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Are You Cut Out to Work as an Interpreter? Six key traits of professional interpreters

Posted on October 15, 2018 by drawingboarddesign in Field, Interpretation, Professionalism

Are you a bilingual or multi-lingual individual thinking about putting your language knowledge to work? Perhaps already working as a translator and looking to branch out? Interpretation is rewarding work, but knowledge of languages is only a starting point for success in the field. Do you have several of these six traits of successful and fulfilled professional interpreters? You might be cut out for a career as an interpreter!

Good listener. The ability to speak fluently in multiple languages is, of course key, but more than half your time as an interpreter will actually be spent listening! Interpretation requires focused, attentive listening, often for long periods of time. Your client is depending on you to capture every detail and aspect of an interaction and to convey their meaning accurately, so it is important to be fully attentive to all parties. In addition to the very focused listening required while interpreting in the moment, at the outset of any job you will have to listen to your clients and make sure that you have a clear understanding of their needs and of the situation that you will be entering as their interpreter.

Ability to multitask. Interpretation requires a very particular type of fast paced, mental multi-tasking. Interpreters have to watch and listen (often while taking notes), absorb the meaning of what was said, as well as non-verbal cues, mentally translate the meaning, and then speak clearly and fluently. It is a rapid process, and the interpreter must also be able to easily alternate between translating and speaking both languages.

People skills. While translation can be a solitary, cerebral occupation, interpretation is a highly person-oriented occupation. Good interpreters are not just attentive, focused listeners, they are compassionate and patient listeners. They have the ability to connect with people and establish trust, sometimes under very difficult circumstances such as a medical appointment or court appearance.

Cultural competence. Communication involves much more than spoken language. Non-verbal cues inflect the meaning of the words that we choose, and make up a significant component of how we make ourselves understood. Like words, expressions and gestures vary across culture. An interpreter should have sufficient fluency in both cultures to interpret non-verbal cues. Understanding of cultural norms and expectations is also important to understanding both parties and helping to navigate misunderstandings that go beyond language.

Specialty knowledge (or the motivation to acquire it). Interpreters work in many different areas of specialization, such as community, medical, court or conference interpretation. Each of these areas has its own sets of technical vocabulary and cultural norms that must be mastered not just in one language, but both. If you have existing knowledge of the court system, for example, this is an advantage to becoming a court interpreter. What is more important, however, is the motivation and passion to do the additional learning required to master a specialization.

Emotional resilience. As an interpreter, you will be doing highly demanding work. This is what makes interpretation rewarding. But, you may also find yourself in emotionally difficult situations, such as having to interpret bad news from a doctor, or supporting someone in the legal system, or in the middle of a conflict. While good interpreters are compassionate, they must also be able to maintain boundaries. It is important to be able to sustain your own mental and emotional well-being, as well as your professionalism and dedication.

Does this sound like you? Do the challenges and demands of interpretation sound engaging and rewarding? Then interpretation might be your best next career move!

The Art of Exceeding Client Expectations: Why customer service should matter to freelancers

Posted on August 3, 2018 by drawingboarddesign in Industry Tips

As a freelance translator or interpreter, you’ve dedicated years to learning your craft, building a portfolio and mastering certifications. You may want to believe that your specialized knowledge and experience will speak for (and sell) itself, but succeeding as a freelancer takes a whole host of other skills. A freelancer has to be his or her own sales and marketing team, accountant, office administrator and maybe even web designer. Among all the roles that freelancers play, it is easy to see why the importance of customer service is sometimes overlooked. It should not be that way, though. Effort put into customer service saves double that effort in seeking and securing clients.

What is customer service? It is about more than fielding complaints and practicing good email etiquette. Customer service is the art of exceeding customer expectations. Success as a freelance translator or interpreter relies on being able to build strong relationships with clients. You are not just a representative of a business, you are your business. Customer service based on communication, responsiveness, and integrity will help secure new clients, build long term relationships with existing clients, and will contribute to a positive reputation.

A freelance professional who communicates clearly is easy to hire and easy to work with. You are the expert, so give potential and new clients the information they need to understand your services and value as an expert. Good communication builds rapport and connection, setting you apart from the competition. You are not just trying to secure a contract. You are establishing a relationship that may lead to repeat contracts and recommendations. Good communication is also essential to ensuring that you deliver the service that the client expects, or better yet, a service that fulfills their needs and priorities so well that it exceeds their expectations. Ultimately, this is what generates repeat business and good word-of-mouth.

