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My gosh! Has it really been so long since I last updated my blog? Shame on me. Well, let's see what's going on around here these days: - We have been doing some work (though a consulting firm) for OrganDonor.gov, which is a website with U.S. government information on organ and tissue donation. I like to say that this project forms part of our "Good Deed File" -- we are now doing work on behalf of anti-drinking, anti-smoking, and organ donation organizations. It makes me feel good to be able to positively impact someone's life. And I'm an organ donor myself!
- We have also begun a relationship with a company that makes modernly designed baby products. Coincidentally, these are the same items that I personally buy for my son, so showing interest in the topic is simple. In fact, I sent them a picture of David carrying their sippy cup. He must have sold them on our services!
- We are also currently translating a fascinating report on "Communication as a Factor of Change in the Information Society: Internet in the Audiovisual Context of Catalonia" from Catalan>English. We love doing Catalan translation - and there aren't many of us out there who do it.
- Last week we participated in Read Across America at Claremont Immersion Elementary School. This great annual event brings in adults to schools to read to elementary school kids, showing them how much fun books can be. I shared a table during breakfast with Walter Tejada, Chairman of the Arlington County Board, and with Roberto Salazar, Administrator of the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service (where my husband works as the Deputy CIO, coincidentally). Then I was off to read to 4th graders. They were treated to Tikki Tikki Tembo in Spanish. It is my pleasure to inform you that the Spanish translation of Tikki Tikki Tembo is Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo. Why mess with success? :-)
Finally, we're in for a wet weekend here in DC, which is fine, because north of here they're getting a foot of snow. I'll take rain any day over the white stuff! Have a great weekend, all. |
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Saturday, February 16, 2008
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Feeling slightly sentimental today for Barcelona, I decided to check out the website for the Mercat San Josep, also known as the Boqueria Market, which I used to frequent on a daily basis. ( http://www.boqueria.info/) I didn't expect to get a good laugh out of it, but I couldn't contain myself when I read, in English, about Mrs. Carme Goma, who works in the fish section of the market. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why you HAVE to use a human to translate your materials. It's all bad, but can anyone explain to me what the bold part means? CARME GOMA History of perseverance and character.. Born in Rialb's Barony (Lleida). At the age of 12 it(he,she) decided that it she did not want to work for the inheritor of he house and went away to live through Terrassa, where she went to work on the city's market. She married at 19 years and moved to live to Barcelona. Since then she remains in Boqueria. After much to sweat she bought a centenary cod shop "Everything was of wrought iron, with a few very nice rosettes that now the Ramona has in he shop; there were pikes of marble to put the cod in water and already this one, because cold-storage room had not " he cod came from Iceland, more yellow, drier, was disburdening in Bilbao. Now it comes with three rooms of treatment, more honeyed, more elaborated. Carme is a specialist in cod and in demonstrating that it is possible to go far in life with " ... blood, sweat and of everything ... " as she says. |
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Saturday, February 09, 2008
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The wheels of American justice are SQUARE. Yesterday morning, I went to court to finally get a judgment against Emmie for $242. I was so excited to finally have my moment in front of the judge; I had even written a small summary of the facts to read in order to make sure I said everything I wanted to say. Unfortunately, justice was blind, and in this case, deaf and DUMB. To recap: when I first went to court in December, I was told by the judge that he couldn't hear my case because Emmie hadn't been served yet. It had been 6 weeks since I filed the case, but service was taking forever, and even though I had informed her that she was to be there on December 14th, she hadn't received the official papers telling her that, and so we couldn't litigate. So we set a new date for March, which would ensure that service had been performed by then. At Christmas time, you'll recall (if you read this blog frequently), Santa Claus gave me a wonderful gift of a return receipt card indicating that Emmie had been served with the papers. So I contacted the court immediately and moved the court date up to February 8th, the first day available. They told me to send her a courtesy letter telling her of the new date, which I did. Two weeks ago, I called the court and confirmed that we were on for February 8th, the court confirmed, and so I showed up yesterday with very high hopes. Apparently the court gave me the WRONG information. I was supposed to have re-served her with new papers after the December misfire. Paid my $29 again to have her served (out of state) and waited another 2 or 3 months or as long as it took. And because I didn't do that, there was no way to litigate at all -- no matter when -- because she hadn't been served with timely papers 10 days before the court was to happen (that's the law). UNFAIR!!! And despite the fact I had informed Emmie to be there on the 8th (even though she didn't show up, which I expected), the judge said she couldn't do anything and was sorry. So I put an end to it. No, not to my search for justice. Just to my case in Loudoun County General Circuit Court. I asked the judge to dismiss it "without prejudice", which meant that I could bring suit again at a later date, if I wished. Then I got on the horn and called my friends at Receivable Management Services. You know, the debt collectors. Had them send over the form for me to get them started. And Monday she'll get her first call from my friends, informing her that her account is now in collections. But her account is now worth a heck of a lot more, because now I'm charging for what she owes me, court costs, mileage, postage, and MY TIME SPENT on this matter. 30 hours at $30/hour over the past 10 months. Emmie, you could have paid $189 on time. Now you owe me $1239.04. I told you I play to win! |
