English with Kirsty

Well, this year has been exciting! I’ve met lots of amazing people! I’m becoming better-known for the things on which I want to concentrate! I did most of the things on my 2025-to-do-list and some things that hadn’t even crossed my mind at the beginning of the year!This episode is a reflection on What happened this year What’s coming up on the podcast What’s happening with the 7 main topics that I mentioned at the beginning of the year – spoiler, they’re all still relevant! 5 lessons that I’ve learned this year Is there anything you’d like to share about what you’ve learned this year? What are you grateful for?Find out more on the show notes page - https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode295/

I met Katharina online last year and we decided to have a conversation on the podcast about something that’s important to both of us … networking!Ok, it’s something you hear me talking about a lot, but I thought it would be really interesting to get another perspective, especially from someone who hasn’t always been the biggest fan of the activity and who has learned that its definition goes far beyond some of the common stereotypes.We talked about Some of the different forms that networking can take Why networking is important for us as independent professionals What we enjoy about networking Some of the challenges around attending events in our source or additional languages and some strategies to make life easier for ourselves Click through to the show notes page to get the links that we mentioned including Katharina's newsletter and my events schedule: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode294/

I came across Sarah’s work when a friend recommended her book. Since then, I’ve been receiving her marketing tips in her newsletter – and it’s worth subscribing to if you haven’t already!A few weeks ago, I saw Sarah giving tips on a subject that often comes up in my conversations with clients and networking sessions – the transition from working solely with agencies to approaching potential direct clients for the first time. So I thought it would be good to do an episode on this topic with someone who could bring marketing experience and practical, implementable tips.We talked about: Sarah’s books for translators and why she decided to write them Tips to consider when you’re planning to contact potential direct clients, especially if you’ve previously only worked with agencies Some common mistakes when it comes to pitching translation services to direct clients and what you can do instead Why having a portfolio can be helpful and what else you can do in addition/instead Why it’s important to feel confident about presenting yourself and your services in the customer’s language. You can find out more on the show notes page, where I've also listed all the links to the books and other resources that we mentioned: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode293/

I’ve been wanting to talk about this topic for a while and to bring you a conversation with people who are in more of a position to explain, give examples, and help others to either start thinking or learn more about the topic of inclusive language.In this episode we talked about: What is inclusive language? What are some general tips that we can implement to make our texts and speech more inclusive? Are there any language-specific aspects, approaches, or challenges that we should be aware of in terms of the languages represented on the panel? Different experiences of speaking with clients about making their texts more inclusive or pointing out where the original text was not? Inclusive language resources that would be useful for translators. Thanks Renata, Marina, Alicja, Inès, and Charlotte for making this content with me and I look forward to exploring these topics further with you and others in the future.To find out more about my guests and to see the resource list for this episode, visit the show notes page: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode292

To celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take.The final part of the series is about learning through Volunteering. I had a number of people who wanted to be involved, so in the end I decided to split this into three conversations. The third and final part is with Colette Myler, whom I met back in 2021 when we were attending some of the same international networking events together.What did we talk about?I really wanted to show some of the different ways in which people can be volunteers, so I spoke with people doing very different roles. We talked about: Colette’s story – why she decided to volunteer and which organisations she chose. The skills and knowledge that Colette brings to her volunteering roles and some of the new skills that she’s gained over the years Some of the things that Colette has learned through her volunteering experiences – as well as some of the people whom she’s met along the way. How volunteering and being part of the community are part of the balance we need – and how this balance has more components than just our work and the rest of our life Tips for getting started. Find out more on the show notes page: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode291/

To celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take.The final part of the series is about learning through Volunteering. I had a number of people who wanted to be involved, so in the end I decided to split this into three conversations. The second part is with Diana Silva Franco, whom you may remember because she was also my guest in episode 219.What did we talk about?I really wanted to show some of the different ways in which people can be volunteers, so I spoke with people doing very different roles. We talked about:🎧 Diana’s story – why she decided to volunteer and which organisations she chose.🎧 The skills and knowledge that Diana brings to her volunteering roles, plus some of the things that she enjoyed🎧 Some of the things that Diana has learned through their volunteering experiences – one of which was to go in with an open mind and be prepared for the role to change, depending on the needs that arise.🎧 Exploring different parts of our personalities as we explore our additional languages🎧 Tips for getting started with volunteering .Find out more about Diana and the organisations mentioned in our episode here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode290

To celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take.The final part of the series is about learning through Volunteering. I had a number of people who wanted to be involved, so in the end I decided to split this into three conversations. The first one is with Sónia Rio and MIRIAM SANTOS FREIRE – both independent professional colleagues from LinkedIn whom I didn’t know very well before we got together on Zoom.What did we talk about?I really wanted to show some of the different ways in which people can be volunteers, so I spoke with people doing very different roles.We talked about:🗣 Sónia and Miriam’s stories – why they decided to volunteer and which organisations they chose.🗣🗣The skills and knowledge that they both bring to their volunteering roles🗣 Some of the things that my guests have learned through their volunteering experiences.🗣 Some strategies for finding time and managing it so that there’s enough to support others through volunteering🗣 Tips for getting started with volunteering.Thank you both for joining me on the podcast - it was wonderful to get to know you better! And thank you also to @diana and @colette, whose episodes on this topic are coming soon.Links to all of the organisations that we mentioned are listed on our episode's page, so go and have a look if you want to learn more about them.You can find the show notes page with my guests' LinkedIn links and all the links for the organisations here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode289/ Do you have any stories that you'd like to share about what you've learned through volunteering?

I met Laura at one of my networking events and decided to have a chat with her on the podcast because we’re offering something similar for different source languages. I work with people who translate from English and who want to feel more confident when speaking it. Laura has a new service to provide support for people who want to communicate more confidently and spontaneously with customers in German.We talked about:Laur’as story and how languages became part of it Some of the benefits of working as a freelance translator and working with international clients Laura’s new service for people who want to improve their German speaking skills Why it’s good to have choices and the benefits for freelancers when we can communicate with customers directly in their own language … in both conversations and emails. You can connect with Laura on LinkedIn if you want to carry on the conversation or find out about her services to help you speak more confidently in German - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-schartmann/If you are a freelance translator and you want to reactivate your spoken English, you can find out more about my programme here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/english-speaking-skills-for-freelance-translators/Access the full show notes page here: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode288

I've recently come back from a week away and I spent some time reflecting on time. How I organise mine. What happens when you try to cram too much in and how that leaves no room for spontanaity. How having a different relationship with my to-do-list would make me happier! It's a week since I recorded the episode now and so far, the changes that  I put in place are still working!I also started thinking about what it means when we say that we have no time for things. Sometimes it just means that we're in a super busy period and it feels as though we don't have time for anything. But I mean more generarlly. Are we really saying "this isn't a priority for me right now"? or "I don't actually want to do this thing, but it's easier to say I don't have time"? Or "I'd like to, but I don't have time because I need to set some different boundaries with myself or others"? Or maybe it's more of a case of how we organise our time and build things into our schedule to make sure there's room for them.We don't need to justify ourselves, but at least for me, I found that exploring what I really mean with these four words - I don't have time - gave me some interesting insights into my own time management! How about you?Find out more on the show notes page - https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode287/Or connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-danielle-wolf-a8478235/

To celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take.Part nine of the series is about learning through podcasting. Not just listening to podcasts, but hosting them! I decided to give myself the challenge of inviting guests whom I didn’t know so that I would meet some new podcasters too. David has been to a couple of my networking events and I met Nina and Lisa for the first time on the call.We’ve all had different experiences in terms of starting our podcasts, but we discovered a lot of parallels too! When you start a project such as a podcast, you inevitably learn a lot about yourself, it brings new opportunities, and you develop all kinds of skills that you may not know you needed 😀We discussed, among other things:🗣 Why we all started our podcasts🗣 What we’ve learned through the experience of having a podcast 🗣 Some of the new opportunities that having a podcast has brought us🗣 Our advice for anyone who is thinking of starting a podcast🗣 Future plans and what we’re working on at the moment.So if you’ve been thinking about starting a podcast, let these experiences inspire you and don’t forget to let us know when your first episode is online so that we can come and support you!Access the show notes page and find all the links here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode286/Don't forget to check out Translation Treasures and Source 2 Target too!

To celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take.Part eight of the series is about learning through conferences and what we can learn through attending, speaking at, or organising them.I wanted different perspectives – geographically, in terms of specialisations, and to have different types of conference represented as well. So I put together our panel of five guests whom you’ll meet in this episode - Suzie, Anna, Silvie, Andrea, and Aída.It’s interesting how the main theme that ran through the answers was around community and connection rather than specific memorable talks and presentations! These were some of the topics that we discussed: What’s one key thing that you have learned through a conference recently, whether as an attendee, a speaker, or an organiser? Travel costs to attend large conferences in person can be a barrier for some. Have you experienced other variations on traditional conferences? (Moving the location each time, smaller events, online participation etc) What would you say to someone who’s feeling overwhelmed with the number of options out there. How can they narrow down which event/events would be the best ones for them? What about events that are aimed at the branch for which you translate? Do you have any experience of attending those?  Click through to the show notes page to find out more about the guests and for links to the events that were mentioned in the episode: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode285

