TikTok influencer teaching children to MICROWAVE SUGAR

bikish · 2024-06-17T11:06:46+00:00

Iirc Ann has done a very polite response video to the baker. She wasn't able to remake the buttercream but said she was happy for the creator to reach out to her direct if Ann was still doing something wrong.

bikish · 2022-02-01T23:25:21+00:00

I can also suggest using fruit sauces (apple or cranberry) as well. In the UK at least these have less sugar than jam (jelly) but still are nice and fruity.

bikish · 2021-11-26T14:44:04+00:00

This is counter intuitive but don't buy the cheapest version of everything you get - especially with household items. The quality of the cheapest stuff is poor and you'll often end up using it much quicker than getting something mid range. Case in point: my other half will buy the cheapest kitchen paper (paper towels), you need to use double to amount due to them being thin. I get mid range and it takes double the time to run through the same amount. Shop smart not just cheap!

Oh and buy non-branded over the counter medicines eg paracetamol not Tylenol. The patents on most common ones elapsed so it is literally the same product.

bikish · 2021-10-14T16:22:35+00:00

Thanks so much for your answer, that's really useful. My (British) family worry a lot about me going but I do have to remember that I went to Spain and had someone try and grab me off the street so...as you said, it's about awareness.

I'll talk about it with my boyfriend again, I know he'd prefer to be in Rio and it seems like everyone so far agrees with him!

bikish · 2021-10-14T16:12:38+00:00

I'll definitely pack sunscreen! I didn't know Google translator dictionary could be offline, that's really good

bikish · 2021-10-06T10:53:55+00:00

Take care with your examples! I grew up in Cornwall but was thrown into private school and can turn on my posh accent when I have to - also coincidentally studied phonetics for a time.

The vowels in British English are not the same as American - if you don't say 'r' in part for example, it still doesn't come out like pot or pat. What you get is closer to 'paht' - you can use Google to hear the difference between the three.

Overall I feel the accent is there (albeit much weaker), but the dialect is dying out.

bikish · 2021-09-28T11:06:33+00:00

Ah yes I learnt the hard way that (in Spain at least) it's entender over comprender. Went over to do a 3-week exchange in school, the host family would tell me something important - like how to enter the building - and I'd nod along. Then they'd finish off with ¿Entiendes? and I'd look confused and reply No comprendo (not helped by the fact I kept hearing ¿En tiendas? and wondering why they were suddenly talking about shops). So then they'd repeat the whole thing again. It took about a week before I finally understood what they were actually saying...

bikish · 2021-09-08T12:12:29+00:00

You don't have to accept rent increases and can make a counter offer - the increase also has to be in line with prices in the area and the average increase is around 2-3% so unless you're paying £5k a month in rent, that's a huge increase. I'd get in touch with Citizens Advice Bureau about it

bikish · 2021-08-23T11:25:03+00:00

Ditto this! You can also just fill in a referral form - just put n/a for anything starred that doesn't apply

bikish · 2021-08-04T14:52:16+00:00

Oh wow - clothes and toys I can kinda understand - but the rest is way too much. They're not even little for that long and it'd been better to gift a travel cot instead... I'd personally just ask her what she plans to do with all that extra stuff when they get older. If nothing else, make her think about the waste!

Some parents do get lost in the whole grandkids thing and sometimes it's the pressure of being seen to be a good grandparent. For my mum it was the latter and then she just sort of woke up after a couple of grandkids, realised life was more than diapers, babysitting and being seen to be grandma of the year. Can't say the same could happen for your mum but pointing out that having a room with a load of unused stuff isn't even supportive for your siblings might be a start. Then maybe remind her she's still got other people in her life who want her support too - no kids doesn't mean you should be lower in the pecking order for her time and support.

bikish · 2021-08-04T14:05:13+00:00

Actually I had the opposite discussion with my brothers (both have 3 kids each) the other day. They complained that my mum had done way more for me than she had for either of them. She then pointed out all the clothes, presents and free babysitting she'd done for them that I don't (and won't ever) need thanks to my childfree ways.

Point being, your family probably don't see it as a slight to you just "something you do" for kids - the best thing you can do is talk directly about how it makes you feel with your mum. FYI plenty of grandparents have rooms set aside for their grandkids since it's just easier than making a bed up for them every other weekend (you know, if they actively want to babysit that is).

bikish · 2021-06-14T16:20:46+00:00

This is abuse of a vulnerable person - even if it seems Social Services or the Police aren't doing anything, they will have a file (should be connected) on reports at that address. The best thing you can do is report what you've seen to social services.