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Monday, February 04, 2008
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This just came across a Listserv I participate in. "The XXX [Non-Profit organization] is searching for bilingual Spanish speakers to provide live translation at an immigration summit. Translators are needed on Sunday, Feb. 10 from 2-8 p.m., Monday, Feb. 11 from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 12 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Nearly 100 pro-immigrant organizations will be at the XXX. The job pays $100 for a full day and $50 for half a day, plus meals. If you can help out, please contact me at ... [etc.]" Frankly, I was offended. Pained, really. These are organizations that NEED the assistance of professionals like me, and here they are, offering $100 for a 12 hour day. $8/hour. Shameful, really. So I wrote back. I couldn't help myself. "Just saw your request for interpretation on "amigas vecinas" and thought I would drop you a line. I have to be honest with you that this request saddens me. I am a court certified interpreter and owner of a translation service here in Arlington. Simultaneous interpretation, what I specialize in, is a skill that you must be TRAINED to do. It is very taxing, and we work hard to maintain the quality that the client deserves. Interpreters study for years to be able to perform their job accurately and professionally. We do this full time and must eat and pay our mortgage like everyone else. While we all understand the demands of running a non-profit organization, the fact that you are offering $100 for a 12 hour day, in essence, $8/hour, is honestly an insult to our skill. Normal rates in the DC area for trained simultaneous interpreters run on the low end from $50 to nearly $100 PER HOUR for highly technical material. What you offer is the equivalent of leaving a waiter a 2% tip, or offering an attorney $20/hour to litigate a case for you - it is unrealistic and will not earn you any good will from those of us who work in this industry. I don't honestly expect you to be able to afford $400-500/day, which would be reduced rates for non-profit organizations, but anyone who would take you up on your offer of $8/hour is certain to make your organization look very, very bad. Please try to find the funds to hire professionals next time. You will be very happy you did. Regards, Sandra" I haven't heard back and don't expect to, but I feel better having said what I said. As far as I'm concerned, this organization should just call a spade a spade and ask for free volunteers instead of offering such a pittance. They'd get the same quality and save themselves the $100. |
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
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Last night I had the honor of attending the Smithsonian Latino Center / National Air and Space Museum's reception and screening of the documentary "The Forgotten Eagles", honoring the veterans of the 201st Mexican Fighter Squadron. It was really touching to meet and speak with these men who, though time seems to have passed them by, were crucial to helping the free world fight against Japan in the Pacific Theater during WWII. There are currently fewer than 20 of these heroes left -- from the more than 200 who participated in the effort. The event very much reminded me of my grandfather, Seymour, who was an x-ray technician in France and Germany in WWII. Such unadulterated patriotism is unheard of nowadays. I was also honored to attend because this event marked the launch of the "Latino Patriots in American Military History" publication, a 56 page bilingual book translated by Alboum & Associates that will be distributed to more than 8,000 educators nationwide for use in their high school classrooms. It looks really good, and the best part is that our name is prominently listed on page 5 as the translators of the text. We love taking responsibility for our successes! We are happy to have the Smithsonian Latino Center as our client. They must be pleased, too: Emily Key, the project manager for this publication, told me last night that there's another publication to translate coming up in the fall. Que bien! |
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One of our clients has been discussing a large project with us over the past couple days. They've got some concerns, though: "One final, nagging question that [we] have as we approach translation projects such as this -- larger, more "writing" oriented projects -- is how can we be assured that the translation is accurate and that sentence grammar, punctuation, etc. are acceptable and correct in the translated language (i.e., if we can't read the language, we wouldn't find out until an international client reads and reports an error). Anything you call tell us about the process that will make us more confident in your approach or, for that matter, the approach of any translator? Seems like it could be a vicious cycle of checking and rechecking." Here is my response: "That's an excellent question you pose, and one that many clients don't stop to think about before they get started. I'm glad you asked it. I'd like to address your points by first talking about "accuracy". One of the great myths in the translation field is that translators can translate anything. This, of course, is thoroughly untrue. Translators specialize in subjects just like anyone else, and so the first rule of thumb in picking a good translator is to find someone who is comfortable working in the your specific field, because they will have a better handle on the current terminology and technology. Nevertheless, despite the fact that they have a reasonable handle on terms, the people who know the field best are those who are working day to day in it, so it always helps if the client has an in-country specialist available for consultation if a term comes up that the translator needs assistance with. If this is not possible, there are many outlets on the Internet where the translator can pose his terminology doubts and receive advice from other working translators. A good translator is an excellent researcher. Accuracy should not be mistaken, however, for "stylistic variations". We all have different writing styles, and one is not necessarily better than another, as long as the writing is concise and clear and the same idea is expressed in both versions. In addition, it is of the utmost importance to use a native translator for projects. This helps to ensure proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. To give you an example, I have a friend who spent the first 12 years of his life in the US, and