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Looking up for meanings — in encyclopedias, dictionaries, glossaries, or through online searches — is a constant part in a translator's life. "What does it mean?" is certainly the most natural question for a translator or interpreter — whether "it" is a word, phrase, jargon, or acronym. Seasoned translators know too well that they actually translate meanings — not merely words — from source to target documents. Likewise, interpreters constantly grapple to unlock meanings intended by a speaker. In my journey both as an English <> Indonesian Translator and Conference Interpreter, I have always been intrigued by the expressed and implied meanings of words and phrases — with all their shades, subtleties, and nuances. This interest has driven me further to explore different levels of meanings; not only literal, semantic, idiomatic, and contextual ones — that are critical in my profession — but also etymological, conceptual, symbolical and metaphysical ones worth contemplating in depth.
Therefore this blog will not only be about translation and interpreting, but also about linguistic and cultural settings relevant to deeper meanings — from every possible angle. At least, that is Plan A. No subject is off limit, as my interest is rather eclectic. My aim is to explore everything about something, and something about everything. This is an exploration for the sake of exploration, and one could be forgiven to perceive it as a kitchen sink approach. Just as an illustration, once, for no particular reasons except to satisfy my insatiable curiosity, sometime ago I read both The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking by Mikael Krogerus & Roman Tschäppeler and Why Our Decisions Don't Matter by Simon Van Booy simultaneously, simply to explore the conceptual meaning and significance of "decisions" in our lives.
Welcome on a journey to explore the multi-dimensional meanings and significance of everything that catches my fancy at random: the meaning of a word or phrase, a translation issue, a Nietzsche quote, a current affair, a Zen riddle, a Sufi fable, an anthropological phenomenon, a Patanjali yoga sutra or a Tao parable in their respective contexts. Since this blog is an intellectual and spiritual inquiry, its destination is less important than the journey itself. Who am I to promise anyone definitive answers to potential questions along the way? As James Thurber once said: "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
Johannes Tan
English <> Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter
Therefore this blog will not only be about translation and interpreting, but also about linguistic and cultural settings relevant to deeper meanings — from every possible angle. At least, that is Plan A. No subject is off limit, as my interest is rather eclectic. My aim is to explore everything about something, and something about everything. This is an exploration for the sake of exploration, and one could be forgiven to perceive it as a kitchen sink approach. Just as an illustration, once, for no particular reasons except to satisfy my insatiable curiosity, sometime ago I read both The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking by Mikael Krogerus & Roman Tschäppeler and Why Our Decisions Don't Matter by Simon Van Booy simultaneously, simply to explore the conceptual meaning and significance of "decisions" in our lives.
Welcome on a journey to explore the multi-dimensional meanings and significance of everything that catches my fancy at random: the meaning of a word or phrase, a translation issue, a Nietzsche quote, a current affair, a Zen riddle, a Sufi fable, an anthropological phenomenon, a Patanjali yoga sutra or a Tao parable in their respective contexts. Since this blog is an intellectual and spiritual inquiry, its destination is less important than the journey itself. Who am I to promise anyone definitive answers to potential questions along the way? As James Thurber once said: "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers."
Johannes Tan
English <> Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter
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