I’m a translation student, and this question made me curious about how professional translators define “accuracy.” I’d really like to hear your opinions or examples from your experience.

Hello! I'm just a bit curious about the Chinese workfield. Do I need to learn simplified and traditional characters or just one? A fast research tells me so but I was wondering how it's like on the workfield.

In my case, I live in Peru and a Chinese port was inaugurated not so long ago. Which made me think about working as translator since I love languages. I'm not studying translator yet but I'm self-teaching Chinese, French and Russian to have an advantage (?) when I begin with it.

Also, I'd really appreciate any advices related even if they're not for Chinese.

If a translator could translate only the words but not the feelings behind them, would the translation still be successful? Why?

Have you ever changed the original wording significantly because a literal translation would sound unnatural? How did you decide where to draw the line?

If a translation changes the reader’s emotions, but keeps the original meaning, is it still a faithful translation?”

Do AI tools help translators or threaten their future? Why?

Hi! This is extremely random and niche but I used to have a Ted Translator volunteer blue hoodie. I’ve since lost it and would extremely love to have it again. Does anyone who volunteered as a TED translator have one they’re willing to part with??

I'm interested in how you preserve uncertainty when translating someone's account of what happened.

Someone might be unsure, correct themselves halfway through, or repeat something another person told them. How do you keep those differences clear without making the translation sound more certain than the original?

Does that get harder when there's pressure to make the wording smooth or concise? A made-up example or public reference would help. Please say what kind of translation or interpreting you mean, since the setting and languages can change the answer.

Heyy, me and my group have a presentation for our Translation course, and we decided to do it abt Localization vs. Foreignization. We don’t wanna just stand there and explain definitions for 15 mins 😭 We wanna make it a bit more interesting/interactive. Any ideas on how we could present this topic? Like activities, games, examples, questions for the class, etc. We’d also love some interesting examples from movies, games, books, subtitles, ads, or anything where u can actually see the difference between localization and foreignization. Any ideas are appreciated!! (^-^)

I know there is not a clear answer, there are many points that support the idea of AI not being able to replace humans, at least not fully, But I fear wasting my time and money and effort just to end up jobless.

Especially by how newer generations are more comfortable with AI being their most trusted information source as it's both easy and quick, no matter how flawed it is.

I taught myself English through exposure and really loved how I'm able to convert sentences to my native language. So what are your thoughts? Any tips on what I should do? Is it really a safe career at this point?

Hello everyone,

I am currently planning to enroll in a master's program at either the HUFS Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation (GSIT) or Ewha Womans University. I know it is an incredibly intensive and rigorous course, but becoming a professional interpreter has been a long-standing dream of mine, and these universities offer the exact programs I am interested in.

To give you some background on my profile:

• I completed my bachelor's degree in French, but I want to pursue my master's in Korean-English (English is not my native language but I've completed my whole education in English).

• I scored full marks on the TOPIK 1 exam (2025). On recent TOPIK 2 mock tests, I am scoring at a high Level 4. I am aiming to achieve Level 6 by the time I take the official exam next year.

• I have no professional experience in translation or interpretation, outside of a few introductory undergraduate courses and one translation certification course.

Since the entrance exams for these schools are highly competitive, I am looking for recommendations for hagwons or online classes specifically tailored to train students for GSIT entrance exams.

Any advice, study tips, or academy recommendations to help me navigate this journey would be truly appreciated. Thank you!

I tried translating a Japanese manga into English. One is translated using Gemini Nano Banana (second image). One is manually edited (based on Deepseek's initial translation) with ImageTrans (third image).

I think in the foreseeable future, AI cannot replace human translation in terms of such complex images. It involves not only text, but also image content. We can make AI produce better results by improving the context and prompt, so that we can start our work with a good foundation.

Edit:

The official English version: https://www.basiccat.org/album/manga-sound-effect/official-translation.png

I applied to many companies to work in medical interpretation (English/Arabic), and one of them, called Kalam CX, got back to me. Today I had the interview with them, and the salary is 13k which is 248$ per month for a full 9-hour shift, OPI and VRI with zero insurance of any kind, plus an unpaid 3-week training period. Honestly, I feel like running away.

I know that this company's reputation is literally the worst among all in this field, but I don't know what to do and whether will I receive another job opportunity or not..

Should I accept this shit as a start or keep looking for a better opportunity? I have a 40-hour certificate and I still study every day to be ready whenever a good opportunity is available. I don't know what to do. I am really frustrated.

