Writer who’s about to put in partial French translation (5)
I believe the answer is:
quill
'writer' is the definition.
(historical writing implement)
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
(Other definitions for quill that I've seen before include "Old writer" , "Porcupine spine" , "Large feather" , "Pen made from a feather" , "Feather for writing" .)