ATA SLD

Slavic Languages Division (American Translators Association)

American Translators Association: The Voice of Interpreters and Translators

Upcoming ATA Events: June 2021

ATA’s events schedule is as busy as ever. Here are a few upcoming events not to miss!

“Introduction to Localization” by Alaina Brandt
June 15, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT / ATA CEP: 1.0
ATA members: $45; non-members: $60. Click to register.

Localization is the act of customizing language services and products to audiences who speak different languages. The strategies employed in localization are highly dependent on cultural, subject field, and textual/product expectations. Localization strategy is tailored to business goals in areas like sales, expansion, and growth. Localization work is performed in a dynamic environment of rapid technological advancements, ever-shifting regulations, and looming and unforeseen risks.

Join us to learn about opportunities in this exciting field and the skills needed to be a successful localizer. You will leave this session understanding that localization is anything but a one-size-fits-all approach.

Virtual Brainstorm Networking
June 29, 5:00 – 6:00 pm EDT
FREE and limited to ATA members! Click to register.

Join your colleagues for this fun, fast-paced hour of solving common business challenges in small teams. Attend this virtual event to meet new people, learn new skills, and expand your support network, while sharing your own experiences. Don’t miss it!

“Practical Strategies to Capture Notes Virtually When Providing Remote Interpreting” by Armando Ezquerra Hasbun
June 30 / 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT / ATA CEP: 1.0
ATA members: $45; non-members: $60. Click to register.

The pandemic has forced us to adapt to interpreting from home. In this webinar we will review basic and advanced pointers on how to use low-cost or free programs and applications you may already have to capture information, bypassing the traditional approach of handwritten note-taking strategies.

“Interpreting Insults from Spanish into Your Target Language” by Darinka Mangino
June 30 / 1:00 pm – 2:30 pmEDT / ATA CEP: 1.5
ATA members: $65; non-members: $90. Click to register.

Even seasoned interpreters have a hard time making the right choice when dealing with big words and colloquial expressions when content is more emotional than technical. In some cultures, expletives might be used as a form of flattery and expressions of closeness, even if authoritative dictionaries list those big words as taboo.
When you do not know how to interpret insults, you may use a different register than the speaker used originally. A colloquial expression could become a formal one or—even worse—a word that is key to the message could be omitted.

Having a strategy to delve into the cultural meaning will help you detach from the awful feeling of uttering insults you don’t mean but have to say in the first person. You will make confident choices and be assured that you did not compromise the speaker’s agency or your client’s trust.

In this webinar, you will learn how to not take words at face value, how to perform a comprehensive analysis of the message, and how to convey the speaker’s message accurately.

Register for both “Practical Strategies to Capture Notes Virtually When Providing Remote Interpreting” and “Interpreting Insults from Spanish into Your Target Language” and save $15!

Upcoming ATA webinars in April: Branding Basics and Doing Business with Law Firms

Several ATA webinars are coming up in April, and we thought that these two would be of interest to SLD members!

“Personal Branding Basics”: a Back to Business Basics webinar with Ben Karl on April 6 at 12:00 pm Eastern time. This webinar is free to ATA members but registration is required. All registered participants will get a handout and a link to the recording.
Register at https://www.atanet.org/event/personal-branding-basics/

Developing a personal brand is a classic “work smarter, not harder” technique. When done well, it will showcase your specific expertise and skill set, bringing focus to your marketing and targeting your ideal clients. Far more than a logo or a slogan, your personal brand will tell your story, from who you are and what you do to why you are the right person for the job.

“Doing Business with Law Firms”: a webinar with Paula Arturo on April 14 at 12:00 pm Eastern time. Registration is $45 for ATA members and $60 for non-members (including 1 ATA CEP and a link to the recording)
Register at https://www.atanet.org/event/doing-business-with-law-firms/

Legal translators are expected to master both law and language in a market with its own unique, and often rigid, set of rules. This is not a field you jump into unprepared.

So how do you know if this field is right for you? How do you prepare to cater to this demanding market? Should you sub-specialize? If so, in what? How do you get your foot through the door with top law firms? And, once inside, how do you keep them happy and coming back?

Presenter Paula Arturo will draw on her 20+ years of experience and current role at a top law firm to help get you on track for doing business with law firms.

Upcoming Virtual Workshop in Russian: Interpreting Idioms and Cultural References

Join us on March 13 for ATA’s first virtual workshop, held in cooperation with the ATA Slavic Languages Division: Interpreting Idioms and Cultural References (presented in Russian)!

