Google Adwords: EUR 50 Up For Grabs

It's time for another raffle -- we love raffles! We recently received a coupon from Google Adwords, but it's only for new users of this nifty online ad system, so we are not eligible to use it. Thus, we figured we'd raffle it off among our loyal readers. It's for EUR 50 and has to be used by the end of September.We will randomly choose a winner from the readers who answer the following question correctly: Dagmar has recently started learning a new language. Which one is it? Good lu...

Choosing Your Clients Wisely: Free Webinar on 8/31

We don't know about you, but we love free stuff, especially free professional development! Well, here's a free webinar for you: join Judy this Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 10 AM Mountain Time (convert it to your time zone) for a half-hour webinar on "Choosing your clients wisely: the benefits of being selective." The webinar is hosted by our friends and industry veterans Corinne McKay and Eve Bodeux through their Speaking of Translation webinar series.  There's no catch and no string attached. No one will try to sell you...

One Dog, Many Verbs and Nouns

Luna and one of her favorite toys, Foxy. Happy Friday, everyone! For those of you who haven't seen it, we wanted to share this amazing video of Chaser, the world's smartest dog (not surprisingly, she's a Border collie). Chaser knows more than 1,000 words and successfully responds to commands that involve both verbs and nouns, such as "paw lamb." After receiving that command, Chaser walks over to her toys and puts a...

Singular or Plural?

We've noticed a strange phenomenon lately. Perhaps you've heard of it. It goes like this: one-person companies that usually offer services have outstanding websites with lots of information about services provided, background, contact information, etc. It's fantastic that all these small businesses have a web presence. The strange thing is that we've realized that many of these solo providers -- whether they be graphic designers, accountants, freelance web developers, translators or interpreters -- refer to themselves in the...

Book Review: The Prosperous Translator

We've recently read several outstanding books about translation and interpreting, and it's time that we reviewed them. First up: Chris Durban's "The Prosperous Translator: Advice from Fire Ant & Worker Bee." Full disclosure: we received a free review copy of this book from Chris, who is a colleague and friend of Judy's. Of course, we receive quite a few books, and receiving a book doesn't guarantee a good review....

The Interpreter's Launch Pad: Excellent Resource

A few months ago, we discovered a fantastic new resource for interpreters. It's a monthly newsletter cleverly titled "The Interpreter's Launch Pad." What do interpreters and astronauts have in common? Read the newsletter and you will find out.  Interprenaut, a smart female interpreter/astronaut (get it?), will be your friendly guide on this exciting journey. This newsletter is jam-packed with jewels of witty writing,...

ATA Certification Exam in Reno: Register Now!

The Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association (NITA), of which Judy is currently president, is offering an ATA certification exam for translators (a variety of language combinations are available) on August 20 in Reno, Nevada. It's not too late to sign up, but the regular registration period ends this Friday, August 5, 2011. Right now the fee is $300; after Friday, it goes up to $345. The ATA (American Translators Association) handles the entire registration process, and NITA is merely providing a venue and a proctor for...

Changing the Perception of Freelancers

We subscribe to Ed Gandia's newsletter -- he's the founder of the International Freelancers Academy. It's free, contains a lot of valuable information and there appears to be no catch. We've learned some great things from Ed, and we recently received an invite to participate in a short survey that's meant to change the way freelancers are perceived (he's on a mission). It seemed intriguing, so we took the survey (which does actually only take the 5 minutes that it's supposed to). It contains 29 questions. We were happy to see...