Monthly Archives: July 2011

Podcast: Interview with Nataly Kelly on her role as Chief Research Officer with Common Sense Advisory and how freelancers can benefit from market research 1

by • knowledge, ProZ.com, translation business • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s a new ProZ.com podcast. These podcasts are designed to provide an opportunity to hear the week’s news, highlights of site features, interviews with translators and others in the industry, and to have some fun (see announcement).

This week I had the chance to interview Nataly Kelly, a respected author, consultant and advisor with a specialized interest in language services and technology and Chief Research Officer at Common Sense Advisory. In this interview Nataly explains what Common Sense Advisory does and describes her role as Chief Research Officer. She also shares some insight on her view about translation technologies and what may be in store for those language service providers who do not embrace technology.

Nataly has recently published a book about Telephone Interpreting, the first book ever written about this topic. In this interview she explains why she decided to write this book and mentions some of the topics covered in it. (To get a free digital copy of the book, click here.)

During the interview, I also asked Nataly to mention the ways in which freelancers could interact with Common Sense Advisory and benefit from its research. Listen to the interview here to learn how.

ProZ.com podcast, 2011-07-29

I hope you find this podcast interesting. You can follow Common Sense Advisory on Twitter @CSA_Research. Feedback and comments are welcome. You can reach me at romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom .

To listen to previous podcasts, check the podcasts tab in this blog.

Later!

Romina

ProZ.com’s First Interpreter Virtual Workshop gathers over 270 attendees Reply

by • ProZ.com • Tags: ,

On Thursday, July 21, ProZ.com held the First Interpreter Virtual Workshop with over 270 interpreter attendees. The event offered 3 sessions, 3 focus groups, a virtual powwow and even an interpreter story contest!

Event sessions included presentations on “Interpreting in the Global Village of the 21st Century”, “Leaving the semi-professional status behind” and “How to become an EU accredited interpreter”, and focus groups allowed attendees to discuss the state of the interpreting industry in 2011, the certification process for medical interpreters in different countries and the best ways to get the good conferences.

A special thanks goes out to event speakers:

Also, congratulations to the interpreter story contest winner, Jan VDBuckle, who won with his submission of “What about a good offer?!”.

For those who missed the event (or part of it), recordings of session presentations are available via on-demand content here. Also, speakers’ material can be downloaded here. Finally, transcripts of focus group discussions can be viewed here.

Thanks to the interpreters that attended this event! Now stay tuned for upcoming ProZ.com events…


Thank you to ProZ.com site moderators, class of 2010-2011 Reply

by • ProZ.com • Tags: , ,

As most ProZ.com members know, ProZ.com’s KudoZ and forum areas are monitored by a group of volunteers known as “moderators“. Their role is to foster and protect the positive, results-oriented atmosphere that makes ProZ.com possible, by:

  • Greeting and guiding new participants, and helping them to properly use and benefit from what is available to them at ProZ.com.
  • Enforcing site rules in a consistent and structured manner to maintain a constructive environment.

Moderators serve a one-year term, from July to June. This means that the current class of moderators is coming to an end.

I would like to take a moment then to thank the moderator class of 2010-2011 for their year of service to the community. Thank you to all of these members who have given of their time to help maintain a positive, results-oriented atmosphere on the site. Each person in the class has made valuable contributions to ProZ.com, and some have contributed beyond the moderator program. Thank you!

The moderator class of 2011-2012 is scheduled to begin in August. If you are a ProZ.com member and would like to volunteer for a one-year term as site moderator, please see http://www.proz.com/moderators or contact site staff through the support center.

Podcast: interview with Eric Candle on medical interpreting 2

by • events, knowledge, ProZ.com • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Here’s a new ProZ.com podcast. These podcasts are designed to provide an opportunity to hear the week’s news, highlights of site features, interviews with translators and others in the industry, and to have some fun (see announcement).

As you may already know, next Thursday (July 21st) the first ProZ.com Interpreter Virtual Workshop will be held so I talked to Eric Candle, who is a Member of the Board of the International Medical Interpreters Association and who will be one of the speakers at a session called “Leaving the semi-professional status behind” – advancing the professionalization of medical interpreting field and National Certification for Medical Interpreters — What Every Interpreter Needs to Know to Become Certified”. In this interview Eric describes his role as  a member of the Board of the International Medical Interpreters Association and explains the association’s mission.  He also describes some of the topics that will be covered during his presentation. Eric also provides some insight about the current trends in the medical interpreting field and mentions the different ways in which this service can be provided (telephone interpreting, video remote interpreting, on site interpreting, etc.) Eric highlights the importance of the professionalization of medical interpreting and refers to the major difference between being a bilingual person and being a professional medical interpreter. When asked what advice he would give to an interpreter willing to work in the medical field, he does not hesitate to assert that the two sound steps to take in this direction are: to get trained and, for U.S. residents, to join the IMIA.

