Looking for someone to edit my stories in English

阿里克斯Y格雷
楼主 (文学城)

I've written stories and novels in Chinese, and I plan to self-translate them into English.  I'm looking for a native English speaker to look over and possibly edit my translations.  To give you a sense of the type of stories I write, here is an exerpt.  The title of this story is "The Recommendation Letter".  

Tingting Li sat on the sofa in her corner office.  Sunlight streamed through the Venetian blinds, casting striped patterns on her hair, her arms, and the laptop in front of her.  She was so absorbed in reading that she didn't notice the secretary standing at the door.

 

Tingting had been Chair of the Department for two months and was busy every day. Early this morning she attended a meeting about the plight of women in academia — how to combat the leaky pipe effect, to get your talents recognized, and to balance career and family, etc.  Tingting shared her own experience as a student, then a researcher, and finally a leader in STEM.  Afterwards was a routine meeting with the Dean and several department Chairs. The Dean asked about how recruitment was progressing in each department; he also complained about some new campus rules concerning the recruitment process and how sexual harassment cases should be handled. After that she chaired the Department's faculty meeting, whose agenda included personnel changes, course modifications, various programs and projects, and special circumstances and emergencies.  She then ate a banana for lunch, taught a graduate class, and returned to her office to meet with a doctoral student.  The student, an innocent-looking girl on the verge of tears, harbored serious doubts about her research project.  Tingting patiently comforted her by saying that she herself had had similar doubts years ago.  She then encouraged the student to push on with research along the direction they’d already decided on.  Professor Li had a passion for scientific research; she was also happy to mentor students.  Serving as Chair was not a welcome distraction and she was reluctant at first to take it on before being persuaded by several senior colleagues, who argued that a young and accomplished woman serving as Department Chair would not only provide a role model for female students and staff in the Department, but also create a nice impression of the Department and even the whole discipline on outsiders, announcing to them that, this field, which had been dominated by men for a hundred years, was entering a new era.  Tingting agreed and became Chair; as Chair, she worked as diligently as she did for research and teaching.

 

最西边的岛上
Sadly, the only native speaker秋兰was wrongfully banned away
最西边的岛上
by someone here last Sept. I don’t know any other native
最西边的岛上
on this forum right now. But you could try Ur local
最西边的岛上
English site, say Reddit, for help. Thx!
阿里克斯Y格雷
多谢建议!
最西边的岛上
U r welcome & best wishes!
移花接木
Give AI a try, see if any better than Google translator, &
移花接木
you pay nothing
最西边的岛上
AFAIK, Google translation between C&E sucks, not hard 2 beat
最西边的岛上
Oh, never thought about payment;-)
妖妖灵
From chatGPT:

Your writing is already clear and articulate, with just a few grammatical, stylistic, and structural adjustments that would enhance its flow and native-sounding polish. Here’s a revised version with improvements in clarity, punctuation, tense consistency, and sentence structure:

 

 

 

I’ve written stories and novels in Chinese, and I plan to self-translate them into English. I’m looking for a native English speaker to review and possibly edit my translations. To give you a sense of the type of stories I write, here is an excerpt. The title of this story is “The Recommendation Letter.”

 

Tingting Li sat on the sofa in her corner office. Sunlight streamed through the Venetian blinds, casting striped patterns on her hair, her arms, and the laptop in front of her. She was so absorbed in reading that she didn’t notice the secretary standing at the door.

 

Tingting had been Chair of the Department for two months and was busy every day. Early that morning, she had attended a meeting about the challenges women face in academia — how to combat the leaky pipeline effect, get your talents recognized, and balance career and family, etc. Tingting shared her own experience as a student, then a researcher, and finally a leader in STEM.

 

Afterwards, she attended a routine meeting with the Dean and several department chairs. The Dean asked about the progress of recruitment in each department; he also complained about some new campus rules regarding the hiring process and how sexual harassment cases should be handled. After that, she chaired the department’s faculty meeting, whose agenda included personnel changes, course modifications, various programs and projects, and special circumstances and emergencies.

 

She then ate a banana for lunch, taught a graduate class, and returned to her office to meet with a doctoral student — an innocent-looking girl on the verge of tears, who harbored serious doubts about her research project. Tingting patiently comforted her, explaining that she herself had had similar doubts years ago. She encouraged the student to continue pursuing the direction they had already decided on.

 

Professor Li had a passion for scientific research and was also happy to mentor students. Serving as Chair was not a welcome distraction, and she had been reluctant to take on the role until persuaded by several senior colleagues. They argued that a young and accomplished woman serving as Department Chair would not only provide a role model for female students and staff, but also help present a progressive image of the department — and even the entire discipline — to outsiders. It would signal that a field dominated by men for a hundred years was finally entering a new era.

 

Tingting agreed and became Chair. In this new role, she worked just as diligently as she did in research and teaching.

 

 

 

Let me know if you’d like help translating or editing more excerpts — happy to assist!

 
移花接木
Native speaker may not be good novelist, don't u c that
移花接木
for instance, Trump has limited vocabulary?
最西边的岛上
@least he knows “it takes two to tango” wrt 51th state;-))
暖冬cool夏
Try Chatgpt or Deepseek
阿里克斯Y格雷
I tried Google translate before with mediocre results

Trying chatgpt now and it is better

阿里克斯Y格雷
Will do!
阿里克斯Y格雷
这段本来两个活人编辑过,所以挺顺的,但活人翻译很费力。
妖妖灵
两个活人?!哈哈哈
最西边的岛上
个人感受:翻译是再创作,所以不易,哪怕是翻译自己的文字。
阿里克斯Y格雷
Very true
最西边的岛上
Heard DS is political+ sensitive ;-) (见麦姐博友最新博文 link below)

https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/76644/202506/1667.html