POETRY

When most people come to a standstill

maybe it's  a feeling of confused trapped life? 

things, choices, decisions. actions tend to be different, 

our way of thinking warped?

Evert person, 

Every life, 

is individual, unique, distinct. 

Nothing is the same for two 

but their can be similarities - relate. 

For me, 

I’m confused. 

Not on one aspect, but many.

I’m confused at why I’m level headed? Able to think from an outside perspective. 

An outside looking in.

I couldn’t do that before. why now? what's changed?

age? level? maturity?

wisdom? experience? something else?

Others in a similar situation can’t, they are consumed. 

Why aren’t I? Why can I still think logical. albeit I dont apply  I know - I see - I understand

WHY? HOW?

If I lost my head and lost the sibilant remainder of me 

my self control, my thinking, logic, conscience-  my thoughts 

would it not be more understandable? 

easier for me an others to finally accept? 

Or is added punishment - on top of the self punishment I deal myself,

punishment to  be fully aware, suffer more, more cruel - to make it more intense, the feeling of guilt more acute. 

Why am I so conflicted?

 Why is that fight still in there. I am so tired.  I wish to sleep

a BREAK, a REST

please, it's been so long. 

In pain physically and mentally. 

is the need to punish able to overcome that? 

The work, the lack of nourishment, the tiredness, the distaste,

the loathing of self image, 

the social reclusiveness. 

Never full. Never satisfied? 

Always empty, running on air. 

Is that more the problem? or more it's the problem of myself and my feeling on inadequacy. 

my self loathing, my distaste.

I don’t know how or why I’m still going. though I am.

 I don’t know what gets me up in the morning after I shut my eyes for the night before. 

what let’s me finally rest at night but pushes my on, prides me awake after the dawn.  

I want help 

I need it 

but I don’t want it too.

so much confliction

so much pain

it goes on and on and on 

I don’t want to burden 

I don’t want to be forgot

or do I?

When you fall off the wagon of life

When you fall off the horse do you stay down in the mud or do you climb back on and continue the journey?

Life is hard. 

Life shows no mercy. 

People are cruel. 

Molehills seem like such mountains. But it is what it is. 

If we always just lay down, 

cried when the milk spilt, 

wail at the unfairness of it all 

    - would anything ever been accomplished?

Life is hard. 

It is a test. 

It’s not easy.

Sometimes, it’s a struggle to get out of bed, 

some nights, when we close our eyes

we might hope they won’t open again. 

But life goes on. 

It has to. 

Though we sometimes feel it is cruel.

Though we sometimes feel it is heartbreaking.

Life goes on. 

We cannot stop,

we cannot pause

no fast forward, 

no rewind and try again.

The world keeps turning, spinning slowly day by day.

Only we can change our choices, our lifestyle.

Thoughts can be altered. help can be sought.

Changes can be made, new habits begun.

The worlds greats did not give up,

 if we all just accepted things as they are - stopped trying, 

nothing would ever be accomplished. 

We have responsibilities 

to ourselves, 

to others 

to god. 

Did Jesus lie down when he fell with the cross? No. 

With a little help he got up and continued on. 

believe in him or no it does not matter. 

When help is offered or not, 

we MUST keep going

we MUST get up and try again.

No matter how hard the struggle

No matter how tired we are. 

The test of life is hard, 

the road to paradise has blockades and barriers, 

but,

if we want to finally get there - OUR IDEAL

OUR PARADISE

OUR LIFE 

    we MUST find a way to go on. 

Lead the way for others to follow

never look back, regret. 

Never say what if

FIGHT

STRUGGLE

GO ON

SURVIVE

YOU CAN WIN.

The world keeps turning,

with it,

the opportunity for change.

For better.

For good.

For life.

by Kelly Crawford  

LANGUAGE & TRANSLATION: Chinese slang & idioms

 popular slang words and idioms 

真香 - nice / smells good / tastes good 

你是魔鬼吗？you devil!

