Monday Humor: German-Language Video

Thanks to our colleagues from the German Language Division of the American Translators Association, who found this gem and recently posted it on the listserv. It's quite silly and a bit absurd, but it's also pretty hilarious, and makes a (funny, if slightly long-winded) point about German compound nouns. It's definitely intended for German speakers, but might be good entertainment even for those who don't speak the language. Enjoy!

NAJIT Conference: Call for Proposals

The 35th annual conference of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators will take place in Las Vegas (Judy's hometown) in May 2014. This relatively small (250 attendees or so) is a fantastic opportunity to learn from some of the best legal interpreters and translators in the country, and next year will mark Judy's third conference, and perhaps her third as a speaker if her proposal is accepted.

We've heard from many colleagues near and far that they are quite interested in coming to this conference now that it's in Vegas (it's hard not to get excited about Vegas, but we are biased), so we bet next year's event will be even better than usual. We are very happy to have colleagues come to one of our stomping grounds so we can show them around and show off our town! If you are thinking about attending, then perhaps you also might want to submit a proposal to be a presenter. It's a national conference, but it's not as intimating as presenting at the ATA conference, as this event is smaller and more intimate. It's a great opportunity to get in front of a national audience! Proposals must be submitted by December 1, 2013, and must follow the exact guidelines listed on the NAJIT website (on the right-hand side, choose the September 26 entry to download the Word document).

See you in Vegas, everyone?

Getting Dressed for Work

Most self-employed translators get to work from home and can wear whatever they want to work, which is fantastic. After years of working in-house (Judy), it's certainly nice not to have to get dolled up by 8 a.m., but the question of whether you should be completely dressed and looking professional before you work from home where no one sees you is a topic that comes up quite frequently on listservs. It's a question that Judy also gets from her students at UC San Diego-Extension every quarter, so we figured we'd address it here. The answer is: it depends. 

We don't always dress like this.

Some colleagues like to get up, take their shower, and get dressed in clothes that make them feel comfortable and professional, similar to what they would wear if they worked in a traditional office environment. Others put on comfy lounge pants, yoga outfits or pajamas. After all, the client can't see you, so it doesn't matter what you look like. However, we do think there is, for some of us, a sort of correlation between what you are wearing and how you feel. We do like to get dressed first thing in the morning, after having our tea and reading the paper, but we don't always wear a suit. We are also interpreters, so if we have an interpreting assignment say, mid-morning, then it makes sense to put on that suit at 8 a.m., translate for a few hours, and then head to court (or the conference, or whatever the assignment might be). If we have no client appointments nor interpreting assignments scheduled for that day, we usually put on some business casual outfit that could quickly be converted into more formal dress (by adding a black jacket, for instance) if we had to leave the house for an impromptu meeting or assignment. Other times, we like to head to a 2 p.m. yoga or kickboxing class, and those days, it makes sense to put on our workout gear. We are not known for working in our pajamas, although that does sound tempting. For some reason, we like to be a bit more dressy, even if it's at home. Our one secret weapon when it comes to dressing is that we always keep a black jacket on hand (Judy keeps one in her car). We think it's essential to have one good-looking black jacket that's been recently dry cleaned and has no missing buttons. There's nothing quite like putting on a black jacket -- it makes us feel instantly professional. We like to think of it as our business game face. It's hard not to feel like you are "on" when you are wearing a fitted suit, even if it's just the jacket.

What about you, dear colleagues? Do you get dressed for work most of the time? We'd love to hear your comments!

Recommended Reading: White House Interpreter

Last week at the fantastic 54th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, we were lucky enough to get an autographed copy of The White House Interpreter by legendary English->German diplomatic Harry Obst. In addition, we also had the chance to hear him give a very entertaining (and packed!) lecture. Mr. Obst is now in his 80s, and hearing him speak about his experiences interpreting at the highest levels of diplomatic relations for seven American presidents was a truly unique experience.

Our autographed copy. 

