– Focusing on the principles of collaboration and support amongst colleagues, this November’s Stronger Together 2 meet-up, organised by the NWTN, built upon the foundations of last year’s event and reminded us how valuable being part of a network is, both professionally and personally.

Professionally, we benefitted from the advice and support of colleagues shared freely and informally throughout the day. Small-group discussion sessions covered a choice of topics from work-life balance, coworking, business finances, marketing, CPD, agencies & clients, and workflow & productivity.

By sharing ideas and experiences, suggesting solutions to each other’s dilemmas, and listening to each other’s points of view, we enhanced each other’s business practices and enriched our professional knowledge.

We also got to know colleagues with different specialisms, language combinations and subject expertise who may become collaborators on future projects or who we could recommend to clients looking for linguists with particular professional backgrounds.

The insightful Post-it note session, where members were encouraged to post questions on the board for colleagues to answer last year, was digitalised on a Miro board this year. The digital board extends this activity beyond the one-day event, as members can continue to post questions and get helpful advice from colleagues long after the in-person event has ended.

Personally, this year’s event allowed me to reflect upon how my experience of being a member of the network has developed since last year, when I arrived at this event alone. Not knowing many of the participants, I participated in the discussions on collaboration, revision, accountability and mentoring, which led to a few of us setting up a local accountability group which has met regularly ever since. This year, our small group travelled to the event together, and I found myself in a room of familiar faces.

It was also great to see a few new faces, who will have the same opportunity as I did to connect and find their place in the network over the coming year. Thanks to our network organisers Laurence, Kate, and Katell, for creating such a thought-provoking and enjoyable event.

The post Stronger Together appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

Ahmed T al-Hamdi (Mr)

• Where do you live/work?

I live in North Manchester. My office is located in the vibrant and historic Deansgate area in Manchester City Centre, United Kingdom.

• Are you a translator or interpreter or both? Which languages do you work with?

I am a certified translator and consecutive interpreter. I provide translation and interpreting from English into Arabic and vice-versa. I work closely with an assistant, translating legal and technical texts, and taking on transcription and subtitling jobs.

• What are your specialist fields?

My specialist areas are legal, business and semi-technical. Please see more specialist areas on my website: https://www.arabictranslatoruk.com/services/translation

What’s the strangest/most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?

A translation of a 433 page book from old Arabic into English. It is a history book of Sudan in the 18^th Century.

• Tell us about a particularly proud moment in your translation/interpreting career so far:

I fondly remember being greeted by Major-General Michael Charlton-Weedy, CBE Chief Executive of Emergency Planning College, Cabinet in York. I had travelled from Manchester to the York countryside very early in the morning. When meeting me at reception he stated, “Thank you very much for the heroic arrival, Mr al-Hamdi.” Major-General Michael Charlton-Weedy was a pleasure to work with and treated me extremely well. Please see his testimonial on my website: https://www.arabictranslatoruk.com/testimonials

 Tell us two reasons why you like being a translator/interpreter:

I find joy in the mental acrobatics of translation, comprehending the source text and enjoying the flow of meaning into the target text. It is a heavenly miracle : “And one of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your languages and colours. Surely in this are signs for those of ˹sound˺ knowledge.” Holy Qur’an- Ar-Rum Chapter 30: Verse 22. “Then by the Lord of heaven and earth! ˹All˺ this is certainly as true as ˹the fact that˺ you can speak!” Holy Qur’an –Adh-Dhariyat Chapter 55: Verse 23.

Translation: From initially receiving the job to sending the final translation back to my clients, it is a joyful journey. It involves studying the text, checking terminology, translating, proof-reading, discussing ambiguities, finalising the text and delivering the documents. It’s a great pleasure to see an initially stressed client relax once they’ve received their certified translation by Special Guaranteed Delivery post.

Interpreting: It is the pleasure of sharing communication from the mind of a presenter, my mind and the minds of those in the audience. The presenter’s speech, processed in my mind, is verbalised by me and comprehended by the audience. The contented looks on the faces in the audience is an assurance to me and to the presenter that the information is being conveyed.

