Swet Columns
July 15, 2003
No More than Necessary
by Doreen Simmons
Aunt Eva shows us how to work around the pitfalls of working with someone who seems bent on giving you more than you need.
Dear Aunt Eva,
There’s this translator our agency uses. He’s been with the agency a long time, since before I joined several years ago. He translates accurately, but his writing style is... more
May 16, 2003
Unwarranted Confidence
by Doreen Simmons
It may seem amazing that some people think a casual hunt in a pocket-size Japanese-English dictionary will produce the same result as informed knowledge, but they do.
Dear Aunt Eva,
I specialize in producing art catalogues. Important clients think so, anyway. I have, however, had an adverse experience: I worked on an art catalogue with a... more
May 2, 2003
Kanji Core Meanings, Software Lexicons
by Lynne E. Riggs
Launching “SWET on Saturdays,” Jack Halpern told how one student of Japanese wound up creating a Japanese-English character dictionary and massive Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lexical databases now used to aid Internet search engines.
Starting with an encounter with a Japanese language textbook on an Israeli kibbutz, the story of how one man’s fascination... more
May 1, 2003
Yes, We Can Learn from Experience
by John L. McCreery
Report of January 11 meeting, Larry Brouhard presentation. Lessons from a long career in technical documentation: Omit unnecessary words. Follow William K. Zinsser’s advice in On Writing Well, “There is no sentence too short in the eyes of God.”
Like all great teachers, Larry Brouhard is also a great performer, with a gift for... more
May 1, 2003
Steering Committee Report
Although many SWET operating decisions are discussed and made entirely online, the Steering Committee does meet from time to review policy and to firm up implementation.
The SWET Steering Committee (SC) met on February 9, 2003. Hugh Ashton, Becky Davis, Phil Ono, Bob Poulson, Lynne Riggs, Doreen Simmons, Fred Uleman, and Cynthia Yenches attended. A number of... more
December 16, 2002
Bridge-building Books
by Doreen Simmons
“Building bridges between cultures” has been a safe subject for talks and textbooks for many years; how far is an outsider justified in interfering with work in progress? Our pensive old tabby weighs the pros and cons.
Dear Aunt Eva,
I’ve been asked by a publisher friend to give an opinion on a supplementary textbook, the... more