Clients will also return to a freelancer who demonstrates that they are responsive to the client’s needs. This may mean being flexible to changes of direction and being open to unique requests. It also means being able to resolve problems and rectify mistakes with a positive, solution oriented attitude. Flexibility and responsiveness to requests will garner new clients. To existing clients, it will demonstrate your ongoing dedication to their satisfaction. Being able to effectively respond to problems and mistakes, which will inevitably occur, demonstrates reliability and integrity.

Like most relationships, the most successful, long term client-freelancer relationships are based on trust. Integrity is fundamental to establishing and maintaining this trust. This is can be as simple as delivering work by agreed upon deadlines, or as challenging as resolving conflicts or rectifying mistakes in a fair and constructive manner. Becoming a trusted name in your industry will also generate new business.

A strong portfolio and certifications are fundamental to establishing a career as a translator or interpreter. Customer service, however, is what will set a career as a freelancer into motion. Prioritizing customer service from first contact with a potential client and throughout the entire project pays off in a positive professional reputation, long-term, repeat clients, and new business.

Translation & The Richness of Culture (An Interview with ATIA President Perla Ben-Zvi)

Posted on July 18, 2018 by drawingboarddesign in interview

In the coming months, the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Alberta (ATIA) will be profiling some of our prominent members and those who have served (or continue to serve!) ATIA in a volunteer capacity. This month, we talked to Perla Ben Zvi, certified translator and current president of ATIA.

How long have you been part of ATIA?

In the year 2002 I became an English to Spanish Certified Translator.

Tell me a bit about your personal history and what brought you to the organization.

I came to Canada in 1989, and after going through the process of “being an immigrant” myself, I tried to give back to the community by translating for immigrants at a non-profit organization.

I loved translating from the beginning. I enjoy translating and interpreting for my clients so they may achieve their goals. I enjoy finding ways to represent as faithfully as possible the meaning of a text in another language and the constant learning experience of working on translations. Sometimes the challenge is the topic and sometimes it is in how to precisely calibrate the translation to make it the best fit for the country in which the material will be presented. Most of my translations are for Latin America where there are lots of different countries and I need to adapt the translation accordingly.

I was born in Argentina, where I studied four years towards a degree in Economics. To improve my translations skills, I completed a program offered through New York University. It was very interesting to be part of a class with students from different Latin American countries and to become aware of the subtle differences in the Spanish of the various countries.

In which positions have you served the organization?

I was the treasurer for two years from 2005 to 2007. At that time the treasurer used to do the accounting, write receipts, issue cheques, prepare the budget, etc. We were a smaller organization then, so the support was limited. From 2015 to 2017, I held the position of Vice President for Northern Alberta and I currently serve as the President.

Can you tell me about some of your most enjoyable moments as a translator? What are some of the most memorable projects you have worked on so far? Do you have a favourite?

I very much enjoy doing translations in the agricultural field. I always have something to learn about plants and animals and the richness of Alberta’s agriculture.

What struggles have you had?

Like many other translators, a big struggle is to find that “right word” in the sentence: you end up reading lots of material in the target language to make sure that the translations will read as ‘naturally’ as the original English text. At times, the problem is that the document in English was not written in the best possible way and that makes translating it effectively a bit challenging, but you work around such things.

How did you know you were cut out for translation work?
When I started to do translations I did not confine myself to personal documents. I found that enjoyed the entire process of reading, doing research, translating, editing and feeling very good about the translation I had just finished. I enjoyed reading books in the topics of translation, especially one by Marina Orellana entitled “La traducción del inglés al castellano”. Such things indicated to me that I had found my passion and my vocation.

What type of work do you primarily do? Is there another type you wish you did more of?

Over the years, most of my work has been translation, but in the last couple of years, I have increased my workload as an interpreter. I find that the balance between translations and interpretations suits my professional goals of aiding a wide variety of clients very well.

ATIA has been around since 1979! In your opinion, what makes the organization successful and gives it such longevity? What sets ATIA apart?

ATIA is a professional organization and part of a national body (CTTIC). A major reason for our success and longevity is that we take pride in the way translators and interpreters become members after proving themselves as professionals through rigorous exams. ATIA has a very strong Code of Ethics and the members are aware of the way they must conduct themselves in the field. Such standards have always set our members apart – to the satisfaction of their clients – and that makes the organization stand out for the better.

To become a member of ATIA requires preparation, experience, commitment and continuous study.

What vision have you brought to the position of President?

My vision is to help establish ATIA as the “place to go” for clients looking for professional interpreters and translators with high quality and ethical standards.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I like to travel, read books, and be with my family.

