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The ProZ.com Outsourcer Assistance Team is searching for Canada-based interpreters in a variety of languages to field remote interpreting calls. The initial languages sought are:
Afar
Korean
Amharic
Kurdish
Cantonese
Mandarin
Farsi
Mongolian
Georgian
Portuguese (BR)
Hungarian
Romanian
Italian
Russian
Japanese
Tamil
Karen
Vietnamese
Khmer
Interested interpreters should submit an application to the ProZ.com Interpreter Pool by clicking on the “Apply” button at https://www.proz.com/pools/interpreters
ProZ.com members will have first access to this work, and if needed will also be provided with free interpreter training designed to get you compliant and start taking interpreting work through a variety of platforms.
Austin, TX – April 9, 2024 – Boostlingo, a leader in language access technology, announces AI Pro – a new AI solution offering real-time captions, transcriptions, translations, and speech features in multiple languages. AI Pro empowers professionals to communicate on conferencing platforms regardless of language or hearing disabilities.
In addition to the AI Pro launch, Boostlingo unveils a new brand identity and website reflecting the company’s expansion of services beyond interpretation technology. The new branding reflects Boostlingo’s commitment to innovation and increased language access.
“Boostlingo’s rebranding was a strategic decision as we are building upon our innovative technology and adding new products that incorporate AI,” shared Morgan Teller, Director of Marketing. “We’re also expanding our technology from just interpretation to being capable of supporting broader language services.”
Are you a translator who wants to play with Al and don’t know where to start? Here’s an opportunity to learn the basics of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and so on, for immediate application in your translation projects.
Ideal for Al newbies, curious hearts or colleagues and students wary of Al systems, this will be a mostly practical workshop; with some theory where it’s needed, but not much.
This month I interviewed Certified PRO and ProZ.com professional trainer Konstantin Kisin on his upcoming workshops on improving essential business skills. Konstantin’s background in the psychology of communication and human behavior, as well as his extensive experience in the language services industry, give him unique insight as to how freelance translators and interpreters can improve their negotiation skills, be more productive, and achieve a better balance between work and life. These workshops will be held on November 17th, February 16th, and March 30th in the London area: http://www.proz.com/conference/group/8
I begin this interview by asking Konstantin which characteristics make someone an effective negotiator. In his response, Konstantin dispels the notion that a good negotiator must necessarily be tough or confident – but focuses instead on the value of exhibiting what he refers to as “behavioral flexibility.” According to Konstantin, behavioral flexibility is “doing the right thing, at the right time, and for the right reasons.”
Konstantin continues by saying that negotiation skills are essential in allowing freelance translators to put themselves in control of their businesses. These skills are largely what help freelancers determine how much they are paid, when their deadlines will be, and what their working patterns will be like. In short, he explains that negotiation and communication skills are key in fostering successful and healthy relationships with clients.
Later in the interview I ask Konstantin what makes his workshops on productivity different from the rest. He explains that while most productivity courses or training sessions deal with this topic from a general business standpoint, his workshops focus specifically on what freelance translators can do to improve their productivity. As a successful freelance translator himself, Konstantin offers some unique advice focused on what language service providers can do to cut procrastination and be more productive.
Finally, I ask Konstantin to sum up what makes the content of his workshops so valuable for freelance translators and interpreters. He says that, simply put, the topics covered in this three part workshop series are aimed at helping language service providers be in control of their businesses, increase their productivity, and achieve more balance between work and life.
Think these workshops might be right for you? Be sure to check out what others have said about Konstantin’s training courses in the feedback section of the workshop pages:
The ProZ.com mentoring program, an initiative intended to provide a means for site members to meet other members who are well-established enough to take on an apprentice, work together and build translation teams, has finally reached 50 active mentors in 125 different language pairs and in 50 different languages.
The program is particularly useful for members who, for example, have completed formal training in translation or who have acquired translation knowledge, but have a lack of practical experience. Site members just seeking advice on translation business-related issues are also welcomed.
For mentors, the program represents a useful means not only of sharing their experience and promoting themselves as experts, but also of finding new partners for growing translation teams.
