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Claire Debenham

@clairedeb.bsky.social
228 followers 214 following 313 posts

Japanese-to-English medical translator, dog-lover, servant of cat. Human companion to @fenlandlapphund.bsky.social

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Claire Debenham
Andrew Brown @seatrout.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
So at the moment I have a long post up about a racist ideologue, but also this andrewbrown.substack.com/p/palate-cle...
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The grapes are ripe, but the vine is still putting out spray after spray of new flowers. #climatechange
A bunch of ripe seedless grapes, green with a purplish sheen, hanging amid vine leaves.Sprays of young grape flowers growing on the same vine.
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I have never understood why something like the Japanese system of long-term care insurance, where everyone aged over 40 pays a relatively small extra national insurance premium in exchange for access to care in old age when they're certified to need it, is so utterly unacceptable in the UK.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
Rather lovely piece by @henrymance.ft.com on why language learning still matters to him in a world of AI translation on.ft.com/3Jviyry
The decision to learn a foreign language, John le Carré wrote shortly after the Brexit vote, is "an act of friendship... It's a promise to educate - yes - and to equip.
But also to awaken; to kindle a flame that you hope will never go out ...
Al might offer precision. One day, through headphones or brain implants, it may offer immediacy too. But speaking a foreign language tells your interlocutor that you are humble and committed enough to come into their world.
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
They should have provided a pronunciation guide ("nats'batteh") rather than letting everyone assume it rhymes with "masturbate".
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Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
my kind of Jubilee, the Japanese national team vs. 100 kids
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
The colour purple.
A wall covered in flowering wisteria, over raised beds containing flourishing catmint and lavender.
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Reunite Families UK @rfuk.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
If you, like us think that your salary must not determine whether you can live here in your own country of birth or adoption with your family sign our petition: reunitefamiliesuk.co.uk/sign/
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Reunite Families UK @rfuk.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
This Father's Day, we remember thousands of dads separated from their families by the UK's harsh visa rules: stuck abroad because their partners in the UK cannot meet the requirements or unable to bring their family to the UK. So we ask children what their Daddy means to them?
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Avery Udagawa @averyudagawa.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Submissions open in ten days for the #SCBWI Pitch-Perfect Grant. This grant assists children’s book translators in the development of a specific #translation project into English, which is not currently under contract. Up to two winners are selected annually: www.scbwi.org/pitch-perfec...
scbwi.org
Pitch-Perfect Translation Grant
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators provides the resources, professional networking, and community-building opportunities that support writers, illustrators, and translators throug...
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Oliver Morton, Eater of Sun @eaterofsun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Are there any plans for a picket of the Royal Society's summer soirees this year? Polite, respectful, placards with pictures and teh question "Is this the sort of fellowship you want to honour"?
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
This has nothing to do with stopping crime. It is to do with a global far-right movement, coordinated on X, organised by some of the most powerful men in the world from Silicon Valley to the White House inews.co.uk/opinion/fara...
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Ros Taylor @rostaylor.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The referendum was the moment when the far right realised what it was capable of, and how willingly ambitious men and women would harness themselves to its cause.
substack.com
The New World (@thenewworldmagazine)
They lied and lied, we were complacent - and the culture war began in earnest - @Ros Taylor
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 06/06/2026
The criticism of Trump, Kennedy, and Bhattacharya that was so subversive that the ADA had to eject the Editor-in-Chief of their flagship journal from their annual meeting for sharing it? Prior today it had fewer than 1000 views. Do your thing.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
"Terrorism" on the left. "Protest" on the right.
People sitting with "I support Palestine Action" placards"STREET FURY Protesters hurl bins & bricks in clash with riot cops injuring 11 as two arrested amid outrage over Henry Nowak murder" Headline and still in The Sun
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Evening in Assynt.
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
It's All Just Talk, by Clive Gregson and Christine Collister. The slight catch in her voice on the final "Nothing in the world..." gets me every time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5CL...
youtube.com
It's All Just Talk
YouTube video by Clive Gregson - Topic
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Fenland Lapphund @fenlandlapphund.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The abandoned church of All Saints Silverley.
