Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Read all about it!

One of the many pleasurable aspects of working on the interaktiv editorial team was that it forced me to set aside time to read translation-related publications in an effort to find articles worth reprinting. Here is a list of just a few of the links that I bookmarked during my quest for suitable articles. Leave me a comment if you know of any translation publications that I have missed and I will update the list accordingly. Happy reading!

ATA Chapter Newsletters

CATI Quarterly

MATI InforMATIon

MICATA Monitor

MiTiN Newsletter

NCATA The Capital Translator

NCTA Translorial (registration required)

NOTA NOTA Bene

NOTIS The Northwest Linguist

NYCT The Gotham Translator

ATA Division Newsletters

Other English-language journals

CTA Newsletter

FIT Translatio

Institute of Translation and Interpreting Bulletin (subscription required; selected articles available under ITI Bulletin)

Irish Translators and Interpreters Association Bulletin

Journal of Specialised Translation

NAJIT Proteus (selected articles available to non-members under Publications)

Society for Technical Communication Intercom (selected articles available to non-members)

Translation Journal

German-language publications

ADÜ Nord Infoblatt (under Publikationen)

ATICOM Forum

BDÜ Landesverband NRW BDÜ info NRW

BDÜ Landesverband Bremen und Niedersachsen e.V. Transrelations

BDÜ Landesverband Berlin-Brandenburg Berliner Rundbrief

Hieronymus

Tekom tcworld (requires free subscription)

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Two new environmental translation blogs

Eagle-eyed blog readers will notice a couple of new additions to my blog reader that focus on environmental translation:

Translating for the Environment is a relatively new blog written by Kelly Wester, a Spanish-English environmental translator.

Over the past week I have also been enjoying reading Always Greener: Notes from an American on the other side, Craig Morris' very informative blog with an emphasis on renewable energy.

Happy reading!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

FAQ: Finding Paid Work

Q: How can I find paid work as an environmental translator?

A: As I have mentioned in the past, only a very small number of environmental protection organisations have a translation budget so the specialist environmental translator has to cast his or her net wider in the search to build up a customer base. As in the last article, none of these ideas are particularly earth-shattering, but are worth considering for someone thinking of entering the environmental translation market.

Shortly before I made the transition from being an in-house to freelance translator, I spent some time brainstorming about who might need environmental translations (more specifically translations pertaining to waste management in my case) that were not highly technical and also be able to afford my rates. Incidentally, I also held a presentation about the opportunities for environmental translators at our local ATA chapter's 2008 symposium and will be happy to share my PowerPoint presentation with anyone who sends me an e-mail. I also highly recommend reading Patrick Oblander's article in the March 2009 ATA Chronicle entitled "Environmental Translation: Market Overview".

My brainstorming session produced the following groups of customers:

1) Big players outside the environmental field

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports are, at least in my experience, one of the hottest trends within the environmental translation field right now. Towards the late 1990s, businesses started putting out environmental reports, basically boasting how many gallons of water, tonnes of waste and greenhouse gas emissions they had saved over the past year. Some would say that not much has changed since then. These documents have now largely been replaced with CSR reports which are traditionally published yearly together with annual financial reports. The scope of these reports has also gradually been widened to cover what is referred to as the triple bottom line (also known as people, planet, profit), meaning that businesses are judged not only on their financial results, but also on their social and environmental performance. CSR reports are not restricted to companies providing environmental services, either. Just a glimpse at Corporate Register.com shows that BAE Systems, the Inter-American Bank and HP are among the companies that have published CSRs in the past month or so. It is generally hard to land these kinds of projects as an independent contractor. In my experience, many large businesses subcontract these projects to translation agencies or groups of translators given the number of languages and size of files involved.

2) Environmental services providers

In addition to the CSR reports, large multinational companies that provide environmental services also have a whole host of documents that need to be translated. It is also worth remembering that a lot of small and medium-sized companies are now looking to expand across their borders and generally have a lot of company brochures, annual reports and similar materials that they want translated beforehand. As well as press releases and other corporate communications documents, these businesses often have internal documents that they want to share with employees at their various branches, providing a steady flow of work once you have your foot in the door.

3) Consulting firms, trade journals and research institutes

Consulting firms and research institutes also invest a great deal of money on projects and then want to share their results as broadly as possible. These documents can range from run-of-the-mill press releases and websites to highly technical academic research papers. It is also worthwhile researching what the large trade journals are in your specific field of the environmental market and seeing if they have foreign-language editions (if only for terminology research purposes).

4) Government institutions

National and local governments also constitute a large source of government work. The spectrum ranges from multinational environmental agreements to city government flyers for minority populations. The approaches to finding government customers vary as substantially as the rates they pay: For instance, some high-level government institutions, especially in Europe, issue calls for bids for translation services on an annual or biannual basis, while others subcontract work to translation agencies. It is worth contacting the public relations office and simply asking how they go about finding translators.

