Saints Alive, a new exhibition at the National Gallery in London, features “large-scale kinetic sculptures by Michael Landy that bring a contemporary twist to the lives of the saints”. The saints on display include St. Jerome, renowned for his translation of the Bible and the patron saint of translators.
St. Jerome (borrowed from a painting by Cosimo Tura from 1470) is shown hitting himself continuously on the chest with a chunk of rock, as he was said to have done when seeking forgiveness for his sins.
Beating yourself up over fees?
On what might seem a different topic (but read on…), here are excerpts from two articles on free-lancing and pricing by Walt Kania at The Freelancery: No more self-inflicted discounts, and Writers Worth: A Dirty Little Secret About Pricing:
I catch myself doing this from time to time. And I always want to slap myself.
It’s what Mike Monteiro of Mule Design calls ‘negotiating on behalf of the client.’
Which means, when wrestling with an estimate or a quote or a proposal, we end up finding all sorts of reasons to lower the fee. I was a master at this.
[…]
If the client beefs and tries to beat down the fee, that’s one thing. From there, you get to decide yes or no. That’s your call.
But don’t beat yourself up first. Even if it feels the safer way out.
What do you think, translators (and small-business owners)? Who’s the better role model: St. Jerome, or Walt?
Credits and information:
Michael Landy, Saint Jerome, 2012 – Duerckheim Collection
© Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London / Photo: The National Gallery, London
With thanks to Corinne McKay for pointing out the Walt Kania articles.
The Saints Alive exhibition runs until 24 November 2013 at the National Gallery in London.
By Marian Dougan
A very quick post – a few links to blogs and videos, essentially – for those of you who didn’t make it to the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) conference in Gatwick in May and are curious to know what everyone got up to.
Here are some snapshots:
Reflections on the ITI Conference, by Megan Onions
Highlights from the ITI conference, by Catherine Christaki (aka @LinguaGreca)
ITI Conference 2013 london – the key for success by Josecarlos
The Singing Translators (and interpreters!)
The Conferencing Translators (and interpreters!)
And last, but certainly not least, two masterworks by the inimitable Alison Hughes, the Translators’ Poet Laureate:
Nice to meet you! and 2013 ITI Conference – were you there?
With thanks to Megan Onions of Speech Marks Translation, whose idea I borrowed (stole?) for this post – sorry Megan!
Any posts or reports on the conference that we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments!
I spent a lot of time the other day (way too much time) on preparing quotes for translation jobs. Some were based on fee(£)/word, and a couple on fee(€)/standard page (which in my case equates to 1500 characters including spaces, as calculated by Microsoft Word). If you too find yourself having to switch between calculation methods and/or currencies, you might find Alessandra Muzzi’s Fee Wizard, an online conversion tool, useful:
You usually charge in GBP per source word and need to know the equivalent rate in EUR per target line? Or your usual method is target line, 55 characters spaces included, and now you are asked to provide a quote per source page, 1500 characters spaces excluded? No more headaches with FeeWizard, a free tool offered by AMTrad Services.
Try it out, translators, editors, proofreaders and anyone else who charges by the page/word/line. Let us know in the comments how you you get on!
How good is your grammar?
Primary-school pupils in England have been sitting a new grammar, spelling and punctuation test (check out the specimen questions) as part of their final year assessment. Teachers have criticised the test, saying that there are better ways of assessing pupils’ English-language skills:
Grammar is vital but you test someone’s writing skills by examining their writing. Just because you can circle an adverb on a multiple choice test doesn’t mean you can use one properly. This test distracts us from teaching a generation to write clearly and elegantly.” (Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers)
The government position, voiced by Education Minister Elizabeth Truss (no relation to Lynne, it seems) is that many children struggle with the basics of the English language at primary school and never catch up.
That is why employers bemoan the poor literacy of so many school and college leavers. This new test will mean that children are again taught the skills they need to understand our language, and to use it properly, creatively and effectively.”
