– 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.

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.

Named after the Bridgewater Canal, which runs past the garden and links the village of Worsley to the city of Manchester, RHS Garden Bridgewater, we learnt on the tour, is the only garden that the RHS have had the opportunity to create completely from scratch. Whereas previous RHS gardens were from the Victorian, Georgian or Edwardian periods, the Bridgewater site, situated within the footprint of the demolished Worsley New Hall, was completely disused by the time the RHS acquired it in 2017. This meant that Tom Stuart-Smith, the landscape architect commissioned with the design task, was not constrained by historic expectations, but instead had the freedom to create a new garden fit for the 21st century.

Meeting in the larch-clad contemporary Welcome Building upon arrival, we had a chance to network with colleagues over lunch, or in my case, over the first of several cakes! Before the tour began, I caught up with some familiar faces, as well as making new connections with translators that I had not met before. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences, whether discussing translation, gardening, or sustainability.

The café sources much of its produce from the walled garden, which we were about to visit, and it was thought-provoking to see sustainable design everywhere we looked. The Welcome Building uses its giant roof for rainwater harvesting, which provides water for flushing the loos, whilst heating and cooling is provided by a ground-source heat pump. Even the car park has a sustainable drainage system for managing storm water.

We were split into two groups for the guided tour of the Weston Walled Garden. Making our way out of the building and down The Long Walk, our group lingered next to an impressive border which was bursting with colour. Our guide explained that rather than planting traditional bedding plants that need replacing each season, the 21^st century idea is to plant varieties which in the past would have been called weeds. They are perennials and don’t need much maintenance, but still provide spectacular colour and save the gardeners a tremendous amount of time.

Inevitably there was an international theme to the commentary on our tour. The clipped topiary yew domes on the lawn were imported from Belgium, as UK growers don’t grow them for long enough, whereas in Europe they will grow them for generations before selling them, which led to a comparison of different growing methods between the UK and France. Later, in the new Orchard Gardens the diverse array of fruit trees, including 37 cultivars of apples, led to further discussion about which varieties were popular in different regions and countries.

We entered the 11-acre walled garden, passing the Hot Borders, so called because of their deep orange and red colours, into the Kitchen Garden, which occupies half of the Weston Walled Garden. The layout for this area of the garden was inspired by the local network of underground waterways built during the Industrial Revolution. We then made our way into the second half of the walled garden, called the Paradise Garden, which has a microclimate enabling plants to flourish from all around the world. The tall, Mediterranean iris cultivars stole the show at the time of our visit, with their rich, velvety deep purple colour, whereas at other times of year the Asiatic species, or species from the Americas would be the ones that impress.

Eventually we reached the Orchard Gardens at the other end of the Walled Garden, which feature turf pathways through a long grass meadow with picnic tables dotted around, creating relaxed, informal seating for visitors. The picnic tables were well utilised on this beautiful blue-sky Sunday afternoon. As children enjoyed a game of hide and seek amongst the grasses, we returned via a different route, passing the Community Wellbeing Garden, where local residents can come to access the therapeutic benefits of gardening. The whole site is very accessible, and we passed several visitors on mobility scooters on the generously wide paths.

As the tour came to an end and most said their goodbyes, a few of us continued over to the other side of the site to see the Chinese Streamside Garden. As the name suggests, the meandering path is set alongside a stream, with small bridges crossing the water, leading up to a lake. We returned for a rest and refreshment in the cool Welcome Building café and, after saying our goodbyes, I had a quick browse in the garden centre and shop before making my way home.

Overall, the day had provided a relaxed and informal setting in which to get to know fellow NWTN members and was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the first of the warm summer weather. RHS Garden Bridgewater has plenty more to offer than we managed to see in just one day, and my impression was that most of us were already starting to plan our next visit.

On behalf of all the attendees, I must thank Kate Lo, the NWTN’s Events Team Leader, for her meticulous organisation of this event, which, I am sure everyone would agree, was a great success.

written by

Nina Hasinski

Nina is a German to English translator.

The post NTWN Tour of RHS Garden Bridgewater 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 the Greater Bordeaux Area

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

I’m a translator. English>French is my pair.

What are your specialist fields?

Environment (marine and water-related fields), Life Sciences, Nautical and Education.

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

Nothing of the sort yet, I’m too new in the business.

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

To have been able to change career path and passing my translation degree after 50!

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

I love manipulating languages and helping people with my skills to bridge cultures.

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

Probably Islay and Jura on equal footing with India (Karnataka).

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

I intend to live on my new freelance activity, mostly with direct clients but also through some agency clients.

Tell us something not many people know about you:

I’m good at rowing! My grand-father taught me on the Adour river that conveniently flowed past the bottom of our garden.

The post Member Monday presents: Sandrine Grenier appeared first on North West Translators' Network.