Peeping at Pepys

If Samuel Pepys were alive today, he would undoubtedly be an influential blogger or even a vlogger. I remember learning about this great 17^th Century diarist at school.

Pepys witnessed many momentous events in British history including the beheading of a king, the plague and the Great Fire of London. He lived through the reigns of five monarchs as well as the years under Oliver Cromwell. The Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution Exhibition at the National Maritime Museum offered an excellent opportunity to find out more about the great diarist than they taught me at school.

Travel by Thames

Weekend tube engineering works didn’t make the journey to Greenwich easy. However, the Thames came to the rescue. Why travel underground when you can take the ferry, relax and admire the view of London from the river? Just as naval man Pepys did perhaps?

Ferry lands at Greenwich Pier close to the museum

King’s Execution

The exhibition has received much acclaim, so I was intrigued to find out why for myself. This is a modern exhibition that seeks to recreate an experience of the time. No sooner had I stepped over the threshold than I was confronted by the sound of an axe.

At just 15 years of age, Pepys attended the execution of Charles I. Dead ahead was a painting depicting various scenes from the day. To the left were the king’s gloves - the elegant gloves of a man who met an horrific end. Just days later I found myself at the spot where Charles I had stood trial in Westminster Hall. The exhibition gave more meaning to the plaque marking the spot.

Husband and Wife

Paintings of Pepys and his wife appeared side by side – just as in life. Sadly, Pepys’ wife died at just 29 years of age. From the outset the museum got away from the traditional juxtaposition of artefact after artefact. The pieces were carefully selected to create an experience – to bring the people and times to life from their possessions.

Theatre

I particularly enjoyed the little theatre. A small stage recreated Shakespeare’s Macbeth and a comedy using silhouettes. We heard Pepys’ comments on the various actors’ and actresses’ performances at the time. By coming from the stark execution scene to an example of Restoration Theatre, the exhibition gave an impression of the contrasting times that Pepys lived through.

Great Fire

The best section in the exhibition was undoubtedly the recreation of the Great Fire of London. A black and white pen and ink drawing showed the London of the day set in panels. Pepys’ own words told the story as the fire grew, spreading from frame to frame. Pepys and his wife first heard of the fire at 3am from their maid. The diarist later told the king about what he had seen.

Shorthand

The diary itself is kept in Cambridge. Pepys wrote in shorthand. A tablet showed how it looked. If you touched a section, you could see a transcription in English. Pepys only actually kept the diary from 1660 until 1669. He mistakenly thought that he was going blind due to straining his eyes in poor light and abandoned it.

Publication from the Pepys Exhibition

Censored

Pepys realised the historical significance of his diary. He ensured its preservation and publication after his death. Despite criticising the King’s extravagance and behaviour, it seems that some of Pepys’ own behaviour and words met with publishers’ disapproval. Some sections were censored until relatively recent times. Definitely not sections I heard about at school.

Social Mobility

It was fascinating to hear about Pepys' career in naval administration. It is extraordinary to think that the son of a tailor rose to hold such important offices thanks to a grammar school education.

More?

At the end of the exhibition, I found myself wanting more. Another room. Another clever animation perhaps? I suppose the museum’s budget could not stretch that far.

A museum exhibition that leaves you wanting more is quite an accolade.

A Taste of Frisian

Friesland's flag with its lily pad symbols

The humour continued in the Dutch Embassy’s language and culture taster class. Dutch was followed by Frisian. It is the second official language of the Netherlands. It is spoken in Friesland in the northern part of the country. Old Frisian is the closest language to Old English.

Duco

Dr Doekele van Oostrum introduced the Europe House audience to his native tongue. Frisian is a language that he only generally gets to speak with his family. This presentation was the first that he had ever carried out bearing his birth name of Doekele. In order to survive in the Dutch-speaking world, his parents had advised a switch to “Duco”. Little did they realise that the Dutch have a tendency to call their dogs “Duco”.

