Sarah's Archives

my online archive

Time Zone Dementia: How do you handle it?

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Juggling time zones is a skill many translators find themselves perfecting these days.

I’m currently in contact with clients and colleagues in GMT + 1, +2, + 10,  -4,  and – 7 (i.e. London, Paris/Berlin, Brisbane, New York, and Los Angeles), although it varies with the projects I’m working on at any given time. Daylight saving time only adds to the fun.

Luckily there are lots of tools around to help me keep on top of things, such as the free FoxClocks, EasyTZ or the indispensable World Clock Meeting Planner. And because I’m old-fashioned at heart, I find old-school works well for me too:

Time zone tracking

But I still suffer from an occasional twinge of what Anne Zelenka over at WebWorkerDaily calls TZD, or Time Zone Dementia. If you’re in the same boat, or just think you could do with some ideas on how to better manage your scheduling, then I recommend checking out her post. It’s an old one, but the principles still hold true.

Any other readers juggling significant time zone differences? Any tips, tricks, tools or ideas?

Unprofessional isn't always bad

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Ever wondered about the kinds of people who translate for free, or in their spare time? Maybe assumed they’re unskilled, or at the very least unprofessional, in its broadest sense?

If so, here are three things that might change your mind:

First, a very interesting interview with Masahiro Kyushima, a volunteer translator for TED – nothing unprofessional at all what’s going on there.

Second, a whole blog dedicated to “unprofessional translation” – or what is known more specifically as natural translation, native translation and language brokering (definitions here). Brian Harris is clearly more than qualified to address this oft-maligned aspect of translation, and his blog is a fascinating look at the stories behind those practitioners of translation who do not fall into the professional category.

Finally, the University of London will address this very issue in a public roundtable discussion on 27 April 2010.

A reminder perhaps that a per-word rate shouldn’t be the only way we measure respect for our fellow translators.

Getting paid across borders: multi-currency banking for freelance translators

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337/365: The Big Money

When it comes to accepting payments from overseas, I’ve learned the hard way that there is no single answer as to what works best. It all depends on a range of factors, such as:

  • the country in which you live
  • the country or countries in which you hold bank accounts
  • the facilities available to you either through your bank(s) or in the country in which you live
  • the country in which your clients are based
  • the currencies in which you will (hopefully) be paid
  • the amount and frequency of payments
  • applicable fees, exchange rates and transfer times

[Read more…]

5Qs with Karen Stokes, French to English translator

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Karen Stokes has been providing French to English translation services through KES_Translate since 2002. In 2008 she was awarded Chartered Linguist (Translator) status, one of the first five translators in the UK to be awarded this distinction. Read on for more about Karen’s background, her approach to marketing and the Chartered Linguist application process. [Read more…]

Don't ask, don't tell: translating and parenting

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A juggler entertains outdoors in Devizes, Wilt...
Image via Wikipedia

One of translation’s biggest trump-cards is the opportunity to work for yourself. Long before I started my masters, I decided that if I couldn’t work freelance I wasn’t interested in being a translator at all. This might sound a little extreme, but it has always been important to me to be able to pursue personal projects outside of work. After a couple of years in the workplace, I realised that a traditional desk-job was never going to give me the flexibility I needed to do this. So I assessed my strengths and weaknesses, researched a couple of options and identified a course I was sure would prepare me in the areas I needed. And here I am, give or take a stage, working for myself.

I know that not everyone entering the profession has gone about it in such a deliberate way. But I’m certain that the lure of flexible working is a huge part of what keeps translators, both aspiring and experienced, in the game. [Read more…]

4 things being a location-independent translator has taught me

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mobile office

We have a lot of flexibility around where and how we can choose to work as freelance translators. Sometimes we forget that we need to make the right choice for our individual set of circumstances, and that these choices will change along with our circumstances throughout our careers.

Last year I spent months running my office from just a laptop and a small folder when I was moving between London and Brisbane. I became a master of digitising, synchronising and reducing, and of setting up functioning workspaces in the least likely of places. While this was a great exercise in mobile working and streamlining more generally, it also made me realise a couple of things: [Read more…]

5 Qs with Betti Moser

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With a background in landscape planning and several years’ freelance experience as a copywriter, editor and desktop publisher, in 2001 Betti Moser decided to qualify as a German translator so she could work from home more often. Currently based in London, Betti talks to us about about setting up a freelance practice, finding clients and marketing yourself as a freelancer. [Read more…]

Surviving versus thriving as a translator

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Corinne McKay over at Thoughts on Translation looks at some of the common features she’s identified in high-earning translators in an excellent post called Secrets of six-figure translators.

Personally, I think working for direct clients has the biggest potential impact on earnings for freelance translators, and her point about being a businessperson/translator is spot on. Direct clients certainly make the world of difference for newly established and mid-career translators as they work towards a high degree of specialisation (very likely in a completely unrelated field) and try not to starve in the process. Finding these direct clients is of course another story (and one Chris Durban is eminently able to tell, in my opinion).

On another note, I do love posts like Corinne’s that acknowledge the diversity of a group, weigh up a couple of factors from a range of sources, add some personal insights and then draw something useful from it all. Excellent stuff!