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Do you want to get fat?
I came across this proverb as part of my training to check other teams' translations, and thought it highlighted the importance of...
Mar 25, 20221 min read


What's the longest word you know?
My godson was telling me about a 28 letter English word, though of course I hadn't heard of it! I'm not sure what the longest word I...
Feb 27, 20221 min read


“What's your operation for next week?” “I don't know.”
Communication barriers This heading is from a conversation I once had with an Aboriginal lady in Darwin. I thought it was strange, and...
Feb 4, 20221 min read


Delighting in God in the Psalms
While I was in Maningrida, I was able to work on some PEV Psalms that a colleague had drafted. I'll admit that translating Psalms into...
Jan 31, 20221 min read


Made it to Maningrida!
Dave and Kathy Glasgow moved to Maningrida 60 years ago to work with Burarra speakers and translate the Bible. While they haven't lived...
Jan 27, 20221 min read


A new year
It seems that at the end of each year we expect COVID to decrease its impact on our lives, only to be disappointed. Of course we can't...
Jan 3, 20222 min read


"My language is Kunwinjku but I speak Mawng"
When your mother-tongue is not your father-tongue There were a number of classes that graduated recently at Nungalinya College*,...
Nov 30, 20212 min read


Celebrating 60 years of work in Australia
The Australian Society for Indigenous Languages, Wycliffe's partner organisation in the Northern Territory, has ben going for 60 years....
Nov 15, 20211 min read


Recording the PEV in Brisbane
The Bible Society is organising an audio recording of the narratives that have been translated in the Plain English Version, and they are...
Nov 4, 20212 min read


Bible translation is an ongoing ministry
The work will never be DONE! Crossing tasks off a to-do list is very satisfying, and often Bible translation is spoken about as if...
Oct 25, 20212 min read


If someone doesn't understand you, whose fault is it?
I recently helped out at a Plain English seminar at Nungalinya College, the Indigenous Christian training college where our office is...
Oct 11, 20211 min read


Gaining insight from Proverbs
Translation consultant training in practice As part of my translation consultant training (to be able to sign off other Bible...
Sep 20, 20211 min read


Why Warriors Lie Down and Die
I've started reading Why Warriors Lie down and Die, a book about North East Arnhem Land, the area belonging to the Yolngu people. I've...
Sep 10, 20211 min read


A visit to South Goulburn Island
Give thanks that Susanna and I made it to South Goulburn Island and were able to do some work with three Mawng Bible translators there. I...
Sep 6, 20211 min read


Be still and know that I am God
Continuing with translation of the PEV I am very excited to be back into translating more of the PEV. What we do from now on won't be...
Aug 10, 20211 min read


Cultural differences
She let me down softly when I offered to help On Sunday, I gave an Aboriginal lady a lift to church and she asked whether I could take...
Jul 30, 20211 min read


“We can understand them”
Getting feedback about the PEV Bible League is currently fundraising for the Plain English Version (PEV) publication, so we have been...
Jul 27, 20211 min read


Cultural misunderstandings
One of the things that we learnt about in the translation consultant training course was cultural misunderstandings. Some of the examples...
Jun 30, 20211 min read


Why was the training called TCDW?
Acronyms can be so useful when everyone knows what they mean, but it wasn't until the course started that I gave in and googled TCDW –...
Jun 29, 20212 min read


It gives me goosebumps
Figurative language in different languages If I say that something gives me goosebumps, I usually mean that it scares me. But when a...
Jun 16, 20211 min read