Podcast archives

Archived episodes of the Speaking of Translation Podcast, in reverse chronological order

Episode 6: Free and Open Source Software for Translators

(originally aired on February 5, 2010)
In our sixth episode of Speaking of Translation, we discuss how translators can benefit from free and open source software. We discuss why you should care about free and open source software, how it can help you as a translator and specific FOSS programs you may be interested in using in your practice.

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Duration: 25:03

Links mentioned in this episode:

The Free Software Foundation
OpenOffice.org: free and open source office suite
Linux for Translators discussion list
Linux for Translators website
OmegaT: free and open source translation memory tool
OmegaT users group
Sage plugin: a feed reader for Firefox

We are always interested in what our listeners have to say, so please feel free to add a comment, email us or call us (see information at right).

Episode 5: Leveraging payment methods to keep the most money in your pocket

(originally aired on October 9, 2009)
In our fifth episode of Speaking of Translation, we discuss how to use various payment methods to your advantage, keeping the most amount of money possible – rather than losing it to fees and exchange rates. We discuss pros and cons of payment by check, ACH, wire transfer, PayPal and companies that facilitate currency exchange for those of us with international clients.

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Duration: 31:03

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode 4: An interview with Judy Jenner- Lessons learned from business school: The Entrepreneurial Linguist

(originally aired on April 28, 2009)
In our fourth episode of Speaking of Translation, we interview Judy Jenner of Twin Translations for marketing, pricing and entrepreneurial tips for freelance translators.

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Duration: 23:25

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode 3: Translation-related blogs

(originally aired on March 5, 2009)
In our third episode of Speaking of Translation, we discuss blogs about translation or of interest to translators.

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  • The blogs we reviewed include:

Thoughts on Translation
Lexiophiles Top 100 Language Blogs
Translation Times
Yndigo
There’s Something About Translation
Musings From an Overworked Translator
The Greener Word
Mac For Translators
Masked Translator
Global Watchtower
Translate This!
WordCount
Language Log
Polly-Vous Francais
Chocolate and Zucchini

  • Some additional interesting blogs for translation professionals that we did not have time to discuss, but are worth checking out are:

Useful Tips for Translators at http://getdirectclient.blogspot.com/

Localization Project Management Blog – thoughtful discussions for the L10N PMs among us – http://www.1-for-all.com/l10n_blog/blogger.html

Words Without Borders Blog – http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/index.php?page=Blog – blog for an online magazine about international literature with many posts related to literary translation.

Episode 2: A review of the 2008 American Translators Association Conference

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
In our second episode of Speaking of Translation, we discuss what we learned attending the 49th American Translators Conference in November 2008 in Orlando, FL. Our goal is not to make you jealous if you were not able to attend, but to share valuable information. Even if you did attend the conference, since you can’t be in two places at one time, we think you will be glad you listened to this episode and the related interviews posted below.

With or without listening to our introductions and comments, you can read the intros to, and hear the pod-interviews below, to learn about how the economy is affecting the translation industry (you may be surprised), how to increase your income, how to ensure you get paid, and to learn more about new media for translators. In addition, hear from attendees who have specific tips on networking and why they like attending ATA Conferences. If you are interested in languages of limited diffusion, click on the related pod-interview below. You can also be a fly on the wall for a discussion between several translators as they touch on a wide-range of topics.

Due to the wealth of information we gleaned at the Conference that we wanted to share with our listeners, this episode ran over our goal of 10 minutes, clocking in at around 16:00. We promise to be shorter next time, but we hope you will enjoy the information presented here.

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Here are references and links mentioned in this episode of the podcast:

mcelroytranslation.com

www.allinportuguese.com

National Language Service Corps

Suite Française (in English) on Amazon.com and Suite Française (in French) on Amazon.fr

magistrad.com

www.lingualegal.com

sft.fr

www.paymentpractices.net

www.blog.wahlster.net

www.auroralanguage.com

www.africantranslation.com

www.twintranslations.com

www.icotext.com

Episode 2a: Interviews about the economy’s effect on the translation industry

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
This segment is a compilation of five interviews with economy-focused attendees at the American Translators Association annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, which took place November 5 – 8, 2008. This set of pod-interviews is 9 minutes of valuable information and insight.

– Renato Beninatto of Common Sense Advisory shares insights on the unexpected upswing that translation service providers are experiencing during the economic downturn. Renato’s blog following the translation industry can be found at www.globalwatchtower.com. In particular, check out a related post here: http://www.globalwatchtower.com/2008/11/18/lsps-ask-what-crisis.

