Yes, it's true: I've finally thrown on the Blogger mantle again! Hopefully, this time, it will be more pemanent and regular postings will abound.
And the reason for this reappearance? Well, I am now no longer working at the academia, nor any other academia for that matter, and so have much more time on my hands, not only to write the blog, but to actually go and do stuff that's worth writing about, or at least muse over. And why the sudden change, you may ask? It's all down to a change in plan, that I've been mulling over for the last few years. Long hours at the academia and holidays not necessarily when I needed them were part of it, and since I started doing translations as part of the work there, I realised that I enjoyed the task very much indeed.
And so, I am retransforming myself into Translator Extraordinare, ta-daa! Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it sounds and I already failed one set of exams this January. Although not due to any general bad practice of mine, nor misunderstanding of Spanish, nor is there anything wrong with my grammar ( I should hope not!). No, what I need to improve is my English. Really. Idioms, fixed expressions, collocations, that sort of thing. Since I've been here so long, my English has started to deteriorate - not too much apparently, but it needs a bit of a boost. (Though I do feel the need to add, for my own ego, that there were also some parts of the exam that I did very well indeed - and that's the examiner talking, not me. Though another also said I need to read up on my contemporary Spanish history! Me! And s/he said it in reference to El Cid, who was around in the 11th century; methinks certain examiners should be improving their Iberian history too.) Hence my scribblings here again. Of course, blogging is always great fun, but now it has a double role: I get to regale you with stories of my life, and enjoy myself in the process (as usual) plus I am also able to practice my written English once more, which has been much neglected and needs improving if I'm to pass these exams. I'm sure, however, that now I'm not so stressed and tired with work, that the task will be a smidgen easier than before.
In the meantime, as well as studying (and for this read: watching English TV series - I've just finished the first series of An Idiot Abroad, brilliant and highly suitable for my current needs, though Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are damn annoying - watching documentaries in English, reading books, magazines in English and Spanish, as well as all the translation theory and doing practice translations) I shall still be looking for any translation work I can do since I know I'm pretty good already and can only improve with practice.
Translatordom, here I come!
And the reason for this reappearance? Well, I am now no longer working at the academia, nor any other academia for that matter, and so have much more time on my hands, not only to write the blog, but to actually go and do stuff that's worth writing about, or at least muse over. And why the sudden change, you may ask? It's all down to a change in plan, that I've been mulling over for the last few years. Long hours at the academia and holidays not necessarily when I needed them were part of it, and since I started doing translations as part of the work there, I realised that I enjoyed the task very much indeed.
And so, I am retransforming myself into Translator Extraordinare, ta-daa! Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it sounds and I already failed one set of exams this January. Although not due to any general bad practice of mine, nor misunderstanding of Spanish, nor is there anything wrong with my grammar ( I should hope not!). No, what I need to improve is my English. Really. Idioms, fixed expressions, collocations, that sort of thing. Since I've been here so long, my English has started to deteriorate - not too much apparently, but it needs a bit of a boost. (Though I do feel the need to add, for my own ego, that there were also some parts of the exam that I did very well indeed - and that's the examiner talking, not me. Though another also said I need to read up on my contemporary Spanish history! Me! And s/he said it in reference to El Cid, who was around in the 11th century; methinks certain examiners should be improving their Iberian history too.) Hence my scribblings here again. Of course, blogging is always great fun, but now it has a double role: I get to regale you with stories of my life, and enjoy myself in the process (as usual) plus I am also able to practice my written English once more, which has been much neglected and needs improving if I'm to pass these exams. I'm sure, however, that now I'm not so stressed and tired with work, that the task will be a smidgen easier than before.
In the meantime, as well as studying (and for this read: watching English TV series - I've just finished the first series of An Idiot Abroad, brilliant and highly suitable for my current needs, though Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are damn annoying - watching documentaries in English, reading books, magazines in English and Spanish, as well as all the translation theory and doing practice translations) I shall still be looking for any translation work I can do since I know I'm pretty good already and can only improve with practice.
Translatordom, here I come!
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