Modern Languages Alumna Morgan Giles Gives Presentation on Literary Translation & Language Learning - WKU News - Translation

On Monday, April 4, WKU Modern Languages Alumna Morgan Giles came to Western Kentucky University to speak current Modern Languages Hilltoppers about translation and second language learning. In her talk, she explained that translation is truly an art: rather than a word-for-word translation, it is truly a form of expressing the authors’ ideas. Also, conveying the right meaning is an important part of translation. Moreover, she explained that translation requires constant revision; it is a long process in which the translator continues to perfect the work. The discussion was designed to guide students as they consider what a future career in translation may look like.

Giles, a native of Richmond, KY, graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana in 2009 with a B.A. in Japanese Language and Culture and linguistics. However, she has had a long connection with WKU, attending the Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth (VAMPY) program from 2001 to 2004 which she remembers as “a vital and encouraging atmosphere.” Later, she did research concerning contemporary Japanese literature, sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Giles currently lives in London, England, and works as a translator of contemporary literature. Most recently, she won the National Book Award for Translated Literature based on her translation of the novel Ueno Station.

During Giles’ presentation, she also commented on the process of second language learning. She explained that language learning is not a short-term goal, but rather a lifelong commitment. It is something that must be practiced regularly, and learners should be resilient when facing difficulties in their learning. Language learning is a long-term process that ends in a reward, including a career. For more information about WKU’s course offerings in Japanese, placement, department exams, scholarships, and study abroad opportunities, contact Professor Paul Collins (paul.collins@wku.edu).

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How AI and ML makes language translation more efficient for non-English speakers - VentureBeat - Translation

Gardner announces new translation software for public meetings - Yahoo News - Translation

Apr. 8—Those who require translation to follow along with videos of Frederick County government meetings will now be able to do so with a new, more reliable software, County Executive Jan Gardner, D, announced Thursday.

The county's 38,000 residents who speak a language other than English can watch county government meetings with real-time closed captions in one of more than 100 languages, according to the county executive's office.

"We are stronger when everyone has a voice in how our county operates," Gardner said in a press release.

Those interested can use captions for any meeting the county streams through its online engagement hub, PublicInput.com/FrederickCoMd. Viewers can select their preferred language by clicking the "Translate" button that will be near the top of the web page, and then captions will be turned on.

The "Translate" button can also be used for viewers to type a comment or question in their preferred language, and county staff will be able to translate the comments into English.

"This issue has been a concern of many people living in my district and I am thrilled that the county has finally found a reliable software program to be able to provide these services," Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer, D, said in an email.

Federal Funds

Gardner announced Thursday that funds from the county's $50 million federal American Rescue Plan allocation will pay for programs run by the Frederick Arts Council and I Believe in Me, a local nonprofit that serves at-risk youth.

The Frederick Arts Council will receive a total of $500,000 for four projects, which include distributing grants to as many as 200 member artists; commissioning artists to create 15 mural projects in underserved areas lacking public art and training young artists; creating seven art displays to draw tourists to local businesses; and expanding programming at Sky Stage to generate more than 200 new gigs for artists, according to the county executive's office.

I Believe in Me will receive $60,000 for a new 15-passenger van to transport youth to programming and events, and $20,000 to purchase books, games, shelves and furniture for an activity center the organization is creating.

"Public art increases tourism and drives economic growth in our main streets and across Frederick County, and I Believe in Me is creating generational change by lifting up our youth," Gardner said in a release.

Gardner also announced the launch of a pilot program to allow homeowners who are 65 and older or disabled to designate a third party to receive copies of their real estate tax bills.

The third party, such as a family member or trusted adult, will not be responsible for paying the taxes or for delinquencies, but they will help to ensure the property owner is aware of outstanding bills and pays them on time, according to the county executive's office.

Designees do not have to pay to sign up for the Third-Party Notification Program. They do not have to live in Frederick County either, and they can receive copies of tax bills or delinquency notices via mail or email.

Seniors can apply for the Third-Party Notification Program by visiting FrederickCountyMD.gov/Treasury, or by calling the Frederick County Treasury Department at 301-600-1111 to request an application, according to the county executive's office. Completed applications can be mailed or emailed.

