Sarah's Archives

an archive of content from ≈ 2005 - 2015, relating to international business, translation, freelancing, and working online.

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Archives for April 2010

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.