As soon as we got home to Vegas (before Dagy flew back to Austria), Judy started reading the book and devoured it. It's an easy, non-academic read about Mr. Obst's long career and his interaction with presidents, secretaries of state, annoying bureaucrats, mid-level diplomats, and everyone in between. In the early parts of the book, the author makes some excellent points about the lack of formal college education for interpreters, which has resulted in, well, the lack of well-trained interpreters in America. He's got a point, but he makes it so often and so passionately that it's clear he has a bone to pick with an academic institution somewhere, although he wisely does not name any names.

At his career level, it's obvious that the author doesn't have to hold back, and his opinions on everything from certain colleagues (not named) to certain presidents (clearly named) are quite clear. It's rather refreshing to read a book by someone who doesn't have to walk on eggshells when it comes to certain topics, and Mr. Obst not only provided a fascinating insight into an interpreting world into which most interpreters never have access, but he also pulled back the curtain on politics and negotiating at the highest levels. You guessed it: presidents can be as petty as the rest of us, but some are very gracious and respectful, while others are not. Mr. Obst extensively writes about the obstacles that interpreters face on the job, and most of us who work in other fields (court, medical, etc.) will certainly be able to relate. In person, Mr. Obst still has a hint of the charming German accent that reminds us that he risked his life to flee former East Germany to come to the United States, a country that he served well for many decades. He's an effortless and witty writer who really makes his anecdotes come alive. At times, we could almost feel those leather seats on Air Force One as he crossed the Atlantic for the 52nd time in 1979!

Mr. Obst spends some time explaining his craft, and we wish he'd spent more time on what he considers (rightfully so) the key component to top-notch consecutive interpreting: proper note-taking technique. It's much feared by simultaneous interpreters around the world, who'd rather have a root canal than do consecutive, but it's still the holy grail of interpreting and the key mode for diplomatic interpreting. Mr. Obst shares one page of his notes and the corresponding paragraph those notes were based on, but he could have developed that portion of the book much better. In fact, we would have enjoyed an entire chapter on this subject. We'd read many an academic book on note-taking, but we bet Mr. Obst can teach us (and everyone else) many, many things on this important subject.

We truly enjoyed this peek at the high-paced, exciting, and highly stressful world of diplomatic interpreting, and the book was a great read. However, we were somewhat taken aback by Obst's consistent use of the male pronoun when referring to interpreters (example: "the interpreters trains his memory..."). He does add a note about this delicate issue ("with apologies to the female interpreters"). However, considering the fact that the vast majority of interpreters are female, it would have made more sense to use the female pronoun. And while the use of he/she isn't perhaps the most visually appealing option, we think it's important to include women in language.

Finally, let us leave you with some memorable quotes from this fantastic book, which is available at InTrans Book Service.

"Good interpreting schools teach their students how to analyze well by using a multitude of available tools and clues, just as good law schools and engineering schools do. One of those tools is good general knowledge of many fields. Where better to acquire such knowledge than at a university where a wide range of different subjects is taught in one place?" (page 37)

"The translator's product is for the ages, the interpreter's for the moment." (page 35)

"...the vast majority of American interpreters are not trained professionals. As a result, the reader, in many American environments, is more likely to encounter an untrained interpreter rather than a trainer professional. Encountering an untrained interpreter in Finland, France of Germany is a rare occurrence."  (page 39)

Interpreting: Two Quick Memory Exercises

During last week's amazing 54th Annual American Translators Association Conference, several colleagues commented on the fact that we had good memory, as we tend to remember spouses' names, pets' names,

and anecdotes that colleagues told us the previous year. We do think that we have decent memory, as we are both working interpreters, but just like all interpreters, we constantly work on it. Please read on for two simple exercises that we've been doing for many years. They seem to work, so we will continue doing them.