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter:

@jckhogan

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Read the English Translation of Lyrics to Rammstein's 'Zick Zack' - Loudwire - Translation

Rammstein's new album, Zeit, will be released in late April and the industrial icons recently dropped "Zick Zack," the second single from the successor to 2019's untitled record. As is typical, the lyrics to this latest track are sung in German and, below, you will find the English translation.

In early March, Rammstein revealed the Zeit album cover and set April 29 as the official release date while also offering up the title track as an advance preview of the new LP. The album's track listing, however, was not among the divulged details and, instead, the band sent fans on a worldwide geocaching-like scavenger hunt to uncover the names of each of the 11 new songs.

While the lyrics to "Zeit" held some pretty deep, thought-provoking significance (read more about the song's meaning here), "Zick Zack" is quite the opposite — another example of Rammstein's more slapstick side with a crass overview of cosmetic surgery. We'll cut right to the chase — there's a lyrics about removing belly fat so "now the penis sees the sun again."

You can read the entire English translation to "Zick Zack" below.

Rammstein, "Zick Zack" Lyrics (via LyricsTranslate)

Nicer, bigger, harder
Tighter, smoother, stronger

Your breasts are too small
Two pounds of silicone are fine
Cut sacks from the eyes
Mill the nose, suck fat off

We quickly delete two ribs
And insert a tube into your lips
In the cheeks, in the forehead
Botox just into your brain

Zigzag, zigzag, cut it off
Zigzag, zigzag, short and sweet

All sagging above the chin
Can be pulled in the neck
Implants in the face
And we lift your buttocks

Knife, swab, general anesthesia
Seven kilos of riding pants and
Belly fat in the bio bin
Now the penis sees the sun again

Zigzag, zigzag, cut it off
Tick tack, tick tack, you will be old
Your time is running out slowly

Who wants to be beautiful, must suffer
Cut it off, cut it out, cut ut away
Needle, thread, scissors, light
It can't go without pain

Tighten the cheeks, carve the cheekbones
Splash the waste into lips
Wrinkles rustle on the scalpel
Foreskin gone, very relevant

Isn't the woman in the man happy?
Anyway, everything is gone

Zigzag, zigzag, cut it off
Tick tack, tick tack, you will be old
Your time is running out slowly

Who wants to be beautiful, must suffer
Vanity is never modest
Needle, thread, scissors, light
It can't go without pain

Nicer, bigger, harder
Tighter, smoother, stronger

15 Rock Songs That Are Actually Really Creepy

A rock song that's unambiguously creepy can certainly be unsettling. But what about the kind of tune that sneaks up on you with its creepiness? It might have a sunny melody or what seems like a simple lovelorn lyric. Yet, beneath the surface, something more deceivingly dastardly lurks. Here are just a few examples of rock songs that are actually really creepy.

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Avoiding the Pitfalls of Free Online Translation Tools - AllBusiness.com - Translation

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Avoiding the Pitfalls of Free Online Translation Tools  AllBusiness.com

‘Threat Dictionary’ showcases power of words and how they’re used to spread, combat fear - OregonLive - Dictionary

How tight or loose are you? Do you relate to Big Bird or Cookie Monster?

The answers to such questions have helped Stanford University professor Michele J. Gelfand understand how individuals and societies respond to common threats.

Gelfand and a team of University of Maryland computer scientists and psychologists now have taken the next step in this research, creating what they call a Threat Dictionary -- a data tool “designed to diagnose threatening language in any text that interests you.”

This might sound like an odd undertaking. But words have never been more contentious. Universities now try to protect students from “microaggressions.” TV shows open with warnings of “triggering language.”

A word is a word, no more or less. Its impact, however, depends on the person on the receiving end of it.

Whether certain words hit you like a hammer or a pillow -- that is, whether or how much they spark your brain’s “fear circuitry” -- is based on your experiences, education and exposure to popular culture, among other factors, the research suggests.

All of this, not surprisingly, is bound up with the hyperpolarization that dominates our politics.

“Adding just a single threat-related word to a tweet about COVID increased the expected retweet rate by 18%,” Sara Harrison writes for the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

How much will threat-related words affect you?

Gelfand, a professor of organizational behavior, created what she calls the Mindset Quiz to find out.

