Interested in becoming certified as a Medical Interpreter and/or learn about the proposed requirements? Or, maybe your interests are in Literary Translation and you would like to hear about exciting upcoming events? Interested in translation/interpreting in general and looking for information/workshops to increase your productivity?

Well… just join us on July 10th, from 1-4 pm, for all the latest news in our field while networking with our distinguished members and enjoying delicious snacks and refreshments.

The meeting will be held at AATIA Headquarters, 201 East 2nd Street. 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.

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Carolina Modesto
Director of Professional Development

At the May membership meeting, Adriana Bardin-Prestwood’s presentation focused on project management. According to Adriana, for every project, the following 5 steps must be taken:

1. Initiation – which consists of the SCOPE — what type of assignment it is; TIME — when it is due and to whom; COST — compensation per word; and the overall QUALITY which is based on these elements.
  

2. Planning — developing a schedule and estimating the length of the project and the time you will commit to it per day and per week. She cautioned to be conservative because ‘everything takes longer than you think.’
  

3. Executing — the step where you actually start to work = translate. Set up a file structure that includes adding the date every time you edit it and creating several folders in the client’s folder including a 1st, 2nd and final pass folder. Stick to your time commitment!
  

4. Monitoring and Controlling — your review time to confirm the translation is done properly, measure progress, and identify variances from plan/schedule and take corrective action if needed.
  

5. Closing — formalizing acceptance of project. Work on lessons learned, what you could have done differently, what worked and what didn’t, etc., and sending your invoice with a 10-day net.

Adriana is an experienced project manager and consultant and offers free consulting classes at the North Workforce Solutions location.

Board members met on April 24 for their second meeting of the year. Below are key highlights from the meeting.

AATIA 25th Anniversary Party: Preliminary planning has begun to commemorate the association’s 25th anniversary later this year. Details are still being discussed to celebrate this significant milestone.

Professional development: Initial communication has been made with Xosé Castro to bring him to Austin this year. The board is currently working out the logistics for this special guest. Stay tuned for more details.

The Pro-bono project was established as a way to utilize AATIA’s members’ translation skills for the community. AATIA members will donate 100 pages of Spanish translation. Only nonprofit organizations that employ less than 50 employees and provide health, education, social services, or legal services to the Spanish speaking community are eligible. The Board will determine the winning nonprofit. Volunteers are needed to assist with translation for this project, a project coordinator to lead these efforts and editors. If interested, contact any board member.

Office status: Esther Diaz met with City of Austin representatives to discuss the status of our office space. We have been offered a lease for another year at the same rate; however, the association needs to report and show how we are helping the community, show that the space is being utilized by meetings and share our wireless account with other tenants. Our office space might be moved to another spot within the building.
  

Membership: Our overall membership numbers as of April are 230. We had 23 new members as of January 1st.

If you would like to view a complete record of this board meeting, contact Marcela Ramos, Secretary, at secretary@aatia.org.

Women in Translation, the special summer issue of Source (the Literary Division’s online publication), is now available.

Features include cartoons and a column on “My Mother Tongue” by our own Tony Beckwith; an article by Betty De Shong Meador describing her encounter nel mezzo del cammin della sua vita with the “willful, outrageous, sexy Sumerian goddess Inanna”; Ann Cefola’s translation of a poem by Hélène Sanguinetti, who evokes Provence’s troubadour tradition in experimental, “scraped” language; Nancy Arbuthnot’s reflections on her experience working with Vietnamese poet Lê Pham Lê and on the balancing act of translating poetry from another culture; and a piece by Clare Sullivan examining the way in which Natalia Toledo’s Zapotec roots affect her poetry.
“Google Settlement Revisited” follows up on the Point/Counterpoint featured in the Spring issue.

Our theme for the fall will be "Translation and the Arts." Submissions for that issue may be sent to michele@mckayaynesworth.com. Deadline is August 10.

The registration deadline for AATIA's Medical Translation Seminar has been extended to June 3rd, but don't wait until then to register.  If we don't have enough people registered to meet our expenses by then, we will have to cancel, which would be a real shame. This seminar will be of obvious value to anyone working in the field of medical translation or interpreting, but it will also benefit court interpreters, whose work often involves medical terminology, and generalist translators - because you never know what that next job offer will bring!

During this all-day event, Esther Diaz and Michael Blumenthal will reprise the presentations they made at ATA's Medical Translation Seminar in San Diego.  But you don't have to travel to San Diego, and the registration fee is substantially lower. Plus, ATA-certified translators will earn 6 continuing education points. All of which makes this an opportunity not to be missed!

So download the program to learn more and register today!

Registration deadline: June 3, 2010

Questions? Contact AATIA Workshops Coordinator Laura Vlasman

Amazon has announced AmazonCrossing, “which will introduce readers to emerging and established authors from around the world with translations of foreign language books, making award-winning and bestselling books accessible to many readers for the first time.”

The premiere title, The King of Kahel, is an award-winning novel by Tierno Monénembo. Originally published in France in 2008, The King of Kahel was the winner of the prix Renaudot, the French literary prize awarded to the author of an outstanding original novel. Loosely based on the life of French adventurer Olivier de Sanderval, the novel traces his experiences as an explorer in West Africa.

The translator is Nicholas Elliott, shown in photo.

Read all about it here.

The American Translators Association (ATA) will host its 51st Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, on October 27-30. This three-day event will showcase diverse panel discussions, expert presentations, training workshops, and scholarly papers. Both general and language-specific sessions will be offered. The conference will also offer language professionals one of the best opportunities to network with colleagues. Additional activities will include a Job Marketplace, vendor exhibit hall, and ATA certification testing. 

From the Rwandan genocide to Tito’s death, from Indian Muslims to Vietnamese Agent Orange victims, and from Israeli communists to Parisian chroniclers of the Vichy years, a selection of works you won’t read anywhere else — at least, not in English … including

Charles Rist’s Diary of an Occupation, entries from the journal of a well-connected French economist, written during the Vichy years in Paris, translated by AATIA’s own Michele Aynesworth from the French.

Read more about Foreign Policy’s translation project and the other titles on the list here.