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ATA’s 67th Annual Conference takes place October 28-31, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, and those four days will fly by. The attendees who get the most out of the conference are rarely the ones with the best luck; they’re the ones who did a little homework before boarding the plane. Here are nine things you can do ahead of time so you arrive ready to learn, connect, and enjoy yourself. 1. Order paper business cards now Yes, still. Paper cards remain the fastest way to close a conversation gracefully in a noisy hallway. Order them early enough so…
Stumbling on the Vocabulary of National Life (Part One)
by Joseph P. Mazza I envy those who take up foreign languages spoken in a single country. Sure, there may be regional varieties within that country and émigré communities too. Yet these happy colleagues have the institutions and lifeways of only one country to tackle. Japanese linguists will be the first to dispute how easy this really is! Having been…
Mea culpa. Meteduras de pata reales de traductores e intérpretes
This post was originally published on the En la luna de Babel blog. It is reposted with permission from the author. Leemos, nos documentamos, seguimos consejos y aconsejamos, pero siempre hay algo que se nos escapa. ¿Un error de tecleo? Incontables, a veces tengo los dedos de mantequilla y algunas palabras se me resisten. ¿Meteduras de pata al traducir? Pues…
How To Use Facebook To Promote Translator Services
I believe a freelance translator’s first and easiest step to creating online visibility is to set up a business page on Facebook. There are a number of reasons for this: Facebook is free; it gives you a huge opportunity to reach a lot of people; search engines index Facebook pages, therefore people can find your translation services through Google search…
Translation Commons: A Community for Language Professionals
Reblogged from The ATA Chronicle, with permission Translation Commons is a nonprofit, volunteer-based online community designed to facilitate collaboration among diverse sectors and stakeholders of the language industry and encourage transparency, trust, and free knowledge sharing. It was established with the idea that translated data and memories truly belong to the translators who create them and that they should be…
Mental Health in Freelance Translation: Imposter Syndrome
“Maybe just another run through, just to be safe.” I had already checked that .srt file around 16 times in the past couple of hours and it still didn’t feel like enough. It was the first subtitle I had ever made, following a subtitling workshop at an agency, a test that determined whether or not I would enter their base of…
My Personal Style Guide for the ATA Translation Exam into Spanish
This post was originally published on the Gaucha Translations blog. It is reposted with permission from the author. Based on the comments from a failed exam. I am writing this to help others not fail the same way! Include necessary clarifying information to reduce ambiguity. (register former inmates/registrar para votar a los que habían sido…) (spread the word to thousands……
Are you who you say you are? Being honest about your credentials and skills
You turn on your computer, take a sip of coffee and see a potential project come in. What are the chances, knowing nothing about the project, that you will accept it? If your answer is close to 100%, it might be time to re-think your strategy. You may be providing subpar service to your clients and hurting your potential future…
3 Myths About Who Should Edit Your Translation
Some translation projects involve a lone translator, while others allow the translator to choose an editor. My own experience comes from working for direct clients, where I almost always choose an editor to work closely on my translation with me, or we switch roles and I’m the one who edits my colleague’s translation. Even if you don’t work for direct…
Spider marketing – How to get clients to come to you
Reblogged from SJB Translations’ blog, with permission (incl. the image) How to get clients to come to you Adapted from my presentation at METM 16 entitled “Spinning your web” Last year at METM15 in Coimbra I was inspired by a presentation by a very experienced translator called Graham Cross, which I wrote about here. Graham was talking about churn, the marketing…
Translators vs. Translation Agencies: How Falling Rates Have Turned Once-Allies into Enemies (and What We Can Do to Fix it)
We’ve noticed something strange: though demand has risen for language services, it would appear that prices are falling. Whether due to advances in technology, economic issues, global supply, or simply more aggressive buyers, we find ourselves in an industry that’s never been more in demand and yet has never been more precarious. This understandably leaves many of us overworked, underpaid,…