Once you’ve started a blog, how do you keep it going? What can get in the way of posting regularly? The majority of the survey respondents (59%) admitted they didn’t update their translation and/or interpreting blogs at least once every six weeks. In this fourth and final part of the results, we’ll gain some insights into why some bloggers find it hard to publish posts frequently.
The most obvious and most frequent explanation for not writing more often was time constraints.
In Part 2 of these results we looked at the many reasons why people do and don’t blog. Unless you’re running a blog to improve your writing skills and keep a record of your ideas, you need readers. And to attract readers, you have to write about topics that interest them. Nearly 85% of the survey respondents read translation and interpreting blogs. Let’s find out why they read them and what puts the other 15% off.
As expected, the top response in favour of reading blogs was professional interest:
After being made redundant in the summer of 2016 from a non-language-based role with the Home Office, I decided that I finally wanted to return to using my languages regularly, rather than merely on holiday or for the occasional rendition. Translation, in particular, had always held an attraction and not just involving Modern Languages, as my Latin A level testifies. Translation had seemed a dream job and more realistic than my other illusion of becoming a professional snooker player.
Having been based in Sheffield since 2002, I was fortunate that there were still vacancies on the popular MA in Translation Studies (worth 180 credits) in the University’s School of Languages and Cultures and I was duly accepted. I was also confident that my languages were still pretty good and my 2.1 from Bradford undoubtedly helped.
Cette version française de mon article de blog 22 more reasons why an agency might stop working with you a été traduite par Clothilde Radisson dans le cadre de sa formation de Master TSM (Traduction Spécialisée Multilingue) à l’université de Lille. Cette traduction était publiée à l’origine sur le blog MasterTSM@Lille.
En octobre 2014, j’avais publié sur mon ancien blog un billet concernant les raisons pour lesquelles une agence pourrait décider de mettre fin à sa collaboration avec vous. Le billet original ainsi que sa version republiée sur ce blog WordPress « My Words for a Change » ayant suscité beaucoup d’intérêt et de commentaires, j’ai décidé d’énumérer ci-dessous quelques raisons supplémentaires pour lesquelles une agence pourrait tout à coup cesser de vous contacter par e-mail ou par téléphone. Ces raisons sont fondées sur votre feedback et sur quelques-unes de mes propres observations.
Back in 2013, when I first started My Words for a Change on Blogger (before moving to WordPress in 2015), the pressure on freelance translators and interpreters to blog was quite intense. We were constantly being told that blogging was a must for marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes and to attract clients (as we learned in Part 1 of these results). I felt positively guilty for months because I had nothing to say (hard to believe now, I know, because once I started, I couldn’t stop) and felt that launching myself into the blogosphere was quite scary.
Judging by the responses to the translation & interpreting blog survey, I’m not alone in feeling compelled to blog:
The Careers in Translation and Interpreting Conference in May 2013 at Aston University in Birmingham organised by Routes into Languages inspired me to apply for the MA Translation Theory & Practice at UCL as part of a career change. The application process was straightforward: BA (Hon) results of at least 2:1, IELTS (Academic) result of at least 7.6 and a written personal statement.
Back in early January 2018, I decided to create the translation and interpreting blog survey because I wanted to find out whether blogging was a worthwhile activity for colleagues and myself. I’d noticed that many blogs listed in my blogroll had disappeared completely (so I had to remove them) and others hadn’t been updated with new posts for months and in some cases years.
It had also been suggested that Facebook, with its immediate exchanges and discussions taking place in a large number of groups ranging from general (Watercooler, The League of Extraordinary Translators, Things Translators Never Say) to specific (Tourism Translators, Translators who use Speech Recognition, memoQ Users), was the new preferred hangout for translators and interpreters.
Cette version française de mon article de blog The Thorny Subject of Revisions a été traduite par Théo Dujardin dans le cadre de sa formation de Master TSM (Traduction Spécialisée Multilingue) à l’université de Lille. Cette traduction était publiée à l’origine sur le blog MasterTSM@Lille.
Personne n’aime récupérer une de ses traductions truffée de modifications et de commentaires, car cela indique surtout que le client n’est pas satisfait du travail fourni. Une erreur est une erreur ; il faut l’admettre et la corriger. C’est en apprenant de ses fautes que l’on s’améliore et que l’on apprend à ne plus retomber dans les mêmes pièges. Il faut aussi croiser les doigts que les conséquences ne soient pas trop graves et que la relation avec le client ne s’en trouve pas compromise.
Last week, after trying to attend one for ages, I finally managed to go to my first ever translation slam. If you don’t know what that is, you’re not alone. Although they’ve been happening for several years, they seem to have focused firstly on literary texts (which not many of us actually translate for a living) and/or been held at conferences that target a particular language pair (French and English in the “Translate in…” series) or that sell out quickly (MET, ITI).
However, Bath and Bristol universities are now holding regular translation slams in conjunction with the ITI WRG (Western Regional Group). And I hope that more ITI groups and other associations and universities will get on board as slams are a great way to delve into the minds of our colleagues, explore translation choices and improve our own craft.
Cette version française de mon article de blog Warning about Google Translate a été traduite par Emma Le Barazer dans le cadre de sa formation de Master TSM (Traduction Spécialisée Multilingue) à l’université de Lille. Cette traduction était publiée à l’origine sur le blog MasterTSM@Lille.
Je me retrouve souvent à réviser des textes rédigés en anglais par des locuteurs non natifs (le plus souvent par des Espagnols, car j’arrive à déchiffrer ce qu’ils essayaient de dire). La plupart du temps, j’apprécie cette activité car les sujets sont intéressants, la qualité de la langue n’est en général pas trop mauvaise, et cette tâche ne m’oblige pas trop à taper au clavier (et mes bras se reposent un peu, alors que je souffre depuis peu de troubles musculosquelettiques).
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