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Don't miss a thing
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Don't miss a thing
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Nov
18
Mobile translating at its best
Filed under humour | Leave a comment
This has nothing at all to do with translation. Except that, much like my profession of choice, it too is utterly, impossibly cool.
I’ve decided to divert our house-deposit fund towards this instead - a steal at US$129,000. Can’t you just see me translating away in the front passenger seat?!
HT to Bridgette over at Unclutterer for the link.
Nov
17
Tis the season to be conferenced
Filed under CPD | Leave a comment
I attended the 2008 AUSIT Biennial National Conference in Brisbane this weekend, and was pleased to come away with some fantastic new contacts and a much clearer view of the role of translation in Australia. Until I have a chance to write up my notes, here’s a list of posts relating to other conference and translation-related events I’ve attended:
- Proofing, revision, editing or checking: whatever you call it, find 3 steps to help navigate these murky waters here. (Nov 2007)
- Want to know how to be a true professional? This conference session I attended discussed the transition from translation student to freelance professional, but the part about professionalism is relevant to translators at any stage of their careers. (Nov 2007)
- Read my thoughts on applying occupational standards to my translation practice, with a link to more information on the CEN 15038 quality standard for translation service providers. (Apr 2007)
- Get more letters after your name. Read about the UK’s CIOL chartered linguist status and some tips gleaned from a specially organised information session I attended, along with a rundown of the requirements for qualified member status of the ITI. (Be aware these may have changed in the intervening months. Link through to the relevant website for the most up-to-date requirements.) (Feb 2008)
- Think about expanding the language-related services you offer (Dec 2007), or read some tips I picked up from a session on building sustainable customer relationships. (Mar 2007)
- If tech’s your cup of tea, you might be interested in my write-up of an ITI Conference session on corpora (May 2007) or on building a website. (Mar 2007)
- Finally, read how throwing your career path out the window could be the best thing you’ve ever done. (Apr 2007)
And thank you to everyone who took the time to do a write-up on the recent ATA Conference. Sounds like it was a great event!
Nov
15
Corinne McKay over at Thoughts on Translation looks at some of the common features she’s identified in high-earning translators in an excellent post called Secrets of six-figure translators.
Personally, I think working for direct clients has the biggest potential impact on earnings for freelance translators, and her point about being a businessperson/translator is spot on. Direct clients certainly make the world of difference for newly established and mid-career translators as they work towards a high degree of specialisation (very likely in a completely unrelated field) and try not to starve in the process. Finding these direct clients is of course another story (and one Chris Durban is eminently able to tell, in my opinion).
On another note, I do love posts like Corinne’s that acknowledge the diversity of a group, weigh up a couple of factors from a range of sources, add some personal insights and then draw something useful from it all. Excellent stuff!
Nov
14
Stephen Fry on language as a fingerprint
Filed under languages, lessons from the wordface | Leave a comment
I’ve just taken the time to properly discover Stephen Fry’s new-look website. (I don’t know what’s taken me so long!) Here’s a snippet from a recent treatise post on language, where Fry describes some of the social, cultural and literary ingredients that have contributed to his distinctive voice. I can’t think of a better way to explain the layers of information (”linguistic strata”) that a translator sifts through and then transfers on a daily basis. Read on…
Nov
13
Project managers get in on the act
Filed under technology for translators, translation profession | 1 Comment
It’s not easy for a company to let their employees loose on a company blog, and most companies are too afraid of the results to give it a try. But that’s exactly what the UK-based company Web Translations seems to be doing Read on…