Articles
March 1, 2004
A Post-Industrial SWETer at Work
by Hugh Ashton
Hugh Ashton originally came to Japan to write audio equipment manuals. Fifteen years later, after a few detours, he's still doing the same thing, aided and abetted by his wife and more technology than is healthy for two people.
Most of my work is done from my home office. Although I can set my own... more
February 9, 2004
Reading Japanese Advertising: Print to TV
John L. McCreery
In his second article about Japanese advertising, John McCreery turns to the medium of television, which has unique possibilities not found in print advertising.
In the last issue of the SWET Newsletter, I talked generally about [url=https://www.swet.jp/articles/list/100_0_7_10_C/]how to read Japanese ads[/url] and illustrated the approach I advocate by looking at the print ads for the... more
January 19, 2004
Ideas into Words: Mastering the Craft of Science Writing
Reviewed by Richard Weisburd [em]Ideas into Words: Mastering the Craft of Science Writing.[/em] Elise Hancock. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. 176 pages, including front matter and index. ISBN 0801873304 (softcover). US$18.95.
Science is rapidly advancing in every direction. Over time, scientific writing is becoming increasingly complex, with ever growing numbers of technical words and concepts. Because of... more
January 12, 2004
The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind
Reviewed by Hugh Ashton The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind. Steven Pinker. London: Penguin, 1995. 494 pages, including preface, notes, glossary, and index. ISBN 0140175296 (softcover). £9.99.
SWET members are all professional language users; we are paid to express our thoughts, or those of others, in coherent terms. Our common professional tool is language,... more
November 20, 2003
SWET Newsletter, Number 103
This issue includes:
Meeting Reports: June 28 party in Tokyo: An Afternoon in Sendagi July 13 party in Kobe: After Us, the Deluge July 26 meeting in Tokyo: Translating Back and Forth August 3 meeting in Osaka: Translation: Theory and Practice Over Their Shoulders: How to Get Good Editor at Large: An A-Un Editorial Team Japanese Books Abroad:... more
November 15, 2003
Ghost-writing vs Over-editing
by Doreen Simmons
Ghostwriting is a special form of the writer’s craft. It often takes time for an author even to find his or her own voice; but the ghostwriter has to assume the persona of someone else. Novelists and dramatists are free to invent the characters and the content of what they say; but the ghostwriter has to take someone... more