Tag: translate

?How to Help Your Clients Achieve the Perfect Translation

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Client Zone, Inspiration, Professionalism, Translation

The first step to helping client’s get the translation they want is good communication between translator and writer. This is important so that you, as the translator, know the unique goals of the project and ensure the best possible translation project is created! Good communication starts with the basics – listening skills, and an ability to professionally and assertively state yourself both in written and verbal ways. Most translators possess these skills, some clients may not. Here are ways to encourage your clients towards the best outcome possible.

  • Encourage specific communication about budget and timeline.
  • Have your client state their main objective for the translation
  • Encourage your client to be organized with project documents
  • Communicate your own boundaries
  • Know your limits and communicate them

Stating or negotiating prices is often difficult to discuss yet it is fundamental when kicking off a project. Some clients come with a price in mind and some don’t know where to start. Encouraging your client to name a price, start a negotiation, or discuss this part of contracting can be a challenge when they don’t. Using language that is curious, open and inviting can help this process along. Equally important is the timeline of the project. Knowing when the project needs to be completed will help you in planning, but will also help the professional relationship as expectations will be set, maintained, and managed if this is all discussed up front.

Do you know what your client is trying to achieve with their translation? Did they communicate what the goal of the project is?  Once this is clarified with the client, it allows you as the translator to better integrate their voice with yours, producing a piece of work that aligns with the client’s needs.

You need things from your client in order to be effective and efficient for them. You need contracts signed, receipts, and of course, the documents to be translated. Missing documents, incomplete work, and late add-ons can result in deadlines missed and your additional work inaccurately reflected in the negotiated fee. The more organized and complete the source content, the easier it will be to ensure success.

Some clients assume you are available for them much of the time. Some expect emails returned within a few hours and may become persistent if this isn’t the case.  It is good practice to communicate to your clients your availability, such as when you spend time responding to emails, what a reasonable turnaround time is for correspondence, and what days you work and which you do not.  You can set an out of office email reminder that tells your clients you are not actively responding to emails at the present time. Being clear on your professional boundaries not only helps the progress of the project, but it supports your personal and self-care time, as well.

It is okay to be the person who doesn’t always say “yes”. Allow yourself to turn down projects if you have taken on too much, or the project isn’t a good fit for you.  In those rare occasions, it is okay to ask for a deadline extension, within reason and with good arguments as to why you need more time. Likely, your clients with respect and honor your ability to maintain your limits and will appreciate your dedication to ongoing communication and client – translator relationship building.

Marketing Strategies for Freelance Translators and Interpreters

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Industry Tips, Interpretation, Professionalism, Translation

?Understanding languages is a pretty good industry to get into. Globalization has increased the need for translators and interpreters to continue to break down language barriers. As such, it can be one of the most satisfying careers, as interpreters and translators have a direct role in bridging language and culture and breaking down barriers.

The translation services industry is growing rapidly, and the demand for effective translators and interpreters remains large. The industry is expected to increase to $38 billion by next year and $45 billion by 2020. Additionally, employment rates are expected to grow by 29 percent until 2024. Some of these rates will be within freelancing or contract work.  Many who are looking to freelance can benefit from marketing strategies that look at ways of gaining new clients and new contracts.  Making real life connections is key. Below are some marketing strategies geared to those who are in the business of language.

If you can commit to talking to at least three different people about your business everyday, you’ll be likely see some changes within your clients, your contracts, and your income.

Social media certainly has it’s place in the marketing world, as long as you are using it consistently in order to build an audience. However, not all marketing should be done on the computer, and meeting your potential clients where they are is equally as important. Do your research, find out where your ideal clients go to network, learn, and grow their businesses — and go there too!

Having a speech prepared that briefly describes who you are, what you do, and what you can offer is key during moments of networking. Whether impromptu meetings or planned networking events, preparing what you will say can help ensure you communicate the information and message you wish to convey. Remember to keep your tone level, your language positive, and use accessible, precise, and plain language. Be sure to tell them how to find you, whether it’s online or your physical work address, and be sure to do it within one minute so you don’t lose your audience. 

Now that you have met new contacts, a key piece to networking is following up, rather than relying on your potential clients to contact you. Following up quickly is key, within 24 hours is ideal. Ensure you mention meeting them, and offer to meet up again. If you follow up via written form, ensure you use professional language and edit thoroughly!

