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 plural. We know it's not a matter of grammar: everyone knows the difference between singular and plural. However, by reading through the website, it is pretty clear that there's only one person who works there. The question then remains: why do solo providers have "About us" pages and talk about "our services" and "we provide"? Do office pets count as employees? We think that deep down, solo providers oftentimes think that they are not good enough because they run a micro operation, but nothing could be further from the truth, in our humble opinion.

First of all, we think all you solo providers should be incredibly proud of running a one-woman/man show. Most people will never be as brave as you are and decide to go into business for yourselves, yet many economies, including the weak American economy, depend on small businesses (says the American government). So: give yourself a pat on the back -- running your own show as a micro business  is great! Now:  there's no need to make yourself sound like a bigger company than you are. There's nothing wrong with being a one-person company; in fact, it's fantastic. We do think it is misleading and well, untruthful, to speak of yourself in the plural when there's only one of you. We checked with our pro bono laywer, and off the top of his head (disclaimer: he was mowing the lawn when we asked), he doesn't think that misrepresentation is strictly illegal, unless you claim to have a certain number of employees or claim to be able to provide specific services that turns out you cannot. So it's not illegal, but is it ethical? That's a personal decision, but we'd say it's probably not. There's no reason to start your business relationship with every single one of your potential customers by telling a white lie. There's only one of you, and that's a good thing (no co-workers, yay). We think transparency is a great thing. Now please go and update the "About us" section and make it "About me." By the way: since we are twins, we do have an "About us" section on our website, as we are two people. Unfortunately, growing up, many people thought we were one person, resulting in one birthday present on our joint birthday. We tried in vain to convince them that "twins" means two people. But that's a topic for another blog post. 

Readers: what do you think? 

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. Quite the contrary: if the book isn't any good, we'll gladly tell you. That said, this book is truly outstanding. Read Judy's review below.

What do the Stockholm Syndrome, the poverty cult and office clutter have in common? They all make appearances in The Prosperous Translator, a book edited and compiled by French-to-English financial translator and industry superstar Chris Durban. The book is entirely composed of columns in a question/answer format, so don't expect an A-to-Z guide to translation, as Chris correctly points out in her introduction. That's what the recently published second edition of Corinne McKay's highly popular book, How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator, which we will review later this month, is for. 

The columns might sound familiar to careful readers of the online Translation Journal, where the Fire Ant & Worker Bee column ran from 1998 through 2010. Chris and her co-author Eugene Seidel dispensed excellent no-nonsense advice for linguists of all levels. In 2010, Chris decided to create this book, which has, not surprisingly, been very well received.

To call Chris the Ann Landers of the T&I is probably not doing her justice (she's a better writer than Ann Landers). She's funny, witty, spot-on and she dispenses the tough love that many of us truly need. The book is well-organized into overarching chapters, each focusing on essential parts of the business such as pricing and value (my favorite chapter), ethics, marketing and finding clients, getting started, payment issues specializing, etc. I recently heard from Chris that she hired a professional indexer to help her perfect the index -- and it shows.

There's been much speculation about whether the questions asked of Fire Ant & Worker Bee are actual questions from actual translators. Chris has insisted that they are, and I agree: you can't make this stuff up. As president of my local association of translators and interpreters, I am on the receiving end of a myriad of good, bad and outright baffling questions about our industry. Chris answers them all in her trademark honest and informative style. 

I could not agree more with Chris on her main points (all of her points, as a matter of fact). The recurring themes include a quest to defeat linguists' so-called poverty cult.  Ready for some tough love? It goes more or less like this: no one is forcing you to accept low rates. If you accept them, you are partially responsible, so stop whining and look for more profitable customers. Too tough for you? Well, she's right. The recurring theme is that translators write in saying that the barriers to entry are too low (true), there is a lot of competition (true), that they don't get paid what they are worth (whose fault is that?) and that there is no market for translators at the higher end of the market (Chris and I beg to differ). 

This is an empowering book that will drive home some of the most important points in our business, including the one that translators have to be gifted writers in their target languages. I think that's a crucial point that perhaps hasn't been emphasized as much in other books, and it's essential: if you are not a strong writer, this is not the right business for you. Chris proves that she's an eloquent, funny, witty and straight-forward writer, and emphasizes time and time again how essential it is to hone your writing skills. Chris is very generous with her advice and provides plenty of resources and advice on how to find the help you need, even though she gets some pretty silly questions from readers.

I am incredibly relieved that this book exists and have been sending many of the "I need answers about the industry" e-mails to her website in the hopes that this book will clear up many of the questions. It's ideal reading to keep on your nightstand as a quick reference and as an empowerment tool. No one said running a translation business was easy, and it's not. Those readers who are hoping for a highly lucrative business that involves little work are better off looking for the latest online sales strategy. A caveat: while many of the lessons discussed in this book also apply to interpreters, this book focuses mainly on translators -- as the title implies. 

