Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters


Corinne McKay

Orlando wrapup

This Monday morning, many translators across the U.S. are either heading home from the ATA conference or are already at home, clearing out the inbox and following up on contacts made at the conference.

As someone who a) is not a Disney fan and b) hails from a city that is the cultural opposite of Orlando, my expectations of this conference were fairly low. Now, I’m thrilled to report that while the conference was of course infused with a measure of Disney-ness (meet you at the golden Mickey in the hotel lobby!), the sessions were really outstanding, the logistics were top-notch and it was very pleasant to renew connections with other translators under the Florida sun.

Jill Sommer and I presented a preconference seminar on “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator,” which went very well; a great co-presenter is a real asset in a three-hour session! On Thursday, I did a solo presentation on blogging, which was well-attended and seemed to get a lot of people thinking about the possibilities that Web 2.0 offers translators. Michael Wahlster graciously came up to the podium for an impromptu overview of Twitter as well.

A number of this conference’s sessions stand out in my mind as particularly noteworthy, from the absolutely enjoyable (FR>EN translator Sandra Smith’s conversation with Lucinda Karter about the “story behind the story” of Sandra’s award-winning translation of Suite Française) to the intensely motivational (SFT President Chris Durban’s session on developing a base of direct clients) to the highly amusing (François Lavallée’s readings of his modern-day fables in the style of La Fontaine; François is also the founder of Magistrad, a continuing education school for translators in Quebec. I also left the conference in awe of some of the presenters’ knowledge of their areas of specialization (Karen Tkaczyk‘s session on chemical terminology for cosmetics translation).

The logistical aspects of this conference were also really well done (thanks to the ATA HQ staff!). Last year in San Francisco I’ll admit that I felt a bit hermetically sealed in the conference hotel, and the food and beverage service were not, in my opinion, up to standard. This year it was really nice to have breakfast and coffee breaks outside by the pool, a half hour between sessions so that you didn’t have to sprint from one conference room to another, and a centrally located Exhibit Hall that was fun to explore during breaks.

In addition, I’ll note that while many people comment about “how expensive” the ATA conference is (and unless it’s in your home city, there is just no getting around the flight, hotel and meal expenses), I think it’s important to look at the potential return on your investment. First, compare the registration fee to other translation/localization industry conferences, some of which cost more *per day* than the ATA conference costs for three days. Then, let’s say that your total expenses for attending the conference come to maybe $1,500. Plan your schedule so that you will learn enough to increase your income by at least $1,500; and in my opinion, this isn’t at all unrealistic given the quality of some of the presentations that are offered. To be honest, I think that many translators who work primarily or exclusively for agencies could probably double their incomes by applying the direct client marketing tips offered in several of the presentations.

In sum, this was one of my top two favorite ATA conferences, New Orleans being the other one. Next year’s location, New York, promises to attract a variety of high quality presenters too; see you there!


Corinne McKay

The trouble with auto-responders

In advance of the ATA conference and all of those e-mail auto-responders being turned on, Wendy Hoover of eLocale sent this link to the CTA list serve. The article, from the BBC’s website, tells the woeful tale of a road sign in Wales (“No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only”) for which the Welsh translation, appearing below the English, reads “I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated.”

The story is amusing, and it’s not impossible to imagine how the error initially occurred, but the real takeaway is the admonition from Welsh journalist Dylan Iorwerth, “When they’re proofing signs, they should really use someone who speaks Welsh.”


Corinne McKay

Networking for introverts

Ahead of next week’s American Translators Association conference, many U.S.-based translators are printing résumés, putting the finishing touches on presentations, searching the closet for presentable outfits and dreading the inevitable rooms full of strangers at this sizable event. At the same time, every successful translator has to admit that ours is a business that depends on name recognition and word of mouth referrals, and in-person contacts go a long way toward building up both of those elements. ATA President Jiri Stejskal’s column in this month’s Chronicle had some excellent tips on networking, and here are a few that I’ve gleaned over the years.

