By Marion Rhodes
CTA President
Colorado translators and interpreters may find several familiar faces among the presenters at the 58th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association in October. Once again, the Colorado Interpreters & Translators Association will be heavily represented at the industry event, which draws thousands of language professionals from around the world.
Below is a list of our members who will be presenting this year, and what their sessions will be about. If you haven’t signed up for the event, held Oct. 25-28, make sure you do so before October 6, as registration prices increase after that.
CTA members will not only be sharing their expertise in educational sessions. This year, our very own Corinne McKay will take over the helm as ATA President during the association’s annual meeting on Friday, Oct. 27! Corinne, a French into English translator from Boulder, started her translation career in Colorado and was instrumental in shaping the Colorado Interpreters & Translators Association as it is today. A former CTA president, she continues to be actively involved in our local association.
In addition, CTA member Karen Tkaczyk, a Denver translator specializing in French into English technical translations, is running for the position as secretary during this year’s ATA elections. If you can’t attend this year’s convention, remember that you have the option to vote via proxy by visiting https://eballot4.votenet.com/AmericanTranslatorsAssociation/login.cfm before Oct. 23, 2017.
LIST OF PRESENTATIONS BY CTA MEMBERS AT ATA 58
Build a WordPress Website for Your Translation Business
Mery Molenaar
(Wednesday, 8:30 am – 12 pm)
This hands-on workshop will teach the ins and outs of building a beautiful website for your translation business using WordPress. Participants will learn step by step how to select a theme, build pages, set up a navigation menu, add images, and include really cool features using free plugins. The goal of the workshop is to have all participants leave with a basic, fully functioning website in place. It is required that participants bring their own laptops, have a domain name, and have WordPress already installed. Instructions on how to create a domain name and install WordPress will be provided in advance. This 3-hour workshop is part of Advanced Skills $ Training (AST) Day and is limited to 25 participants.
Preparing for the ATA Spanish -> English Certification Exam
Jane Maier (CTA) with Holly Mikkelson
(Wednesday, 1:00pm-4:30pm)
ATA-certified translators stand out in their profession. With a 20% pass rate, the ATA Certification Exam can be challenging even for those with experience. This workshop will prepare you for that challenge! Once registered, you will receive an ATA Practice Test ($80-$120 value) to translate and return by September 15. If received by the deadline, the sepakers will review your test so they may target the errors to analyze during this workshop. Errors used will remain anonymous.
Interpreting in Education: Out of the Shadows and into the Spotlight
Giovanna Carriero-Contreras
(Thursday, 11:15am-12:15pm)
Court certification has been in place for years, and we now have two certification options available for health care interpreters. It seems that the U.S. interpreting profession is finally gaining respect. However, there is at least one critical sector that is still neglected: education. An estimated 22% of school-aged children in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home. This complicates communication between families and educators, causing students to fall behind. Currently, the demand for interpreters in education exceeds the available trained pool. This sector deserves the same attention and passion we have dedicated to our legal and health care efforts. The speakers will propose strategies for making that happen.
Honoring Diversity: Working in Minority Languages
Steve Lank
(Thursday, 2:00pm-3:00pm)
Demand for language services for the U.S. market is growing rapidly, but we’re not fully equipped to handle it. We know the export market. For example, we don’t have a problem when asked to translate a manual for use in France. But what about an elementary school handbook that needs to be translated into Burmese, Nepali, and Amharic? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 350 languages are spoken in U.S. homes. How do we identify qualified resources in these languages when the usual credentials are not available? How can we ensure that we deliver quality work and serve these communities properly? This interactive session will present some strategies.
The Agency-Freelancer Dating Game Redux: From Courtship to Commitment
Steve Lank (CTA) with Robert Sette
(Friday, 2:00pm-3:00pm)
Building on their session at ATA57 in San Francisco, the speakers have conducted another survey of agencies and freelance translators to delve more deeply into the secret to establishing successful, mutually beneficial business relationships. Is one late payment a deal-breaker for freelancers? What about a delivery deadline that slips a bit? What’s the sweet spot where true partnership is achieved? Some of the results will align with expectations, but others may be surprising. The focus will be on business practices and professionalism as a way of building strong relationships that stand the test of time.
German>English Translation Slam
Matt Baird (CTA) with| Mary Burke, Ted Wozniak, Heike Holthaus & Michael Martin
(Friday, 2:00pm-3:00pm)
Join us for a session of competitive German>English translation, pitting two pairs of translators against each other in a light-hearted linguistic duel. Will it be a bloodless battle? Fun will be the name of the game as we explore what are sure to be varying styles and savvy solutions to interesting translation problems. Audience participation will be encouraged, so come armed with your proverbial red pen, but be prepared to applaud your clever (and courageous) colleagues!
Never a Dull Day? The Nitty Gritty of French>English Technical Translation
Karen Tkaczyk
(Saturday, 8:30am-9:30am)
After a few years of presenting non-languages specific sessions for technical translators at ATA, I decided to offer something specifically about my pair this year. So I’ll cover common problems – some that we find solutions for and others that also seem to remain tricky for many translators. Examples will come from my practice. Interaction and questions will be welcomed.
Maintaining Your Professional Language Skills
Eve Lindemuth Bodeux
(Saturday, 8:30am-9:30am)
Our language expertise is what makes us successful as translators and interpreters. Project work and promoting our businesses are important, but we must not neglect the linguistic expertise that we sell. As language professionals, our skills must be top notch. Attend this session for tips, ideas, and strategies on maintaining your working languages. Learn about innovative 21st-century approaches to language maintenance and find out how to use traditional approaches and game play to your benefit. Come away with new ideas, links, and references for linguistic success. All languages addressed.
Search (and Replace) on Steroids: How Regular Expressions Can Help Make Your CAT Tool Even More Useful
Riccardo Schiaffino
(Saturday, 11:15am-12:15pm)
Regular expressions have a reputation for being difficult, but once you learn to use them, they can really help you do things with your computer-aided translation tools and quality-assurance tools that would be impossible otherwise. This session will provide examples of useful regular expression techniques you can use with such software programs as SDL Trados Studio, memoQ, and Xbench. The speaker will suggest tools that make creating useful regular expressions easier.
Change of Venue: Language Professionals Working and Living Abroad
Chris Blakeslee, Eve Lindemuth Bodeux, David Russi, Tess Whitty &Karen Williams (all CTA members!)
(Saturday, 3:30pm-4:30pm)
This panel of translators will share information about their experiences living and working abroad during extended periods of time in their source/target language countries of France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Sweden, and how that refreshed their cultural, linguistic, and professional outlooks. The panelists will share strategies so you can also plan and benefit from this type of international adventure that will rock your world.
