Tag: Translation
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Checking in…after a long time away
It has been quite some time since my last post. Almost 18 months. I’ve had every intention of continuing this blog; but joining the Board of Directors of the American Translators Association (ATA) has ended up occupying much of my non-work professional development time and energy. I was elected treasurer in November 2017, after having…
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Why Can’t I Raise My Rates?
An Introduction to the Economics of Language Services* For millennia, humans have struggled with the concept of value. Why are some things more valuable than others? Who decides? Why, Plato pondered, are rare things so valuable, when others, like water, are not? Scottish philosopher Adam Smith, in his seminal work, Wealth of Nations, formalized this…
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Do Translators compete against Translation Agencies?
I recently came across a thoughtful, impassioned article* written and presented at the 1st NYU Translation Day Symposium by Kenneth Kronenberg, a long-time German-English translator. I don’t know Mr. Kronenberg, but after reading his piece, it became clear to me that he truly cares about translation and translators. His words reveal a genuine concern for…
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A Linguist Makes it to Hollywood
Our profession doesn’t make it to the big screen too often. But this November, a film called “Arrival” promises to showcase translation, interpretation, and linguistic theory. At least, that’s the hope, given the source material. The movie is based on award-winning novella “Story of Your Life”, by Ted Chiang. In just 39 pages, Chiang’s tale…
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A land of fire and ice and…language service professionals?
Tourism in Iceland has skyrocketed over the past 15 years, in part because so many movies and TV series have recently been shot there (e.g. Interstellar, Game of Thrones, Flags of our Fathers, Prometheus, Oblivion, Batman Begins, etc.). The number of visitors now far outpaces the local population. Source: Wikipedia In 2015, Americans and Brits…
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A novel so good, people were afraid to translate it
The New Yorker has a very interesting piece about this Irish novel, which Irish Gaelic speakers have revered for nearly 70 years, to the point of it never having been translated. Until now. Suddenly, within the past year, two translations have been published. Expectations are sky-high. Let the debate and analysis begin.
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How close are we to real-time translation technology?
In an excellent recent article that examines the state of real-time translation technology, Professor David Arbesú, of the University of South Florida, explores where we stand in terms of knocking down the global language barrier. The short answer: technology is quickly improving, but it still relies heavily on human translators to make it work.
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An hourly rate for translation?
A few articles have recently been published on the possibility of changes to fee structures in the language service industry. The time-honored way in which freelance translators charge out for their work has been per word, while freelance interpreters generally charge out per hour or day. Now, however, there is talk of translators charging out…
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Keeping abreast with technology
What lessons, as language service professionals, can we take from this year? Technology continues to make inroads into our business and livelihoods. For translators, this comes in the form of more advanced CAT tools and ever-improving machine translation, along with an increasing number of cloud-based applications at our disposal. For interpreters, VoIP software, from Skype…
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The Globalization of Literature
In an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times, Benjamin Moser discusses the importance of promoting non-English authors, in an English-dominated global economy. He brings up a number of good points about how works written in English not only enjoy greater readership in English-speaking countries, but they are the most commonly translated books in other…
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Translation and Technology
Mike Collins and I recently gave a presentation at Duke University on the state of technology in the language-services industry. Our focus was on the changing nature of the translator’s role in our business. We are no longer just multilingual wordsmiths. We must now be technologically savvy and proficient, staying ahead of the curve in…
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The State of Languages Services in 2015
Fifteen years into the 21st century is a good time to take stock of where we are as both an industry and a profession. Language services have come a long way. In the not-so-distant past, translators and interpreters toiled away in relative obscurity, for little, or at times, no pay. Global travel and migratory flows…
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Recap – 2014 ATA Conference in Chicago
CATI was very well represented at this ATA Conference, with over a dozen active members in attendance. Please talk to the others who attended to get their thoughts and opinions as well. The event got going on Wednesday, with a leadership-council meeting among the heads of the ATA Chapters (which are geographic) and the ATA…