This review of Naked Translations is brought to you by The Weblog Review blog and website reviews. Get your site reviewed within 4 days by using the 'For Faster Service' link on the left menu.
Naked Translations
Naked Translations was not quite as exciting as I’d hoped it would be, yet the title is accurate: it is the weblog of an interpreter and translator from France who has lived and worked in the U.K. for the past nine years translating, not surprisingly, French into English and vice versa. A quick glance at the contents of the uncluttered main page provides enough information for the reader to decide then and there if the blog is worth reading. It’s undoubtedly a specialized, niche blog – the latest entry is titled ‘Synecdoche’, a word with which I have no familiarity but through reading the entry I believe it means something similar to ‘using a singular noun/pronoun to represent a group.’ In the entry the author gives us the example of ‘school’ used to represent ‘schoolchildren.’ The point is, this blog isn’t always light reading.
But Naked Translations isn’t dry or academic either. Scanning through the archives, I came to realize that the life of a translator is, if anything, lived in solitude, and the author uses the blog as a vehicle for communicating with the outside world, relating personal experiences, anecdotes, and much of the daily idiosyncrasies of life as a translator. Most entries, in fact, begin with little tidbits about the author’s day-to-day life, but I was hard-pressed to find an entry that didn’t quickly bridge the authors personal life to the blogs mission: the art and business of translation. For example, the remodeling of the bathroom leads to an entry about the solitary existence of a translator; watching an episode of ER leads to a discussion on the structure of the Klingon language from Star Trek; a weekend stroll quickly becomes an entry about an uncommon English word (copse). The writing in all the entries is clear and well-structured, as I would hope to see from someone whose living is based upon language and communication. However, because the blog focuses on a specific and uncommon industry, some of the writing becomes technical and the author’s professional vocabulary is unique to the point that a reader who is not familiar with the business of translation or odd grammar rules might have some difficulty keeping up. Also, some entries use specific examples of what the author is working on and if you don’t know much French, these entries will probably mean very little to you.
The best technical aspect of the blog: on the main page the sidebar includes a list of the categories the author uses and links to four or five entries in each category. This feature enabled me to quickly find that the author’s entries cover a wide spectrum of topics about language and translation, with categories ranging from ‘Words’ to ‘It’s a funny job.’ The design is excellent and keeps the user focused on the blog’s specific purpose. One change I think could be beneficial is the inclusion more entries on the main page, as currently only the three latest entries reside are displayed, forcing the user to click through the archives or the categories to get more than a brief glance into the mind of the author.
The blog is an excellent, stimulating site for anyone interested in translation, writing, linguistics or the peculiarities of an uncommon job. The categorized list of links to older entries enables the reader to find topics that he or she might be interested in or information about a specific topic covered by the weblog quickly. The author is both knowledgeable and a clear writer. It gets a 4.5.
This site was reviewed on 2004-06-28 by thenomad.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
thenomad felt that Naked Translations deserved a rating of 4.5.
Naked Translations, I am sorry to say, is a bleak and boring page visually. I mean even an interesting font in a larger size and a more colorful header bar would cheer the place up.
There is an "about me" link at the top of the page which I checked out immediately and found out that this blog is written by a woman who does English/French translation work. Celine is doing what a lot of us SAY we want to do, which is work from home. And it sounds like she enjoys it pretty well. She is highly trained and sounds like she has more than enough work to keep her busy.
The entries have to do with all aspects of her translation work, with a liberal smattering of discussions about all things "wordy".
In the archives are several entries dealing with idioms such as:
"Spin Doctor", "Scraping the bottom of the barrel", and Pinning jelly to the wall", and how difficult they are to translate into another language, that are quite amusing.
She attracts fellow word lovers from all over, and everyone seems to be having a great old time making puns and yucking it up in the rarefied world of translators and idiomiesters.
Since her blog began in November 2003, this author has given out some very succinct and useful information about her job, and how she has worked out difficult translation problems with a liberal dose of humor. This lighthearted tone keeps the blog from being pedantic, considering the subject matter.
