Mary Liebowitz formed the online Facebook group, English Speakers, to bring together a social network of Danes and non-Danes in her local area of Køge Kommune and Stevns Kommune. The main purpose of the group is to bring together anyone who wishes to practice their English, regardless of proficiency level.
The group's activities will include meeting monthly for coffee and conversation, and an English language book club to bring members together through reading and discussion.
Anyone who would like to join the group should visit the group's Facebook page and click "Join"!
Click here to go to the group's page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/engelsk4600/
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
IT Management, Nuuk
Mary has been working closely with IT Management, Nuuk - an IT consulting firm in Greenland led by Kristian Sørensen.
What a wonderful opportunity to work with a dedicated entrepreneur and his team, and get to know Greenland!
What a wonderful opportunity to work with a dedicated entrepreneur and his team, and get to know Greenland!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
DanChurchAid
Blyanten translated the text for three short films, "Ret til mad", "Ret til retfærdighed" and "Ret til fremtid" for DanChurchAid. DanChurchAid is a Danish humanitarian organization that "assists the world's poorest to lead a life in dignity".
This project was a volunteer project for Blyanten.
The three films, which were intelligent, poignant, and creative, were created by Søren Vestergaard of Unsaid Film.
This project was a volunteer project for Blyanten.
The three films, which were intelligent, poignant, and creative, were created by Søren Vestergaard of Unsaid Film.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Magill Therapy
We helped to establish a web presence for a new counseling business in Atlanta, Georgia, Magill Therapy. The client, a counselor, wanted a website in a soothing, welcoming format, with content that was easy to understand.
I recommended Atlanta photographer Oana Hogrefe for Ms. Magill's professional headshots, and the final result was a beautiful addition to the site.
The next phase of this project will deal with tactical content, SEO, and social media engagement.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Brdr. Krüger
Blyanten recently completed a series of product descriptions for Brdr. Krüger, a 125-year old family-owned Danish wood turning shop. The product descriptions were written to "tell the story" behind each carefully-crafted piece and capture the essence of Brdr. Krüger's rich history and passion behind their work.
Visit their website here: www.brdr-kruger.dk
Visit their website here: www.brdr-kruger.dk
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Harold Frick
Certain scenes from the film "Stranger than Fiction" often make me feel incredibly pleased to be a writer.
"His wristwatch thought the single Windsor made his neck look fat, but said nothing".
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Evertale
Blyanten is proud to have written an ad for Evertale, a new, Copenhagen-based web service that works via a smartphone application. What a great new company, and smart utility!
See the ad for yourself:
See the ad for yourself:
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Cocoa break
Chilly and windy today. Cocoa breaks help me appreciate the coziness of working indoors, and assist me in achieving my recommended daily allowance of chocolate. ;)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Morris Music
Blyanten helped shape the corporate identity of Morris Music, LLC, an independent record label in Los Angeles. Morris Music is headed by a seasoned professional in the music industry, Danish singer/songwriter Ronny Morris.
As a result of a long-standing relationship with Morris Music, Mary was able to independently capture the core of their work in a new mission statement, as well as a re-crafting of the company's web content, public relations articles, and social media posts.
"Morris Music approaches the global music industry with an integral respect for music as an art form, a core dedication to the work involved, appreciation for our team members, and a strong sense of social responsibility."
As a result of a long-standing relationship with Morris Music, Mary was able to independently capture the core of their work in a new mission statement, as well as a re-crafting of the company's web content, public relations articles, and social media posts.
"Morris Music approaches the global music industry with an integral respect for music as an art form, a core dedication to the work involved, appreciation for our team members, and a strong sense of social responsibility."
Visit the company's website here: www.morris-music.com
Monday, August 29, 2011
Who Else Do I Know Named Liebowitz?
Once Danes realize they actually can pronounce my last name, easily, they always ask "Who else do I know named Liebowitz?"
Here's a list of other Liebowitzes (spellings may vary) that you may have heard of:
Famous for her photographs, she started as a staff photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. She was the last person to photograph John Lennon.
She started at Interview magazine working for Andy Warhol, and her first book was a collection of essays. Fran Lebowitz smokes like a chimney, and has an opinion about everything. She was once thrown out of elementary school for "non-specific surliness". Whatever that means.
A New York attorney, he is most well-known for defending the Scottsboro Boys, a group of 9 black young men who were on death row in Alabama in 1931, on false rape charges.
