In my words

In response to:Off topic: ABCs of travelling

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 23:11:31 +0100

J'aime le concept expliqué ici par le blogueur. Je vous serais reconnaissant les efforts déployés par l'auteur. Je souhaite féliciter

In response to:Of course I am science, too

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:16:28 +0200

There is no disputing about tastes.http://www.nikenflcnshop.com/pittsburgh-steelers-c-28.html

In response to:I'm moving!

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:52:23 +0200

Hi Paul!
Thank you for asking. I only link to active bloggers and organisations or sites that you could use for professional development. If you have a blog on your site, I'd be happy to link to that one.
Best,
Elisabet

In response to:I'm moving!

Sun, 06 May 2012 07:11:07 +0200

Hello, I was wondering if a link to our site could be place on your blog. Our site is http://asigninterpreters.com. We are a sign language interpreting agency. In return we would place a link to your site on ours.

In response to:Why I keep paying my insurance

Tue, 01 May 2012 22:43:58 +0200

I have had interpreting insurance since last fall, and I can testify that it is worth it just in the peace of mind that it gives.

In response to:The comfort zone dilemma in interpreter training - my view

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:08:50 +0200

This is a sensitive issue, since the agreed aiic standard says that everyone in the booth should work under same conditions etc. Neverhteless, advanced conference interpreting is so hard that I don't think it's fair that we expect newly graduates to be at the same level as experienced interpreters. If you turn it around an experience interpreter would never claim to be on the same level as a newly graduate. So I think there is room for a practice period or internships or things like that, after graduation.

In response to:Why I keep paying my insurance

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:04:34 +0200

Yes, and although in my case, the agencies claim would have been very weak given they didn't follow the contract in the first case. I would still have had to pay for lawyers and court expenses and so forth had they decided to pursue.

In response to:Why I keep paying my insurance

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:47:01 +0200

Thanks for writing up your insurance-related experience! Yet another proof why we all should get covered.

In response to:The comfort zone dilemma in interpreter training - my view

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:04:33 +0200

You've hit the nail on the head when you point out that medical doctors and lawyers have to spend a period -- often several years -- as interns before they're let loose to work on their own.

At the University of Ottawa we believed in on-the-job placements as a transition for advanced students, in spite of strong opposition from a few AIIC members. Real working placements, not just 'dumb booth'. But we had the advantages of a maximum of 10 graduates a year and cooperation from the Canadian government interpreter service. Placements had to be closely managed and supervised. Also we didn't expect clients to pay as much for a student as for somebody experienced.

In response to:The comfort zone dilemma in interpreter training - my view

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:14:53 +0200

Hi Cris!
Thank you for your encouragement :-)
You're right about visiting scholars. That is also something that I remember vividly from my training course. We had Nato interpreters coming in once a month on a Saturday morning to give classes. They were challenging, but also extremely encouraging and as you say very human. I should also say that there are of course unique teachers in every training course as well. One of my teachers - when she figured out that I was probably going to sit an EU test immediately after my graduation decided to offer me extra consecutive classes, two hours once a week for free at her home.
Talk to you soon,
Elisabet

In response to:The comfort zone dilemma in interpreter training - my view

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:00:51 +0200

Great post!

I finished my degree on Translation and Interpreting last June (University of Salamanca) and one of the things that really reassures me is the fact that we had interpreters both form the UN and the EU coming to visit us. All the ones who visited us were very nice and helpful. You get to see that, even if it is hard to get there, it is possible, they are normal people.

I really enjoy your blog!
Best,

Cris

In response to:Me and my hats (there's more to it than interpreting)

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:11:28 +0100

Hi Jana!
Thanks for your comment, and thank you for adding discipline, that's true. As for time management, it is very important and unfortunately one of my weak areas. I try to channel it so that it doesn't affect my professional activity but I have to admit that it's not very respectful when it affects my family either.

Just as you I like to think that the fact that I'm an interpreter myself it's an advantage rather than a disadvantage to be an interpreter and research about it, and to be honest most interpreting researchers are or have been interpreters. But there is also a parallel discussion whether it strengthens your research or not.

In response to:Me and my hats (there's more to it than interpreting)

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:00:07 +0100

Chapeau!

In response to:Me and my hats (there's more to it than interpreting)

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:10:26 +0100

What a nice post! Thank you for sharing.
I found many of your ideas true and valid for me too (-horse riding and community interpreting + translating). As you stressed, being serious and credible whichever hat I'm wearing, is crucial to juggle it all effectively, I might add also discipline and a good sense for time management, obviously.
However, for the part where you say that your being an interpreter might influence your researching work - of course it does but it is not necessarily a bad thing, at least to my understanding. It is precisely due to the fact that you know interpreting in practice that can help you focus on researching things that are of importance and relevance to interpreters, their profession and work; and this makes your contribution to interpreting research community (even more) valuable. At least that's how I like to see things and justify my being researcher and interpreter ;)

In response to:Slightly off topic: What was my life and interpreting jobs like five years ago?

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:14:39 +0100

But you seem to have picked up that now, haven't you? I guess that's free lancing and small business in a nutshell. At times it's really depressing, but then it picks up again.

In response to:Slightly off topic: What was my life and interpreting jobs like five years ago?

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:26:11 +0100

Ouch! Five years ago we moved to South Carolina and started our business. We were living off our savings and running out of money.

In response to:Slightly off topic: What was my life and interpreting jobs like five years ago?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:58:04 +0100

It's hard to explain, but I feel like Paris got under my skin, and that there will always be a desire to live there again.

