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Here we are. 2021 has staggered to a close and a new year has begun. COVID is still in the daily news, our professional world is still a constant mix of virtual and in-person, and we never did get our “old normal” back. In fact, it seems to me that we’re learning to hold this “new normal” lightly, knowing full well that it can change again at any time. As professionals, this … [Read more...]
Language services, hurricanes and pandemics: Overcoming crises to ensure access to Education
By Andrew Dafoe CHI™ If I had to pick a defining word for the year 2020, at the top of my list would be crisis. It really became what felt like a never ceasing stream of natural disasters, global pandemics, the resulting economic downturns, political divisiveness, and racial injustices. Collectively, we’ve experienced and continue to experience more crises than could be listed … [Read more...]
Professional standards and self-care in remote interpreting
Ever since COVID-19 upended the world as we know it, interpreters around the world have had to adjust to working remotely. We’ve learned how to work with a variety of platforms and equipment. We’ve educated ourselves about potential hiccups and how to resolve them. We’ve even developed our individual routines before connecting to our assignments. Over time, best practices have … [Read more...]
Taking our financial pulse in the pandemic
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
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...]
No sense, no deal
By Ewandro Magalhaes The cost of poor communication In early 2014, companies catering to an increasingly international client base rushed to have their websites localized in as many languages as possible. They did so under the spell of a report from a US-based independent research firm specializing in global business. Through surveys of over 3,000 consumers in non-English … [Read more...]
International Translation Day 2019
Today, on International Translation Day, we reflect on how this work has been brought to the attention of the world by quoting the UN statements on this topic. International Translation Day is meant as an opportunity to pay tribute to the work of language professionals, which plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and … [Read more...]
Report: Compensation of Court Interpreters in the State of New York
The knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform the job of court interpreting are grueling. Staff and freelance interpreters nationwide have been struggling to improve their pay, benefits and working conditions without much success. Therefore, our colleagues Sandro Tomasi, Mary Lou Aranguren, Milena Calderari-Waldron and Robert Joe Lee took a new approach. They wrote a … [Read more...]