• Movie previews. This is an exercise we've done since long before we became interpreters. It's very simple and consists of memorizing, in their correct sequence, any movie previews that are shown at the movie theater before the actual movie starts. In the US, that's usually a total of five previews, and remembering them in their correct sequence after the movie (120 minutes or so) is a lot harder than you think. And no, we don't cheat and write them down, but we do silently repeat the titles of the movies back to ourselves a few times during the movie.
• Reading and remembering. We are both voracious readers, but we read so quickly (to the tune of up to two books a week per person) that occasionally we don't pay too much attention to what we read and hence can't remember what we just read. In an effort to change that (nice side effect: memory training!), we started forcing ourselves every few pages to read a sentence that has a list of say, nouns (could be adjectives, too) and then continue reading for a few more sentences. After that, we stop and try to remember all the words in the list that we have just read. You can also try to remember a complete sentence if you prefer, but with fiction, that can be more difficult. For instance, a typical list could be: "She had been to New York, San Francisco, Zagreb, Crete, Oslo, Frankfurt, and Rome." Can you remember all these cities in the correct order after a minute or two? It's a bit of a challenge, but it's good for your brain and for your memory. 

What about you, dear fellow interpreters? Do you have any suggestions on improving your memory? We would love to hear about them!

ATA Conference: Where to Find Us

It's been one year, and now we are getting ready to jump on a plane and attend our very favorite conference: the 54th Annual Conference of the American Translators Association in San Antonio, Texas. We are very much looking forward to seeing all our lovely friends and colleagues, and it will be a pleasure to meet new friends, too! We wanted to share a brief overview of where we will be in case you'd like to stop by, say hello, and/or have a cup of coffee.

• Newbies and buddies. This year, the ATA created a fantastic new program for first-time conference attendees  The idea is to match newbies with buddies, and we are happy to participate as buddies, as we remember how intimidating it was to walk into our first-ever conference. There's a Buddies Welcome Newbies event on Wednesday, November 6th at 5:15 p.m., right before the opening reception. We will be there with bells on, looking for our newbie!
• Welcome reception. This is, without a doubt, our favorite event of the conference. It takes place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday and will feature a ballroom full of our friends and colleagues. We'd love to meet up, and we should be easy to find, as we believe that we just might be the only twins. Last year's opening reception in San Diego, right next to the ocean, was hard to beat, but we are sure this year will be fantastic as well. 
• Presentations. This year, we are giving two presentations. One will be a joint presentation for the German-language division of the ATA, and it's all about the variety of German that's spoken in Austria. We gave the first part of this presentation in San Diego last year, and we are doing the second part on Saturday, November 7, at 8:30 a.m. It's called Austracisms for Beginners. In addition, Judy is giving a presentation titled Assertive, Not Aggressive: Dealing with Conflict on Friday, November 8, at 11:30 a.m.
• Book signing. It's our great pleasure to do yet another book signing with our dear friend Freek Lankhof of InTrans BookService, who graciously carries our book. Freek is celebrating 25 years as an exhibitor at the ATA, so be sure to stop by and help us celebrate! We will be there during Freek's anniversary reception from 5 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 (in the exhibit hall) and we will also sign on Saturday, November 9, from 10 to 10:30 a.m.
• Associations. Dagy is proud to represent UNIVERSITAS Austria, the Austrian Interpreters' and Translators' Association, and she is attending the conference with her Secretary General hat on. Judy is the past president of the Nevada affiliate group of the ATA, the Nevada Interpreters and Translators Association (NITA) and NITA will have a table (with information about our group) where we will spend quite a bit of time. Look for the Welcome to Las Vegas sign and stop by and grab some candy!
• Evening events. We've confirmed our attendance at both the Spanish division's dinner (on Friday, at Casa Rio River House) and the German division (at the Rio Plaza, second floor, on Thursday), so you will be sure to catch us there!
• Late night. Yes, we've been known to enjoy a nice glass of wine or a fancy cocktail at the hotel bar to wrap up the evening. 

We look forward to seeing you in San Antonio!

Read This: Slaves Of the Internet, Unite!

For the record: We paid for this image. 

This past Sunday, we did what we always do on Sundays: We read the print edition of the paper of record, The New York Times. Yes, we are old school like that and really like getting ink on our paper. And the paper smells great, too, but we digress.

