ATA Slavic Languages Division

SlavFile

SlavFile, the newsletter of the Slavic Language Division, is published quarterly. Aside from keeping readers informed of Division and relevant ATA activities, the mission of the newsletter is to provide information that will help facilitate the careers and professional development of translators and interpreters of Slavic languages and to entertain and inform them in areas related to these careers. To find out  more about SlavFile and its editorial staff, please view our About SlavFile page.

Click on the links below to view the tables of contents for recent issues of SlavFile:

• Spring 2008 SlafFile
• Winter 2008 SlafFile
• Fall 2007 SlavFile
• Summer 2007 SlavFile
• Spring 2007 SlavFile
• Winter 2007 SlavFile

If you would like to view past issues of SlavFile, please access SlavFile archives on you right.

Spring 2008

!Download the Spring 2008 Issue of SlavFile.

Table of Contents coming soon!

Winter 2008

!Download the Winter 2008 Issue of SlavFile.

Table of Contents coming soon!

Fall 2007

!Download the Fall 2007 Issue of SlavFile.

From the Administrators: Message from the ongoing administrators Elena Bogdanovich and Elena Guernsey.

Candidate Statements: Statements by incoming SLD Administrator Becky Blackley and Assistant Administator Elana Pick.

SLD Banquet: Information on the annual SLD Banquet.

Request for Correspondents: A young Uzbek-based translator looks for contacts.

Idiom Savants (II): Vladimir Kovner and Lydia Stone continue their popular feature, this time addressing dairy-related idioms.

SlavLite: Regular humor and culture column.

The Trials and Tribulations of Upgrading to Microsoft Office Professional 2007 by Nora Favorov

Beginners’ Luck: Liv Bliss discusses on catch phrases.

Translating Children’s Poetry: The War between Children and Parents: Translations of poetry by Nash, Milne, Oster, Prelutsky, Zakhoder, and Moritz.

Hrvatski Pravopis: Dictionary review by Janja Pravetic-Dickey.

English-Russian and Russian-English Religious and Spiritual Lexicon: Dictionary review by Roy Cochrun.

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Summer 2007

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Review of new book, Survival Russian, and interview with its author, Michael Ivanov.

Important information about upcoming SLD elections.

From the Administrators column: Elena Bogdanovich and Jen Guernsey discuss the upcoming conference and other matters.

Review of Dictionary of Military Jargon by Michael Dahl.

SlavFile Lite: Regular humor and culture column.

Beginners’ Luck: Liv Bliss discusses test translations.

Review of book on Translation Contracts.

Translating children’s poetry involving gender conflicts.

Idiom Savants: New column devoted to comparative English and Russian idioms.

Marks of Punctuation as False Grammatical Cognates: Article by Marian Schwartz reviewed by Elena McDonnell.

Roy Cochrun reviews Contemporary Russian-English Law Dictionary.

Stephen Dickey reviews Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian Textbook.

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Spring 2007

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Review of Annual Susana Greiss Lecture and "Torture the Translator" Preconference Seminar: Jen Guernsey and Vera Zartman review two fascinating conference sessions by Michelle Berdy.

SlavFile Lite: Regular humor and culture column by Lydia Stone.

Beginner’s Luck: Liv Bliss’ column this time is devoted to translation contracts.

What’s on Your Shelf: New dictionary editor Roy Cochrun introduces himself and gives an overview of Russian dictionaries available over the last 40-50 years.

The Foreign Invasion of Russian: Infiltration or Evolution? Army linguist Michael Dahl discusses the use of English words in Russian.

Looking at the Overlooked: Sentencing, Paragraphing and Textual Coherence in Russian > English Translation: Lydia Stone reviews conference presentation by Brian Baer and Tatyana Bystrova-McIntyre.

My Crude Ain’t Your Oil: The Language of Petroleum: Konstantin Lakshin’s presentation reviewed by Fred Grasso.

The Name of the Game: Russian Translations of English Expressions Drawn from Sports: Elena Levintova Allison reviews presentation by Vladimir Kovner and Lydia Stone.

How I Played the Game in My Leningrad Youth: Vladimir Kovner describes his early life using English sports expressions.

Speech Etiquette Formulas in Translation: Anastasia Koralova discusses the translation of courteous set phrases.

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Winter 2007

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From the Administrators The SLD's new administrative team takes a look at SLD activities at the recent ATA conference and looks toward the future.

Буриме Our annual bouts rimés by SLD bard Vadim Khazin.

Some Thoughts on the Ukrainian Language by SlavFile editor for Ukrainian, Olga Collin.

Minutes of the SLD's Annual Business Meeting

SlavFile Lite: Not by Word Count Alone Regular humor and culture column by editor Lydia Stone.

Weekly Training Events: Teaching Translation and Interpreting Skills Online Elena Levintova Allison's presentation at ATA-New Orleans reviewed by Nora Favorov.

Lying to Tell the Truth Anastasia Koralova's presentation on translating children's poetry reviewed by Vladimir Kovner.

A Few Thoughts on My First Conference by Lucy Gunderson.

Translation of English Language Advertising Materials Elena McGivern's ATA-New Orleans presentation reviewed by Yuliya Cloud.

A New Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Column Stephen M. Dickey and Janja Paveti-Dickey, the SlavFile's new editors for BCS, introduce themselves.

Polish Miscellany By editor for Polish, Genowefa Legowski.

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Fall 2006

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Interview with 2006 Greiss Lecturer, Michele Berdy. Find out how she plans to “torture the translator” at her upcoming pre-conference seminar.

Conference preview. Who could resist the sessions and other activities planned?

Beginner’s Luck. Regular column by Liv Bliss. The wonderful world of translation contracts.

