Category: Translation technique
File under: food for thought. A colleague and former student e-mailed me this morning and asked how many words a year I translate, and whether I track it. I haven’t tracked it–until now–and I guessed 300,000 words. My reasoning was: conventional wisdom holds that “the average” (whatever that means) full-time translator produces about 500,000 words a …
Thanks to reader Paul Froese for suggesting this topic; Paul e-mailed me, asking about textbooks that might help one become a better translator, or that might be helpful to beginning translators. Paul referenced the free translation course that’s available from logos.it, and wondered whether there are comparable textbook resources out there. I have a few of …
Eve Bodeux and I just released a new episode of our podcast, Speaking of Translation; here it is! We are also on iTunes if you’d like to subscribe to us there. In this episode, Eve and Corinne discuss how to identify, market to, and successfully work in non-traditional translation specializations. Drawing on their own experiences translating …
Here’s a random linguistic observation… Earlier this week, I was translating away on some public health materials, and came to the expression “composer notre numéro sans frais.” Knee-jerk translation: call our toll-free number (to get information about this public health initiative). And then it occurred to me, is it still correct to call something a “toll-free …
Especially if you translate for direct clients, it’s important to think about style; not as in “she has a wordy writing style” (which I do…) but as in Chicago Style versus AP Style versus the many house style guides or subject-specific style guides that are out there, versus no style guide whatsoever, which is what many …
A reader asks: I come from a court interpreting background, and we have to be super-faithful to the original–how much do you advise a translator to deviate (if that’s the right word) from the original? Short answer: In 2003, PEN held a tribute to Gabriel García Márquez. Edith Grossman, (legendary translator of García Márquez and other …
If you’re a French<>English translator, you probably know Tom West, an attorney turned translator (and former ATA President) who owns Intermark Language Services and has spoken at numerous ATA and SFT conferences. Tom launched a new blog in January, and I just hopped over there to read it. Great stuff! Specifically, he is currently running a …
This morning I presented a webinar for the ATA professional development series, entitled “Translating for the international development sector.” We didn’t have time to take questions, so if you have any, you can send them to me here. Also, if you have any feedback that you didn’t include on the evaluation, you can post it in …
A student in my online course asks: How do I decide if a translation specialization is viable? Hmm, interesting question, and one that nearly all freelancers have to grapple with at some point. Short answer: nearly any specialization is viable, depending on your marketing zeal and income needs. Longer answer follows. When you’re looking at potential …
One of the great things about having a blog is that I get to ask questions that I don’t know the answers to, and then people who are smarter than I am will respond and fill me in. Here’s one that’s frequently asked by students in my online courses, and it honestly puzzles me as much …