then his mother moved the family to South America. He is now in his late 30s and speaks fluent English and flawless, native Spanish. You would never know he was raised for 12 years in the States until you look at his writing. He capitalizes the days of the week in Spanish. Lunes, Martes, Miercoles [with an accent - Blogger gives me some odd letters when I try to put one here], Jueves... a dead giveaway that he's really good, but not perfect. You need to use someone who grew up in a language and has internalized all those picky rules they teach you in elementary school. That's important. So, then, what's the process? After selecting someone who we feel is going to do an excellent job on the text, we go ahead and assign the project. We expect the translator to get back to us during the process with any questions or concerns there may be about the text so that we can pass those along to you for clarification. Once the translator completes the translation, we send it to a similarly qualified editor for checking. This editor will compare the document against the original to make sure that nothing has been left out, and will also read through the text to see that the terminology has been translated correctly. They will complete their check using track changes. The third step is to send the document BACK to the original translator for commenting on the editor's comments and one last check to make sure everything looks good. Then the text will be finalized and delivered to the client. This is the proper technique for translation, editing, and proofing (TEP). Lots of companies out there will offer a lower price because they deliver the text fresh from the translator without any external editing. This is terribly risky, and not a technique that we employ unless the client specifically indicates that they are interested in a "draft translation". Otherwise, the product we deliver is polished enough for you to feel confident in using it "straight out of the box". And in the horribly drastic event that we have to use it, we carry Errors & Omissions insurance, which is the liability insurance for our industry. I hope that's clarified your questions a little bit. Feel free to ask more. A lot of my job is client education. By making sure we're all on the same page, it ensures an excellent working relationship." I hope they choose us for this translation project! I'm confident we'd do a great job for them. |
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Monday, December 24, 2007
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There is a Santa Claus, yes indeedy! Today I just got back the green return receipt requested card that indicates that my favorite gal in Pennsylvania -- or her grandmother, at least -- has been served! Yay! Wednesday morning first thing I'm calling the court to move our date up. None of this waiting till March bit, nope! I'm hoping for January sometime! Take that, deadbeat non-payer girl. Huh! |
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Monday, December 17, 2007
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I've been having problems all afternoon with my internet. The email has been working fine, but I can't open most of the websites I want to visit. First I thought it was my router, but rebooting that didn't work. Rebooting the computer didn't work either. So I thought I would call Verizon to find out what was going on. Except that because I couldn't open most websites, I couldn't get to Verizon's. Go figure. I had a friend look up the phone number and I called. Went through their dumb phone tree, was put on hold, told it would be approximately 9 minutes, and then was promptly hung up on. So I called back. Was put on hold again and told it would be 11 minutes, and then was hung up on. So I called back and this time I pressed 2 for Spanish. And after about 5 minutes, I was speaking to someone-- named "Enrique", though I'd swear his real name was surely "Henry"-- at Verizon. I found it very ironic that here I was, a non-native Spanish speaker, talking to Henry AKA "Enrique", also clearly a non-native Spanish speaker, on the Verizon Spanish line. Viva America! Anyhow, he told me they were having DNS problems and the problem was slated to be fixed by 6:30 EST. "If you still see it's not working after that," he said, "call us back". It's 8:40 EST and it's still not working. (It's a miracle I could make it to the blogger page. An oasis of calm in the middle of webpage chaos.) So I called Verizon again. The English line. I was put on hold. Estimated wait time, 11 minutes. And I waited. And waited. And waited. Twenty-eight minutes. That's when my phone began to beep. Low battery. I held on for as long as I could, something in the realm of 32 minutes, before the battery on the phone died. And I still hadn't been helped!!! What horrible customer service! (Or lack thereof.) Now I can't even call back the Spanish line because my phone is dead. Lovely. |
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Well, Friday I went to Loudoun County General District Court to sue my non-paying client. I was hoping to get matters resolved at that point, but unfortunately, the wheels of justice move very slowly. Despite the fact that the paperwork to get her served was submitted over 5 weeks ago, she still has not been served. Never mind that I have sent her the paperwork directly, or that I have emailed her three times to remind her of the date (one of the emails even included a scan of all the documentation). She hasn't been served officially because they're really really slow, and the judge wouldn't let me proceed. So he rescheduled for March 14th at 9:00 a.m. I guess that's not the end of the world. That gives me three months to get a collections agency to work on her. If they can't find her / collect from her / annoy her enough that she pays just to get them off her back, then I'll go back to court in March, and by then she'll have been served and we can get this thing going. I have the time, I have the experience, I have the resources. She's not going to win. |
