As we’ve seen throughout our series of Translation Postcards, you can find translators in historic villages, towns and cities all over the world, but few of us live in a place that boasts over 3,400 years of recorded history.  Home to Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, Athens (Αθήνα) is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilisation and the birthplace of democracy, largely because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent, and in particular the Romans.

Andrew Morris

Is your email inbox kept as a to-do list? Often, people leave “to-do” emails in their inbox until they are completed. After completion, the email is categorized or deleted, thus removing it from the inbox.

Mike Donlin

Many are the reasons we change countries in the course of our lives. For the majority of us, those reasons are innocuous enough – we are drawn to different cultures, or climates, or lured by romance. And yet such life choices are sometimes far harder, as we’ll see in the case of translator and interpreter Mahdi Abdulbasit, who fled Ethiopia for Egypt in 2016.

Andrew Morris

In the series on 50 Steps to optimising your ProZ Profile being discussed at the Translators and Interpreters (ProZ.com) facebook group, group moderator and author Andrew Morris has turned the group's attention to recommendations.

Mike Donlin

It may not be a pretty city, but it’s certainly a historic one, with roots that date back to the pre-Viking, Anglo-Saxon era, and a port that was already a busy international transit hub when William the Conqueror was on the throne in the 11^th century. Some of the ancient city walls are still visible – the most famous relic being the iconic Bargate.

Andrew Morris

As a language professional, do everything you can to boost your chances of success. Here's a short video from director of training Paul Urwin with some tips for connecting with translation agencies via email.

Mike Donlin

Have you heard of project milestones? As a freelancer, you have likely come across this term but may not have yet implemented it into your project management systems.

Long-term projects need milestones. They help the freelancer stay on track and also make sure that you are getting paid along the way.

Mike Donlin

It’s the city that gave us both Lionel Messi and Che Guevara, and the birthplace of the Argentine national flag. For those reasons alone it’s worth taking a much closer look at Rosario, the third largest city in Argentina, set on the pampas alongside the broad brown waters of the Paraná, which gets its oxide and colour from its origins far to the north in Brazil. Scorching hot in summer, and cold and wet in winter, at least Rosario escapes the snow.

Andrew Morris

One of the beautiful aspects of being a freelancer is freedom. You get to choose your schedule, your workplace, your clients, and more.

However, the sudden switch to complete freedom often leads freelancers to an unorganized and unproductive work schedule. Here are some suggestions for how to schedule your freelancing day.

Mike Donlin

She’s a one-woman United Nations, born of Moroccan parents in Spain, now living in the USA and married to a man of British descent, who grew up in a part of the USA dominated by Pennsylvania Dutch families, who are in fact German. Today the street where she lives in New York City’s “forgotten borough” of Staten Island has the highest Liberian population outside of Liberia, plus plenty of Mexicans, Jamaicans and myriad other nationalities. And if that weren’t enough to endorse her candidature for Secretary-General, Nawal Kramer is one of those rare people who is genuinely bicultural.

Andrew Morris

If you are a freelancer, you must choose a freelancer profile photo. It is a big decision to make as it is one of the primary draws to your freelancer profile. Your photo must inspire trust and professionalism to entice high-quality clients.

Here are 8 freelancer profile photo tips to help you make the right photo choice.

Mike Donlin

Of all the destinations we’ve visited in our travelling armchairs, few are more iconic than Paris. The French capital is a global centre for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture, and its landmarks, from the 12^th-century Notre-Dame to the Arc de Triomphe and perhaps above all, the Eiffel Tower, are world-famous. Paris is no less renowned for its museums, luxury goods, booksellers along the Seine, grand 19^th-century boulevards, and of course its café culture – there can be few greater pleasures than tucking into a fresh crusty baguette or a delicious croissant with a piping hot café, as you watch the world speed by.

Andrew Morris

Ask most people what country Chișinău (pronounced kiʃiˈnəʊ ) is the capital of and they’ll stare at you blankly. Even when you reveal the answer – Moldova – their expression might not change dramatically. But this country, whose outline resembles a bunch of grapes is a fascinating corner of Eastern Europe, is well worth discovering in greater detail.

Andrew Morris

Your business opportunities require the services of language professionals across many languages from many different countries. Features exist at ProZ.com and other freelancer platforms for you and your vendor managers to quickly recruit many freelancers for your job in translation, interpreting, subtitling, transcription and more. Your project managers may deploy these tools to recruit talent to complete the work.

How will you pay this crowd of freelancers? 

Mike Donlin