The site is fairly well organized. Although for my taste, there are a few TOO many ways to get to things. There are archives and then several topical indexes too. Recent entries, recent comments...it all gets a little confusing. But on the plus side, there is a search function which might be helpful, and a notification option, a service that I think ALL blogs should have.
I prefer to get notified rather than having to check someone's blog over and over to see if they have written anything lately.
If you love words, and know both French and English, and are involved in any kind of translation or interpretation work, this site would be interesting to you. Admittedly, this sounds like a select group to me, but I enjoyed my stay and the only French I know is Croissant, because I know how to make them from scratch!
I give this site a 4 for very nicely fulfilling it's purpose. I would consider a higher rating though if the design was spiced up a bit.
This site was reviewed on 2004-06-28 by yetzirah.
They felt this site belonged in the News/Links category.
yetzirah felt that Naked Translations deserved a rating of 4.
The difficulties of translation/interpretation from French to English and vice-versa. This was my initial one-liner to describe Céline's site yet it does not cover all the aspects of it. I found myself trying to sum the site up with a fierce passion after reading it as I am into the same line of work and the correct translation of ideas always arouses my curiosity.
Upon first glancing at the site I posed a question: "How would the author manage to convey, in laymen's term, the subtle difficulties involved in translating?" Not an easy task... I began to wonder if she'd actually be able to pull it off and interest the reader in the process.
I commenced my trip browsing around, navigating the site. It looks very professional. Simple white and blue template, a side bar with recent entries, recent comments, post highlights under “Category” titles such as Grammar, Culture, Idioms, Interpreting, etc. The site also includes a notify form for updates. Overall, the site has that certain “cleanliness” that Moveable Type gives.
The site title “Naked Translations” is followed by a description (something I always find soothing) and it also features a top menu that takes you to the “home” page where we find Céline’s picture and site introduction; her “About” page, where we learn she is French and moved to the UK nine years ago to complete a Master’s degree in English and ended up staying. We then have an “Experience and Credentials” page which I found pretty impressive. Her rates are also included in the menu (though given via e-mail) as well as the blog itself, called “Translation Blog”, where she explores the same subtleties I mentioned above.
After ending my browsing, I dived into the archives expecting nothing but rather impersonal posts regarding her profession. As I read on, though, I found my initial idea to be wrong. What I most liked about reading Céline was the way she managed to thread her translation difficulties with everyday existence. For example, her post on how to translate this : "Blaming Tony Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall", into French while successfully conveying the meaning and then how she calls “mum” up in an effort to find some ideas on the Tony Blair remark, proved touching. Interesting merge of both the professional and private world there. The private-world posts range from overachieving, the holidays, self employment, the fear of losing good work for taking time out to the loneliness involved in being a Translator: “Solitude and isolation are big issues for freelance translators “, she writes. And the way in which she explains it has us nodding our head in approval.
Her posts relating to the areas of her profession are easily found in the side bar, under the Category title. Thus the posts under “Grammar” will contain just that. Difficulties in using the grammar of both languages when attempting to translate ideas. The Idioms posts deal with idiomatic expressions and how she relates them to daily life. The Interpreting posts I found to be most interesting, making you smile as you picture Céline's ordeals. Whatever the category, her Translation Blog always manages to merge work with daily life. That is quite refreshing as a career blog will not, of course, appeal to all readers. However, this blog manages to broaden its horizons and interest both the translator and the average blog fan . Also, Céline found the way to explain, in a clear manner, the troubles which she faces when translating English to French and vice-versa to people like me, who do not speak French at all. Quite an interesting blog.
This site was reviewed on 2004-06-28 by answer-seeking gal.
They felt this site belonged in the News/Links category.
answer-seeking gal felt that Naked Translations deserved a rating of 4.
3 reviewers gave Naked Translations an average rating of 4.1667
Site Stats
Site Category: News/Links
Reader Rating: 2.4500 based on 5 votes
Report URL
Cast your vote
Sorry you need to log in to vote.