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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Repeat after me: Being Bilingual Does Not a Translator Make. Now I know this will come as a shock to some people, but it's the truth. I mean gee, I've got two hands with ten fingers -- why would someone assume that I can play the piano? Or be a surgeon? Translation requires specialized training and lots and lots of practice. I say this because today I received an email from a translation agency in Colorado -- a sole proprietorship -- which claims to specialize in Spanish<>English work. In fact, the owner states to be "bilingual - bicultural" in his CV. Yet the Spanish version of this person's website is riddled with errors which clearly indicate his unsuitability for translating into Spanish. I suppose if you didn't speak the language, you wouldn't know the difference, but I certainly do. And what's more, his holiday greeting email today had the "translation" of his English greeting, and it was so sadly incorrect, I was pushed to post this blog entry. Here's his Spanish for you: "De parte de todos en XXX, les deciamos lo mejor en estos dias festivos. Conociendolo a usted a hecho este ano del 2007 un ano grandioso y esperamos sinceramente que el proximo ano del 2008 sea mucho mejor. Para su prosperidad, felicidad y su salud en 2008!" This is a professional Spanish translator for you? I beg to differ. I know it's scroogish of me to say so, and certainly here on my blog, but this guy should quit advertising that he translates into Spanish unless he gets himself a good editor. Bah humbug!! |
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
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I got a translation from a client today. She asked if I could get it back to her by COB tomorrow. No problem, I thought, but I really can have it to her by 9am tomorrow -- start of business. Which led me to wonder why you can say COB, but you can't say SOB. Client: When can you have this for me? Me: I can have it for you tomorrow SOB. Client: Who are you calling an SOB?!?!?!! Hmmmm. I guess that doesn't work, nope. |
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Monday, November 05, 2007
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I was talking to our friend on Friday about my lawsuit against the non-payer I mention below. He's a lawyer in Cleveland. He told me about how Wal-Mart takes the same approach. If someone brings suit against them for something, be it frivolous or not, Wal-Mart fights the battle to the bitter end. Maybe they wind up spending $30,000 or $40,000 in legal fees in the process, but by fighting (and winning) the lawsuit, they discourage other people from filing suit. People know that if they sue Wal-Mart, they're in for a very protracted war. There is no easy money to be had. I'm in the same situation. I'm suing this person, but maybe word will get around that Alboum & Associates is no pushover, and not to pull (or try to pull) any fast ones because they will come back and slap them in the face. |
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Saturday, November 03, 2007
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Yesterday I brought suit against someone in small claims court. This is something I had never done before, but it was a necessary step in a long process of trying to collect on an unpaid bill from June. My client has insisted for months that she will pay me; she even states that she sent payment to me twice (neither of which arrived). Now, we have a court date for December 14, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. in Leesburg, Virginia. My honest feeling is that she won't pay me between now and then. Nor do I believe she will come from Pennsylvania to Leesburg (180 miles) to defend herself. But if she does not pay the civil judgment that will be made against her (because there is no way she can win this one-- I have enough evidence against her to choke a horse), it may stay on her credit record for up to *7* years and affect her when she applies for a credit card, an apartment, a car, a school loan, or even a job. As far as I'm concerned, that's a much worse fate than shelling out the money owed, which in this case is $183.00 + $59 in court/service fees + 6% interest beginning in June. I'll update you on things as they develop. |
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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 In honor of my little boy's 1st birthday this past October 18th, I am posting an updated photo. He is quite the charmer now! |
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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Hot off the presses. Amazing. Shameful. -----Original Message----- From: affable [mailto:info@affableconsulting.com] Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 11:13 AM To: ProZ.com Member Subject: Catalan>English 15000words Hi, We are looking for a team of Translators to translate 15000 words of Catalan text into English by October 30th 2007. Rate : 0.03USD /sw You must use TRADOS/SDLX. Files will also work with SDLX Lite which can be downloaded from http://www.sdlx.com/ (30MB Software). If you feel interested Kindly contact with your CV and atleast one work reference to hr@affableconsulting.comA small test translation might be required. Regards, Affable Consulting Services --- My response (obviously): -----Original Message----- From: Sandra Alboum [mailto:sandra@alboum.com] Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 11:16 AM To: 'affable'; 'hr@affableconsulting.com'Subject: RE: Catalan>English 15000words Hi, You must be kidding. $0.03/word? That's $450 dollars for 15,000 words -- 5 days of work. $90/day, 8 hours of work - $11/hour? Are you SERIOUS?! I could work at McDonald's and make that. And they would feed me lunch, too. Regards, Sandra ------------------- Sandra Alboum Alboum & Associates Language Services 571-241-3060 (cell) * 408-668-3119 (e-fax) sandra@alboum.com Our new website: http://www.alboum.com Our blog: http://www.alboum.com/blog/blog.aspx |
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Thursday, October 18, 2007
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My gosh. It has been so long since I've blogged. I could make excuses that I have been busy with a new house (we moved on September 13th) or with the baby (David's birthday is today! He's 1!), or even that work has been non-stop for the last 2 months. And frankly, they'd all be true. But that's still no excuse, so here I am. Back at it. We received really great news today from a new client of ours, the American Press Institute ( http://americanpressinstitute.org/). They had received our name as a recommendation from the Head of Libraries of Arlington County. We translated a Power Point presentation for them that was going to be given at the Inter-American Press Association General Assembly in Miami this week (see http://www.sipiapa.org/default.cfm This General Assembly is a *big deal*, with big names speaking at it. The translation of the Newspaper Next: A Year's Journey in 22 Minutes presentation had to be perfect. The feedback on this translation arrived today from Steve Gray, Managing Director of Newspaper Next. He had asked someone how the translation of the piece