“How intensely you adhere to social norms has major implications for your life,” she writes in the introduction to the quiz. “This level of intensity falls on a spectrum from very loose to very tight. Knowing how tight or loose you are can help you understand yourself and others better.”

The quiz asks respondents to agree or disagree (on a scale) with statements such as: “I keep my emotions under control,” “I don’t like situations that are uncertain,” “I stick to the rules” and “I talk even when I know I shouldn’t.”

Through your answers, you will learn whether you’re an “order Muppet” or a “chaos Muppet.” (Uncertainty makes Big Bird anxious. Cookie Monster revels in mayhem.)

As for the 240-word Threat Dictionary -- with words ranging from “accidents” and “accusations” to “worry” and “worst” -- it can offer individual users some subtle insight and warning as they go about their online lives. You can copy-and-paste news articles and social-media posts into the tool to find out their “percent of threat language.” (For example: The top story on The Washington Post’s homepage Thursday morning, “Ukraine braces for assault in east; Russian talk of civilian killings intercepted,” comes in at 2%.)

But for the academics who created the Threat Dictionary, the usefulness is broader. The database’s algorithm, powered by information about perils the U.S. has faced over the past 100 years (stock-market crashes, wars, natural disasters, etc.), is designed to measure how our society responds to various kinds of threats.

“In all,” the researchers write in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), “the language of threats is a powerful tool that can inform researchers and policy makers on the public’s daily exposure to threatening language and make visible interesting societal patterns across American history.”

-- Douglas Perry

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What is a data dictionary? - Dataconomy - Dictionary

Let’s start by answering the first thing that comes to mind: What is a data dictionary? A data dictionary, also known as a data definition matrix, contains comprehensive data about the company’s data, such as the definition of data elements, their meanings, and allowable values.

The dictionary, in essence, is a tool that allows you to convey business stakeholder needs in a way that allows your technical team to build a relational database or data structure faster. It aids in the prevention of project disasters, such as requiring information in a field for which a business stakeholder can’t reasonably be asked or expecting the wrong type of information in a field.

Table of Contents

Data dictionary definition

It is a compendium of terms, definitions, and attributes that apply to data elements in a database, information system, or study portion. It explains the denotation and connotation of data elements in the context of a project and offers recommendations on how they should be interpreted.

A data dictionary also includes data element metadata. The information included in a data dictionary may help you establish the scope and characteristics of data elements and the management that governs their usage and application.

Why is a data dictionary important?

Data dictionaries are helpful for a variety of reasons. To summarize, they have the following characteristics:

• Assist in eliminating project data inconsistencies.
• Define conventions that will be utilized throughout the project to avoid confusion.
• Provide consistency in data collection and usage across the team.
• Make it easier to analyze data.
• Enforce the use of data standards

What are data standards?

Standardized data follow standards. Data are gathered, recorded, and represented in accordance with standards. Standards provide a common framework for interpreting and utilizing data sets.

Researchers in different fields must use comparable standards to know that the manner their data are collected and described will be consistent across different projects. Using Data Standards as part of a well-designed dictionary might help make your research data more accessible. It will guarantee that data will be identifiable and usable by others.

The key elements of a data dictionary

It is a document that explains the meaning of each attribute in a data model. An attribute is a database position that contains information. For example, if we wanted to represent the articles on this website, we could have attributes for article title, author, category, and content.

It is generally organized in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet contains rows for each attribute, with columns labeled for each piece of information relevant to the attribute.

A data dictionary has two essential elements:

1. List of tables (or entities)
2. List of columns (or fields, or attributes)

Let’s look at the most frequent components included in the dictionary.

• Attribute Name – A distinguishing name that is used to identify each feature.
• Optional/Required – Whether information is necessary for an attribute before a record may be stored is indicated by the presence of this checkbox.
• Attribute Type – How you determine what data will be included in a field is defined by this setting. Text, numeric, date/time, enumerated list, look-ups, booleans, and unique identifiers are just a few possible data types.

A data dictionary may include the origin of the data, the table or concept in which the attribute is found, and additional information about each component.

