Your professional translator

Dear readers of this blog, Thank you so much for staying with me through this year, for reading and commenting on my posts, for suggesting topics for discussion and for letting me know when there were any typos/mistakes! I can't express how much I value each one of you. I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas ! May the Lord bless you with joy and peace ! And may this New Year bring you many blessings from above ! Olga More free Russian New Year and Christmas pictures here:  открытки и анимация с Новым годом

 Last year I wrote a post about Santa Claus and Ded Moroz . There, I mentioned a character called Snegurochka, or Snow Maiden in English. I recently came across a wonderful article in Russian on one of my favourite websites, so I thought that I definitely need to share at least some of its most interesting parts so you can know more about this beautiful legend.

There's no doubt that Twitter offers a wealth of opportunities. But how can Twitter help us learn a foreign language? I've got some ideas, but I'd be thankful for your input as well! So comments are more than welcome! Twitter offers several advantages for languages learners: 1) Here people usually write what they think in a conversational style. So it's a great tool to master conversational English/Russian/any other language that people use on Twitter.

When you read translation blogs, especially advice from more experienced translators to their less experienced colleagues, the most popular topics are: setting your rates and keeping them, defining your fields of specialization, working on your quality, productivity and marketing. But I think there's one more thing we need to think about from the very first days as translators: topics that we won't cover, no matter how much money we are offered for our services. Those things differ from person to person. What you will or won't do really depends on your personality, views, religion, life experience and a lot of other factors. I don't translate texts that promote any occult practices, pornography, abortions, prostitution, smoking, drinking or any illegal actions. Please don't think that I am trying to impose my views on you! I don't work with such texts because of who I am and my priorities. My goal is helping people with my work , not doing them any har...

With the New Year rapidly approaching, I am starting to analyze this past year. In fact, I've been analyzing all the changes in my life since 2007. And I am learning to value the Lord's timing, His guidance and support while He has continuously been pushing me out of my comfort zone. I started working in the church while I was still a student and I never wanted to look for a different job, or a different position. Even when I realized that changes were necessary I did not welcome them. Partly, this was because I loved my work in the church. I made a lot of friends, I had a chance to develop the skills that could otherwise remain hidden, plus I had a privilege of serving the Lord and helping people in Vladimir and its suburbs, and even people from other countries. Thankfully, the latter point applies to my life now as well, otherwise I'd have to admit that I made a huge mistake ;)

Hi! How are you? I hope you've had a good week and are ready for a new blog post which is actually not going to be about translation. It is going to be about learning foreign languages. Please meet Aaron G Myers, the Author of "The Everyday Language Learner's Guide To Sustaining". If you click here his website will open in a new window . He contacted me this week through Twitter and gave me a link to his Guide which you can find here . I followed the link and as I began reading I realized how special this little booklet really is.

January 1, 2010. Delia is standing next to one of her favourite cartoon characters made of snow Last year I wrote a post about advantages and disadvantages of being a freelancer . Now, as I am sitting by my daughter watching her sleeping and finishing another urgent assignment, I realized how blessed I really am. I can see how she's growing. I can spend time with her. I can take her home from the kindergarten right after lunch, not in the evening like most parents do. Every day we read or do some maths to prepare her for primary school. We can go outside and play in the first snow. We can watch her favourite cartoons together. All while people with 'normal' jobs are still at work. To me, this is the greatest advantage of being a freelancer. Yes, there are deadlines, taxes and Russian laws which are hard to figure out without some legal help, and sometimes I am not sure whether I'll be able to pay all the bills (but our awesome, amazing Lord helps us every single ti...