Author: Gladis Audi
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Net Zero at the Scale of One Desk
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I started four times this article about joining the SME Climate Hub, and deleted it four times. In March, Words We Trust became a signatory of the SME Climate Hub, the small-business pathway into the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign. The commitment is public and specific: halve emissions before 2030,…
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The Invisible Decisions That Keep One Health Whole in French
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The words for One Health already exist in French. Keeping the concept intact — ecocentric, dynamic, credited — was the actual job. One Health was built to tear down walls. Between human medicine and veterinary science. Between plant health and the health of the rivers, soils and forests that hold…
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Reading the PPED Backwards: A Translator’s Reading of the French and English Draft Articles
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I was reading 18 articles. Two versions of one text, English and French, each in the language of a different legal tradition. I read the French, then I read the English, and I realized they were not saying the same thing. Not because anyone made a mistake. Because the two…
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How the CAT Tool Is Costing You Credibility
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You know the feeling. You don’t speak French fluently, but you have a bilingual colleague skimming the French translation of your annual safeguarding report. They stop and frown. “Is it wrong?” you ask. “No,” they say, hesitating. “Grammar and terminology are good. Numbers match.” “So it’s good?” “It’s compliant, but……
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I Stopped Searching for Translation Jobs. Now They Find Me Every Morning.
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Most freelance translators know the ritual. You wake up, coffee in hand, and open five browser tabs (at least). For me, it was ReliefWeb, UNJobs, ProZ, my LinkedIn saved search, and whatever new board someone mentioned in a Discord server last week. You scroll and skim. You click through 20…
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Vicarious trauma in translation work: why duty of care matters
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It is 11:00 AM on a Tuesday in a quiet home office in Lyon. The coffee is lukewarm and the street outside is silent, save for a passing delivery van. On the screen, however, the world is ending. The translator—let’s call her Elena—is working on a witness statement from the…
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When Ebola Posters Failed: What I Learned Translating Life or Death Instructions
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Picture a poster on the wall of an Ebola treatment center in Guinea, 2014. It shows the symptoms to watch for: fever, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding. It lists what to do: wash hands, avoid contact, seek help. It carries a message that, in communities where touching the dead is a sacred…
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Humanitarian Translators as First Responders
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Seventy-two hours after the earthquake, the field hospital begins to fill. The patients aren’t arriving with crush injuries anymore; they are arriving with the first, shivering signs of infectious disease. Rumors metastasize in five languages. The water is poisoned. The aid workers are stealing children. In the chaos, a doctor…
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Quality is not a happy accident: it’s engineered
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Stop treating translation like a gamble. Discover why high-quality translation is an engineered outcome based on industrial standards like ISO 17100 and precise specifications, and learn how professional workflows protect your global brand from liability and revenue loss.
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CORPORATE VOICE : English vs FRench
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English corporate communication tends to pull everyone toward the center. French pushes them to the edges. If you read the corporate blog of a major American multinational, you might notice a pattern. The CEO sounds friendly and accessible. The CTO sounds approachable and simple. The Ombudsman sounds helpful and polite.…
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Working With a Translator: When the Project Manager Checks Out
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” You send your files to the agency. You get translations back.Some are fine. Some are… strangely flat. Some cause problems three months later when a parent complains, or a donor queries a sentence in your report. On paper,…
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Between Home and Elsewhere: Domestication and foreignization in translation
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Every translator knows the feeling: you hit a sentence and think, Do I make this sound like it was written here, or do I let it sound like it travelled? For EN–FR translators, project managers and revisers, that question is where readability, ethics, and cultural risk collide. That tension sits…
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When Legal Systems Don’t Match
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This article is based on personal notes, professional experience, and research in comparative legal translation. It is offered as a supportive resource for fellow translators, revisers, and multilingual professionals navigating legal systems. You’re welcome to share or reference this work — with proper attribution to Words We Trust. Please note: this content…
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What Clients Should Know Before Asking for Legal Translation
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Legal translation isn’t only a service. It’s legal infrastructure. It connects jurisdictions, enforces obligations across borders, and upholds the integrity of international frameworks. At Words We Trust, we work with lawyers, NGOs, international institutions, and compliance teams to ensure their documents are translated with clarity, precision, and legal integrity. Here’s…
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Working With a Translator: The power of retainers
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” Why a retainer? In today’s fast-paced global ecosystem, language is not just a medium—it’s your frontline asset. Whether you’re shaping policies, launching campaigns, managing legal disclosures, or rolling out humanitarian assessments, clarity across languages isn’t optional. It’s fundamental.…
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Working With a Translator: More Than Polish
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” What is proofreading really? Proofreading is often misunderstood as a simple spellcheck. But at Words We Trust, we know it’s far more than that. ✅ It’s the final safeguard before your content reaches the world.✅ It’s the difference…
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It’s Never Just Translation
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” Translation is often seen as a mechanical act: a message in one language becomes a message in another. But for professionals who live and breathe the craft, it’s anything but simple. At Words We Trust, we don’t just…
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Translating crisis communications : to AI or not to AI
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As wars and climate-driven disasters displace millions, speed is everything. Humanitarian responders are turning to AI-powered translation tools for rapid, multilingual crisis communication, broadcasting evacuation orders, medical guidance, and aid instructions across linguistic divides in seconds. But if speed is the vehicle, what/who, exactly, is steering? Because in high-stakes scenarios where…
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Migration Regulation Updates: What Translators Need to Know
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(Last updated: March 2026) The global migration landscape demands precision and understanding. And humanitarian translators stand at a critical intersection, tasked with ensuring clarity and accuracy in documents that directly impact lives. From interpreting complex legal frameworks to conveying urgent needs, our work shapes access to vital resources and protection.…
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Translating for accessibility and inclusion
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Language shapes how we see the world and holds the power to foster inclusion, amplify voices, and break down barriers. For LSPs, translators and revisers, this responsibility takes on greater significance when addressing sensitive topics like disability. Beyond political correctness, it’s about preserving dignity, promoting understanding, and ensuring equitable access to…
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Translating the Target 3 Guide into French
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I’m Gladis, an EN–FR translator. Biodiversity conservation is one of the fields I work in, and one of the ones I care about most. This post is about translating the Guide to Inclusive, Equitable and Effective Implementation of Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework into French, and about…
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Environmental responsibility in our workspaces and homes
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As a sole proprietorship and fully remote company deeply committed to social and environmental responsibility, Words We Trust views environmental stewardship as an endeavor that extends beyond the traditional office setting to create a sustainable workspace and home; we recognize the impact our individual choices have on the planet and…
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Upholding dignity: Sphere’s impact in 2023
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We at Words We Trust have eagerly awaited the release of Sphere’s 2023 Annual Report, and it’s finally here. As specialists in translating complex humanitarian, legal, and development content, understanding Sphere’s initiatives and achievements is crucial for us. The Sphere Annual Report informs our translations and our support to projects…
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The true cost of cutting corners on translation: can you afford the risk?