C位出道 - debut in a central role 

家里有矿 - family has money (rich)

打工不可能打工的 - you work, you don't part time it 

安排上了 - planned / sorted 

沙雕 - sand sculpture / stupid / foolish /dumb

小拳拳捶你胸口 - punch 2 the chest / punch to the heart 

你脑子进水了吗 - have you water in your brain? / are you retarded/ are you stupid? / Are you out of your mind?

一口吃个胖子 - fat in a heartbeat / get fat in a mouthful 

IDIOMS

倒背如流 - know by heart 

不明事理 - Unreasonable

照旧依旧 - OUT WITH THE OLD IN WITH THE NEW

众盲摸象 - blind groping an elephant / can't see the bigger picture 

理所当然照常 business as usual

忙中有错  haste makes waste.; haste causes errors

安步当车 - leisurely stroll 

雄心勃勃 ambitious / aim high 

小心谨慎 cautious /  careful 

食之无味弃之可惜 It's a shame to throw it away / its a shame to waste  / its a sin to waste 

不经一事不长一智 Wisdom comes from experience/ You can't gain knowledge without practice

脱不了身 you can't get out of it /  busy and unable get away

宾至如归 feel at home / a home away from home

不相上下 equally matched

不言而喻 self evident / it goes without saying

不择手段 unscrupulously / by fair or foul / willing to play dirty / by any means necessary

生命不息战斗不止 Cease to struggle and you cease to live / the battle for life continues / the unending struggles of life 

不堪忍受 unbearable

不可思议 unimaginable / Unbelievable

机不可失时不再来 It's an opportunity not to be lost / Now or never

不惜一战 fight at all costs / no  matter what it costs / no matter what the battle / no matter how hard the fight

不惜血本 no  matter what it costs / spare no expense

东奔西跑 running around / rushing about / running around like a maniac / 

POETRY: still, calm, tranquil, peaceful

 Still, calm, tranquil, peaceful,

Midnight waters on a pond.
Moonbeams shining, gleaming, glowing;
Reflected on the surface flow.

Silence lingers though not eery,
Broken only by one sound;

The lowly calling for a lover

A grasshopper's pursuit of a Juliet.

The Fireflies glow,
Lanterns bobbing, floating, swirling; 

Graceful dancers of the sky
Drifting elegantly, airily, sylphlike 
Living candles of the night skies.

POETRY: On the edge

 

On the edge 

Teetering 

Slowly forward, slowly back

Nearly falling.

 

The abyss calling.

 

A soft breeze is all that pushes me back. 

The winds to safety,  beckoning whispers 

I barely hear. 

Barely strong enough to call me back.

Back to safety, back to life

Don’t go, don’t fall, don’t teeter. 

So young, so much potential; choose life! 

The north wind calls me stronger. 

It beckons me. 

A seductress. An enchantress. 

A siren of the sea of nothingness below.

So long I’ve teetered I start to wonder, 

It dawns on me, soon, I’ll have no choice. 

Soon my legs... 

They will give way 

And I will fall into the abyss below 

No choice

No decision 

No more

Nothing into Nothingness.

The end of the struggle.

Desist. Deceased.

An end.

by Kelly 

translation: Work placements and internships

TRANSLATION - Work placements and internships

gaining some practical experience in translation is important to start a new career in translation or localisation  volunteering,  work placements and internships can help with this.

Although you might be starting your career now, it is more likely that you might already have years of work experience behind you. So, you might be wondering if work placements or internships are appropriate for you, or even feasible? You might have decided that they are not, but perhaps you should reconsider.

Whatever your background and your expectations of translation or localisation, it is useful to research it, as you might find some useful information about the translation industry and discover jobs that you might want to consider. 

Work experience

So, why is work experience important?  why is work experience useful and what do  employers think about it? Do mature students have an advantage?

many recruiters say::

mature students have extra experience which puts you at an advantage to someone who has gone straight from school to university. Your commitment, ambition, and drive will be noted as long as you are prepared to talk about your choice/change of career path. 

