My Final Post

I am writing to inform you that my blog is closing. Yes, you read right.

This is the last post I’m writing here. I no longer have the inspiration and the dedication you need to keep a blog running and updated. I’ve also changed as a person in the last three years. Three years ago my biggest dream was to become a freelance translator and/or interpreter. Now that career doesn’t appeal to me anymore. As far as my ideal job is concerned, I imagine myself in an office (not a home office, I mean in a firm) working with people face-to-face, not having my PC on 24/7 and relying on online networking activities all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I like talking to friends both on and offline, but I prefer meeting people “in real life” than at a virtual meeting. I don’t like staying at home all the time. All these things considered, I realized it’s not the right career for me. Most translation jobs are freelance, and I’d like to work as an IN HOUSE translator, unless I don’t find/choose some other job.

After this domain (mylifeintranslation.net) expires next June, I’m not going to renew it, but I’m not going to delete the blog. I’m going to move it here and keep only the resources section updated.

Ilaria

MLiT got in the Top 25!

Per la traduzione in italiano, clicca su “Continue reading”.

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I’ve been nominated.

Actually, it’s my blog that got nominated!

My Life in Translation got nominated for the “Top 100 Language Lovers 2011″ competition, organized by Bab.la and Lexiophiles. Each year, a “top 100″ list is made for each website category:

• Language Learning Blogs
• Language Professionals Blogs
• Language Facebook Pages
• Language Twitterers

My Life in Translation got a nomination in the “Language Professionals Blogs” category. I would be grateful if you voted it as your favourite “Language Professional” blog.  You can vote until May 29. In case you decide to vote for me, I’d like to thank you in advance, it really matters to me!

Per la traduzione in italiano, clicca su “Continue reading”.

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Happy 2nd Birthday to My Blog!

Credits: Nana & Nana Cake Design

My Life in Translation… with a Mac

As you might already know, I bought my first Mac in November 2009, a MacBook Pro, to be exact. I really like it, the OS is really stable and hardly crashes, but…

• It’s hard to find dictionaries on CD-ROM that support Mac OS. If a dictionary comes with a CD-ROM version, it’s usually for Windows. I removed the Windows partition I created with BootCamp because I didn’t feel like having two operating systems on the same machine (I ended up using Windows all the time, and when I tried to use Parallels it was soooo slow… maybe that was due to the RAM – only 2 GB). I should either use online dictionaries or get a bigger RAM and reinstall everything.
• CDs/DVDs get stuck easily and they’re hard to eject. While you’re (for example) watching a movie on DVD, the DVD itself getting stuck in the CD/DVD-ROM drive and the annoying noise it makes (which you can’t stop easily) are the last things you want. If you press the “Eject” key multiple times, or if you even click on the CD/DVD-ROM drive icon first, nothing happens, unless you reboot the machine. After the Apple logo screen appears, you still have to wait until the annoying noise stops, et voilà, the DVD is ejected. If not, a window asking you what to do because according to the OS you inserted a “blank disk”, appears. In case you decide to get a Mac, I highly suggest getting an external CD/DVD-ROM drive.
• Unless you install Windows (on a partition) and Parallels (or another virtualization software), you can’t run Trados and most software for translators on a Mac. There is also Mac OS-compatible software, like Omega T and Wordfast Classic (which is based on Microsoft Word macros), but I’d rather use Trados because it’s one of the most used CAT tools.

I’ve heard of a saying: “Once you get a Mac you will never go back”. That’s so not my case. I definitely prefer Windows 7, it’s way better than its past versions, it runs smoothly (it hardly ever crashes) and all the software I have works (unless I have to get an updated version).

P.S.: My Life in Translation has a new, winterish layout! Finding some old graphics on my external hard drive inspired me to create a new blog header. I also installed a falling snow WordPress plugin (it’s called “Let It Snow”) I found thanks to Blogging Girl.

New Year’s Resolutions

OFFLINE:

• Go to a gym or exercise at least once a week
• Read more books
• Spend less time in front of my pc
• Watch more movies, especially in their original language
• Maybe do an internship (at a translation agency, hopefully)?

ONLINE:

• Spend less time on Facebook/games and more on my site
• Update my blog more often
• Translate some old posts when running out of ideas

What are your resolutions for 2010 (by the way, is it “two-thousand and ten” or “twenty-ten”?)?

It’s that time of the year!

I’d like to wish a merry Christmas and a happy 2010 to everybody!

Auguro a tutti un buon Natale e un felice 2010!

Je souhaite à tous mes lecteurs un joyeux Noël et un 2010 plein de félicité!

Introducing LBT’s Facebook Page

I haven’t updated this blog for almost a month, and I’ve got a lot to write. In the last few days I just didn’t know which subject I should write about first. I’ve got many ideas running through my head, and I’ll eventually translate them into actual posts, one step at a time. Don’t worry, your RSS readers won’t be flooded with posts from my blog in the next few hours!

Today’s topic is Learning by Translating’s official Facebook page. I opened it a few months ago and, like my Twitter page, its purpose is to be a window on my site’s updates and to interact with readers and potential clients. I use Twitter more extensively though, since I also use it to post interesting links I find thanks to the people I follow there. Too bad Twitter has also a limit: your posts mustn’t be longer than 140 characters.

I’m also posting a schedule for the next few days below. I’m available for translation work until the 28th. If you need to get something translated from English/French into Italian, don’t hesitate to contact me!

Here we go!

Welcome to my new site!

I’ve been busy in the last few days because, as you can understand, I was getting everything ready for my new site!

On July 27, I wrote that I was “going through a creative phase” on Twitter. I remembered that a few nights earlier I had a dream in which I had a domain, and it was ilaria-translations.com. I’ve been wanting a “professional” (um, I’m still a student… but willing to do some translation work) domain for about a year, but I wasn’t sure about it until last month. I also bought it for my blog, because having WordPress installed on a domain gives you the possibility of customizing your site more than you can do if you have a blog hosted on WordPress.com.

Don’t forget to update your bookmarks/favourites/feed readers!

I have also a Feedburner feed —> http://feeds.feedburner.com/ilariatranslations