You can listen to the interview here ProZ.com podcast, 2011-07-15

I hope you enjoy this interview. If you are an interpreter do not forget to register for the first ProZ.com’s Interpreter Virtual Workshop to be held on July 21st (that is next Thursday!)

Feedback and comments are welcome. You can reach me at romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom .

To listen to previous podcasts, check the podcasts tab in this blog.

Later!

Romina

The Translators without Borders Translation Center delivers its first file into Swahili 4

by • ProZ.com • Tags: , ,

The first file translated into Swahili in the Translators without Borders Translation Center was delivered today.

This file, traslated by TwB volunteer and ProZ.com member Judith Prince, is part of the “Translating for life in Africa” project.

The purpose of this project, launched by the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa – Kenya Chapter (AHILA), is to save lives by creating a ‘library’ of basic healthcare information translated into several African languages.

People who live in rural communities in Africa have particularly fragile health because of factors such as HIV AIDS, malnutrition, lack of access to clean drinking water and tropical diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and cholera. A general shortage of doctors and nurses as well as the distance to travel to government hospitals mean that most healthcare is dispensed by community health workers.

While English literacy is high among city dwellers and well-educated professionals such as doctors, in the rural areas English skills are extremely limited. Community health workers may or may not have a good understanding of English, yet their training and their field manuals tend to be in English. Inadequate access to information is just one more burden for the rural poor in Africa to bear.

Translators without Borders needs more volunteer translators in the English to Swahili language pair in order to continue translating for life in Africa. If you are interested in volunteering please contact us by means of the “Send email” link in our ProZ.com profile.

Podcast: Interview with Pablo Muñoz Sánchez on software and video game localization 3

by • ProZ.com • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s a new ProZ.com podcast. These podcasts are designed to provide an opportunity to hear the week’s news, highlights of site features, interviews with translators and others in the industry, and to have some fun (see announcement).

Last week the 4th International Media for All Conference – Audiovisual Translation: Taking Stock was held in London so I interviewed ProZ.com member Pablo Muñoz Sánchez to talk about this event and to learn more about his experience as a translator specializing in software and video game localization.

In this interview Pablo explains the benefits of specializing and how he decided on his areas of specialization. He talks about current trends in the video game localization industry such as fansub and audio description. After describing the current scenario for translators working on software and video game localization, Pablo provides some advice for those aspiring translators willing to specialize in video game and software localization. 

You can listen to the interview in English here and in Spanish here.

I hope you enjoy this interview. You can read more about Pablo’s thoughts and comments on software and video game localization in his blog in Spanish “Algo más que traducir“.

Feedback and comments are welcome. You can reach me at romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom .

To listen to previous podcasts, check the podcasts tab in this blog.

Stay tuned for next Friday’s podcast.

Romina

10 strategies to expand your translation business: Part 10 3

by • ProZ.com, translation business • Tags: , , ,

This is the last post in the ten-part series that provides information on ten different strategies for staying competitive and growing your translation business.

Tenth strategy: Writing a business plan

Freelance translators and interpreters must never forget that they are also running a business. So, as business people, freelance language professionals must never forget to write a business plan.

A well-written business plan is another way of showing professional seriousness, eventually helping to get a loan, form a partnership or gaining access to well-organized corporate clients looking for service providers having this special “difference”.

A good business plan should include a summary of plans, information on competitive market position, a SWOT analysis, details regarding administrative, organizational and financial situation, and risk policies.

How can I write a business plan using ProZ.com?

When writing your business plan, use ProZ.com forums and the ProZ.com Wiki to find out more about the translation market in your country, stay informed on current practices by reading Translation news articles and attending training sessions on translation business development.

Also, read this article on writing your business plan in the ProZ.com Wiki.

Do you have a business plan? What does it include? What other useful resources would you suggest to write a business plan?

The list of strategies outlined in this series is by no means exhaustive, of course, and language professionals can and should keep looking for new means to expand their business and promote their services.

What other strategies to expand your translation business would you suggest?