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Episode 14 — State of the FLD 2018
Angela Benoit: Hello, and welcome to the Continuing Education Series member, a podcast by the French Language Division of the American Translators Association, produced as a benefit for members and all those interested in joining us.
Our series strives to offer educational content about the craft of French to English and English to French translation, and about our division.
I am your host, Angela Benoit.
It is my pleasure today to welcome three guests: Eve Bodeux is here: she’s our outgoing Division Administrator. She has served two terms for a total of four years. Jenn Mercer is our outgoing Assistant Administrator and our newly elected Administrator. She has also served two terms for a total of four years. And Andie Ho, is also here. She is our newly elected Assistant Administrator. Ladies, welcome and congratulations!
Eve Bodeux: Thanks Angela, this is Eve.
Jenn Mercer: This is Jenn, thanks so much!
Andie Ho: This is Andie, thank you for having us.
AB: Thank you for being here! Let’s get straight to it. Today we are going to talk about the State of the French Language Division, and we have a lot of topics to cover. Eve, would you like to kick off the episode by telling us about the annual meeting that is going to take place at the conference in New Orleans?
EB: Yes, as Angela said, we always have, as all divisions do, our annual meeting at the conference, or wherever it may be held. And this year as many of you know, it’s going to be held in New Orleans, at the end of October. And we will be having the French Language Division meeting on the third day of the conference, which will be one half hour, so 30 minutes of your time, from 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm. And you can look at the conference website to look exactly where it will take place, but it is scheduled from 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm. And so, you definitely want to come and hear about all the wonderful things the FLD offers to its members. What we have done this last year and plans for the coming year. And please, come and say goodbye to me as your Administrator! It’s always fun and I always enjoy getting to meet people in person, meet old friends in person too! And then you can say Hello to Jen and Andie as your new Administrators.
AB: All right, let’s make sure we don’t miss it. Moving on to the fun. After the meeting, what are we going to be doing?
EB: Well, there’s a bunch of different events. The first thing I want to talk to you guys about is the French Language Division Dinner. So, we usually have our dinner at the conference, and this year, I want to express my thanks to Amanda Williams, who organized it for us. And to Andie Ho, who is now our Assistant Administrator, for she’s taking the payments. Thank you, Amanda and Andie. And the dinner will be on Friday, October 26, 7 PM, and it’s going to be at the Creole House Restaurant and Oyster Bar, which is this year, right across from the conference hotel. Looks like an awesome restaurant, and it is really easy to access. You can walk with your friends if you want, but it is right across the street, and you will be at the dinner. It has a really fun menu, we’ll be having mixed appetizers, salad and entrées, and desserts. And Andie and I were both lamenting that the entrées looked so good and that we were having trouble choosing the ones we wanted. And so, you do have to pay in advance and reserve your spot for this dinner, because we need to tell the restaurant how many people to expect, and it is $55 per person. And that includes the three-course dinner, tax, and gratuity. Oh, I was speaking back there of the desert, the desert is what we were talking about earlier before we started the recording. All of us love the New Orleans stale bread pudding, and that will be the desert for the evening. The instructions on how to reserve have been sent a couple of times to all our members and are also on our website, and it is through PayPal. And Andie will receive your money and you will need to choose your entrée ahead of time. So, we will put the different things we are talking about on our website. The choice will be on the website. And also, the website will have the information about the dinner.
AB: On the website you can go from the podcast episode to the article about the conference, for sure.
EB: Oh good. And if you have any questions on how to do it, and I also need to add, this is important, we do not provide refunds. But you can sell or give your ticket to another conference attendee. Because, for various reasons, we cannot provide refunds. And we hope to see a lot of you, and I know that a lot of you have already signed up. So, great!
AB: So, this is filling up, so don’t wait until the last minute.
EB: Yes, thank you thank you for reminding me, the last date for signing up is October 12. Is that correct, Andie?
AH: That sounds right.
