The inauguration of our 44th president promises to bring many changes to the U.S., and there's reason to hope that better foreign language education will be among them. The statistics on foreign language proficiency in the U.S. are downright dismal; in 2005, the National Association for Bilingual … [Read more...] about Obama on bilingualism
Improving the quality of your translations
If one of your goals for 2009 is to market your translation services to a more discriminating client base, you'll certainly want to step up your marketing efforts. At the same time, it's important to focus on the quality of the product you're offering; don't try to sell a Yugo at Mercedes prices. … [Read more...] about Improving the quality of your translations
Is LinkedIn useful for translators?
Update to this post: Make sure to read the comments for some excellent tips on how to use LinkedIn effectively. This is just a brief request for input: is LinkedIn useful for translators? I set up a LinkedIn profile last year, around the time I started expanding my base of direct clients. Since … [Read more...] about Is LinkedIn useful for translators?
Avoiding beginner's mistakes
Update to this post: Make sure to read the comments for more excellent tips from experienced translators! Today is the first day of the winter session of the online course I teach for beginning translators. It's an occasion that always prompts me to think of the first day I thought of myself as a … [Read more...] about Avoiding beginner's mistakes
What do you want to accomplish this year?
Like Glenn over at Yndigo, I'm not a huge fan of New Year's resolutions. Mostly, I think that most of what we resolve (to lose weight, exercise more, swear off the snooze button, etc.) falls into the category of "shoulds": things we think we need to do even though we don't really want to. It's no … [Read more...] about What do you want to accomplish this year?