One article on the cover page of the Sunday Review caught our attention, and we wanted to share it with all of you, dear readers. Today is Halloween, so we will tackle the spooky subject of not getting paid for your work. Turns out writer Tim Kreider also has a few things to say about the subject, and as a writer for the NYT, he writes infinitely more eloquently than we do. The bottom line is: giving away your work for free stinks. And it means others don't value it. If they did value it, they would pay you for it. So don't give it away for free. This article as been quite popular, and to date, there are more than 650 comments on the online version. 

Here's the link to the brilliant article (we recommend you subscribe to the NYT, but we believe the first few articles a month are free). The author concludes his article with a smart piece of advice that he's willing to share with everyone. Actually, it's a nifty e-mail template that you can use to respond to people who want your work for free. Since the author intended this to be freely shared, we are copying it here:

Here, for public use, is my very own template for a response to people who offer to let me write something for them for nothing:

Thanks very much for your compliments on my [writing/illustration/whatever thing you do]. I’m flattered by your invitation to [do whatever it is they want you to do for nothing]. But [thing you do] is work, it takes time, it’s how I make my living, and in this economy I can’t afford to do it for free. I’m sorry to decline, but thanks again, sincerely, for your kind words about my work.

It's nice to see that translators aren't the only ones who get asked to do free work. We knew it's quite common with writers and illustrators as well, and it's great to read such on on-point essay about this important topic. What do you think, dear readers? How do you handle these tricky situations? We'd love to hear from you. 

A New Tool: TranslatorPay

Earlier this month, we saw a quick Tweet by our friend Eve Bodeux of Bodeux International. She mentioned TranslatorPay as a new tool for translators to get paid internationally without having to incur significant bank fees (which we are not very fond of). We were intrigued and decided to have a look at the website. We have a long history of doing international bank transfers and PayPal transfers (both receiving and sending), and just like most people, we are quite stunned by the high costs and by the fact that transfers, especially bank transfers, can take so long despite the fact that we live in the 21st century.

Let's talk about money.

First things first: TranslatorPay, an online money transfer system, was created by two high-profile colleagues in the industry: Dr. Paul Sulzberger and Jessica Rather. We have not met either one of them personally, but they have excellent reputations in the industry, which immediately put us at ease. The idea behind TranslatorPay is that translators should be able to get paid the full amount of the translations that they invoice rather than the invoice amount minus some (usually quite opaque) bank fee. Of course, we rather like this idea. The way it works is that the translator registers (for free), uploads his or her banking information (which some might be a bit reluctant to do), persuades the client to pay via TranslatorPay (this might be a bit of a challenge), and there you have it: the translator gets paid the full amount within one to three days. The company lists the following reasons for using their service, and these are very strong and convincing arguments.

This service is very certainly worth exploring. We haven't used it ourselves, but wanted to help spread the word about it. Have you used it, dear colleagues? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Mysterious Ways

This week, we've been thinking about the fact that business opportunities can really present themselves anywhere, and that has certainly been true for us. Here are a few examples of how business has worked in mysterious ways for us:

• Dagy just issued a price quote to a long-time customer in Vienna. We briefly talked about the project, and then reminisced about the fact that she met this client in her Pilates class. Really.
• Just over a week ago, we met a potential client at a pub (yes, a pub) at Heathrow airport in London. He was on his way back from India, where he had just been trying to find a translation vendor for his own client. This meeting was quite serendipitous indeed, as the potential client just happened to sit next to us at a bar, said hello, and asked what we did for a living. 
• A few years ago, Judy's beloved Prius got hit by another car in the parking lot of a grocery store. As she waited for the insurance people to show up, she started chatting with the other driver (a very nice lady), who happened to work for IBM and was looking for translators. The project didn't work out, but we thought the way we met was pretty cool.
• We met one of our favorite clients at a baby shower that Judy attended a few years ago. 
• Another long-term client of ours is Dagy's former yoga instructor from Vienna (yes, we like to work out).

What about you, dear colleagues? What's the strangest place you have met a potential customer? We think it's important to be prepared to talk intelligently about your small business at all times, be it at a bar, a baby shower, a grocery store, or a happy hour. We don't mean that one should constantly be shoving business cards in people's faces, but we do think it's important to be prepared. You know what that means: don't leave your house without business cards.