The book's main point is beautifully illustrated by the very fact that the book exists. Not surprisingly, Chris is on the very high end of the translation market herself. She charges adequate rates for her professional services and doesn't have to work around the clock to pay her bills. Otherwise, how would she have time to write this book? She does emphasize that high rates are always earned, and one of my favorite quotes in her book is that "good clients do not buy translations from anonymous providers over the internet" (page 161). Even in the age of the internet, proximity to your clients is paramount; so find a way to reach your customers in person. 

The verdict: this book should be required reading for both beginning and seasoned translators around the globe. Especially for those starting out, $25 is a steal considering how much time and research this book will save you. Just like many books in our industry, this book is self-published, so please support Lulu.com by purchasing it on their website. Happy reading!

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, courtesy of the very talented Nataly Kelly, also known for being the chief research officer at the Common Sense Advisory. We've long lamented that there aren't enough newsletters and blogs dedicated specifically to interpreters -- well, the wait is over!

It's completely free to sign up at the The Interpreter's Launch Pad website (we love the graphics, by the way). There's no catch, and don't worry: you won't get any unsolicited e-mail. You will, however, get a free digital book just for signing up. It's Nataly's fantastic book "Telephone Interpreting: A Comprehensive Guide to the Profession." Enjoy the ride!

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 this exam. To register for the exam (there are a number of pre-requisites), please visit the ATA's certification page. To learn more about the exam in Reno, please visit the NITA site. 

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 that the survey lists both interpreter and translator under the available categories of freelance professions.


Freelancers who choose to participate in the survey will get a free report of the survey findings. We think the survey is a great idea, so if you have a few minutes, head over to the Survey Monkey link and get started. 


Here is Ed's e-mail to his fellow freelancers:




Fellow freelancer,
According to some estimates, one-third of the U.S. workforce is
self-employed, contingent or freelance. The percentage is even
higher in other countries.

Yet there's very little published information about who we are
... what we do ... how we land work ... what we earn ... and why
we do what we do. And politicians and the mainstream media are
absolutely clueless about our industry!

I'm on a mission to change that.

I've just commissioned a comprehensive study on the freelance
industry, which will be published in September.

And I need your help by participating in the survey that will
drive the results of this study. You can complete the survey
here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H22BTFB

This survey is completely anonymous and will take you 5 minutes
or less. As a "thank you" for taking the time to complete it,
I'll send you a free copy of the detailed industry report assoon as it's ready.The survey closes on August 9, 2011. 

Are We Missing Something?

Have you been receiving strange, unsolicited job applications, even if you are just a one-person business and are not looking to hire? We've received a large amount of these lately, and we are curious to hear whether our dear fellow linguists have also received these messages. We've been getting junk mail/spam by supposed translators who supposedly want to collaborate with us. These messages are all quite unprofessional, come from free e-mail addresses and are full of grammar and spelling mistakes. All these message do have a résumé attached, making them seem somewhat legitimate at first glance. However, common sense and a quick Google search tell us that the schools where the alleged linguists studied do not exist and that the positions these folks have allegedly held sound less than believable. 

So, sure, we hit the delete button. But the question remains: who are these people? What do they want from us? Scammers look for a way to make money, so perhaps these folks really think someone will hire them and they can do a Google translate job and then charge for a translation? Perhaps. In that case, though, they'd be better off contacting unsuspecting small businesses. Why would they e-mail professional "colleagues" who can see that these folks are impostors in 30 seconds? Very odd. If we were scammers, we wouldn't try to scam the folks who know the particular business model really well. It's analogous to a seller of fake purses contacting Gucci and trying to sell them fake Gucci purses. Or are we completely missing something here? (It's happened before.) Any thoughts, readers? 

For your Friday entertainment, here are excerpts from applications/résumés. Enjoy!

I am a super organized and responsible person, what you would call a perfectionist, always looking after the details and things to be perfectly executed and for yesterday. I love the follow up of every issue already on the way/began and have them done. I am very good at setting up meetings and a scheduled time-table. I am looking for a position, where I can work on full time basis, from home. I am a highly motivated woman, very energetic, organized, responsible and with a keen ability to multitask. I learn fast and like to learn new things. I love debate and discussion.  

I do translation in the following areas: Business Letters; Tenders; Biddings; Contracts & Agreements; Brochures; Handbooks; User´s Manuals; Training material; Technical areas; Catalogues; Software applications; Articles; General letters & texts.

  

My rates are flexible according to the turnaround time, specialization involved and also for large volume of short texts. I am also available to work after-hours at no extra charges.

A ♥ for Language Blogs: Thank You!

Last month, we encouraged fellow bloggers to share lists of their favorite blogs and asked them to title the blog post "A ♥ for Language Blogs." The idea was to discover new blogs to add to all our RSS feeds. On Twitter, this is called Follow Friday, but on the blogging side, we don't really have a similar tool. Hence our little initiative.We were overwhelmed by the response. Our techie guru made a graphic showing you who participated and how we are all connected (click on the image to enlarge it). We'd like to thank everyone who participated. We discovered a lot of fantastic new blogs; we have some reading to catch up on!

