Talks by Nick Rosenthal, MITI, Bristol, Tuesday 24 February 2015

We are delighted to announced that Nick Rosenthal, MITI will be visiting us on Tuesday 24 February 2015. Nick will give two talks:

 
Session 1: Building a career as a translator (3-4pm)
Session 2: Translating the Tour de France (4-5pm)

24 February 2015

Arts Complex Lecture Theatre 2, 3-5pm (entrance via 3-5 Woodland Road for external visitors)

Nick Rosenthal, MITI, has worked as a technical translator from French and German since 1986. He studied languages at Salford University, and then worked as a management accountant for a large multinational company before founding SalfTrans (www.salftrans.co.uk), a specialist translation and localisation company, in 1988. He is an experienced translator in his own right, and an experienced project manager used to managing teams of high-end translators. Nick has a broad vision of the translation industry, with a particular interest in training and professional development. Nick chaired the Board of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) from 2011 to 2013, and is one of the team of authors who wrote "101 Things a Translator Needs To Know" (http://101things4translators.com/advance-praise/).  Nick is also an experienced racing cyclist, and one of his greatest pleasures each year is combining his passions for translation and for bike racing by translating press articles about the Tour de France.

Talks are free and open to all.

Events on literary translation (Warwick) & careers in translation (Aston)

There are two forthcoming events which may interest readers within reach of Birmingham and Coventry. Both events are free to attend.

On the Borders of Writing and Translating: 

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On the Borders of Writing and Translating

Friday 26 April, 2013

 University of Warwick, Humanities Building H.058

9.30 – 10.00 Registration

10 – 11.30 Session 1

Vedita Cowaloosur (Warwick): “Translating Sex. Negotiating the boundaries of sexual desire in English-Hindi translations”

Dr Eliana Maestri (Warwick): “A.S.Byatt's 'Sugar' and its French translation: between autobiography and autofiction"

Dr Caterina Sinibaldi (Warwick-Bath): “Shifting borders, shaping identities. The translation and rewriting of children’s classics during Fascism”

11.30– 11.45 Coffee

11.45 – 13 Roundtable 1: The Ubiquity of Translation. Conversation with Prof Susan Bassnett, Prof Svend Erik Larsen, and Prof John Drakakis (chair: Dr Loredana Polezzi)

13 -14 Lunch

14 – 15.15 Roundtable 2: Writing, Editing, Translating. Conversation with Sarah Death, George Szirtes, and Jonathan Dunne (chair: Prof Maureen Freely)

15.15 – 16.30 Session 2

Enrico Palandri (UCL): Looking for the source

Prof Amanda Hopkinson (UCL): Liminal limits and frontier crossroads

16.30 – 16.45 Tea

16.45 – 17.30 Final discussion

17.30 Drinks

Registration at writingtranslating2013 at gmail.com.

On the previous day there is a seminar by Jonathan Dunne at the Department of Hispanic Studies. The title is 'The Theology of Translation: The Hidden Code of the English Language'. Venue: Writer's Room, Milburn House, University of Warwick. Thursday 25 April, 2013, 5-7pm.
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Careers in Translation and Interpreting: 

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Careers in Translation and Interpreting

Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Aston University, Birmingham

Main Building room G63 (Ground Floor)

Draft Programme

12.30 – 1.00 pm                      Arrival and refreshments

                                                Cafe Tierra

1.00pm – 1.15pm         Welcome and Introduction

Professor Christina Schäffner, Head of Translation Studies

Main Building Room G63

1.15 - 2.20 pm Session 1

Shelagh Rothero: How I have become a freelance translator

Rekha Narula: Working as a public service interpreter

Cindy Schaller: Working as a translator or interpreter for charities

Q&A session 1

2.20 – 3.00 pm Session 2

Angeliki Petrits: Working as a translator for the European Institutions

Will: Working as a translator for the GCHQ

Q&A session 2

3.00 – 3.30 pm Refreshments and networking

3.30 – 4.30 Session 3

Akiko Sakamoto: Working as an Audiovisual Translator

Silvia Ferrero: Working as a translator in the games localisation industry

Tbc: Working as a project manager in a translation company

Q&A session 3

You can register for free by emailing routes at aston.ac.uk.