• Where is the most interesting place where you have lived/visited?

Campus of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and Morocco.

In the 1990s I attended the enjoyable NWTN meetings held at the YHA in Castlefield,  Manchester. On approaching the building and enjoying the canal side location, I was full of hope and peace, knowing I’d be greeting many kind friends.

My visits to the British Council in al-Waziriyah, Baghdad during the 1970s  are very precious memories, as I thoroughly enjoyed the civil and cultural setting of the British Council Library, with its valuable language, linguistics, literature books, and research papers. The film screenings, theatre and musical performances held at the Hall of British Council in Baghdad were the happiest cultural events I ever attended, and they helped form the foundation of my competence of English and British culture. 

• What are your plans for professional development or a new field you’d like to work in?

I published translations of literary, history, psychology and children’s books, and am looking to focus on book translation in the future.

• Tell us something not many people know about you:

I look at life through the eyes of the Lord. I always ask myself if the deed I am about to do satisfies the Lord or not. I receive my heavenly guidance through the heavenly holy books; the Holy Qur’an, the Holy Bible and the Holy Torah.

I write, recite and translate Arabic and English poetry. On 17^th July, 1986, I performed a public poetry recital in English of translations of poems by modern Arab poets in Covent Garden in London. I was interviewed by Mrs Leila al-Tami of BBC Arabic Service at this event. Please see details of my translated poems “Songs of Life” on my website: https://www.arabictranslatoruk.com/publications

The post Member Monday presents: Ahmed T al-Hamdi appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

Translation Rates and Inflation / CAT Tools and Discounts / AI, Machine Translation and Post-Editing / Changing Our Working Methods / Full and Light Editing / Light Editing Into or Out of Our Mother Tongue / Offering Multiple Languages or Specialising in One Language Combination Only

Translation Rates and Inflation

What do you think our industry will bring for 2024?  Judging by numerous posts I’ve read on the various social media platforms and many conversations I’ve had with colleagues over recent weeks, 2023 was probably the most challenging year in terms of turnover to date for many of us.  This year, in 2024, I’ll be celebrating 30 years in business as a Dutch<>English translator, and although I’m very proud of my achievements over the past three decades, it’s quite depressing to think that my income has steadily decreased since entering the 21^st century!  Comparing my source word rate for agency clients in Europe between the 2000s and the past few years, my base rate has seen a net drop of as high as 17%, i.e. invoice amounts have decreased by a staggering 17% in euros since 20 years ago.  This doesn’t even take into account inflation or the rise in the cost of living, investments in technology and CPD commitments.

CAT Tools and Discounts

At the start of the 21^st century, productivity gains and time savings could still be achieved through the use of CAT tools and we were free to choose our preferred CAT tool and the way we organised our work.  In recent years, many agencies have started to dictate which CAT tool we should use or they have moved their translation operations to online platforms for us to work on in real-time using their terminological databases on their systems.  More and more of our translation work is pre-translated by CAT tool leverage so, where in the past we used to be paid for both the easy and the difficult parts of a text, we are now only dealing with the harder parts of the text.  Our time spent on research is the same, but our earnings have considerably decreased.  Plus, client databases often contain many errors and inconsistencies as they do not appear to be properly maintained by knowledgeable translators or revisors, yet these incorrect segments are still included as fuzzy matches leading to discounted rates, with us translators having to spend a lot more time on delivering quality translations for much less pay.

AI, Machine Translation and Post-Editing

Over the past few years, the focus of many discussions in our industry has been on AI, Machine Translation and Post-Editing taking over our profession.  Initially, translators may have been of the opinion that we had nothing to fear, as the quality of MT output used to be rather poor, and editing poor translations was always more time-consuming than doing the translation ourselves in the first place.  However, is this still the case now that technology and database input are constantly improving?  I first subscribed to DeepL about two years ago now and I must say that for translations between Dutch and English, I have found the quality of MT output to be astonishingly good.  I generally use DeepL alongside my own work and often prefer the translations suggested by DeepL to what I came up with myself.

