This is a guest post by Zilin Cui, a Chinese-English-Spanish conference interpreter and translator who I met at the recent Monterey Forum at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey. This post is based on her presentation at the 1st International New York-Nanjing Forum on Translation “Translation in the New Context” in May, 2019. Pig …
In this episode of Speaking of Translation, Eve and Corinne interview German<>English translator and certified yoga and Pilates instructor Eva Stabenow. After developing repetitive strain issues from her translation and interpreting work, Eva found relief in Pilates, which led her to pursue a 500-hour certification as a Pilates instructor specializing in prehab and rehab. She now …
Online course early registration deadlines Early registration rates end this Sunday (June 8) for our two July online courses: the brand-new Making official document translation services a profitable part of your business, taught by Jennifer Nielsen, and the ever-popular Marketing to direct clients, taught by me. Base registration is $365 for either class, including live slide …
Important disclaimer: I received a free review copy of TextAloud for the purpose of writing this review, but the links to purchase TextAloud are not affiliate links and I do not receive any commission from TextAloud. How is text-to-speech useful? After reading the post I wrote about text-to-speech proofreading, the folks at NextUp, the makers of …
Prongs and how to use them As entrepreneurs, many of us have multi-pronged businesses. Some of us work both as agencies and as freelancers. Some of us have lots of slashes in our job titles (“translator-slash-copywriter-slash-editor-slash-language teacher”). I know a freelancer who does dog massage and translation (no kidding). Many of us work in disparate specializations. …
What’s your current direct client research process? Direct client marketing can feel like pushing a cement mixer up a hill, in the dark. Stop me if this sounds familiar: “I need some new direct clients” “What kind of clients might need me?” “Where would I find those clients?” “Who would I contact?” “How would I contact …
When I talk to freelancers about how their businesses are going (what’s going well and what needs to change), I often ask the same four questions: Do you have enough work in general? Are you earning enough money? Do you enjoy your work? Are you working too hard for the amount that you’re earning? As a …
Over the past several years, I’ve sold the translation rights to my book How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator, to freelancers working into Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian. It’s always fun to see the book come out in new languages. Congratulations to English>Italian translators Chiara Rizzo and Barbara Ronca for the latest translation: …
Off-topic here, or perhaps not, since translators and interpreters do tend to travel a lot! This applies only to US residents, so feel free to ignore it if you’re outside the US. Since I joined the ATA Board in 2012, I’ve been meaning to apply for TSA PreCheck. By the time I got around to applying …
In this episode of Speaking of Translation, Eve and Corinne discuss how to learn from and share information with colleagues, in a way that is both helpful and appropriate. How can newbies learn from colleagues without being invasive? What is (and is not) appropriate to ask from colleagues? How can colleagues learn from each other through …
