Relocution

Edinburgh Castle audio guide in Russian. Great to have such positive feedback on my recent translation.

Thanks Gareth for alerting us to the Guardian story of Burton’s chic (sic) T-shirt with its trendy design proclaiming “Очистим Русь от нерусских”. The store’s buyers were told that this translated loosely as “Be proud of Russia”.

Sometimes, of course, loose translations aren’t good enough. A better translation might be: “Let’s cleanse Russia of all non-Russians”.

If you want one alas it’s too late: they’ve been withdrawn from sale. Burton’s buyers will spend the weekend writing out 100 times: “Мой ховеркрафт полн угорей”.

Just came across a very fine example of amateur podcasting, A Spoonful of Russian by Natalie Worthington of New Orleans.

Not much in it for me, language wise, as I continue to plough that rut between knowing the basics and being able to say anything very sophisticated or useful (or grammatically correct). But a really nice example of samizdat pedagogy riding the technological zeitgeist: the tone is considered and authoritative, and strikes just the right friendly note.

But my Mum’s long struggles with Russian language are on a much grander scale: I’ll definitely be recommending Spoonful to her, just as soon as she gets broadband. (Mum, sort out broadband, please!)

As seen on BBC Gambler’s Queston Time: Калининград и Подмосковье - русские Лас-Вегасы!

So, I applied, basically…

A report in London Info - a weekly newspaper for Russian community - this week highlights the Beatles Experience in Liverpool, and is particularly pleased to discover its audioguide, in Russian! It’s nice to have one’s work appreciated!