Types of data dictionary

It’s possible to split the dictionary into two categories:

1. Active data dictionary
2. Passive data dictionary

Active data dictionary

When the data definition language (DDL) changes the database object structure, it must be reflected in the data dictionary. The job of updating the data dictionary tables for any modifications is solely that of the database in which the data dictionary is located.The data dictionary is automatically updated if created in the same database. As a result, there will be no mismatch between the actual structure and the data dictionary details. An active data dictionary is current at the time of writing this book.

System Catalog

It’s a term used to describe several things: the System Catalog, system tables, data dictionary views, etc. The System Catalog is a collection of system tables or views incorporated into a database engine (DBMS) to allow users to access data in the database. It also contains information about security, logs, and health.

Moreover, System Catalog has some standards, such as Information Schema.

Information Schema

The Information Schema is a popular System Catalog standard defined by SQL-92. It’s a unique schema named information_schema with preconfigured system views and tables. Despite being a norm, each vendor implemented this standard to some degree, adding its tables and columns.

Some of the tables in information_schema:

• tables
• columns
• views
• referential_constraints
• table_constraints

Passive data dictionary

Some databases include a dictionary in a separate, independent database only used to store dictionary components. It’s often saved as XML, Excel files, or other file formats.

In this scenario, a concerted effort is required to keep the data dictionary in sync with the database objects. A passive dictionary is what you’re dealing with here. There’s a chance that the database objects and the data dictionary won’t match in this instance. This kind of DD has to be handled with great sensitivity.

The passive data dictionary is distinct from the database and must be updated manually or with specialized software whenever the database structure changes.

A passive dictionary might be implemented in a variety of ways:

• A document or spreadsheet
• Tools
  • Data Catalogs
  • Data integration/ETL metadata repositories
  • Data modeling tools
• Custom implementations

Data dictionary example

You’re undoubtedly asking how everything fits together.

Here’s a look at an inventory list, a basic example of a data dictionary.

As you can see, a dictionary organizes critical information about each attribute in a business-oriented way. It also groups information that may be found in multiple documents and specifications, making it more straightforward for your database developer to create or change a database that fulfills company demands.

Functions of data dictionary

A dictionary may be used for a variety of things. The following are some important uses:

Data dictionary in database systems (DBMS)

The information about data structures is kept in special formats in most relational database management systems – predefined tables or views that contain metadata for each component of a database, such as tables, columns, indexes, foreign keys, and constraints.

A data-driven tool generates reports based on the database schema, including all parts of the data model and programs.

Data modeling

Data models can be constructed with the data dictionary as a tool. This may be accomplished using specialized data modeling software or simply a spreadsheet or document. In this instance, the dictionary acts as a specification of entities and their fields, assisting business analysts, subject matter experts, and architects in collecting requirements and modeling the domain. You’ll develop and deploy a physical database and application following this document.

Documentation

It is also possible to use a data dictionary as a reference and cataloging tool for existing data assets – databases, spreadsheets, files, etc.

With a few formats and programs, you can achieve this:

• You may export read-only HTML or PDFs from a DBMS with database tools.
• Excel spreadsheets that have been manually created and maintained.
• The data modeling tools utilize reverse engineering.
• Database documentation tools.
• Metadata management/data catalogs

All of these efforts are for healthy database management.

What is database management?

A database’s data can be organized, stored, and retrieved using Database Management. A Database Administrator (DBA) may use various tools to manage data throughout its lifecycle.

Designing, implementing, and supporting stored data to increase its value is the goal of database management. There are different types of Database Management Systems.

• Centralized: All data resides in one system handled by a single person or team. Users go to that one system to access the information.
• Distributed: The organization wanted a highly scalable system that allowed data to be accessed quickly.
• Federated: Data is extracted from your existing source data without the requirement for extra storage or replication of original material. It combines numerous independent databases into a single colossal item. This style of Database Architecture is ideal for integration projects involving many different types of data. The following are examples of federated databases:
  • Loosely Coupled: The relational structure of a component database is defined by its federated schema, which must be accessed via a multi-database language to access other component database systems.
  • Tightly Coupled: Components use separate processes to generate and publish into a connected federal schema.
• Blockchain: A decentralized database architecture that allows you to keep track of your finances and other transactions securely.

Do you think your data dictionary will lead the road to successful database management?

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