Duco is not a language teacher. Instead he teaches American English literature at the University of Sheffield. He relished the chance to explain his native culture to us. He interspersed his tales with snippets of the Frisian language.

Culture and Flag

Frisian is not just another of the Dutch dialects. Friesland has a strong cultural history. It has its own flag (above). Its seven symbols, commonly mistaken for hearts, represent lily pads.

History and Legend

There is no getting away from the fact that Duco’s ancestors were a violent, bloodthirsty people. The Frisian Pagans fought ferociously to keep their independence from both government and religion.

Today’s Frisians are fiercely proud of defeating the Romans in AD28. They scared the Romans off for good. They never came back. Everyone knows their Tacitus.

The Frisians brutally killed anyone who got too close to them. St Boniface was killed by the Frisians. Even dragons daren’t venture near Friesland according to legend.

The most important figure in Frisian history is Grutte Pier (Big Peter). He was a pirate by the name of Piers Gerlof Donia (1480-1520). His long sword can be found in the Frisian cultural museum.

Status and PR

Duco attributed the official status of the Frisian language to good PR. Friesland boasts the oldest Dutch University dating back to 1581. The language is taught in primary school. It can even be found in Google Translate – although as a linguist it is hard to know whether to congratulate or commiserate with the Frisians on this point.

Twitter shot of Duco presenting Frisian Cultural Heritage

Language and Heritage

Friesland has its own radio and TV stations. There are dual language signs in Frisian cities. 

Ûs Mem

When the British think of Frisians, we think of Frisian cows first of all. It was therefore a surprise that the second most famous figure was a statue of a cow. Frisians traditionally refer to her as “Our Mother” (Ûs Mem).

Sport and Singing

Sport is an important part of Frisian culture. A gruelling 220km ice skating race is a revered tradition - though a rare event. It depends on the icy conditions. There was a massive gap between 1963 and 1985. In one famous race out of 1600 starters only 100 finished. Duco likened the Dutch ability to watch such skating races endlessly to the British ability to watch cricket.

Other Famous Frisians

Many renowned Frisians were skaters – including one world champion, a housewife and mother, who defeated a field of much younger women.

We all knew at least one Frisian – the famous spy Mata Hari from Leeuwarden.

We also heard about hand tennis matches and boat races with low keels. Heerenveen football matches are great occasions at which to speak and sing only in Frisian. Duco played us some Frisian songs. He pointed out how much easier it would be for us to speak than Dutch.

Frisian Sayings and Song

Duco likened the character of the Frisians to Brits from Yorkshire. They are pragmatists and prone to understatement. We learnt some great Frisian sayings including:

Foar de kofje net eamelje – don’t whine before coffee

Duco ended by playing a song to illustrate the beauty of his native language. Hallelujah is sung by Nynke Laverman:

Dutch is FUN

For sheer entertainment value it has to be 10/10. No, this is not a review of a West End Show, but a language and culture class at Europe House in London.

The Dutch readily concede that their language is not the most melliferous on the planet. If you want honey in your ear, better study Italian. Judging by Thursday’s taster class, the Dutch do not take their language too seriously. They certainly know how to make learning about language and culture FUN.

Swamp Language

First up was Gaston Dorren, author of Lingo: A language spotter’s guide to Europe. The title of his talk had worried me in advance. Dutch: the Sound of the Swamp sounded derogatory. A frog peered out from the screen at us all.

Frogland

All became clear. Gaston showed how the story of Dutch began in a swamp with detailed maps. Clever drainage and building up hillocks improved the landscape. The Dutch use Frogland as a term of endearment for their country.

Gaston Dorren presents sign interpreters with Dutch gender challenges

Size v. Influence

Gaston joked about the size of the Netherlands. At one seventh of the size of the UK, it could fit into Scotland and get “mislaid” up there. He explained how Dutch appears in the top 1% of the world’s languages. Dutch has 24 million speakers. It is the twelfth most widely used language on the internet. It is the fifth most commonly requested language in job vacancies according to a 2013 UK survey.

