One thing I’ve learnt since starting my business is that the South West of England is not the quiet little rural region that I once thought it was. Well, it is, in a way – but it’s also got heaps of business and tourism potential.
3 challenges of translating tourism content
I wrote a guest blog post for the translation technology company SDL about the challenges of translating tourism content.
Although translating texts for the tourism industry can be very interesting, there is a lot more work to it than meets the eye, and it’s certainly not something that should be rushed – or left to chance.
Read an excerpt from my blog post below, and read the full article here.
Why this “good enough” translation is not fit for purpose
Many translators would agree that there are two ways to translate something. While some of our clients appreciate that translations take time, require creativity and expertise, and may not word-for-word look like the original text, other clients may prefer a literal translation to be on the safe side, or may say something along the lines of “it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect” or “as long as people can understand what it says”.
How do babies learn foreign languages? A taster class with Kidslingo
The benefits of being multilingual have long been proven. Studies have shown that aside from looking great on your CV, bilingualism boosts your cognitive and problem-solving skills, improves your memory, and even staves off Alzheimer’s.
Fiverr: Do you get what you pay for? (Part 1)
Last month, a friend of mine wanted a translation from English into Spanish, Italian and German, and while I recommended some of my trusted colleagues to her, she had mentioned that someone in her office had suggested they use Fiverr.
I shared my horror with my colleague and friend, Hannah Keet, and we bemoaned the fact that people seem to expect quality professional work, but are only willing to pay peanuts – but for peanuts, the quality will surely not be great. That’s when Hannah had the idea: why don’t we test this theory for ourselves through a “mystery shopping” exercise?
How (not) to hire a translator
A friend of mine, Sarah, works for a media company that recently needed some transcribing and translation services, and it fell to her to locate some translators and take care of the project. Although this was her first time working with translators, her experience a) ends happily and b) might help others who may need a translator one day.
When is it OK to use Google Translate?
Google Translate, and other machine translation (MT) programs, have come along in leaps and bounds in the last few years. Not only can we download apps where we can just type in words and instantly get a result in another language, but you can take photos of signs and get a translation straight away, and even instantly translate voice and video calls with the likes of Skype Translator. With the magic of deep learning technology, computers are able to “learn” more and in theory, improve the quality of their output the more it is used.
Continue reading
How to translate Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Today marks 151 years since Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published, so I thought I’d share with you a shortened (ish) version of what I wrote about during my Masters degree in Translation Studies, where I researched how on earth you would go about translating a fantasy, nonsense story, like Alice, into French.
My appearance on Translators on Air (and a press interview!)
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I had some fun translation projects and events lined up for this month.
So Wednesday 26th October was a very exciting day for me, as I had not one, but two media appearances!
“La rentrée” – Checking up on my business goals…
Going ‘back to school’ in September is a bigger deal in France than in the UK. They call it la rentrée, and not only does it mark a new year of school for children, but it is also a perfect opportunity for adults to start new projects, make plans, and basically treat it like a second ‘New Year.’