was, and relates "BTW, I asked him how good the Spanish was on the translated slides. He said it was quite good -- in fact, he said he was surprised at how good it was." That's what we like to see! Quality product, happy clients. What we *don't* like right now is HP. My desktop computer, only 10 months old, had to be sent back to HP for them to analyze what was wrong with it. See, I got "in home service", but it turns out that it's only "in home" when they can figure out what the problem is. The problem with mine was that it didn't like booting up half the time, the audio card in the back was dead, as were a couple USB ports (couldn't find my backup drive, which every other computer I own found just fine), among others. I mean, I really think I got a lemon. Did I mention that when I plugged the machine in for the first time in January, I turned it on and a puff of smoke came out of the back? The power supply was fried. That was just the beginning. Anyhow, all I wanted was a new machine. I had been able to do a backup of my important stuff -- I just wanted HP to admit it was a lemon and send me a new machine. But they refused to do that until they determined that my machine was in bad shape. And in order to do that, I had to send it to them. Well, now it's back in route to me, and I should have it tomorrow. The third-level supervisor I was dealing with on this matter told me that if anything is still wrong with it, they would replace it. So I am going to scrutinize the machine veeeerrrrry carefully. Because I don't trust that it's fixed. It is a lemon, after all. And I'm sure it'll break again...! So here we have one example of a great product and a happy client ... and a not-so-great product and a not-so-happy client. (I guess I'd rather hate my computer and have my client love me than vice versa, right?) |
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So sorry it's taken me so long to update the blog. We have decided to rent out our house -- the market was just too horrible and we were just too worried about covering our mortgage payment. Anyhow, I just spotted this job on ProZ.com. The ad itself is in Spanish, so I will translate. -- IMMEDIATE AVAILABILITY This job consists of filling in an Excel spreadsheet with the translation and definition of a list of words classified by their difficulty. This translation is untraditional; it is like creating a dictionary. The process is slow. Each word takes between 1 and 2 minutes. There are many instructions and directions and it is imperative that you understand them to do the job properly. We are looking for meticulous people who like to discover definitions in a dictionary and are clear beforehand that the rate, given the time it takes to do each word, is low. This is good for people who are available and wish to entertain themselves by learning, with the satisfaction of feeling proud of their work. The rate is $0.077 / word + a bonus to be specified after those working on this project have been selected. All explanations necessary will be given and a small, paid test must be done which, after corrections, will be added to the group. The total volume is variable depending on the languages. Your availability will help determine how much you'll do. [And then, at the bottom: 4000 words] -- Now let me get this right. 4000 words, which will take me between 1 and 2 minutes each. Let's say it's 1:30 each. That's 6000 minutes. And the total pay is 4000 words x 0.077 / each = $308.00. So I'm going to make $308 for working 6000 minutes, or 100 hours. $308 for working 100 hours. That's $3.08/hour. Oh yeah, that'll give me the satisfaction of doing a good job. BECAUSE IT WON'T PUT FOOD ON MY PLATE OR A ROOF OVER MY HEAD. Do these people think we do charity work?! How disgusting. |
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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
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I am really angry this morning. We are in the process of trying to sell our house and there were these two brothers from Ohio who were seriously looking at it. Brother #1 came to see it once, then Brother #2 saw it three times (once at 10:30 at night - our neighbor spotted him looking at the house from the outside), and then the brothers came together on Monday. Brother #1 drove from Cleveland. Brother #2 flew from Columbus. They invested a lot of time and money in looking at our townhouse and we were sure they were finally going to put an offer in yesterday. Well, yesterday came and went. And this morning, our agent told me on the phone that the brothers decided not to put an offer in on the house. They were apparently hesitant about buying a house together, and weren't so sure that our house was going to appreciate in the long term, which is ludicrous. So now we're back to square one. We have to figure out if we want to drop the price of the house, and if so, when. We have to figure out how long we can float the two house payments. My husband even suggested that maybe we should get out of the purchase contract of the new house, which I reminded him would be an expensive and foolhardy proposition. I can't understand why our house hasn't sold by now. We're well-priced, in an amazing location, and the house is only 6 years old, so it's in great shape. So if anyone wants to buy a wonderful townhouse in the heart of Arlington, here's the link to the listing: http://www.homesdatabase.com/AR6471056Thanks. |
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It's always fun to google yourself and see where you're mentioned on the web. I did that tonight, and to my surprise, found an article on a roundtable I participated on over at American University nearly a year ago. I had no clue anyone even listened to me, yet here I am - singled out from all but one of the other panelists - in the AU Weekly magazine. Pretty cool. http://veracity.univpubs.american.edu/weeklypast/032106/032106_roundtable.htmlI think it's important to talk with language students about what they can do with their degree. I, too, graduated with the dreaded "liberal arts" degree, which means you know "poco de mucho y mucho de poco", which is to say "a little about a lot and a lot about practically nothing", to use a rather free translation. But the fact is that speaking Spanish is what got me jobs. Consider my first job out of college, working for Aspen Systems on the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) contract. It was the mid-90s, and I got the job because I "knew about computers and spoke Spanish". I believe we were working on Pentium 2's at the time, or some equivalent -- they were REALLY slow! -- but I knew how to use Microsoft