An internship to remember

I’ve always considered internships to be excellent training opportunities. They allow you to build your skills, learn new ones, and get a better understanding of the world that awaits you at the end of your studies. I also believe that, as with many things, it’s all about finding the one that will be perfect for you. So when I stumbled across a blog post written by Caro, the former intern and now new German translator at AJT, I did not hesitate before sending my application.

It’s a bit difficult for me to sum up all I have learned during these three months in a few words, as I feel like I have done and learned so much. There was of course translation and editing, which, while I did expect to be one of my main tasks, I did not think would still be so diverse and exciting. AJT works on a lot of very different projects and so I got to get involved in the translation of documents that could vary from a Facebook post about the remake of a famous video game to an article for the Kickstarter page of a renowned camera lens.

I was also given my very own translation project to work on form the beginning to the end of my internship, thus learning to manage a glossary and a Translation Memory. This project involving the translation of training guides for an American chain of fast-food restaurants, and the many specific terms and internal IT tools presented a real challenge. As a result, I have been able to realise just how important researching and knowing the company you are translating for really is.

I was also provided with excellent training in the use of CAT tools and app and website localisation, a field I was really looking forward to learning more about. Learning to work with Smartling was a very exciting opportunity. This CAT tool has a lot of really helpful functionalities to offer, whether that be the integrated style guide or being able to preview the translation in context.

I also learned about the translation of metadata and Google ads, two things that were very new to me. One challenge I did not expect to be faced with while localising the content of a website or an app was managing the placeholders. While placeholders weren’t new to me, having been introduced to video games localisation, I simply never thought they would also be involved in this type of content.

Another thing that surprised me was how marketing-orientated some of these projects could be. If you thought translating IT content was all about terminology and technical components, there is so much more to it than that, and I will surely take away with me how important it is for the translation to fit into the culture of the brand or company, and how moving away from the source text when the translation calls for it can really make all the difference.

Anja Jones Translation is a great environment for translation students to hone their skills and learn all there is to know about website, app and brand translation. The entire team really made me feel welcome and encouraged me from the start to the end of my internship. I will definitely miss working there every day, but I will take away lots of fond memories with me.

Cassandre, French translation intern

 

Do you think being an intern at Anja Jones Translation could be right up your street? Our next internship will start in February 2017 – don’t hesitate to get in touch!