Julian Wallis

I am a second-year PhD student at the University of Ottawa. My current research focuses on integrating contemporary translation tools into practical translation courses and courses that focus on problems in a second language. I completed my Master’s in Translation at U of O in 2006 with a thesis that focused on different methods of working with translation memory systems and the effects of these methods on productivity and quality of the final translation.

Throughout my Master’s and PhD programs, I have been a teaching assistant for several technologies courses, developing tutorials and instructing students on how to use a vast array of translation tools as well as general office tools.

My work in CERTT consists primarily of developing tutorials for the translation memory systems and bitext aligners.

Favourite technology moment:

• My parents finally getting an Internet connection! All my friends already had the Internet so when my household “entered the 90s” and got an internet connection I could finally chat with my friends on ICQ which meant I was no longer out of the loop!

The first tool I thought was really cool was…

• … the translation memory system. When I first learned how to use one, I remember thinking, “I can’t believe I didn’t know about this!” It amazed me that there was actually a tool that could search through my old translations in order to help me with my new ones. It just seemed like one of those things that made so much sense I wondered why I hadn't come up with the idea myself!

Favourite technology links:

• Google – It’s a gold mine! There are so many ways to use Google that you don’t know about! You can find synonyms (~nutrition), similar pages, and definitions, search for specific file types or parts of web pages (inurl:CERTT), do calculations and conversions at the speed of light (1 euro in yen), track packages and flights and even find movies playing today in almost any city in the world (movies:Glasgow)!