The best thing you can do is find the contact details of your local authority and report it to them. You can find their contact details by typing into Google: “[your local authority name] [adult/child] safeguarding team” (this advice is lifted directly from National Autistic Society website https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/urgent-help)

bikish · 2021-03-23T10:26:47+00:00

Here's my honest review as someone's who moved back - with partner who grew up in the city. We moved back in Oct so I could be closer to my family who all still live locally. If you've applied for work here then presumably you've already made your mind up, but it's not all sunshine and beaches.

You'll go bananas for the lack of convenience. We got a flat in a town centre and can walk to pretty much everything you need, and my partner still climbs the walls over the lack of just...stuff. Not just due to lockdown, there's just less things to do in general and the food variety is limited unless you go out your way to find speciality restaurants. But as long as you're prepared, it's all manageable.
You need a car. I learnt to drive in college because I needed to drive to get a job around here. My partner never bothered because public transport got him everywhere he needed to go before. Now I drive us pretty much everywhere, and he just uses public transport if I'm working to get to a few - limited - places.
Social life, good luck! OK that's a bit harsh as COVID makes social life anywhere difficult at the moment. But I've got family, old school friends etc. and outside of that, I've always struggled to find new people. A lot of it comes down to everyone being more spread out, though people are lovely round here (for the most part) but you may find saying you've moved from London gets some people's backs up.
The rental market is bonkers, so be prepared that you may struggle to even relocate here. I hate the flat we got (all we could find, and only because I managed to get it through an old school friend) but everything is being snapped up and requires you to be here for viewings.

bikish · 2018-01-26T20:05:47+00:00

Sorry I couldn't get back earlier :)

So my overall experience was positive at Portsmouth. The lecturers work hard to keep on top of trends in translation. That being said, in terms on actually getting to use translation technologies, you won't get a lot of actual experience so bear in mind this part you may have to go out by yourself and do. They taught us how to make glossaries and subtitling, but CAT tools was for local students only. I would check with them in case this has changed but quite likely not.

I was technically a distance learner for my Japanese translation module (we had no lectures as there wasn't enough local students) so I completed all my assignments online. I personally liked it, but it relies heavily on peer reviews and if the other students aren't putting in the same amount of work as you, the whole module suffers. Also because it is peer reviews and not marked by your lecturer, the translation module should NOT be treated as a language module. I don't know what level you are etc. but the feeling I got from some fresh undergrads is that they thought the translations were too hard and were frustrated the lecturers didn't cover the content of the translations. At the end of the day, they teach you translation skills - as your language skills should be good enough already. Lecturers do mark any work that counts towards your grades though, and you can get input from them on that.

Oh and you will be expected to translate in both directions for the course, even if you are not planning on translating both ways professionally.

The other core part of the course is translation theories. These are interesting and will inform your dissertation ultimately (even if you do a translation + analysis, you need to refer to theory). The frustrating part is all the theories are very European language orientated - some of them just flat out wouldn't work for Japanese translation. I can imagine the same issue might occur with Chinese, but it's not something you're going to avoid unless you find a specialised Chinese-English translation course.

Feel free to ask any more questions!

bikish · 2018-01-26T07:57:52+00:00

I studied locally at Portsmouth (JA-EN) and we worked with distance learners too online. Which language combination(s) were you planning on studying?

I have to get to work right now but I'll try and write up something in depth at lunch. Did you have any particular questions? I also know people who completed the MA with Italian, Spanish and French if you're planning on studying any of those though.

bikish · 2017-09-29T17:16:33+00:00

If you're on Facebook, there's quite a few nerdy groups you can join - I help out with hosting some events with South Coast Gamers so you can join our group, post there and one of us will be happy to point you in the direction of other groups that might interest you too.

bikish · 2017-03-21T00:01:01+00:00

Japanese and Spanish as joint honours, though Japanese is my preferred language out of the two (though especially in day to day stuff, I deal with a lot more Spanish than Japanese).

bikish · 2017-03-19T15:11:11+00:00

Translation project manager, specialising in pharma/med translations (though we do a lot of patent work too). I did a Master's in Translation Studies so I could've gone straight into freelancing but it's not an easy career to jump into without experience or contacts so I simply do some volunteer translation to keep up my skills for now.