Test your grammar skills
If you’d like to test your own grammar skills, here’s a quick grammar quiz, courtesy of the BBC. A word of advice: it’s trickier than the new primary-school test, so read the questions carefully (remember your teachers saying that at school?).
Disclosure: I got two questions wrong, giving me a score of 8/10 (which still makes me a “Grammar Guru”. Phew!).
What do you think about grammar: is it important to teach it? And to test it?
More posts about grammar, spelling and punctuation:
By Marian Dougan
I recently had to translate the following seminar title from Italian to English:
La reputazione della Pubblica Amministrazione: in questo paese, può l’impiegato pubblico essere un alleato del cittadino? E può cambiare il modo di vedere la P.A. da parte del cittadino?
This title has a major flaw (quite apart from its utter lack of appeal). It’s way too long in itself and, at 186 characters, it’s way, way too long to be tweeted.
The seminar was part of Forum PA, the Italian public sector “trade fair” held each year in Rome. For all the talk of modernisation, digital government and engaging with citizens, Italy’s public sector has a lot of catching up to do.
Language learning is good for quite a lot, by the looks of it. What’s your favourite benefit? Are there any more you would add?
With thanks to Jill McIntyre of Bearsden Academy’s Modern Languages Department and Kaplan International Colleges.
By Marian Dougan
I’ll soon be moving into a new office. The current occupants offered to sell me their nearly-new IKEA office furniture (the Galant range, which is attractive, good quality and reasonably priced). Their quote listed installation and labour fees at £50 an hour. Now, that included some computer cabling. But mainly, I think, assembling IKEA flat-pack furniture.
Maybe it’s time we all revised our professional fees. Upwards.
By Marian Dougan
Voting is now open for the Top 100 Language Blogs 2013 competition organised by LexioPhiles and bab.la, for which we’ve been nominated in the “Language Professionals” category. Voting runs from today, 22 May, to 23:59 hours German time on 9 June 2013. If you’d like to vote for Words to good effect, you can do so here. Thank you!
PS Having chosen a name that begins with “W”, we’re right at the bottom of the list, so if you want to vote for “Words to good effect” you’ll need to scroll — sorry!
By Marian Dougan
Training and continuing professional development (CPD) are important not just in keeping your skills up to date but also in increasing your job satisfaction. Training should also act as a signal to savvy clients that you take your business – and them – seriously. It underscores your professionalism.
But training events can be expensive. There’s the cost of the courses themselves, plus travel, accommodation and meals. I’ve just attended two website usability workshops (on Copy Tactics and Optimisation and Search Engine Optimisation) run by the Nielsen Norman Group in London. And then it was straight into the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) conference over the weekend. So five days out of the office, train and plane fares to and from London, four nights hotel accommodation, meals and all the incidentals.
Training grants
That adds up to a lot of money. Luckily, I was awarded a training grant from Skills Development Scotland (SDS), a Scottish government scheme that promotes training for small businesses. SDS pays up to 50% of training fees (the maximum grant is currently £500 per course). And their application process is mercifully simple.
Local councils sometimes offer help, especially if you live in a regeneration area. For example, Glasgow City Council offers grants to local businesses under its Skills and Business Growth Programme. Chambers of Commerce are another possible source of help.
Even if grants aren’t available, your council or chamber might provide free (or reasonably priced) workshops in business skills – it’s worth checking out!
By Marian Dougan
We’ve been nominated as one of the Top 100 Language Lovers 2013 in the annual competition organised by LexioPhiles and bab.la. As you can imagine, we’re well pleased!
Nominations remain open until 20 May 2013 (23:59 pm German time). Voting will then run from 22 May until 9 June, with the results being made public on 12 June.
Words to good effect has been nominated in the Language Professionals category: blogs by people using languages in their profession, such as translators or interpreters.
You can also nominate and vote for your favourite Language Learning Blogs, Language Facebook Pages, and Language Twitter accounts.
Take this chance to nominate your favourite Language Lovers, and support LexioPhiles and bab.la in this great initiative.
By Marian Dougan
Thank you for voting, it’s much appreciated!
Awards
