National Medical Interpreter Certification was a hot topic at the 2009 ATA Conference. BY LINDA JOYCE
The National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters was very pleased to participate in the ATA 50th Annual Conference, held in New York City on October 28-31, 2009 and to introduce conference attendees to the nation’s first National Medical Interpreter Certification. → continue reading
As it reaches a milestone in its history, the ATA returns to its birthplace, NYC, with a stronger commitment than ever to promote our profession. BY NINA BOGDAN & KAREN TKACZYK
The opening session of the 50th Annual ATA Conference
THE FUTURE IS HERE
Pavel Palazhchenko, Mikhail Gorbachev’s interpreter for many years, spoke to standing room only crowds at the ATA conference, and as I soaked in his words, admiring both his insightful perspective about the world of interpreting and translation as well as his wonderfully elegant English, I reflected also on the importance of this event. At the closing session of the conference, ATA President Nicholas Hartmann announced that ATA membership, as of now, numbers more than 11,000. In an interview that same day with Fox Business News, past president Jiri Stejskal stated that the profession of translator is just that—a profession (meaning, not a hobby or something one can take up after taking a Berlitz course) and that a proficient translator may well earn in the six figures. → continue reading
In our high-tech world, the ATA exam continues to be a low-tech institution. BY NINA BOGDAN
The decision to take the ATA certification exam is based on a number of factors, one of which is whether or not the individual translator is at the stage of their career that they are ready. There is nothing more frustrating than spending the time preparing for the exam (and paying the substantial fee) and then not passing.
ATA statistics on this issue make it clear that novice translators, for example, those who have just graduated with a degree in a foreign language—even an advanced degree—should not expect to pass the exam. The overall pass rate for the ATA exam is under 20%. These statistics are not broken down by language combinations as, according to Terry Hanlen, ATA Deputy Executive Director and Certification Program Manager, this would be like comparing apples and oranges since some language combinations have hundreds of exams while others only have five. → continue reading
In this first part of a two-part series we look at how certification fits into the language provider’s business plan. BY NINA BOGDAN
In the eight years since 9/11, analysis of events, policy debates, and proposals for change have steadily continued in one venue or another. The one conclusion that seems irrefutable is that we, as a nation, were woefully unprepared when it comes to the application of translation and interpreting skills. There were many references to a purported backlog of Arabic language material left untranslated at such a critical time. This led to revelations of our lack of qualified linguists in other “critical” languages such as Urdu, Punjabi and Farsi. → continue reading
An ATA-sponsored translation tools seminar in San Francisco provided information about ways to increase professional productivity. BY RON TISCHLER
The translation tools seminar held on March 14, 2009 at the Westin Market Street in San Francisco was divided into morning and afternoon sessions, plus there were exhibitors, a networking session, and a parade! The parade down Market Street, which seemed to have something to do with the color green, could be watched (until you got too cold) during the lunch break. The morning session, given by Rosalie Wells was titled “Productivity Tools for the Professional Translator.” The afternoon session, given by Dierk Seeburg of IcoText, was titled “Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) Tools, from Term Extraction to Integrated Translation Environments.” There were about 100 attendees and four exhibitors: Across, Payment Practices, Total Recall (product named Snowball), and Wordfast.
→ continue reading
Poolside breakfast to gear up for the workshops of the day.
The 2008 ATA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida drew a diverse crowd and positive reviews from NCTA attendees. Poolside receptions, balmy weather, and great workshops were enjoyed by all. BY KAREN TKACZYK, FARAH ARJANG VEZVAEE, AND RENATE CHESTNUT. → continue reading
A report on a workshop for candidates planning to take the ATA certification examination. BY NORMA KAMINSKY
On August 23, Tuomas Kostiainen, NCTA President and member of the ATA Certification committee, who has been an ATA exam grader, once again stepped up to share his knowledge, experience, and advice with translators contemplating taking the ATA Certification Exam. Tuomas’ presentation included a discussion of the exam itself, reasons to take it, explanations of eligibility requirements, skills tested in the exam, grading, preparation, planning, types of errors, and tips for success. → continue reading
By Alison Dent
You’d think that handling the press would be easy for an industry that deals with words. But maybe not.
I think everyone who attended the 48th Annual ATA Conference here in San Francisco last October would agree that it was a great success. Hard work and many hours of volunteer time went into the conference, the pro bono project work, and the effort to get local publicity. On the first day of the conference, in fact, reporter Steve Rubenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed ATA President Marian Greenfield and ATA Public Relations Committee Co-chair Kevin Hendzel. The resulting article, “Translation business booming—terrorists’ languages most lucrative,” was published the next day.
