. Aprendendo muito com vocês! Obrigada!.

— Dr. Lúcia Singer, São Paulo, Brazil

Gabe, visitei o Jornal—parabens! Fico impressionado de ver a seriedade que transparece de suas “páginas”. Quem quer que esteja traduzindo, profissionalmente ou não, ou pensando em se arriscar por esta senda, devia lê-lo. Sonho com o dia em que as nossas faculdades com cursos de letras/tradução assinem o seu jornal. Quem sabe em 98?

— Haroldo Netto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Obrigado e parabens. Um óptimo número do nosso jornal. Já fui ver e já imprimi algumas páginas.

— Mário César Borges d’Abreu, Lisbon, Portugal

I am very interested in your Translation Journal. However, reading everything online on the web can be a little tedious. I wonder if you are planning to make the journal available in downloadable form, e.g. PDF format?

— Herbert Eppel, Enderby, Leicester, United Kingdom

Editor’s answer: At this time, a PDF version of the Translation Journal is not in our plans, but many readers print out the pages they’re interested in for off-line reading and archiving.

This looks like a very promising publication indeed. Why haven’t I heard more about it? The article on inflation accounting in Brazil [by Danilo Nogueira] was especially useful for me.
Happy New Year!

— Neil L. Inglis, Bethesda, MD, USA

Congratulations to Alex Greenland on an excellent article. I really enjoyed it and have saved it for future reference.
Looking forward to the Translation Journal’s next issue!

— Rosario Osés, Buenos Aires, Argentina

As far as I can see, this is just the third issue of the Translation Journal; however, it does look as if it had been published for a much longer time. The topics are varied and up-to-date, and I have found most of them useful in my own job. The translation aid reviews look nice. And I like the whole idea of the project, as well as the appearance.
I think this is what we all need, an excellent on-line guide, quick and responsive.
Thank you guys!

— Alexander V. Fyodorov, St. Petersburg, Russia

[The articles] look great, in fact, are easy on the eyes and have a convenient layout. Do not change too much, please—it certainly ain’t broke. A small problem is that the right half of the frame does not always fit onto the screen.
... There are too many long lists of links out there and too few annotated directories and specialized sites. Yours is a fantastic exception!

—Manten van Steenbergen, Columbia, MD, USA

I’m extremely glad you’re doing this. I think it’s a terrific achievement.

— Susan Rials, Frederick, MD, USA

I enjoy your policy of using actual working translators to write your articles. It gives them a very “hands-on” touch.

— Elizabeth le Roux, Pretoria, South Africa

Let us know what you think of this Journal. How can it be improved? What topics would you like to see discussed? Help us make this publication better and more useful to the translator community and those who use our services.