Office, and I spoke another language, and that was enough for them. Never mind that I had no idea about criminal justice, and didn't really care at the time. It was language (computing and foreign) that got me a job. My second job was because of Spanish, too - at the Environmental Technology Network of the Americas (ETNA), administered by DevTech. We were trying to sell environmental technology solutions (landfill, clean water, etc.) to Latin America. I was the communications specialist... and I was communicating in Spanish. That's why I got the job. It wasn't because I was particularly interested in the environment (which I am, don't get me wrong - I recycle!). Again, it was my language skills that got me the job. These two jobs came before I got my master's degree in Spanish linguistics. And as I told the students, a liberal arts degree is not the kiss of death if you can combine it with a marketable skill. Languages are just that skill. They can take you really exciting places. Just look where they got me! |
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A job posted recently on ProZ.com. $18/hour for interpretation services in NYC? Parking itself can cost $25/hour!!! If this company is so darn prosperous, they should share the wealth. SHAME ON THEM. Job: Spanish Interpreters Needed in NYC! http://www.proz.com/job/186194Posted: 7:13pm GMT Vetting and notifications sent at: 8:18pm GMT Job type: Interpreting Job Languages: Spanish to English Job description: We are looking for Spanish Interpreters, $18/hour (2hr minimum) Spanish Interpretation Services: We are a prosperous full-service language and communication skills training organization. We are seeking experienced Spanish Interpreters to join our prosperous translation and interpreting department. Spanish interpreter MUST have at least two years experience. Qualified candidates will be hired on a freelance basis. This is a magnificentopportunity to align with a new and flourishing field. All interested and serious parties please email us your cover letter and resume. Resume must reflect your 2 yrs experience) *DR / Puerto Rico dialects are strongly encouraged to apply. *Candidates familiar with legal terminology are strongly encouraged toapply. All interested and serious parties should email a resume and cover letter to us immediately stating why you are right for the position. Thank you. Compensation: $18 hourly Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster. Please, no phone calls about this job! Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests. Volume and pricing: 18.000 USD per hour Payment method: Bank check Payment 30 days after date of order. |
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I normally don't like to copy emails that I get from translators wishing to work with me here on my blog, but this one screamed out to me. Granted, he doesn't claim to translate into English, but here's someone who doesn't have the sense to get his cover letter edited by a native English speaker before sending it to a potential employer. He also brags that he can translate 6-8,000 words a day, which is 2 - 2.5 times what a regular translator produces per day. But the best part of him is that he conjugates! :-) Good luck, J.P. From: JP [mailto:jp's gmail address] Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:23 AM Subject: Application as a Freelancer Translator - Italian Hello, my name is JP, I'm a 23 Italian male. I studied English, Spanish and German at my language High school. I am a Science of Information Engineering graduate. For this reason I can conjugate at best language and technologies/technical knowledges. My work experience is: [deleted for privacy] My experience in translations is: [also deleted for privacy] I'm a translator since 3 years. My daily capability is 6000/8000 words. I can use SDLX and Trados very very well. I'm very expert with Tageditor. In attachment my Curriculum Vitae. If you have any question please feel free to contact me. JP |
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Sometimes these scam emails make me giggle. Here is a funny one I got yesterday. The first paragraph is a hoot: From: Peter Eric [peter_45_eric@hotmail.com] To: Cc: Subject: Your reply needed Good day, I am Peter Eric of the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons (ICEP), I am a British. I have brought to you what I believe you might not be aware of and please for the best interest of the both of us, treat as secret and urgent. ICEP is charged with the responsibility of finding bank accounts in Switzerland belonging to non-Swiss indigenes, which have remained dormant since World War II. However, since July of 1997, the Swiss Banker's Association published a list of dormant accounts and security deposits by non-Swiss citizens in Asia Europe and Africa. These accounts/security deposits had been dormant since the end of World War II (May 9, 1945) and some since 1990. Most belonged to Holocaust victims and some to corrupt Africa leaders. Website: www.swissbankclaims.com http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9902/09/germany.holocaust I am in possession of a $20million dollar deposit, which has been unclaimed and dormant, the depositor is now dead and has no next of kin. I want to know if you will assist me to safeguard this fund, I will give you the full details and procedure when I receive your reply. Sincerely Peter Eric. -- While the "ICEP" does, indeed, exist ... I am quite sure that "Peter Eric", "a British", is not on it. Here's a good link with info on the Nigerian 419 scam: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/scams/419.asp. I'm almost sad to give up my share of the $20 million dollar deposit. To think. I could have retired to my private island with my riches... |
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Spanish translation agencies have a reputation for paying very little and making you wait a long time to get your payment, but I have just received an offer from an agency in Granada, Spain that wanted me to do a full day's worth of work on a "technical financial" document for around $330. Not very good pay, but the most insulting part of it was when I looked at their translator guidelines: 1. They pay between 60 and 90 days after invoicing. So you invoice on July 1st, you don't see the money until at least September and maybe October. 2. They can pay you 10 days early (wow!) if you'll let them keep 8% of your invoice amount...! So let me get this right. I do a whole day's worth of work for $330 and have to wait until the fall to get paid, or you can pay me even less and I *still* have to wait for the fall? It's shameful. No one would go to a dentist and say, "I need a cleaning now. But just so you know, I don't plan to pay you till the fall." No one would go to the grocery and say, "Thanks for the food. I'll pay you for it in 90 days..." Why do people think this is acceptable? |
