What to do when presented with questionable texts to translate? Arms trade literature, fundamental religious positions on personal freedoms, attacks on science and reason, etc. can all pose the translator a minor problem in making what is essentially a business decision – do I do it? <awfulanalogy>As translators, we drive vehicles filled with ideas. We [...]
With my previous laptop having finally succumbed to old age, it was time to find another tool to allow me to work remotely. At home, a self-built desktop PC serves me well in my comfortable chair, but on sunny days when the garden calls, or when travelling anywhere else for any reason, the smartphone doesn’t [...]
Fredrik Härén spoke in 2007 on Sweden’s knowledge day (kunskapens dag). This engaging speaker stood and explained his views on the value of knowledge in the global economy. Video in Swedish. He spoke of how the very meaning of the term “developed country” has lead to complacency, and that “developing countries” are taking advantage of new [...]
It has been 4 weeks since I last jotted anything down in my paper diary. I have been trialling the supposedly advanced features of my smartphone (Nokia N900) which syncs my phone diary to my online account. The results are mixed. I’m now very tempted to go back to paper. The perceived added benefits of [...]
Is your copywriting not having the desired effect? Neither was mine until I bought Andy Maslen’s Write to Sell, the ultimate guide to great copywriting. OK, I haven’t actually implemented any of the tips I picked up in this book yet, but I can see me overhauling all the website content I have on the [...]
News not perhaps worthy of such a sensationalist headline, but when you consider that for the search term “French to English translator” there is only one other freelance professional translator ahead of me – the famous, and very well regarded Corinne McKay (whose birthday, I understand, falls on International Translators Day) – it’s not such [...]
There’s something I’d like to share with the translator community; I’ve figured out how to run a CAT tool on my Nokia N900 mobile phone. This is the phone of geeks, anyway, featuring a full Linux operating system and root access (admin rights) to let you customise any aspect of the device. It even has [...]
Translations of stories issued by Aéroports de Paris approved by Warner this month, after rigorous translation and proofreading process. Worldtowriters.com has been given an overhaul. For any translation work in languages other than French, click through.
With so much translation work to do, it is hard to find the time to run side-projects, but in recent months I’ve pressed on and created two new websites which I hope to maintain as they grow: linguistdb.com and thefrenchjourney.com After a few weeks of development, the new linguist database linguistdb.com was launched and has [...]
Business Advice for Freelance Translating Collected from the freelance translation community on twitter , via the hashtag #xl8 This post aims to collate helpful information from freelancers and translators around the world on managing money, tax, clients and cashflow. It may be of use and interest to other freelancers. Please feel free to add any [...]
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