Another one of my weaknesses

People who know me will know that I have a passion for languages ​​that goes far beyond my ability to put foreign languages ​​to practical use - a very good indication is that at the time when I first wrote this, I was the proud owner of the first volume of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - in no less than eight languages, of which I am totally without abilities to get understandable meaning out of at least half of them. But then I at least have the books on the shelf if one of my kids should take an interest in one of the languages ​​in question, and think it might be fun to use the young wizard as a companion venturing into it.
One of the more stressful side effects of my language obsession is that I just have to have a shallow exposure to a language before I get an unbearable desire to learn more of it. Initially just greetings, courtesy phrases and such stuff - and a similar urge to learn a new alphabet if there is need for anything but the one I normally use.
And now it has happened again. With the usual acquisition of basic textbooks, dictionaries and the like. Not that I think I'll ever master this language either. One can ask oneself if I will ever become any wiser.
And frankly, I do not really hope so.
(Translated from Endnu en af mine svagheder, originally published February 25, 2018)

100...

This post is in a certain sense what we could call an anniversary - it's a blog entry number 100, which I translate into English.
It has been nineteen months since I started - at first I did not know how long it would last, I did not know how long I would have interesting posts to translate and I did not know if there would be anyone who would be interested in reading what I wrote.
But last month the English blog had six times as many page views as the Danish; it happens ever so often that I actually get the idea for a post out of something which is originally English; and therefore I have to think it back into Danish and then again into English, and I actually think that the process of having an English blog is rewarding. So there are really no good reasons why I shouldn't keep it up.
(Translated from 100...)

A little progress is progress, too

I have for some time harboured an ambition to acquire just a little Arabic to expand my horizons and understand the most basic.
Recently, I had an opportunity to visit places where Arabic can be experienced, while it was still possible to get by in English, so I was not completely lost.
And despite the fact that my efforts have been extremely limited and I have infinitely much to learn yet, I was pleased to see that where I previously heard a totally incomprehensible flow of mumbo-jumbo, I was now able to pick out small pieces like 'كيف حالك' or 'صباح الخير' and understand them (in the middle of a word stream which I still admit is mumbo-jumbo to me) - when I stand in front of 'بلوميتغديلز' I can spell my way through it and understand the company name before I doublecheck the English logo - and when flight 'واحد خمسة واحد' is announced, I can hear that it's my plane before the announcement comes in English.
That is not much. But it is important to note that a little progress is also progress.
(Translated from Små fremskridt er også fremskridt, originally published May 14th, 2017)

Edifications from abroad

(Translated from Turèll-blogmanifest nummer 19, eller: Opbyggeligheder fra det fremmede)
Recently, I got yet another idea for yet another one of those blogs, for which I get the idea which I then refrain from doing anything about - I still have to shamefully admit that this is the way it often goes. It came from the fact that I came across an excellent English blog post somewhere, and when I came to the end of it, it appeared that it actually was originally a blog post which was written in French on another blog.
It made me think that there are masses of such observations that deserve to have their footprint increased to people who simply do not understand English, or are most familiar with reading in Danish. It will obviously only be a translation as good as I am able to do it - but it will probably in any case have a certain possibility to be at least comparable to what Google Translate can offer.
I will obviously behave nicely, ask the original author's permission and write the credits due as befits, and explain that I only do it because I find the author's work so excellent that it should be shared as widely as possible.
One day I will make such a blog.
When I grow up, I will make such a blog. I can hardly wait.

Who are we?

The headline became a bit more catchy than it ought to have been - it should rather have been "Who are 'we'?", as it is a question of correct language rather than of actual identity, I want to touch upon. But the headline still reflects the almost existential doubt that caused it in the first place.
I think most people have experienced it: standing in a situation where someone presents a message to them, repeatedly using the word "we" in the flow of words.
And then the uncomfortable doubt rises: who are "we" after all?
Could it be everyone assembled?
Could it - as it is often heard in a work context - be the entire company? the entire department? the entire company and its partners? Or maybe just the person talking and the person listening? Not to mention the really uncomfortable situations where the listener has to ask herself the question "Who are 'you'?" - because the listener does not feel included in the "we" at all.
Some might find that if people can ask this type of question, it is because they do not get the big picture. But communication problems should be resolved just as must by adjustments in the speaker as by adjustments in the listener.
(Translated from Hvem er vi?, originally published February 13, 2014)

Pings in Translation

Actually, this post originally had the working title: "A quiet life in the Shadows of the Tower of Babel" - as it is concerned with how one has blissfully little exposure to readers if writing a blog in a language that is not widely known outside one's home country.
But it is equally concerned with how I actually find it a bit unfair to the people whose names are occasionally dropped on the blog; that they should be left at the mercy of Google Translate, if they wish to understand what coverage they've had.

Hence I actually pulled myself together to create a blog, In selected cases, I will try to pull myself even more together - and do my best to translate posts from Ping-pong for et nyt årtusinde into English. Either because I want to give people the opportunity to see how they have been referred to, or because I - eventhough rarely - come up with something I could imagine being of interest to someone outside the limited population who understands my native language. Maybe even translate posts, because people express the wish to be capable of reading them. 

Welcome to Pings in Translation, which for once has become more than just another unfulfilled ambition.
(Translated from Turèll-blogmanifest nummer 18, eller: Pings in Translation)