War means business
Although the article successfully captured some of the buzz of the conference, it was impossible to ignore the one point that stood out above all others, and which ultimately served as the basis for the blaring headline: the message that war is good for business. While this statement may be a truism, was this really what ATA had intended to convey? Or, had the words of Ms. Greenfield and Mr. Hendzel been twisted in undue emphasis?
It didn’t take long for the NCTA members’ Yahoo! group to light up with animated discussions among members over this article and its intended message. One member felt strongly that the misrepresentation began within the leadership of ATA, and wrote a lengthy letter to the NCTA Board expressing his concerns. NCTA then contacted the ATA Board to solicit its reaction to the Chronicle article and request clarification of the intended message.
In Mr. Hendzel’s reply to NCTA, he confirmed that the reporter, Mr. Rubenstein, intended to focus on the business side of the T&I industry. However, nothing was published about this subject: neither about the international commercial market associated with globalization, for example, nor about the U.S. domestic market, an area that is growing rapidly as hospitals, courts, and other public venues are beginning to provide translation and interpreting services in response to Presidential Executive Order 13166—topics which were talked about at length in the interview. Instead, Mr. Rubenstein—or his editors—stuck like a dog with a bone to the deliberately controversial notion of war being great for business, despite repeated efforts by Mr. Hendzel to steer him away from this.
Selling out; selling more
“How much can you earn?” “What are the ‘hottest’ languages?” These are the questions that reporters are trained to ask, believing that this is what most people really want to hear about. In the world of journalism, the answers to these questions, after all, create the headlines that sell newspapers. And yes, it was an eye-catching headline; yes, it made us read the article; and yes, we did talk about it at length afterwards. But does that mean that the article accurately portrayed the event and circumstances it was meant to cover? No, far from it. While the article did remind the public that translation is not all done by software on the Internet, it offered very little useful or interesting information about our profession. As with the lack of mention of business issues cited above, there was also no mention of the human side of translating—of any positive contributions made by translators and interpreters in war zones, for example, such as providing assistance in reconstruction and rebuilding efforts. Or of the lowering of civilian and religious conflict by allowing the various parties to communicate.
Somehow the old adage of there being “no such thing as bad publicity” just didn’t hold true in this case. Instead, with its emphasis on the sensational aspects of war-mongering, the article portrayed our profession in a negative, ambulance-chasing light. Because in the world of journalism, after all, sensationalism is what sells.
A different fight
In 2008, with ATA boasting over 10,000 members, and NCTA over 600 in this, our 30th anniversary year, we can look back and see that as a profession we have made great strides. But this episode has clearly demonstrated that we are not beyond having our words twisted. Jiri Stejskal, who took over as ATA President after the conference, agreed that the reporter’s slant was disturbing, and reflected poorly on ATA and the profession. Although a letter from ATA to the San Francisco Chronicle was reportedly being drafted, there is no information on any progress on the issue since then.
There is much, however, that we can still do. Specifically, we need to continue our efforts to get positive publicity for our profession; we need to educate our clients; and we need to get smarter about dealing with the press.
It’s time to use the tools of our trade—words—to fight for our cause
By Steve Goldstein, Editor
The 48th Annual ATA Conference
San Francisco
October 31 – November 3, 2007
“The convention seemed to capture the current wave of interest and enthusiasm that is rippling through the translator world, as most convention-goers seemed to sense that the tide is in the process of being turned—that it is perhaps not now unthinkable that our professional pride and prestige will soon take on greater and more justified proportions.”
Those words were written 29 years ago, by a young translator and writer; an emissary from the West Coast to the 19th Annual ATA Conference in New York, who had, just a few short months prior, been a part of the birth of his own local organization, the Northern California Translators Association, in San Francisco.
The President of NCTA at the time—a man who had taken that young translator under his wing in the nascent organization—had just been elected President of ATA as well, and was about to take office at the New York conference. This was an unheard-of and unprecedented occurrence—a West Coast president of what was at the time a largely East Coast organization. There was electricity in the air, and our young translator would get to write about it, in the unofficial conference coverage report. He would also bring back some of that momentum with him to San Francisco, where a small group of his colleagues was already at work building the foundation for what would in time become one of the national organization’s strongest local chapters.
Times have changed since 1978, of course. That NCTA and ATA President, Thomas Bauman, is sadly no longer with us to see some of the important changes that his work initiated and continued; changes at the national level, certainly, where our profession has indeed come a long way—although not without having continued obstacles to overcome. Today, ATA is of course no longer just a regional organization, but it’s not just a national one, either; today, it is a powerful international professional association of over 10,000 members around the world.