If you would like to meet a mentor and acquire more experience, click here to see a complete list list of active mentors and contact them directly. If you and your mentor agree to work together, simply report your pairing to site staff and you are ready to go!
If you are a member of the Certified PRO Network and you would like to become a mentor and further promote yourself, just submit a support request.
Congratulations to the mentors and apprentices who are making this possible!
The ProZ.com Certified PRO Network, an initiative of the ProZ.com community that has the purpose of identifying qualified translators and providing them with the option of networking and collaborating while distinguishing themselves as professionals, is now open to translation companies willing to demonstrate their unique capabilities in keeping with published industry standards.
The ProZ.com Certified PRO Network keeps growing.
Allowing translation companies to apply for inclusion into the network is expected to have, among others, the following benefits:
Network expansion.
More successful service provider-outsourcer working relationships.
More room for direct communication and collaboration between service providers and companies.
A better understanding on the part of outsourcers of what being a Certified PRO means.
Extended network promotion.
Translation companies willing to enter the ProZ.com Certified PRO Network will be required to prove that they meet or exceed minimum professional standards in two screening areas: (1) business reliability and (2) good citizenship.
Information that screeners will check when reviewing company applications includes Blue Board record history and payment practices, number of years in the translation industry, client feedback, standards or certifications, quality processes followed and ProZ.com activity. Other data, such as services offered and capacity, may also be taken into account.
Like referees in sports, ProZ.com moderators help to ensure fair play by enforcing a specific set of rules in a uniform manner.
The ProZ.com moderator class of 2011-2012 is coming to an end, but before this happens, ProZ.com would like to thank all of those members who have given of their time to help maintain a positive, results-oriented atmosphere on the site. Each person in the class has made valuable contributions to ProZ.com, and some of them even beyond the moderator program.
ProZ.com moderators are volunteer members who have benefited from ProZ.com and have chosen to give something back by playing their part, in turn, in a system put in place to ensure fair play. Their role is to foster and protect the positive, results-oriented atmosphere that makes ProZ.com possible, by:
Greeting and guiding new participants, and helping them to properly use and benefit from what is available to them at ProZ.com.
Enforcing site rules in a consistent and structured manner to maintain a constructive environment.
The moderator class of 2011-2012 is certainly a very good example of the role. Thank you mods!
The ProZ.com Certified PRO Network, an initiative of the ProZ.com community to provide qualified translators and translation companies with an opportunity to network and collaborate in an environment consisting entirely of screened professionals, has reached 3,000 members and more and more applications are being submitted every day.
Members of the ProZ.com Certified PRO Network have the benefit of networking with other screened professionals while distinguishing themselves as PROs. Many program participants view this also as an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the industry. Other benefits members of the program have include:
a distinguishing Certified PRO seal shown next to their name throughout the ProZ.com site;
a printable and downloadable certificate available in their ProZ.com profiles;
To enter the Certified PRO Network, ProZ.com members must complete an online application and submit it for review to prove they meet or exceed minimum professional standards based on the EN15038 standard for quality in translation and in three screening areas: translation ability, business reliability and online citizenship.
The ProZ.com Certified PRO network is being provided as a service to ProZ.com full professional members only (non-members can still complete and submit their applications for review). If admitted, members pay no additional fees.
More information about the ProZ.com Certified PRO Network is available here.
Congratulations to the over 3,000 ProZ.com members who are further differentiating themselves professionally and taking networking and collaboration to a new level!
The humanitarian organizations operating with Translators without Borders posted for translation 282,918 words in April and a total of 1,005,281 words during the first 4 months of 2012. This represents a 52% increase with respect to the 663K words received during the first 4 month of 2011.
A heartfelt thank you to the worthy volunteers that make these achievements possible! Most volunteers belong to the ProZian community and some 40% of them are part of ProZ.com Certified PRO Network.
Every business type is exposed to risks influenced by numerous factors and the translation and interpretation business is no exception. Regardless of the type of activity involved, everyone either offering language services or looking for language service providers is exposed so several types of risks that should be acknowledged if a reliable and successful service provider-outsourcer relationship is desired.
With this in mind, ProZ.com has been creating content and developing new tools with the purpose of helping translators, translation companies, and others in the language industry to learn about the different risks involved in doing business online and how to prevent them.