So we’d better get used to it!  AI, Machine Translation and Post-Editing are real contenders and here to stay, but rather than posing a threat to our profession, I think we need to embrace all this new technology and make it work for us.  These are exciting times for our industry!

Changing Our Working Methods

Having said that, changing the way we work can be painful and will require changes in our attitude and our way of thinking so we can learn new skills.  This applies not just to us, but to agency owners and their PMs too.  Take post-editing for example.  One agency prescribes the process for post-editing as follows:
a) Read the target segment;
b) Read the source segment;
c) Check that the meaning conveyed is the same;
d) Does the MT definitely need changing or are these preferential changes?;
e) Change the MT accordingly.
However, according to the RWS Post-Editing Certificate training material, the steps to follow are:
a) Always read the source segment first and identify anything you’re unsure about;
b) Look at the MT output and see how close it is to the translation you had in mind;
c) Make the necessary corrections to the translation using the MT output as a basis;
d) Reread the target segment and compare it against the source segment and make any final changes if necessary.

Full and Light Editing

And then there is the distinction between the different levels of editing, i.e. Full or Light Editing and their respective rates of pay.  I would equate Full Editing with what we used to call Translating for Publication Purposes, and Light Editing with Translating for Information Purposes.
Again, the RWS Post-Editing Certificate training material prescribes the following for Light Editing:
a) Only correct critical or major errors for mistranslations, omissions/additions;
b) Check client-preferred terms against the client glossary at the end;
c) Do not correct mistakes in grammar and spelling unless they affect the meaning;
d) Do not correct errors in consistency, style, country standards, register or tone.
For most translators, Light Editing will be a shock to the system as it goes completely against our instincts and what we have always been told to do.

Light Editing Into or Out of Our Mother Tongue

So, what does Light Editing mean for translators and agency owners and their PMs?  If mistakes in grammar, spelling, consistency, style, country standards, register and tone are supposed to be left untouched and only critical and major errors and client-preferred terminology need correcting, who will be the best professional to do this: someone who is a native speaker of the source language or of the target language?  In my opinion, this will bring a shift of emphasis in favour of the importance of the source language.  The editor should have a perfect command of the source language to understand all the specific nuances.  Whereas agencies in the UK have always insisted that translators should translate into their mother tongue only, I feel that, for light editing, editors should be working out of their mother tongue to be able to pick out all critical and major errors.

Offering Multiple Languages or Specialising in One Language Combination Only

What this means for translators is that rather  than having multiple languages to work out of into our mother tongue, I believe we will be better off specialising in one language combination to reach native or near native language competence in the one foreign language and our own.  So, someone who completed a degree in one or two foreign languages, where they studied another language from scratch for a year, may have been translating from all their foreign languages into their mother tongue for years.  However, is their command of the language they learned from scratch for a year going to be sufficient to carry out light editing, i.e. will they be able to pick out all the critical and major errors?  For Dutch into English translations, the Dutch will generally have little faith in English native speakers having a thorough enough understanding of the Dutch language to be able to do a light editing job and they will insist on having a Dutch person carry out these jobs.  Will the same apply to the languages you work with?  What will this mean to you and your future in the industry?  How can you prepare for this?  Should you specialise in your strongest language combination to futureproof yourself?  Hopefully, this has given us all some food for thought.  If you have any comments to add to this debate, it will be great to hear from you!

Nicole van den Wittenboer, Interpreter, Translator, Dutch<>English

The post INTO OR OUT OF OUR MOTHER TONGUE? appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

We publicise a member profile on Mondays here on our website, Facebook page, X @NWTN_UK and LinkedIn. If you want to join us in this opportunity to share a little about yourself with your fellow NWTN members, download the questionnaire from the Member Resources area and send it to our Comms Officer.

Where do you live/work?

I live in Manchester and work in the city centre – I have made use of various co-working opportunities in the city for a good ten years and currently work from a Grade-2 listed loft in an old mill in Ancoats.

Are you mainly a translator or interpreter or both? What languages do you work with?

I translate exclusively from German to English.

What are your specialist fields?

