Health care interpretation has traditionally been one of the interpretation fields with the least amount of standards -- to the dismay of both health care professionals and interpreters. After many years with no national certification in the field, 2010 brings us not one, but two nationwide certifications. While we certainly think it would be better to have only one certification -- it would present a more unified front and be less confusing for the public -- in general, certification is good. Judy hasn't yet decided which organization she will support, but for now, we wanted to let readers know about the discounted pilot certification being offered by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters. The other certifying body is the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters. Both organizations have done a tremendous amount of work, supported mostly by hard working professionals who have volunteered their time to make certification a reality.
Dutch Working on New Language
Since it's Friday, we clearly love languages, and we have become huge Netherlands fans since our trip to Amsterdam and Utrecht last month, we wanted to share this funny tidbit of information. We just heard this on NPR's Morning Edition, and it's a 28-second audio clip. Basically, it's about researchers developing a language that will help us communicate with the robots in our lives. Enjoy!
Summer Book Discount
Lulu, the online publisher that recently published our "The Entrepreneurial Linguist: The Business-School Approach to Freelance Translation" book, just sent us a 10% discount for book purchases through July 31. It doesn't do us any good, as we have plenty of copies, so we figured we'd pass it on to those who might be interested. We don't know about you, but we love discounts! Simply enter "BEACHREAD" at checkout. We are not sure our book on the translation business qualifies as a beach read, but hopefully our readers will enjoy the discount! You can order the book here.
Google Docs Features OCR Reader
Good news for those of us who frequently have to struggle with converting locked PDFs into editable documents. While we really like ABBYY FineReader, at $399, it is an expensive program (try the free 15-day trial). Our friends at Google have integrated similar functionalities into their powerful and popular Google Docs, which supports several languages, including English, Spanish, German, and French. We haven't tested that functionality yet, but with all things Google, you can expect it to be quite solid. Best of all: it's free. Read all about it on the Google Apps blog. Yet another solution: charge a PDF conversion surcharge. Your clients will understand that your expertise is not primarily in the document conversion area, and that having a professional linguist spend time on converting documents is neither the best use of the linguist's time nor the best use of the client's money. You would be surprised how quickly an editable document is found at your client's office once they realize they can save money by looking for it! Truly a win-win situation, isn't it?
Nigerian Scam Database
Ted Wozniak, our friend and colleague who runs the fantastic Payment Practices list (essential for every freelancer, and at $20/a year, it's a bargain) has graciously put together a free database where freelance translators and interpreters can report so-called Nigerian check scams.
The following information comes from Ted:
"Nigerian check" and similar scams have long been a problem for the unwary.
In recent years, the scam has evolved to target interpreters and translators
specifically.
To help prevent freelancers from falling prey to these scams, Payment
Practices has established a public database where you can report names and
other contact data when you receive an offer you believe to be a scam
targeted specifically at translators or interpreters. (Please report only suspected scams specifically targeting translators or interpreters -
reporting every suspicious email your receive would quickly overwhelm the
database.)
This database is open to the public and is NOT restricted to subscribers of
Payment Practices. You can access the database here.
ATA Certification Exam in Las Vegas, NV
The Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association (NITA), where Judy serves as Vice President, recently announced that it has been approved to host an American Translators Association (ATA) certification exam. This is the first time an ATA exam has been held in Nevada, and it's a great opportunity for linguists on the West Coast to take the exam close to home. While NITA will be physically hosting and proctoring the exam, all registrations and questions will be handled by the ATA. NITA has put together a thorough information page for those interested in the exam, which will be held on Friday, September 10.
Translator Position at U.S. State Department
The Office of Language Services, located in Washington, D.C., is looking for a full-time Supervisory Translator. We just received this announcement through a mailing list and wanted to pass it on to colleagues in the nation's capital who are looking for an in-house position. This job is open to US citizens, and the pay is excellent. For more information about this position, please visit the USA Jobs website (we have no affiliation with the hiring agency). The position closes on July 28, and just opened a few days ago, so there is plenty of time to get your application ready.
Hello Translator!
Today's we-can't-believe-this-is-really-true post comes courtesy of a friend and colleague, who received the e-mail with the image that you can see above. We will let you see and judge for yourself. We have included a large image so you can read some of the hilarious text (click on it to enlarge it). The e-mail came from jair (virtualbusiness25@yahoo.com). And yes, we are not making this up (although we'd very much like this not to be true) -- this is an actual e-mail that a fellow professional translator received. The image is priceless!
Scam Alert
Although of course you technically don't know if a translation or interpretation offer is a scam until you have been scammed, this one seems to be pretty obvious. We will go out on a limb here saying it's a scam, so please be careful. We are very concerened about the increase in fraudulent inquiries that our colleagues have been receiving. We also receive quite a few, and wanted to share this one with you. It's come from several names and e-mail addresses: Auto-Check Ltd Special Recruitment Agency (n31@gmx.co.uk) and Charlene Chuang (chuangcharlene@yahoo.com). The text is as follows:
Hello,
I will like to use this medium to introduce our agency to you, we are into special recruitment for our clients that require special and personal services.
We read through your profile and decided to enquire from you, if you will be able to do the service for our client whom will be needing your service in the united states for interpreting service comes july 25th 2010.
I will like you to send me all your resume so that we can do our credit check to the below ellen.klein@live.com, and know if you will be the right person for the client so that we can proceed.
Also I will like to know your number of hours you do embark on a job and your hourly charges and also if you can travel within the states in the united states as well
Thanking you in anticipation.
Cheers
Mrs Ellen Klein
Head,Recruit Dept
e.mail:ellen.klein@live.com
Auto-Check Ltd
Special Recruitment Agency
345 South Deeside Road,
Blairs,Aberdeen,
AB12 5YP
447565410064
The Facebook Security Debate
We are both big social media enthusiasts, and the marketing opportunities for small businesses are simply incredible. Web 2.0 has changed the way we market ourselves and reach new customers -- all mostly for free (well, there's the cost of our time). While the pros outweigh the cons, security is a huge issue, especially with Facebook, which has been getting a lot of well-deserved negative coverage as of late. The topic is complex and concerning, and Facebook is certainly guilty of setting its default security setting to much less privacy than one would like. Sure, the user can change the settings at any time, but we agree with many Web 2.0 experts that the default settings should be more private than public. The power of Facebook, which is about the hit the 500-million user mark, is undeniable, but the company also has a tremendous responsibility. They are making positive changes, but there's still a lot to be done. We get asked about security during our Web 2.0 workshops quite a bit, and it's something ever user needs to think about. Our recommendations include checking your privacy settings on a regular basis (as they can be changed with system upgrades without your knowledge) and to not post anything that you'd rather not see on the cover of next morning's newspaper.We recently read a great article on Facebook's security debate in the European issue of Time. We highly recommend you read Dan Fletcher's well-researched article to get a better look at this issue.
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