I met Marina online in 2024 when I attended one of her LocLunch networking events. Since then I've been following her content and I started noticing some posts about age-inclusive language. This isn't something that I'd thought much about previously, but I wanted to look a bit deeper into the topic - firstly because I think it's important, but also because it's relevant to what I'm trying to do here with the podcast.We all use language. Many of us are working in multiple languages, but every day we have choices about the language that we use, the way we express ourselves, which words make it into our own vocabulary and which ones we choose to avoid. If we are more intentional about the way we speak, we will not only communicate better, but we also have a chance to be more inclusive and contribute to the changes that many of us want to see.I have plans for content on other aspects of inclusivity, but today we're focusing on age-inclusive language.Marina provided a lot of links and further reading. The text on the show notes page is not a transcript, but it gives some context to the links and how they fit into our discussion. We covered other topics too though , so access the episode for the full benefits and find all the extra information here: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode284

To celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take.Part seven of the series is about learning through mentoring.I’m not an expert on this topic, but I’ve read about many official or unofficial programmes which match mentors and mentees to promote growth and learning. I also knew that Women in Localization has a mentoring programme, so I decided to try and find out more about it and discover what people have learned through the experience of being a mentor or a mentee.Tamara Tirjak and Teresa Toronjo are my guests in this episode. Whilst they are currently working together as a mentor/mentee, they both have experience of both roles.We talked about:• Tamara and Theresa’s stories, including their links to the topic of mentoring• The Women in Localization mentoring programme and how it works• The difference between mentoring and coaching• What both of my guests have learned and enjoyed through their involvement in mentoring programmes• How lerning through mentoring has helped both of my guests, personally and professionally• Some of the myths around mentoring and how things are in real life• What makes a good mentor or a good mentee?You can find out more and access our links on the show notes page: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode283If you are eligible and you’d like to sign up for the Women in Localization mentorship programme, you can find out more about it here: https://womeninlocalization.com/resources/mentorship-program/Thank you Tamara and Teresa for sharing your stories and insights with us and exploring this topic of learning through mentoring.Have you been a mentor or a mentee? What did you learn from the experience?

6/10 Learning through musicTo celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take.Part six of the series is about learning through music and how we can encorporate music into our language learning journeys.Who would be a good person to talk with me about this? It had to be someone who is not only passionate about music, but who could bring together mucic and language learning with real-life experiences and a story that demonstrates how powerful this combination can be! So I invited my friend Rita Prazeres Gonçalves back to do another episode with me.We talked about – among other things:🗣 Rita’s story and the relationship between her love of music and her interest in learning English🗣 How we can use music to improve our language skills – in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and deepening our understanding of the language🗣 How doing our own transcriptions can be a valuable way to learn (listening comprehension, spelling, conjugating verbs etc)🗣 How we can make informed choices about which types of music to work with🗣 Getting to know different parts of our personalities in our different languagesLet us know if you would be interested in a workshop to explore this topic further.#Are there any songs in your additional languages that have helped you in some way or that are important to you?Find out more on the show notes page: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode282/And check out Rita's podcast, The Language Worker,  here: https://www.youtube.com/@thelanguageworker1616 

When I saw that the podcast's 10th birthday was coming up, I wanted to do something. But what? It would have to be online because my podcast, my friends, my clients, my guests, and my listeners are spread out across the globe. But what should the event look like? I wasn't sure!But I did know that, as well as having the podcast in common, my guests and listeners share a common interest in language and learning. That's a good start!One of my ideas was to record a mini episode while we were together. A couple of people came with prepared questions, but when we opened it up, there were more questions than I'd expected, which was great! I knew about the first four, but the rest of the episode was my spontaneous reactions to questions about what it's like to have a podcast, some of the things that have happened, what having a podcast means for my business, how it feels to be a guest, and my plans for the future - among other topics!I couldn't answer the question about my favourite episode because I really don't have one - but this was one of my favourites. It reminds me of the time that a group of lovely people came together to celebrate the podcast turning 10. In fact, a couple of people commented privately about what a nice group I'd brought together and I hope that new connections, collaborations, and maybe friendships will come from it.Thanks to those who helped me with the event, to those who contributed to this episode, and to everyone who came along last week! Let me know if you have any ideas or topic suggestions for future episodes - I have the calendar for the next 10 years to fill 😀You can check out the show notes page here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode281/This is where you can find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-wolf-a8478235/This is my home on the internet: https://www.englishwithkirsty.comAnd you can email me here: kirsty@englishwithkirsty.com 

I believe that learning to be yourself, in your first or any other language, is a process! It's a life-long journey of self-discovery!But it's true that, when we're using additional languages, we sometimes don't show the full extent of who we are. Maybe we don't have the words or maybe we use strategies that make life easier in the short-term, but don't allow our unique personalities or ideas to shine.I'm talking about five of those strategies today. My clients use them, but I've used all of them too at some point. I explain why they can be a problem and what we can do to challenge ourselves to move past them.I also mention my mentoring programme - Discover your voice in English: https://englishwithkirsty.com/discover-your-voice-in-english Send me a message if you'd like to arrange a call where we can discuss whether the programme is what you're looking for so that you can discover and use your voice in English - effectively and in a way that feels natural.Do you have any language coping strategies that you want to rely on less in the future?Find out more on the show notes page: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode280Send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions about the English with Kirsty podcast: podcast@englishwithkirsty.comor come and find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-wolf-a8478235/