I spent the 2000s putting myself through law school as a part-time mature student. After qualifying as a solicitor, I combined that expertise with my language skills and set up shop as a specialist legal  translator. Adjacent to that I also naturally tackle commercially-related subject areas along with more generalist fields – for instance I somewhat incongruously translate a lot of stuff about German toilets!

What’s the strangest/most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?

I once had a job translating transcripts of German comedians’ stand-up routines. The ultimate client was Netflix, who wanted an idea of said comics’ material with a view to potentially commissioning content for the network. I was told the translations didn’t have to be funny (which was fortunate as much of the original material wasn’t!) and I ended up somewhat bemusedly delivering page upon page of varyingly ropey comedy in English, none of which I ever saw broadcast – though I’m assured this wasn’t my fault!

Tell us about a particularly proud moment in your translation career so far:

Just after I graduated a member of the public approached my university’s German department with a tape of an interview with a distant relative of his who was an Austrian composer. My task was to transcribe it, translate it, and faithfully recreate the interview in English complete with the incidental music and another student playing the interviewer. It took absolutely ages and I was paid peanuts, but the look on his face when he got to listen to his relative’s interview in English was heartwarming.

Tell us two reasons why you like being a translator:

Languages are in my bones and I’m very thankful that I can make a living from something I enjoy. Also, having spent a stint working in the rigid confines of a law firm, I enjoy many aspects of the freelancer lifestyle – albeit a regular wage would not go amiss some months!

What is the most interesting place where you have lived/visited?

I lived in Berlin for a number of years, which I enjoyed hugely. My daily cycle ride home from the office by Checkpoint Charlie to my apartment in the former East Berlin was a veritable voyage through German history. What a place!

What are your plans for professional development or a new field you’d like to work in?

With the various challenges posed to our industry by technological developments, my objective is to consolidate work in my specialist sector while naturally also keeping an eye out for new opportunities.

Tell us something not many people know about you:

I once fulfilled my life’s ambition of appearing on the BBC World Service when I was asked to take part in a radio programme about Manchester’s failed Mobike cycle-sharing scheme!

The post Member Monday presents: Nick Hubble appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

After a brief interlude during which votes for the various baked goods were cast (hold on: no one said there would be judging!), we gathered around the table for a festive game of pass-the-parcel. Lovingly prepared by chair Laurence, there were more than enough layers for everyone to get at least one turn at unwrapping either a forfeit (count backwards in a foreign language, decline something grammatical in your target language, mime an Xmas movie etc.) or a piece of Manchester memorabilia (bee-festooned coasters, keyrings and pens).

With the parcel duly decimated, it was time for the all-important results announcement. My team was pleasantly surprised to have won the quiz. Then my sausage rolls were crowned the best bake, beating all manner of other scrumptious seasonal treats with a stonking four votes! A total curve ball! The best dressed vote (quite rightly) went to the unrivalled cuteness of a mother and toddler in matching Christmas jumpers.

There then came the more serious matter of awarding bursaries for physical and virtual attendance at the 2024 ITI conference and the party was already over. Overall, I spent highly enjoyable afternoon with a splendid group of people and I look forward to the next opportunity to catch up with the NWTN.

written by

Nick Hubble

Nick is a German to English translator.

The post Festive Social 2023 appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

We publicise a member profile on Mondays here on our website, Facebook page, X @NWTN_UK and LinkedIn. If you want to join us in this opportunity to share a little about yourself with your fellow NWTN members, download the questionnaire from the Member Resources area and send it to our Comms Officer.

Where do you live/work?

I live and work in Liverpool. I grew up on the Wirral, but after six cities and 12 houses in ten years, it was time to return and put down some roots!

Are you a translator or interpreter or both? Which languages do you work with?

I’m an audiovisual translator, working from French and German into English, but I also do text translations.

What are your specialist fields?

During my first freelancing stint in 2017, I mainly worked for one company as a remote linguist and they would give me everything under the sun—medical reports, boiler manuals, software strings. It was quite stressful, and I soon learned to only accept projects I love, nothing technical, legal or medical, in areas I am passionate about: entertainment, food and drink, the arts, sustainable beauty and fashion.

What’s the strangest/most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?