Two internships (FR-EN translation; project management)

The translation company STP Nordic is offering trainee placements for a project manager and for a French to English translator. The placement is unpaid but there will be some reimbursement of travel costs. Details below.

French-English translator trainee placement at STP Nordic

STP Nordic is a UK translation company with its headquarters in Whiteley and further offices in London, Stockholm and Farnham, Surrey. The company has been providing translation services to and from the Nordic languages since 2000, and in 2012, we acquired a new unit that focuses on the translation of financial, commercial and legal texts from French and German into English.

We are now offering an internship in this English unit to an MA student of translation with English as their mother tongue and French as their main foreign language.

STP has 67 full-time in-house staff and is certified to the BS EN 15038 translation services standard. We are members of the ATC, ATA, ALC, the ITI, ELIA, GALA and the Swedish translators' association, SFÖ.

Placement dates

2-4 months. Until June 2013 in the Farnham office, July-December 2013 in the London office.

Placement details

The placement is a structured period of work-based learning with extensive training in the use of translation environment tools. The trainees will work alongside our busy project management and English translation teams. The placement gives the trainees an excellent view of the translation industry and its tools along with invaluable experience in working in a translation company.

The trainee placement is unpaid, but STP Nordic can help with the trainees’ travel costs.

Requirements

MA studies in Translation with French as the main foreign language. Native speaker of English. A high level of IT skills and knowledge of CAT tools is an advantage. Candidates will be asked to complete a test translation.

Contact details

Start date flexible. Please send your application with your CV to Operations Manager Anu Carnegie-Brown at acb at stpnordic.com. Please state “Trainee placement application” in your email subject line.

Translation Project Coordinator trainee placement at STP Nordic

STP Nordic provides translation services to and from the Nordic languages, English and German. Based on the south coast of England, we translate millions of words every year for other translation companies around the world. Our project managers, in-house translators and freelance partners are dedicated, experienced language professionals.

We are now looking for trainees to join our translation project management team.

Trainee placements

Project coordinator

Placement dates

3-4 months between May-September 2013

Placement details

The placement is a structured period of work-based learning with extensive training in the use of translation environment tools. The trainees will work alongside our busy project management team. The placement gives the trainees an excellent view of the translation industry and its tools along with invaluable experience in working in a translation company.

The trainee placement is unpaid, but STP Nordic can compensate for the trainees’ travel costs

Requirements

Project coordinator: Translation Studies at either late BA or MA stage.

Contact details

Please send your application with your CV to Operations Manager Anu Carnegie-Brown at cv at stpnordic.com. Please state “Trainee placement application” in your email subject line.

Linguistics and translation talks at Portsmouth this week

For those readers within reach of Portsmouth we have two great linguistics and translation-related talks on this week. These events are free and all are welcome.


Thursday 7 February
Park Building, University of Portsmouth, Room 2.09, 1700-1830

Dr Alison Sealey (University of Birmingham)
Corpus-assisted discourse analysis in social research: some examples 

For more information on this and other corpus linguistics events at Portsmouth, see here.


Friday 8 February
Park Building, University of Portsmouth, Room 2.01, 1200-1300

Natascha Jaeger (Sony Professional Solutions) 
The role of an in-house translator 

For more information on translation events at Portsmouth, see here.

This event is supported by the National Network for Translation, an initiative of Routes into Languages.

