Top Ten Training Programs for Translators
We believe that one of the keys to growing as a professional in general, and as a professional translator in particular, is to never stop learning. After I graduated as a translator, I, myself, have found it very hard to find reliable, professional alternatives for postgraduate training so at The TR Company we decided to gather a great group of talented trainers and create short programs specifically designed for translators. To thrive in the translation industry, translators need to master their skills in many different ways: they need to have a proficient command of technological tools and advanced knowledge of different business and legal areas, and improve as much as possible their writing, editing and proofreading skills. At The TR Company we have thought of a few more things which would be worth taking into consideration, such as improving your negotiating and management skills, and working hard to try to find some kind of balance between work and life, or the remains of it…I believe these courses will be very useful for any translator, including freelancers, employees in translation companies, owners of translation companies, and translators working for companies in other industries.
These are the programs we’ve designed for you.
1. WORD FOR TRANSLATORS (ADVANCED USERS)
The main program translators use for their work is Microsoft Word. And they not only write, but often spend a lot of time formatting documents, so in this course we will give you practical tips, tricks, and ‘how-tos’ to make your work more efficient. We will also deal with headers, footnotes, breaks, tables of contents, styles, images, graphs, tables and charts.
2. TRANSLATION TECHNOLOGIES
In this program we will basically be dealing with translation memories, terminology management, and content and document management. Computer tools and electronic resources that play an ever-increasingly important role in the translation activity. Either if you work for a translation company or you own one, or if you work as a freelance translator, this course will help you maximize your operating capacity, efficiency and profitability.
3. ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING FOR TRANSLATORS
Much of what we translate lies within the economic fields, including finance, accounting and related areas. Unfortunately, most translators have very limited knowledge of these fields. In this intensive program, we focus on the main concepts of micro and macroeconomics, corporate finances, and accounting, including opportunity cost, productivity, aggregate demand and supply, labor, business cycles, economic growth, unemployment, fiscal policy, GDP, inflation, real versus nominal, competition and market structures, consumers, entrepreneurs, producers, elasticity, price ceilings and floors, profit, supply and demand, roles of government, balance of trade and balance of payments, exchange rates, financial markets, interest, risk and return, saving and investing, income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, and taxes.
No translator can afford to miss this training opportunity.
4. BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT FOR TRANSLATORS
As with the previous course, Economics, Finance and Accounting for Translators, in this course we analyze basic business and management concepts, such as marketing (everything about products, prices, channels of distribution, advertising), human resources (including training and development, compensation, hiring and firing, team work), operations and logistics, leadership, organizational structure and culture, entrepreneurship, and strategy among many other interesting topics.
5. QUALITY CONTROL: EDITING AND PROOFREADING TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSLATORS
Quality control is the backbone of any translation project. At The TR Company we take this stage very seriously (and any translation company should do too). You have to ensure that not only have you chosen fancy terminology and have made your translation read well and look good, but it has to be well written, grammatically correct and error-free. Many times translators spend most of their time researching terminology and don’t devote enough time to reading their translations and detecting mistakes that, otherwise, could have ruined their work. Not only do you have to meet your deadline and set a reasonable price, but, MAINLY, your translation has to be ERROR FREE.
In this course, we’ll explore what proofreading entails and how to do it well. What we mean by editing. How we can check for adherence to a specific register and style, reword for clarity or flow. Finally, we’ll go through correct formatting, design, pagination, table of contents, and cross-references.
6. PROJECT MANAGEMENT. TEAM WORK AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS IN A TRANSLATION COMPANY
Translators rarely work on their own. If you do, trust me, you shouldn’t. There are valuable synergy gains from working with peers.
Because of the increasing array of huge, complex, and technically challenging projects we have to face in today’s marketplace, project management has become a crucial skill. In this course we attempt to provide Translators and Project Leaders working in translation companies with tools, techniques, and knowledge to manage their projects and assignments, set objectives and schedules, maintain commitment, communicate effectively, hold people accountable, and avoid common pitfalls.
7. PLAIN ENGLISH AND LEGAL WRITING FOR TRANSLATORS
Writing well is part of translating well. In this course we will explore and apply many of the most practical and useful techniques of plain English applied to legal writing, principles for all legal writing, phrasing sentences, choosing words, and simple methods for continued improvement.
8. SPECIFIC PRACTICE AREAS, SUCH AS INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION
The legal practice is composed of hundreds of areas of specialization and subdivided into industries. Many translators claim to specialize in legal translation, but which area specifically? All of them? Global Islamic Finance & Investment? Hatch-Waxman litigation? Just anything? I don’t think so.
We’ve chosen a few practice areas in which we, at The TR Company, have in-depth expertise and have designed short courses oriented to studying basic concepts and useful terminology (both in English and in Spanish). These include: international arbitration, international contracts, licensing, franchise and distribution, and corporate law, and such industries as climate change, oil and gas, energy and natural resources, electricity, and mining.
9. FUNCTIONAL TRANSLATION
In this short course, we will explore the different competencies a translator needs to master in order to become a functional translator, which include not only professional knowledge, but also communicative skills, intercultural awareness, writing abilities, research skills, plus self-confidence and lots of stress resistance. This is a hands-on, completely interactive workshop.
10. INTRODUCTION TO INTERPRETATION
Interpreting is similar to translating. True. Interpreting is very different from translating. Also true. Whereas in both cases the objective is conveying a message from one language into another, the skills required to be a good translator differ from those of a good interpreter.
In this introductory course, we look into the main competencies of a good interpreter, which we will test in practical examples.
Bonus: Two more!
11. NEGOTIATING SKILLS FOR TRANSLATORS
Negotiating is part of our daily lives, both professionally and personally.
We know that we have to give in order to receive. And yet, when it comes to negotiating and getting what we want, most of us feel awkward, upset, or frustrated.
In this seminar, we discuss how to come to terms even facing conflicting interests, finding alternatives, communicating effectively, factoring in the emotions involved, and committing to reaching a mutually beneficial arrangement. We also analyze the importance of information and time restraints in the bargaining power of each party.
12. WORK-LIFE BALANCE: DEALING WITH PRESSURE
Translating is a stressful profession, that’s no news. We deal with extremely tight deadlines, intellectually challenging texts, and many working conditions which more often than not are far from ideal.
But not all is lost. There are many things we can do to make it a bit easier on ourselves. These range from planning, setting priorities, and managing your time as effectively as you can to choosing the right chair on which you sit all day, and many more ideas you can easily implement.