Being able to understand and deal with colloquialisms and idiomatic expressions is an essential part of a professional interpreter’s skill set.

In this 2-hour interactive workshop, presenter Yuliya Speroff will introduce participants to common idiomatic expressions encountered in spoken discourse and equip participants with strategies for interpreting idioms and cultural references.

The participants will be able to apply their newly acquired skills through small group discussions and practice activities.

Registration is open, but space is limited, so hurry up and register today: https://www.atanet.org/event/interpreting-idioms-and-cultural-references/

This virtual workshop is approved for 2 CCHI CEUs and 2 ATA CEPs.

Emergency Preparedness and Contingency Planning for Freelancers

A new webinar is coming up in ATA’s popular Back to Business Basics series!

On March 2 at 12:00 pm Eastern time, Karen Tkaczyk will talk about Emergency Preparedness and Contingency Planning for Freelancers.

As with all webinars in this new series, it will be free to ATA members (but you must register to attend). The recording will be available to members at no charge (non-members can access it for a small fee).

What happens if you are hit by the proverbial bus? Or have power outages after a weather event? Or have to spend unplanned time in the hospital? Sensible contingency planning is not only your responsibility but also a gift to whomever will be handling the business in your absence.

In this seventh episode of ATA’s Back to Business Basics webinar series, presenter Karen Tkaczyk will walk attendees through implementing a basic emergency plan, including office infrastructure, crisis communications, and business continuity.

What will you learn?

  • Where to start in making a plan
  • Which tools can help keep this simple
  • Whether to have instructions and message templates in all your working languages
  • How to reduce stress for those handling your affairs
  • How a business can smoothly restart operations after an emergency

Registration is open: https://www.atanet.org/event/emergency-preparedness-and-contingency-planning-for-freelancers/

ATA Webinars on Audiovisual Translation

The industry stats say it all: the average person will increase their daily online video watching from 84 minutes in 2020 to 100 minutes in 2021, while the total time collectively spent viewing online videos has increased 32% a year on average since 2013.

The demand for audiovisual translation is growing rapidly. So, if you’re thinking of adding a new specialty to your services, this is a good one to vet.

These two webinars organized in collaboration with ATA’s Audiovisual Division that will give you the introduction you need.

Attend them live on February 24, 2021, or watch the recordings at your convenience.

Subtitling: How a Text Translator Can Become a Subtitler by Deborah Wexler

Subtitling is a translation job. You’re a translator. Shouldn’t that be enough? Actually, it’s not. When you’re translating a book or document, you have a single stream of text to deal with. When you’re translating a movie, you have two streams of information coming at you at the same time and are limited by reading speed and the number of characters allowed. And the differences don’t stop there.

Is this specialty a good fit for your business? Register now to find out!

ATA Member: $45 – Register Here Non-Member: $60 – Register Here

You will learn: 

  • The differences between text translation and subtitling
  • Subtitling formatting
  • Basic functions of subtitling software
  • The dos and don’ts of managing time and space constraints
  • How to train yourself in subtitling

Closed-Captioning and SDH: An Introduction by Mara Campbell

The techniques of closed-captioning and subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH) are great entry-level tasks in the audiovisual translation industry. Presenter Mara Campbell will cover roll-up captions and pop-on captions with and without placement, as well as the pros and cons of available freeware and professional software.ATA Member: $45 – Register Here Non-Member: $60 – Register HereYou will learn:

  • An understanding of how closed-captioning and SDH are produced
  • The similarities and differences between the two
  • The different types of closed-captioning and SDH
  • Available freeware and professional software
  • Qualifications and skill sets professionals need to have

Register for Both Webinars and Save!

ATA Member $75   Non-Member $105

And if you are interested in audiovisual translation, check out the previous ATA webinars on this topic: What Is Audiovisual Translation? and Audio Description: The Visual Made Verbal

2021 Winter SlavFile: Looking back at ATA61

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The latest issue of SlavFile is out! This winter issue of our Division Newsletter is chock-full of ATA61conference session reviews as well as regular features that our readers know and enjoy.

