Articles
Tools that writers, translators, and editors can use to improve the quality of their work, as well as their time spent working—from indispensable reference books and handy apps to life-changing office furniture. Please contact Winnie at winifredabird[at]yahoo.co.jp to suggest items for review, comment on the reviews published here, or volunteer to be a guest reviewer.
April 14, 2022
Accessing the Professionals’ Toolboxes
On February 26, 2022, translator and editor Rebekah Harmon joined veteran translator and editor Lynne E. Riggs to talk about ways the professional know-how of editors and J-to-E translators can be accessed and better shared. Lynne E. Riggs is co-founder of the Center for Intercultural Communication (1990) and spent 12 years as managing editor of Monumenta... more
August 31, 2018
Romanizing Japanese: Polishing the Fine Points
By Lynne E. Riggs (Republished from June 2016)
Whether it’s a book title in a bibliography, a few lines of poetry, or a snippet of dialogue, romanization of Japanese in English text is a skill every wordsmith associated with Japan mobilizes now and then, and though it may seem easy, there are many intricacies the committed editor will want to... more
March 8, 2017
SWET Toolbox: Review of JMOOC Online Classes
By Winifred A. Bird
MOOCs or “massive open online courses” are a new form of distance learning intended to bring university-level education to the far-flung masses by capitalizing on widespread Internet access. Typically, courses are free or low-cost and involve a combination of video lectures, reading material, online discussion forums, tests, and other assignments. Since the concept emerged in 2008, Stanford,... more
November 1, 2016
SWET Toolbox: Writing Strategies and Inspiration
Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2006, 295 pages. ISBN: 9780316014984
Reviewed by Richard Medhurst
Appropriately named for the SWET Toolbox column, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer is a series of short pieces on becoming a better wordsmith from pepping up sentences to forming habits that will... more
July 4, 2016
SWET Toolbox: Resources for Writing in Your Non-Native Language
By Winifred A. Bird
As writers, translators, and editors, most of us feel confident both writing in our native language and repairing other people’s clunky prose; the click of words falling into their proper places becomes, over time, as unmistakable as it is satisfying. Venture into a foreign language, however, and the process is not so pleasant—at least for me. Although... more
May 10, 2016
SWET Toolbox: Two Apps to Help You Transcribe Audio Files
Reviewed by Winifred A. Bird
As a journalist, I love having transcribed versions of important interviews on file. I find scanning a Word document for key information much easier than delving back into an old audio file, and I like being able to mark up the text and return to it months or even years later. I’m much less enthusiastic about... more