History

How did the Netherlands become so influential? It became populated and prosperous at a time when Northern Germany was in economic decline. Gaston acknowledged a “shameful colonial past”. Standing in London before a largely British audience, he had no fear of anyone throwing stones on the subject. He reduced the historical wars between our two countries to wins, losses and draws as though they were international football matches. Our two nations do so love the beautiful game.

Dialects

The country’s geography helped create extraordinary linguistic diversity. There are very different dialects. A dialect on one side of this small country is unintelligible on the other side. You can still hear traces from the three original tribes. Gaston attributed their retention to the population’s lack of mobility. They didn’t travel much for 1500 years. If you need a huge pole to cross all the wet bits, well, you don’t get very far from home.

Pronunciation

Dutch has a reputation for difficult sounds. Gaston admitted that getting your pronunciation wrong could cause difficulties in the kitchen. You might get your eggs and onions muddled up. Disastrous.

The infamous “g”

It is the “unpleasant g” sound produced in the throat that is the real issue for English-speakers. Henriette Louwerse of the University of Sheffield tackled the “g” issue head on. No room for any delicacy. Dutch is loud. Seconds into the language class, she had the whole room grazing their throats to throw up the correct sound.

Henriette Louwerse demonstrates Dutch sounds

Attitude to language

Henriette continued the humorous tone set by Gaston. She regaled us with the incredulity of her compatriots that she taught Dutch language and literature in Britain. The Dutch are proud of their country, art history, football and sports. They have never won a Nobel Prize for Literature. While they expect refugees to learn Dutch to integrate, Henriette described the attitude as “mercantile” rather than emotional.

Badges

The Dutch will insist on speaking in English to her students however. She has to equip them with humorous badges to overcome the problem: “I speak Dutch. Can I do it with you?”

Goal

Obviously, Henriette could not teach the whole room her native tongue in just 30 minutes. A better target was to be able to pronounce Dutch footballers’ and football managers’ names correctly. We all repeated the various sounds after her.

Intonation

Henriette demonstrated the rising intonation of Dutch questions. The intonation may sound exaggerated to an English ear. It is important if you want a Dutch person to understand that you are asking a question. Otherwise you risk not getting what you want.

Tactile

In the Netherlands, you do not greet someone from a distance. The words alone are not sufficient. The Dutch are a tactile nation. You must go right up to them, look them in the eye and shake them firmly by the hand as you greet them.

Henriette explains how easy Dutch is

Catching Enthusiasm

Otherwise Dutch is apparently easy for English speakers. Henriette proved this to us by having us decipher two printed conversations on a leaflet. No problem. Henriette is the kind of teacher you can’t disagree with. Her enthusiasm is catching.

Dutch Embassy

This great language taster event was organised by the Dutch Embassy with Europe House’s language officers Paul Kaye and Stephen Turkington. Paul gave particular credit to Lauren Harris at the embassy.

Attentive full house at Dutch and Frisian taster classes

At the break they laid on Dutch beer and delicacies. They catered for everyone. The ground floor venue gave easy access for a knowledgeable disabled guest. Two BSL signers interpreted for two deaf visitors amid the full house. It can’t have been easy interpreting some of Gaston and Henriette’s vocabulary - never mind the speedy and humorous delivery.

Every six months, Europe House stages an event celebrating the language and culture of the current holders of the EU Presidency. Slovakia will hold its first-ever Presidency of the EU next. The Dutch have set the bar very high for the Slovak Embassy.

St Patrick's Day Parade

Luck o' the Irish. London's St Patrick Day Parade took place in sunshine and blue skies. Thousands turned out to line the streets four days ahead of the official day of 17th March. There was a sea of green everywhere. You could join in whether you were Irish or not. The more the merrier as far as the Irish are concerned.

Two leprechauns at the London's St Patrick Day Parade

St Patrick
St Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland. The Feast of St Patrick has both religious and cultural significance. Its official date coincides with the day the saint died. Patrick was a Christian missionary and bishop in the 5th Century. According to legend he used the 3-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish Pagans.