We'd love to hear your stories, dear colleagues!

The Results: Federal Court Interpreting Exam

After three months of waiting, Judy knows the result of the oral portion of the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE), which she took in Denver in mid-July. Read below for her take on it.

I will make this short and sweet: I did not pass. It was close, but I still failed, and it's certainly very disappointing. I scored a 76%, and I needed 80% to pass. This was my first time taking this notoriously difficult exam, and here are my thoughts on the results and on the exam in general:

• Contrary to the rumors that constantly circulate about this exam, it's quite fair -- at least it felt like it. I'd heard from many other people that they'd leave the exam feeling quite confident, but when they results come in, they get 60%. I'd say the same was true for me. I blogged about my actual exam experience here, and I felt quite relaxed and good about my performance. Obviously, I was wrong.
• There have been many, many administrative challenges with the FCICE, and getting the results was no exception. The website crashed under the weight of candidates trying to access their scores, although I don't think it's more than 500 people or so. What kind of website cannot handle 500 people logging into it? It's a but puzzling. 
• The FCICE goes to great lengths to make the process transparent, and they issue a detailed examinee handbook (see picture), which is quite helpful. However, some parts of the process are entirely opaque. For instance, candidates have no idea who the graders are. The exam is graded based on scoring units, which seems quite fair. On the other hand, when you get the result letter (online), there's a little disclaimer saying that the "test is not meant to be a diagnostic tool." What is it, then? In addition, examinees do not get a breakdown of their scores by sections (the exam has several different components), making it impossible to identify one's area of weakness. I find this truly incomprehensible -- if each individual section was scored, why wouldn't the committee tell the candidate those individual scores so they can improve on their weakest area? 
• Many friends and colleagues have asked me if I plan on taking the exam again in 2015 (that's a long time away), and I've considered it. However, since I don't really know where things went wrong for me, it's a challenge to change my study plan. While I will certainly admit that I could have studied much more than I did, I took several courses, including one at the venerable Monterey Institute of International Studies and a useful online class at the Southern California School of Interpretation. I passed four mock exams, and never scored below 90 on the mocks that gave me an actual numerical score (I was honestly surprised by the high scores). 
• I really don't want to join the legion of exam takers who have long alleged that the exam is ________ (fill in the blank: unbiased, unfair, etc.), but the experience does give me some food for thought indeed. I have no way of knowing where I did poorly, and clearly, my strong performance in mock exams was no indicator of future performance. So were the mock exams at MIIS and SCSI completely off? Or did I just have a bad day at the actual exam? I didn't really think that I had a bad day. Quite the contrary: I felt well prepared, calm, collected, and ready to take the exam, so I did. And I failed it. It's humbling indeed.
• For better or for worse, state-certified court interpreters (I am certified in both California and in Nevada, at the master level in the latter) don't really need the federal certification to interpret in federal court, which also seems a bit off. Why go to all this exam trouble if the federal courts are full of state-certified interpreters? Of course this means that I might very well have the chance to interpret in federal court as well with my current certifications, but I'd still like to have USCCI (United States Certified Court Interpreter) after my name. 
• Of all the people I know, which includes my MIIS colleagues, friends from Google Groups, and my study group in Vegas, I only know of three people who passed the exam. I am very, very happy for them, and the pass rate for the exam is indeed is very low (as far as we know). No data about pass rates is ever released, so I truly have no idea how many people have taken the exam and how many passed it.

In summary: I thoroughly enjoyed the study process, the challenge, and meeting many fantastic new colleagues and friends along the way. It's a pity that I didn't pass, but I bet I will try again. However, I have heard from several very talented colleagues that their scores actually do down rather than up after multiple attempts, which doesn't quite make sense. I am humbled by my result, and somewhat motivated to try again - although I am not sure how to change my study plan, but I will figure it out.

How did you do on the exam, dear colleagues? Are you willing to share your score and your experiences? I decided long ago to make this process very public