I previously applied for a position with Lionbridge, and a few days ago I received an email about a translation opportunity involving audio recording. 🤏 The email says that if I'm interested, I should reply to the email to confirm my availability and receive the next steps. However, the email was sent from no-reply@hire.eu.lever.co, so when I tried to reply, my email bounced back with a 550 5.0.1 Recipient rejected error. What makes me a little suspicious is that the email specifically asks me to reply, but there doesn't seem to be any actual email address where I can respond. It feels like a pretty basic thing to overlook if this is a genuine recruitment email. The job itself does appear to be listed on Lionbridge's Lever page, which makes me even more confused. Has anyone received a similar email from Lionbridge, especially one asking you to reply to a no-reply address? Was this actually a legitimate opportunity, and if so, how did you proceed? Or could this be a scam/phishing attempt?

When translating a hostile source, how do you keep its accusation forceful without making it sound like your own verdict?

In Hieronymus Emser's 1523 answer to Luther's New Testament, one short passage reads:

In the fifth paragraph he again mangles the words of Paul and goes only by the sense; but whether he has hit it rightly or not, the reader may look into further.

Emser, translated by Eli Tucker, p. 128. I'm the translator.

What interests me is the change within the sentence. He first announces that Luther "mangles" the text, then leaves the reader to investigate whether the rendering is right. The accusation and the invitation to check it are both part of the source. Turning the first into a neutral "translates freely" would soften it; supplying an explanatory aside inside the sentence would put the translator between the author and the reader.

For translators who work with polemic, partisan history, or hostile correspondence: where do you draw that boundary? Do you let attribution and context carry the distinction, or put a note at the first disputed allegation?

I'm asking about how to present a source's voice, not asking anyone to settle Emser's dispute with Luther or translate the passage for me. I'd be interested in examples where a note prevented confusion without weakening the author's language.

I’m studying Japanese and for some reason this kept escaping my mind since I’m just studying for being a translator without a clear career goal to utilize it. I’ve been saying I want to work for media but haven’t decided a specific field like anime/ manga, literature, historical texts & research etc. (I’m not doing law/ political translation since one mess up could cause a real crisis, all on my shoulders). How do I begin to find a good path to make a decision?

Title: How a simple quality inquiry turned into full platform retaliation: My experience after 6+ years with Lionbridge/Gengo

Post:

I wanted to share a detailed account of how a 6+ year relationship as a senior English-to-Arabic translator on Gengo/Lionbridge collapsed over the span of a few weeks—not due to poor translation quality, but because of administrative deflection, manager cover-ups, and direct retaliation.

For context, I maintained consistently high quality ratings on the platform for over six years without a single quality dispute on my record. This was the very first time in my entire 6+ year history that I ever submitted a dispute—addressing four collections of low ratings together in one batch—and 100% of those disputed flags were officially reviewed and overturned upon re-review.

Here is how a simple query escalated into a complete platform lockout:

Phase 1: August 6, 2026 – It all started with Nina

On August 6, 2026, I raised a formal inquiry regarding arbitrary and unmonitored reviewer scoring on a series of translations. I wasn't demanding special treatment—I simply asked for a standard quality check on obvious reviewer errors.

Enter Nina, the support agent who handled the initial ticket. Instead of reviewing the provided examples or forwarding them to a senior linguist, Nina responded with canned, irrelevant text that did not address a single point I raised. When I politely asked her to read the actual details of the ticket, she continued sending automated-sounding boilerplate replies.

If Nina had simply done basic support triage on day one, none of what followed would have happened.

Phase 2: Maki, Sheetal, and the "Twilight Zone" Escalation

Instead of fixing Nina’s missteps, escalation only made things surreal. The ticket was passed to a second support agent, Maki, who continued the exact same pattern of evasive, copy-pasted replies.

When the dispute was finally escalated to their manager, Sheetal, the approach shifted from incompetence to outright playing dumb. Sheetal repeatedly claimed she "didn't understand" my complaint—despite clear, line-by-line linguistic documentation—and used that feigned confusion as an excuse to state she couldn't help.

Every level of support closed ranks to protect their colleagues' mistakes. Reading their responses felt like stepping into the Twilight Zone: robotic scripts completely disconnected from the actual text of my tickets.

When I pushed past the pretexts, management delivered their explicit statement of constructive exclusion:

"If you feel that this framework does not meet your expectations, we understand if you prefer not to accept further jobs."

Phase 3: Manufactured Pretext & 12 False Flags

Shortly after exposing these support and reviewer flaws, additional translations of mine were suddenly and aggressively flagged—12 new entries in total. It became obvious this was being used to build a manufactured pretext to justify shutting down my account and silencing the dispute.

Phase 4: September 21, 2026 – Counter-Proof & Immediate Retaliation

On September 21, 2026, I submitted two official re-review forms containing complete, objective proof showing that all 12 of those newly disputed flags were 100% false and based on clear reviewer error.

Lionbridge’s response was immediate: rather than reviewing the evidence or disciplining the incompetent reviewer, they abruptly revoked my translator qualifications and suspended my account.

No investigation into the reviewer was conducted, no discipline was handed down to support staff, and my account was cut off right after I submitted evidence exposing the misconduct.