St Patrick at the start of the London parade

Large crowds
If Dublin was a little quiet on Sunday, it must have been because a fair number of the Irish started the celebrations in London. A bit like the Tour de France starts outside France maybe? As one of the parade commentators said, St Patrick's Day party starts early and continues into Easter.

Great Spirit of Inclusion

There was a wide age range. A baby fast asleep in his pram, but dressed for the occasion in the colours of the Irish flag. A grandmother walked behind her young granddaughter as she showed off her Irish dance skills.

A special needs group appeared walking and in wheelchairs among the throng. There were also people in wheelchairs within other groups. 

Participants made a special effort to come across and talk to the young girl in a wheelchair nearby me with her parents and sister.

Various protest groups also walked within the parade to promote their cause. There was even a group handing out leaflets for the British to vote to stay in the EU with the Irish.

Dublin Women seeking equal pay

The main part of the day was for merriment. There were music, dancing and green costumes galore. 

There were some great marching bands from Ireland, the UK and the USA. The very smart Texan marching band were brilliant. 

Coppell High School Marching Band from Texas in London

Their accompanying American majorettes put on a great display twirling their large green flags.

Texan Majorettes in the St Patrick's Day Parade

And of course there were flutes, pipes, drums and fiddles and bagpipes too.

Irish bagpipe marching band in St Patrick's Day Parade

It was great to see so many young Irish dancers included in the parade both on floats and in the parade.












Ooh! I musn't forget to mention the rugby float announcing the St Patrick's Day match...

Irish Rugby Float in London's St Patrick's Day Parade

The fire brigade and the police were represented in the parade too. The South London Irish Club even brought along an old fire engine from West Sussex.

The fire engine was one of a wide range of vehicles in the parade - from articulated trucks to roller skates. There were scooters, bikes, a mobile home, an old panda car and a JCB.

Roller skating behind an old police car 

JCB in London's St Patrick Day Parade

South American culture was represented too with dancers in very colourful costumes. The Irish welcome all.

Bolivian Dancers in St Patrick's Day Parade

South American dancers on London street

At the end of the parade the festivities continued in Trafalgar Square.

The queue at the bar in Trafalgar Square after the parade

Women in Cartoons

Three Businesswomen in the city © guingm5

Cartoons have impact. You can see an article and not really read it. You give up before the end and miss the punchline. If you see a cartoon, you see it all at once. Cartoons can puncture preconceptions and make you laugh.

Goldfish attention span
The average human attention span is said to be worse than that of a goldfish. Thanks to our smartphones our focus is now down to 8 seconds. Goldfish can focus for a full 9 seconds. 

A goldfish concentrating... ©Brian Goff

Cartoons have the ability to make a point in seconds. An ideal medium in the digital age.


Women in STEM
UCL invited 3 women cartoonists to speak about their work as part of International Women's Day. The idea evolved as part of the Athena Swan project to encourage more women into higher levels of science and academia. At lower levels, there is a 50/50 gender balance. Only 18% of women have reached professor level in biology. This is traditionally the science with the most women. Athena Swan looks at the whole culture to make positive changes for the future. 

Inspired by Charlie Hebdo
The cartoon project was the brainchild of John Martin, Professor of Cardiovascular biology at UCL. He was inspired by France's Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Eight cartoonists observed their work and drew over 80 cartoons. The aim is to display the results as a future exhibition. On the day, the work of three women present was on display:

• Ros Asquith, the Guardian
• K J Lamb, Private Eye and Spectator
• Judith Walker, New Humanist - UCL cartoonist in residence work

Inviting outsiders in to observe and comment can prove dangerous. You can inadvertently find yourself in a cartoon, as Professor Martin discovered. A number of the cartoons commented on NHS bureaucracy and the digital dependence of modern medicine.  

Women cartoonists
All three women explained their early careers. They were not necessarily good at art from an early age at school. Few cartoonists are women. Fifty-seven men and just three women worked on the Charlie Hebdo book. Women are often afraid to be funny in public. Few women are comedians. Yet many women can be very funny away from the stage.