In audiovisual translation, any project is pretty cool, but once I transcribed an audio file where someone had left it recording while they were on the toilet, then sent it to me without realising. That was probably the strangest…

Tell us about a particularly proud moment in your translation/interpreting career so far:

I’m at the start of my career really as I only went freelance “for real” in 2020, but I think getting to the stage where I have been working with certain clients for several years now makes me feel proud that they keep coming back! I was also proud to be asked back to the University of Leeds in 2021 to teach German to English subtitling on the same Master’s in Audiovisual Translation course that I completed in 2017. It’s great to train future subtitlers and instil a passion for AV!

Tell us two reasons why you like being a translator/interpreter:

I love the variety—one day I’m subtitling a detective series, the next I’m translating voice-over for meditation sessions. I also like the sense of community, which I’m only just discovering this year after making an effort to join more networks like the NWTN and organisations like the ITI and CIOL.

Where is the most interesting place where you have lived/visited?

I lived in Berlin during my year abroad, which is such a unique and eclectic city. I’d love to live there again in the future if I can persuade my partner to learn German.

What are your plans for professional development or a new field you’d like to work in?

I’d like to take part in more networking events and conferences next year and get to know everyone in the NWTN through coworking. I translate wine menus regularly, so I’d also like to do the WSET Level 2 Wine course one day. Eventually, it would be great to narrow down my specialisms even more.

Tell us something not many people know about you:

I’m a keen roller skater! I got some beautiful skates for my birthday last year. I look a bit like a giant child with all my safety gear on, so I’m always looking for local people to skate with for moral support (Hey, NWTNers?)

The post Member Monday presents: Rachel Jones appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

The post Stronger Together: Empowerment through Collaboration, Revision, Accountability & Mentoring appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

We publicise a member profile on Mondays here on our website, Facebook page, X @NWTN_UK and LinkedIn. If you want to join us in this opportunity to share a little about yourself with your fellow NWTN members, download the questionnaire from the Member Resources area and send it to our Comms Officer.

Where do you live/work?

I live and work in Liverpool, Merseyside.

Are you a translator or interpreter or both? Which languages do you work with?

I am mainly a translator from English and French into Spanish and Catalan, but I am also a DPSI-qualified interpreter.

What are your specialist fields?

Literary translation, linguistic services for businesses in the cosmetics, market research, marketing and B2B industries, and public service interpreting.

What’s the strangest/most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?

I once worked on a transcreation project for a Belgian brand selling luxury candles. Their whole image and copy had been so exquisitely curated that I had to really put myself in their headspace, surrounding myself with the different candle smells and their aesthetics, to carry their voice into the Spanish market.

Tell us about a particularly proud moment in your translation/interpreting career so far:

Probably I’d say when I interpreted for a person seeking asylum during an application interview. Being able to help someone going through hard circumstances with my skills made me proud of having trained for my profession.

Tell us two reasons why you like being a translator/interpreter:

I love translating because it is a constant exercise in creativity, which entices us to always keep growing as wordsmiths. Also, as cultural bridges we always live in the in-between area, and as much as physically travelling is fun, another of the most enjoyable aspects of our profession is the cognitive journeys we go through as we try to convey messages between the cultures where our target and source languages are spoken.

Where is the most interesting place where you have lived/visited?

I lived in Helsinki for a very short while, in Lauttasaari, which is an enchanting and peaceful island. It was very residential, so I got to have an authentic experience of how locals lived, and met the author of the Finnish Nightmares comic series.

What are your plans for professional development or a new field you’d like to work in?

I am aiming to translate more contemporary literature, and I’m also looking to add Finnish to my working languages. It’s starting to come along a bit, but it’s more of a long-term project.

Tell us something not many people know about you:

I have played guitar since I was young, and later trained as a luthier for a couple of years.

The post Member Monday presents: Marta Cisa appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

Written by Roz Howarth –

Rose Jenkinson (née Oakes) sadly passed away in August 2023, following a two-year battle with bowel cancer. She is survived by her husband, Russ, and her two young daughters Iris and Amy.

