Article on translating Harry Potter

...in The Guardian. Link to print-friendly version.

Sorry, this blog is too busy to comment, just go read it yourself.

Final checklist tip

A question at ProZ reminds me that if the word "public" is in the final text, it is a good idea to check, just before delivery, that no instance of the word is missing the "L".

This is true for Spanish, as well as English.

púbico: 1. adj. Perteneciente o relativo al pubis.

A Resolution To Be Broken

Does this ever happen to you? Translating publisher's blurbs or liner notes for music albums I generally become so taken with the product that I offer to be paid in kind instead of in cash.

Write 10 times:
Publishers are not good clients for book addict translators.
Publishers are not good clients for book addict translators.
Publishers are not good clients for...

Fortalecer, fortalecimiento

Here's how I've translated fortalecer [or resp. fortalecimiento] in past translations:

• strengthen
  
• support
  
• build up
  
• reinforce
  
• promote
  
• boost
  

and two context-specific solutions:

• enhance
  
• increase