Swet Columns

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

How to Get Good

November 2003; UPDATED June 2012

Originally compiled as part of SWET’s “Over Their Shoulders” column, this article taps a variety of SWET translators to offer their advice on how to build and maintain one’s skills: how to get good. Every translator has a different niche and clientele, so these seven good translators are just a first sample, presented for your... more

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

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

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

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