The importance of cultural differences in plain language
From an interview given to Gary Smith Lawson in PLAIN's journal: How did you get introduced to plain language? I’m a translator (from Spanish and Catalan to English), and many…
Who’s afraid of the big bad AI?
Human translators don’t just translate the text—they improve it. With so much concern about AI-written texts today, it is worth remembering that a human translator does so much more than…
Translation alchemy: on polishing turds
I confess that I once had a profound revelation on reading a book by Paolo Coelho. Unfortunately, I don’t think the author intended it. A Brazilian friend lent me The…
The New Turing Test
You only need one question to trip up the traditional Turing test: “What is 17,352 × 23.78?” The machine will answer immediately and…
Professionals
In any particular line of work, it’s not necessary to state that you’re a professional, unless of course you’re not. It’s a bit like those people who begin…
Las máquinas traducen. Los humanos escriben.
Seis razones por las cuales las máquinas no podrán sustituir a los traductores humanos Uno Los humanos leen entre y detrás de las líneas. (¿Cuál es la pretensión del…
Gender: a social or grammatical issue?
In modern times, the use of gender in Spanish has become a controversial political and social football as society tries to include male and female genders (and other possibilities in…
Confessions of a Freelance Translator
This award-winning book deals gives practical advice for freelance translators on how to organise workflows and improve the quality of services we give to our monolingual clients, guiding them through…
Machines translate. Humans write.
Six reasons why machines can never replace human translators One Humans read between and behind the lines. (What is the author’s intent?) “What did you think of…
The importance of specialisation…and generalisation
Sometimes in my talks for translators I give the audience a simple test with a surprising result. I ask for a show of hands to see who knows…