A Geordie In Girona

Author: A Geordie In Girona

  • Kaizen, lightbulbs and Continuous Professional Development

    Kaizen is a Japanese way of running a company by always trying to improve the way people work and what they do. It is a philosophy and practice of continuous improvement. This way of doing things is practiced at the Nissan car factory in the North East of England. Managers and workers are constantly trying…

  • MA in Translation

    When studying for my degree in Spanish and History with the Open University I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to become a translator afterwards. However, when I started to talk to people about it, it soon became apparent that without an appropriate qualification in translation at degree or post-graduate…

  • ‘Twas on the 9th of June – Happy Geordie Day!

    This article pays homage to the great city of Newcastle, its history, its culture, and some of its favourite sons and daughters, past and present. It will bring your attention to things that Geordies should know, and also some lesser known facts that will probably surprise a few people, be they from the region or…

  • What is translation?

    In today’s globalised world, translation is an activity that continues to grow at a rapid pace. It seems to be everywhere we look. It is fundamental to the United Nations, the European Union, the World Trade Organisation and many other international bodies that regulate aspects of modern life. It is part and parcel of modern…

  • What makes a good translator?

    As I hesitantly make preparations to begin the third and final module of my MA in Translation, I thought it important to remind myself of the main skills and attributes of a good translator. This exercise, I felt, would help to signal my level of proficiency and also identify any areas that needed improving, as…

  • The Corona virus – brighter days on the horizon?

    It’s funny how life pans out sometimes. We finally think we are getting somewhere and then, suddenly out of nowhere, something happens to stop us dead in our tracks. This something may be a bereavement in the family, an illness, an accident, redundancy or a relationship break-up, to name but a few. For a while…

  • Baldness – a blessing or a curse?

    I’ve been in my current state of baldness for as long as I can remember. This is probably because I started to lose my hair at such an early age. By my mid-twenties it had become a major problem in my life. What began as a slightly receding hairline had transformed into an undeniable thinning…

  • Lockdown – growing beards and self-reflection

    The inevitable has finally happened. We have been placed on lockdown. We were given every opportunity to follow the recommendations set by Boris Johnson and the Government. The message to social distance was clear to all, but the news reports over the weekend showed that there was a minority openly ignoring the advice. Parks and…

  • Mother’s Day and the Corona virus

    I remember Mother’s Day as a small child. Every year my brothers and I would get up early, go downstairs into the kitchen and prepare a breakfast for my mother. It wasn’t much, toast with jam on, a bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice. We’d put it on…

  • The Corona virus and football – pork scratchings and silver linings

    It’s Saturday and that can only mean one thing. It’s match day! So it’s time to don those lucky underpants (the ones you wear every week to watch your team get beat again), get the ironing board out to flatten the crinkles in your football top, and put your scarf on with your team’s colours.…

  • The Corona virus – like a bat out of hell?

    With its origins in Wuhan, China, Covid 19, otherwise known as the Corona virus, has swept through the world at breakneck speed. It is largely believed the virus came from infected bats illegally sold at wet fish markets. Once the virus jumped from animal host to human host, it soon spread and has now reached…