5) Translation agencies

Of course, translation agencies should not be forgotten. In reality, translation agencies only make up a very small percentage of my income as I have found that I much prefer working with direct clients for a number of reasons. I only take on non-environmental agency projects in very rare cases and have let most agencies that I have worked with in the past know that I specialise in environmental translation and don't dabble in other fields at all any more.


Now that I had outlined my target markets it was time to get specific. As well as noting when governmental institutions were having their next calls for proposals, I also contacted the larger translation agencies to let them know my speciality. When looking for end clients, I realised that a lot of the larger firms already had their own translators or agencies of choice so one of my best weapons was targeting companies on the verge of expansion. I found that the following steps gave me an edge:

Subscribe to and read specialist industry publications: Know which companies are looking to expand and/or have recently set up foreign subsidiaries and get in touch. Mention where you had read about their plans, thus consolidating the client's impression of you as a serious professional who takes the time to keep your finger on the industry's pulse.

Attend trade fairs: This goes to the above point. Once a potential client can put a face to your name, you are much more likely to get (and, more importantly, keep) his or her business. Don't harass companies on the first day of the fair, but wait until quiet times when no one is at their stand and don't hard-sell. Talk about the hot topic in the industry (a big merger, new legislation etc.) or ask them about a terminology question you've had in the back of your mind for a while. When you get back home, send a quick follow-up e-mail thanking the person for his or her time, mentioning your availability for translation projects should the need arise.

Get your name out: One of the best ways, and the way that I ultimately found most of my current clients, is word of mouth. Make sure that your fellow translators also know your speciality and refer work that you do not feel confident in handling to other freelancers: they tend to repay the favour. Write articles for industry publications, give presentations, start a blog, become active in your local translation association and hand out your business card to anyone and everyone who might possibly need an environmental translator at some point down the road. Of course, make sure that you have a website and develop marketing materials in both your source and target language to make it easier for customers to contact you and find out more about your background.

These are just a few of the tools that I used to build my current customer base. Please feel free to post a comment with any suggestions that I may have missed.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

FAQ: Finding volunteer opportunities

Q: I'm a recent graduate/new translator interested in specialising in environmental translation. Where can I find volunteer translation opportunities to build up my resume?

A: First of all, it goes without saying that you should have a good background knowledge of environmental issues before embarking on any translation project, paid or unpaid. Just because you are providing a free service is no excuse for turning in poorly researched translations. If you play your cards right, you should be able to convince the organisation to list your name as translator on any printed documents (e.g. translation services provided courtesy of...) and/or website. Moreover the terminology research will stand you in good stead for later on. In an ideal scenario, someone will end up reading a document with your name on, be impressed by your mastery of specialist terminology or simply need a translator for their (hopefully paying) project and get in touch.

The other basic rules of business apply: Be pleasant and professional. You should let your contact know in advance that they will need to be flexible about deadlines and that any paid translations will have to take priority over volunteer work. They should be satisfied - after all they are getting your services for free.

Beyond the excellent suggestions and links given here, here and here, another approach is to think about the specific environmental issues that interest you. For instance, if you feel strongly about the need to protect the rain forests contact organisations active in this area to see if they need volunteer translators for your language pair.

Just a quick google search for "volunteer environmental translator" also turned up opportunities with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide , the Canada Parks and Wilderness Society (Ottawa Chapter), Earthrights, the World Wide Fund for Nature (Australia) and Greenpeace (*Please note, the Greener Word does not endorse any of these organisations). Spend a little time using targeted search terms in your source and target language and I'm sure dozens more will appear.

There really is a vast number of organisations that want to spread their message to people in other countries and share their knowledge with their counterparts on other continents so have fun searching and happy volunteering!

My next couple of posts will examine finding paid work as an environmental translator and list resources for deepening your knowledge of environmental issues. Look for those towards the start of next week. In the meantime feel free to post comments with any other questions that you would like to see covered.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A (mistimed) trip across the pond

Apologies for the amount of time that has passed since my last post. After hammering out a few issues related to the latest issue of interaktiv and attending the MICATA symposium at Johnson County Community College, I jetted off to England for three weeks to visit family and friends. For once this was simply a personal trip with no hops across to Germany to visit clients and plenty of time to relax and enjoy reading a decent Sunday newspaper. I was also able to enjoy one of the great benefits of freelancing: the flexibility to decide where and how much I wanted to work. I managed to switch off the computer for several days and found myself suitably refreshed when I returned.

