Wolfestone Translation Blog

Jean Baptiste came to join us for a few weeks from France and would like to share his internship experience. Even though he hasn’t been here for very long he has found it extremely worthwhile.

“After finishing my Erasmus year at Swansea University, I thought about doing an internship here in Swansea. I wanted to gain experience and be confronted to the work in a company. This internship in Wolfestone completes the work I have been doing at the university, it has been the opportunity to apply my knowledge in a professional environment and to meet new people, which is enriching humanly, as well as for the studies. Moreover I’m planning to enter a translation school in Paris next year. I would like to thank all the Wolfestone team for having me.”
Our interns get a real insight into the world of translation. Students are given responsibilities including; translating and proofreading documents in their native languages, assisting project managers in the preparation of documents for translation, assisting in recruiting linguists and video editing. Students are able to work along side experts in the translation industry who can guide and advise them along the way, aiming to give the student as much experience and knowledge as possible in the given time.

“I recommend such an internship to all those who are willing to extend their knowledge of languages and office related skills as well as having an insight into the real world of work”

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

I am currently in a first year of Master in Foreign Languages applied to Business. However, I would like to do a Master in Translation next year, so I thought doing my internship in the translation area would be a perfect transition between both. Moreover, to work in an English-speaking firm would help me to have more professional experience, to meet different cultures and, of course, to improve my English language.

I applied for an internship as translator in this company in part because their website was really attractive and complete, and thanks to the positive testimonies of other interns. I made an unsolicited application and I received an answer very quickly; they gave me all the information I needed in a very short time. I didn’t have many translation classes during my studies but, during the 4 months of internship, I have hoped to learn a lot about translation techniques and, more simply, how things take place in such a company.

During my first week, I began with some documents such as certificates and technical documents to practice. It was really interesting to discover new fields of translation as I was used to translate extracts of novels, magazine’s and newspaper’s articles, etc. Then, I was giving more and more responsabilities with translations for clients, proofreadings and a few tasks in the marketing area. I have felt more involved in the company. The staff is very friendly and helpul in case of any problem or question and there is a really cultural diversity. The atmosphere is relaxed and nice which is a really important thing in a company. Maybe it can explain its dynamism and its success.

I think that it is an experience really rewarding on a personal and professional point of view. Being in contact with other cultures helps you to be more open-minded, even at work. What’s better than working in a firm in a foreign country to know what is working life? They are serious about their work and they pay attention to the client’s expectations. According to me, Wolfestone Translation plays his part very well as teaching us how to work.

Marion Laisné – France

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

I am currently studying PR and media at Swansea University and decided that it would be useful to assess my strengths and weaknesses, as well as to get hands on experience in the chosen field of study through a work taster.

At the end of my placement here I consider that the chance of working within the Marketing and Sales Department of Wolfestone Translations has been really useful. Firstly, I am starting to understand how important it is to know the background of the company you are working for, as it helps you deliver better customer services. This was relevant both to creating customer newsletters, but also performing marketing research in the US market. Secondly, I got acquainted with softwares such as ACT!, Dreamweaver 8 or business oriented internet services such as Link Market and Swiftpage 5, which are really important in managing customer databases or designing various materials. Last but not least, the work taster gave me the opportunity to improve my writing and screen-based designing skills.

On the whole, the atmosphere in the office is relaxed and the environment can indeed be called international and culturally diverse. Also, my colleagues have been really helpful in answering the questions I had about various tasks, as it helped me improve my skills.

Georgiana Avram, Romania

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

I finished my Bachelor´s degree for Translation and Interpreting in July 2009, after four years of intensive language learning and a lot of translating and interpreting work I thought the logical step would be to immerse myself in the practical side of translation and apply for the Leonardo DaVinci scholarship.  It is good to be trained on the theoretical aspects of a certain field of knowledge, but nobody ever teaches you the reality of an everyday job and that is what I needed next.

It wasn´t difficult to apply for the internship at Wolfestone Translation: I found an advertisement at the Europlacement website and from there onwards they made the application procedure easy and convenient. It has only been a week and I am already sure of having chosen the correct means to my goal.

The experience has been very valuable so far, and I have felt comfortable in the working environment since the very beginning. The team is really friendly, and the multicultural and young staff made my first days very instructive and pretty entertaining! At the office, I have been assigned with many different jobs of a diverse nature, which prooves that the team really appreciate my commitment to the job.

I have felt like one  of the team, and have enjoyed the challenging tasks I have been assigned since the very first day. Honestly, I thought that the internship would be a thorough guide, step by step, to the basics of translation and their daily implementation. It hasn´t been like that but even better: I have been taught how to do things by my own means and gained experience, which is challenging and very useful. Furthermore, it is really rewarding to get involved in the work environment and its own dynamics and achieve certain goals –meet deadlines, improve my writing skills, etc.-. The sincere dedication to their tasks makes you want to learn from them (and as fast as you can) so they´re not only being encouraging but also motivating!

What´s more, the labour dynamics here are well organized and professional which, at the same time implies the job being pretty demanding. Fortunately, my tutor, Emma, has explained to me in detail what everyone´s role within the company is and has given me helpful advice on how I should do my job. In only a week´s time I can say that I have not only put into practice my translation skills but also got to learn the dynamics of a business, the importance of the work environment being relaxed and motivating and of course, practiced my English. What more could I ask for after a single week of placement?

Maria Sáez,

Spain.

