ATA SLD

Slavic Languages Division (American Translators Association)

American Translators Association: The Voice of Interpreters and Translators

Save the Date: Preparing Effectively for ATA’s Russian-to-English Certification Exam

Registration is now open for the upcoming webinar Preparing Effectively for ATA’s Russian-to-English Certification Exam on July 24 at 12:00 PM EDT. It will be presented by SLD member and certification exam grader Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya.

Interested in ATA certification but don’t know where to start? This webinar will help you prepare for the exam, using examples from actual Russian>English ATA exams and practice tests. We will cover the format of the exam, including what online resources are allowed, so you know what to expect on the day of the exam. We will take advantage of the resources made available by the Certification Program to delve into the skills and knowledge the exam is testing, with an in-depth look at the rubric and error categories used by graders to assess each candidate’s translation. We will examine examples of errors made on past exams to highlight common difficulties candidates face on the exam and discuss effective ways of preparing to overcome these challenges and increase your chances of passing on the first try. By the end, you will have an understanding of what ATA graders are looking for.

This webinar will be most useful to candidates looking to take the Russian>English and English>Russian exams, but can also provide valuable insight to any potential exam candidate with a working knowledge of Russian.

Find out more and register here.

Reminder: Messenger Marketing for Freelance Translators

One week left! On January 23, 2024, at 12:00 PM Eastern, SLD member Dmitry Beschetny will be presenting an ATA-hosted webinar titled “Messenger Marketing for Freelance Translators: How to Leverage It Effectively.”
In today’s digital age, conventional marketing approaches are evolving, and mobile messenger apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more are becoming indispensable tools for freelance translators. In this webinar, Dmitry will explore inbound and outbound strategies and practical techniques tailored for freelance translators to effectively use these apps, ensuring that even your one-off clients of yesteryear keep thinking of you and prospects keep coming in.
This webinar is designed for freelance translators who work in geographical locations without access to major marketing platforms and for those looking to augment their marketing efforts with messaging platforms to boost their translation business. It will be primarily conducted in English, supplemented with illustrative examples in Russian.

 

ATA Webinar: Messenger Marketing for Freelance Translators

Mark your calendars! On January 23, 2024, at 12:00 PM Eastern, SLD member Dmitry Beschetny will be presenting an ATA-hosted webinar titled “Messenger Marketing for Freelance Translators: How to Leverage It Effectively.”
In today’s digital age, conventional marketing approaches are evolving, and mobile messenger apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more are becoming indispensable tools for freelance translators. In this webinar, Dmitry will explore inbound and outbound strategies and practical techniques tailored for freelance translators to effectively use these apps, ensuring that even your one-off clients of yesteryear keep thinking of you and prospects keep coming in.
This webinar is designed for freelance translators who work in geographical locations without access to major marketing platforms and for those looking to augment their marketing efforts with messaging platforms to boost their translation business. It will be primarily conducted in English, supplemented with illustrative examples in Russian.

 

Upcoming ATA Webinar: Professional Liability Insurance for Translators and Interpreters

April 5 / 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT

Photo by Vlad Deep on Unsplash

Join this free webinar to learn about the benefits of having a professional liability insurance policy to protect yourself and your business from potential claims!

Are you a professional translator or interpreter? Have you considered the importance of professional liability insurance to protect yourself and your business from potential claims?

In this 60-minute presentation, you’ll hear from an industry expert about the nature of professional liability insurance, what it does and doesn’t cover, and other important policy terms. You will also gain insight into the types of claims that can be made and how to avoid or mitigate them.

Using examples of actual situations that have arisen, you will learn about the benefits of having such insurance and what to do in a claim or potential claim situation, including what is required by the terms of the policy. You will also learn about the features and availability of the insurance program available to ATA members.

This presentation is designed for both translators and interpreters and will be presented in English.

By attending this webinar, you will:

  1. Get a better understanding of the nature of your professional liability insurance coverage.
  2. See what types of claims you might face.
  3. Learn or reinforce ways to avoid claims or mitigate them.
  4. Learn or reinforce what to do and how to respond to claims when made.
  5. Hear about what coverage is available to you as an ATA member.

About the Presenter

Martin Ween, Senior Counsel at Wilson Elser, the law firm that works with the Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, has been involved in the field of professional liability for 50 years, including extensive experience with the liability of translators and interpreters as a result of more than 20 years of responsibility for claims made under the professional liability program provided by the Underwriters at Lloyd’s to members of the American Translators Association. This has included handling and resolving claims; receiving and responding to inquiries from ATA members; and providing seminars, webinars, and materials to ATA and its members on a variety of topics related to their insurance coverage, liability, and ways to avoid and mitigate claims.

Upcoming Webinar – Russian Legal Translation

September 22 / 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT

Learn the fundamental differences between contract law in Russia and the U.S. and how they affect the content of contracts in Russian.

In this two-hour webinar, we’ll take a look at the Russian law of obligations to see how it differs from contract and tort law in the U.S. We’ll also talk about three fundamental differences and see how they affect the content of contracts in Russian. Then we’ll consider the anatomy of a contract in Russian and English and compare standard clauses.

The webinar will be conducted in English and is primarily aimed at translators from Russian-into-English, but should also be of interest to translators from English-into-Russian.

About the Presenter

Thomas West founded Intermark Language Services in 1995 after practicing law for five years with a large Atlanta law firm. Tom received his B.A. degree in French and English from the University of Mississippi summa cum laude and his M.A. in German from Vanderbilt University, where he was a Harold Stirling Vanderbilt fellow. He earned his J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1990.

Tom is ATA-certified for translation from French-, Spanish-, German- and Dutch-into-English. He also studied Russian as both an undergraduate and graduate student. He has presented seminars on legal translation throughout Europe, the Americas, and in South Africa. From 2001 to 2003, Tom served as ATA president.

Register Now!

Registration closes September 22, 10:00 am ET

Upcoming Webinar – “Bilingualism Across the Lifespan”

Our colleague Yuliya Tsaplina is hosting a webinar “Bilingualism Across the Lifespan” at 1 PM Eastern this Saturday, April 2. It sounds like an interesting opportunity, especially for parents!

See below for a description of the webinar:

Our professional lives as interpreters and translators depend on our abilities to juggle multiple languages, seamlessly and in real time.

The science of bilingualism has made great strides in understanding how bilingualism changes the mind in ways that go far beyond the linguistic. Popular press coverage has made many far-reaching claims about the advantages of bilingualism.

Are bilingual people truly more empathetic?

Do they really have a greater ability to focus?

In this session we will try to separate hype from fact and will discuss the multiple advantages conferred by bilingualism across the lifespan, as well as the costs involved.

We will focus in greater detail on early bilingualism and on factors that help children acquire proficiency in multiple languages at an early age.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

Follow this link for further information and to sign up for the webinar.

Upcoming November ATA webinars

The ATA is offering another round of webinars over the next few weeks that should prove to be fun and informative!

Introduction to Mobile App Localization

There’s an app for everything these days, and there’s now an ATA webinar on mobile app localization, too! 🙂 
Presenter Dorota Pawlak will give us an introduction to mobile app localization and the role of translators working in this field. Drawing on years of experience in this field, the speaker will explain what skills, tools, and qualities are needed to localize mobile apps; what are some of the most common issues in mobile app localization projects; and how to solve them.

Join us on November 9 or sign up to get the recording and 1 ATA CEP
https://www.atanet.org/event/introduction-to-mobile-app-localization/

Registration closes: November 9, 10:00 am EST

memoQ for Intermediate and Advanced Users

Join this webinar to take your knowledge of memoQ to the next level: in this session, you will learn useful tips and tricks that can make your work as a translator a lot easier.
You will also learn how to search your preferred websites directly from the translation grid and how to connect to a machine translation provider to be able to use MT in your work. The trainer will also show you how to automate your processes using templates in memoQ and how to fine-tune the import of your documents with the help of powerful import filters.
Register at https://www.atanet.org/event/memoq-for-intermediate-and-advanced-users/
Remember that ATA members can save 35% on new licenses for memoQ translator pro. 

Join us on November 12 at 12 pm EST (recording will be available) / 1 ATA CEP
Registration Closes: November 12, 10:00 am EST

Intermediate Tips and Tricks for Trados Studio


This hands-on webinar will explore useful features that will take you a step closer to becoming a power user of the most powerful and popular CAT tool in the market.
This webinar was organized in collaboration with RWS.

You will learn how to:

  1. Identify and modify file type options
  2. Work with a translation memory’s language resources
  3. Use apps to extend Trados Studio’s functionality
  4. Use machine translation for pre-translation and interactive translation
  5. Set up verification option

Register at https://www.atanet.org/event/intermediate-tips-and-tricks-for-trados-studio/

Remember that ATA members can save 35% on Trados Studio 2021 Freelance and Trados Studio 2021 Freelance Plus.

Join us on November 17 at 12 pm EST (recording will be available) / 1 ATA CEP

Registration Closes: November 17, 10:00 am EST

Upcoming ATA webinars this week

We have two fun and interactive ATA webinars coming up this week!

November 2 at 6 pm EDT: Ethics in Conference Interpreting with Katty Kauffman

https://www.atanet.org/event/ethics-in-conference-interpreting/


Duration: 120 minutes
ATA CEPs: 2.0

What will you learn?

  1. Working definition of ethics in interpreting
  2. Core concepts and values of conference interpreters
  3. Best practices for onsite events
  4. Best practices for remote events
  5. Where ethics in onsite and remote events converge and diverge

Registration Closes: November 2, 4:00 pm EDT

November 4 at 7 pm EDT: The Power of Social Media: Key Strategies for Marketing Your Interpreting and Translation Services (free for ATA members!) with Mireya Pérez, MS

https://www.atanet.org/event/the-power-of-social-media-key-strategies-for-marketing-your-interpreting-and-translation-services/

What will you learn?

  1. What types of social media posts you can use as a marketing tool
  2. What is visual storytelling and how you can use it on social media
  3. How to identify your target audience
  4. How to create identity on social media
  5. What social media resources are available

Registration Closes: November 4, 10:00 am EDT

Upcoming ATA webinar August 25: Transcreation in Video Game Localization 

https://www.atanet.org/event/transcreation-in-video-game-localization/

Presenters: Lucio Alcaide, Marina Ilari
August 25, 2021, at 12 noon U.S. EDT
CE Points: 1 ATA-approved

Localizing video games sounds like fun, and it is. But any game localization expert will tell you it’s also one of the most challenging jobs in the industry. Luckily there is a way to make the process a bit easier!

Join this webinar to learn how transcreation can be used to create an immersive experience for players—from story to characters to culture. Real examples, tips, and tricks included!

What will you learn?
* The difference between translation, localization, and transcreation
* The evolution of video game localization
* Where transcreation might be needed in video games
* Examples of transcreation in a variety of video game content
* Strategies to use when working on projects that require transcreation

Register Now!
ATA Member $45 https://web.atanet.org/membersonly/login.php?rm=login&msg=0&redirect=/membersonly/webinar.pl?cid=290
Non-Member $60 https://web.atanet.org/webinars/shopping_cart.php?itemCode=290

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!

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