Sarah's Archives

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

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Blog Archive

Office design for freelance translators

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Savvy translators can operate out of coffee shops these days should they so chose, but fun as that is, there are times when you can’t beat a proper office set-up.

I was reminded of this some time back when reading a Newsweek feature on home offices:

[Neal Zimmerman,] an architect who has written two books on home office design, uses the acronym “CAMP” to describe his home office’s four workstations: computer, administrative, meeting, and project. The way it’s organized, he can make phone calls in one corner and meet with clients in another—and his task chair lets him glide from station to station.

This also fits nicely with Julie Morgenstern‘s approach of organising your office around zones of activity*. So of course it got me thinking about the kinds of zones or workstations I’d like to see in my home office, to enhance my good productivity karma. This is what I came up with: [Read more…]

Hello CIOL-ers

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Hello to translators or interpreters dropping by after yesterday’s Chartered Institute of Linguists webinar on Building Websites for Translators. You might find the following posts particularly interesting:

WordPress is far from perfect (she says, weary after a week of WP woes) and there’s a lot about it that drives me crazy, so as with anything, do your research and be prepared to invest a lot of time into the process if you decide to go down that route. Some good alternatives include Drupal and Joomla, especially if your long-term plan includes community building on a grander scale, so be sure to check them out too. Happy building!

Is freelancing freedom a myth?

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Freelancing is great – the flexibility, freedom, autonomy and complete control over your own destiny… right?

That’s certainly what I believed when I started freelancing, and I still do to some degree. However I now realise that as freelancers, we only really simply swap one set of constraints for another.

Want to pay your bills? Make a decent living? Build your reputation? Well then you can’t do whatever you want, because there’s a relatively limited number of paths that you can conceivably follow to achieve these things.

You’re likely to swap your demanding boss for even more demanding clients. You may be even more at the mercy of random market forces. And getting things done in the absence of social pressure can be tricky, no matter how badly you want to.

I was reminded of this when I saw Julien Smith address on his blog how difficult it can be to get things done as a freelancer:

We’re like “Yeah, finally I have time to do what matters to ME,” but then we don’t do it because we think the freedom is what allows for progress. It isn’t.

He’s right. Sometimes the very things we find most constraining about our cubicles are the things that enable us to be most productive. Systems, social pressure and a routine that’s unforgiving of failure may just be what keeps us sharp.

Like everything it’s a trade-off. One set of constraints for another. And both bring freedoms too, in their own unique ways. The real question is, which set of constraints can you most easily live with?

Staying safe online: personal safety (Part 2 of 2)

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Gearing Up
Photo credit: Gearing Up, NathanNostalgia’s photostream on Flickr

Safety seems to be a big concern for many translators considering building a profile online. Safety in two very different ways: in the sense that your computer and data remains protected, and also in the sense of keeping safe from stalkers and weirdos. There’s no denying that risk is inherent in everything we do – from going into business or delivering a job before we’ve gotten paid, to dialling up online and crossing the road. So how can we manage the risks of online participation in a way that enables us to most benefit from all the internet has to offer?

It seems a lot of people I talk to about this forget that it is their offline behaviours that have the most impact online, rather than the simple fact of just being online. Hopefully these tips will help inform translators on what they can do to feel safe and still participate online.

This is the second of two posts on online safety. Click here for the first one.

[Read more…]

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…]

5 Qs with Amy Williams, French and Italian to English translator

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Amy Williams is a freelance translator working from French and Italian into English, and a director of Eggplant Translations. She specialises in marketing and advertising, and the arts, media and music in particular. In the early stages of my freelance career, Amy was kind enough to give me some great advice on setting up a website. Here I ask her for more tips about marketing, her areas of specialisation and why she has chosen to pursue further studies in psychology. [Read more…]