The Savvy Newcomer aims to serve newcomers to the translation and interpreting professions by publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed content on a weekly basis. We strive to provide you with the answers to the many questions you face as a new or aspiring translator or interpreter.
What people are looking for in a career is undergoing a massive shift in our culture. Younger professionals tend to prioritize mental health and often want the ability to arrange their schedule to make time for life commitments outside of their professional endeavors—such as pursuing other jobs or embracing family responsibilities. In fact, according to Upwork, “Gen Z is abandoning conventional 9-to-5 corporate jobs for more diverse, flexible careers in freelancing.” Similarly, Kate Palmer, an employment services director at Peninsula UK, states that “Generation Z are known to place more importance on flexibility, work-life balance, and personal well-being, and, therefore,…
Read MoreAnalyzing the Message: Eugene Nida on Language and Culture
By Helen and Cynthia Eby Both translators and interpreters take a message across from one language and culture to another. They must communicate the message accurately, in order to produce the same effect in the target language as in the source language. But how can we know if a translation is good? According to the ILR Skill Level Description for…
Read MoreNetworking at a Conference: Chris Durban on and off stage
By Cynthia Eby & Bianca Dasso This April, I attended the VI Congreso Latinoamericano de Traducción e Interpretación: El traductor después del mañana (6th Latin American Translation and Interpreting Congress: Translator after tomorrow) in Buenos Aires. I was there watching and learning as I often have this year in my job as an administrative assistant for my mom, Helen Eby,…
Read More6-Step Strategy to Translators Visibility
By Carlos Djomo (@carlosdjomo) Reblogged from the Adventures in Technical Translation blog with permission from the author (incl. the image) Many budding translators usually struggle to get into the professional world. They always admit that the transition from school to the field is far from being easy, although they believe they may have mastered the art of translation. Maybe it is…
Read MoreBook Review: The Money Book
By Jamie Hartz The Money Book by Joseph D’Agnese and Denise Kiernan had been on my reading list since I received it as a gift last year, and I’m excited to share with you what I learned—and what I will do differently—as a result of reading it. The book is not geared specifically towards freelance linguists or translators (I am…
Read MoreTranslation and localization in a nutshell
By Marta Chereshnovska (@Martav88) Reblogged from the Translation and l10n for dummies blog with permission from the author (incl. the image) A lot of said about translation and localization but let me put in my two cents and try to explain the most common terms in simple words. So first goes the most general one – translation. Translation is a process of conveying…
Read MoreHow to Have a Super First Year in the ATA: Small Resources that Add Up to Big Benefits
Welcome to the third article in the series How to Have a Super First Year in the ATA. This time, I’ll be talking about all the small resources offered by the ATA that add up to big benefits towards the end of your first year. List Yourself in the ATA Directory Make yourself findable! Direct clients and agencies alike use…
Read MoreLiving the Dream? How Freelance Translators Can Become Digital Nomads
Picture yourself newly-arrived on some tropical beach somewhere, or perhaps in a café in the middle of an exciting, cosmopolitan city. Laptop open in front of you, you’re adding the finishing touches to your latest translation project. As you close the file and click ‘Send’, you set off to explore this latest destination – sparing a thought, of course, for…
Read MoreSeven Super Skills: Progressing in Translation
By Joseph Lambert (@jaltranslation) Reblogged from the JALTranslation blog with permission from the author (incl. the images) Today’s post sees us move from the power of translation to the process of translation and, more specifically, to a look at the demands of this process. There are a number of vital skills required to produce high quality translations and here I put…
Read MoreBook review: The Business Guide for Translators
By David Friedman It is widely recognized that there are several skills you need to be successful in translation. The fundamental skills include excellent source language comprehension, superb target language writing skills, and subject matter expertise. However, business skills are also essential, especially in today’s translation market where the majority of translators are self-employed freelancers. While reading, writing, and translation…
Read MoreHow to Have a Super First Year in the ATA: The School Outreach Program
Welcome to the second article in the series How to Have a Super First Year in the ATA. This time, I’ll be talking about my winning experience in the School Outreach Contest. As a new ATA member in 2015, I received my first edition of The Chronicle and was intrigued by the article about Jenny Stillo, the winner of the…
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