This week the Glasgow office have enjoyed the company of Ross McMullan, Japanese student. Here he describes his experience so far.

From the quaint south-west English city of Bath to the Scottish cultural hub of Glasgow I have come to spend a few weeks with The Translation People. Its only day two but I thought it best to commence blogging sooner, allowing me to perhaps write another entry before my time here has come to an end. So without further ado allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Ross McMullan. I am currently undertaking an MA in Interpreting and Translation at the University of Bath which is assuredly as hard as it sounds but highly rewarding. With a three week long Easter break I felt as though I needed to sharpen my skills acquired in the classroom with some cutting-edge business experience; looks like I have come to the right place. However, first of all I think I ought to explain more about why I am interested in interpreting and translation and, more markedly, why Japanese.

I began my studies in Japanese in the University of Edinburgh in September of 2004. Actually, at the outset Japanese was only an outside subject, a side dish accompanying French which was my main, if you will. But why study Japanese to begin with? This is a question I am often asked, particularly when I am in Japan, where my response is ‘socchi ni yama ga atta kara’, which literally translates as ‘because there was a mountain there’ in other words ‘because I fancied the challenge’. This is a more succinct explanation than, ‘I started with French but reckoned that going to Japan for a year would be well more interesting than France and also the banter in Japanese class is better’; it’s equivalent would be welcome in English. I suppose the verbose explanation above coupled with the fact that upon leaving secondary education I had a desire to continue learning language would form a plausible explanation.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Edinburgh and year abroad in Japan. Before graduation, however, I realised that being able to speak Japanese would not be enough on its own, particularly given that I was far off fluency at that time (and dare say am now, but considerably closer). In addition, whilst in Japan I had the opportunity to interpret on a very informal basis for family and friends who had come to visit; something which I thoroughly enjoyed. Therefore, I opted for the MA at the University of Bath to acquire practical interpreting and translation skills and hone my language skills.

However, the MA does not cover much of the business side of interpreting and translation; that’s where the internship with The Translation People comes into play. As I said, its only day two on the job but already my knowledge of how translation agencies interact with clients and translators has greatly increased. As someone with a potential career, fingers crossed, in interpreting and translation, seeing how clients, agencies, and translators interact is something which should prove beneficial in terms of perfecting self-marketing and increasing awareness of what to focus on and what to avoid in this highly underappreciated industry of irrefutable importance to international business.

I anticipate an informative two week long internship and look forward to positively reporting what I have taken on board and who knows; perhaps one day The Translation People will be calling me (better keep up the hard work then).

The Translation People’s Manchester office is pleased to welcome Stephanie Beckwith as their new Account Manager. Her main responsibilities will include managing projects, and developing Manchester’s client base.

Stephanie has a joint honors degree in French and Spanish from the University of Manchester. During her time at university, she spent a semester at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France followed by a second semester at the Universitat Autònoma in Barcelona.

Stephanie joins The Translation People from a financial and media background. She is looking forward to working in a language focused environment, and also to becoming acquainted with her new colleagues, clients and translators.

Catherine Davies is currently working with The Translation People’s Birmingham office; here she shares her first week’s experience.

‘I have just completed a Masters degree in Interpreting and Translating at the University of Bath, which was without a doubt my most intensive year so far, but also my most rewarding. I had the opportunity to complete a professional translation placement at the Universal Postal Union in Switzerland and have since been eager to learn more about the world of translation. Throughout the course, the message was that good translators are highly sought after, but that competition on the outside is tough! So, pre-armed and pre-warned, I applied for an internship with The Translation People at their Birmingham office and I was lucky enough to be accepted.

It has only been a week since my first day, yet I am surprised at how much I have learnt in such a short period of time. This is down to my colleagues who are keen to include me in every aspect of the day-to-day running of a busy translation agency, even when they are rushed off their feet.

I have been entrusted with proof reading; assisted in the preparation of quotations; compiled glossaries; seen the wonders of Trados – my experience of this CAT tool is limited, but I am quickly becoming a convert – and even Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has been mentioned – all before the end of week one.

After such an information-packed week, I am looking forward to a weekend of rest and relaxation, but nevertheless, I am also looking forward to returning to work on Monday. A simple statement maybe, but having taken the plunge and changed careers to become a translator, it is music to my ears.’

Fiona pictured, on the front row second from the left, at the start of the walk

Linking Milngavie and Fort William, Scotland’s first official long distance route totals 95 miles of hills, moors and woodlands. Last week Fiona McGhee, Account Manager in the Glasgow office, tackled this hike along with 13 friends. The walk was in aid of Motor Neurone Disease, a cause close to their heart as a friend’s dad has recently been diagnosed with the disease. The Route follows the shores of Loch Lomond, passing Ben Lomond, crossing Rannoch Moor to the head of Glencoe, climbing the Devil’s Staircase and crossing the River Leven at the head of Loch Leven before entering Lairigmor and Glen Nevis. Sounds easy! Well according to Fiona it wasn’t!

“I’d known that we were going to do this for about 5 months but no amount of training could have prepared me for the mental and physical challenge of walking an average of 14 miles a day for 7 days. If it hadn’t been for all the money we raised I’m sure some of us would have given up at some point.”

The group’s hike began in their home town of Milngavie where even the local paper turned up for a few photos which made the front page of the local newspaper. The first day was fairly easy, everyone was fresh and raring to go, and only a short 12 mile fairly flat hike took them to Drymen for their first stop. After a night of rest and relaxation the team headed for their next port of call – Rowardennan. For Fiona, this was her toughest day!

“I had been to Rowardennan before but had always driven, it’s funny how 14 miles can feel so quick in a car! Walking through the woods alongside Loch Lomond was really difficult as we had no idea how much further we had to go and how much longer we needed to keep walking. Finding out from some fellow walkers that the hostel we were headed to had no water slowed our pace a little I think.”

After Rowardennan it was onto Inverarnan which was the most difficult part of the whole hike. A small crumbling path along the side of Loch Lomond was slippy and dangerous thanks to all the Scottish rain, it was so dangerous in fact that Fiona slipped and rolled down a hill landing on the banks of Loch Lomond, thankfully with just a couple of bruises Fiona bounced back up even more determined to get to their next destination. The next couple of days the group rested their weary heads at Tyndrum, Kingshouse and Kinlochleven before making the arduous climb out of the valley towards the end point of Fort William.

All 14 members of the team arrived together at the end of The West Highland Way at 4pm on Friday 24th July after approximately 60 hours of walking. With numerous blisters, sore knees and tired bodies the group huddled together for a final photo in front of the sign marking the West Highland Way. So was it worth it?

“Absolutely” Fiona says of her trip “to think of the amount of money we raised and also the awareness we have raised of the disease makes it totally worthwhile.” However, she also adds “I’m glad I did it, the scenery really was amazing and the walk showed Scotland at its best but I will never ever do it again!”

So far the group has raised over £3200 for the charity and more cheques are still being counted.