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The Savvy Newcomer aims to serve newcomers to the translation and interpreting professions by publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed content on a weekly basis. We strive to provide you with the answers to the many questions you face as a new or aspiring translator or interpreter.

Cultivating Connection: 8 Tips for Interpreters and Translators to Tackle Loneliness

By The Savvy Newcomer | February 6, 2024
Cultivating Connection: 8 Tips for Interpreters and Translators to Tackle Loneliness

This post was originally published onÌýKGH Interpretation. It is reposted with permission.Ìý In 2022 I facilitated a session of the Language Access Café at the NCIHC Annual Membership Meeting and was asked to speak about interpreter self-care. Prior to the meeting, I decided to do an informal survey of medical interpreters asking them some questions about their mental health. I wanted to have a little bit of data that would clue me in on some of the issues interpreters were facing. While most of the results I shared during the AMM focused on stressors and supports, I also briefly shared…

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Interview – Robyn Dean on Ethics: Metaphors or Values?

By The Savvy Newcomer | November 1, 2016

Reblogged from the ATA Interpreters Division blogÌýwith permission from the author (incl. the image) In preparation for the ATA conference, Marsel de Souza interviewed Robyn Dean, the Interpreters Division’sÌýguest speakerÌýatÌýthe ATA 57th Annual Conference in San Francisco. This interview focuses on the following sessions and much more: Returning to Ethics: A Meta-Ethical Analysis of Community Interpreters’ Codes and Standards of…

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Revision: a nlboe and etessanitl srcviee

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 27, 2016

ATA Conference session T-10, Saturday 10:00-11:00, Garden B If you can read the intended title of this presentation, then you can understand that it is impossible to catch all our own mistakes. As translators, we become as close to the material as the author (some say closer). Our eyes begin to gloss over typos and errors as our brain becomes…

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Ensuring Payment – Before, During and After the Project

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 20, 2016

Session IC-3 at the 2016 ATA Conference – Thursday, 3:30-4:30pm ATA57 will mark the 6th time I have given this presentation at an ATA annual conference, and the ninth time overall. The presentation is based on the knowledge and experience I have gained as a freelance translator working with agencies for more than twenty years and from monitoring payment issues…

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Buddies Welcome Newbies at ATA57

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 11, 2016

by Jamie Hartz If you’re a newbie to the ÇéÂÂ×ÔÅÄ, or to translation or interpreting in general, and you’re thinking of attending the ATA conference in San Francisco this November, then this post is for you – so read on! The Savvy Newcomer Team would like to tell you about an event that was a huge success its…

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How to Have a Super First Year in the ATA: Go to Your First ATA Conference

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 6, 2016

Welcome to the fourth and final article in the series How to Have a Super First Year in the ATA. This time, I’ll be talking about why you should attend your first ATA conference this year, what you can expect and some tips for success. This year’s annual conference, ATA57, will be held in San Francisco, California from November 2-5,…

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Quoting a Large Translation Project

By The Savvy Newcomer | October 4, 2016

By May Fung Danis and Steven Marzuola May Fung Danis and Steven Marzuola each responded to a question about writing a proposal for a large translation project recently on the ATA Business Practices discussion group. We’ve combined our remarks for The Savvy Newcomer blog. First, take a look at the following resources from the ATA: Model translation job contract A…

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Anatomy of an ATA Conference

By The Savvy Newcomer | September 27, 2016

By Jennifer Guernsey Reblogged from the ATA Chronicle (February 2015) with permission from the author Ìý After hearing colleagues raise interesting questions regarding ATA’s Annual Conference, I decided it might be helpful to gather and publish information regarding how decisions are made concerning the selection of the conference venue and sessions. David Rumsey, ATA president-elect and conference organizer, kindly agreed…

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6 Ways to Foster a Strong Relationship with your Project Manager and Earn More Work

By The Savvy Newcomer | September 20, 2016

As a freelance translator, some of your projects will come from language service providers (LSPs) as opposed to direct clients. If you attend the ATA Conference, you’ll meet almost as many LSP representatives as fellow translators, looking to hire their next batch of vendors. Many of those representatives will be project managers (PMs). PMs often decide whom to hire for…

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German Immersion Strategies for Expatriates and Other Deutsch-Fans

By The Savvy Newcomer | September 13, 2016

By Marion Rhodes Being aware of linguistic trends is crucial for translators. To avoid language atrophy, those of us who have traded our native home country for a foreign country home need to find ways to continually immerse ourselves in our mother tongue. A German expatriate myself, I have to make a conscious effort to keep up with the evolution…

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What is a Certified Translation?

By The Savvy Newcomer | September 6, 2016

By Caitilin Walsh Reblogged from The ATA Compass blogÌýwith permission from the author In the United States a certified translation consists of the following three parts: 1) The source-language (original) text 2) The target-language (translated) text 3) A statement signed by the translator or translation company representative, with his or her signature notarized by a Notary Public, attesting that the…

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