Erik Hansson
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erikhansson.bsky.social
Erik Hansson
@erikhansson.bsky.social
1.8K followers 2K following 1.6K posts
German-Swedish translator since 1995. Keynote speaker here & there. Member of SFÖ-SAT (SE), founding & honorary member of DVÜD (DE). 3rd last Curator of Sweden in 2018. That guy who founded TTNS on FB. Escaped from the blue bird. Prefers beer to wine. #xl8
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erikhansson.bsky.social
Microsoft launches Project Gecko to produce AI systems in low-resourced languages
totaltele.com/microsoft-la...
via @totaltelecom.bsky.social
#indigenous #language #langsky
Picture of a yellow gecko, representing the project Gecko that has been launched by Microsoft.
November 19, 2025 at 2:30 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
"Sind Sie sich wirklich sicher, dass bei Ihnen heute Feiertag ist?"
--
O-Ton eines Kunden, der sich am heutigen Buß- und Bettag telefonisch bei mir gemeldet hatte. Ja, in der Tat bin ich mir sicher.
#bussundbettag #shirley
- Surely you can't be serious? - I am serious.. and don't call me Shirley. (epic scene with actor Leslie Nielsen in the movie "Airplane!" (1980)
November 19, 2025 at 9:57 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Swedish word of the day #swotd is sameslöjd (Sami handcrafts) or duodji in Northern Sami, an important part of Sami culture. This refers to handicrafts and arts and crafts made by the indigenous Sami people, based on their traditions, design thinking, patterns and colours.
#Sweden #sapmi
Famous Sami handcraft knives from northern Sweden, made of reindeer antlers, inlets of mountain dwarf birch, with traditional patterns.
November 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
I just staumbled across ELDP, Endangered Languages Documentation Programme, "creating a repository of resources for linguistics, the social science, and language communities."
Lots to read here!
www.eldp.net
#endangered #languages #project #langsky
Picture of an elder woman in rural Africa weaving baskets.
November 7, 2025 at 7:30 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
My task today: sending a #donation to Médecins Sans Frontières @doctorswithoutborders.org - instead of wasting money for useless end-of-year gadgets for clients. Probably they won't cancel our business relation just because of missing presents. And if they take offence, I can do without them.
Logo of Doctors Without Borders.
November 4, 2025 at 3:29 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Important for #translators:
Thanks to esteemed colleage @loekalization.bsky.social for ths excellent #blogpost. This is indeed a very interesting and insightful analysis of what's happening at RWS at the moment.
www.loekalization.com/blog/blog/20...
#freelancing #xl8 #rws #payment
Logo of RWS.
November 2, 2025 at 12:21 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Jazzkompunist?
@zdfheute.de.web.brid.gy , ich behaupte mal, ihr braucht einen Proofreader.
Screenshot aus der Nachrichtensendung ZDF heute. "Jazzkompunist" als Berufsbezeichnung ist sehr gewagt.
October 23, 2025 at 8:31 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Crack the Code: How Chinese Netizens Use Emojis, Morse, and Ancient Script to Evade #Censorship
abacusnews.com/crack-the-co...
via abacusnews.com
#china #netizen #langsky
Picture of a man walking on an empty street between skyscrapers, surrounded by monitors with green code text, in a foggy yellow light
October 23, 2025 at 12:47 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
"We are not able to settle your invoice as our client has not paid yet."
This kind of message from a translation agency raises my blood pressure every single time.
If you represent a language service provider that works with freelance translators and tell me this, you should really rethink.
#xl8
Well, money. Euro banknotes and coins of various values spread over a white surface.
October 17, 2025 at 4:41 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Swedish word of the day #swotd is innebandy (floorball), not to be confused with 'bandy', played on ice. It is one of the largest sports in Sweden in terms of the number of players each week, with recreational and school activities, corporate events, and more.
#Sweden
Picture of two floorball teams playing a match.
October 16, 2025 at 3:48 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Mind the #accent - When I spoke like someone I wasn’t, people listened more closely. What did that say about them – and me?
psyche.co/turning-poin...
via @psyche.co
#language #identity #langsky
Picture of two young happy women at a party, holding cocktail glasses. Credit: Photo by Michael Discenza/Unsplash
October 15, 2025 at 10:02 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Ich behaupte mal, dass @ntvde.bsky.social einen besseren Proofreader braucht.