British Centre for Literary Translation mentor scheme, 2013

The British Centre for Literary Translation has announced the list of languages and mentors for 2013, with an amazing lineup of participating translators. All mentorships are for translation into English.
For more information, see the BCLT website:

Considering making a career in literary translation? Already embarked on your course but feel you could do with more help and support? If so, you might be one of the talented emerging translators we’re looking for to participate in the 2013 BCLT Translator Mentoring Scheme  (1 January – 30 June 2013)

Launched in 2011, the scheme has already produced twelve mentorship ‘graduates’ in languages ranging from Catalan to Polish. Several of the 2011-12 mentees have had work published as a result of contacts made and skills honed during the mentoring process, and our Arabic mentee, Emily Danby, was commissioned to translate a novel, The Scent of Cinnamon by Samar Yazbek, during her mentorship.

How to apply

Mentorships will be awarded in fifteen languages

• Arabic (mentor PAUL STARKEY)
• Danish (mentor BARBARA HAVELAND)
• Dutch (mentor DAVID COLMER)
• Italian (mentor HOWARD CURTIS)
• Greek (mentor DAVID CONNOLLY)
• Japanese (mentor MICHAEL EMMERICH)
• Norwegian (mentor DON BARTLETT)
• Polish (mentor ANTONIA LLOYD-JONES)
• Portuguese (mentor MARGARET JULL COSTA)
• Russian (mentor ROBERT CHANDLER)
• Swedish (mentor SARAH DEATH)
• Tamil (mentor LAKSHMI HOLMSTROM)
• Welsh (mentor TONY BIANCHI)

Mentees in these languages will be selected by open application.
To apply for a mentorship please submit the following:

• A brief, up to date CV
• A statement as to why you believe you would benefit from a mentorship and how you would use it
• A short sample of your translation work (not more than 2000 words) with accompanying notes

We expect most applications to come from translators living and working in the UK, but will consider all applications on their merits.

All enquiries and applications should be made by email to Sarah Bower, Scheme Co-ordinator at S.Bower at uea.ac.uk.

The deadline for applications is 31^st October 2012

Successful applicants will be informed by 30^th November 2012. Mentorships will commence immediately after the New Year holiday.

ITI forthcoming translation events

 Three Institute of Translation and Interpreting events are coming up which may be of interest to readers:

1) JOINT ITI / EU / CIOL CLEAR WRITING SEMINAR

Thursday 5 July 2012, 10.00 to 16.00

This seminar is organised jointly by the ITI and the Chartered Institute of Linguists. It is generously supported by the European Commission Representation in the UK and will be held at its offices in Smith Square in central London.

The event is aimed at all translators who are keen to improve the clarity of their written language and will include presentations by representatives from the Plain English Commission, Clarity and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Translation, as well as a number of practical exercises.

Speakers:

Martin Cutts (Research Director at the Plain Language Commission and author of Lucid Law and the Oxford Guide to Plain English).
Daphne Perry (Clarity)
The Directorate General for Translation at the European Commission will be represented by David Monckom from the Editing Unit and Jonathan Stockwell from the Web Translation Unit.

Early-bird booking closes Tuesday 5 June 2012. Discounts for students and ITI/CIOL members.
More information and a booking form can be found at the ITI's website.

2 & 3) STARTING WORK AS A TRANSLATOR OR INTERPRETER
Two events arranged jointly by the Universities of Salford and Westminster and the ITI, with support from the National Networks for Translation and Interpreting.

University of Salford, Monday 28th May 2012, 9.30-16.30
University of Westminster, Saturday 9th June 2012, 09.30-16.30

Are you interested in working as a translator or interpreter, but unsure how to start?
This one-day seminar should answer questions for new translators / interpreters on:

• Training
• Generalist or specialist translating & different types of interpreting
• Building a portfolio of clients
• Working for translation companies
• Marketing
• Pricing

Fees:
Undergraduate students - free of charge
Postgraduate students at other universities - £20 including VAT (Salford students can attend the Salford workshop for free)
ITI/ FIT organisation members - £35 including VAT
Nonmembers - £45 including VAT
More information and booking forms can be found at the ITI's website.

Advice for translators starting out

There's a nice post by Jill Sommer over on TranslationMusings with hints and tips for finding translation work, building a clientele and surviving the first year of freelancing. Lots of good advice in the comments too.

apprenticeships for translators

There's a nice piece on Sarah Dillon's blog There's something about translation on apprenticeships. I thought it might be of interest to those of our readers thinking about internships and work placements in translation.