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The true cost of cutting corners on translation: can you afford the risk? Picture this: a mistranslated contract clause …
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More than just translations, we’re building a Business for Good
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Have you ever considered the power of words to not only bridge cultures and share ideas, but also foster positive change? That’s the driving force behind Words We Trust (WWT). We’re more than just a translation service; we’re passionate about building a business that makes a real difference in the…
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Putting raw emotions aside
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This year and the one before, the world bore witness to some truly horrific acts of war, which challenged us all in ways we could never have imagined. As humanitarian linguists and communicators, one might expect us to focus on content directly related to aid. However, the reality of our…
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Bridging communication gaps during sudden-onset crisis
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Just two weeks ago, I shared a post on LinkedIn about the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Morocco to its core. However, this earthquake is just one among a series of devastating natural disasters that have struck the world this year. Earlier, we witnessed the catastrophic earthquake that shook Turkey…
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Humanitarian Translation: Non-Native English Texts
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Diversity in Humanitarian Communication When we talk about translating humanitarian content, we often focus on ensuring messages reach affected populations. But amplifyng the voices of the end beneficiaries is equally important. In the vast expanse of humanitarian work, a significant portion of content is generated in English by non-native English…
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A call for ethics and responsibility in humanitarian pro bono translation
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Many novice translators volunteer to translate humanitarian content in order to gain experience and boost their CVs. But let’s be clear: effective humanitarian translation requires more than linguistic skills. We cannot translate what we don’t understand. Complex terminology and concepts are involved, and without in-depth knowledge, the risk of a…
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Humanitarian translation experts/NGO collaboration: A win-win for impactful outputs
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” When it comes to humanitarian action, the importance of effective communication cannot be overstated. As NGOs strive to reach and empower diverse communities around the world, the expertise of humanitarian translators becomes an essential asset. Why should NGOs…
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Embracing the power of collaboration: A game-changing approach for translators and clients
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” In this ever-changing world, it’s essential to stand out from the crowd. As a small LSP, we understand the challenges faced by translators and clients in our sector. Today, we touch on a game-changing idea: the transformative power…
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Staying up-to-date with CPD, or why I do it
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The translation industry keeps changing as the world around us evolves, and technology too has played a large role in driving change. As a result, translators need to keep up with trends and technological advancements in order for us to remain relevant and competitive. One of the best ways to…
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Legal translation or why you should use a specialized legal translator
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” Legal translation is a type of technical translation, and translating between a common/law (English) system and a civilist/romano-germanic (French) system can be challenging due to significant differences in legal principles, terminology and procedures. However, with a deep understanding of…
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New Interview
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After having donated over a million words to humanitarian causes through TWB, I was approached by Swiss Global for an interview. As a humanitarian and legal translator, it was an opportunity to send a few critical messages to fellow translators. Read what I had to say here : https://swissglobal.ch/en/blog/translators-without-borders-words-for-a-good-cause/
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GDPR Compliance & Translation
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Data processor: Words We Trust Do I collect and process client data? I do collect some data necessary for the purpose of quoting on jobs, providing translations and issuing invoices. Such data may include name, phone number and email address. As a linguist, it is important that my clients feel…
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ISO 17100 – Translation services!
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The quality standard ISO 17100 currently being discussed is based on the European standard EN 15038 and aims to establish top quality service requirements for translation agencies. According to ISO 17100 – Translation services, a translator should have one of the following: A relevant master’s degree or higher A degree plus full-time two…
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Why choose professional translators?
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Part of the series “Working With a Translator: A Guide for Clients” Over machine translations? Simply because if you want to display, market or sell your product to a quality audience, you need to offer quality. Even if approaching a professional translator seems unnecessary, or you think it might affect your…
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More about our specialty fields
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We specialize in translating and proofreading the following fields: Internet governance & policies Government & public affairs Human rights Humanitarian development Nutrition & food safety Pedagogy/education Crisis relief NGOs and INGOs Law: General & contracts Humanitarian communication Semi-medical Social reports & studies Find out more about our Pro Bono work: We…