Clarity and observation
What makes a good cartoon? The clarity of an idea. A simple outline with a minimal number of words for impact. All three cartoonists highlighted the importance of observation skills. 

No-go areas?
Given the Charlie Hebdo background, they were asked about no-go areas. Judith Walker commented that she had reflected on the issue after the Paris attacks. Some people decide to be offended. Keeping to your own sense of principles is important. Violence against women was the no-go area mentioned.

Preconceptions
Cartoonists are private people. They rarely have a public face beyond their cartoons. We know little about them. It is easy to make false assumptions. Many assume that K J Lamb is a man. 

Women in Burqas
Both Judith Walker and Kathryn Lamb have drawn women in burqa cartoons. Kathryn lived and grew up in Dubai until the age of 20. Judith has experience of working with refugees as an art therapist. She commented that the women that she has met have been very strong, bright and witty women. Under those burquas there is great humanity. There is a lot of giggling and a sense of fun.


For information about Anglicity's copywriting services, please email karen@anglicity.com.

Avoiding the Black Hole

Black hole terminology like event horizon and singularity is now commonly applied to the translator. Is doom on the horizon? Or are there options to redirect and reinvent the profession?

Resistance is futile
A few words from Imperial College London's 100th Anniversary celebration of Einstein's Theory of Relativity have stuck in my mind. When heading for a black hole, you will meet your doom faster if you resist.

Personally, I prefer to spot the black hole on the horizon and redirect my spaceship well in advance.

Higher status
There is no argument that the translation profession is going through a major disruption. I agree that the role of today's translator will no longer exist. However, my past experiences as a translation project manager and marketing manager tell me that many issues will continue. Clients will still need to turn to language experts for creativity and cultural guidance. Tomorrow's "translator" should be freed from much drudgery to perform at a higher level with a higher status.

Robotics
At the AsLing Translating and the Computer Conference in November 2015,  we saw that familiar video of robots falling over all the time. Just one month later, the Boston Dynamics Christmas video showed some sure-footed robot "reindeer".

Microsoft
Resistance and a policy of non-cooperation isn't going to prevent further progress. Not all progress in our field is unwelcome. I was impressed by the live demonstration of Skype Translator by Microsoft's Will Lewis. It wasn't perfect. It was FUN in capital letters. It wasn't high level interpretation. It was for those inane conversations that we all have with our friends. We say very little in real terms. Yet we end up with a warm fuzzy feeling and a big smile on our faces.

Applications for the deaf
More importantly Microsoft work has educational applications of great significance for the deaf. We saw the difference that the system made to a deaf boy's education.

The most moving session at ITI's 2015 Conference for me involved the British Sign Language (BSL) Panel. It was an eye-opener about how poorly served the deaf community are. Even the BSL that we see on TV is poor because it lacks emotion. One of the deaf panellists described finally understanding what theatre is about after seeing excellent platform interpreting for the first time. Her description brought tears to the eyes.

Any technology that improves the lives and participation of the deaf community is to be encouraged in my view.

Shape the future
My takeaway from the AsLing Conference is that translators should shape rather than resist the future. Our professional lives are being taken over by technology. That technology is not always robust and reliable. The Internet of Things will surround us with embedded sensors. The IT world will have to launch products that are more robust with greater interoperability than at present.

More user-friendly
Rather than resisting, I would recommend that translators demand more user-friendly technologies. Keep IT developers busy doing what would make our working day easier and more productive. Please be kinder to our eyes, hands, necks, backs. Seek developments that assist rather stifle our creativity.

Addictive CAT tools
At Elia Together, I jokingly asked Kilgray to make CAT tools as addictive as online games for teenagers. It seems that my request isn't such a joke. You don't know what might be possible unless you ask. Anyone fancy virtual reality translating?

CPD
Our world is changing so fast that it is hard to keep up. This disruption is affecting everyone not just the translation community. I am a great believer in investing in my own CPD. To avoid the black hole on the event horizon, I have recently enrolled for the IDM Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing at the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing. I have always preferred to do something rather theorise about a future threat.

