Guest Post/Open Thread: Who's the Boss?

We haven't had a guest post in a while, so we are delighted to welcome the first guest blogger of 2012 - and it happens to be the president-elect of the American Translators Association, Caitilin Walsh. We are honored that she's agreed to write an article for us. Read on about the important topic of providing your own benefits as a freelance translator/interpreter. We would love to hear your thoughts about affordable...

Fluent in 11 Languages

All translators and interpreters are proud of their hard-earned foreign language skills, usually in one or two languages, but we've never heard of anyone who's fluent in 11 languages. Plus, this kid is only 20 years old. Granted, he doesn't translate or interpret from these languages, but we bet Alex Rawlings would be a fine addition to the community. Alex's story is truly remarkable, and there's no question that he's extraordinarily talented. We listened to Alex's video in the four languages that we speak between the...

Keep it Simple

Every profession comes with its own sets of rules, standards and industry-specific jargon, and translation and interpreting are no exception. We go to great lengths to avoid using high-level terminology that might or might not mean anything to the potential client. We feel that it's our job to explain the process to clients in as simple a language as we can. Put yourself in the customer's shoes: when you...

Webinar: Pricing Strategies for Translators and Interpreters

In 2010, the American Translators Association started offering webinars, and they've proven to be hugely successful. Judy is honored to present yet another webinar for the ATA. It's all about pricing strategies for both translators and interpreters around the world. For more details, please visit the ATA's webinar page. The one-hour webinar will be held on February 29, 2012 at 12 noon Eastern. The cost is $35 for ATA...

Language Access Position: Barton Memorial Hospital (South Lake Tahoe, CA)

We just received this job posting from a friend of ours -- it's a 3/5 position and you'd have a very nice boss (trust us). The job is at Barton Memorial Hospital in gorgeous South Lake Tahoe, CA. To apply, please start here and click on "employment search" and then select the "professional" option. The job title is Language Access Services Assistant. Read on for more information: LANGUAGE ACCESS SERVICES...

$100 in Google Adwords

We honestly don't know why Google keeps on sending us so many free certificates for $100 in Google AdWords for new users, but we will take them. As usual, we will raffle off the certificate to a colleague (freelancers only, please) who answers one question correctly. We will e-mail the access code to the winning person so he or she can get started with Google AdWords. The certificate expires March 31, 2012. Here's the...

Jobs: Review and Translation Coordinator at Kiva

Please read on for a translation job opening in San Francisco, which we received from our friends at Kiva.  Kiva is currently recruiting for a Review and Translation Coordinator to support our volunteer translation program. We are looking for a Native or near-native English speaker with fluency in French, Russian or Spanish. Knowledge of more than one Kiva language (French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish) is a plus. The ideal candidate would have 2+ years of professional translation experience and/or a certificate or degree...

Receiving Gifts: Input Needed

A few weeks ago, Judy did an escort interpreting assignment for one of her favorite clients, and we'd love to get our readers' and colleagues' opinion on a small, but important issue. Here's her story. Our charming clients, the owners of a company that imports building materials from China to Argentina, were in town to attend a large trade show in Vegas. They met with many of their suppliers, all of them Chinese,...

Temporary Translation Position (German and Dutch) in Seattle: Expedia

Through one of the ATA listservs, we heard about this six-week job with Expedia in Seattle. Read on for more information. German or Dutch Language Translators Needed Position: Support the Paid Search Online Marketing Channel at Expedia! We are looking for localization specialists for German and Dutch that could translate thousands of destination names, landmarks, airports, and train stations. The project impacts multi-million...

Jobs: Latino Online Media Job in Seattle

A good friend of ours, who works in online media in Seattle, just sent us this job posting. We don't have more information but what's listed below, but it sure does look like a fantastic opportunity. This is a full-time position in gorgeous Seattle, Washington. If you are interested, please e-mail your résumé and contact information to Greg and put "Latino Online Media Job in Seattle" in the subject line.  Here is the job posting: Are you a Spanish speaker with a passion for search? Are you on top of current events...