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

My second week at Wolfestone has just begun. I am working here as part of my Leonardo exchange, after a two-week language course. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Modern Language but I have never done any serious experience abroad or studied a language outside my country (Italy), that’s why I really wanted to go to the UK to improve my knowledge of the English language while, at the same time, I still wanted to find a job related to my university studies. Wolfestone actually allows me to do that. Till now I have done many translations from English into Italian but also one from Italian into English and one from French into English. I don’t have any previous experience in translation as I have just graduated, so I am really grateful that Wolfestone gives me the possibility to do real translations that are later revised and sent to the clients. If they don’t have any request for the languages I work with I translate old documents that I later compare with the original translations. It is very interesting to learn translating different kinds of documents and specific terminology: the kinds of texts that I deal with are birth and marriage certificates and websites of any kind. Right now Wolfestone is also looking for interpreters so I have also done a little research on the web to enrich the database.

The atmosphere at work is very relaxed; they are all very helpful and friendly, offering tea, coffee and chocolates. It is also nice to be surrounded by people from different nationalities and to see that trainees are very welcome. In the end I hope that this experience would be very useful for my professional career.

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

Well, here I am. Only one week after terminating my MA in Translation with Language Technology, I already have my first language-related job. Well, sort of. Even before I did my MA, I did do sporadic translation work for people, and even interpreting on one occasion in the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. However, this is my first language-related office job, let’s just say. I found out about the six-week internship from one of my former university lecturers, and was very quickly offered an interview and then the internship itself!

It has been a pretty easy-going atmosphere, but still very productive. Most of my translations have been from Spanish into English, though I have done little snippets from French as well. A very high number of the former type has been marriage certificates, especially from Mexico. Until now, I had never quite grasped just how many people nowadays go abroad to get married, with Cancun and other nearby resorts being particularly popular. I also translated a nationality certificate and a birth certificate too. Furthermore, I have spent a lot of time adding to the company’s database of interpreters, scouring numerous websites and sending lots of e-mails to prospective ones. By and large, I have really enjoyed myself, and hope to get even more out of this as the weeks progress.

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

I’ve really enjoyed my 3 weeks here at Wolfestone Translation here in Swansea. The work experience has been invaluable for many reasons. Firstly, it’s truly superb being able to get back to the work environment after a long illness. Secondly, I’ve been able to use the skills that I’ve acquired and which I specialise in; namely being able to use my French Degree from Bangor University, and my Masters in translation with language technology (although I did not finish that course). Besides, the experience undoubtedly improved my French, after not having used it for a long time. Unfortunately Wolfestone did not give me time to use my knowledge of translation software like Trados and déjà vu. I would have liked to have been able to refresh my knowledge of translation software and apply it to the workplace.

The social aspect is significant as well. Everybody has been very kind and understanding. It’s nice to have a routine and having to get up early to face a day of work and catching the train. I also enjoyed the administrative side . As regards the actual translations and computer work, I found it very challenging, especially the medical translations, and coping with jargon and administrative French. The resources for translating in Wolfestone are very useful, and I used the internet quite a lot for my research into what different medical terms mean. I coped quite well with the computer side of things. The ECDL I acquired a couple of years back was of use.

Moreover my experience here with Wolfestone has given me a direction for the future. I would like to become a freelance translator, translating from French to English. And maybe even translate from French to Welsh if the opportunity arises, as Welsh is my first language. Remploy have been very helpful in securing this work placement for me.

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

I had to undertake an internship in a foreign company in order to complete my Bachelor’s Degree. I was very glad to have been accepted at Wolfestone Translation, a very young and dynamic company which succeeded to build up a serious and strong reputation in only a few years. By working at Wolfestone Translations I have learnt that to achieve such a success there is only one keyword which is: hard working.

As it was my first working experience, I did not only discover the field of translation but also how to run a company, the different roles of the staff within the firm, all of them being complementary and (the last but not the least) the importance of communication both within the company and with the customers.

Relating to translation, I only had followed few classes of translation before so I really enhanced my translation skills here and I discovered new fields like technical or legal translation. Moreover, the members of Wolfestone Translation have relied on me giving me jobs for customers so I really felt involved and consequently it was a very fulfilling experience that I would recommend to anyone interested in working in the field of translation.

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

At the beginning of June I started my internship at Wolfestone Translations. This experience has been very valuable to me, helping me to improve my translation skills, as well as my organization abilities. In fact, not only I learnt how to deal with a broad range of texts, I also understood the responsibility of meeting deadlines.

Overall, this experience has been very useful for my personal and professional growth. I obtained additional experience in the fields of translation, proofreading and QA. Besides, it gave me a wide overview of the role of translation agencies and how important it is to choose the right one.

I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the company and the people I worked with and I am glad to have been part of the team during this two-month period. I am confident that this will be a precious contribution to my professional development.

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!

About my experience
As an intern at Wolfestone Translation, I have learnt a lot of things. Indeed, I felt really involved in the Marketing department, assisting to the weekly meetings as a real member of the team and understanding that people trusted me because

of the autonomy which was given to me. Being so free helped me to develop my skills.
I worked on a project about business development in the US and I took part in its elaboration step by step, that is to say from general information about work in the USA at the beginning, then research about the competitors…to looking for sales executives at the end.
Moreover, I have been in charge of advertising for the company, which enabled me to discover another aspect of my future job and increase my creative skills.
More than a work experience, it has been an amazing life experience, meeting people from different horizons and countries…
Thank you Wolfestone!
Sandy

Do you want to do an internship at Wolfestone? Visit our website www.wolfestone.co.uk!