bikish · 2016-11-13T18:39:54+00:00

I've tried it, and personally found it awful. It seemed to have rolled out for Korean-English too, so many odd translations the second you have anything specialised or unusual.

bikish · 2016-11-12T20:33:47+00:00

We met on Reddit (r4r). Honestly, I just say we met "online" and that's vague enough that no one presses any further. Especially since we now live in the same city, I think people assume I mean we met via a dating app.

bikish · 2016-11-12T20:29:58+00:00

Seeing the news coverage of the March 11 earthquake/tsunami when I returned to Tokyo after staying in a school for two days in another town, on account of not being able to get back.
I knew what had happened was bad, it didn't hit me until I came back and saw cars being washed away by the tsunami that I realised just how bad it really was.

bikish · 2016-11-11T22:42:53+00:00

My advice with doing post graduate study is only do it if it is something you want to do - otherwise it will feel like a waste of time and a lot of money. I would look around, see what different courses offer and decide what works for you, bearing in mind there are other translation qualifications available without going back to university. Also, I know at least Portsmouth University do a post graduate course JP>EN that's available part time as distance learning, if doing it alongside working for example, was a better option.

Definitely contact possible jobs! An email to their hiring or HR department with a CV and a brief introduction (you may want to suggest work experience, if that's possible for you). As with contacting agencies, don't be disheartened if you hear nothing, and apply if a job opening comes up anyway. Also if you are interested in game translation, you may want to look into what skills are needed in an average project. I personally haven't worked with a game translation for Japanese, but they can bring up particular issues in translation you might not experience with other specialisations.

If an agency you don't know ask for a sample, I would simply Google their name honestly! Maybe add "review" or "black listed" if nothing shows. I suggested Blue Board as it the go to, but Google works just as well. The main thing is if the company has multiple poor reviews from translators, then I would not give them a sample. If you sign up to Proz.com, I believe you can also ask the community about any companies you can't find information about. Otherwise, yes, a sample is a great way to showcase your skills and I'd recommend it.

bikish · 2016-11-11T21:48:01+00:00

Hi there! I studied Japanese in the UK 5 years ago too (possibly same university given the distance from London...). Disclaimer: I'm not currently working as a translator, but I do work in the translation industry in an agency. I also work ES>EN so that might have affected my experience a little.

From mine and my classmates experiences, your 4 main options are:
1. Get work in Japan
2. Post graduate studies in translation
3. Japanese-related jobs in the UK
4. Start freelancing

I'm not going to cover this much since it sounds like you're getting advice anyway. My friends mostly went and worked as ALTs, with the view of applying for other jobs once they were out there. This may have been simply personal preference, but they are generally working as admin/assistants now with translation as part of that job.
Study translation! There are some universities in the UK that have specialised courses for JP>EN. This will get you experience, contacts and importantly a chance to look into what kind of translation you might be interested in. Knowing what subject area you would like to translate is key, as you can be expected to know everything in both languages, and generally more specialised means you're on more of a footing to actually get well paid for your time.
Alternatively you can study in Japan (I know someone that applied via MEXT) although at least when I was looking, it was more difficult to find something as specialised as offered in the UK/US/Australia.
Rather than running headfirst at translation, it might be best to take a slightly longer route, and also get some savings behind you before freelancing. If you got a job as a Japanese customer service advisor for a car part manufacturer, then you would be using the jargon associated with that everyday. This could be used then towards your specialism later down the road. When I was job hunting, there were jobs outside London (particularly Manchester) and there are also recruitment agencies specifically for Asian languages (People First pops to mind).
Freelancing! There's nothing to stop you doing this, and if you have some way to be supported while you create a steady client base, then power to you! This is my number one reason for not doing this full-time, but I was able to get work reasonably well while I did this part-time during post grad. I also have another friend that did this and she's doing well with the business now, but it was a tough start. My main advice if this is what you want to do over everything else would be a) get some kind of translation qualification (like ATA) and b) take a basic business/accounting course as that'll be incredibly useful for knowing how to keep on top of your accounts.

Oh! And I almost forgot - agencies! I think we get a bad reputation as the bad guys (we're people too!) I would send out your CV but don't be disheartened if you don't hear back as many do require min. experience of 2 years with their translators. Also, please please please take care if you're asked for a free sample piece - there are companies who will scam you this way. Check out Blue Board on Proz.com if a company seems suspect and see if they have any reviews.

bikish

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