But changes have occurred at the local level, too. And nowhere, perhaps, has the example been more instructive than here in San Francisco. ATA has brought its annual conference back to the birthplace of its most active chapter several times in the past three decades, watching as NCTA continued its own robust growth, built as always on the infectious enthusiasm of dedicated and tireless local volunteers who believe in working together to strengthen their profession.
Today, that dedication continues, through NCTA’s active role as the host chapter of the just-concluded 48th Annual ATA Conference in our City by the Bay, and via this special Translorial supplement reporting on the event. In these pages, we look at the conference from a variety of perspectives that may not always be found in the standard, straight-ahead reporting of the conference, as that information is available elsewhere. It is, instead, a decidedly more human approach because, well … translators are people, too, and that always seems the more interesting viewpoint, doesn’t it?
All those who are reading these words owe a debt of gratitude to their NCTA colleagues who did double-duty at the conference: as regular attendees, trying to learn and network and grow their own careers and businesses, and as your reporters, to give you a taste of the conference that you might not have otherwise had the opportunity to savor. Without their dedication and sacrifice—including that of Oscar Arteta and the tireless Christopher Queen, who took our terrific photographs—this supplement wouldn’t have been possible, and so to them I say, Thank you!
Has the tide in fact turned for our profession, since twenty-nine years ago? Certainly. But there’s still more turning to do, and while our young translator from that bygone era is no longer so young, he’s still here—to keep learning, growing … and working, to help turn that tide.
By Marilyn Luong, with Karen Tkaczyk and Andrea Bindereif
Which session to attend? How can I be in three places at once? I don’t have time for that lunch! … Sound familiar? Here’s a way to take the stress out of a conference.
Into the chaos of the multi-story complex I darted, ready to tackle the 48th annual ATA conference. Then I stopped; stopped to look at the map, stopped to decide which session to attend, stopped to breathe, and stopped to relax. The ATA conference has a lot to offer, but to take advantage of those offerings, I realized that I needed to focus, and, more importantly, that I needed to be calm and relaxed, alert and awake. So, instead of rushing to another session, I rushed back to my room. To take a nap!
When we are refreshed, we can absorb more from the sessions, we can sound more coherent when networking with our colleagues, we can be more convincing when discussing a business strategy with a potential partner we meet at the conference. But, in the hustle and bustle of all the meeting rooms and exhibit booths, where is there a reprieve? The answer is hidden in the corner of the exhibit hall, where you’ll find the massage corner, offering free massages. It is okay to take a few minutes from the activity filled day to forget about finding more translation business. The business will always be there; better to address it when you are relaxed from a massage!
On the move
Another way to ease the burden of a busy schedule is through exercise. The morning yoga class at this year’s conference has now become a regular, annual feature. As the instructor in previous years was not able to be present this year, a freelance French-English financial translator, Stephanie Tramdack Cash, took over the program, called it “Stretch, Move, & Breathe,” and offered a very pleasant morning wake-up call. Rather than being a pure yoga class, it was more diverse, taking the best of Ms. Cash’s experience with yoga, Martha Graham modern dance technique, ballet, and Qi Gong: sore feet were surprisingly well taken care of! The classes were well attended, with the available space pleasantly full, which made the attendees full of energy for the day ahead.
Still another exercise activity that relaxes you is taking a walk. To get through three long days of workshops, training sessions, panel discussions, and networking—three days of being exposed to artificial light and air-conditioned rooms—a walk does wonders!
So it was no surprise that about 15 people were eagerly awaiting the second walking tour on Saturday evening, right after the conference officially ended and before everybody got ready for dinner or other entertainment. And the tour was well chosen: Marilyn Straka, a knowledgeable guide who showed a true passion for the lesser-known beauties of San Francisco’s business district, gave the group a well-rounded view of the area. After a brief introduction to the history of the City, she took the walkers to the parrots of Telegraph Hill and showed them some of the spectacular fountains and little squares, always sprinkling historical facts with interesting anecdotes, and sharing quirky stories and little oddities. The group then went on to the art deco murals of Rincon Center, the market shops of the Ferry Building, and finally a walk on the pier at the Embarcadero. Fortunately, the weather was rather warm and the group enjoyed a beautiful view of the Skyline at sunset. Our visitors from out of town were clearly impressed and seemed to have fallen in love with our City. A huge thank you to Naomi Baer for organizing and coordinating this popular activity!
Finally, to relax at the conference, when we meet someone new we don’t need to talk only about translation; we can unwind by talking just as friends. This is a good way to remember what is truly important in life. So next time you face a hard translation project, or a tough interpretation assignment, or even the daunting schedule of an ATA conference, remember the techniques of unwinding that are available from meetings such as this one. Relax, gather, and compose yourself. Stretch. Take a walk. And a nap. And loosen up with colleagues.
Only then will you be ready for the chaos.