Anni sitting at the base of the ruined tower of the church, with vegetation growing up through it.The ruined tower of All Saints Church, now in the middle of a wood.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Interesting that the idea of another EU referendum is regularly discussed on broascast media as something that would cause division and thus a bad idea. But plans to deport literally millions of people are discussed as administrative questions.
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Loek van Kooten, MA @loekalization.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
This is for the people who BUY interpreting from TransPerfect. Hospitals. Courts. Insurers. Government agencies. Enterprises. Read this carefully, because it is about you.
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Six years after Debenhams went into liquidation, Claire's stores are ceasing trading too ☹️
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Woke tofu-shitting kittylitterati
A silver-tabby-and-white cat rubs his cheek against an unopened pack of Tigerino Plant-Based Tofi Pellets 100% Biodegradable cat litter.
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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 22/04/2026
Priceless post from the official White House social media
Margo Martin
@MargoMartin47
X.com
Congratulations, Georgia Women's Tennis!

The photo shows Trump and five white dudes in red ties standing in front of and completely blocking 10 young women
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Words you really don't want to see in a handover email: "The client has already added the corresponding English translation to the working reference file for the most part. These are AI translations, but please do not revise the existing translation unless there is an objective error."
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Erik Hansson @erikhansson.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
#Africa has 2,000 languages. AI content moderation covers fewer than 20 globalvoices.org/2026/04/20/a... via @globalvoices.org #language #diversity #ai #langsky
globalvoices.org
Africa has 2,000 languages. AI content moderation covers fewer than 20
The data-labelling industry relies heavily on workers in Kenya and Nigeria to annotate what AI systems learn. Those same workers rarely see their languages reflected in the systems they help train.
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churchtimes.bsky.social @churchtimes.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
"There is no eternity for her; there is only change. The world, 'all that is not cat . . . will rejoin without a seam when he is dead, she writes" #UrsulaKLeGuin
churchtimes.co.uk
Viewpoint with Andrew Brown: God is on the side of cats — and humans, too
NOW that it seems the world has been rebooked from the Apocalypse Express on to the Apocalypse Replacement Bus Service, there is a moment in which to write about things of lasting value: cats and poetry. The two come together in a book that I foun...
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Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Man...I don't know. In the past few years I've almost died of Covid, had my career field evaporate out from under me w/ no obvious replacement, & watched one social contract after another fall to ruin. Also, shit costs way more now. You really can't convince me that it's just my vibes being off.
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Center for the Art of Translation (CAT) @catranslation.org · 14/04/2026
"There is an urgent need for places where languages meet, stories cross, & people recognize their connection to one another." With community support, CAT is opening a permanent home for literary translation. Read the news in @publisherswkly.bsky.social. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
publishersweekly.com
Center for the Art of Translation to Open Literary Space in San Francisco
The new headquarters of the nonprofit, which is home to Two Lines Press, will feature event spaces, offices, and a bookstore dedicated exclusively to translated literature. It is slated to open in 202...
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Daniel Kennedy @fliglman.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Whatever skills I have as a translator came from the million+ words I translated down the translation mines. If all the unglamorous grunt work disappears there won't be anywhere to learn
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Erin K. Maher @erinkmaher.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
freelancers should be able to bill the government for the money we lose in the time we spend stressing about World Events instead of doing client work
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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
In all seriousness, one thing that might be worth doing today: Tell your Reps and Senators to call Adm. Richard Correll, the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, which controls the nation's nukes, and remind him of *his* unique responsibility to refuse an illegal order.
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
How on earth am I supposed to be able to concentrate sufficiently to meet deadlines with the world in this state?