I first met Rose in Chester at a Translators’ Powwow event organised by Michaela (Pschierer-Barnfather) at around the time of International Translation Day in 2008. The three of us were the only ones there, so we had a good chat and got to know each other.  I learned that Rose was a French and Spanish to English translator, and a Spanish<>English interpreter. I told Rose and Michaela about the NWTN, and they both joined soon after.

At the time, I was the NWTN Events Organiser. When I had to leave the NWTN committee in 2011, as I was having my first baby, Rose kindly stepped in to take my place.

Rose and I attended a soirée held by one of our regular clients in Paris, in June 2019. After being invited to the annual event several years running, we finally decided to bite the bullet and get on a plane! We had an amazing time, spoke lots of French, ate lots of fabulous food and drank a little too much champagne. We had such a great time in fact that we resolved to go back again the following year. Little did we know that due to the pandemic and subsequent events, that would be our one and only trip to Paris.

Over the years, Rose and I became good friends, and we would meet up regularly with Michaela, and at translation and interpreting events including the annual dinner, and the biannual ITI conference. When she couldn’t attend the Brighton ITI Conference in 2022, it felt very strange to me not having her there, and I felt quite lost without her.

I have so many good memories of meeting up with Rose, at walks, meals, afternoon teas and co-working events to name but a few. Our last event together was a lunch and tour organised by the NWTN in May 2023, at the RHS gardens in Manchester. It was a beautiful sunny day.

Rose was a lovely, kind, unassuming person and always willing to be flexible. She always put others first, a point that was raised at her funeral on 11^th September. Rose was a valued family member, friend and colleague to many. I realised the extent of this when I saw how many people had come to pay their respects at her funeral.

When I last saw Rose, at the beginning of the month in which she passed away, she kindly gave me some of her translation reference books and dictionaries, which I will treasure. She was kind and selfless to the end. I will really miss her.

Rose’s family would be very grateful of any donations to their chosen charities Penny Brohn UK and Bowel Cancer UK:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/russell-jenkinson-1693996250867

www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/donate

by Roz Howarth

The post Rose Jenkinson 1981-2023 appeared first on North West Translators' Network.

A generously sized group of intrepid translators gathered at the glamourous meeting point of the public conveniences on the front ready to set out on a circular walk around the headland. Everyone was in high spirits despite the looming black clouds. There’s never the wrong weather, only the wrong clothes, right?

The group set out just after 12 noon to the pitter patter of rain, which soon after the end of the promenade turned into a torrential downpour accompanied by a fair headwind. After a brief shelter under some trees and some longing looks back towards The Albion pub, we pressed on.

Our determination was rewarded and by the time we reached the Bob In café, where some people did bob in for a comfort break, the sun was shining and we had begun to dry out. Waterproofs were tentatively removed, could this sun last?

Mike had found a lovely picnic spot just through the woods with a great view across the estuary towards Grange-over-Sands. I eagerly unpacked my BLT and Mini Cheddars and a hush descended for a few minutes while we ate our lunches.

Just after we resumed, we were caught up by Jenny Taylor, who I’m told had a sixth sense of which forks to take in the woods! We soon emerged from the trees and followed the coast through a static caravan park. A final refreshment stop was definitely welcomed before the climb up to Arnside Knott. We pretty much cleared out the campsite freezer of Magnums and Calippos! Several more layers were removed here as the sun was firmly out and memories of the driving rain earlier on were fading.

The climb up to the Knott was steep in parts but nothing we couldn’t handle and was completely worth it for the views at the top, both of the estuary and also out towards Morecambe Bay. A great place also for those all-important group photos. What goes up must come down and soon we were back into Arnside. We rounded off the walk with a very blustery yet refreshing drink in the beer garden of the Fighting Cocks pub. The group started to disperse after this point but some were staying on for fish and chips by the sea, which I was very jealous of!

This was my first social event with the NWTN and I had an excellent time! Many thanks to Mike Hanson for leading the walk and to my fellow colleagues for providing entertainment and stimulating conversations along the way!

written by

Lucy Howard

Lucy is a German to English translator.

The post Summer Walk 2023 appeared first on North West Translators' Network.