Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2019.
The close of a year and the festive period often provides us with much-needed time to reflect and take stock – both of our achievements to date and of the things that we haven’t quite managed. I believe that this period of reflection is extremely important. It is all too easy to become so focused on the everyday, on meeting deadlines and on getting through our workloads that we forget what it is we are striving towards and what all the work is actually for. I know that I am guilty of this – when you are dealing with deadline after deadline, it can be hard to take a step back. This blog post is an opportunity to do just that…
Looking back on 2018
2018 was a great year for LEaF – we have worked with some great clients on some great projects. From entire websites for hotels, eCommerce sites and accountants, to sewing instructions for the wonderful shesmile. We have translated blogs about chocolate (a matter very close to our hearts!) for the fabulous Vivani and have continued our work with the ISM Mainz – an organisation helping migrants in Germany.
Back at the beginning of 2018, I wrote:
…for us, and perhaps for you as well, 2018 is the year to play big. This is the year to get out there in front of the right people. If you have something great to offer, then tell the world! No more playing small.
For LEaF, this means getting ourselves out there and introducing ourselves to individuals, companies and institutions that need our help. German businesses who know that this is the year to play big and reach whole new audiences. We want to work together with great clients to help them reach millions of new English-speaking potential customers and to achieve great things.
We want to work with the right people and make a real difference.
Reading this back, I am proud of the new partnerships that we have forged and of the new clients that we have been helping – hopefully these working relationships will continue for many years to come.
In terms of getting out there, we have launched two new initiatives on our Facebook page:
- Every Wednesday we give people the opportunity to ask questions about translation and the English language. These range from general questions about the English language, such as why we write “a unique” but “an uncle” (answer here), to more specific translation questions, like how do you translate “liegen” into English – a discussion that led to this blog post.
- Every Friday we present “Verbessere Dein Englisch” – recommendations for English podcasts, books, TV shows and more to help Germans improve their English through the process of immersion. These recommendations are then summarised in monthly (German) blog posts.
We also publish regular blog posts in both English and German and are active on Facebook and Twitter.
Looking forward to 2019
So what of 2019? Although I view 2018 as a success, there is certainly plenty of room for improvement. When I think of all the small German businesses and organisations being overcharged for poor quality translations it really spurs me on to do everything I can to expand LEaF’s client base, so that people have an alternative to large agencies and don’t resort to Google Translate for their precious websites and marketing materials.
The plan is to continue where we left off in 2018: to stay visible on social media, to keep publishing interesting and informative blog posts about language, culture and the great companies that we work with. And to grow.
LEaF Translations is still very much in its infancy, and I can’t wait to continue on this journey to see where we end up.
Here’s to a happy, healthy and successful 2019!
