Guest Posts

Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Review of The Freelance Box

Freelance Box 2The Freelance what? For the uninitiated, The Freelance Box, or TFB, is a series of half-day, in-person business and marketing courses offered by Valeria Aliperta of Rainy London Translations and Marta Stelmaszak of Want Words.

Although TFB is based in London, it has travelled as far afield as Madrid and Bratislava. The beauty of these events is that they come to you.

Well, in theory they do. Being a rather determined, dedicated and ‘nothing is getting in my way’ kind of girl, I didn’t think anything of hopping on the Glasgow to London train for TFB launch event.

After stumbling around the City trying to get my bearings, I eventually found the venue. Twitter 1 – 0 Google Maps.

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

La última tendencia en la industria de la traducción: PEMT

PEMT2¿Han escuchado hablar sobre la última tendencia en la industria de la traducción? Se la conoce como PEMT, significa traducción automática con revisión posterior (post-editing machine translation, PEMT*). Hace referencia a cuando los clientes usan un programa para traducir un texto antes de enviárselo a un traductor para que este haga la revisión final. Algunos clientes usan herramientas de traducción automática (TA) más sofisticadas que las que se ofrecen en línea. Sin embargo, según mi experiencia, el Traductor de Google es la herramienta de traducción más popular y, por ese motivo, la que los clientes usan con más frecuencia para obtener una traducción por el precio de una revisión, en general, alrededor de un 50 % menos del costo.

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

The A to Z of Freelance Translation

A review of Nicole Y. Adam’s course The A to Z of Freelance Translation by Sylvia Lass

A to Z of Freelance Translation

Please note that Nicole Y. Adams no longer offers this course.

As the title suggests, the online course The A to Z of Freelance Translation by Nicole Y. Adams is mainly aimed at freelance translators in their first year of self-employment, or translators who are planning to become self-employed in the near future.

There are 15 lessons in total, dealing with various topics related to launching a freelance career. After registering, participants get lifetime access to the entire course contents and can work through them in any order they like and at their own pace. The course setup is very flexible, so you can interrupt at any time or jump back and forth between the different lessons. Even after completing the course, you continue to have access to all the materials (including any updates or newly added content).

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Google Translate ¿Un Nuevo Competidor?

Google Translate - RaquelParece una nueva moda. Si fuera una situación que sucede únicamente en España, diría que se trata de casos de “picaresca española”. Cada vez que un cliente me “cuela” un texto para revisar que ha sido traducido por Google Translate (u otro traductor automático) me imagino su cara de satisfacción pensando que me ha metido un gol y que se ha ahorrado un 50% de la tarifa con un simple click del ratón.

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

The Business School for Translators: five weeks of straightforward, practical business tips

A review of Marta Stelmaszak’s Business School for Translators by Helen Oclee-Brown

Business SchoolPlease note that Marta Stelmaszak is no longer providing this course.

My freelance business had been ticking over nicely for a few years, but the spark had gone towards the end of last year. I wasn’t really making any progress and I didn’t know how to get myself out of a rut. That’s when Marta’s Business School came along!

I must admit that I wasn’t 100% convinced from the off. I wasn’t sure it was the right course for me and it all looked so swish: would it be style over substance? But the detailed course description was impressive and described my situation down to a T. So, after reading some of the glowing testimonials from a few unexpected sources, I took the plunge.

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Nikki Graham - Tranix Translation & Proof-Editing Services

Beyond the Basics

A review of Corinne McKay’s Beyond the Basics of Freelancing course by Elizabeth Garrison

Beyond the BasicsLast May, I found myself in a position that many freelance translators will be familiar with: things were ticking over nicely with my freelance business, I was getting work from a handful of clients with whom I had long-standing relationships and I was generally satisfied with the way things were going. Then, after months of non-stop, back-to-back jobs, things suddenly went a bit quiet, forcing me to take a step back and reflect on the state of my business, which led to the realisation that I was actually stuck in a bit of a rut. I had reached a point where I was confident enough to stand firm with my rates, as well as being confident with the quality of my work and experience I had acquired, but was nevertheless failing to really move forward. At the same time, I was also feeling inspired after having attended workshops run by Judy Jenner and Chris Durban in the preceding nine months where they flew the flag for getting yourself out there and asserting yourself as a businessperson, although I also felt I was lacking the tools to put this confidence into practice and get myself out of the rut.

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