Only Human Translators
Dec 29, 2021 |
It’s probably significant that 12 months ago I took a conscious decision not to look back on 2020. The first year of COVID didn’t seem like something I wanted to spend too much time dwelling on and I broke with my habit of writing a review of the year....
Dec 20, 2021 |
25 years ago this month I was given the sack. Although I wasn’t happy in my job, it came as a terrible shock. Until then, I’d always seen work – and life really – as something that went onward and upward. Failure really didn’t come into...
Nov 21, 2021 |
The social media scene is changing – and I’m not just talking about the rather bizarre metamorphosis of Facebook into something called Meta. It seems to me that the way we, as translators, use social media is shifting almost as I write this post, as we...
Nov 4, 2021 |
Followers of this blog may have noticed that in 2021 I haven’t been posting as regularly as in recent years. The early days, when I somehow managed to post every week, are long gone. For some time I’ve thought that one post a month was often enough, and...
Oct 19, 2021 |
As I’ve said before in this blog, I’m not a fan of online conferences and CPD. But if I go to too many like the recent METM21 Online I could be converted. Superbly organised, full of good content and with off-conference events that came close to achieving...
Aug 16, 2021 |
My recent consideration of my translation process and the interesting online discussions that followed got me thinking. Why is it that some translators manage a more or less finished first draft, while others, like me, need a rough version which we then refine again...
Jul 4, 2021 |
I couldn’t have been more pleased with the reaction to my last post a few weeks ago. Lots of people have told me, here on my blog and on social media, that they were delighted someone had started talking about the translation process. Some were even kind enough...
Jun 2, 2021 |
With everything that’s written and said about translation, it’s rather strange that there is so little discussion of the actual process of translation itself. Maybe translators fear that if they reveal their secrets anyone will be able to copy them....
Mar 28, 2021 |
A few weeks ago, a translator raised a question in the Standing Up Facebook group. Quoting precedents from the content writing industry, he asked whether translators could or should have different quality standards for different clients with different budgets. In...
Mar 1, 2021 |
At some point during 2021, it will be my 20th anniversary as a translator. I only wish I could be more specific, but I can’t honestly remember when I did my first translation or who the client was. All I can say with any degree of certainty was that it is...
