accomplishments & obstacles

Now that I am further into my internship, I can say that the experience has been quite different from what I expected when I first chose my team and project. Working with the Polyglots team has introduced me to a side of translation that I had not really experienced before.

One of the biggest challenges for me has been technical terminology. I do not have a background in IT, so at the beginning, some WordPress terms were completely new to me. Sometimes I would understand the general meaning of a sentence but still not know how a particular technical word should actually be translated into Russian. The WordPress glossary has been very helpful in these situations, but I have also had to do my own research and look at official translations and examples online. While doing this, I noticed that there are some newer words and expressions that are harder to find in the glossary, so I think expanding it with more recent terminology could make the process easier for future translators.

I have also realized that it is very difficult to predict how long a translation will take. Some strings are straightforward and take only a few seconds, while others can take much longer than expected. Context makes a huge difference. Sometimes I have to look at the whole theme or find where a particular string appears to understand what it actually means. Seeing the full picture helps me choose a translation that sounds natural rather than simply translating the words literally.

This has probably been one of the most interesting parts of the internship for me. At university, I have learned about translation, terminology and different approaches to working with texts, but WordPress gives me the opportunity to actually put some of that knowledge into practice. It feels different when you know that you are working on something that can eventually be used by real people. I think this kind of experience can be especially useful for future translators because it shows how much research, context and problem-solving can be involved in even a seemingly simple translation.

Another thing I did not expect was how much working with WordPress would influence my own website. While translating and looking through different themes, patterns and layouts, I started noticing things that I wanted to change on my own site. I have been experimenting with the design little by little, changing certain elements and thinking about how to make the website more visually appealing and easier to navigate. It has been nice to see my website develop alongside my work during the internship.

There is still more work ahead before the final wrap-up, and I still come across terminology that makes me stop and research before translating. However, compared with the beginning, I already feel much more comfortable navigating WordPress and understanding how translation works in this environment. I am curious to see how much more I will learn by the end of the internship.