If you've been following along with the 10 episodes on 10 forms that learning can take, you'll know that I'm creating them as part of the podcast's 10th birthday celebration.In July 2025, the English with Kirsty podcast will be 10 years old. A lot has happened since July 2015. I've learned a lot. I've changed a lot, both personally and professionally. In this episode, I'm sharing with you 10 of the things that I've learned along the way. Maybe you can relate to some of them. Maybe they'll encourage you to finally start that podcast/blog/YouTube channel, or to keep going with a project that you've started recently. Let me know if you've been in similar situations or if you'd like to share any of your learning experiences too.Also, if you're reading this before 10th July 2025, I'd like to invite you to the podcast's 10th birthday celebration, which will be an online event to celebrate the role of languages and learning in our lives.You'll meet new people, discover new podcasts, learn something new, and hopefully have fun 😉The last 10 years have been amazing! ! I've learned a lot and the platform has given me the chance to speak with all kinds of knowledgeable and interesting people, discovering their stories and what they have to share! I've enjoyed sharing those conversations with others and hearing feedback about what people have enjoyed or which content has helped them.A podcast is nothing without its listeners and the people who have contributed to all the fascinating conversations. I would love to see you there so that we can celebrate the last 10 years and maybe get some inspiration and ideas for the next 10!Find out more and sign up for the event on the show notes page: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode279

 | I first discovered Kimberly Martinez from Bright translation on LinkedIn – where else! I signed up for her newsletter because I thought it would be useful for me to learn some new things about the translation industry and, after reading some of Kimberly’s posts on LinkedIn too, I thought she’d be an interesting guest for a conversation on the podcast.  We hadn’t spoken before our podcast conversation, so this was also our chance to get to know one another better.  We talked about:   🗣 How Kimberly became interested in languages and how she works with them today 🗣 Why Kimberly started her translation business and how it has changed over time 🗣 What actions we can take as business owners that will help us to grow 🗣 Tips for going out of our comfort zone, especially in relation to useing additional languages 🗣 Why Kimberly decided to start her newsletter and some of the good things that have come from it so far.  You can find te show noteshere: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode278/ And if you haven't already, sign up for Kimberly's newsletter here: https://kimberlymartinez.substack.com/

To celebrate 10 years of the English with Kirsty podcast, I’m creating a 10-part series to celebrate 10 different forms that learning can take. There will also be an online networking event for guests and listeners to come together on the podcast’s birthday in July 2025.Part five of the series is about the kind of practical learning that comes from taking action, saying “yes” to new opportunities, bringing about change in our life or business, or putting into practice skills that we’ve been learning.I brought back some of my good friends, Patrícia, Maria, and Marta,  whom you first met in an episode last year. We have all experienced change – whether that’s the career change that led to us starting our businesses, decisions to offer new services, ways to step out of our comfort zones and become more visible as business owners, or moving through the stages that bring life to new ideas.We talked about – among other things: Something that we have done that is new or that brought about change in our business Sometimes the first step is to define the change that we want to see – how can we do this? Ways we’ve become more visible as business owners or started new things – why we did it and who or what helped us Steps we can take to make implementing changes or starting new things easier – how to break down the task or find the right support What we can do to give our new ideas a chance – setting deadlines or choosing which ideas come first The need for resilience and consistency – don’t expect overnight success with new plans! Thanks everyone for being so honest and generous with your insights.Do you have any tips or comments to add?Visit the show notes page here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/episode277/

I wanted to give some more time to the topic of audio description so that we can explore it, both as an important way to make films, series, and live events accesible to visually impaired people, and as a new area of work for language professionals to explore.I got together with a group of language professionals from my network with different types of experience, different working languages (English, German, Italian, and Spanish), to talk about both the role of the audio description script writer and the voice artist.During our discussion, we covered topics such as: The guests’ stories and how they became involved with audio description The process of creating scrips and recording the voice-over tracks Challenges and points to consider when thinking about creating content in different languages Different types of information that the audience needs, depending on the type of content Training available for those interested in this kind of work The interaction between scrip writers, voice-over artists, and end users Practical tips for people who want to find out more or get into either of these areas of work.Thanks Sion, Francesca, Philipp, Dolores, and Zayda for sharing your experience with us – I think we all learned something!We had some minor technical difficulties towards the end. It was important to me that we got all of the points into the episode, so I have added in a couple that were rerecorded so that none of the information was lost.Do you have any tips or comments to add?You can find the show notes page and further links here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode276/