Archive for October, 2007
web 2.0 & the world of corporate translation
I just finished the second course for the Graham School translation certificate. It was not at all what I expected. But in a good way, I’ve decided.
The course was on translation business tools and opened my eyes to an entire world of corporate translation and localization strategies. Did you know, for example, that Boeing, in an effort to cut translation costs, devised their own form of simplified English, which they used for all of their international communications? I can’t remember the number, but it was some insanely small vocabulary that they forced their technical writers to use in all documentation. The strategy was questionably English-centric, but has really paid off in the long run, because now they can translate their many documents into all the different languages with much smaller margins of error and a much higher rates of consistency.
The real take-home point for me was: translation is becoming less about translation, as we know it, and more about 1) culling what we put IN to the “translation machine” (whether that’s a team of globally-based translators or computer aided translation) and 2) polishing what comes OUT of the “translation machine” (post-editing).
So now, I’m a little intrigued by this whole thing. Maybe I’ll have a stint in the world of corporate translation after I finish this stint in educational technology. Who knows.
What I do know, however, is that learning to collaborate online using Web2.0 collaboration tools is an incredibly valuable tool. If you haven’t already, make sure you:
- have your own Skype account
- have gmail and yahoo accounts for chatting, audio, video
- have participated in a yahoo group to get something done
- know how to share presentations with tools like slideshare and authorstream
- know how to create a blog or and understand simple HTML
- know how to coordinate schedules across time zones
- can craft good emails and online writing
- can present your ideas online with tools like wikis, google docs, zoho, etc.
- have joined a social network before
- can quickly learn and use web2.0 tools (2/day would be a good start)
These might seem like simple things, but for all you people out there who have the time to do global collaboration work, I highly recommend it. These skills and experiences will put you far ahead of the pack when you finally enter the workforce.
what’s happening with LAASA?
Good question. I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately. LAASA has been around now for over four years, during which time I have been working on two masters degrees, moved to a new city, completed a catalog of Argentine art song for publication, and held five different jobs. It’s been a challenge to respond to the many email inquiries that come my way. I feel guilty about all the interested parties that I haven’t followed up with. Sometimes just fulfilling the orders is a challenge, time-wise. I’m not sure what to do about this.
Honestly, I just don’t have the time it would take to make LAASA flourish. I’m hoping that I will work myself into a position where I can work as a freelancer and have more of that kind of flexibility, but until then… I pray for patience on the part of all my supporters.
Any ideas? Anyone want to “borrow” the project for a few years, while I get other areas of my life in order?
The good news is that when I do get back to LAASA, I will be even better prepared to make it grow, and grow quickly. It’s just not the season right now (I tell myself). One of the tools that I’m excited about eventually using with the LAASA community is unltdworld.com. All you kind readers out there, send me good energy so that I can get myself into a position to do more to promote Latin American classical music.
thanks!
have you had your whole food nutrition today?
It’s been about four years since I started looking for ways to optimize my health. I am one of the many women out there dealing with what I call “light chronic symptoms”. These are like uneven hormones, cold hands & feet, fatigue, problems with the thyroid, digestion. Part of me has wanted to believe that it is only stress, and these symptoms are definitely triggered by stress, but it’s more than that.
I’ve looked at amalgam removal, environmental toxins, and parasites as possible sources of “mis problemas”. It’s been an interesting journey. I have no conclusive answers, but I have found some great products that I can tell are really helping.
- FrequenSea marine phytoplankton whole food beverage. The first swig I took of this stuff, it was like my body went, aaahh, thank you. It’s clean-feeling and calm-inducing. It helps me to feel balanced.
- JuicePLUS+ whole food supplements. I started taking these two years ago and I really like them. I felt like the “greens” were more valuable to my body than the “fruits”. I really enjoyed the fruit & veggie gummies for kids and the whole food shake they make is better than any I have found anywhere.
- StemEnhance phytoceutical. I’ve only been taking this for a month and I can really feel a difference. My energy has gone up, up, up. I have the desire to actually exercise again (like my body won’t collapse in the effort). I have the desire to eat food (my metabolism is starting to work better) and I’m attracted to more healthy foods, something I noticed with the JuicePLUS+ as well. Best of all, my body temperature has gone up. No more cold hands and cold feet. I have had a few “detox”-like symptoms: headaches and temporary indigestion, but they all went aways after a few days. I’m really excited to see how I feel after one more month on this stuff. I’ll be sure to let you know.
I am an independent distributor for all three of these products, so if you have any questions, would like to try a sample, or learn about becoming a distributor yourself, shoot me an email.