One of these resources, and probably the most widely used by service providers when assessing risks, is the ProZ.com Blue Board. The Blue Board record is the complete, searchable database of records made up of feedback entries posted by language service providers in connection with outsourcers they have worked with. For service providers, the Blue Board record has proved to be a great tool for assessing the reliability of specific outsourcers before accepting a job offer from them. For outsourcers, being listed in the Blue Board record with a good number of positive entries from service providers represents a great marketing tool. Outsourcers with a good Blue Board record report a higher degree of trust and shortened project launch cycles among those service providers who reference the Blue Board. More information about using the Blue Board record is available here.
Another great source of information in connection with business risks in translation is the ProZ.com Wiki. The ProZ.com translation industry wiki is an ever-evolving collection of articles about relevant, industry related topics, written and updated regularly by translators themselves. In this wiki, there are several articles on risk management, addressed both to language professionals and to outsourcers. Risk management-related wiki articles include the following:
For more information about the ProZ.com industry wiki, visit this page.
A recently released scam alert center is another potentially valuable resource for those seeking to manage risk when it comes to false job offers and other scams. The Translator scam alert center is an area used to provide organized, concise information regarding false job offers or requests and other scams which may be aimed at or are affecting language professionals and outsourcers. Information provided in the center is based in part on reports made by ProZ.com members through the online support system and in the ProZ.com Scams forum, and ProZ.com members have the option of subscribing to receive useful news and alerts of new scams as they are detected. The scam alert center is available here.
Finally, ProZ.com also offers its members a free webinar on “Risk management for translators and interpreters” on a monthly basis. This training session enumerates and explains risk management procedures that translators and interpreters should follow as part of their everyday professional activities. The schedule for these webinars is available here.
Regardless of the number of years a service provider or an outsourcer has been in the translation industry, risks are everywhere when doing business. However, the above-listed resources and tools have been made available by ProZ.com to promote not just professional practices, but also clear and concise information on the steps that should be taken to avoid risks when participating in the language industry. If you have any questions about these tools and resources, or if you need assistance with using them, contact site staff through the support center.
The ProZ.com Certified PRO Network is an initiative of the ProZ.com community to provide qualified translators and translation companies with an opportunity to network and collaborate in an environment consisting entirely of screened professionals.
Until now, PRO certification was only possible in one language pair. However, as announced here, since January 23, 2012, members of the Certified PRO Network are invited to submit their applications for certification in a second language pair (certification in more than two language pairs will be possible at some point in the future).
Initially, the screening process seeks to establish that an applicant meets or exceeds certain minimum professional standards in three screening areas: translation ability, business reliability and “online citizenship”. Since only site members who are already members of the Certified PRO Network are allowed to apply for certification in a second language pair, only translation ability is screened in this second phase (business reliability and “online citizenship” having been confirmed during the screening process for a first language pair).
These are the requirements to apply for PRO certification in a second language pair:
Site members must be members of the Certified PRO Network already.
A new application must be submitted, but containing only information on translation ability (sample translation in second pair, credentials, references, etc.).
Willingness to keep on networking and collaborating in an environment consisting entirely of screened professionals.
To apply for inclusion into the Certified PRO Network or, if you are already a member, to apply for certification in a second language pair, complete your application with as much information as you can and submit it for review. The screening process may take up to 30 days.
More information on the ProZ.com Certified PRO Network is available here.
Fernanda Pivano, a legendary translator who first brought to Italian readers so many great American writers and poets (from Edgar Lee Masters to William Burroughs, from Hemingway to Bob Dylan) died today in Milan.
I never had the privilege of knowing her in person, but it was thanks to her translations that I first read many American writers.
The Corriere della Sera site has posted much material on her, including interviews, videos, and the last article she wrote for the paper (last month, on the day of her 92nd birthday).
The translation news daily digest is my daily 'signal' to stop work and find out what's going on in the world of translation before heading back into the world at large! It provides a great overview that I could never get on my own.
susan rose (X)
United States
I read the daily digest of ProZ.com translation news to get the essential part of what happens out there!
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