Hi everyone, and welcome to the first blog post published on Lauren Campbell Translation.
My name is Lauren and, as you might already know if you’ve arrived here via my website, I am a freelance translator and tutor from Manchester in the UK. I initially set up this website to advertise my services, but I also wanted it to be a place where I could share my knowledge about translation and language learning with those who are currently studying languages and translation or are considering a career in this field.
But, before I get into all of that, I thought I’d use this first post to introduce myself and my professional background, as well as the plans I have for this blog in 2025.
A Bit About Me
So, you already know what I do for a living, but how did I get here?
Well, my journey with languages began when I was 11 years old, when I started studying French in my first year of high school. I can’t explain why, but there was something about learning French that captured my imagination like no subject ever had before. That feeling grew even stronger when I started learning Spanish a year later. Maybe it was my annual family holiday to Spain, but I felt an instant affinity with both the Spanish language and culture, one which I still hold to this day.
As I’m sure you can guess from my glowing review of both subjects, selecting Spanish and French as two of my A-Level subjects was an easy choice. It was in college that I really took my language-learning journey to the next level. My Spanish teacher encouraged me to consume as much Spanish content as I possibly could, whether that be books, newspapers, music, films, or TV shows. And I took that advice seriously, spending countless hours making my way through the Argentinian pre-teen telenovela Violetta and reading what would become one of my favourite book series, the late Carlos Ruíz Zafón’s La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind). I took the same approach with French, and it was these extra-curricular activities that truly took my language skills from an intermediate to an advanced level, where I could converse with Spaniards and Francophones about most subjects comfortably. So, if any of my students are reading this, that is why I favour a practical rather than theoretical approach to language learning.
When it came to deciding what I would study at university, my natural preference for Spanish won over. My degree would be 75% Hispanic studies, but I would also add a new language to my arsenal, Italian. I loved most of the courses I took throughout my three years at university, each one teaching me something new about Spanish language, history or culture, but one stood out above all the others: translation.
I never thought of translation as anything more than a word-for-word exercise prior to studying it at university. I’d never considered the hours that a translator can pour into deciding how to phrase one sentence of a text in just the right way, balancing the need for accuracy with the need for naturalness. Safe to say, I loved the challenge translation posed, as well as its often-overlooked creative side. Before studying translation, I didn’t really know what I would do with my degree, but that one introductory unit changed that.
As soon as I graduated with a BA in Modern Language Studies, I wasted no time in enrolling on a Master’s translation course at the University of Manchester. Throughout my year at Manchester, I developed my blossoming translation skills, learning how to deal with a wide variety of text types and how to implement translation theory into my work to justify my decisions.
Just one year later, in 2023, I graduated with my Master’s Degree and, in July 2023, I launched Lauren Campbell Translation, my freelancing business. The road to becoming an established freelancer has been tough, and I’m still not fully there yet, but I feel lucky to say that I have followed my passion and that I love what I do in my job.
What Will This Blog Be About
So, now that you know a little bit more about me, let me share some of my initial plans for this blog.
I have wanted to start a blog for a long time, but I’ve never quite found the right subject to cover. But now that I’m entering my second year of freelancing, I feel like I’ve gathered enough knowledge about my chosen profession to start sharing it with others.
I plan to write about three main topics on this blog:
1. Life as Freelancer
Before I became a freelancer, I had no clue whatsoever what it entailed. It’s just not something that is widely discussed in an academic environment, despite it being the logical career path of many aspiring linguists and translators. So, on this site, I’ll be sharing some of the things I’ve learned about being a freelancer, including what my day-to-day looks like, how I found my first clients, and the boring stuff that you have to do as a sole trader.
2. Translation and Translation Studies
As I said before, I had no idea what translation really meant before I studied it at university. So, on this blog, I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned about the art of translation throughout my degree and beyond, including how translation theory can be used to influence decision-making as a translator, how to approach different text types, and my personal approach and views on translation. If you’re an aspiring translator, or you love languages and are wondering if it’s something you’d be interested in studying, I hope to help you on your way to discovering the exciting world of translation.
3. Language Learning Tips
Before translation, my first love was language learning, and it is still something I am very passionate about. That is why I’ll be dedicating some of the posts on this blog to my best language-learning tips, to help inspire others to take the leap and start or continue learning a new language in 2025. My tips will of course be focused on the three foreign languages I can speak (Spanish, French, and Italian), but the core advice I will be sharing will generally apply to whichever language you choose to adopt.
That’s the plan, at least for now. I hope to publish a new post here every week so, if these sound like interesting topics to you, I hope you’ll stick around and join in the conversation in the comments section.
In the meantime, you can also follow me over on Instagram for more insights into my life as a translator and tutor.
If you’re looking for a translator or tutor, you can find out more about my freelance services by heading to the main page of my website. Click here to check it out.
That’s just about it for today’s post. I hope you enjoyed finding out a little bit more about me and the plans I have for this blog. Thanks for reading, and see you next time.