The Savvy Newcomer aims to serve newcomers to the translation and interpreting professions by publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed content on a weekly basis. We strive to provide you with the answers to the many questions you face as a new or aspiring translator or interpreter.
Many language professionals start out doing their work “on the side” of whatever else they are doing in life. When people find out you are bilingual, you may be asked to do some volunteer interpreting to help out a friend, family member, or someone in need, or you may agree or be expected to do the occasional translation—and maybe even get paid for it. Volunteering and doing small side jobs are great ways to gain experience and improve your skills as a translator or interpreter. But in order to be a professional—whether you plan on doing this work part-time or…
Read MoreAlways leave the door open for future opportunities
Learning to say no is widely covered in our profession. It is a skill many of us have to work on. It took me a long time to identify my limits and realize that yes can be a huge and attractive trap. There is another aspect of our profession that does not receive as much attention: learning to hear no…
Read MoreInterview – Robyn Dean on Ethics: Metaphors or Values?
Reblogged from the ATA Interpreters Division blog with permission from the author (incl. the image) In preparation for the ATA conference, Marsel de Souza interviewed Robyn Dean, the Interpreters Division’s guest speaker at the ATA 57th Annual Conference in San Francisco. This interview focuses on the following sessions and much more: Returning to Ethics: A Meta-Ethical Analysis of Community Interpreters’ Codes and Standards of…
Read MoreRevision: a nlboe and etessanitl srcviee
ATA Conference session T-10, Saturday 10:00-11:00, Garden B If you can read the intended title of this presentation, then you can understand that it is impossible to catch all our own mistakes. As translators, we become as close to the material as the author (some say closer). Our eyes begin to gloss over typos and errors as our brain becomes…
Read MoreEnsuring Payment – Before, During and After the Project
Session IC-3 at the 2016 ATA Conference – Thursday, 3:30-4:30pm ATA57 will mark the 6th time I have given this presentation at an ATA annual conference, and the ninth time overall. The presentation is based on the knowledge and experience I have gained as a freelance translator working with agencies for more than twenty years and from monitoring payment issues…
Read MoreBuddies Welcome Newbies at ATA57
by Jamie Hartz If you’re a newbie to the American Translators Association, or to translation or interpreting in general, and you’re thinking of attending the ATA conference in San Francisco this November, then this post is for you – so read on! The Savvy Newcomer Team would like to tell you about an event that was a huge success its…
Read MoreHow to Have a Super First Year in the ATA: Go to Your First ATA Conference
Welcome to the fourth and final article in the series How to Have a Super First Year in the ATA. This time, I’ll be talking about why you should attend your first ATA conference this year, what you can expect and some tips for success. This year’s annual conference, ATA57, will be held in San Francisco, California from November 2-5,…
Read MoreQuoting a Large Translation Project
By May Fung Danis and Steven Marzuola May Fung Danis and Steven Marzuola each responded to a question about writing a proposal for a large translation project recently on the ATA Business Practices discussion group. We’ve combined our remarks for The Savvy Newcomer blog. First, take a look at the following resources from the ATA: Model translation job contract A…
Read MoreAnatomy of an ATA Conference
By Jennifer Guernsey Reblogged from the ATA Chronicle (February 2015) with permission from the author After hearing colleagues raise interesting questions regarding ATA’s Annual Conference, I decided it might be helpful to gather and publish information regarding how decisions are made concerning the selection of the conference venue and sessions. David Rumsey, ATA president-elect and conference organizer, kindly agreed…
Read More6 Ways to Foster a Strong Relationship with your Project Manager and Earn More Work
As a freelance translator, some of your projects will come from language service providers (LSPs) as opposed to direct clients. If you attend the ATA Conference, you’ll meet almost as many LSP representatives as fellow translators, looking to hire their next batch of vendors. Many of those representatives will be project managers (PMs). PMs often decide whom to hire for…
Read MoreGerman Immersion Strategies for Expatriates and Other Deutsch-Fans
By Marion Rhodes Being aware of linguistic trends is crucial for translators. To avoid language atrophy, those of us who have traded our native home country for a foreign country home need to find ways to continually immerse ourselves in our mother tongue. A German expatriate myself, I have to make a conscious effort to keep up with the evolution…
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