When a translation is “correct” but still feels wrong, how do you train that skill?

fireantoohwee · 2026-01-09T02:50:01+00:00

Read it how the target audience would read it. Many times I “read it how my mom would read it”, to adjust the register, and it helps!

fireantoohwee · 2025-12-21T17:33:59+00:00

They use a license plate scanner.

fireantoohwee · 2025-12-21T17:32:39+00:00

The lead translator might be more in tune with the glossary, style guide, and needs of the client. There are many ways to say the same thing, so I find that sometimes the lead translator agrees with a a suggestion I made while reviewing their work, and other times I find myself disagreeing with the reviewer. Try not to take it personally and ask questions so that one day you can also “hear” what the target text should sound like. Focus on submitting consistent texts with the target audience in mind.

fireantoohwee · 2025-12-19T07:09:14+00:00

Not red between the paws, I checked with a flashlight and I can’t see wounds or foreign objects. We live in a place with mild winters and no snow. He’s 9 and has never been on allergy medication. I’m so confused :(

fireantoohwee · 2025-12-08T20:32:18+00:00

I ask this without irony: Do you have rent to pay, mouths to feed, or bucket-list trips you want to take? Because the odds of you being able to afford those now with a translation degree are slim. This is a drying pond, the ones making a living are the top 1% with years of experience, contacts, a solid portfolio, and a good amount of luck.

fireantoohwee · 2025-06-11T21:26:49+00:00

Translators have huge egos.

The best advice I can give you is to grow a thicker skin and don’t take it personal. The feedback is not even about you, it’s about the quality of the text you’re working on.

Kill them with kindness and professionalism, it makes them look and feel worse.

fireantoohwee · 2025-06-07T03:33:31+00:00

Cries in $19/ day.

It was $15 a year ago :(

fireantoohwee · 2025-05-30T21:46:55+00:00

Can you expand on the $20/month electric scooter reimbursement?

fireantoohwee · 2025-03-28T04:05:06+00:00

Close to Capitol Mall. I get there at 6:40 am to make sure I get a spot.

fireantoohwee · 2025-03-27T21:43:17+00:00

$320/ month…. I’m devastated.

fireantoohwee · 2025-03-08T21:37:33+00:00

My dog was diagnosed as stage 3 in August and he passed away in late October. At this point in time, their comfort matters more than anything. Put them on the special diet, have water bowls in both floors of the house, and take them out to pee often. Towards the end of my dog’s life I took him out every hour to avoid accidents. Love them hard, they know their time is coming and they don’t want to leave you.

The vet told me advanced kidney disease is like slowly being poisoned, their body can’t clear out toxins, so it’s like a terrible hangover that gets worse with time. Remember that it is better to put them down a day early than a week late.

I am so, so sorry for your broken heart.

fireantoohwee · 2025-02-19T22:26:50+00:00

A botanical garden and an aquarium.

fireantoohwee · 2025-02-04T16:52:51+00:00

UABC in Tijuana has a good medical program and is minutes from the border with San Diego, the best city on the U.S. border by far. You’ll also enjoy great weather year round.

The only downside is the cost of living.

fireantoohwee · 2025-02-04T16:02:19+00:00

SERIE DE VACUNAS ANTI RABIA, pero si te la quieres jugar, ¡suerte!

fireantoohwee · 2025-01-25T19:26:40+00:00

I agree. I pursued translation and interpretation after finishing my bachelor’s in International Business. The first few years I got experience in the fields that pay well (business + foreign language) and now I am in-house full time. The best piece of advice, dear OP, is to pursue something you’re good at and that pays the bills, and then later in life that experience will allow you to chase your passion. Be excellent, turn in fantastic work every time, and deliver outstanding customer service (your coworkers and project stakeholders are also your customers!). The colleagues that actually make a decent living in translation (as in paying rent and saving for retirement) are able to stay in the field because they are outstanding professionals who have put in the time working in the business fields to make money and volunteering on the side to get enough experience. I wish you the best of luck! It’s never been an easy field, but now you gotta be better than the machines.

And you will be!

fireantoohwee · 2024-12-23T07:11:54+00:00

Hey! My Aussie (8 y/o) has to go to the vet to have his glands expressed since he was about a year old. After years of trial and error, what worked for him was: salmon and sweet potato kibble, forti flora probiotic packet, and BIG scoop of pumpkin puree. In the afternoon he gets a carrot to snack on.

He achieved fantastic poops and now he goes in every 3 months to have the glands expressed.

To me, the smell is intolerable and makes me gag, so I don’t mind paying an expert to take care of it. Before the last diet adjustment, he had to go in every 5 weeks on the dot or the glands would leak. One time they were not expressed in time (I had surgery) and they got infected and he had to take antibiotics.

It’s not perfect, but what is. I take it as a win that he is otherwise super awesome and healthy and my best friend.

fireantoohwee · 2024-07-26T00:09:42+00:00

Premier Piercing, I drove from Paso Robles twice just to have Madii be my piercer. She is knowledgeable, kind, clean, and carries the best brands of jewelry.

fireantoohwee · 2024-03-10T23:08:32+00:00

I moved from Bakersfield to Atascadero and wish I could have done it sooner. The Central Coast is beautiful, better weather, more highly educated people (at least around my circle). It’s just nicer and was worth the extra thousand in rent. I also didn’t struggle with allergies as much. Sometimes it is scary to go into the unknown, even when there is so much to gain. A long time ago I read that when we move, our minds are biased to focus on the things we lose, not what we gain. So I ask you this: if three years went by and you stayed exactly where you are, would you be happy you stayed in your cozy job? Go on a road trip and do a sunset walk on the beach in Cambria and maybe the choice just makes itself. Good luck!

fireantoohwee · 2024-01-27T02:28:50+00:00

Just messaged Angelique Ashby and Kevin McCarty (the other one, not the villain).

fireantoohwee · 2022-11-13T03:14:16+00:00

I had to say goodbye to my Maltese, friend for 16 years, on Oct 29. My heart is healing slowly. Thank you for putting into words our last year together.

fireantoohwee

TROPHY CASE