Spanish-Language Word of the Day

There's nothing quite like learning something new -- and as translators and interpreters, we do need to learn new things, specifically new words, on a regular basis to expand our vocabulary. We've long been addicted to "La palabra del día" (word of the day), and we know many fellow Spanish translators who also love this daily dose of wisdom.

It's a free e-mail sent by La Página del Idioma Español. The site was founded by Uruguayan journalist and Spanish-language expert Ricardo Soca. The e-mail presents one highly useful word a day and gives you a lot of interesting historical and etymological background on the term. It's a quick, fascinating read, and it makes us feel a bit smarter every day.

To sign up for free, please visit the Spanish-language link of La palabra del día.

ATA Boston 2011: Video Highlights

For those of you who did not make it to the ATA conference in Boston and for those of you who would like to relive the memories: enjoy this video, produced by the ATA!

See you in San Diego next year?

Interpreting Marketplace Study Available for Free

Many of our readers might be familiar with the Common Sense Advisory, the only research firm that studies the translation, interpreting and localization market. Every year, they produce a myriad of in-depth reports and studies about our industry. Their clients are language service providers and companies of all sizes around the world -- and naturally, not freelancers who do not have the need for formal marketing research. However, the data is highly interesting, but also a tad on the expensive side for individual translators and interpreters. That's why we were very excited to hear that Common Sense Advisory had teamed up with InterpretAmerica, a national forum for the interpreting profession run by Katharine Allen and Barry Slaughter Olsen, and had been commissioned to do the first-ever study on interpreting in the North American market. The entire 88-page report is available for free on the InterpretAmerica website. 


Here are some of the main findings as detailed by Nataly Kelly, chief research officer at Common Sense Advisory (CSA), on the CSA blog:

• Most interpreters specialize in multiple areas. The majority of interpreters reported working in diverse settings and across geographic boundaries, even though associations are divided on the basis of industry sector as well as countries, regions, and states or provinces.
• By and large, interpreters are translators. The vast majority of interpreters also do written translation work. Nearly eight out of 10 interpreters reported that they also work as translators. This does not mean that the reverse is true (that most translators are interpreters).
• Interpreters are getting older. The data reveals a clear "graying of the profession," as the majority of interpreters are now getting on in age, while smaller numbers of new recruits are entering the field.

You can download the entire study, titled "The Interpreting Marketplace: A Study of Interpreting in North America" by Nataly Kelly, Robert G. Stewart, and Vijayalaxmi Hegde here. Please remember that the Common Sense Advisory holds the copyright to the report. When citing the data, please be sure to attribute it to the source. Happy reading!

Interpreters: Life/Death

We've really enjoyed sharing this public service announcement video by TAHIT (Texas Association of Healthcare Interpreters and Translators), and many of you might have already seen it. If not, you are in for a very powerful message. Our new favorite newsletter for interpreters, Interprenaut, featured this video in last month's newsletter. Have a look at a situation when interpreters can make the difference between life and death. This is a great video to underline the vital importance of interpreters, especially in the healthcare sector.

Tote Bags for Translators and Interpreters

Our Twin Translations totes.

A lot of great things happened to Judy during last week's American Translators Association (which she attended sans twin), but one of her favorite moments was receiving a surprise gift from fellow translator Tom Ellett. Tom, who lives in Ontario, Canada, is always full of great ideas. You might remember that he was the one who recommended graphic designer Sandra Busta to us. We actually ended up having dinner with her in Santiago de Chile in April earlier this year, but we digress.

Tom's tote and laptop bag.

We could not believe that Tom gave us these gorgeous tote bags that his wife, artist Alison Ruth, had designed and made for us. Judy got a little teary-eyed when she received this fantastic gift. We are very grateful for this thoughtful present and will proudly carry our eco-friendly totes around town and across the world.

Now, we are not getting paid to say this, but wouldn't these make a great gift for a fellow translator, interpreter or small business owner in your life? You can order them on Alison's website, where she also offers a great variety of other useful, unique, handmade and very pretty gifts. Plus, it's nice to support another small business, isn't it? Alison is a very talented artist, and turns out she's been working with a needle and a thread for more than 30 years. We are very impressed, as we couldn't even knit a scarf in school. Thanks again, Alison and Tom!

