Translation Confessional

I was really looking forward to the upcoming episodes of Translation Confessional because I have a few conversations that I'm eager to share with you. Today we'll have Part 1 of a 2-part interview with Damián Santilli, audiovisual translator and translation instructor from Argentina. We sat down to talk about his thesis on the dubbed version of the movie "Deadpool" and also ended up talking about...

Let me tell you all about a 10-week online class that covers a wide range of activities that translators have to take care of every day―because being a translator isn't only about translating. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/oQUFzafvrdQ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* THROWBACK TO OTHER EPISODES: 10-Week Cl...

Did you have a chance to listen to Season 2, Episode 33? It was called “The Language of Emoji,” and I got to interview Holly Silvestri, an experienced translator, interpreter, and founding member of the American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education. Holly talked about her research paper on the subject, which was titled “Recommendations Concerning Digital Communication Using Emo...

Here's a quick message to recommend yet another translation podcast to you. It's called “ Translucides ,” it's hosted by Orane Desnos and it’s actually in French and, although I don’t speak the language well enough, I listened to the presentation episode with the transcript and could understand the gist of it, thanks to my working languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. When I talk to my Tool...

Today I’ll be doing something a bit different and reading someone else’s content, because there’s no need to reinvent the wheel and talk about a subject when someone else has already written an information-packed article about it. The topic I wanted to bring up for discussion is Machine Translation. So I read an article on the topic, which was written by Nicholas Rubright, with Transifex. I asked...

Today I’ll be doing something a bit different and reading someone else’s content, because there’s no need to reinvent the wheel and talk about a subject when someone else has already written an information-packed article about it. The topic I wanted to bring up for discussion is Translation Management Systems. I read an article by George Kasiouras, with Transifex, and asked for his permission to r...

Here's a quick message to let you know about this translation podcast I've been listening to lately. It's called "Meet the Translator" and it was created by Dot Roberts, a translator and subtitler from German and Dutch into English​.​ I like listening to Dot's podcast because it's like many podcasts in one, since she talks to a variety of language professionals coming from different backgrounds an...

I’m not sure if you’ve ever been impacted by this in your freelancing career, but we’ve seen a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the translation world lately. Several small agencies I worked with 10, 15 years ago were bought out by larger companies―some of them ended up becoming huge conglomerates in the language industry. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* WATCH THIS EPISODE...

Today I’d like to talk about the interaction between translators and translation agencies. Let’s cover the good, the bad, and the ugly here. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/pT-omFxu9UE *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* THROWBACK TO OTHER EPISODES:  Losing a Client and Trying to Diversify https://youtu.be...

Here’s a quick message to let you know about this translation podcast I’ve been listening to lately. It’s called “Yo, traductora” and it was created by Alejandra Tolj, an audiovisual translator from Argentina. “Yo, traductora” started out in October 2021 and her episodes have been short and sweet―or, should I say, short and acid sometimes. She talks about the different aspects of being a freelance...

In this episode, I wanted to address the fact that, as freelancers, we must balance our work and customer service to keep our business sustainable. And, in order to achieve sustainability, we must keep in mind that being good at what we do―working with languages―isn’t enough to be a freelancer in the long term. We must find clients and learn how to keep them. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-...

Hi, everybody! This is a quick note about something I’ve been cooking up on YouTube. I've partnered with some companies that offer a variety of solutions to make our lives easier as freelancers working from home―or from anywhere, really. I've selected a few items that help freelancers work more efficiently, get a boost of energy, and remain healthy. I can't wait to share all this with everybody, s...

Hi, everybody! This is just a quick note about something new I’m doing this year, which I hope you enjoy. Every time I posted little teaser videos in transcript format for Translation Confessional on social media, people would ask me how they could consume the podcast in written form. Well, these little teaser videos are only generated on Anchor FM for short audio clips, not for an entire podcast...

And we’re back! I hope you had a great holiday season and wish you a very prosperous 2022! So, Translation Confessional Season 3 officially starts today and, because it’s a new year, I like talking about things that can help us focus on keeping our business sustainable, staying healthy, and getting ready for the year ahead. Today, I wanted to dig a little deeper and maybe even get a little philoso...

Yesterday, I had booked myself to work for two hours on a class I'm developing. I wanted to have a nice script and write down all the ideas I needed to address, so learners could access that information and acquire that knowledge. But I just wasn't feeling it. I was really dreading it, I didn't want to do it, I wasn't in a creative state of mind for that at all. So, I just moved that item from my...

I can't believe I already have a tentative schedule this full for the 3rd season of Translation Confessional starting January 6, 2022! I’ve got 36 out of 45 ideas already! This is totally subject to change, of course, according to guest availability or any last-minute happenings in the translation and interpretation world that may take precedence when compared to all these other subjects I'd like...

Translation Confessional Season 2 has already wrapped up, but there are 90 episodes total for you to catch up on now before Season 3 premieres on January 6, 2022! Actually, I created some Spotify playlists to make it easier for you to browse through episodes according to your subjects of interest in particular: CAT tools & Technology Theory Book Translations Audiovisual Translations Clients Bu...

Hi everybody! This is a quick note about the Translation Confessional newsletter. Every month, I send out a summary of what happened on the podcast and ask for feedback from listeners, so I can address different topics of interest in upcoming episodes. If you'd like to receive a copy of the newsletter by email, you can go to RafaLombardino.com and leave your name and email address on the form you...

We’re back with a new Translation Confessional Music Edition. Today I’m highlighting yet another song in Italian, and this one is called “Cosa della vita,” by Eros Ramazzotti. This song is from 1993, it was featured in a Brazilian soap opera, and it was the first time I realized Italian music could actually have a heavier sound. Before that, I had only heard those traditional songs that sound fest...

Today I’d like to wrap up Season 2 of Translation Confessional by looking back on what we discussed in 2021 and what I’ve learned about our listeners throughout the year. It sure went by very quickly and it was once again so great to interact with listeners and peers from different parts of the world and share perspectives about what we have in common: putting our language knowledge to good use. V...

Today I wanted to talk about my experiences teaching Introduction to Subtitling as part of the Professional Certificate in Translation offered by the University of California San Diego Extension. After teaching this class for the past 18 months, I can now comfortably paint a good picture of what it’s been like assisting students who already are experienced translators and interpreters as they pivo...

Hi everybody! Do you use Telegram? Join the Translation Confessional channel ! That way, you’ll be the first one to know when a new episode is out, besides getting exclusive material and contributing with your valuable feedback. I look forward to seeing you there! *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* By the way, if you're interested in checking out "Tools and Technology in Transla...

In Season 1, Episode 18, I talked about some terms in English that were borrowed by Brazilian Portuguese and took a whole new meaning. In "Misaligned Languages - Part 2," I'll share some of the feedback I got from listeners and other terms that changed once they were adopted by speakers of another language. Misaligned Languages - Part 1 Listen to the podcast: https://bit.ly/3Gq1DRb Watch the video...

Last week, I talked about some words I don’t quite like in my languages because I associate them with other things that have nothing to do with their meaning, or maybe because of how they sound, how they look, or how they don’t quite fit grammatically, at least in my mind. Today I wanted to flip the coin and talk about the other side, the words I actually do like and, spoiler alert: I don’t have a...

When you work with two or more languages, you can’t help but make connections between them. Most of the time, these connections are great because they will help you bring a message from one language into another in a more natural way. Other times, it may turn you off to some words you may look at negatively because you’re being influenced by your other languages. Or maybe you grow fond of a word o...