As promised, we've randomly chosen two winners who will receive a copy of our book. We tried to get Judy's dog, Luna, to point to a blog on a print-out of the image, but her paws are too big, so Judy rolled the dice (it's Vegas, baby!) and the dice landed on: Catherine Translates (Catherine Jan) and Linguist Blog (Alexandra Milcic Radovanovic). Congratulations, Catherine and Alexandra! We will be contacting you to get your mailing addresses. 

Certificate Program in Localization: University of Washington

 We recently reserved this information about a certificate program in localization at the University of Washington. It looks interesting, so if you have been thinking about obtaining formal localization training, read on! For any questions about the program, please contact the University of Washington. 

The University of Washington Professional & Continuing Education is offering a Certificate program in Localization which provides an overview of and practical experience with this rapidly growing field through a 3-course, 9-month program. The courses are offered in the evening and can be taken in the classroom as well as online. They provide a strong foundation in terms of concepts and tools, engineering practices, and project management. Students gain valuable practical experience, hear from guest speakers working in the industry, research and use current translation & localization tools, as well as delve into both the engineering and the project management side. The classroom section is a traditional offering while the online section uses AdobeConnect to allow online students to hear the instructor live, see the instructor’s presentation, and interact with the class via chat. Online sessions are also recorded.

General program areas include linguistics & translation, business norms & cultural issues, user-interface design, formatting, project workflow & roles and an overview of the technology & tools. In addition, the program includes guest speakers and a panel of practitioners some of whom graduated from the program to talk about their career and what is needed to get a job in the field. Specific consideration is given to topics such as alphabets & scripts, character encoding, text processing, graphical representation of text, spelling variants for different countries where the same language is spoken, cultural appropriateness, language translations, symbols, aesthetics, local content as well as customs considerations.

Past students have come from diverse backgrounds, including foreign language learners, translators, software testers, technical writers, linguistics, software developers, project managers, and localization engineers.

The program has an advisory board which includes UW faculty & staff, as well as industry representatives from Microsoft, Lionbridge, Adobe, Getty Images, Google, MultiLingual Magazine, Adaquest, and several others. Students who complete all three courses receive a Certificate from UW Professional & Continuing Education. From a career perspective we can also attest to the fact that students who enrolled in the program received both internships & jobs soon after completing the program. These positions included companies such as Microsoft, Real Networks, Amazon.com, SDL, Big Fish, Nintendo, Übermind, and Moravia.

Applications are now being accepted for the program starting October 5, 2011. Additional program details and course descriptions can be found here:

http://www.pce.uw.edu/prog.aspx?id=6040

Summer Book Discount: Entrepreneurial Linguist

We hope everyone is having a great summer! We've been spending time together in Vienna. We are working hard, but the year's hottest days sure are a distraction. We are tempted to head to the pool with a good book, but we have resisted (at least this week). Speaking of books -- we just received a 20% discount code on our book, The Entrepreneurial Linguist: The Business-School Approach to Freelance Translation and we wanted to pass it along to our wonderful readers. The book has been very-well received by readers and reviewers around the world and has sold some 1,500 copies since it was published last year.

There's no catch and you don't need to sign up for anything. Simply enter code BIG305 when you are ready to check-out. This code is only available on Lulu.com and not valid on Amazon. To purchase, please click here.

The Complaint Club

We recently hired a contractor for a professional service (not related to translation). This person happened to be an acquaintance of ours and we were familiar with his work -- let's just say he's a graphic designer (he's not). Last week, we received a phone call from him that made us decide that we wouldn't work with him again. Why? Ready for some tough love? Read on. 

He called during our workday to ask us to help him with some profession-specific problems that we cannot solve. Still, we took time out of our day to give him some pointers. They were difficult issues, but that's what we are paying him for. In addition, we think it's simply unprofessional to take the clients' time in situations like these. His main concerns were things that he should have foreseen before accepting the project. The conversation revealed that he simply wasn't ready to deal with some details related to the project, which didn't exactly make us feel warm and fuzzy. The bottom line: As the client, we don't want to hear about a contractor's business issues (unless his computer dies and our files are lost). That's what colleagues and friends are for. We've always strongly advocated having a "complaint club" and not complaining to your clients  -- unless it is a very specific question that only the client can answer, of course. Now that we were on the receiving end of the contractor's complaints, we feel even stronger about the need for a complaint club. Let us explain.

Choose two of three colleagues whom you like and feel very comfortable with. Friends are fine, too, but they should probably understand your business. Then, ask them if they'd like to be your complaint club. It's a small, exclusive club of people you can call when you need to vent, simply want to talk, or need solid advice on how to solve a business-related problem. We have a complaint club, too. In addition to the two of us, it has three honorary members, and those are the folks we call for advice and help. Naturally, we don't call our clients to vent or complain, but you'd be surprised how many people do (including this morning's contractor). Your clients don't care about whatever issues might arise during the translation process. They pay us to translate, interpret, copywrite and to solve their problems. Think about it: do you want your lawyer to call you to complain that she is unable to upload a large file to her system? Venting and asking for advice is important, healthy, and part of any business -- but choose your complaint club wisely. We think a big part of the professionalization of our profession is presenting ourselves as what we are: independent service providers who can tackle difficult issues. 

Who's in your complaint club? We'd love to hear about it!