In the 1978 comedic romp (I like "comedic romp" - it's always in the blurb on the back of Blockbuster movies) Animal House, some bumbling college students try to meet sympathetic women by pretending they have a date with "Fawn Liebowitz", a student who recently died.
Otherwise known as Jon Stewart.
Monday, August 1, 2011
10 Common Mistakes in English – for Danish Businesses
As an experienced English language copywriter and Danish-English translator, I’ve worked with many Danish businesses that are geared towards a global audience of potential customers, and need to use professional English in their websites and marketing material. If you’re managing your own Danish-English translations and copywriting, here are some English language guidelines to make your efforts a little easier:
1. Do not rely on Google Translate. Google Translate often produces gibberish. Visitors to your site may be able to get the general idea of what your company produces, but will not be impressed by the lack of effort you’ve taken to communicate with an international audience of potential customers. Enter a simple, widely used term such as “Vi har lukket” in Google translate, and it offers “We have closed”, which is an incorrect direct translation, unless you include “om søndagen”. The correct term is “We are closed”. If you want to be seen as a professional business, don’t rely on a tool that will only offer translations based on probability.
2. Use online translation dictionaries such as ordbogen.com. A basic subscription is 19kr. a month. Use free websites like Thesaurus.com for a wide variety of English-language synonyms and antonyms.
3. Don’t fall into the Danish compound word trap! Many words used in Danish that are “borrowed” from the English language and put together as a compound word - such as “boardmember”, “rockband”, and my least favorite, “coinoffer”(!) - are completely incorrect in English. The correct English terms are “board member”, “rock band”, and there’s just no such thing as a “coin offer”. Check spellings by using an English language spell checker on your computer, or on websites such as dictionary.com.
4. Don’t be afraid of contractions like “don’t”, “aren’t”, and “shouldn’t”. A colleague once told me that her folkeskole English teacher forbid the use of contractions, citing them as improper English. Contractions were once looked down upon in English as “unscholarly”, but that was during the 18th century. Today, not using contractions, even in formal, business English, can appear stiff and awkward. However, contractions such as “would’ve” and “should’ve” should be avoided in business English if you’re not 100% certain of their usage, and “ain’t” is strictly forbidden.
5. Check your apostrophes. Apostrophes are used to show possession, in words such as “teacher’s desk”, and “Mary’s pancreas”, and in contractions, such as “it’s” (it is). They are not used to show possession in pronouns such as “its” and “yours”. When words end in “-s”, apostrophes are placed differently for singular and plural nouns to show possession, such as “the business’s website” (singular) and “the businesses’ team leaders” (plural).
6. The Oxford comma is your English language friend. The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is an optional comma used before a coordinating conjunction, such as “and”, in a list of three or more items in a sentence: “Today, we’ll discuss finances, marketing, and expenses”. In Danish, a comma is generally not used before “og” in a sentence list, but in English, it’s used for clarity, and to separate items that may not belong together. Otherwise, you can have sentences like “I’ll stop at the grocery store for some things for lunch, like onions, herring and white bread”. Imagine the shock and horror, not knowing if you would be expected to eat herring on white bread! A comma after “herring” would suggest that there was already some rugbrød at home.
7. Avoid full names in business letter salutations, but use commas. If you don’t know the addressee, the proper format would be to use Mr./Ms. and the person’s last name; “Dear Ms. Liebowitz,”. If you do know the person, use their first name only: “Dear Mary,”, always adding a comma after the name. “Mrs.” is generally avoided in American business English, as marital status is usually professionally irrelevant, unless it’s the addressee’s stated preference. Addressing a letter in English as “Dear Mary Liebowitz,” sounds robotic and impersonal, and just plain weird.
8. Avoid colloquialisms in business English, such as “gonna” and “wanna”, or outdated slang terms like “wannabe”. Their usage does not suggest a strong familiarity with the English language; to the contrary, they appear unprofessional and juvenile.
9. Be careful of common translation misspellings, like “of cause”. I frequently see this example in text written in English by Danes. When writing “selvfølgelig”, the English term would be “of course”. (“Of cause” would translate to “af årsag”).
10. Be polite. Always remember to use “please” and “thank you” in business English. While it may seem superfluous in Danish, and text that does not include polite terms will still be grammatically correct in English, you can appear brash and commanding to native English speakers, and sometimes, even arrogant. “If you have questions, contact us” is not open and welcoming to unsure customers, but “Please contact us with any questions” is much warmer.
