ATA SLD

Slavic Languages Division (American Translators Association)

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.

Present at ATA61 in Boston!

The ATA has issued its call for speakers for this year’s conference, ATA61 in Boston! Proposals can now be submitted online and will be accepted through March 2, 2020. This is your chance to share your expertise with T&I professionals, even if you are not a member of the ATA or SLD.

The Slavic Languages track will have 4 slots available, but we also encourage you to submit proposals in other subject areas and cross-listed in several tracks. You can also submit your proposal as a limited-capacity AST (advanced skills training) workshop.

Complete information on the proposal process, requirements, and topics of interest to ATA members, along with a link to the proposal submission form, can be found here.

CEU Watch: DVTA 2019 East Coast Summit

Photo credit: DVTA

On September 14 I gave up my Saturday to network and learn at a one-day conference organized by my local ATA chapter, the Delaware Valley Translators Association (DVTA). The event, formally the 4th Annual East Coast Interpreters and Translators Summit, was hosted at Widener University Delaware Law School, which is a convenient 25-minute drive for me. This was a lovely, local, bite-size chunk of professional development that left me energized, inspired, and excited to keep working on my skills and my business.

For the two two-hour slots where there were several talks to choose from, I chose the translation-related sessions. Reflecting the DVTA’s membership, most of the sessions focused on interpreting, so there was one translation session for each slot. The first session, led by DVTA President Dorothy Evans, was titled “What Does It Mean to Be a Successful Translator?” and was the most inspiring session for me. While the context and the examples all referred back to our shared experience as freelance translators, the themes of determining your own definition of success, setting reasonable goals, and making incremental changes apply broadly to self-employment and life in general. Plus, it was encouraging to hear a more established translator talk with candor and humor about the same struggles I’ve been running into.

The second session was one on diplomatic translation by Joe Mazza, the head of the translation division at the U.S. State Department’s Office of Language Services. His presence speaks to the fact that attendees at the summit hailed from up and down the Northeast Corridor, offering more networking opportunities than other DVTA events. While I’ve seen Joe speak at other events and chatted with him multiple times at ATA conferences, this time around he had a longer session (two hours instead of his usual one) and there were contractors that work with his office in the audience, in a relatively informal setting where they were able to share their experiences to complement his presentation. This time something clicked—maybe the fact that I finally have the five years’ experience Joe had stipulated the very first time I talked to him—and, with the encouragement of one of the contractors, I got the ball rolling on applying to work for the State Department.

Two other sessions were held for all attendees at once: the keynote and a closing session by a local accountant. The keynote speaker, Holly Mikkelson, gave a somewhat lyrical meditation on considering the human side of interpreting, keeping in mind the ways in which real lives are affected, and remaining compassionate rather than clinical. (Of course, much the same can be said of translation, even if we don’t see the humans affected face to face.) The closing session was a demo of QuickBooks that unfortunately ran into some technical difficulties (when each keypress registers twice, $120 very quickly becomes $112,200), but still sparked useful conversations and convinced me to take the plunge after doing my accounting by hand and Excel for over three years.

All in all, this summit had the energizing effect of an ATA conference on a smaller scale. I came away with workable steps to take moving forward, not to mention 5 CEUs. I would encourage everyone to check if they have an ATA chapter nearby and see if they organize a local conference or summit. It’s well worth a Saturday!

Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya is a Russian>English (ATA-certified) and French>English legal and financial translator based in the Philadelphia area. She holds a Master’s in Translation from Kent State University.

ATA 60th Annual Conference: Proposals Due March 1st!

The American Translators Association is accepting presentation proposals for the ATA 60th Annual Conference in Palm Springs, California, October 23-26, 2019. Proposals must be received by March 1, 2019.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ata60speak

If you are looking for proposal ideas, here is a call from Jen Guernsey specific to the SLD:

Hello everyone! The deadline for submitting a proposal for a conference presentation is March 1. Presenting at a conference – whether as a solo act, with a colleague, or as part of a panel or a translation slam – is a fun way to get your name and face out there, connect with your colleagues, and support our conference, which relies on us members to provide nearly all of the sessions on offer. Jen Guernsey would be happy to provide you with information, suggestions, and help in getting your proposal submitted.
We have had requests for presentations on tricky interpreting situations, differences in training (particularly interpreter training) in the US vs Slavic countries, and additional translation slams. Please email Jen Guernsey (jenguernsey@gmail.com) if you would be willing to serve as a participant, panelist, or moderator on any of the following:

  • Panel comparing interpreter training programs in the US versus Slavic countries
  • Panel on challenging situations in interpreting
  • Translation slam: from English into any Slavic language
  • Translation slam: from any Slavic language into English

Thanks, and see you in Palm Springs!

ATA59 Review: Patent Translation for Liberal Arts Majors

Complex computer parts and circuitry

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

Review by Karen Yesowich Schmucker

Topic: Science and Technology

Presented in English with Chinese examples

Speakers: Evelyn Garland and Aaron Hebenstreit

I wanted to review this session because I have a liberal arts background and have translated a few patents myself.  While I have some knowledge of engineering and manufacturing terminology from previous work, I found patent translation daunting and I hoped to come away from this presentation with a few helpful resources.

The presentation was based on the premise that liberal arts majors, while not a natural fit for translation of scientific work, can still become good patent translators. The speakers discussed their experiences working with translators educated in liberal arts and how they helped them to deliver high quality patent translations. They also pointed out that sometimes a translator’s lack of scientific training actually helped because it meant they did not have preconceived notions about the subject matter and were able to look at the matter objectively.  Since patents are produced for new ideas, someone without hardened ideas about subjects can be a valuable asset.

In addition, the speakers stressed that translators with a liberal arts background were well-suited to paying close attention to the language used in patents and to clearly telling what they called the “story” of the patent. They encouraged new translators unfamiliar with the idiosyncracies of patent language to look at other patents in the same field and the same jurisdiction to gain an understanding of how particular terms and turns of phrase are used and get a sense of what is considered normal in patent style.

The examples given in the session were in Chinese, but I did come away from the session with a few resources that would be useful for anyone interested in translating patents. Since the speakers had worked for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the resources they mentioned were related to WIPO:

 If you want to learn more about translating patents, the speakers suggested starting with the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Finally, because patents must be translated, they are a good source of work for translators. One of the speakers mentioned that Russian was one of the languages where there was always a need for linguists.

Karen Yesowich Schmucker is a certified Russian into English Translator in Bellevue, WA. Karen holds both an MA in Russian Language and Literature from the University of Toronto and a BFA in Graphic Design from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. You can reach her at karen@kysdesigns.com (www.kysdesigns.com).

ATA59: Join Us in New Orleans!

Get ready for Big Opportunities in the Big Easy! The ATA 59th Annual Conference will take place October 24-27, 2018 in New Orleans. ATA59 offers specialized opportunities for dedicated translators and interpreters to connect and collaborate while they shape the future of their profession. Join 1,600 of your colleagues to tackle current challenges and work with industry leaders to reach common goals.

The ATA59 conference website is now live! Find out more at: http://www.atanet.org/conf/2018/.

Tell Us Your Conference Story

This post shared on behalf of the ATA. Photo by david laws on Unsplash

Every ATA Annual Conference comes with its share of success stories. And now we want to hear yours! Did you meet a colleague who helped you transform your business? Did you meet a client who became a favorite—or a major source of income? Did you attend a session that helped you increase your productivity?

Share what great thing happened to you at an ATA Annual Conference!

Why? Because the Conference is more than a three-day event. It’s a long-term investment in the success of an attendee’s career and business. Tell us how that investment has paid off for you.

Help us celebrate success. Click here to send us your stories:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FXSNPFM

ATA58 Review: Working with Direct Clients. For Real. (IC-8)

Image showing graffiti of a sunflower captioned "always room to grow"

Review by Ekaterina Howard

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

At ATA conferences I make attending Chris Durban’s sessions a priority (even SLD’s Ru>En slam could not tear me away), and to me they invariably become one of the highlights of any conference.

This year’s session tied in nicely with the session on blind spots at ATA57, which effectively became the primary source of my business development plan for 2017 (as easy as that!).

In the “Working with Direct Clients. For Real.” Session Chris Durban addressed the most common constraints that prevent translators from moving out of the mass-market segment (although some direct clients can be mass-market, too) into the premium segment (which is where recognition, satisfaction and high rates come together).

The main constraints are:

  • Good writing and/or good quality are a given, not a differentiator, as are native-level quality and consistent terminology.
  • Instead of generic statements that do not add up to anything distinctive, you have to provide specific examples of value that you bring to the table.
  • Quality may be (and frequently is) affected by any or all of the following factors:
    • Time pressure
    • Blind spots
    • Cynicism
    • Overselling (and under delivering).

To start working with direct clients:

  • The factors that go into producing a product that is not likely to be MT-replicated or replaceable are: Time + Brain + Talent. Plan accordingly
  • Understand priorities of direct clients in your segment (likely not price-driven). Know what is mission-critical or sensitive
  • Find a partner (reviser)
  • Create a client-friendly system: be generous, be efficient, do not make clients jump through multiple hoops to work with you
  • Be friendly and enthusiastic. Do not snark. Do not blabber
  • Be honest on your experience and on whether or not you subcontract. Specialization goes deep, not wide (to eliminate blind spots)
  • Research and stalk (professionally, of course) potential clients
  • Be mindful of scalability vs quality restraints
  • Sign your work
  • Offer solutions instead of words on a page.

If you are considering working with direct clients, for real or hypothetically, you might want to look up The Prosperous Translator — Advice from Fire Ant & Worker Bee at https://prosperoustranslator.com/, follow Chris Durban’s blog at https://chrisdurbanblog.com/author/christinedurban/, or read a review of the first Business Acceleration Masterclass for Translators and Interpreters by Jayne Fox: http://foxdocs.biz/BetweenTranslations/business-tips-translators-chris-durbans-masterclass/.

Even if you feel that you are not quite ready yet, it is not too early to start getting ready to move towards working in the direct client segment. I believe that one of the most important things you could do is not learn how to market yourself (although this won’t hurt), but continuously work on your translation and writing skills.

If you are an SLD member, you can join the SLD Certification Exam Prep Group to exchange translations with other participants and discuss the challenges on a monthly basis. If you would like to up the ante, consider participating in SLD translation slams, either by submitting a slam proposal for the next ATA conference, or by volunteering to join a virtual slam. Those are all great starting points for working on your translation skills, and I hope that someday there will be an event similar to “Translate in…” (in 2017 it was in Quebec City – http://www.ontraduitaquebec.com/en/about/) for Slavic languages.

On that note, I invite you to share your collaboration experiences, your stories of growing as a translator, and your tips on working with “dream” direct clients.

Ekaterina Howard is an English to Russian and German to Russian translator working with marketing materials. She is the current Administrator of the Slavic Languages Divisions. You can follow her blog at http://pinwheeltrans.com/blog, stay in touch on Twitter (@katya_howard), or connect with her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterinahoward). If you would like to become SLD’s next translation slammer, you can reach her at ekaterina@atasld.org.

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