Referrals are the most effective, and cost-effective, way to generate new business, yet asking for referrals can feel awkward. It is important to know your client, so generally using the clients you have the best relationship with is important. You may need to be professional and direct, or more personal and out-of-the-box. You may offer incentives for referrals, and be sure to thank your clients afterward.

Anyone who freelances what they do can benefit from learning and practicing some marketing and network strategies. Freelance translators and interpreter, by nature, have careers that rely upon and build relationships. In fact, your very job includes building bridges between culture and language and deepening bonds between neighbours. Now that’s a great career. 

Self-Care for Busy Professionals

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Industry Tips, Inspiration, Professionalism

Self-care is often defined as anything we purposefully do to take care of our emotional, spiritual, and mental health. But there is much more to it than that. What we often don’t hear about is self-care defined as the opposite – things we don’t engage in because they are not good for our health. 

Additionally, self-care isn’t always planned activities, but it can be anything that helps you move toward either stillness or growth, such as playing with thinking patterns, exploring attitudes, purposeful reflections, and meaningful connections.  Perhaps one of the most well-known terms in mental health but also one of the most misunderstood, simply because it is difficult to define something that can look, feel, touch, taste, and smell differently for everyone.

Self-care for individuals who work as translators or interpreters may look the same or different from those who work in other fields. Translators, who often work in solitude and interpreters, who have high paced expectations, need to take care due to these special circumstances. Here are 5 ways in which any busy professional may consider for self-care. 

?Connect to Others

Connecting to others is important, especially when working alone is very important. As human beings, we are creatures who not only thrive through human connection, but require it for sustaining life. From an evolutionary perspective, we need each other to stay alive. This was especially true in the past, but our brains have not evolved as fast as society has. We are generally safe in solitude, but at times our brains will tell us that it is dangerous to be alone. In fact, being alone and lonely can trigger our fight, flight, freeze response. Connecting to others (or allowing others to connect to us) is key to mediating this response and may be the most important self-care work we can do.

?Fuel Your Creativity

Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” shows us that creativity is a human need that helps drive us towards “self actualization”, or towards fully knowing our potential and talents, which furthers us towards fulling knowing ourselves. Luckily, as translators and interpreters, you are often working within the realm of creativity. Of course, there are countless other ways to be creative, and integrating more into your life can be an important act of self-care.

?Live in the Moment Using Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a phrase that most people have heard of. It is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations”. This helps us understand, tolerate, and live with our internal experiences. There are many resources available for mindfulness, and finding a few practices you enjoy doing can be integrated into your repertoire of self-care.

Create Full Sensory Experiences

Our five senses have a direct pathway to our brain, and thus can help soothe and calm us, or can help us better integrate our learnings. Creating situations during which each of your 5 senses can explore, integrate, and experience can facilitate new brain connections, new behaviors and habits, or can simply produce stillness and calm.  

Validate, Appreciate, and Celebrate Yourself

Finding ways to validate yourself, which means to tell yourself that your inner experiences are all important and okay, is key to self-understanding and self-growth. Equally important is finding time to infuse appreciation in your life, whether it’s from big successes or from simply finding gratitude in the fact that you have the ability to take breaths. Recent research has shown us that gratitude can actually help with integrating learning and helps with decision making, as these areas tend to be more active during grateful moments. Finally, celebrating yourself through purposeful ceremonies and traditions, such as a weekly time to watch your favorite tv show, or a monthly get-together with validating friends, is a lovely tool for self-care, because it shows self-love. 

Five Ways that Translators are Actually Writers

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Field, Translation

Translation is the act of taking written materials and converting it from one language into a target language. Any language can be translated into another, however, the degree of ease during which this happens can vary with the language chosen. A translator may work freelance, for a translation agency, or even in-house. Regardless of where at translator works, the act of translation is a creative process that is very much like writing. Some translators say that translating is similar to writing but is not the same, as the translators voice must not appear in the text. Others believe the process of translation has inherent creative processes that are similar or the same as the creative processes that occur during writing. Here are five ways in which they are very similar.

Translators are reading the written work for the first time, just as a writer does.

For some translators, the process of reading the book is one of discovery. The story has been written; however, the translator is discovering the written work for the first time. Just as “the writer hadn’t read the book before he wrote it.”, the translator is also discovering the book or written work for the first time, in a way that is separate from the reader. A reader is discovering the work but making no alterations to it.

The authorial voice of the book may shift from the writer’s to the translator’s.

