Blog Archive

John Barré, Author at John Barré - Page 10 of 13

Page 10

Cursing in Spanish is ladylike!

As an alternative to moving to Spain to learn Spanish, I exported my own little Spanish/American neighbourhood – the idealistic, though dangerous, Wisteria Lane of Mujeres Desesperadas. How nice it is to switch language on a DVD in a second, with or without subtitles. A luxury kids born in the 90s cannot appreciate as much as […]
January 25, 2013
What if translation did not matter?

Outrageous – how could a trained translator write such a thing? Of course, I want to believe that translation is a noble profession that deserves high salaries and great respect. Unfortunately, sometimes, the translation might not matter so much. The case I have in mind to illustrate my argument is Final Fantasy VII: it was […]
January 17, 2013
15 years later: still playing Final Fantasy VII

Tweet Boy do I feel old writing FFVII was released 15 years ago. I remember watching a review on TV and I feel like it’s not so long ago. Clearly I’m mistaken. When I first got to play it, I must have been about 12 and I remember that the game seemed to be extremely […]
January 10, 2013
The secrets of Chamber

I was recently discussing the difference between “room” and “chamber”. It’s not quite easy to give an explanation without pondering for a moment. Spontaneously, one would think chamber is a more elegant way of designating a room. The word room is a more used than chamber: bedroom, living room, bathroom, etc. However, it does not […]
January 05, 2013
How to make the best of your Facebook page?

Facebook is a great deal of fun, but it’s also a working tool. Those of you who have a professional Facebook page know. It’s already rather complicated for those who joined Facebook years ago, imagine how it feels like if you have no knowledge of it today! Quite fortunately, bab.la published a nice Facebook guide, […]
December 28, 2012
Flaubert’s desperate housewife Madame Bovary

2012 is coming to an end and I can rejoice for having read at least one classic this year: Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. You would think they make us read it in French school, but no they don’t. We get other terribly boring literature (when you’re 14 that is) like Emile Zola and Honoré de Balzac. Presumably to […]
December 21, 2012
The Dübel Affair

Moving to Altona involved some heavy lifting (still recovering) and of course some DIY, which is not quite where my skills shine. I enjoy it, I’m just not cut for it, except that is, for the immeasurable chaos I create. Presumably a skill of my own.
December 15, 2012
So Berlin – so Final Fantasy VII?

I keep hearing here in Hamburg about how this person is “so Berlin” (read it with a German accent) or that this run-down area is “so Berlin” (carry on) or again that such trousers are “so Berlin” (you may stop).
December 08, 2012
To the Danish-most district of Hamburg!

2 years and 2 months after moving to Hamburg, we are finally moving to the “hip” side of the Alster lake, the West side. And no less than Altona-Ottensen, not too shabby! Altona was formerly Danish territory and still bears its unique architectural signature. As I like to put it, it is like a village […]
November 25, 2012
La mémoire des murs by Tatiana de Rosnay

Another novel from de Rosnay. My local librarian must have taken a liking to her, most of her books are available there. Although, I must say I don’t mind at all, she is a very good writer after all.
November 15, 2012