The Savvy Newcomer aims to serve newcomers to the translation and interpreting professions by publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed content on a weekly basis. We strive to provide you with the answers to the many questions you face as a new or aspiring translator or interpreter.
This post was originally published on听KGH Interpretation. It is reposted with permission.听 In 2022 I facilitated a session of the Language Access Caf茅 at the NCIHC Annual Membership Meeting and was asked to speak about interpreter self-care. Prior to the meeting, I decided to do an informal survey of medical interpreters asking them some questions about their mental health. I wanted to have a little bit of data that would clue me in on some of the issues interpreters were facing. While most of the results I shared during the AMM focused on stressors and supports, I also briefly shared…
Read MoreOn Translators
This post originally appeared on Kevin L. Hull’s blog and it is republished with permission. This post is an assignment I did in English 101 in the summer of 2017, and I would like to share it with the world. The assignment was to do a paper on careers, and I did mine on translators. I hope that those of…
Read MoreHere at The Savvy Newcomer we understand that it can be intimidating to talk about money. It鈥檚 often a sticky subject, but we feel it鈥檚 the first order of business for small business owners. One major component of succeeding as a freelance translator or interpreter is managing your finances well. If you don鈥檛 master your money, your translation career won鈥檛…
Read MoreThis post originally appeared on the Freelancers Union听blog and it is republished with permission. Before COVID-19, I had the opportunity to switch my environment every time I needed to boost my creativity. Cozy cafes and beach bars were my go-to place of work. This helped me set clear boundaries between work time and personal time, which consequently helped me balance…
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Never Split the Difference is a book by former police officer and FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss that offers 鈥渁 new, field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations鈥攚hether in the boardroom or at home.鈥 Well, it may be your home office, but the book has some helpful ideas and skills of great use to freelance translators and interpreters. These tactics are not…
Read MorePurchase Orders Revisited
This post originally appeared on the blog My Words for a Change听and it is republished with permission. Way back in 2015, I asked my blog readers whether the purchase order I鈥檇 produced was merely a pipe dream or a document I could actually use with my clients. The general consensus was that my overly long PO would prove daunting for…
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Language associations are a great way to connect with people of different backgrounds who share a similar appreciation for learning foreign languages. By joining a language association, you have the opportunity to engage with speakers at various levels of proficiency and practice your language skills with native speakers. You鈥檙e probably already familiar with the 兔子先生 since this blog…
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This post originally appeared on Capital Translations听and it is republished with permission. Unless you have studied Law, it is rather tricky to know how to specialise in legal translation, let alone find relevant high-calibre training. Fortunately, Roehampton University鈥檚 symposium on Friday 9th January 2015 on becoming a legal translator addressed many of the issues concerning the best ways to acquire…
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In this article, I will define influencers as those who make change happen, who are catalysts of the developments they seek. In translation and interpreting, that is up to the professionals in the field. This is true of any other profession, since the professionals understand their field best. According to the authors of The General Theory of the Translation Company,…
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This post originally appeared on the blog The translation business听and it is republished with permission. Sometimes, how we translators run our professional lives and operate our businesses seem to be under threat. Human translators, although usually skeptical, cannot avoid observing the growing influence of machine translation and perhaps wondering how long will it be before a piece of software will…
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One of the biggest problems for people entering the translation profession is a lack of hands-on, street level business experience. Many don鈥檛 understand the value of their time, and they may have no clue how to price their work 鈥 in fact, many beginners feel embarrassed and greedy when they ask to be paid respectably for what they do. Negotiating…
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