Upcoming Workshop in Albuquerque: November 12

For those of you in the American Southwest who did not have the chance to attend last week's fantastic American Translators Association 52nd Annual Conference in Boston, there are many wonderful seminars in your neck of the woods that don't include a trip across the country. We wanted to let you know about the Entrepreneurial Linguist workshop that Judy will be giving in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the New Mexico Translators and Interpreters Association on November 12. Please see below for more info. Hope to see you there!



The New Mexico Translators and Interpreters Association is proud to announce a special session of Judy Jenner's popular and acclaimed Entrepreneurial Linguist seminar, Saturday, November 12, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Who: Judy Jenner
What: The Entrepreneurial Linguist: The Business-School Approach to Freelance Translation and Interpreting
When: Saturday, November 12, 2011 from 12:00-3:30 pm (bring a brown-bag lunch if you like; light refreshments provided during breaks)
Where: Albuquerque Public Schools City Center Building, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109
How: Email nmtia.mail@gmail.com to register, and send a check for $15 (NMTIA members) or $40 (non-members) to: NMTIA, PO Box 36263, Albuquerque, NM 87176
More details: The seminar's website can be found here: http://www.entrepreneuriallinguist.com/

ATA Conference in Boston: Where to Find Judy

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since the two of us met up in Denver to attend the 51st Annual ATA Conference in 2010. Unfortunately, this year there won't be a twin reunion at the conference. Dagy has other commitments in Europe, and will be in the U.S. for a full month starting in early December. 


As our dear readers might know, Judy is all about meeting up with friends old and new. Here's where to find Judy at the 52nd Annual American Translators Association Conference:
1) Her association, the Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association, will have a small display table with information about the association. Look for the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. Judy will be at the table quite a bit.
2) You might like to attend one of Judy's three presentations. Here they are: The Entrepreneurial Linguist: Lessons from Business School, Smart Business for Interpreters and Translators (panel) and Myths and Truth: Preparing for the State Court Interpreter Certification Exam 
3) In the early evenings, try the bar. Judy can be found hanging out with the guy in the cowboy hat, ATA board member Ted Wozniak.
4) Contact her via private message at Twitter (@language_news) or shoot her an e-mail if you'd like to meet up!
5) Judy will join fellow authors Corinne McKay and Chris Durban at a book signing on Friday, October 28, at 5 p.m. at the InTrans Book Services booth inside the exhibit hall. No need to buy a book -- you can just stop by and say hello!


See you in Boston?

Google Adwords: Another $100 Up For Grabs

We've been receiving a lot of these free Google Adwords coupons lately, and we are happy to give them away. There's no catch at all. The only thing is that whoever get it has to be a new user of Google Adwords -- which we are not.

So: we are giving away a $100 certificate for Google Adwords. As usual, you have to answer a question. This one is a bit trickier. We will give the certificate to whomever answer the question correctly (if there are several folks, we will draw names). The certificate must be used by November 30, and we will e-mail the access data to the winner.

Which language is Dagy currently studying? Hint: it's not a Romance language. Good luck!

Sounds of Nature

The "light thunderstorm" theme.

As always, our web guru is responsible for one of our newest obsessions: Ambient Mixer. It's a free website that lets you listen to some very relaxing sound recordings of things like rain, beach, etc. We are particularly fond of the scuba diving recording (even though it's a bit spooky), grassland and rain, rain, rain. There are also some oddball recordings to be found, including a few for Halloween and things like "restaurant in the evening" that can be used for videos and movies -- free thanks to the Creative Commons License.

Listening to the recordings (they are actually mixes of audio files) online is entirely free. However, there is a small fee to download the recordings. Get started here. If you don't find something you like, you can create your own with the handy mixer. Watch this video to get more details. 

Enciphering Web-Based E-Mail

This nifty tip comes from our resident web guru, who's great at finding free new tools that make our lives easier -- and safer. It's an online encryption method that works with web-based e-mail accounts (and Outlook, too). It's also an excellent tool for sending important information via Facebook. There's nothing to download and it's completely free. Here's how it works:

1) You copy and paste the text you want to encrypt on the website https://encipher.it/

2) You create an encryption password

3) You send the message, and in order to decrypt it, the recipient has to enter the same password 

We just tested it using Judy's Gmail account and it worked like a charm.  Update on Outlook (we'd previously said this program didn't work with Outlook): we've been corrected by our web guru and we feel slightly silly. Since this software is cut/paste, it also works with Outlook. Great news! 
Here is some technical information from the creators for your peace of mind:

We use Advanced Encryption Standard to protect your data. All encoding/decoding is performed locally in your browser.