TRANSLATION AS A PROFESSION

1. TRANSLATION AS A PROFESSION Julie E. Johnson Assistant Professor of Translation Graduate School of Translation & Interpretation Monterey Institute of International Studies

2. PREVIEW • The life and work of a translator • Can you make a living at it? • Getting there • Example: Le petit bistro

3. THE LIFE & WORK OF A TRANSLATOR • Translation vs. Interpretation • Other specializations: localization, terminology management, project management, software development • Commercial vs. literary • In-house vs. freelance

4. PROFILES • Translation vs. Interpretation • Other specializations: localization, terminology management, project management, software development • Commercial vs. literary • In-house vs. freelance

5. CAN YOU MAKE A LIVING? • How the (global) translation market works • International organizations • In-house translators • Agencies • Independent translators

6. HOW WORK IS BILLED • By the word • By the page • By the job • By the hour How to Set Your Fees and Get Them by Kate Kelly ISBN 0-9603740-2-7

7. GETTING CONNECTED • Trade associations: • American Translators Association (www.atanet.org) • Northern California Translators Association (www.ncta.org) • National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (www.najit.org) • California Court Interpreters Association (www.ccia.org) • Bay Area Court Interpreters (www.cfi-baci.org) • Association internationale des interprètes de conférences (www.aiic.net) • The American Association of Language Specialists (www.taals.net) • School

8. THE PRODUCTIVITY FACTOR • Skill (being good at it) • Tools (dictionaries, internet, CAT) • Translator’s Home Companion (http://www.lai.com/lai/companion.html) • Experience • Specialization

9. GETTING THERE • Linguistic foundation (fluency) • Cultural literacy • Subject knowledge • Training • miis.edu • atanet.org • courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/courtinterpreters/ • Internships • Pro bono work A personal example . . .

10. Don’t get discouraged  Normal to be frustrated  Life-long learning

11. WHAT DOES “GOOD” MEAN? • Accurate (same meaning) • Idiomatic • Grammatically correct • Stylistically effective • Presentation (formatting) Ultimately: What the requester needs

12. (1st Version) Nostalgia for the Small Bistro It seems that up until the seventies, when a teenager went home after school and asked naïvely, “where’s dad?” his mom replied, “at the café.” It must be said that at the time, there were about 220,000 cafés for a population of 46 million. Today there are not more than 65,000 cafés for 58 million people. And, yes, most of us have traded the short hour spent at the café talking about current events in the papers for a half-hour spent all alone with PPDA* in front of the television set! Let’s not get too depressed, though, since it seems that little by little the French are returning to the tradition and that the bar is making a comeback. It has to be said that the news on television is getting more and more depressing, so it is preferable to go joke with others about the nonsense in the speeches for the presidential elections. *Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, famous news anchor for TF1 (Source text) La nostalgie du petit bistrot Il paraît que jusque dans les années soixante dix, quand un adolescent rentrait chez lui après l’école et qu’il demandait candidement “il est où papa ?”, la maman répondait “au café”. Il faut dire qu’à l’époque il y en avait 200 000 pour une population de 46 millions d’habitants. Aujourd’hui, ils ne sont plus que 65 000 et nous sommes 58 millions. Et oui, la plupart ont troqué la petite heure passée au café à commenter l’actualtié lue dans les journaux contre une demi-heure passée tout seul avec PPDA devant le poste de télévision ! Ne déprimons quand même pas trop puisqu’il semblerait que les français retournent à la tradition petit à petit et que le zinc fait de nouveau recette. Il faut dire que les infos à la télévision sont de plus en plus déprimantes, alors on préfère aller plaisanter avec d’autres sur les inepties des discours pour les présidentielles.

13. (Revised) Nostalgia for the Corner Bistro It seems that up until the seventies, when a French teenager went home after school and offhandedly asked, “Where’s Dad?” his mom would reply, “at the café.” It must be said that at the time, there were about 220,000 cafés in France for a population of 46 million. Today there are only about 65,000 cafés and 58 million of us. Alas, most of us have traded our short hour spent at the café talking about the day’s headlines for a half-hour spent all alone in front of the TV with celebrity news anchor PPDA! Let’s not get too depressed, though, since it seems that gradually the French are rediscovering the tradition and going back to the bistro. The news on television is getting increasingly depressing, so people prefer to go joke with others about the nonsense in the presidential campaign speeches. (1st Version) Nostalgia for the Small Bistro It seems that up until the seventies, when a teenager went home after school and asked naïvely, “where’s dad?” his mom replied, “at the café.” It must be said that at the time, there were about 220,000 cafés for a population of 46 million. Today there are not more than 65,000 cafés for 58 million people. And, yes, most of us have traded the short hour spent at the café talking about current events in the papers for a half-hour spent all alone with PPDA* in front of the television set! Let’s not get too depressed, though, since it seems that little by little the French are returning to the tradition and that the bar is making a comeback. It has to be said that the news on television is getting more and more depressing, so it is preferable to go joke with others about the nonsense in the speeches for the presidential elections. *Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, famous news anchor for TF1

14. Questions & Answers