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We had a nice picnic yesterday at Gravelly Point, getting buzzed by airplanes from National Airport every few minutes. Took a great shot of David, and thought I would post it. (It's been a while since I've posted a shot of my little man.) Enjoy!  |
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It has just occurred to me that I never blogged about my interpretation work for Legal Momentum, a new client of mine ( http://www.legalmomentum.org/). They "advance the rights of women and girls by using the power of the law and creating innovative public policy". My work, however, was done in support of their "Family Initiative". Established in 2003 by Legal Momentum, the Family Initiative aims to "build support for greater public investment in quality care and early education, including afterschool care". As the mother of an eight-month old son, I know that their cause is a very worthy cause, and one that I am happy to support! This is why I donated a portion of my interpreting services to Legal Momentum's Family Initiative for their June 4th Town Hall Meeting at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale. More information on the program can be found at http://www.legalmomentum.org/legalmomentum/programs/familyinitiative/. Panelists participating in the event: (L to R): Miriam Calderon, Associate Director of the Policy Analysis Center for the Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation, National Council of La Raza Leslye Orloff, Associate Vice President, Legal Momentum, and Director of Immigrant Women Program Robert Dugger, Managing Director, Tudor Investment Corporation Kathy Rodgers, President, Legal Momentum Moderator (front): Mario Sol, Television and Radio Anchor, Univision and Hispanic Communications Network  |
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Warning: this has nothing to do with translation. So I can't get the finale of the Sopranos out of my head today. I keep thinking about it - over and over - and the more I think and the more I examine, the more I realize how beautiful and perfectly clever it was. I was one of the people who thought Tony would get whacked in this last episode; so was my husband. But when he didn't, and when the show ended mid-scene like it did, I immediately laughed out loud and decried its brilliance to my husband, who turned to me and grumbled that it was a total cop out. But I beg to differ. If Tony had been killed, the half of the people who thought he'd be arrested would be upset and everyone would have said, "Gosh, you saw *that* coming...". Likewise, had he been arrested, half of the people would have said, "You knew that was going to happen..." and everyone else would have been upset. But who figured that he would be neither whacked nor jailed-- he simply was no longer, just like the show. I love it. It made my week. |
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New type of scam alert..! They send you a bad "wire", and you send money via Western Union to someone. *sigh* Who falls for these?! From: Sydney Car Centre [mailto:aybugqxtkjo@kellychen.com] Sent: None To: Translations Subject: Our Company Has Announced Additional Openings For New Employees. While we may have high expectations of our associates, we also give them high rewards. Imagine being part of a stable organization with a sterling reputation - a place where the Sydney Car Centre is an integral part of all that we do. With our car centre personality, you'll not just succeed - you'll thrive. And, with our strong commitment to promoting from within, you'll definitely enjoy your rise to the top. Today the Sydney Car Centre is looking for an industrious regional assistant to fasten the process of the delivery of customer payments to the suppliers. The position offered is a part-time job, and will only require from you to be available for 1-2 hours a day. As a regional assistant, you will be supposed to operate with the payments from those customers, based in your country. You will be expected to accept 2-3 transactions to your bank account every week, make certain calculations about every transaction (you will be precisely instructed about it), & transfer the funds to the suppliers by means of western Union/Money Gram less your fee & the charges of the Western Union/Money Gram. You will be continuously communicating with the manager from the head office, who will instruct you & give advice regarding every new payment. The ideal candidate will be industrious, goal-oriented person, with the availability of a personal/business bank account suitable to be used for the company needs. Knowledge of English, computer literacy and sociability are appreciated. The company guarantees to pay NET 10% fee out of the amount of every payment you dealt with and to provide you with the regular income & flexible schedule. All the related expenses you might have (like the Western Union/Money Gram chargers, related expenses on traveling) are covered by the company. The more detailed information is available on our web-site http://vacancy-61511.SCCENTRE.HK/vacancies.php, where you can fill in the on-line application form for this position. We would be glad to welcome you in our team! We are looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible! Yours sincerely, Eliza Lundy |
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Hot off the presses! My colleague, an excellent Italian translator, just sent me this regarding the prior blog post: "What! You don't want this school to send you an intern for 3-months or let you pay for someone's tuition? Shocking. Interesting to note that if you happen to go to their homepage, you'll see that the university is battling an array of image problems and the Repubblica is questioning whether the degrees it issues are worth the paper they're written on... " All of this of course makes me want to sponsor this degree *even more*! |
