I was recently alerted to the excellent False Friends, Good and Bad Translations blog. I can't recommend it enough as a resource for German-English translators, especially anyone working in marketing or related fields. In general, each post describes a different word or words that are misleading or pose difficulties to the unwary translator. As I read through the archives, I variously found reaffirmation of some of the things I had been taught in-house, confirmation of my own conclusions/suspicions about certain terms and inspiration for how to approach certain other terms (some of which I have struggled to find satisfactory solutions to, others which I had not previously appreciated were so problematic). While the abrasive tone might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I found it one of the most helpful pieces of “CPD” I have had in quite some time. Aside from guidance about specific words, the blog explores the process and aims of translation in a general sense, and has made me reflect a lot on how I approach some day-to-day translation problems.
There has been some discussion recently in professional circles about the need for CPD that focuses on specific language and translation skills, rather than more general business skills (as important a role as that may also play). I was fortunate that I began my career in a translation agency where I received a lot of feedback and training, and was able to regularly bounce ideas off other people. What is more challenging is replicating this in the context of freelance work; even regular contact with other professionals does not automatically allow you to get into all the nitty gritty of translation problems. Likewise, beyond a certain point it becomes challenging to further improve your mastery of a language; it is harder to find explicit guidance on highly specific difficulties or uncertainties that crop up in a fairly piecemeal way. So these sorts of contributions are very helpful.
There has been some discussion recently in professional circles about the need for CPD that focuses on specific language and translation skills, rather than more general business skills (as important a role as that may also play). I was fortunate that I began my career in a translation agency where I received a lot of feedback and training, and was able to regularly bounce ideas off other people. What is more challenging is replicating this in the context of freelance work; even regular contact with other professionals does not automatically allow you to get into all the nitty gritty of translation problems. Likewise, beyond a certain point it becomes challenging to further improve your mastery of a language; it is harder to find explicit guidance on highly specific difficulties or uncertainties that crop up in a fairly piecemeal way. So these sorts of contributions are very helpful.
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