Only Human Translators

Process and pragmatism: the story of my year

Process and pragmatism: the story of my year

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....
The great turning point

The great turning point

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...
The social media juggling act

The social media juggling act

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...
Beating blogger’s block

Beating blogger’s block

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...
The next best thing

The next best thing

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...
Two translator tribes?

Two translator tribes?

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...