Project management positions in London

TranslateMedia in London are advertising for a German-speaking project manager. The successful candidate will be a confident linguist, with a professional attitude to service, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Excellent communication skills are necessary along with an eye for detail, and a high level of linguistic and IT skill.
The right candidate will be a project management professional with experience in translation and related technology and have experience managing translations. The successful candidates will be have native level German plus excellent spoken English. Familiarity with translation technologies and formats is preferred; Translation memory tools, .html, .xml, InDesign, Photoshop etc.

They are also advertising for a junior project manager, and for a 3-month + project management internship (unpaid but with some expenses reimbursed). Some more posts also on their website. 

Bargain basement rates

Hmm. Looked around a bit at other translation jobs posted on the geekfreelancers site (see English-Japanese pharmaceutical translator wanted), because I hadn't come across it before (I saw the original ad somewhere else). It may be a great site, but there are some eye-wateringly low rates offered here, eek. (Peanuts, monkeys, labourers, hire etc.). I was forcibly reminded of Danilo Nogueira's and Kelli Semolini's lovely post We want a discount. Perhaps everyone should just print out and stick on the fridge door a copy of Marta Stelmaszak's pleasing response, No you're not getting a discount...

Or we could just enjoy this video, which never fails to amuse (it's not translation-specific but will ring bells with any freelance writer or content creator...):

in-house translation jobs

For readers finishing off their dissertations and looking at the job market, a quick round-up of in-house translation posts and links. 

Seen on the ITI website: 

German to English fulltime experienced translator for a busy long-established language services company. English mother tongue, additional language and knowledge of finance/banking an advantage. Varied and interesting work in a friendly environment, with some travel abroad. Two minutes from underground in NW London. Applications with CV to info at arblimited.com.

http://honyakuhome.org, the blog for translators working with Japanese, has a jobs listing, e.g.  for translators  from Japanese into English, Italian and French, based in Frankfurt.

Mostra is advertising a very interesting-looking position for a German native speaker subtitling, translating and proofreading TV programmes and on line texts for EuroparlTV (the web television of the European Parliament).

thebigword are looking for a junior German to English in-house translator in West Yorkshire.

Xerox are looking for an English to French in-house translator, based in Welwyn Garden City. They are also looking for a Swedish translator, based in Slough.

SDL are advertising a number of translation positions at the moment including a German-English internship in Sheffield and a number of posts in Russia. See here for a full list of advertisements. 

There's a full-time in-house job going in Hampshire for a Norwegian native speaker. Come to think of it, apart from German, I think the Nordic languages are probably the ones I see most unfulfilled demand for. 

Some more ideas and possiblities at careerjet. Good luck to all jobseeking translation graduates!

jobs in games localisation

For any enthusiastic gamers reading this blog, Testronic Laboratories in the UK are advertising for localisation game testers with a wide range of languages (must be native speakers): German, French, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese, Brazilian Mexican (a new one on me - possibly Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish? or has gaming in the Americas developed interesting new transnational articulations??), Czech, Polish and Japanese. They are also looking for a Japanese translation lead technician.

places available for Use Your Language, Use Your English summer school

Hi all,
There are still some places for the Use your Language, Use your English Summer School, and I understand that Portuguese to English translators would be particularly welcome. This looks like a really great opportunity. The website also has details of free online courses for which I think anyone can register. And here's some feedback from a translator who has already taken part in one of the taster events.

Would be interested to hear from any of our students who give it a go!

EDIT: Sorry, broken link now fixed. 

United Nations Language Outreach Portal

 

Any of you interested in a career as a linguist with the United Nations might be interested to see their new Language Outreach Portal, which gives details of what kinds of language posts are advertised (translators, interpreters, verbatim reporters etc.), how the competitive examinations work and how to prepare for them. They have a summer internship programme (see also here); recruitment for this year closed in April.