So, if you already have experience in a different field, it is important that you are able to articulate why it is you have decided to change careers.

Internships and work placements are a very interesting way to get to understand first-hand what jobs are involved in the translation industry, and how large language service providers (LSPs) operate. 

Building your work experience can help you:

• Decide what career paths you want to explore and make contacts who can help you in your career.
• Enhance your CV and develop your transferable and employability skills.
• Get a realistic idea of the responsibilities, skills and challenges of different types of roles and gain insight into different sectors.

Different types of work experience

Internships

An internship is a fixed-time work experience placement which gives you a chance to enhance your employability and career prospects. Graduate internships may be full or part-time and can last between a few weeks and a few months. Some internships are paid, and some can be done remotely.

Secondments

Secondment is temporary paid work in a different area from where you usually work.

Placements

Work placements are a period of work experience that is part of your degree. They give you the chance to apply your skills in a work setting.

Insight programmes and open days

Insight days and programmes usually involve a range of activities such as work shadowing, networking and presentations with the option to meet subject matter experts and ask questions.

Other options 

Another way to learn about opportunities, job sectors and a way to get your ‘foot in the door’ is to look for paid employment, such as:

• temporary roles
• junior positions
• portfolio working
• freelancing
• project work

If you are looking to change your career you could consider applying for ‘junior’ or ‘assistant’ positions to develop your sector knowledge ‘on the job’.

How to get work experience if you're already in work

If you’re working or have other commitments it can be difficult to take on a placements or secondment, especially if you’re looking to change careers or sectors. Consider other options such as volunteering, portfolio working or using annual leave for short-term projects.

Finding work experience

like job opportunities, work experience opportunities can be advertised or organised informally.

Make sure any work experience you arrange suits your career plans and what you can realistically achieve. Be clear about your career aims and how they fit with those of the employer.

Find 'hidden' work experience opportunities

Not all work experience opportunities are advertised or are even formal opportunities. For example, some small and medium size enterprises may rely on word of mouth or speculative approaches.

• Exploit existing opportunities at work – if you’re already working, you may find you can volunteer or do work experience in a different role with your current employer.
• Network – make it known to your contacts that you’re looking for work experience.
• Follow companies on social media to keep up to date with what they are doing.

• Making the most of your work experience

  When you’re looking for opportunities, consider what you want to get out of the experience and your own circumstances.

  Good employers will provide quality experience that will develop and support students and graduates. You should be able to carry out ‘real’ work and projects to help you enhance your employability and academic skills.

  What to do during the experience

  • Make sure you have a mentor or supervisor to contact if you need to.
  • Ask for feedback during or after completing your placement.
  • Be proactive and seize opportunities to make contacts and network with colleagues.

  What to do after the experience

• Ask for feedback after completing your placement.
• Thank the organisation and mentor for the opportunity.
• Reflect on your roles, activities and projects.
• Note down any outcomes and results.
• Update your CV with your work experience details.
• 

translation: portfolios

 Your portfolio as a translator is a document that contains a selection of your professionally translated texts and it is one of the best examples of what your potential clients should expect if they decide to hire you. Although most of the clients will ask for a small sample text translation, before hiring you, portfolio is great for determining if you are the right person for the job.

The online portfolio is great for showing off your skills and expertise in certain areas you are specialised in.

How should it look,? What should it contain?

Formatting

Each text sample in the portfolio should be short and interesting to read. Pieces with more than 500 words will bore potential clients and make them skip big parts of the document, and therefore not realise what are your best skills. In translator’s portfolio only professional looking fonts should be used, together with standard font size and color, without photos, clip art, emoticons etc.

Potential clients should be able to focus on your translating skills, not on fancy lettering. Source and target text should be next to each other preferably on the same page

*Make sure to check all the links inside the document, broken links in portfolio are highly unprofessional and unuseful.

