Congratulations to our own Cristina Helmerichs and Odile Legeay, who have been elected to the Board of the ATA:

Election of American Translators Association officers and directors took place Thursday morning during the Annual Meeting of All Voting Members.

Dorothee Racette was elected President-elect, Virginia Perez-Santalla Secretary, and Gabe Bokor Treasurer.

Three new Board members were also elected to fill 3-year terms: Cristina Helmerichs, Odile Legeay, and Frieda Ruppaner-Lind.

David Rumsey was elected to fill a 1-year term on the Board.

Conference photos and news will be posted on the ATA website.

The translation industry is growing during these tough economic times, and will continue to do so due to the nature of the globalized economy, predicts Margarita Griggs, a member of the American Translators Association (ATA). Griggs, who recently received an international award for her work with high school and college students, says organizations in the United States will need to rely more on the global economy because the domestic economy is struggling. And organizations will need accurate translation when conducting business around the world, she says. The translation and interpreting services industry has grown at a rate of 10 to 15 percent annually over the past decade and is now an $11 billion industry. Parade Magazine recently ranked translation as the second hottest job, noting that the need for translators will grow by 26 percent over the next ten years.

From "Interpreters in High Demand"
KOLOTV.com (NV) (10/09/09) Wightman, Karoline
Quoted in ATA Newsbriefs

For those who won’t be attending the ATA’s 50th Anniversary conference in New York, the AATIA’s November 14 meeting is the next-best thing! Four Austin members will provide a debriefing on their experiences at this milestone event in the Big Apple.

Pat Bobeck, who translates French and Spanish into English and specializes in (among other things) geology, petroleum engineering, and environmental sciences will talk about her visit to New York.

Esther Diaz, Administrator of ATA’s Medical Division, will also share her perspective on the conference.

And literary translators Liliana Valenzuela and Tony Beckwith will discuss their conference presentation, “Two Heads are Better than One: A Literary Translation Story,” and explain how they jointly translated a book of 73 stories riddled with jokes, puns, plays on words, cultural references, and onomatopoeia.

Join us and get a first-hand report of what’s going on at the heart of our industry. As always, there’ll be refreshments and lots of good networking on Saturday, November 14, from 1 to 4 pm at our downtown space at the ICA premises (check www.aatia.net for the address, directions, and parking instructions.)

Watch this blog for more details!

Free parking is available at the Convention Center parking garage, which is on the west side of the building that houses our offices. Enter from Brazos Street, inform the attendant that you are attending an AATIA event, and sign a garage parking record sheet. There is no charge. 
 

In recognition of St. Jerome, the principle translator of the Vulgate Bible and patron saint of translators, the AATIA will host a historic International Translation Day celebration.

There will be entertainment from the Executive Director of the Austin Classical Guitar Society, Dr. Matthew Hinsley, the lively and funny Gabacha-chas led by Maurine Mclean and Lisa Rogers, and an exciting samba exhibition with audience participation led by Rebekah Fowler.

A rich variety of delicacies and beverages will be offered for your pleasure.
Free parking is available at the Convention Center Parking Lot. Enter by turning north on Brazos from East 1st Street, going 2/3 of a block, entering the CC Parking lot on the right, and telling the attendant that you are with the AATIA. See the map in the right column.

Please join us at the ICA office on October 3rd from 7-10 p.m. for fun, friendship, and food. Friends and family are welcome.

Michael Blumenthal, President

In 382 A.D., Pope Damasus commissioned Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (the legendary St. Jerome) to revise the multiple existing Latin translations of the Old Testament and produce an authorized rendering for the Catholic Church.

Jerome’s decades-long work based on the original Hebrew texts, along with later revisions of the New Testament translations from the Greek, became the basis for the Vulgate Bible.

In 1991, The Public Relations Committee of the International Federation of Translators declared September 30th, the date of St. Jerome’s death in 420 A.D., as International Translation Day.

The AATIA salutes linguists everywhere, and is proud to be among those who help people understand each other.

Michael Blumenthal 
 

Online magazine Slate recently outlined how interpretation works at the United Nations.

The brief article by political reporter Christopher Beam explained the difference between interpretation and translation and between simultaneous and consecutive interpretation. It also described the working conditions of the interpreters:

At any given moment, the U.N. Interpretation Service has a dozen interpreters working six booths—one for every official language. The pair of interpreters in the English booth translates into English, the French booth translates into French, and so on. Attendees can then listen to the interpretations on headphones, clicking across channels for different languages. The job is exhausting, so interpreters will usually switch off every 20 minutes or so. They can also take breaks when the speech is in their language, since no translation is necessary.

The article gave a shout-out to AATIA member Stephen Mines, as well as American Translator Association President Jiri Stejskal and Hossam Fahr of the UN Interpretation Service, for their help in the preparation of the article.

The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) will be meeting this year at the Pasadena Hilton Hotel in sunny Pasadena, California, November 11-14 (note the new dates!). Featured speakers will be John Nathan of UC Santa Barbara, Ilan Stavans of Amherst, and Michael Henry Heim of UCLA, whose work is associated with Japan, Latin America, and Europe, respectively. For information on panels, workshops, readings, special events, and registration, go to the ALTA website.

We have two great events on the calendar!

The next membership meeting – Saturday, September 12 – will feature a Web 2.0 Technology presentation by Jorge Ungo (*see below).

And there’ll be a special celebration for International Translators & Interpreters Day, scheduled for late September/early October.

Watch this blog for more details on both these excellent opportunities for translators and interpreters!

* Recognition for the healthcare interpreting profession is on the rise, as is the need for skilled interpreters. With training resources usually tailored for the more commonly encountered languages, some interpreters may feel isolated and lacking in language-specific training and resources. In the past decade, however, worldwide internet usage has grown by over 300%, and the new wave of Web 2.0 technology is providing interpreters with easy and cost-effective ways to create and share resources with colleagues all over the world. From wikis and blogs to social bookmarking – this presentation will demystify the world of 2.0 and will demonstrate how interpreters can use technology to connect with colleagues and share important tools and resources.

Jorge Ungo is the Southwest Region Manager for Pacific Interpreters – a nationwide leader in healthcare interpreting. In his regional manager role, Jorge consults with health and social service organizations throughout the Southwestern United States on how to design and implement cost-effective yet highly efficient language access programs. Prior to his work with Pacific Interpreters, Jorge was the director of an international interpreting program, responsible for business operations including sales and marketing, HR administration, operational logistics, and company-wide training. Jorge is President of the Texas Association of Healthcare Interpreters and Translators (TAHIT) and a board member and membership co-chair on the National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare (NCIHC).