Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters


Corinne McKay

It's a Courtesy…

Translator mailing lists and message boards are full of translators asking, “Can you charge extra for…?” (formatting, translating from a poor-quality PDF, talking to the client’s staff on the phone, and so on). If the client is an agency, you have to negotiate those extra charges (or extra unpaid work) directly with them. But here’s my solution for when you’re working with direct clients (and of course you can agree, disagree, or offer your own solution).

  1. Charge the client an all-inclusive rate that’s high enough to cover the occasional unexpected “extra” service: for example the client needs hard copies of a translation with your Certified Translator stamp on them, necessitating an impromptu run to FedEx. What’s that you say…you passed the ATA exam and you never downloaded your Certified Translator seal to have a stamp made? Well, you’d better take care of that right now!
  2. Then, don’t nickle-and-dime the client for these small extra services. Of course if you spend hours on an extra task, you should charge for it. But the FedEx run, the 15-minute phone consultation, the 33-word e-mail that the client forgot to ask you to translate…don’t make a big deal out of those.
  3. But don’t let the client simply forget about them either; it’s a good reminder of the value of a professional translator, and of why the client pays you a premium rate in the first place. My solution: put those items on your invoice, and in the column where you would normally include the cost, write “Courtesy.” “Overnight delivery of hard copies: Courtesy.” “Press release headline suggestions: Courtesy,” and so on. This will jog the client’s memory, remind them of how you helped them out in a pinch, and hopefully help you retain them as a premium client. To me, adding an extra charge for a task that took 10 minutes looks a bit petty and desperate; better to charge a higher rate overall and then do those Courtesy services without additional billing.


Corinne McKay

Video: Karen Tkaczyk's sit/stand desk

I’ve been wanting to add some videos to this blog for a while, and my very courageous colleague and friend Karen Tkaczyk agreed to be my test interviewee. Karen has an Ikea Bekant sit-stand desk that she really loves. Note from Ikea: The BEKANT sit/stand option is currently unavailable in stores. The delay only affects the sit/stand desk and does not affect the rest of the BEKANT series. There’s a labeling issue on the product, so it’s currently unavailable for sale until this issue can be remedied. Unfortunately we do not yet know how long this will take. IKEA is working this correction, but it is not a quick process. The other sit-stand desk that Karen mentioned in the interview is the Ergotron. Thanks Karen, and hopefully this is the inauguration of a series of interesting video interviews!


Corinne McKay

Some thoughts on Trados Studio 2014

If you use SDL Trados Studio, you may have already upgraded to Studio 2014, or you may be thinking about upgrading. I purchased the upgrade a few months ago, and here are some thoughts on it:

  • I use only the basic features in Studio (create projects, use TMs and glossaries, use the concordance and filters), but in general I like Studio 2014. I don’t use SDL Language Cloud or any MT or QA plugins, or any of the project management features, so I can’t really comment on those. But for the features I use, the upgrade to 2014 was fairly painless, and the ribbon-style interface is easy to use.
  • My biggest mental block with Studio is still the darned dynamic menus. Multiple times, I’ve been beating my head against the desk, trying to figure out why the “Add files” menu item was greyed-out or impossible to find, only to remember that you have to be in the source language view for that option to show. I know that this is a deliberate decision by SDL, but I’m still getting used to it.
  • Blessedly, the Java applet associated with MultiTerm is being eliminated in SP2, which SDL plans to release in about a week. This will be great; the Java applet is slow and aggravating (and I have a slow computer, so it’s really, really slow) which creates a disincentive to add terms on the fly.
  • I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you’re switching to Studio from a simpler tool, or if you’re learning a TM tool for the first time and starting with Studio, do not try to learn to use it on your own. Think of it like learning Photoshop or InDesign; it’s not something that you just install and learn how to use in a couple of hours. Either hire a trainer (Tuomas Kostiainen offers remote training on your own computer; several of my students have used him and raved about it) or buy the manual (see below) and go through it step by step.

I’ll reserve a special mention for Mats Linder’s Trados Studio Manual. It’s truly awesome. Disclosure: Mats provided me with a free review copy of the manual when he released it. You can purchase the manual for US $49 from Mats’ website or for the same price from the SDL OpenExchange website. It’s no wonder that this manual has *all* five-star reviews on the SDL site and has been downloaded almost 1,800 times. Whether you’re wondering where you type the translation (as I wondered when I first opened the software), or how to write regular expressions for use in Studio, this manual literally has it all.

Readers, other thoughts on Studio 2014?


Corinne McKay

ATA55: the highlights

I’m back (physically at least!) from the 55th annual conference of the American Translators Association in Chicago. By all measures, the conference was a great success. We had 1,842 attendees, which is our second-largest conference ever. It would take a lot to top the 2,400 attendees we had for our 50th anniversary conference in New York, but we did top San Francisco, which was the previous second-largest. With the huge volume of session proposals we received this year (I think over 400 for about 125 slots), conference organizer David Rumsey was able to winnow them down to the very best sessions, and many of the new features (translation Tool Trainings as preconference seminars, a business brainstorming mixer to replace the speed networking session, a Tool Bar where people could get 10-20 minutes of free, one-on-one tech support) were very well received. We also added comment cards to the annual meeting so that if people didn’t want to or didn’t have time to speak during the open comment time, they could still give feedback to the Board. But don’t take my word for it…watch this great highlights video and see for yourself! And if you’re wondering where/when ATA is meeting in 2015, 2016 and 2017, here’s the future conference sites page. See you in Miami next year!

You also might be interested in:
Jill Sommer’s wrapup post on attending and presenting at ATA55
Nicholas Sturtevant’s post on attending ATA55 as a newbie
Erin Rosales’ post on following ATA55 online
Jeff Alfonso’s post on the social aspects of ATA55
 


Corinne McKay

Off to ATA55!

I’ll be out of the office for the rest of the week, to attend the 55th annual conference of the American Translators Association in Chicago. If you’re a blog reader and we haven’t met in person, definitely come shake hands! I’ll be speaking on a panel (The Freelance Juggling Act) on Thursday morning, and one of my goals for the conference is to get lots of photos of people doing a “five five” (holding up five fingers on each hand; or two people can do it together and each hold up five fingers) in honor of 55 ATA conferences! My good friend and colleague Eve Bodeux even awarded this a hashtag, #fivefive. So, get your #fivefive on and we’ll see you at the opening reception tomorrow night!

Addendum 1: It’s sometimes difficult to write lengthy blog posts during the conference, but I’ll definitely be posting updates and photos on Twitter.

Addendum 2: I noticed today that my blog reached its one millionth view (over the course of almost seven years, but still exciting!). So, literally, thanks a million for reading!