SIDE NOTE: The glass is half-full! The practicality of the Danish language safely offers information such as “Vi har lukket i weekenden”. English-language businesses tend to put a positive spin on things, and stress the “glass half-full” aspect, versus the “glass half-empty”, and would instead say “Our team is available from 9am to 5pm on Mondays and Fridays”.
Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any assistance.
1. Do not rely on Google Translate. Google Translate often produces gibberish. Visitors to your site may be able to get the general idea of what your company produces, but will not be impressed by the lack of effort you’ve taken to communicate with an international audience of potential customers. Enter a simple, widely used term such as “Vi har lukket” in Google translate, and it offers “We have closed”, which is an incorrect direct translation, unless you include “om søndagen”. The correct term is “We are closed”. If you want to be seen as a professional business, don’t rely on a tool that will only offer translations based on probability.
2. Use online translation dictionaries such as ordbogen.com. A basic subscription is 19kr. a month. Use free websites like Thesaurus.com for a wide variety of English-language synonyms and antonyms.
3. Don’t fall into the Danish compound word trap! Many words used in Danish that are “borrowed” from the English language and put together as a compound word - such as “boardmember”, “rockband”, and my least favorite, “coinoffer”(!) - are completely incorrect in English. The correct English terms are “board member”, “rock band”, and there’s just no such thing as a “coin offer”. Check spellings by using an English language spell checker on your computer, or on websites such as dictionary.com.
4. Don’t be afraid of contractions like “don’t”, “aren’t”, and “shouldn’t”. A colleague once told me that her folkeskole English teacher forbid the use of contractions, citing them as improper English. Contractions were once looked down upon in English as “unscholarly”, but that was during the 18th century. Today, not using contractions, even in formal, business English, can appear stiff and awkward. However, contractions such as “would’ve” and “should’ve” should be avoided in business English if you’re not 100% certain of their usage, and “ain’t” is strictly forbidden.
5. Check your apostrophes. Apostrophes are used to show possession, in words such as “teacher’s desk”, and “Mary’s pancreas”, and in contractions, such as “it’s” (it is). They are not used to show possession in pronouns such as “its” and “yours”. When words end in “-s”, apostrophes are placed differently for singular and plural nouns to show possession, such as “the business’s website” (singular) and “the businesses’ team leaders” (plural).
6. The Oxford comma is your English language friend. The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is an optional comma used before a coordinating conjunction, such as “and”, in a list of three or more items in a sentence: “Today, we’ll discuss finances, marketing, and expenses”. In Danish, a comma is generally not used before “og” in a sentence list, but in English, it’s used for clarity, and to separate items that may not belong together. Otherwise, you can have sentences like “I’ll stop at the grocery store for some things for lunch, like onions, herring and white bread”. Imagine the shock and horror, not knowing if you would be expected to eat herring on white bread! A comma after “herring” would suggest that there was already some rugbrød at home.
7. Avoid full names in business letter salutations, but use commas. If you don’t know the addressee, the proper format would be to use Mr./Ms. and the person’s last name; “Dear Ms. Liebowitz,”. If you do know the person, use their first name only: “Dear Mary,”, always adding a comma after the name. “Mrs.” is generally avoided in American business English, as marital status is usually professionally irrelevant, unless it’s the addressee’s stated preference. Addressing a letter in English as “Dear Mary Liebowitz,” sounds robotic and impersonal, and just plain weird.
8. Avoid colloquialisms in business English, such as “gonna” and “wanna”, or outdated slang terms like “wannabe”. Their usage does not suggest a strong familiarity with the English language; to the contrary, they appear unprofessional and juvenile.
9. Be careful of common translation misspellings, like “of cause”. I frequently see this example in text written in English by Danes. When writing “selvfølgelig”, the English term would be “of course”. (“Of cause” would translate to “af årsag”).
10. Be polite. Always remember to use “please” and “thank you” in business English. While it may seem superfluous in Danish, and text that does not include polite terms will still be grammatically correct in English, you can appear brash and commanding to native English speakers, and sometimes, even arrogant. “If you have questions, contact us” is not open and welcoming to unsure customers, but “Please contact us with any questions” is much warmer.
Monday, November 1, 2010
An company is born
It was an idea that was born right before I relocated to Denmark from where I had been comfortably sitting in the Caribbean, mai tai in hand, working for Orbitz.
"I'll write", I said. "Full time! And eventually, my Danish will be so fantastic that people will pay me to translate their Danish text into beautiful, persuasive, melts-in-your-mouth English."
And most of the time, that's exactly what happened. :)
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