EB: Yes, it does close a couple of weeks before the conference, so we have time to tell the restaurant and get the payments and all that kind of thing. So, thanks Angela!
AB: Well, make sure to sign up everybody. And go there for me because this year I won’t be able to attend. But I want to hear all your stories about the pudding! All right, this would not be the French Language Division if we didn’t have l’apéro. Eve, please tell us about the FLD Happy Hour.
EB: Yes, we started this new tradition last year, and it went really well, so what we have planned for this year is to meet at the conference hotel bar, which this year, at the Marriott, which is the conference hotel, it is called the 55 Fahrenheit and it will be at 8:30 PM on the Thursday night of the conference. So, you get a chance to meet with other FLD members. No need to RSVP, just show up when you wish. And we had a lot of fun last year doing this. And so again, it’s Thursday at the conference. Join us at 8:30 PM at the hotel bar which is called 55 Fahrenheit.
AB: Awesome! Rendez-vous pris, as we say. Still, about the conference… Eve, tell us about the guest speaker.
EB: I am super excited! Every year, our guest speakers are wonderful. But this year, I am super excited once again! For our Distinguished Speaker is great. Her name is Muriel Gilbert, and she is a recognized expert on the French language and also, as an added bonus for us, she seems like a lot of fun! So, yippee! And we are super excited to have her as our Distinguished Speaker for the New Orleans conference. And I did want to tell you a little bit about her background. So, she was actually trained as a literary translator, in Paris, and she has been active in the translation and in the media world for over 20 years. She has worked as a copywriter, as a translator, and as an education journalist and columnist. And today, she’s a proofreader for the French newspaper Le Monde, and she also is the Resident Language Expert on a podcast segment on RTL, one of France leading radio stations, and it is called “Bonbons sur la langue”. And so, in that forum, she discusses French expressions, difficulties of French language, and how the French language has evolved. She also has several books out. One of them was kind of a hit, and I love it about France that it is a hit, all because it is kind of nerd word book! It is called Au Bonheur des fautes, confessions d’une dompteuse de mots, and it was published in 2017. And she has a new book coming too. We are super excited to have her, and she will be giving two presentations. One is called “Gender Neutral Language Makes the Front Page”, where she talks about the move towards more neutral language in French. And the other one is called “When It Comes to Language, Nobody Knows It All”. And it is full of tips and tricks for better writing in French.
AB: That sounds absolutely amazing. Make sure you all go to these sessions, especially the Gender neutral one, I would love to hear it, but alas, not this year. So, thank you Eve, for finding such fantastic speakers for the conference. What do we know at this point about the general sessions?
EB: We have quite a few French sessions, in addition to our Distinguished Speaker. We have one called: “Pleats, Pockets and Problems: The Deceptive Ease of Fashion Translation”. There are many, many sessions, but I want to clarify for our listeners that I am talking specifically about the French-related ones right now. And this one is by Denise Jacobs and Liza Tripp. And they will be talking specifically about French translation. Another one is, looking down at my notes here, “Don’t Trust the Machine: How the Persuasive Power of Neural Machine Translation Can Mislead Post-editors.” And that’s by Guillaume de Neufbourg. And he will be talking about technology and how it’s related to translation of the French language. And then also, Marc Lambert is another speaker. He is really great too, as are all of these. He’s talking about, “Challenging Assumptions: Avoiding a Stilted Style”. And we have Hélène Conte, who is talking about slang in the judiciary, with “L’Argot et le traducteur/interprète judiciaire”. And we have others that you can look up on the website itself under Sessions, and under French. And there are others that are related because they touch on translating English into French and French into English. So, yes, they will be quite a few French topics as well.
AB: That sounds like a fantastic lineup. And again, we will list all this on the post that accompanies this episode. For our listeners who may be coming to the conference for the first time, what can you tell us about the opening ceremonies?
