That the free in freelancer means just that. Free to do a test or not. Free to refuse if you feel unwell, have no time, or just don’t like the look of the test (why do some agencies insist on using a cutting from a newspaper that has absolutely nothing to do with the types of texts you will supposedly end up translating for them?). And, of course, as I discussed with Elena Tereschenkova and Dmitry Kornyukov when they kindly invited me to chat with them one Wednesday on their live Blab chat show on translation called “Blabbing Translators“, free to pick and choose the advice we are bombarded with in this profession on social media without worrying about ignoring something often portrayed as essential.
This is just a quick post to ask you all if you could please complete the 
Is it just a box-ticking exercise to comply with the 
I had spent twenty years teaching French, German and beginner’s Italian in comprehensive schools in the South of England and had also worked for CILT and CfBT.
Last week I was delighted to be invited as the guest on the newish live translation chat show run by Dmitry Kornyukhov and Elena Tereshchenkova. Called Blabbing Translators, because it’s held on a platform called “Blab”, it airs every Wednesday and the first season will be ending on 22 June. As they won’t be returning until August, now’s a good time to catch up on any of the episodes you might have missed. With topics ranging from the past, present and future of the profession with Steve Vitek to collaboration with colleagues with Emeline Jamoul, and including interviews with Tess Whitty on diversification, Paul Urwin on marketing and Christelle Maignan on coaching, there’s bound to be a podcast to suit everyone.
Today’s guest post is by Nicola Thayil and it’s the first review on an MA at a 
Among the scores of posts published on translation blogs every day, very few manage to reach out and grab my full attention as much as Kevin Fernandez’s on The Open Mic. Provocatively entitled 
Nikki Graham - Translation & Editing Services 