Language as a weapon in the battle for Moscow’s architectural landmarks. Stephen McCarthy presents a fascinating perspective on Russian building preservation.

Вот что я люблю. McDonald’s glossary submitted by Boris Silversteyn.

SlavFile Lite: Not by Word Count Alone. Regular humor and culture column by editor, Lydia Stone.

Idioms as a major source of errors in translation. 2005 Conference presentation by Anastasia Koralova.

Partners in Rhyme: Translating poetry for fun and the multicultural child. 2005 Conference presentation by Vladimir Kovner and Lydia Stone reviewed by Nora Favorov.

Nuts and Bolts. Regular column by Jennifer Guernsey. Review of A Translator’s Tool Box for the 21st Century by Jost Zetsche.

A modest proposal concerning Russian. Cathie Petersons, a disgruntled language learner, takes verbal revenge on the language causing her so much difficulty.

Assorted announcements of interests, including a South Slavic freebie.

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Summer 2006

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Beginner’s Luck In her regular column, Liv Bliss asks, “Where is the work?”

The Party Line Reprinted column by 2006 Greiss Lecturer, Michele Berdy, reviewing The Dictionary of the Worker’s Paradise.

First Learn to Think Like a Grader Brian Baer reviews Seattle conference session on taking the certification test presented by language chairs Jim Walker and Marina Aranovich.

Terminology in Legal and Social Services Brochures Conference presentation by Emma Garkavi and Vadim Khazin, reviewed by Liana Loveless. Glossary included.

Negotiations-Переговоры Some English idioms useful in international business by Ludmila Ismailova. Article in Russian. Glossary included.

SlavFile Lite: Not by Word Count Alone Regular humor and culture column by editor Lydia Stone.

“My” Susana Greiss Boris Silversteyn reminisces about our recently deceased founder.

Problem Words in Russian-English Public Health Translation Materials from 2004 conference presentation given by associate editor Nora Favorov. Glossary included.

Polish Miscellany By editor for Polish, Genowefa Legowski.

Characteristics of Legal English Materials from much admired 1996 ATA conference presentation by lawyer and polyglot Thomas West. Glossary included.

You Might be a Freelance Translator If… Humor piece by Jim Shipp.

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Spring 2006

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In Memoriam: Susana Greiss Tributes to the SLD’s founder and first administrator by friends and colleagues, George Fletcher, Ann G. Macfarlane, and Lydia Stone.

Admin-itions by SLD Administrator, Joseph Bayerl.

Letters to the Editor on a variety of topics.

This is a Fact: Mistakes of Russians in English. Jennifer Guernsey reviews Lynn Visson’s ATA Conference presentation.

Between Norms and Style: Translating Punctuation (Russian-English). A fascinating empirical study of comparative punctuation by Brian Baer and Tatyana Bystrova-McIntyre. Presentation reviewed by Vadim Khazin.

Of Camels, Virgins and Perrier Cognacs. Robert Taylor reports on Konstantin Lakshin’s amusing conference session.

Let’s Get to Know Each Other. Our new editor for Ukrainian, Olga Collin, introduces herself and calls for survey responses. An English-Ukrainian certification program has been adopted.

SlavFile Lite: Not by Word Count Alone. Regular humor and culture column.

Who is the New Leader of China? Olga Zamaraeva provides a thorough discussion of rendering names in English-Russian news translation.

Three Little (Russian Biomedical) Words. Suggested translations for организм, препарат and направлен by Lydia Stone.

The Translator: A Prominent Figure in the Twenty-First Century. New editor for Polish, Genowefa Legowski, discusses Polish news articles featuring translators.

Beginner’s Luck. Liv Bliss provides some sensible suggestion on dealing with stubborn payment problems.

Newcomer Profile. Carolyn Cooper of St. Petersburg.

Interpreting Customer Service Phrases from English into Russian. Svetlana Ball tackles Russian commercial phone manners.

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Winter 2006

! Download the Winter 2006 issue of SlavFile.

How to Take and Pass the ATA Certification Examination by Jim Walker, Language Chair for Russian-English Certification

Adminitions by SLD Administrator, Joseph Bayerl.

From the Editors SlavFile editors outline the implications of the new ATA rule allowing membership in an unlimited number of divisions.

Буриме на ужине Славянской Дивизии в Сиэтле Vadim Khazin’s annual on-the-spot creation using rhymes provided by banquet attendees.

An Inexact Science and the Terminology to Match, Review of “Medical Translators and Medical Dictionaries” Nora Favorov reviews the 2005 Annual Susana Greiss lecture presented by Svetolik P. Djordjević.

Minutes of the Slavic Languages Division Annual Meeting

My New Experience at an ATA Conference First-time ATA conference attendee Kathleen Davis provides an overview of her ATA conference experience.

“Words and Values: Factors Affecting Translation of Patient-Centered Medical Documents” Christina Sever reviews Elena N. Levintova’s medical presentation at the ATA conference.

A Lesson in Plunging In Outgoing SLD assistant administrator Nora Favorov writes about what serving as an SLD officer has meant for her.

Respect for Foreign Languages (Not to Mention Accuracy) In Our Nation’s Capital The Washington Post gets it wrong.

SlavFile Lite: Not by Word Count Alone Regular humor and culture column by SlavFile editor Lydia Razran Stone.

Baffle Boris Russian translations of challenging English idioms, by the unbafflable Boris Silversteyn.

Soviet Orphans of World War II: Translation Aspects Rachel Green, doctoral candidate at the U. of Chicago, shares some translation challenges in writing about war orphans.

Yahoo Russian Translators Club Advertisement

End of Life Issues Terminology dealing with end-of-life issues, compiled by Elana Pick.

License for Bilingual Puns Recent Slavic-themed license plate sightings by our readers.

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