ATA Interpreters Division

Professional association or labor union: what is the difference?

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“Did you read what the Interpreters Union just published?,” a colleague asked eagerly. “Specifically, to which interpreters’ union are you referring?,” I replied rolling my eyes. “The Interpreters Union, the one with the [fill in the blank social media] page/channel!,” exclaimed my colleague. [Big sigh] “That’s not a real union,” I replied. This conversation happens too often … [Read more...]

Taking our financial pulse in the pandemic

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by the Blog Team This past August, the Interpreters Division (ID) of the American Translators Association (ATA) sent out a survey seeking insight into the financial impact on our members of the COVID-19 pandemic and possible relief provided by the government assistance programs. A little over 10% of our membership responded, representing 41 states and territories. We also … [Read more...]

Report from California – AB 5

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By Lorena Ortiz Schneider   What is AB 5 and why does it exist? Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) was authored by Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego and enacted on January 1, 2020. This bill sought to codify, even as it expanded, the State Supreme Court Dynamex decision of 2018, a wage order claims decision. In Dynamex, the State Supreme Court changed California’s … [Read more...]

Request for pro bono interpreters in NYC

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Dear interpreter colleagues, This request was forwarded to the ataTalk mailing list and we thought it could be of interest to anyone willing to volunteer in the NYC metro area. Additionally, with input from several colleagues, we compiled a list of organizations that are looking for pro bono interpreters and/or translators. Please help us make this list as comprehensive and up … [Read more...]

What a Speaker’s PowerPoint Won’t Tell—And the Interpreter Needs to Find Out

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The more skillful and/or experienced a speaker, the more likely the content of his talk will be in his head rather than on his slide deck. Some speakers will stuff each of their slides with text and simply read them out to the audience, and if the interpreters are able to get hold of the PPT presentation beforehand, they just need to study the text and terminology carefully in … [Read more...]