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As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries, many translators and interpreters are asking themselves: Is there still a place for me? The answer is a resounding yes, but it comes with an important caveat. The future of translation and interpretation belongs to those who can do what machines cannot, that is, bring cultural competence, empathy, and context to language. At least, thus far. Cultural competence has always been at the heart of effective communication. It enables professionals to interpret meaning beyond words, including humor, idioms, tone, and intention within specific cultural frameworks. While AI can process vast amounts of…
Universitat Pompeu Fabra: A Day in the Life
By Carmen Salomón Hernández I finished my high school degree, including the International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2011 and decided to study Translation and Interpreting (T&I) because I love languages and reading, and through Latin and Greek, I learned to love translation itself. The lessons consisted mostly of epics and poetry texts. These two subjects taught me to be patient and…
Do you know your ideal customer? Creating a customer avatar for your freelance translation business
By Tess Whitty Reblogged from Marketing Tips for Translators with permission from the author (including the image) The other week I interviewed Alessandra Martelli on creating a marketing personas or customer avatars, and I wanted to write a bit more about it here, since it is very important to know as much as possible about your ideal client. When you think about…
Go National or Stay Local?
by Giovanna Lester in collaboration with The Savvy Newcomer Team Full disclosure: I am one of the co-founders and currently the president of the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Florida (ATIF), an ATA Chapter. I am also a teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I am starting to see a pattern… Joining a professional organization is an investment in…
Social Media Strategies
By Catherine Christaki Reblogged from Carol’s Adventures in Translation with permission from the authors In order to get the most out of social media, you must develop an ever-expanding network. How do you do that? Who should you follow on Twitter and connect with on LinkedIn? The people I follow and connect with on a daily basis on Twitter and LinkedIn are…
How to Make the Most of Your Last Year at University? 7 Essential Steps for Translation Students
By Marta Stelmaszak My last year at university as a translation student was a blast. I was thrilled to see how the quality of my translations has improved over the years, my head was full of translation theory knowledge and I was excited to be thinking about developing my future career. But I was also a bit, just a bit anxious…
MIIS: A Day in the Life
By Erin Teske My first glimpse of what it would be like to be a student at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, formerly the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), came when I received the results of my Early Diagnostic Test (EDT), which is an essential part of the application process. The Spanish program coordinator suggested that I…
A tour of celebrations around the world through different time zones!
By The Savvy Newcomer Team and Friends The Savvy Newcomer is read in many countries, by translators and interpreters who work in many languages. As we consider Christmas and New Year around the world, we decided to explore some of those cultures by asking some of our translator and interpreter colleagues to take us on a selected world tour and…
University of Lund: A Day in the Life
By Marie Eriksson I came to Lund University for the first time as winter was just giving way into spring. My father drove me from one side of Sweden to the other in a shaky, noisy truck in a snowstorm, while I tried to sleep against the car window on an itchy old pillow. I arrived with no more than two…
Marketing to Direct Clients
Reblogged from the ATA Business Practices. Instead of working exclusively for agencies, many translators and interpreters are discovering that working for direct clients is a rewarding experience. However, the approaches that work for soliciting work projects from agencies are often not helpful when it comes to attracting direct clients. Dear Business Smarts: Business from some of my regular agency clients…
What to do when things slow down…
By Helen Eby As freelancers, we are thrilled when we get a lot of work! Then we go pretty crazy with the load, saying yes to every assignment that comes. Fortunately, there are down times. What do we do with them? Some colleagues get anxious about their cash flow. “I haven’t had a new assignment for a week! What am…