EB: Yes, specifically related to the French Language Division opening ceremonies, we will have a table at the Welcome Reception, like Angela said, this is the reception that kicks off the conference. That’s a big reception, with lots of food and lots of fun. So, they’ll be sure to mention all the excitement! And stop by the FLD table and meet all the FLD members. And that takes place on Wednesday, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM. It usually takes place in a big ballroom, or a similar large room. There will be signs and I don’t know exactly where, but it’s always a big room where there is lots of people and it is very exciting! This is also where you can come and get your stickers, if you don’t have yet your French sticker, and where you can find other French people.
AB: all right! Any final words of wisdom on how to get the most out of the conference this year?
EB: Yeah, I just think that it’s good for everybody to plan ahead of time. I have already started to look at my schedule, for different people I want to meet, different events I want to make sure I go to. And one of my favorite things is, of course I love all the French Language Division things, of course, but I really like going to the Literary Division, which sponsors… I can’t think what they call it now, but they sponsor an evening where people go and read poetry that they have translated or read literary works that they have translated. That is one of my favorite events. So, just be sure to see what interests you, and schedule ahead of time, to get the most of the conference.
AB: That’s a great tip to make sure to check what the other tracks are doing, I mean, the other language tracks [laughs]. Thank you very much for all this information about the conference. Now, let’s discuss a little bit the FLD presence on the web and elsewhere. Jenn, can you update us on what the Division has been doing on social media?
JM: Absolutely! I love the conference, just as much as anyone else. But, we unfortunately only have it for one precious week. So, the rest of the year, we have to soldier on. Our mailing list, the FLD list, is churning along, looks like it’s coming out of a low from summer break. Our Twitter following is up to an even 700 people.
EB: Woohoo! [All laugh]. I remember when we started, we had, like seven people! Right? Right…
JM: It’s going along well. And you should see more announcements and everything as the conference gets closer. The LinkedIn group is still going strong. It’s a little quieter, has a different focus, but still viable. And of course, Facebook is still doing its Facebook thing. But we are continuing all that, and if there is any new exciting social media that comes up, we will join that too!
AB: Fantastic! Thank you, Jenn, I also heard about that podcast thing?
JM: Apparently, it’s up to me to talk about it.
EB: [laughs] So, I handled it first, and then I handed it back to Angela, because I want to give her kudos [laughs]. So, I want you to all know that there have been podcasts in the past, and that Angela is our unseen host, and that she is putting a lot of work into recruiting guests and producing the podcasts. She does it to all people! [Laughs] So we want to give her a big… I would clap, but I have a phone in my hand! [Laughs]
AH: Thank you, Angela!
EB: So, she will tell you little bit more about that, but we have several podcasts each year. But like she said at the beginning, in the introduction for this episode, we are really focusing in those podcasts on the craft of translation, for French to English, and English to French translators. Our idea when we started was that a lot of other forums were providing information on the business of translation, which is really great, but we felt that we could have a special little niche here, you know, really kind of feeding translators’ brains with tips and tricks on the actual craft of translation. So, Angela, I want you to talk more and also explain how we can find the podcasts.
AB: Yes, finding the podcasts is easy. You can simply go to the FLD website, and click on Continuing Education Series Podcasts, I believe in the right-hand side menu. And I am not going to bore you reading URL addresses right now, because at the end of this podcast (because you are going to listen to all of it [laughs]), the concluding blurb contains everything you need to know, to listen on SoundCloud, you can listen on iTunes, you can subscribe with your favorite podcast feed, and follow us throughout the year. And what did we do in the podcasts during the last 12 months? We had some financial translation tips and tricks, with Amanda. We talked about Les Mots délaissés with Marie-Christine. And our very own Andie, who is here today, came to do a new type of presentation, in which we highlight great ideas by our members. Members of the FLD. A different format, and we enjoyed it very much. In the rest of the year, we do what we are doing right now, which is the state of the FLD: we talk about the last 12 months, about what we have been doing, and what we hope to do, and the conference, and things like that. I am always interested in what, really, is the best part of the podcast: and that is the guests. If you have people who would like to come and talk about a translation-related topic on the podcast, who have something to contribute, something nerdy, something interesting, something niche, something fun. They don’t have to be a French Language Division member, nor an ATA member, anybody is welcome: the only criteria is wanting to share knowledge and discuss.… So, if you have anybody to recommend, or if you want to come yourself, please get in touch with us.