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
We are seven months away from the most consequential midterm election in US history. Meanwhile, we are fighting a war. These are the structural conditions for a coup attempt in which a president tries to nullify elections and take permanent power as a dictator. snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-c...
snyder.substack.com
The Next Coup Attempt
And How to Stop It
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
In addition, you should not pretend, to others or to yourself, that the problem here is one that is going to be fixed by a pablum statement every Easter from Charles III. The problem here is hostility towards Muslims from people who are mostly wouldn’t know their Acts from their Exodus.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
96 hours Friday to Monday. How many hours/minutes will GB News devote to content to content about Easter, eg - Christian services - Discussion of the Christian message of Easter - Passion Plays - Hymns - Broadcasts of local secular Easter traditions Vs discussion of lack of respect for this?
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Caolán Mc Aree @caolanmcaree.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
It's time to repost this Easter masterpiece
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Quick morning shout out to all the other freelancers who didn't even know it was the bank holiday, the whole concept having become utterly irrelevant to their lived experience.
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churchtimes.bsky.social @churchtimes.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
‘It is not fair to blame Israel entirely for the war, but to do so will become a salve for American pride’ #andrewbrown #viewpoint #churchtimes
churchtimes.co.uk
Viewpoint with Andrew Brown: Israel’s part in the defeat of empires
I AM not a fan of biblical prophecy, but it’s still remarkable that, in a year’s time, we’ll be able to look back and see that Israel has brought two mighty empires to conclusive and humiliating defeats in the span of 72 years. It will have done s...
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Jocelyne Allen @brainvsbook.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Which is why ten translators will produce at least eleven different TLs of the same text. (One will be racked with doubt and produce two to hedge their bets.) I wish more books got more than one TL bc it's fascinating to see what in the source resonates with the translator and how it shapes their TL
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Jocelyne Allen @brainvsbook.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
As a translator, I think a lot about how reading is an act of interpretation, and thus every translation is necessarily one person's interpretation of the text. You can't help but process the words/images on the page through your lived experiences.
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Danube Institute members have long been pushing this on X, together with David Betz's claim that western Europe and the UK are headed for civil war.
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Jocelyne Allen @brainvsbook.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
I still say we should start using “formidable vulva” as a compliment for a person’s strength/courage. “They’ve got one heck of a formidable vulva going up against a bully like that.”
Dictionary screenshot 
名器 [めいき] 
Noun
1. rare utensil, famous article
2. famed musical instrument (e.g. a Stradivarius)
3. excellent vagina, formidable vulva (This last definition is highlighted in yellow by me.)
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Where will you be tomorrow? #NoKings Find your event for this Saturday, March 28th. www.nokings.org
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Kristen Hanley Cardozo @khandozo.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Translation is a form of creation. The translator has to make decisions about preserving style over direct content, about cultural equivalence, about how to preserve a sense of pun or sentence structure from one language to the next. People who assume an LLM can do it are not understanding the task.
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Dan Conway @magisterconway.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
So, um... this is bad. Really bad. I looked at the letters that were translated by the AI, and the very first one I found was almost entirely hallucination. Thread:
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Mel Bartley @zetkin.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
This really instructive because it is in miniature what so many politicians now do. Get into power by promoting hatred, then use the power to make money for yourself.
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Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 19/03/2026
1. Britain has very much *NOT* always tolerated minority faiths. Just ask Jews and Catholics. 2. The idea that religious expression should be "in conformity with our values, our norms, our beliefs" should worry every faith group, starting with Christians.
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Claire Debenham @clairedeb.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Looking at the map of Parthia at the time of Crassus, the comparisons between him and Trump feel more apt than ever. www.britannica.com/event/Battle...
britannica.com
Battle of Carrhae | Facts, Significance, & Casualties | Britannica
Battle of Carrhae (53 BCE), military engagement between the Roman Republic and the Parthian empire. Marcus Licinius Crassus initiated an unprovoked war against the Parthians and met their army near Ca...
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Olivia Hill @machineiv.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Spread for reach, please? In the past 20 years, have your wages increased more than the cost of living? Or has the cost-of-living out stripped your wages’ growth?
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Huw Bowen / Sundog @huwbowen.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
This is the warning on the blood pressure monitor my dad just got. Exceptional work. Anybody know what the fuck it’s supposed to mean? Last line is especially ominous
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