FCICE Written Test Prep Seminars are beginning in a city near you! These training seminars by the National Center for Interpretation have assisted up to 40% of participants in passing the written portion of the FCICE. Test Prep Seminars will be offered in Texas on these dates:
El Paso - May 31 and June 1, 2008
Houston - August 9 and 10, 2008

Cost: $375. For more information download the brochure.

If you cannot attend one of these seminars, take a look at the FCICE Written Sample Examinations so that you can practice at your convenience!

XE.com offers many online foreign exchange tools, including a convenient table of cross rates, e.g., the ratios of one currency to another, for frequently consulted currencies. Live mid-market rates are refreshed once a minute. You can also create cross rate tables based in currencies of your choice (even obsolete currencies) using current or historical rates.

The site has a quick currency converter, but you can access a "full" version of the Universal Currency Converter, which contains every known world currency: over 180 currencies in over 250 geographical locations.

We all use Google, sometimes Yahoo! or MSN to search the web, but there are other search engines out there. A new alternative is Red Zee, which not only sports a cute red zebra as its mascot, but also lets you drag thumbnails of the search results in an arc (you have to see it to know what I mean). Maybe not particularly practical, but unusual and snazzy.

Stupid Interpreter Tricks VIII

“How many here,” bawled out my medical terminology professor, “have any background in health or medicine?” This was one of those huge University of Texas classrooms, and when I looked back and saw that over 200 of the 300-odd students enrolled had their hands upraised, I realized I was done for. At least two dozen of them were actually wearing scrubs or nurse’s uniforms! Luckily for me, technology came galloping to the rescue.

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AATIA will observe World in Translation Month at the member meeting on Saturday, May 10, 1:00 p.m., at the Austin History Center, 9th & Guadalupe, according to Maurine McLean, Director of Professional Development.

Tony Beckwith will share insights on translating tangos, with musical examples. Marian Schwartz will point out some key Internet sites for literary translators.

In addition, Frank Dietz will demonstrate how to use RSS feeds from the new AATIA blog, walking us through the process of connecting to this valuable resource.

Refreshments and networking round out the meeting. Language-loving guests are welcome.

On Saturday, April 12, 2008, some two score and ten enthusiastic translators and interpreters gathered to celebrate the opening of the AATIA’s new home in downtown Austin. Housed at the ICA, the International Center of Austin’s premises at 201 East 2nd Street, the association now has a permanent office and some very convenient meeting and workshop space available to its members.

In spite of the glorious weather, the Open House was well-attended, and after champagne toasts and welcoming speeches by President Michael Blumenthal and other Board members, guests enjoyed refreshments (including cold boiled shrimp and a spectacular chocolate cake!) and the opportunity to visit with their colleagues.

This is the first time that the group has had a home of its own. Many thanks are due to AATIA founder (and new office manager) Esther Diaz for her tireless efforts on behalf of the association that have, once again, resulted in improved conditions and services for members.

Congratulations to all who contributed to making the event a success, and our sincere appreciation to Ralph McElroy Translations for their generous sponsorship.

Were you there? Or do you wish you could have been? Either way, please add your comments here, and share your thoughts with all the other members who visit this blog. Let’s keep the conversation going!

Forvo is a site where you´ll find words pronounced in their original languages. Ask for that word or name, and another user will pronounce it for you. At this time Forvo boasts of "2.609 words 2.516 pronunciations,  177 languages."

Caveat: since dialects vary widely, and any user may submit a recording, you may not get a "standard" pronunciation.

In his article “Computing’s Final Frontiers”, PC guru John C. Dvorak takes a critical look at several technologies (among them machine translation and voice recognition) that, in his opninion, have not and will not fulfill the great expectations associated with them. My favorite quote:

A few gizmos out there can say “Hello, where is the train station?” or “I have a blue pencil” in 40 different languages. But we’re still yearning for a real translation system. Most written translations I see of memos, newspapers, books, and magazines are a joke. Sometimes it is a miracle if you can even get the gist of the text [….] It’s laughable. And this is with the written word, which should be easy to understand. The final frontier with this technology is the gadget that translates what you say and speaks it in a foreign language. I am certain that the smart money has long since bailed out of these types of projects.