What's your plan to avoid the black hole?

 © spacestock 

From British winter to Brazilian tropics

How can you go from the bitter cold of a British winter's evening to the Brazilian tropics in seconds? You can't ask Star Trek's Scotty to beam you over to the Brazilian rainforest. Nor can you use a port key or floo powder like Harry Potter.

The answer? The Princess of Wales Conservatory at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew just outside London.

I recently went to Kew Gardens' Orchid Festival Late. One minute I was wrapped up in several layers against a bitterly cold winter evening, the next I was in the humid tropics inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

Brazilian rainforest indoors at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

As I entered I could hear drums. A Brazilian band and dancers were making a tour of the internal walkways.

Quite a contrast in temperature.

In pride of place were huge displays that reminded you of Brazilian carnivals. There were also huge columns of orchids. Orchids on archways. Orchids hanging above your head.

As ever, Kew played its educational role well. Various signs gave you more facts about orchids. It is estimated that Brazil is home to 2,500 orchid species. Orchid hunting, new discoveries and conservation efforts are ongoing at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

New DNA studies by Kew's botanists have resulted in some reclassifications. Some of the Brazilian Oncidium species have turned out to be distant relatives despite apparent similarities.

Expert Botanist's area in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew

A Kew expert was on hand on the night to explain pollination and the various parts of an orchid. Poor male bees. It seems that some orchids are the botanical equivalent of con artists. It doesn't help that bees have poor eyesight and can't tell red and yellow apart.

Brazilian dancer under the hanging orchids

Other Brazilian activities on the night included salsa dance classes, cocktails, flower face painting and making colourful carnival hats. It made a pleasant evening out on a chilly winter's evening.


Do you need a versatile writer for cultural, technical or general copy? Contact Karen via karen@anglicity.com to discuss your content marketing strategy.

Menton's Chinese Fête du Citron

Menton's Lemon Festival takes place annually between mid-February and early March every year. I was lucky to visit the 82nd Fête du Citron during the February half-term of 2015.

According to legend the first lemon tree took root in Menton after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Lemons thrive in the mild climate and soil in this Southern French coastal town. The locals boast about the rich yellow colour and acidity of their fruit.

The 2015 Lemon Festival had a Chinese theme. It was also inspired by the French movie director Philippe de Broca and novelist Jules Verne.

Despite the drizzle and chill air, we enjoyed watching the carnival parade through the streets on the first full day of our holiday.

It takes more than a little drizzle and a nip in the air to keep hardy Brits away. We were surprised to get covered in confetti too as the floats and walking participants went by.

Dancers circling round in Menton's carnival parade

The floats looked amazingly colourful despite the lack of sunshine. As we soon discovered, the Lemon Festival includes a lot of oranges too. I particularly liked the goat float. A huge goat made out of lemons and oranges represented 2015 as the Chinese Year of the Goat.

The floats and dancers largely had a Chinese theme. However, we also noted participants from various other countries like neighbouring Italy and Switzerland. There were lots of Italians in the crowd too.

The Hong Kong Youth Marching Band were brilliant. We saw the very cheerful young group again a few days later in the local supermarket.

Our intended visit to the Garden of Lights in the Biovès Garden was cancelled due to heavy rain. No fuss was made about a refund. We still managed to take a peak at the amazing head of the dragon raised high above the boundaries of the garden. The amazing dragon picture from the entrance appears on my Google+ account profile to this day (see top photo).

The highlight of our stay was our daytime visit to the Biovès Garden. We were able to see the enormous dragon at close quarters. Even his claws on the ground were huge. We marvelled at the skill and time that it must have taken to make all the wonderful orange and lemon figures.

On closer inspection we could see that a staggering number of elastic bands held the fruit in place. The patterns and details were fantastic. You can see and example below.

This year's Fête du Citron finishes on 2nd March. It has an Italian cinema theme.  I wonder what next year's theme will be? Well worth another visit.