腓立比書/腓立比书 {fei1-li4-bi3-shu1}New Testament – Epistle Please don’t pronounce it like “Philippines”. It’s very close, but the trick is to emphasize “li“, like this:[fi-LI-pi-uhns], as in “fit – LIT – champions“ The Philippians lived in the city of Philippi, which you may also want to pronounce properly:[FI-li-peye], as in “FIT – lit – pie“. Notice how the emphasis changes from “li”…
Author: yubo.du
猶大=Judah/Jude/Judas
This one can be particularly troublesome. Imagine someone speaks in Mandarin and mentions 猶大 {you2-da4} without any context, what do you do? Trick: instead of taking a guess, just say “this person”. Hopefully, the next sentence gives you enough context so you know which one is being referred to, and clarify then. Now you need to…
Curiosity Killed the Cat,
but it works great for people, especially interpreters. And don’t worry, I heard that satisfaction brought that cat back. Over 90% of our interpretation relies on the same common language that gets us through our days, which is why if you put a gun to someone’s head and ask them to interpret, they can get…
Cast Your Shadow
Most of our daily lives do not involve activities that naturally contribute to the mechanics of interpretation. Interpretation is quite frankly a “black box” that is foreign to almost all of us, and our brains as well. How do you train for such a thing? One way is to force someone into that uncomfortable position…
Nehemiah
尼希米記/尼希米记 {ni2-xi1-mi3-ji4}Old Testament – Historical Books Pronounce as [nee-uh-MAHY-uh] as in “knee – was – MY – was”. (Pronunciation of the first “h” is optional.) BTW: Nehemiah was not a prophet, but a governor of Judah during the (3rd) return of exiles from Persia. BTW2: Ezra and Nehemiah were originally written as one single book…
James vs Jacob
What is the 20th book in the New Testament? James.新約聖經第20卷書叫什麼？雅各{ya3-ge4}書。Wait, what? “雅各”, as we all know, translates to “Jacob” (e.g. the Patriarch). James, as we might think, translates to…詹姆士🤦♂️ So what happened here? It’s a long story, probably for another day. Given that the Greek manuscript writes as Ἰάκωβος (Iakobos), my bet would be…… Ἰάκωβος…
What Your Brain Doesn’t Tell You
Remember when you first rode a bike? I do. I felt as if my brain got an upgrade. How does it know exactly how to handle my senses and body positions to keep me upright on two wheels? And what about driving? I still find it unfathomable how we can drive a long distance while…
“Two Corinthians Walk into a Bar…”
So is it “TWO Corinthians” or “SECOND Corinthians”? The answer is “Yes”. In Great Britain, you will find many say “Two Corinthians”. In North America, though, we predominantly say “Second Corinthians”. No one is wrong, but it helps to remember which continent you are speaking to.
Philemon
腓利門書/腓利门书 {fei1-li4-men2-shu1} New Testament – Epistle One way to pronounce it is [fahy-LEE-muhn] as in “wifi – LEAd – common“. BTW: Philemon is an individual person, not a group like “Corinthians”. It’s a very interesting story of an Apostle, a runaway slave, and his master; about slavery, captivity, and freedom. But why spoil it for…