During the process of translation, the voice of the translator may show up, whether it is intended to or not. Many translators work hard to limit their voice from speaking through the words chosen, but their contributions to the new version of the story may stand out. Translators make important decisions on how to convey the story’s meaning through the new language, and in doing so, the story may partially take on the translator’s voice, which creates something a work of art that is even more dynamic.

Translation is a creative process.

Every act of translation is a creative process, just as writing the original is a creative art form. Considering the definition of creativity, translation, then, means something new is formed. Translators read the original piece and make important decisions on what is happening, what to keep within the written work, what can be sacrificed, and what kind of voice to put to the text based on the nuances and cultural elements of the new language.

Translation expresses meaning and beauty.

What makes writing an art form is that both meaning and beauty are expressed to the literary audience. Translators are also faced with the task of communicating the meaning as well as the beauty of expressions, in the same way a writer conveys meaning and beauty through their original words.

Translation adds something to the original.

Some say that a translated version of a written work is very different form the original.  Every word or phrase can be different from the original text, given the complexities of the translated language. This means there will be additions, deletions, but also certain elements may be emphasized, and in this way, the original is built upon.

Translation is a creative process that communicates, shifts, and builds upon the original written piece. Writing and translation together is a marriage of art forms – like a silent, fluid dance between the author and the translator that balances the complexities of two languages in a harmonious way.

What Happens in the Brain When We Interpret?

Posted on by drawingboarddesign in Interpretation

The human brain is a powerful control centre. It is responsible for everything from our ability to breathe to our ability to be empathic. It is responsible for all skills and abilities, and language is no exception.  Language is an exceptionally complicated, yet highly coordinated task. It is a cognitive skill that is both unique to humans and universal to all human cultures. Different brain structures are responsible for all parts of language production – including hearing spoken words, making sense of those words, producing a response, and executing that response.

So how does the brain do this?  Many researchers have asked themselves the same question, and some of them have attempted to find the answer. Most research uses fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) so that the areas of the brain that are working harder during different situations can be viewed. More specifically, some research has examined the brains of interpreters to better understand the skills involved in understanding and producing speech. Two well-studied areas that play a very significant role in language are two areas known as Wernicke’s and Broca’s.

Wernicke’s area, located in the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere, usually, plays a large role in understanding the incoming language information. It is here that the original language goes in and where you make sense of the meaning of the words and sentences. Whether translating or interpreting written or audible language, Wernicke’s area is responsible for transforming words into their meaning.  Not only is this area responsible for language comprehension, but it is where we plan the what we want to say back. For interpreters, an extra step is involved during which language is switched, and the speed of which this happens is extremely fast. If this area is damaged, speech is created without content or meaning.

The next large brain area involved in language is called Broca’s area. Although the research is less clear on the role of Broca‘s area,  it has been hypothesized that Broca’s area also is involved in language production and comprehension, including verbal working memory, syntax, grammar, and the motor movements responsible for speech. It is also associated with functions outside of language, including motor-related activities associated with hand movements, and sensorimotor learning and integration. Damage to the Broca’s area can disrupt language production, but nobody is quite sure exactly what specific language-related function is lost to cause that disruption. Thus, the Broca’s area plays a large part in interpretation.

To get more specific, researchers have looked at brain scans of interpreters in three different situations: listening to a sentence in one language, listening to and repeating a sentence in one language, and listening to a sentence in one of their languages and interpreting it into another of their languages. Broca’s area was lit up during all of these tasks. Interestingly, the caudate nucleus, an area of the brain responsible for learning and decision making, was the most engaged part of the brain during the latter task.  This makes sense, because the caudate nucleus uses information learned from previous experiences and to make future decisions, and so it coordinates different parts of the brain to do this. These researchers hypothesize that interpretation requires various regions of the brain, not only the language centres, to be coordinated during the difficult task of interpretation.  The caudate nucleus becomes more engaged during such a task because it has a huge role in facilitating this highly coordinated function.

In general, language is a multi-faceted cognitive skill that engages many areas of the brain, but most prominently Broca’s area and Wernicke’s areas. For those who work in interpretation, it has been found that many more areas of the brain are also engaged, because the ability to switch languages requires more coordination and abilities. This coordination is likely to be controlled by the caudate nucleus.  It is safe to say, however, that much more research is required to be able to answer exactly what happens in our brain when language is interpreted.