It had been 18 months since my last visit to the UK and I was surprised by how much has changed in its stance towards recycling and waste management. Once the laughing stock of the EU for its recycling record, the UK has made substantial progress in instituting separate collections if my parents' local authority is a true barometer for the country as a whole. When I moved to the US in 2005, it was still a case of throwing everything into a single black bin bag. My parents now have separate collection boxes for paper, plastic bottles, glass and aluminium and two wheelie bins – one for garden waste and one for other waste.

Judging by my visits to a local supermarket, British businesses have also embraced environmental credentials as a strong selling point for their products. It seemed to me that more products on the shelves are now boasting their eco-friendliness and use of recycled materials in packaging, especially in the cleaning products and personal hygiene aisles. As I said, it has been a while since I had been in the UK so these trends may not be universally true.

While in the UK, I learned that my visit had been spectacularly mistimed as the Institute of Translation and Interpreting is set to hold its annual conference with the theme of "sustainability in translation" on 16 and 17 May 2009 in London. Unfortunately family commitments mean that I will be unable to attend and I am really jealous of those who will be able to do so. The conference really looks to be a high-quality event with sessions involving speakers from Friends of the Earth, agencies specialising in environmental translation and interpreters who have worked at international environmental conferences. A group from the European Commission's DG Translation will also ask, "Where have the translators gone?" and another two sessions will look at finding a work-life balance. I also glimpsed fellow blogger Sarah Dillon's name on the list of presenters. There seems to be ample opportunity to network with fellow translators and I am particularly sad to miss hearing the conference dinner speaker: famed British weather forecaster Bill Giles. More information can be found at the conference website here.

* I have recently received a number of e-mails asking questions about getting started in environmental translation and will have a FAQ series on the blog later this week to answer as many of them as possible.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Wanted: English-language translators

One of my former in-house colleagues sent me a link this morning to a press release issued by the European Commission bemoaning the shortage of translators in its English language department, suggesting that I should keep Brussels in mind if we ever decide to return to Europe. On a side note, I cannot imagine anywhere I would less like to live given my experiences during a miserable six months at the Institut Superieur des Traducteurs et Interpretes (ISTI). But I digress. With many of the institution's translators having been recruited after Ireland and the UK joined the EU in the early 1970s, the Commission is now facing the prospect of losing at least 20% of its English language department staff by 2015 and is launching a campaign to create awareness of the job opportunities it offers.

In my opinion, the real problem lies in the massive decline in the number of young people studying foreign languages (coupled with poor English writing skills, but that is another topic altogether). When I was in secondary school, we had to learn one foreign language (French) until the age of 16 and a second (German, Italian or Spanish) was optional. To enter a university translation programme, you had to have two foreign language with decent A-level grades. The Sixth Form where I studied French and German has since shut down all of its A-level foreign language courses and I have heard anecdotal evidence to suggest that several university foreign language and translation departments are heading in the same direction.

Having completed one of these translation and interpreting programmes, I also realise how ill-prepared it left me for a career in this field. We had no instruction on translation technologies, no specialist courses in financial, technical or other types of translation and no information about how to do business, set rates etc. I learnt a vast amount more about the actual business of translation during my five years as an in-house translator and by meeting fellow translators than I did during my four years at university.

Again, anecdotally, I have heard that companies who want to hire English native speakers as their in-house translators or project managers are having a tough time finding qualified or even entry-level candidates. A brief glance at the job section of the BDÜ website (just one of many options for those looking for in-house positions) shows how many such jobs are available. A few of the translation e-mail lists that I subscribe to have now published the same advertisements on several occasions, as well.

I'm not really sure if or how any of these problems can be solved. I wonder if the UK has any programmes similar to the ATA's School Outreach initiative to pique children's interest in learning foreign languages or if it's simply too late. At any rate, the good news for established English-language translators is that we will likely have even more work on our hands in the medium term, with hopefully the associated benefits for our rates and ability to cherry pick the best clients.

MICATA Symposium - Translating and Interpreting: A Global Profession

If you live in the Midwest and/or have always wanted to visit Kansas City, consider attending the Mid-America Chapter of the American Translators Association's annual symposium, which will take place from 13th to 15th March.

The weekend will begin with a welcome reception on Friday afternoon, continue with a full day of educational sessions on Saturday and conclude with a chance to sit the ATA accreditation examination on Sunday. The actual symposium will have three tracks: one for translators, one for interpreters and one focusing on translation memory technologies. These sessions will be filled with information for beginners and seasoned professionals alike and the day will be rounded off with a practical workshop. Personally, I am especially looking forward to a session on ergonomics for the translator.

There will also be plenty of opportunity to network with fellow professionals during the day and we will also round off the symposium with a post-conference dinner on Saturday evening with the chance to sample some famous Kansas City barbecue.

For more information and registration details, visit the symposium website. Early-bird conference registration runs until 27 February and is priced at $75 for MICATA members, $90 for non-members (this price includes one year of MICATA membership) and $35 for students with ID.