What is a quirky fact someone may not know about you?

I like salads and soups.

Perla Ben-Zvi is a Certified English-Spanish Translator and an Associate Community and Court Interpreter. Perla provides high-quality English-Spanish translations in a variety of areas, as well as exceptional interpreting services in a number of settings. Her studies also include CISOC Community Interpretation Protocols and Procedures training and police interpreting. Perla has more than 20 years of experience working in the translation industry. Perla lives in Edmonton with her family.

Signs You’re Cut Out For Freelancing

Posted on May 2, 2018July 3, 2018 by drawingboarddesign in Uncategorized

If you have dabbled a bit in freelance work or are thinking about making it your career, there are some important points to consider when it comes to taking the plunge! While not all of these will be true for everyone and even if you don’t resonate with these, that shouldn’t deter you from trying out freelance work if you are inclined, the following list includes many of the characteristics freelancers commonly report as being important to do well in their work. So without further ado, here are the signs you might be cut out for freelance work:

You can focus.

This is a big one. Yes, some procrastination is inevitable and there are some folks who work best under pressure so procrastination can become a motivational and even inspiring tool to get quality work done. However, for most people, translation and writing work takes several drafts and time to percolate which means that leaving everything to the last minute or working on multiple projects simultaneously (thereby distracting you from all of them) means that your work can leave a lot to be desired. You have to be able to make lists of priorities and execute those items according to what is the most needed and most urgent. Spreading yourself too thin over a number of tasks or getting distracted by other things is a recipe for a mess!

You can be many different things to many different people.

Being a freelance translator does not mean that you will only be freelance translating. It also means that sometimes you are doing marketing work, networking and outreach, administrative assistant work, book-keeping, accounting and so forth. You have to be able to move between these positions fairly seamlessly and according to the contexts in which you find yourself.

You are willing to cultivate relationships.

The importance of being willing to cultivate long-term relationships with clients, businesses, organizations and groups that are relevant to your area of work cannot be underestimated. You don’t have to be a networking all-star but you do have to keep on top of community events you are invited to, social media interactions and the like. Frankly, this task is easier now than ever before because connection with others can be had at the click of a mouse.

You can conquer “impostor syndrome”. You believe in yourself and your work.

Being paralyzed by fear or perfectionism will only make your work harder and more stressful. Be open to constructive feedback and be sure to always check your work, but don’t become obsessed with every single detail. You should be able to produce polished work without having an emotional weighing of your self-worth tied to it. Remember you are a trained professional with skills and expertise to offer. If you don’t know something, learn it or admit it and move on!

You believe the rewards of freelance work outweigh the risk.

Freelancing is not without risks – particularly a sense of job security and perhaps a steady paycheque. But if you are willing to trade those things for all the benefits of being your own boss, being able to work from anywhere in the world, and choosing what work you put out into the world, you are unlikely to be disappointed. Plus if you have been making fairly decent money on the side for a while from freelancing, taking the plunge might not be so scary after all. Just imagine how much ore work you could get by focusing on what you do entirely.

You are willing to do *some* things for free.

This is a touchy subject but it is important to realize that there are plenty of things you will do to manage your business that you aren’t directly paid for. Unless you are making loads of cash, you are unlikely to be able to pull a salary from your profit to pay yourself for the management of the business beyond the actual freelance work itself. Returning emails, taking calls, arranging meetings and the like are all things that you can’t really invoice someone for. Depending on how you bill, whether by word or by hour, there is the chance that you can factor some of that overall time into how you do invoice though. It is important to measure how long you spend doing unpaid/non-invoiced work for your business because if you end up losing out of deals because you are spending so much time doing the nitty-gritty, it might be worth your while to subcontract some of that out to someone else.

You have healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with stress.

There is going to be a time when all things converge at once and you are going to feel like you have to stay up until 2am every night for over a week to get everything done. How you deal with this matters. One of the number one reasons that folks leave the freelancing world is that they are unable to cope with the unique stresses it brings: from accommodating difficult client requests to feeling like you are working around the clock, from feeling like you can never clock out to giving up any semblance of a weekend. Be good about setting time boundaries so your work doesn’t bleed into every aspect of your life including recreational and family time. Make sure you can recognize when things start to get too hair for you and you need to take a breather. Figure out ways that you can make things more manageable, and know when to approach clients for more time, if needed.

You know how to say “No.”

