First batch of medical translators graduates - 2005-04-20

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided a grant in Memphis in order to train medical interpreters and the first batch of interpreters has just graduated. It's about time people started focusing on this problem and began thinking of ways to deal with the problem of people not getting the care they need because of the language barrier.

Hopefully this will lead to more people and programs for medical interpretation.

First batch of medical translators graduates - 2005-04-20

Spanish Ecommerce Package: iSpeak Launches Its Turnkey Spanish Ecommerce Package - iSpeak.net

There's some new software out there that might be able to help you market your business to the world's Spanish speakers. iSpeak.net looks like it might be a good solution for those interested.

While it's not the solution I use for my ecommerce business, it could work for you. (Within the next week or so I'll tell you how I do it with my Spanish translation website.

Want to do machine translation?

Anybody out there interested in working for a group doing statistical machine translation in a variety of languages (including Spanish)? According to a business wire release, a company in California called Language Weaver looks like it's growing and maybe they could use the likes of you.

While I have done a lot of translation work, my heart lies in doing linguistic things with computers and if there is anybody interested in natural language processing or computational linguistics, I highly recommend looking into it to see if it fits with your interests. There is a lot of work to be done, especially in languages other than English. If you're wondering what it's all about, check out the article on computational linguistics that got me interested.

New incentive for brushing up on your Spanish skills

TheLadders.com (a website for executives making over $100,000 annually) recently posted a survey of executives. The survey asked them to rate which language (behind English) is the most important for them to learn (and subsequently will have the most impact on them as business owners and executives). Not suprisingly, Spanish was at the top of the list (followed distantly by Mandarin Chinese). Read the article.

New page

I just put up a new page on the website:

Translator jobs

Feel free to visit...

The life of a court interpreter

I've worked a fair amount of years in the translation industry but I have never professionally done any interpreting? Would I ever consider doing it? No way. When I was in school working on my degree in Spanish translation and interpretation, we mostly focused on translation theory and practice. However, we were introduced to interpretation and even practiced doing some. Let me just say that I think it is an extremely challenging activity.

However, if intpretation is your cup of tea, and especially if you speak a less-commonly taught language, chances are you could readily find work in any of the larger population areas doing interpretation for the courts.

I've read a couple articles the past little while about the need for more court interpreters in all kinds of languages, not just Spanish or Mandarin.

Here's an interesting article about the need for more interpreters.

400th anniversary of Don Quixote

It's the 400th anniversary of the classic book Don Quixote. I think everyone that has anything to do with the Spanish language should read the book, in Spanish (that goes for me as well). I started to read the book in English a while back and then felt guilty that I hadn't even read it in Spanish. So my new literary goal for this year is to read the entire Cervantes classic in Spanish. If you feel too intimidated to read it in Spanish, you can always try an English translation. You can follow along with Sam McManis from Tacoma who will be writing about his adventures reading the book this year.

Tuning out Hispanics

In Boston, an AM radio station that traditionally played Spanish programming announced it was being bought and the format was going to change to ESPN sports programming (Boston.com). Just the opposite happened in Washington, D.C. a while ago. 99.1 (a rock station that had been around a long time) just one day converted over to Spanish music. Let's just say that a lot of people were definately in shock when that happened. I can see that happening in more markets around the country. Especially in high population areas.

"Rise of Spanish does not predicate decline of English"

Here's a good article on not only why Spanish is becoming so important in the United States, but also why it will never overtake English as the most important language in the country. (A good reason to have top skills in both languages.)

As a translator, it's especially important to have skills in both languages because your skill is only as successful as is your complete understandin of all the nuances in both. If you don't know one very well, chances are you're going to miss something important in some future work that you have to do. - The Japan Times Online

Unique Barcelona City Break Takes On Language Barrier : Khalsa News Network- KNTimes.com

Unique Barcelona City Break Takes On Language Barrier : Khalsa News Network- KNTimes.com

There are so many schools that offer language programs not only in Spain but all over Latin America as well. It can be a daunting task when trying to find one that fits your particular situation, as well as your budget and your expectations. I wrote an article a while back about what to keep in mind when choosing a Spanish language school. You might find it interesting: Choosing a good Spanish school abroad.