  • Don’t be shy about distributing your résumés and business cards. It’s no secret that building relationships with clients and colleagues is a major reason to attend a professional conference, so just offer to exchange cards with everyone you talk to; bring a lot of cards!
  • Ask people about themselves. If you’re not an extrovert, think of a few questions you could ask people to get the conversation flowing; what sessions has this person been attending? what are his/her specializations? what does he/she think of this conference as compared to past years? what trends does he/she see in the industry? Most people feel comfortable talking about themselves and their jobs, so these are good ways to start an interaction. If you don’t feel that you’re a good talker, be a great listener.
  • See other people in your language as allies, not competitors. When you meet other people in your language pair, use the time to share information that can help both of you. Maybe this person works in a specialization that is different from yours, and you could potentially refer work to each other. Maybe this person is also looking for ways to market to clients overseas, and you could share ideas.
  • Remember that no one wants to listen to a complainer. I thought this advice in Jiri’s column was spot on; we’ve all gotten stuck talking to the person who has nothing positive to say about the hotel, the food, the sessions, the weather, etc. Is this a person to whom you would refer your clients? Even if your trip isn’t going well, save the complaining for a time when you’re with friends who already know you.
  • Thank the presenters. Aside from the Distinguished Speakers who are invited by the ATA Divisions, the vast majority of presenters are volunteers. Saying something specific, either in person or in an e-mail after the fact, about something you enjoyed in the presentation will make that person’s day (trust me!). It’s also a good way to start a relationship with someone whose work you admire.
  • Turn off the distractions. You spend the rest of the year dealing with communication overload, and professional conferences are about the closest approximation of a paid vacation when you’re self-employed. Check your phone and e-mail messages if you have to, but focus on what’s at the conference too!


Corinne McKay

Speaking of Translation: a new podcast

A few months ago, my colleague and friend Eve Bodeux (of Adventure Translators and Bodeux International) had the idea to start a podcast focusing on translation and the translation industry. Eve asked me to co-host the podcast with her, and we’re excited to present the first episode of Speaking of Translation, which may be the first and only podcast dedicated to our industry. In this episode, we give a preview of the upcoming American Translators Association conference and talk about the positive economic news for U.S.-based translators.

Have a listen, and feel free to send us your suggestions for future episodes!


Corinne McKay

Online tutorials for OpenOffice.org

Last night I was at a Colorado Translators Association event at which the presenter (the ever-popular editing consultant Alice Levine), mentioned an online tutorial for the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word. This made me realize that there must be similar websites for OpenOffice.org. Here are a few that I’ve found:

A really comprehensive resource for OpenOffice.org users is Get OpenOffice.org, which offers all kinds of training materials, transition advice, tips on running OO.o on Vista, etc. Solveig Haugland, the founder of Get OpenOffice.org is also the author of the OpenOffice.org 2 Guidebook, so this website rates high on the reliability index! She also has a blog about OO.o, at OpenOffice.blogs.com.

Learn OpenOffice.org offers a variety of free online tutorials that focus on how to solve a particular problem using OO.o. Their tutorials look really helpful and you can choose between text-only or Flash mode (thank you!). The only drawback is that there are tutorials for Impress (OO.o’s presentation program) and Calc (spreadsheet), but not for Writer, which is the application that most translators are likely to use.

The official OO.o website has a tutorials page, with lessons written by various contributors. The topics are a bit random since they’re contributed by volunteers and most of the tutorials require you to download a file, but these are definitely work a look.

A very helpful site is VnTutor, which has a lengthy list of tutorials for Writer, Base, Impress and Calc and allows you to view them right on the site. The tutorials also have lots of pictures to make their points clearer.

Although it’s not specifically a tutorial, my pick for online OO.o information would be Solveig Haugland’s blog, and you can use the Categories menu on the right to find the topic you’re interested in.