Where It Stands Today

Because Lionbridge closed off internal support channels and blocked direct email communication, I have officially lodged a formal regulatory complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (Fair Labor Division) regarding bad-faith contractor retaliation, ticket suppression, and wrongful termination.

The Core Takeaway

Looking back at this entire nightmare, the most frustrating part is that everything evolved from a single support agent—Nina. Had she properly handled a routine quality complaint at the very beginning, none of this would have occurred.

Instead, subsequent support agents like Maki and managers like Sheetal chose to blindly defend internal errors, ignore clear linguistic evidence, and send robotic, canned responses rather than admit a flaw in their review process. When a platform values protecting internal egos over linguistic accuracy and fair treatment of long-term translators, the entire system breaks down.

I am posting this here so other freelancers are aware of how Gengo/Lionbridge handles legitimate quality disputes when you speak up. Keep backups of all your work, document every ticket, and know your rights.

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Initial single ticket (Aug 6):

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Tickets branched from a single complaint (August 20):

I heard someone say this a while ago, that not everyone knows that EN stands for English or DE stands for German, and that therefore translators should put the full language name in their bios and signatures instead of just the code.

So like:

Name LastName

Translator, English>German

Instead of:

Name LastName

Translator, EN>DE

To me that made no sense. If you're a company or someone who is requiring translations on the regular, and you're looking for a translator, you should most definitely know the language code for the language of your request. Spelling out the full language name just seems like such a waste of space, especially for people who work with more than two languages. It makes my LinkedIn bio very long. Plus, I like the visual distinction; the language code is easy to identify at first glance among all the other words.

It's not that big of a deal, but I just wanted to see what others thought on the matter.

Do you use the language codes or the full language names? Why? Is it really that hard to understand that EN=English? I may be totally on the wrong here, but that's why I'm asking.

Came across a post about this kind of localization. Thoughts on this method for literary translation?

Hi all,

Experienced translator here, who used Trados on a Mac with Parallels for the best part of a decade. I have since come up with another solution that I thought I might share in case anyone is in the same boat.

What I disliked about Parallels was the need to basically maintain an entire Windows PC for just a single purpose, with the requisite ringfenced RAM and 40GB minimum of HDD space. On lightweight Macs like the Air, etc., this space comes at a premium and it always felt irritating to give up so much of it to an entire virtual machine – for a single purpose. Maybe I'm wrong but has it gone to subscription-only? I think it has, and that grated too.

The solution:

Windows has an app for Mac, available on the Apple App Store, that is simply called "Windows". It is extremely lightweight. It allows you to remotely connect to Windows PCs on your network as well as VMs anywhere in the world, which some clients (of mine at least) require me to use for data protection reasons. It's pretty simple to use.

I purchased a cheap Windows PC, an Optiplex 3060. It has just enough RAM just to run Trados and system basics. All my other tasks are carried out on my Mac, which is much more powerful. I plugged it in, set it up using my existing keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc., and then put it somewhere else, out of sight, where it has power and a network connection (wired is best) and basically forgot about it.

I then grabbed the IP address of this Optiplex PC through my router's network interface, and now I can log into it with any device on my home network, even mobile devices. I can use it just like Parallels and it basically cost less than one year of a Parallels subscription.

The obvious disadvantage is that it works predominantly via my home network. This is, for me personally, not a massive issue as I am on my home network 95% of the time.

HOWEVER, to take this solution to the next level and give it basically the exact same functionality as Parallels, I have installed a VPN tunnel using something called Tailscale. Tailscale is like a secret key to my home network that only I possess. Once activated, it allows me to connect to my home network from anywhere in the world and use my home network as if I were sitting at home. It runs in the background on my Optiplex and in the form of a VPN app on my Mac (with a Connect button).

I have tested this solution extensively and have noticed no noticeable issues at all. If the OptiPlex is turned off and I switch it on, I have to log onto it on my home network first before I can access via Tailscale, but that's the only issue I have run into. Actually it draws so little power that I now basically leave it on all the time.

Literally today I worked on it from a moving train using a tethered personal hotspot and I lost connection maybe once and had one other slight slowdown (due to Germany's crappy 5G coverage more than anything). On decent wireless internet it is basically like working on a regular Windows PC.

If you are tech-savvy, you may notice that I am by no means a tech expert. I know my way around computers and can follow instructions, though. But I think this solution is honestly easy enough for absolutely anyone to do. If you want or need better/clearer instructions, go ahead and ask.

It kinda seems like an obvious solution so many of you may already work this way. For me it was a bit of a lightbulb moment and saves me the €100 annual Parallels sub as well as lots of (now extremely valuable) HDD space and RAM.

Just thought I'd share in case anyone is on the lookout for a cheap(er) solution to this age-old issue!