Screenshot vom Nachrichtenprogramm einschl. Schreibfehler ("pareilose" (sic!) anstatt "parteilose"))
October 12, 2025 at 7:33 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Today's #interestingread:
Teaching adventure in #Patagonia. [...] 20 years preserving and promoting the #Welsh #language in Patagonia, Argentina
www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magaz...
via @britishcouncil.bsky.social
#minority #languagelearning #Argentina
Clare Vaughan pictured with Vincent Evans in Cwm Hyfryd, Trevelin, Patagonia © Clare Vaughan
October 2, 2025 at 3:10 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Swedish word of the day #swotd is paraply (umbrella), from French parapluie. There are plenty of French loanwords as French was a status marker for the Swedish elite especially during the 18th century, often in areas such as culture, fashion, and food.
#Sweden
Picture of a walking woman dressed in a raincoat and yellow rubber boots, carrying an umbrella against the rain.
October 1, 2025 at 7:11 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
The new slang words born each year from 1920 to today
www.msn.com/en-us/news/u...
via msn.com
#slang #language #history #langsky
Black and white picture of three young people, probably start of 1970s, dressed for winter weather, one laughing young man in the middle holding a bottle of some unidentified beverage, two young women standing next to him, one of them critically inspecting the bottle.
September 30, 2025 at 1:34 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
“Dutch Courage” study wins the Ig Nobel Prize
uni-freiburg.de/en/dutch-cou...
"[..] they investigated whether a small amount of alcohol can improve pronunciation in a foreign language."
#ignobelprize #language #langsky
Dr. Jessica Werthmann and Dr. Fritz Renner receive one of ten Ig-Nobel Prizes for their study “Dutch Courage.”
September 20, 2025 at 1:32 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Group of professional trainers complete course on teaching plain language for public service
www.undp.org/ukraine/pres...
via @undp.org
#Ukraine #plainlanguage #publicservice #langsky
Group of talking people sitting on chairs in a circle. Photo credit: National Agency on Ukraine for Civil Service (NAUCS)
September 16, 2025 at 6:28 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
How Chinese language and technology are transforming Uzbekistan
news.az/news/-how-ch...
via news.az
#Chinese #language #influence #Uzbekistan #langsky
Picture of the Chinese and the Uzbek flags waving. Photo credit: Uzbek President’s press service
September 12, 2025 at 11:18 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
How did carvings appear on the #Narragansett Rune Stone? Why the mystery remains
eu.providencejournal.com/story/news/h...
via eu.providencejournal.com
#runes #history #language #langsky
Tim Cranston, North Kingstown historian, helps to unveil the Narragansett Rune Stone at its new home in Wickford in October 2015.
September 11, 2025 at 7:36 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Swedish word of the day #swotd is tubost (tubed cheese). This kind of cheese, offered in many variations, is very popular and a common spread on knäckebröd (hard bread).
#Sweden #culinary
Swedish spread cheese in a tube.
September 8, 2025 at 11:27 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
That moment when you realize their dishonest games. Boutique #xl8 agency (my client for 20+ yrs), no new jobs for 6 months.
And then I stumbled across their ad from May 25:
"We are looking for a freelance translator for German-Swedish for various technical topics."
You could at least have told me.
Meme cartoon picture of a man with a sarcastic remark: "Well, that was rude. But yeah sure."
September 3, 2025 at 2:12 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
In India, who speaks in English, and where?
www.livemint.com/news/india/i...
via @livemintnewstoday.bsky.social
#India #multilingual #langsky
Picture of a schoolboy in front of a blackboard, writing English terms translated from his local language.
September 1, 2025 at 12:43 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Swedish word of the day #swotd is ärtsoppa (pea soup). Did you know it's a a long-standing Swedish tradition of eating pea soup on Thursdays? This is based on Middle Ages' Catholic practice of Friday fasting.
#Sweden #culinary
Picture of a deep plate with freshly made Swedish pea soup, accompanies by hard bread (knäckebröd) with some slices of cheese. In Sweden, this is traditional food for Thursdays.
August 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Swedish word of the day #swotd is livsnjutare (enjoyer of life).
#Sweden
Picture of a man relaxing and enjoying a bath in a natural well in a prairie environment short before sunset, with snow-covered mountains in the background, and the first stars in the sky.
August 12, 2025 at 11:06 AM
erikhansson.bsky.social
Three years ago on that other platform.
#xl8 #translation #langsky
Picture of measure spoons with a product description in four languages. Three are fine, one is a disaster.
August 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM