Sarah's Archives

an archive of content from ≈ 2005 - 2015, relating to international business, translation, freelancing, and working online.

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Tis the season to be conferenced

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I attended the 2008 AUSIT Biennial National Conference in Brisbane this weekend, and was pleased to come away with some fantastic new contacts and a much clearer view of the role of translation in Australia. Until I have a chance to write up my notes, here’s a list of posts relating to other conference and translation-related events I’ve attended:

And thank you to everyone who took the time to do a write-up on the recent ATA Conference. Sounds like it was a great event!

Blogging does not put us ahead of the pack

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KYOTO, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 9: Ichimame, an 19-yea...

Are Gen Y committing the cardinal sin of believing our own hype? I’m afraid we might be. Blogging may be a great way to get noticed in our respective fields, but let’s not allow our mastery of fancy technology to lull us into thinking we’re achieving something we’re not.

In a radio interview  a few years back*, career advisor Penelope Trunk said something that made me think, “No, no, no, NO!”. She said:

The people who are blogging about their careers are the top performers, because it is so hard to blog. It’s so hard to be constantly thinking about your profession and to be gathering new ideas and putting out new ideas and having conversations about it, that only the best people, only the best employees are blogging and following blogs…

There are lots of things that make someone a top performer – hard work, talent, experience.  But blogging? I really don’t think so. It may be a common denominator among successful or highly motivated employees, but I bet it’s also common among employees who are bored, or disillusioned, or really, really ticked off too.

Penelope does a great job of giving a voice to a sub-culture and I really admire the time and effort she puts into helping young bloggers find their voices. But in this particular case, I think she’s in danger of mis-managing expectations. I think it’s dangerous to believe that just because someone blogs, they’re a top performer or the best kind of employee. And it’s especially dangerous for younger bloggers to believe this, as it plays into all the worst kind of stereotyping of Generation Y-ers.

There’s no doubt that it’s hard to be constantly thinking about your profession, and formulating ‘new’ ideas. But who’s to say we’re coming up with anything really new? An idea or concept might be new to me, but that doesn’t mean it’s new to everyone else in my field too. I’d be embarrassed if anyone thought I was under the illusion that I was contributing to my field in anything other than a general way. (And by general I mean that if someone learns from my mistakes, then all the better).

The main issue here is that we’re in danger of confusing style with substance. Blogging is just a tool we can choose to employ for any number of purposes. Personally, I blog to learn, not because I’m any kind of ‘expert’. Blogging is simply one way to consolidate all the information I come into contact with everyday. It doesn’t in itself make me any different to another professional translator who might choose to use a different set of tools to track their development.

Blogging with an authoritative voice is an accepted means of writing for the web, but let’s not fall into the trap of believing our own hype. That’s just setting ourselves up to look dumb when it turns out that we’re only learning what a lot of other people have already worked out for themselves – and in a much less painful and self-absorbed way. I’d heartily advocate using blogging as a means of developing professionally, but I’d also recommend being clear on how sure you are of your ideas, and at what stage you’re at in the opinion-formulating process. Anything else and we’re just giving blogging a bad name.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

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Sept 2012: This interview was with Peter Clayton on Total Picture Radio in the latter part of 2008 – no longer available online. 

The importance of priming yourself for answers

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I’ve hinted at my attempts to Get Organised using a (carefully edited) array of gadgets, both paper and virtual. Here’s a great perspective on this from the ever-lucid Communicatrix.

I wish—oh, how I wish—that there was one answer in one book, and that all I had to do was find that book. Instead, the maps to your map are in the books. Look at that person’s journey, and see what you can find in her struggles or his mishaps or their lightbulb moments that makes you tingly. The truth comes at us sideways, usually, and when we least expect it. Our job, I increasingly believe, is to prime ourselves for reception…and reflection…and synthesis.

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Aim to be an expert performer, not just an expert

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A lot of people are impressed by experts: people who somehow seem to know everything about something in particular.

But I remember my mom nurturing a cynical streak in me from an early age when, in response to my over-awed reaction to a confident young classmate, she told me to remember that “anyone who says they know everything really knows nothing. Because EVERYONE knows that no-one knows everything”. Now this may not be the catchiest nugget of wisdom ever, but it introduced me to two key ideas at an early age:

  1. Perhaps the real clever clogs aren’t necessarily those who proclaim their expertise.
  2. If you want to know a lot about something, there’s probably a lot you have to not know about something else. (Bear with me – it gets more concrete.)

There was a great article by John Cloud in Time Magazine last week which reminded me in a roundabout way of the wisdom of my Irish mammy. The writer argued convincingly that experience is not a predictor of performance. Gen Y proponents may well see this as fuel for the fire burning in their bellies, but I think there’s a lot more that can be pulled from of the ideas in this article. [Read more…]

Notes from a professional translator on language learning…

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While I’m mostly enjoying the switch from being an into-English translator to being an active language learner, I’d forgotten just how exhausting it can be 🙂 And how slow and steady a process it is to move knowledge from the passive to the active part of the brain! Evidence indeed, if any more were needed, of the entirely different skill sets we use as linguists, as opposed to as professional translators.

Overall, I’m surprised and really pleased about how much progress I feel I have made in polishing and refining my knowledge of Spanish over the past two weeks. I don’t think this is simply because I am here in Spain, although we all know that when push comes to shove, absorption is the way to go. I’ve had other absorption experiences which were not this successful. I think my success is down to a combination of things which seem to be really working for me:

  • the school has some excellent language teachers who are clearly experienced in teaching ELE (Spanish as a foreign language) to advanced level and/or experienced language learners. I’ve noticed this before too – at this stage of the game, the average language school or language class is simply not going to cut it when it comes to helping me maintain and/or further master my working languages.
  • I’m really focussed on purely language skills. No trips to flamenco shows, concerts, sightseeing or other “cultural” events this time – I’ve had plenty of chances for all that 🙂
  • I’ve enrolled to sit the DELE exam, and the fear of showing myself up by getting a bad mark is the best motivation ever! Now interestingly, there’s a couple of reasons why this shouldn’t make a difference to my motivation levels. Firstly, in theory it shouldn’t be much of a stretch for me given my background. Secondly, I don’t even need to tell anybody I’m doing it – so what if I do badly? Thirdly, my performance is no reflection of my abilities as a translator as plenty of professionals do a good job of working from their passive or C languages without ever learning to speak or write them. But for some reason, as a matter of personal pride, I just don’t feel I can afford myself these excuses… whatever works, eh?!

  • I’m not sure why, but I’ve been very aware of what works for me as a language learner during my stay. Now, I’ve always considered myself to be an active language learner as I’m constantly striving to perfect and indeed maintain my second-language skills in various ways. But I’m not usually so hyper-aware of my learning processes, and especially not in relation to other learners in the class, e.g. the areas in which I am different from and/or the same as them, the things I know I’ll need to go away and work on myself because no amount of explaining will make clear even as everyone else in the class is nodding their heads in agreement, etc. I feel more in control of my learning than I have ever been and it’s a nice feeling, even if it takes a little getting used to. Maybe this is part of growing up 🙂
  • My expectations have been pretty realistic in terms of what I want to achieve. I used to get very frustrated thinking about how much more Spanish I felt I “knew” when I lived here years and years ago, and the sense of grief would almost overwhelm me. But it’s not bothering me anymore. I can clearly see how what I knew then is quite different from what I need, and want, to know now. I think it helps to be studying with a small group of other learners who are all at different stages of life and who have very different reasons for studying Spanish. I can almost see the ghosts of my past, present and future language-learning selves in that one small room and it’s funny how that clarifies how I’m looking at things!
  • It’s all about timing! While I know three weeks is nowhere near ideal, I firmly believe you can make a LOT of progress with your language skills within this relatively short period of time. My model of two weeks of classes and just under one week of self-study and consolidation is just right for the way I learn, but I’d also consider taking classes over three weeks but on a less intensive basis to really give things a chance to bed in (although this depends on what the school is offering too, of course). However regardless of your learning style, based on the discussions I’ve had with other students it seems that one week of classes is simply not worth it – your brain has scarcely even registered that you are in intensive language-learning mode by the time you’ve finished. If you really are limited to only one week of classes either due to financial and/or time constraints, I’d recommend thinking long and hard before enrolling in a language school.

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The rain in Spain…

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… falls fast and furious, and causes endless power cuts!

Yes, I know it’s been a while. I have another week to go in the rainy but frankly rather gorgeous city of Malaga, and hope to be settled Down Under and back to blogging regularly by early March. I’d planned to continue blogging over this period actually, and even went so far as to have a couple of half-completed posts on stand-by. As usual, things keep getting in the way and let’s face it – real-life fun trumps cyber fun every time 🙂 (Things would be a bit tragic if they didn’t).

My language course is going well and it’s really great to blow the cobwebs off my spoken Spanish again. As expected, my written skills really aren’t being stretched but I plan to work on that via distance learning over the coming year.

The first time I ever lived away from home was in 1997, when I spent a couple of months in Granada as part of my university studies. I’d been to Malaga before both on my own and with family, but the experience was still very “foreign” and frightening at times, and I struggled with the culture shock of it all. So it somehow feels right to be here again more than ten years later, feeling very much at home even as I prepare to relocate to Australia!

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Alphabet Soup – How to Get More Letters After Your Name (Part Deux)

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Following my last post on ITI Qualified ITI Member status, here’s my take on the requirements for gaining Chartered Linguist (Translator) status based on an information evening run by the ITI London Regional Group in January 2008:

Note this does not constitute official information. Please check the relevant body for information on current requirements.

Chartered Linguist (Translator) status is evidence of having reached the very highest standards as a professional. It’s only been possible to apply for Chartered Linguist (Translator) status since September 2007, so it’s still a very new and very exciting development. The requirements may well change as the application process is further refined over the coming months, so keep an eye on the CIOL website for updates. Remember, it’s a lot easier to keep the correct records as you go along, rather than having to backdate everything when the time comes to apply.

NOTE: Although Chartered Linguist (Translator) status is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL), the process is separate to applying for general membership of the CIOL (in fact, you don’t even need to be a member of the CIOL to apply). As I understand it, the requirements at the time of writing are as follows:

• Education: The CIOL Diploma in Translation or an MA level qualification which must include an assessed practical translation module in the languages for which you wish to register. Status: check.

• Experience: Five years’ full-time translation in the years prior to applying, and membership of the ITI, CIOL or AIIC for 2 years prior to applying. Status: getting there.

• Evidence of CPD: Submit CPD records for the 3 years prior to applying. Status: I’ve kept CPD records based on the ITI’s record sheet for a couple of years now, so I don’t expect this to be a problem. Saying that though, a lot of it hasn’t been “signed off”. Firstly, because it’s not compulsory within the ITI and I think the idea of asking someone to sign my little book is a bit like being back in the Brownies. And secondly, because a lot of my CPD is self-directed so it’s not suitable to ask someone else to sign it.

• References: Three in total: Two from clients or other persons “in a position to assess or report on a substantial portion of your work over a significant period of time”, covering all language combinations. One from someone able to comment on my professional repute, “someone with whom you have been associated in a professional context or who is otherwise able to speak about your commitment to professionalism, personal development and other relevant factors.” Status: to be addressed when the time comes. (I’ve already hassled my poor clients for references a couple of times in recent years.)

• Work volume: Provide evidence of having translated an average of 300,000 words a year over the five years prior to applying. Status: this is a pretty achievable volume, even for a part-time translator. Assuming 45 working weeks per year (I like to be generous when I’m working these things out), this equals an average of 6,666 words per week. However unless they issue more specific guidance, I’ll have to contact admissions to see how best to calculate the volume of my non-traditional translation work.

• Attend an interview: To explore my understanding of professional ethics. Status: I think I can cope with this.

Now this is the point where it gets interesting. Registration as a Chartered Linguist will be assessed on an ongoing basis, and will need to be renewed every 3 – 5 years. As a result, the following will also be required:

• CPD: Submission of an annual report stating that you still meet the criteria for which you were awarded Chartered Linguist (Translator) status, including the number of words translated over the year and CPD activities and plans for the following year.

• Attend an interview: Further interviews every 3 – 5 years.

• Cost: £350 to apply initially, with this cost to be reviewed annually (expect upward), plus £50 to “register” for first year. £100 + VAT each year thereafter, PLUS another sum of money TBD when your registration is reviewed every 3 – 5 years. This is not an insignificant amount of money, so I expect the CL (Translator) designation really will come to represent those translators who are most serious about being recognised within the wider industry.

And there we go – looks like I’ll have a busy few years ahead of me.

Join the translation neighbourhood watch

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Originally published in December 2007

When I first started freelancing, it took me a long time before I felt like a Proper Translator. This was not because I lacked the confidence or even the workload to use the title (I was lucky enough to have a full book of well paid, satisfying work after about 3 months). It was because I just wasn’t doing the kind of work I thought I *should* be doing.

Looking back, my expectations were as realistic as they could have been at that point. I had spent two years carefully preparing for my freelance career. I had spoken to lots of supportive professionals, completed work placements in two different translation companies and dabbled in a reasonable number of small, paid translation jobs. I certainly didn’t have a pie-in-the-sky ideal of sitting around sucking on the end of a quill, or dashing through the corridors of the UN à la a translator-version of the film The Interpreter. But where were the translation jobs I was expecting? Where were the texts, the documents, the written words awaiting my careful rendering?

I eventually realised that that’s just a tiny part of how the translation world works these days. A whole raft of ancillary work has sprung up around the field of translation. Experienced translator Hugh Morgan summed it up perfectly in his paper at the 2007 Portsmouth Conference when he referred to these “other” kinds of work as near-neighbours of translation – neighbours that get looked down upon often and very unfairly. Proofreading, editing and revising are the usual suspects, but there’s so much more out there, including summary writing, semantic audits, analyses and a whole raft of other things that I probably haven’t heard of yet.

So here’s my list of top 5 things I think all new translators should know about Near Neighbours Of Translation (or NNOTrans):

1. By looking down on NNOTrans, you are cutting off your nose to spite your face.

NNOTrans don’t get the air-time they deserve because too many translators think that anything less than “pure” translation is a waste of their skills. As an eager newcomer to the profession, I found this difficult to get my head around at first. I was embarrassed and didn’t know if I could call myself a translator, when I wasn’t doing what many translators seem to mean when they refer to translation. I’m glad I got over myself and got on with it, and I’d advise other newcomers to do the same. If you like what you do and you’re drawing on your translation skills, no matter how remotely, where’s the problem? Instead, feel excited about being at the forefront of industry changes.

2. NNOTrans are the way to go to ensure career longevity.

I don’t know about you but I certainly don’t want to spend my whole career looking over my shoulder, afraid of being replaced by a machine or another professional working in a country where the cost of living is lower than the UK (i.e. most countries, then). Two ways to avoid this are be fussy about the kind of work you take on, and specialise. Translators are skilled at pulling together different threads of communication from a range of specialist fields, and that’s even before they bring a second language into the mix. There aren’t many professionals who can lay claim to these kind of skills, so let’s forget about restrictive job titles and use this to our advantage.

3. NNOTrans often pay better than per-word translation.

Hugh put it beautifully when he said this kind of work has “a more generous margin”. I say, unless you translate in a highly specialised field and/or are lucky enough to have a portfolio of top-dollar direct clients, you’ll probably find you earn more per hour for a NNOTrans project than a traditional “source-word in, target-word out” translation. There’s more to consider than “just” the money, of course, as few of us go freelance for the fame and fortune. But think about how these other sources of work can give you the breathing space you need in those heady first days of freelancing, to enable you to hold out for the kind of translation work you really want to spend your time on.

4. NNOTrans can be more more enjoyable than “pure” translation.

When I first started out, I saw NNOTrans as a good way to pay my bills, while also getting my foot in the door with work providers. I thought once the “real” translation work started rolling in, I’d drop them and move on to greener pastures. The real translation work did start coming in, but in the meantime I’d found my NNOTrans projects had evolved. My professional expertise was being requested on a range of projects and I was booked well in advance, so my time was respected and I was well compensated. No stressful deadlines, unreasonable demands or lowly rates. What’s not to love about that? I love translating, but I enjoy jobs which involve near-neighbours of translation too.

5. Use NNOTrans to make you a better translator

NNOTrans projects can be a great source of cross-fertilisation, a way to gain new perspectives, skills and ideas. You could even use them as a way to hone some of the sub-skills of translation – writing, analysis, proofreading, listening skills, applied linguistics, etc. Look at the bigger picture of how this kind of work can get you to where you want to be.

So check out those translation neighbours – you may surprise yourself and make friends for life.

Professional development through blogging. Or: Reflecting on self-reflection…

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A recent talk I attended, which specifically addressed the transition from student to professional translator, helped me answer many questions I had about progression in my own career. When I really thought about it, it raised as many questions as it answered – always a promising sign, in my books. For example, at first I was excited about applying what I had learnt to my ideas on blogging. But as I read a bit more around the subject, I started to wonder about the real value of blogging in the process of professional self-reflection. After all, just how honest can you really be when you are writing for an audience, especially one made up of peers and colleagues?

There’s no doubt that thinking about my readership affects what and how I write my blog. In fact, it was fear of this imagined readership that made me blog anonymously when I first started out, and which even now cripples me as I grapple with the idea of posting something which is less than perfectly polished (that would be most of my posts then!).

But I’ve also learnt that having a real “live” readership motivates me and makes me more disciplined in a way that writing to a private journal never would. Perhaps it’s the exhibitionist in me 🙂 I also like being held accountable for what I write. Here at home, I am King of the Castle and it’s all too easy to form grand ideas and sweeping opinions on all I survey from my lofty perch. It does me no harm at all to be confronted with the idea of having to defend my opinions to real people, and ones I admire and who are potentially far more knowledgeable than I am, too.

It’s true that all this introduces a certain degree of self-censorship to my postings, and therefore too, my reflection process. But I feel that’s precisely what I need, as someone who works alone and with such a high degree of autonomy for most of the day. In fact, I feel that this healthy dose of reality (via the virtual) introduces an element of truth that might not otherwise break through for me in a private journal.

Of course, self-reflection is all very well, but you have to do something with this body of reflection too of course. I can’t bring myself to properly review my archives just yet, but I’ll be blogging one year in February so it’s in the back of my mind that I’ll do some kind of review then. I’ll be interested to see whether the blog’s actual development reflects my perception of how it has evolved, and whether it brings any hitherto unnoticed issues to my attention (no comments about my grammar or punctuation, please… my blog is not quite an exercise in perfect writing!)

It was clear from Janet’s talk that the transition from student to professional is not automatic, but rather a process of negotiating a jungle. Any stage of career transition deserves an equally careful and considered approach, and I’ll be bearing this in mind as I negotiate my current phase of career change.

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It’s a jungle out there: negotiating the transition from translation student to freelance professional

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Reflection is a key element of progression at any stage of a translator’s career. Evidence for this, if needed, can be seen in the continuing professional development (CPD) requirements for professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Linguists, which require evidence of not only attendance at events, but also of actual reflection on the process of learning. So I was very interested in a paper at the recent Portsmouth Translation Conference on how students can use self-reflection to negotiate their transition from translation students to professionals.

Janet Fraser, from the University of Westminster*, began by pointing out that, as a result of the diverse and changing role of the translator today, new translators need to think carefully about where they “fit in” to the profession and negotiate their entry accordingly.

How does one become a member of a profession, and what is a “professional”?
Based on prior studies carried out in this area, Fraser suggested that as a general rule, members of a profession tend to demonstrate a high degree of competence and expertise, but have substantial autonomy in how this is exercised. They are also characterised by freedom from supervision and a relatively high regard in society. Integrity is also a requirement within a profession, combined with a certain amount of peer regulation, often through professional bodies. Sound familiar? I’m sure I’m not the only freelance translator who thinks so.

In terms of education, professionalism also generally (although not always) implies someone with a BA or postgraduate degree. However, formal study really is just the tip of the iceberg within a profession, as true professional skills are acquired through long-term practice. Ultimately, professionalism requires a higher level of thinking skills than those developed through formal education. It requires individuals to continuously think about what they observe, to assess the shared body of knowledge, and to then apply this to themselves and their practice. So for those of you who thought graduation was the end, think again…

Another interesting point made by Fraser was that freelance translators are generally considered by labour researchers to be very successful examples of portfolio workers, not least because their careers tend to follow a process of personal development, as opposed to being a simple hierarchical series of jobs.


How can the student translator acquire these higher order thinking skills?
Fraser proposes self reflection as a means of developing the thinking skills that characterise a professional. She asserted that self-reflection doesn’t have to be new age or touchy-feely. It’s a well established process of making a public body of knowledge your own and ensuring that you don’t just have an experience, you also make sense of it and learn from it. Fraser also discussed some of the barriers to self-reflection, along with suggestions on how to overcome them. She also mentioned further useful references in this area, for example by Jennifer Moon.

All in all, in felt this was a very informative talk, relevant to both newcomers and more experienced translators alike.

For more information on keeping a learning journal, start here, here and here.

* Full disclosure!

28.11.07: edited for clarity

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