ATA61 SESSION REVIEWS

  • Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya on Ellen Elias-Bursac’s Greiss Lecture: “Working in a Tug of War”
  • Lucy Gunderson on Veronika Demichelis’s “Corporate Social What? Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility and How It’s Usually (Mis)interpreted in Post-Soviet States”
  • Evgeny Terekhin on Shelley Fairweather-Vega’s “Getting Edited & Getting Ahead in Literary Translation”
  • Liv Bliss on Nora Favorov’s “Balancing Act: Sneaking Historical Context into a Literary Translation from Russian”
  • Maria Guzenko on Evgeny Terekhin’s “How to Become a Literary Translator”

AS WELL AS

  • Marisa Irwin: “Newcomer Report: Conferencing from My Couch”
  • Lydia Razran Stone: “Confusing Idiomatic Usages in US Political News Reporting”

REGULAR FEATURES

  • Steven McGrath: “From the Administrative Underground”
  • Lydia Razran Stone: “SlavFile Lite: Not by Word Count Alone”
  • Nora Seligman Favorov: “Web Watch: Russian Literature Week 2020”

Do you translate or interpret in the legal field? SlavFile editors are soliciting contributions relating to legal translation and court interpreting by March 15 for the next issue. Please contact SlavFile Managing Editor Nora Favorov if you would like to share your expertise.

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December 14: New Back to Business Basics Webinar

ATA is closing out the year with another Back to Business Basics webinar: Entrepreneurial Habits for Freelance Translators and Interpreters by Corinne McKay on December 14 at 12 pm Eastern. As all webinars in this new series, it will be free to ATA members. Recording will be available to members at no charge (non-members can access it for a small fee).

Succeeding as a freelancer will always involve some factors you can’t control—like a global pandemic—but it also involves daily, positive habits and a business mindset.

In this fourth episode of ATA’s Back to Business Basics webinar series, presenter Corinne McKay will examine two kinds of business habits that can help you make the transition from “throwing it against the wall” to an actual business strategy!

What will you learn?
    • Why the entrepreneurial mindset is important
    • The non-entrepreneurial mindset that most freelancers have
    • Business processes that contribute to entrepreneurial habits
    • Mental processes that contribute to entrepreneurial habits
    • Simple changes you can make right away

Registration: https://www.atanet.org/webinars/ataWebinar252_entrepreneurial_habits.php

SLD @ ATA61: Events This Sunday!

While the official dates of ATA61 are October 21-24, division events kick off early! Join SLD for its annual meeting on Sunday, October 18, 4:00-5:00 PM EDT. The meeting is open to all division members, even those not registered for the conference. Zoom meeting links for all the annual meetings are available on the conference website’s division page here. You can find the meeting agenda in the ATA61 Preview document under this website’s Resources tab, along with helpful links and other valuable information about the conference.

The fun doesn’t stop there! Also Sunday, at 7:00-8:00 PM EDT, conference attendees can join SLD’s networking event, the virtual counterpart to the annual SLD dinner. The link will be available through the conference platform. You can look forward to lively conversation with other SLD members in small groups (breakout rooms). Join us for a fun evening!

And if you’re not registered for the conference yet, what are you waiting for? Registration at regular rates closes this Friday, October 16.

2020 Summer-Fall SlavFile: Looking Ahead to ATA61

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The latest issue of SlavFile is out! At a whopping 32 pages, this summer-fall installment of the newsletter includes something for everyone:

  • Previews of the upcoming ATA conference
    • An interview with this year’s Greiss Lecturer / Distinguished Speaker, Ellen Elias-Bursać, co-sponsored with the Literary Division
    • Abstracts for Slavic-related sessions
  • Timely resources for our new pandemic reality
    • A glossary of COVID neologisms
    • A review of another COVID glossary
    • COVID-related (and unrelated) humor
    • How to keep your skills fresh in quarantine
  • Literary translations and related articles
    • What it’s like being a newcomer to the literary field (complete with an excerpt of said newcomer’s translation!)
    • The hands-on process of translating The Cherry Orchard for teenagers
    • Poems translated from Slovenian
  • Bonus material
    • An explanatory guide to American news and political jargon

You can find the latest issue on the SlavFile page (see tabs above), along with issues going back to 1995, with new issues added to the archive just this month. Happy reading!

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New Webinar: Challenges in Human Rights Translation

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Have you ever wondered about the field of human rights translation? There is no shortage of human-rights issues in the post-Soviet space, but breaking into this specialization may feel too daunting. Fortunately, with research, you can become confident in your translations. But where should you look?

Join fellow SLD member Lucy Gunderson to learn research techniques to track down terminology in a wide range of documents available to human rights translators. Lucy will also demonstrate how to use human rights documents originally written in English to energize translations and inspire word choices.⁣ Let this webinar be your window or even stepping stone into human rights translation!
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This webinar will be presented in English with Russian examples.⁣
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Cost: ATA members $45, non-members $60⁣
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Unable to attend live? Register now to receive a link to the on-demand recording after the live event!⁣

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