– Jonathan Hine of Scriptor Services (French and Italian into English translation services) in Charlottesville, VA seconds Renato Beninatto’s impression of a definite positive jump in bookings since the economy in general took a historic turn for the worse.

– Danny Cruz from Federal News Service translation agency comments on the economy’s affect on federal government translation contracts.

– Jose Vidigal, a Brazilian Portuguese translator from Sao Paulo Brazil, has seen a downturn in business due to the dependence of the price-sensitive Brazilian translation market on US-based clients.

– David Russi, an English to Spanish translator from Boulder, CO, comments on the situation for US-based English to Spanish translators.

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Episode 2b: Realizing your earning potential: an interview with Chris Durban

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
Chris Durban is an French to English financial translator based in Paris, France. Listen to her tips given in a 5-minute interview on how to increase your enjoyment of translation while also increasing your earning power by leaps and bounds. This interview is 5 minutes long.

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Episode 2c: Ensuring payment for the work you do: an interview with Ted Wozniak of Payment Practices

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
This segment is an interview with Ted Wozniak of Payment Practices at the American Translators Association annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, which took place November 5 – 8, 2008.

– Ted Wozniak, a freelance translator himself, talks about how translators can ensure they get paid for the work they do for clients. His site, www.paymentpractices.net, serves as a valued resource for many translators as a place to assess their clients’ credit worthiness, thereby lowering the risk of non-payment. Listen to our 2-minute interview with Ted for tips on how to increase the likelihood you will receive payment from each and every one of your selected clients.

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Episode 2d: New media for translators: an interview with translation technology guru Michael Wahlster

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
Michael Wahlster, a translation technology guru who translates from English to German educates us in this 3:35-minute interview about how to use new technologies to benefit you and your business. He mentions blogging and Twitter. After listening to this pod-interview, you can read more of Michael’s wisdom on his blog at www.blog.wahlster.net.

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Episode 2e: Tips and tricks for working a conference, and impressions of the 2008 ATA conference

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
Nicole Lisa gives tips and tricks for working a conference in this pod-interview. She is a Spanish to English translator based in Brooklyn, New York. Check out her article on networking at her website at www.auroralanguage.com.

Mateo Reyes talks about how to present oneself to clients in the most optimized way. He also comments on the economy. He is an English to Spanish translator and can be found at www.fronteratranslations.com.

Marcelo Neves, a Portuguese translator visiting from Brazil also weighs in on his impressions of the benefits he gets as a third-time attendee at the ATA Conference. He can be reached at www.marceloneves.com.

This set of pod-interviews is 4:45 minutes in length. Click the audio player link to listen.

Episode 2f: An interview with Hailu Gtsadek of African Translation

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
For those of you who are interested in learning more about the challenges and benefits of working with languages of limited diffusion, listen to this in-depth interview of approximately 5 minutes with Hailu Gtsadek of African Translation (www.africantranslation.com).

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Episode 2g: Be a fly on the wall for a translator gabfest!

(originally aired on December 18, 2008)
Be a fly on the wall during a translator rap session by the pool bar at the Disney Hilton. Drop in to hear business hints, comments on the industry and be introduced to new people. Participating are your podcast hosts, Eve Bodeux and Corinne McKay, along with Judy Jenner, a translator specializing in German and Spanish, at www.twintranslations.com in Las Vegas, NV, Dierk Seeburg, an English to German translator and translation technology consultant from Arizona whose site is www.icotext.com. Karen Tkaczyk of mcmillantranslation.com, a French to English translator specializing in chemistry and the cosmetics industry, also speaks up. This gabfest is 10:30 minutes long.

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All of the above interviews (those in Episode 2) as one file
If you’d prefer to listen to all the above interviews in one session, this is the file for you. This file contains all the interviews above, but not our Episode 2 in which we give a more general overview of the conference and introduce these interviews (since we assume you already listened to it and couldn’t wait to hear all the interviews we described).

This file is exactly 40 minutes in duration. Once you have listened to it, you will be one smart translator, ready for whatever comes your way. (Well, almost anything.)

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Episode 1: An introduction to Speaking of Translation; the 2008 American Translators Association Conference

In this, our inaugural episode, we introduce ourselves (and you can find out more about us at the above tabs in this blog) as well as establish this podcast as a forum for discussing translation and the business of translation.

  • We review some of the interesting sessions that will take place at the American Translators Association annual conference, held this year from November 5 – 8 in Orlando, Florida.
  • In our Translation Tidbit for this episode, we also discuss some of the positive (yes, that’s positive) economic news for translators.

URLs mentioned in this episode:

Click the audio player link to listen

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