As I start to write this post, the second week of Wimbledon is underway. The initial 128 men and women playing in their respective championships have been whittled down to just 16. Inevitably, the majority were seeded anyway, but some non-seeded players usually get through the first week as well. They are often the ones that have had the toughest battles, knocking out players with much higher world rankings than themselves. At this stage in the competition, however, it seems highly likely that the trophies will be lifted by one of the top seeds, although it’s not unheard of for an outsider to storm through and surprise us all (Becker in 1985, for example).
CPD
Review of the Bath MA in Interpreting and Translating
My master’s journey kicked off with an interview day at the University of Bath. First up were two interviews with a tutor, one for each language pair, which involved performing a sight translation – something I managed to embellish with a grand total of 19 “erms” according to one of my interviewers. The afternoon consisted of a short written translation exam. Despite my verbal sluggishness that morning, the experience was relatively relaxed and the only downside was the mammoth train journey from Durham to Bath. For anyone in a similar position, the university is able to offer accommodation on campus at reduced rates.
An Overview of the Master’s in Translation (and Interpreting) at Westminster University (Part Two)
Welcome to the second half of our guest post on Nikki’s blog, My Words for a Change! For those of you who didn’t read last week, Nikki kindly invited the Deep End bloggers (Claire Harmer, Katharine Mears, Felicity Pearce, Paula Pitkethly and Sandra Young) to write a guest blog post on our experiences at Westminster University. Please read on to find out more, and take a look at last week’s post!
Why All the Fuss about Spellings and Style Guides?
I expect some people will see my latest bite-sized tips post and wonder what it’s all about and why I bother with these lists of spellings and occasional forays into a bit of grammar based on the New Oxford Style Manual. If you’re one of them, then wonder no more because I’m going to reveal my main reasons below.
Help! Everyone’s at a conference except me (or how to still get a dose of CPD)
Don’t fret. While it might feel like that sometimes judging by your social media feeds, it’s far from the truth. And however tempting it might be to jet off to enjoy quality time with your colleagues, perhaps you could spend the considerable sum involved in attending a conference more wisely. Not only are there plenty of things you can be getting on with to ensure you get your dose of CPD (continuing professional development), they will probably also be better for you in the long-term and look far more impressive on your CV.
Beyond the Basics
A review of Corinne McKay’s Beyond the Basics of Freelancing course by Elizabeth Garrison
Last May, I found myself in a position that many freelance translators will be familiar with: things were ticking over nicely with my freelance business, I was getting work from a handful of clients with whom I had long-standing relationships and I was generally satisfied with the way things were going. Then, after months of non-stop, back-to-back jobs, things suddenly went a bit quiet, forcing me to take a step back and reflect on the state of my business, which led to the realisation that I was actually stuck in a bit of a rut. I had reached a point where I was confident enough to stand firm with my rates, as well as being confident with the quality of my work and experience I had acquired, but was nevertheless failing to really move forward. At the same time, I was also feeling inspired after having attended workshops run by Judy Jenner and Chris Durban in the preceding nine months where they flew the flag for getting yourself out there and asserting yourself as a businessperson, although I also felt I was lacking the tools to put this confidence into practice and get myself out of the rut.
Wicked METM14 Gathering
This post has been brewing for a while as it’s been four weeks since I flew back from Madrid after attending the METM14 conference organised by the association of Mediterranean Editors and Translators. Most of my busyness has revolved around work, routine family life and still trying to get the house we moved into at the end of July sorted in time for Christmas. But towards the end of October and beginning of November I was actually socially busy for a change.
First came a few days in a cottage in Kent to attend a 50th birthday party. Held in a house perched on top of a hill overlooking the Channel with the twinkling lights of France in the distance, we were kept warm outside by a couple of bonfires, dazzled by a firework display that could rival many a public one, and entertained by fire-eaters and magicians before sitting down to a wonderful chef-prepared meal served to us as if we were in a restaurant. The evening was then rounded off by a highly amusing and polished drag cabaret act.
Friendship and Laughter: Review of the BP14 Conference
A chance remark on Facebook just over a year ago made Csaba Bán realise that his colleagues would quite like him to repeat his earlier conference-arranging success in Budapest. A few hours later BP14 was born; the following day the venue was booked; and the rest, as they say, is history.
In this case, however, BP does not primarily refer to the two settlements, Buda and Pest, flanking either side of the River Danube (which we sailed down whilst having dinner on the first evening of the conference) forming today’s vast city of Budapest. It actually stands for Business and Practice because the conference was held over two days, the first devoted to improving how we relate to clients and portray ourselves, and the second to perfecting our craft. That’s also why BP15, which is already in the pipeline, will not be held in Csaba’s hometown but in Zagreb instead.
Turn-of-the-year Reflections and Resolutions
In many respects, 2013 was quite a good year professionally. After spending many years chained to the house as a result of childcare duties, I was finally allowed a pass to attend my first ever conference (although that probably had a lot to do with the venue only being a few miles or so up the road). The conference also inspired me to get around to writing something for the blog at long last (my take on the IAPTI event in London). I had such a good time and found the experience so rewarding that I cannot wait to find an opportunity to escape again in 2014. There are quite a few events to choose from, and which one (or ones—I can live in hope) I end up at will no doubt depend on family circumstances, since we have quite a lot in the pipeline this year. Under consideration so far are:
IAPTI Conference Twitter Storm
If you have a Twitter account and logged in last Saturday, you cannot fail to have noticed that the IAPTI (International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters) was holding its first conference in London. Having grown in numbers over the past four years the association has been up and running, and now with members in 59 countries, its president, Aurora Humarán, and her team decided it was time to get together properly and have a “non-mild” discussion about what’s going on in our industry and what we can do about it. Despite being rooted in Argentina where the IAPTI was founded, London was chosen as the venue so we could all stand in solidarity with UK interpreters.
Nikki Graham - Translation & Editing Services 