In October 2025, it’ll be two years since I last flew anywhere. For someone who has travelled a fair amount over the years, and I mean to 50 countries across five continents, this is something of a big deal for me. It all started in January 2024, when we began planning our summer holiday. WeContinue reading “The year I ditched planes for trains”
Author Archives: Judith Zerdin
48 hours in Rio (and first-hand experience of a Brazilian A&E department)
In early 2005 I was living in Colombia and working as a freelance journalist for a trade magazine in London, reporting on the Latin American pharmaceutical markets. That February I flew to Brazil for a couple of weeks to interview the CEOs of various pharma companies and NGOs. I have a whole branch of myContinue reading “48 hours in Rio (and first-hand experience of a Brazilian A&E department)”
My month teaching English in the Pearl by the Sea (Odessa, Ukraine), 1996
Ukraine is a country that is on everyone’s lips these days, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. As a student, I spent a month in the Black Sea port of Odesa (then spelled Odessa) in the summer of 1996 and wrote an article about my experience when I got home. It was never published but, 29Continue reading “My month teaching English in the Pearl by the Sea (Odessa, Ukraine), 1996”
How knowing one language helps another (or not…)
My dad’s maternal grandmother was born in Poland. When my son discovered this, he decided he had to learn Polish on DuoLingo. He tried to teach me a few words and phrases. Mleko (milk) is the only thing that’s stuck – I can add that to zloty, which is the only word I remember fromContinue reading “How knowing one language helps another (or not…)”
How I got into languages – and rediscovered them 3 decades later
Growing up, we had most of our summer holidays in France. They were usually split between the Dordogne and Provence, where we had family and friends, with overnights in Paris and other towns/cities/regions along the way. They always involved hot journeys on endless motorways, soggy baguette sandwiches and trying to avoid awful squat toilets –Continue reading “How I got into languages – and rediscovered them 3 decades later”
A day-trip to Paris with my 88-year-old Mum
When I was 12, my school organised a day trip to France for my year group – ostensibly to practise our French. All I remember of the day, aside from spending most of it on a coach, was buying a baguette in a hypermarché somewhere near Calais. And it rained. A lot. So, when myContinue reading “A day-trip to Paris with my 88-year-old Mum”
Translating French or Spanish to English? Easy, right?
I was at a party last month and got talking to the husband of a friend about my work as a freelance French to English translator. I’ll call him Malcolm. I was complaining that recently I’d not got a job because the translation client wanted to pay me a lot less than I was askingContinue reading “Translating French or Spanish to English? Easy, right?”
How useful is DuoLingo for learning languages?
My teen loves Duolingo. He’s currently learning Spanish, French, Portuguese, Norwegian, Hebrew and Japanese on it. As a Spanish and French to English translator, languages are naturally really important to me and I’ve spent many years honing my language skills. I was lucky enough to be able to learn 3 languages at school – French,Continue reading “How useful is DuoLingo for learning languages?”
Judith Zerdin 