Late last week, we woke up to an e-mail from a direct client who is the only person in more than a year who had not paid us for our services. The invoice was issued in February, and after several progressively more direct reminders, both via e-mail and voicemail, we were quite sure we would not be able to collect on this small sum. It was quite frustrating, especially because every time we open our Translation Office 3000 software, where we log every project and invoice, it would stare at us to remind us that we had...
Free Translation Price Calculator
This free translation price calculator, which you can easily install on igoogle, comes courtesy of our IT superhero and guardian angel, Thomas Gruber. We use Translation Office 3000 for our professional quotes, but sometimes we just want to get a quick rate without actually logging a not-yet-approved project. Thomas was tired of seeing us pull out our very uncool handheld calculators; so he programmed a tool for us. We are happy to share it with all our colleagues -- simply enter your rate, the lines/words, etc., and click on...
Professional Development in your Pajamas
The American Translators Association recently announced a way to make getting professional development points even easier: finally, webinars are here. This is especially great for translators who live in remote areas or who simply want to get professional development at a very reasonable price without having to leave the comfort of their homes. This fall's line-up includes well-known Corinne McKay, author of "How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator" and a fantastic free session on October 5. Presented by ATA director Naomi...
Deposition of the Week
Now that Judy is working very hard on her Nevada court interpreter certification, she's spending a lot of time in court and practicing simultaneous interpretation with the help of official test preparation kits and also just good old YouTube videos. We just found this hilarious video of a deposition by the president of a company accused of fraud who answers most questions with "I don't know." It is quite stunning how she can keep her composure and claim to have no knowledge of -- well, pretty much anything. Her inability...
Dictionary Blog
If you are a US-based linguist, then Freek Lankhof and his boutique business, InTrans Book Service, will hardly be unknown to you. Freek is a regular at translation events large and small, and his small business carries a fantastic selection of mainly German and Spanish translation resources. We have ordered from him for years, and it's always a pleasure to support fellow entrepreneurs rather than bigger websites. Freek is also a linguist in his own right, and he's offered us great advice throughout the years. We were recently...
The Great Typo Hunt
Let us start out by saying that we are not serious collectors of anything, but we do collect two things: sand and typos (the latter never get dusty). Let us elaborate: instead of buying random tchotchkes during beach vacations, we simply bring an empty water bottle or bag, scoop up some sand, and then display it in a nice glass on shelves in our homes. Our parents started this tradition more than 30 years ago with some...
On the Road
This past summer was filled with unforgettable adventures and experiences as we hit the road in Europe to share and exchange knowledge with colleagues in four countries, via two different workshops in two languages (English and German). As wonderful as it was, by the time the last workshop rolled around, we were ready to prop up our feet and to stop living out of a suitcase, and Dagy was tired of carrying the laptop...
Customer Service: The Paper Bag Lesson
A few weeks, our IT superhero and guardian angle, Tom Gruber, did something a bit out of character: he went shopping, and we came along (we are all very much not into shopping). Tom wanted to hit "his" Tommy Hilfiger outlet store in Vegas, where we were all spending part of the summer together. Here's what we observed at the cash register when a tourist family was trying to pay. We don't know where the family was from (Italy, perhaps), but they clearly weren't native speakers and struggled a bit through the conversation....
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