EB: Great, thanks Angela! Thank you for all you do and thanks for that great summary!
AB: Well, thank you for allowing me to do it. It’s really fun! I think we should now move on to the newsletter. Andie, would you like to tell us about the last 12 months?
AH: I took over the newsletter, Apropos, after the last ATA conference. So almost exactly a year ago. And since then, we have been publishing at a good clip, every few weeks, like clockwork. And if you don’t read the newsletter, you are really missing out. By being the editor, I have discovered the wealth of interesting specialties, information, knowledge, that our members have. They write articles for us, and they never fail to impress me with what it is that they do. We have had Bruce Popp talk about his publication, a very scientific book, not only about the translation process, but the publication process, which is valuable if you’re interested in something like that. It runs again and it’s been great. But I am stepping down as newsletter editor…
EB: Wait Andie, wait! I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I also wanted to call out Andie as a Rock Star editor and she has been a pleasure to read all the articles that she has been gathering, and I wanted to toot your horn for you [laughs]! And I wanted to say how much I have appreciated your work, and I know all the other members have too. So, before we introduce the new editor, I wanted to say that. But thank you!
AB and JM: Thank you, Andie!! Let’s do some clapping here!
AH: Aw! Thank you all, but, as I said, I am stepping down now. My tenure is over. I want to be able to focus on my Assistant Administrator duties and help Jenn out. So, we are bringing a new member on board, and that is Ben Karl. If you don’t know him, he is extremely bright and intelligent, he actually wrote an article for our newsletter, a little while back, about his experience translating French and Chinese, yes, Chinese, into English. So, go read that if you have not read it yet.
EB: Yes. Thanks to Ben for stepping up!
AB: Thank you both to Ben and Andie. We look forward to the next articles to come out in the newsletter. Jenn, let’s turn our attention to the study group for the certification exam.
JM: Yes, this is something I have tried. We had a little bit of technical difficulties at the start. So, it needs to be redesigned to work for everybody. Our first attempt was last year, and I will try to start again this year. I will be starting in early October, planning for October 8, somewhere along there. And instead of focusing on Slack, although we will retain it as a backup, it will be primary through email. The feedback I got from people is that they were much more comfortable with that. And we will have an occasional Slack session, just to talk with people. But the important thing is that I would like to encourage people to take the exam this year, because this year, it costs $300, and next year, it will cost $525. So, that’s a little bit of an incentive. In addition, most of the certification exams are now electronic, which is, I think, a much more comfortable way for modern translators to work. I think that even back in the days, we were using typewriters. So, this is much better. There is a lot of information on the website, and in fact, every time I ask somebody for information, the answer is, “oh, that is on the website!”. And sure enough, it always is! But there is a list of resources that you can use, in terms of what dictionaries you can use, electronically, you can still bring your paper dictionaries. And if you want to find a list of the upcoming exam sittings, that is also on the website. We can provide that in the show notes, but the trick is that you act like you are starting up for the exam itself, and then there is a list within the registration form that will let you know how many spots are left. So, I urge everyone to join the study group who wants to get certified. And to look for a time to take the test soon. Luckily, this is not a radio(??) test. Because one thing I found is that studying for the exam is a good way to focus on your translation skills. It’s never time lost. I look forward to seeing everybody.
EB: And then, Jenn, you are saying this is all about the study group that the FLD is sponsoring for people who are interested in getting certified for English into French or French into English?
JM: English into French and French into English, yes. Yes, this group’s focus is a great idea for any division to get a language, or language group specific section going.
EB: And also, Angela, we’ll post a link to the information on the ATA website on our show.
