Food for Translators

  • All change for Windows 8

    First there was XP (OK…there were others before XP but who remembers anything pre-XP?), then came Vista, then the return to XP – under the guise of a new coat of paint and a new name (Windows 7)… but now… …now comes something ground breaking, something genuinely NEW!

  • Six must-read books for translators

    Translators like to read: if they didn’t, they probably wouldn’t be translators. Reading for fun is all well and good, but sometimes it’s nice to read for professional development. But what to read? We’ve put together a list (in no particular order) of six must-read books to start you off.

  • Seven snacks that won’t mess up your keyboard!

    Although this isn’t a blog about food for translators (as the somewhat misleading title suggests), we thought it might be fun to write a post about food for translators. So, food/snacks that translators might like to eat whilst keying in a translation: chocolate obviously isn’t a good idea, and with crisps you run the risk […]

  • Ten tips for agencies trying to attract/impress new translators

    In the eyes of many freelance translators, agencies often get it wrong, and surprisingly, many of the best-known agencies survive (even thrive) whilst continuing to get it wrong – speak to any freelancer who’s been in the game for a while about their experiences and most will be able to tell you dozens of translation-agency […]

  • Why translators might like to go on Safari with Lion

    Coinciding with the release of their latest OS (Lion), Apple have made some huge improvements to Safari – too many to mention really… for a full list check out the ‘Safari‘ section of Apple’s ‘OS X Lion: 250+ New Features‘ page. But we’re not about to get bogged down by going through all of those […]

  • Ten Last-Minute Christmas Gifts for Translators (2011)

    Translators are some of the zaniest people around*, they are often very opinionated and usually regard themselves as intellectuals who are ‘above’ mere materialistic emotions. It follows then, that translators are particularly difficult people to buy presents for. However, fear not, as we’ve put together a list of things that would light up any translator’s […]

  • Boost your window-moving efficiency with ‘Three finger drag’

    If you’re not already addicted to ‘Three Finger Drag’ on the Mac, put aside any stick-in-the-mud ways you might have and give it a try. After a few minutes (worst-case-scenario a few hours) of ‘this feels a bit unnatural’ you may well find moving things around on the screen starts to feel altogether more fluid […]

  • How much time do you spend each year waiting for your computer to boot up?

    Freelance translators spend a lot of time waiting: waiting for assignments to come through; waiting for a few days to bill a client (to try and disguise how quickly they managed to earn x amount of [insert relevant currency here]); waiting for their full-time friends to finish work at five o’clock… and we’re all quite […]

  • Ten things to try when you’re completely and utterly stuck

    Assuming you’ve tried all the usual things – reading around, umpteen Wikipedia searches, as many dictionaries and thesauruses (online or offline) as you can find – you’ll no doubt begin to worry that you might be getting stuck. However, fear not (yet), because depending on the particular type of ‘stuck’ you’re about to do battle […]

  • Five lesser-known reasons why translators (who use a mac) should be using Lion

    There is an abundance of new features in Lion – Mission Control, Launch Pad, and Full Screen Apps to name but a few of the more prominent ones – and although the upgrade might not suit everyone – particularly those with software that isn’t compatible and those with computers that don’t meet the upgrade requirements […]