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I just received this email. It's interesting to see who wants me to contribute money! Dear Sandra Alboum, My name is Chiara Di Giorgio. I am in charge of the secretariat for the masters of art in localization that will be held at the Libera Universita degli Studi "San Pio V" (LUSPIO) in Rome as of September 2007. This program is the first of its kind in Southern Europe and is designed to forge highly specialized localization professionals in order to provide them with the skills and competencies needed to work in the localisation industry and meet the needs of the most important software vendors. The program will focus to the main aspects of software globalization, internationalization and localization, project management and the basics of entrepreneurship. It is built around practice-oriented teaching. The majority of the learning activities will be carried out by working on a real localization project. The course will include seminars, lectures and workshops given by guest speakers. Given the course's uniqueness and specificity, we are looking for financial and technological support. We will appreciate it if you accept to be a sponsor. We offer three different sponsorship options, which are still under development: Full: The sponsor will pay for having its name and logo displayed in every message released and on the diploma, and will be offered a seat in the course council; this will enable the sponsor to promote specific subjects in the program and for the final dissertation research; Intermediate: The sponsor will offer a set of software licences for the course and have the opportunity to host a student for an internship period of at least three months; its name and logo will appear in the course page of the faculty's website; Basic: The sponsor will offer a scholarship/study grant. I will get back to you in the next few days after the faculty council and the university board have expressed their position. Please let me know if you are interested in receiving a copy of the course program, and feel free to ask any questions and make any suggestions about the sponsorship program. Chiara Di Giorgio Segreteria organizzativa Master in Localizzazione Universita San Pio V http://www.luspio.ittel. +39 (339) 6757582 |
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Yesterday was a tough day. We had placed an offer on a house, and were not only outbid (by somewhere in the $10-20,000 range), but the winning bidders also waived the appraisal requirement (crazy!) and the home inspection (crazier!!). We weren't willing to put down nearly a million dollars without knowing what was behind our walls. I guess other people don't mind. However, I did get a good laugh in the evening from a Latino phone call... *ring ring* Me: Hello? Caller: Hi, I need a translation of a driver's license. Me: You need to fax a copy of it to me or send me a copy via email, and send the payment via postal mail. I'll mail you back the translation by Priority mail once I get your payment. [Long discussion about how to spell my last name for my email address.] Caller: Okay, so I'm going to send you my North Carolina license to translate. Me: Wait, your license is from North Carolina? Caller: Yes. Me: It's in English. It doesn't need to be translated. Caller: No? Me: No. It's already in English...! Caller: I didn't know that. Ridiculous. Maybe I should have translated it into Swahili for him, just for kicks. He obviously never would have noticed... |
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-----Original Message----- From: thomas [mailto:tokosun7@jmail.co.za] Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 3:05 PM Subject: FOR OUR BENEFIT My Dear Friend, I have been directed to contact youafter due consideration and consultation to assist us in a proposition for the benefit of both parties involved (Your side and mine). We have an enormous amount of funds that we are hoping to put into a veryviable venture in your country with your assistance. As soon as I receive aresponse from you regarding your willingness to assist us with this proposition, I will proceed immediately to provide you with further details about how we intend to make you our overseas partner. Bear in mind, this does not have anything to do with Terrorism or MoneyLaundering. I will await your urgent response. Regards, Mr. Thomas Okosun [My response] Dear Thomas, I'm so relieved to hear that it has nothing to do with terrorism or money laundering. I wouldn't want to have a hand in any of that. Of course, it doesn't have anything to do with bank fraud, wire fraud, fraudulent checks or money orders, advance payment scams, or anything of that lot, does it? Because those are illegal, too, and you *know* I'd report you and your friends to the FBI, right? Please don't bother to write back. I already relayed your email address to your ISP to be shut down for possible scam activity. Regards, Sandra [I guess he listened to me. He didn't write back.] |
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I had a rather disheartening email exchange this evening with a company in San Francisco that wrote me looking for medical interpreters in the DC area. Their representative wrote that this agency is "diligent in paying our interpreters competitive rates, on time". She then went on to tell me about their rates. "The payment ranges, however it is normally $25-$30.00 per hour with a two hour minimum. This means that your appointment may last 15 minutes and you will get paid for two hours. Higher pay is given to interpreters who are certified. Some appointments (not all) compensate you for mileage by paying anywhere from $0.25 - $0.35 per mile." Pardon me, but $25-30/hour is *not* a competitive rate in many places, especially for an experienced professional. I was almost offended. So I wrote her back and indicated what a "competitive rate" in Washington DC was, making sure to indicate that around here we charge for mileage on *all* assignments because the traffic is so bad. She wrote back, said she understood, and asked if I was interested in doing some phone interpreting for them. I said "Sure, tell me more. What does it pay?" "Our rates are as follows: $0.40 per minute, 5 minutes minimum each call, if the call takes place between 10pm and 8am you will receive $0.50 per minute, 5 minutes minimum each call, if you are certified you will receive a higher rate," she wrote. Let me get this right -- you're going to pay me a $2.00 minimum a call? That won't even buy me a grande skim hot chocolate with whip at Starbucks! $0.40/minute works out to $24/hour. $24/hour! Or, if you're a night owl, you can make a whopping $30/hour. Can you imagine? $30/hour to sit by your phone at 3 a.m.? The hourly pay, of course, is only if you're actually working, so you could be sitting by your phone at 3 a.m. and get nothing, and now you're up in the middle of the night for free! Absolutely ridiculous. I wrote her back and told her I wasn't interested. As a friend of mine said, "They're NUTS... and anyone who accepts that is NUTSIER." I couldn't have put it any better. |
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