(Never) Lost in translations

I have been translating technical documents for more than two decades. I have been living almost seven years in a country where virtually no one speaks my own language outside my house. Also I am learning three new languages and enjoying it very much. I am not a perfect speaker in any of those languages. But what matters? No one is perfect anyway.

Rather I have lots of fun from all of them. It is fascinating that there are always new things to learn when you are dealing with a language even if it is your mother tongue. Actually I think I might be shy the most in my own language as I feel making mistake is less permissible when using it.

However, it looks like my fellow country people would think quite opposite. They are afraid of making grammatical errors, missing meanings of what they hear and pronouncing in a poor manner in speaking other languages. To err is human. No mistakes, no learning. As a result, I see people from countries around the world here but except one, where I came from.

It is a shame that the concept of expatriate itself carries unwelcome connotations there. I would like to urge the fellow people that your personality would never be lost in translations. You are you wherever you are and would be welcome as long as you are human. Being human would not require heaps of words. Especially in a country like here.

Keep Calm and Carry On

The year 2014 already has seen heaps of extraordinary new stories. Many of them challenged our old perceptions of the world and invited new perspectives to the reality. For example, just several years ago, main stream media excitedly reported reduced snow falls and melting ices and they even argued that white Christmas (of course in the northern hemisphere) would soon become things of past because of global warming. Alas, suddenly the weather daemon apparently has changed its mind and extreme ice and show conditions causing havoc in electricity and transport all over the world.

In biomedical science, it was the discovery of the stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells. The idea of the induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells which proved that mature cells can be reprogrammed to gain the ability to turn into any type of cells had been innovative enough to earn the Nobel Prize but  STAP cells went even further. The notion that just dipping cells into an acid bath can transform them into stem cells was too extraordinary to believe or even to take seriously, and actually it was rejected by the science journal Nature multiple times.

Although it does not imply that all "too good to be true" stories should be treated with respect, there should be plenty of fascinating but unexpected discoveries waiting for us. There are still heaps of stones left unturned in the universe. By no means the science was already settled and well-known. I have got a feeling that the year 2014 would be a great year of scientific discoveries and technological innovations.

I am concerned that Japanese media has been relating the discovery of the STAP cells to the personal traits of Dr Haruko Obokata who made it. For me, they are looking for the golden formula of the Nobel Prize Winner as it can be reproduced by parents in growing their own children. Such a delusion is contrary to the fact revealed by the discovery of the STAP cells itself. We still know nothing about the nature.

Just Keep Calm and Carry On.