Adios Facebook

Mar 08

LaurentBlogs et traduction No Comments

As the title and the picture may reveal, I have decided to refocus this blog and close (Not Just) Another Translator Facebook page.

I have never found the time to manage it as I would have liked. And I'd rather close it than let my reader (and myself) think they will have more content more often. So unless you really ask for its return, the page will be permanently removed in 14 days.

The Twitter account, not much more active, is still in probation.

Minor Changes on NJATB

Dec 02

LaurentBlogs et traduction No Comments

Just a quick note to introduce a few minor changes on NJATB:

  • The most significant one is maybe the language bar, moved from the right column to the top menu (I wanted to do it for a long time, but it required some CSS programming tricks),
  • Still in the right menu: I replaced the "Latest Posts" widget with a "Par-ci, par-là" widget with a random selection of posts (but I still haven't found a way to change the title...). Also, the "Categories" widget is now a dropdown menu,
  • I changed the text on the main page (About me) so that it's lighter and clearer,
  • I also updated other pages (Portfolio, Links) to reflect the development of my activity.

I hope you like these minor evolutions. As always, have your say in the comment box below. (And tomorrow, a special post on the Translation's Hexalogue !)

Self-promotion

Jun 08

LaurentBlogs et traduction 4 Comments

I was reviewing my site stats recently, and I noticed that some posts had been unfairly overlooked by the birds of passage. So I thought that this was a chance to promote three old posts which deserve, I think, a quick (re-)read. And as promised, you'll know everything about invoices next Monday. By the way, those posts are French only.

-Cogito ergo(nomi) sum - published in September 2009 - because my back hurts. And because this article, from the ESIT Alumni journal, explains the best working posture.

-Transfèrement - published in April 2009 - because with "l'affaire DSK", we are probably going to hear about that.

-Objets traduisant non identifiés - published in May 2009 - because it's fun.

Of Blogs and Men

Jun 03

LaurentBlogs et traduction 2 Comments

So the Top 100 Language Lovers results are in, and as you may have noticed, NJATB isn't one of them. I have to say that the new formula, with only 25 happy few in each category, makes it pretty hard to get in. As a result, there is not a single French blog about translation in this top. That's too bad. And what will raise hackles is the presence of ProZ in nothing less than two categories... So much for language lovers.

Anyway, this "Top" allowed me to discover a website, Le Mot Juste en Anglais, who went 9th in last year's competition (and wasn't nominated this year). This blog, created by Jonathan Goldberg, a South-African retired lawyer and now translator-interpreter, helped by Laura Vallet, a French student, reaches out to "French speakers with a passion for English". English words, expressions and facts are dissected and analyzed with a number of images and videos. But Le Mot Juste is also a collaboration with some translators-bloggers such as Riccardo Schiaffino (About Translation), Anne Gilmé (Upside Down), René Meertens (author of the useful guide de traduction anglais-français) and myself! This collaboration, which will allow us to exchange our views about linguistic issues, is only beginning but is bound to be exciting!

Also, some kind of surprise is currently cooking with Mox. More to come soon. I have also learned that NJATB feed had been integrated to La Rassegna del Traduttore, an Italian website that gather feeds from translation and languages website. I hope this is good news.

Besides, between two books about astrology and the calculation - oh so exciting - or your ascendant, I was thinking of refreshing NJATB by finding a new name. And rather than impose my choice, I will give in to the temptation of the collaborative-2.0-high-tech-buzz-new-gen-globalnetworking Web. You may thus leave your propositions in the comments, and I will submit them to a vote when I get enough ideas. Here are a few criteria:

  • The name of the site must be easy to remember and to pronounce (more than the current one)
  • It must be easily exported/translated
  • It may be in French or in English (also Latin or Greek, if you're in a mood to play)
  • It must be related to translation or languages
  • It must not be taken by another website
  • Better if it's fun!

Ready? Go!