AB: And any link that is mentioned in our conversation on the show will be listed on the website. That way, you don’t have to spend time looking. All right, finally, I would like to talk about you guys, my three guests for this episode: Jenn and Andie, congratulations on being elected! And Jenn, thank you for sticking around after an impressive four years of service that you already have behind you as an Admin. How do you see your new role?
JM: Oh, well, first of all, I want to thank Eve for giving me a fantastic example on how to admin…
EB: Oh, thank you!
JM: Honestly, that is what is giving me the confidence to go ahead and take on the role of Administrator. I am going to probably follow in your footsteps, with a slightly different spin, like a slightly different person, like a substitute, I’ve got to get used to it. We are going to continue the social media and education programs that you got going, and I see it as an evolutionary process, adding new ones that people need, maybe retiring ones that are not used as often and I am certainly interested in getting members ideas at any time, at the conference, any communication to let me know, something you would like us to be doing more of. The one request I have is that my biggest challenge for next year, and for each year, is going to find the Guest speaker for each annual conference. It is always a challenge because it has a ridiculously early goal: we will be having ATA 59 in New Orleans at the end of October, and we need ideas by January or earlier on who we want a Guest speaker. So, I will be very, very open to your ideas! [Laughs].
AB: Thank you, and we will be putting out calls through social communication for ideas. And listen, if you have ideas, please write to me, please write to the FLD, please write to any of us really! On the platform, we would love to hear them! I also look forward to Jenn being on the FLD leadership, as much as I feel nostalgic about saying goodbye to Eve! Andie, how do you feel about the year to come and your new role as Assistant Admin? And again, congratulations and welcome!
AH: Thank you, it goes without saying that I am excited. I am also very interested in becoming more involved in the organization. Up until now, I have always been on the periphery, helping out a little bit here and there, but now, I really get to jump in with both feet. I have watched the FLD grow during my time with the ATA and watched it become more active and more interesting to its members. And I think that is the product of current leadership and the people before her, and I know that Jenn will follow in her footsteps. When I was approached about running for Assistant Administrator, I have to say that I was hesitant at first, but when I heard that Jenn was running for Administrator, that really sealed the deal for me. I know Jenn, I know what she is like and the way she works, and I know it is going to be a pleasure working with her.
JM: Aw…
AB: As a person who does things for the FLD, mostly talking through this microphone, I am so glad I have you and Jenn to turn to, I don’t know, about the podcast. It’s really great to be working with you guys, I’m super excited. Eve, on behalf of the membership, I would like to thank you for putting in so much hard work over the last four years. I think that I speak for most when I say that you have been a fantastic Administrator, and you are now the proud owner of lots of free time. What are your plans for the future?
EB: Thanks, Angela! It has meant a lot to me to be so involved in the French Language Division. And I have really enjoyed my tenure as an administrator. And I will miss it! I will miss my FLD! Well, I will still be around, and in any case, I plan to continue to volunteer for the ATA and for my local translators Association. So, I am not going anywhere soon! [Laughs]. And I know that the FLD is in good hands with Andie and Jenn. So, thank you to you, and to my Leadership Council, and to all the members!
AB: Thank you so much! And once again, I would like to thank all three of you for joining me today in this podcast, on this Continuing Education episode. I hope that the listeners will find it useful, about the FLD and the conference information. And this is going to conclude our episode for today. This podcast is produced by the French Language Division of the American Translators Association. Our current Administrator for the next few weeks is Eve Bodeux, and our current Assistant Administrator is Jenn Mercer. You can subscribe to the Continuing Education Series podcast on SoundCloud, at SoundCloud.com/ATA-FLD or on iTunes by searching for the words Continuing Education Series in the iTunes Store. You can contact the FLD at divisionfld [at] atanet.org or you can visit us at http://www.ata-divisions.org/FLD/. Do make sure you type the last three letters FLD in uppercase. You can also get in touch with us on social media.
This is Angela Benoit, signing off.
Transcribed by Anne Vincent.