This is another big one…especially when you are first starting out. Who wants to turn down work? At the same time, we can’t all do everything. We have areas of specialization and work-life balance to consider, among other things. Your limits are really up to you. Spend some time thinking about what you are doing with your life and your goals for the year or five-year period. Is the work you are doing helping you to achieve those goals?

You work well solo from home.

Most freelancers work from home or in public spaces like coffeeshops or libraries. Some get to the point of being so busy that they are able to rent an office space to meet clients and complete their work at. For the rest of us, working well, solo, from home is crucial to our success. If it really bothers you to be alone all the time, consider going to a monthly meet-up of freelancers for coffee where you can share your experiences and network, or meet a fellow freelancer for a work session at a coffee shop – just make sure you don’t end up distracting each other too much!

You have developed organizational methods that work for you.

There are plenty of other signs that a career in freelancing could be for you but ultimately you are the best determiner of that fact. What works for one freelancer, doesn’t work for everyone and over time, you will develop the organizational methods that work best for you. Some freelancers work best with a paper wall calendar and to-do lists on sticky notes, others are digital all the way. Whatever keeps you on track and ensures that your work gets done on-time and well is what you should stick with!

Why Become a Translator?

Posted on March 2, 2018July 4, 2018 by drawingboarddesign in Uncategorized

As soon as you begin to pursue a dream, your life wakes up and everything has meaning.

— Barbara Sher

Some people know what-they-want-to-be-when-they-grow-up shortly after they come out of the womb. For others, it’s a slow realization, and by the time they leave high school, they are on their way to realizing their dream career. Some, unsure, ponder the options and might change careers and jobs until they find their true calling. And then, there is me who thought I never really had a “calling,” until now that is.

After working thirty years as an accountant in the Oil and Gas industry in Calgary, I found myself without a job. The company I was working for was going through tremendous financial difficulties due to the recessive economy and—like many other companies—laid off many of its employees including myself. I loved my job, and it was great while it lasted, but I knew it was not my true calling

I was envious of people who had a dream and followed it! I never had a vision for myself. But I always loved languages, reading, and writing. After losing my job, I decided to start a blog, something I wanted to do for a long time. My first articles were in English; later on, to reach a broader audience, I decided to start translating them into Spanish—my mother tongue. One day, as I was happily pounding my keyboard while working on my translations, the idea of becoming a Translator hit me on the head like an awakening brick! At that moment I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up! I knew what my calling was!

I had no idea how to go about, but I was entrepreneurial and put an add on Kijiji advertising my services. Shortly, I received a call from a potential customer, after a few interactions she asked me if I was “Certified.” I did not get the business since I wasn’t a Certified Translator, but it opened the door to the exciting world of Translators and Interpreters. I started looking into it, and I found ATIA (Association of Translators and Interpreters of Alberta).

Since finding ATIA, I’ve been right on track with their program. I’ve attended every workshop ATIA has put on so far, and I’m preparing for the first two exams you must pass—Code of Ethics and English Comprehension. ATIA has welcomed me with open arms, and every member I have met so far has been warm, friendly, and talented!

The Translation and Interpreters industry is booming with the prediction that demand for their services will increase fifty percent by the year 2020; this is excellent news for people starting like me as well as for established translators and interpreters.

Can just anyone who speaks more than one language become a Translator? Not necessarily. To become a translator, you need to be familiar with the culture behind the languages you will be working on. You need to be extremely motivated and have the ability to work independently since most translators and interpreters are freelancers. You need to have excellent writing and reading skills. You also need to be very proactive in promoting your services and finding clients.

Strangely and whimsically, I realize now that I have been preparing for this my whole life. I’ve made a point throughout the years to be fluent in Spanish and English by speaking, reading and writing in both languages. Being at a “certain age,” while some people are thinking of planning on retiring, I’m excited and feel renewed at the opportunity of a new career!

Paulina Ponsford was born in Chile and has lived most of her adult life in Canada. She worked as an Accountant for thirty years in the Oil and Gas industry in Calgary. At the same time, she always wanted to connect with people at a different level and for this reason, she became a volunteer Fitness Instructor and later on a Certified Facilitator in the area of human interaction. Paulina is now preparing to become a Translator and Interpreter in the languages of English and Spanish. Paulina also loves to travel and embraces what different cultures have to offer. She is also an avid reader and some of her favorite authors are Paulo Coelho, Khaled Hosseini, Mark Mustian, and Isabel Allende. If you would like to know more about Paulina, check out her blog at www.paulinaponsford.com where she shares some of her thoughts, insights, and experiences.