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 MoreBuddies Welcome Newbies at ATA55
By The Savvy Newcomer Team The pre-conference event that was a resounding success last year, Buddies Welcome Newbies, is back this year and it promises to be an even bigger event! Led by Helen Eby and Jamie Hartz, with the support of lots of volunteers, this program is designed as an ice breaker for those attending the Conference for the…
Read MoreATA Science & Technology Division 2014 National Meeting Program
By Matthew Schlecht The ATA Science & Technology Division has a solid program at the 55th ATA Annual Meeting with content that will appeal to the inner geek in all of us. S&TD includes translators working in a wide variety of language pairs with a focus on scientific and technical subject matter. Some of the S&TD presentations do have a…
Read MoreThe Freelance Juggling Act: Balancing Work, Family, and the Rest of Life as a Freelancer
By Corinne McKay What’s the best and the worst thing about freelancing? It’s all up to you! Whether you work 20 hours a week or 80 hours a week; whether you earn $10,000 or $200,000; whether you finish your deadlines with plenty of buffer time, or whether you miss your deadlines entirely. As compared with an in-house job, freelancing offers significant…
Read MoreDon’t miss out on one of the ATA’s most valuable resources—The Business Practices List
By David Friedman The ATA Business Practices Listserv (BP List) has without a doubt been the best thing about my ATA membership. The discussions on it range from advice on how to deal with contract clauses and how to vet clients to the differences between the bulk market and the premium market. It’s a place where all translators, regardless of experience,…
Read MoreInternational Translation Day: A celebration of language and human rights
By Daniela Guanipa Today’s post is a celebration of all the language professionals who make a difference in our world – whether it is as medical or court interpreters, literary or technical translators, and every (in)imaginable field in between. We celebrate those linguists who came before us – just as Saint Jerome, whose feast we also celebrate today and who…
Read MoreFrom ATA’s Mentoring Committee: How to Be a Happy and Prosperous Translator or Interpreter
By Eric Chiang ATA’s Mentoring Program has had two lives so far. Its first life began as the brainchild of then ATA Board member Courtney Searls-Ridge. Courtney followed her dream to build a mentoring program for ATA members: she organized, recruited, and cajoled to get the program off the ground in 2001. The program’s second life began in 2012 when…
Read MoreUniversity of Maryland, College Park: A Day in the Life
By Sarah Caudill Though I live in Silver Spring, Maryland, just a short bus ride from the UMD College Park campus, I was teaching English in a small French town called l’Isle d’Abeau when I first heard about the brand new Interpreting and Translation program at UMD. I had interpreted and translated on an informal basis for friends and family, of…
Read MoreAfter the Conference is Before the Conference: Tips for ATA Conference Networking Success
Attending the largest annual translation conference in the USA can be a little daunting if you do not know any attendees beforehand. Luckily, my first ever ATA conference coincided with the newly established Newbies and Buddies program initiated by Helen Eby and Jamie Hartz. Here are some tips I picked up and suggestions to help you navigate your first conference.…
Read MoreTen Evenings Per Year
By Caitilin Walsh It doesn’t seem like a huge time investment, but they are some of the most demanding hours for me professionally. During those ten classes (five Wednesdays during the spring and fall quarters), I not only have to provide valuable theoretical and practical information to 18 energetic and motivated students, but my entire knowledge and 25+ years’ professional experience…
Read MoreA Day in the Life: Bellevue College
This week we continue with our “A Day in the Life” series featuring an article written in collaboration by two current students from the Bellevue College Translation and Interpretation Certificate Program. We find it very interesting to hear the unique perspectives of students from completely different backgrounds who share a common goal: Applying their language skills to work through a…
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