Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters

podcast for translators


Corinne McKay

New podcast episode: What we’re reading

In this episode of Speaking of Translation, Eve and Corinne discuss a favorite topic among translators: books, and what we’re reading: what genres we enjoy, how we make time for reading, how we choose new books, what formats we enjoy and don’t enjoy reading or listening to, how we track what we read, and book recommendations for our listeners!

Websites mentioned in this episode:

Our book recommendations (we are deliberately not including links, so that you can purchase them from the outlet of your choice!)

  • Transformations: Harriet and Helena Scott, Colonial Sydney’s Finest Natural History Painters by Vanessa Finney
  • Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
  • Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
  • My Life in France by Julia Child
  • Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston
  • This Close to Okay: A Novel by Leesa Cross-Smith
  • It Would be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo
  • French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris by Scott Dominic Carpenter
  • Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott H. Young
  • Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  • Humans, by Brandon Stanton
  • The Translator, by Nina Schuyler
  • Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe
  • L’Arabe du futur/The Arab of the Future, by Riad Sattouf
  • Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Mirror and the Light (Henry VIII trilogy) by Hilary Mantel
  • A Place of Greater Safety, by Hilary Mantel
  • Icebound, by Andrea Pitzer
  • Good Words Fast, by Oliver Dirs
  • Pancakes in Paris, by Craig Carlson
  • All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Listen on the audio player below, download the audio file here, or subscribe to Speaking of Translation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher.


Corinne McKay

Links I like

On this pre-Thanksgiving Friday (and after Colorado’s first snowstorm of the season!), here are a few links to keep you busy if you’re taking time off next week:

  • If you’re an interpreter, note that ATA’s Credentialed Interpreter designation is now open for business. This is *not* an interpreter certification program, but it allows interpreters certified by other entities to have that certification noted on their ATA directory profile. The idea is to provide some level of parity in the directory for interpreters, since Certified Translators have that designation noted on their directory profiles. You can read all about the requirements and how to apply, using the link above.
  • Eve Bodeux and I just released the November episode of Speaking of Translation, and it’s on how to write a great translator resume. We discussed the key elements of writing a professional, attention-getting resume, some pitfalls and best practices, and some alternatives to a resume if you work with direct clients. Serious translator geekery, but we had fun with it.
  • If you missed this year’s ATA conference (or if you were there but want to relive it!), you can watch the highlights video on ATA’s YouTube channel. You can also read wrapup posts from some attendees: Claire Cox wrote about being a first-time attendee from outside the US, and Paula Arturo wrote about being a repeat attendee and presenter from outside the US.
  • And speaking of translator geekery, Grammar Girl has a great new post on the differences between i.e. and e.g. in English. I have a client that uses these a lot, so I found this very helpful!
  • And finally, if you haven’t had enough of translator conferences, I noticed that registration is now open for ITI’s 2017 conference, May 18-20 in Cardiff.