Content

Portfolios shouldn’t contain a pile of randomly selected translations, it should be examples of very narrow and highly specialized texts that will promote your expertise in the best possible way. These translations should emphasize your specialisation in one field and they should be the translations that you are particularly proud of. You shouldn’t mix different specialties in one portfolio, instead you can make several ones, specialized for each of your areas of expertise.

If some of your clients allow you to place their ordered translations in your portfolio, you can also point out the source of original text (reference them). If the translations are done for some famous company or individual and you get their approval, referencing them will add more credibility and a sense of finesse and experience to your portfolio. 

When using online texts as samples, you should also add the source where you found the original text.

Remember not to violate copyright laws and if the text you want to translate is protected by Creative Commons or any other license, do everything to give the proper attribution to the text author, including contacting an author and asking for permission if necessary.

Where to Share It?

Your CV/ cover letter should contain the link to your online portfolio. You should also send it to every potential client that contacts you and it should be wide available for download on your web site, if you have one. In addition to all this leave a link to your translator’s portfolio on all online translator market places, where you have a profile and all other freelance networks. Don’t forget to share your portfolio on social networks,because good social media strategy can bring you more clients. Linkedin network is the best for this kind of promotion, but Facebook, Google+ and even Twitter can also be very useful.

How to Draw Traffic to Your Portfolio?

Sharing your portfolio on social networks is just the first step in attracting more potential clients. Your portfolio should be regularly updated, and every update should be shared with your audience. Each post that follows your portfolio should have a short personal note and it should be thoroughly analyzed in terms of its reach and the engagement.

As we said in the previous paragraph, another great place to promote your portfolio is your company’s website. It should be SEO optimized, well-designed and it should also have fresh and high quality content. Placing your website in first pages of Google search will drastically increase the number of potential clients who are going to see your portfolio and hire you.

What Else Should Your Portfolio Contain?

Good portfolio could also contain all necessary personal information, and some more experienced translators with already developed translation companies could also place their company logo inside the document. Translator’s comments can also be very useful addition that will present your working methods to possible clients. These comments should come after every short translation and should contain few lines about each translation and some special methods you used while completing the task etc.

Good portfolio is the basic tool for presenting your skills and each translator should have at least one document like this.

Your Unique Value Proposition

Unique Value Proposition (UVP), your bio and your tagline.

You might find that a term such as UVP sounds a bit out of place in a module on translation in practice, but let me tell you it isn’t! Your Unique Value Proposition is just a business way of talking about a concise, clear statement that explains what you offer, why your clients should hire you, and how you are different from the competition.

https://atasavvynewcomer.org/2017/09/05/branding-create-professional-portfolio/

• What exactly do you offer as a translator? This could be your language combination, a specific area of specialisation, or any additional services such as copywriting or proofreading. 
• What skills, knowledge or professional background make you special as a translator? If – as well as a translator – you have a background in a particular industry, you should include this information here. 
• Why should clients do business with you and not someone else? Think about your main strengths.

Your bio

In a previous section of the Gaining Experience strand, you worked on preparing your CV. Now, considering your overall experience and the paragraph you’ve drafted about your Unique Value Proposition, let’s have a look at how you could write a short paragraph about yourself. Having a bio is very useful, as you can use it to briefly introduce yourself when approaching a new client, or on any social media professional profile you want to create. If you write an article in a professional association’s publication, they will also require a bio. It is not a static text, as you can adapt it to each specific circumstance, and it will change with time, but it is useful to have a ‘master’ version that you can tweak as necessary. This short bio should only be about 300 words, so it is important that it only includes your most relevant experience and skills. 

Your tagline

You might have noticed that some translators also have a ‘tagline’ – a short sentence to summarise their expertise. These could be things like: 

• ‘Professional translation services by an industry expert’
• ‘Translations you can trust’
• ‘Specialised in IT, business and financial documents’.