In response to:Slightly off topic: What was my life and interpreting jobs like five years ago?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:55:49 +0100

I'm sure I could never compete with you in this area :-). My mother's first trip abroad was just like yours to Paris, but two years later in 1948. She went as a newly graduate nurse to work at the American Hospital. I was brought up on her stories of famous patients and strict head nurses.

Yes, there are both advantages and disadvantages of mass- tourism and exploitation of precious places is certainly one of the disadvantages. I'd say you can still find the original soul of most countries, even exploited, but it takes more time.

In response to:Slightly off topic: What was my life and interpreting jobs like five years ago?

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:16:41 +0100

Yes, Paris is beguiling. One of my happiest memories is of the few months I spent as a young postgraduate history student doing research in the archives of the Quai d'Orsay. The buildings were still shabby after the War - this was around 1950 - but the quality of life was like fine wine, and I ever afterwards understood why so many English people go to live in France.

In response to:Slightly off topic: What was my life and interpreting jobs like five years ago?

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:13:28 +0100

Won't try to compete with your list, but I've done a lot of travelling. I was brought up in London. First trip abroad in 1946, to Paris. We were housed in a school at Versailles and visited many famous monuments. But I'd learnt French at school with no native contacts during WW2, and I've never forgotten how a French schoolgirl told me I spoke French understandably but sounded like I was doing a ballet dance with it.

I'd say my great advantage has been that I'm old enough to have visited many famous places before the hordes of tourists got there. For instance, you mention Bali. When I went, there was no international airport and the only hotel for European visitors was the old colonial one that the Dutch had left behind them.

In response to:Day 16 Don't you ever make mistakes?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:39:40 +0100

Thanks for your comment.

Dealing with clients is probably worth a post itself. I'm not sure how you nicely tell a client they made a mistake when you are in the language business. It tends to get very personal. Probably something intelligent like "in this particular situation term "X" usually means "Y"" and then hope they will figure out.

In response to:30 days on interpreting

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:29:28 +0100

Hello Tom!
Thanks for stopping by and pointing it out. I have fixed it now, and the rest of the links seems OK.

In response to:30 days on interpreting

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:25:11 +0100

I've only tried the link for Day 4, but it was mangled for me.

In response to:Day 16 Don't you ever make mistakes?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:52:34 +0100

That's a really interesting post and answered some of my doubts from a couple of months ago.

I was interpreting for a group of Polish business people here in London, and one of the group was quite good with English. At one point, he interrupted my interpretation (won't comment on that) to ask: "Didn't she say something else?" And I was in this difficult position to tell my client that he made a mistake. How would you deal with that?

In response to:Organisations in the profession - Professional organisations - Part one

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:00:33 +0100

Thanks for your comment. I very much agree with the efficiency of the e-mail service of CATS, I forgot to mention that. I had never heard about the Chartered Institute of Linguists, after checking their homepage I realized that I had heard about their journal "The Linguist" of course.

In response to:Organisations in the profession - Professional organisations - Part one

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:23:16 +0100

I belong to two associations in Canada and one in the UK; and perhaps one in Spain but I'm not.sure because I haven't paid my dues recently.

One of those in Canada is the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario, which incidentally is among the oldest such associations the world. Among my reasons for belonging is that I'm accredited by them as an officially certified translator and that brings me a small but steady stream of clients.

The other is the Canadian Association of Translation Studies (CATS), which you’ve mentioned yourself. I appreciate above all their efficient email information service for members which broadcasts daily news about upcoming conferences, courses, publications, etc.

The UK one is the Chartered Institute of Linguists. Despite its name, which goes back over 100 years, this is an organisation for translators as well as other language professionals and it's been the main force in raising standards of public service interpreting in the UK. So I support its work, but also I enjoy belonging to it for the snobbish reason that "Chartered" means it has a royal charter and it therefore enjoys a high status in British society.

I recommend everybody to join and support the professional associations of their own countries, and through them to support the International Federation of Translators (FIT).

In response to:Versatile Blogger Award

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:46:22 +0100

I have not actually gotten round to give a notice to the people I mentioned. Time got so scarce just before Christmas. Funny our background also are linked through the horses.
Happy new year to you too and talk to you soon!

In response to:Versatile Blogger Award

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:38:51 +0100

I happened to come across this today. I never saw it when you posted it because I was in the hospital. Thank you for your recommendation. I enjoyed this post very much.
I am also an animal person and find your background fascinating. I used to have horses but had to sell them because I never had time to ride. My brother, who is an electronics consultant with his own business, took off a few years to become a farrier because he loved being out in nature and working with horses.
Happy new year and I look forward to reading your blog after the holidays. I am trying to get back to contributing to mine...
Best, MC

In response to:Being a travelling interpreter, mom, spouse and friend

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:54:53 +0100

Wow, what a wonderful post! I'm sorry I have missed it (it was published, when we were on holidays and apparently I didn't catch it all up!). I think a lot about these things as I have two little girls too (3 1/2 and 1 1/2) and sometimes really feel like the worst possible mother on planet Earth. Fortunately I don't travel much, now, as I work at the University, but still when I take up an interpreting job, I'm practically gone for one or more days, and often they get ill or something of the like happens just then or maybe a day before.
But, I love the comments too. I keep telling myself, that I need interpreting to be happy and fulfilled, so its the sacrifice that has to be taken. And of course I try to compensate later on by spending as much quality time with them when I am around. I guess its a constant struggle against this feeling of guilt (that probably really hurts us more than it affects the children).
And its great to know, that there is more people like me out there! Thank you again for sharing your view and experience

In response to:Versatile Blogger Award

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:33:02 +0100

Hi! I'm happy you saw it! I was planning to post a comment on your blog too, but I haven't gotten round to it.
Good luck with your thesis, feel free to send a copy if you like. And thank you for your kind words.