martes, 17 de marzo de 2009

Useful Links

A few interesting links for English-Spanish translators.

I usually turn to these, primarily, when I need to clear some doubt or find information. Of course, I don't mention 'Saint Google', because it is obvious, isn't it?

- Buscón. Diccionario panhispánico de dudas. Spanish grammar doubts.
- Buscón. Diccionario Real Academia Española. Spanish dictionary.
- Wordreference. Online dictionary for several languages. Forums.
- The Free Dictionary. More than just a dictionary.
- Galician dictionary. Real Academia Galega.
- Ir Indo. Galician-English-Spanish-German dictionary.


I will be posting more, and I'll be including them in a list with useful online resources.

Do you usually turn to online resources (other than 'Saint Google', that is) to find information?

Some other day I will be posting about tricks or acquired habits in online research.
How do you usually get the information you need?

lunes, 16 de marzo de 2009

Thoughts on Translation, by Corinne McKay



One of the first blogs on translation I found is THOUGHTS ON TRANSLATION by translator Corinne McKay.

Corinne McKay translates English<>French. She is American and has been in the world of freelance translation for several years now. Her blog contains advice as well as thoughts on the world of translation and, more specifically, on the process of becoming a freelance. She has written a book on that process, How to succeed as a freelance translator, and offers an online course from her website, Translatewrite.com .

Apart from her blog, she broadcasts a podcast, Speaking on Translation along with Eve Bodeux, also related to the world of translation and translators. All this in English, obviously.

Corinne's blog is one of the first I started to follow on a regular basis, and there is always some surprising post on aspects of freelance translation world which is worth having into account.

Where shall I begin?

there is a whole lot of doubt who turn up when taking up something important. So many, that one doesn't know where to begin.

A quick search in the internet is, as usual, scary, since there is such a profusio of results: thousands of links which match your searching criteria.

After redefining my search once and again and again, after hopping from blog to blog, from website to website, I have a list of the most recurrent. They are blogs, sites, magazines, etc., in which I have found interesting information which helps me with an outline of goals, procedures, schedules, and such.

Apart from mentioning them in different posts, I will be adding them to a list of interesting blogs, which may come in handy.

Ready, Steady,... Go!

From some time now (too long, I have always been slow to react) I have been thinking of going freelance.

I have worked as an in-house translator and, being the situation as it is, I think a change in mentality is due.

So the decision is made, and one of the first steps is this blog. I will build up a kind of register of the steps I'l be following (have been following), the information I find, etc. First of all, to avoid having a mess, and, secondly, because it could be of use for someone else.

So I will be adding a little of everything: experiences, material, references to other links/blogs, etc... let's hope that frequenly enough.