in India in 2001 and the tsunami that hit

Asia in December of last year. 30,000

Kutchi speaking individuals lost their

lives in the earthquake. Kutchi is a dying

ancestral Indian language. Additionally,

the tsunami has had a devastating impact

on many other language communities.

The United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization’s

(UNESCO) data show that half of the

6,900 existing languages spoken in the

world are at risk of extinction within the

next 50 to 100 years.

Are we aware that we ourselves also

contribute to this? We as parents think

that it is an advantage for our children to

switch to another language depriving

them of their mother tongue. And,

what’s worse, the so-called intellectuals,

the young, and translators who are too

lazy to do some research, overuse for-

eign words, making them a part of

everyday speech, changing the structure

of own language to make it more like

A Publication of The New York Circle of Translators November 2005

INSIDE

2 A Note On Our Meetings

3 The Art and Craft of

Translation

4 Letter to the Editor: The

Case of Mohamed Yousry

6 Workshop Review

7 Court Interpreting

9 Editing Translations

10 Online Translator

Communities

12 Getting Started in the

Business of Translation

13 Members’ Voice — One

Translator’s Creed

14 Election of Officers

15 Circle News

the one they are feeding on. So, every-

thing is “cool” to them and they are

unaware that this little word change has

planted a poison that will slowly under-

mine the foundation of their language

and , finally, slowly kill it.

hen a bald eagle was in a group

of the endangered species, we

used all of our power not to let that pre-

cious bird disappear. When the world’s

languages die, we just let it happen with-

out giving it our real attention.

We know that Europe’s colonial con-

quests dramatically changed the map of

linguistic diversity, eliminating at least

15 per cent of all languages spoken at

the time. These languages were sacri-

ficed in order to establish an “official

language”. It was a deliberate move of

national governments to eradicate minor-

ity languages.

Today, we do not need a conquest to kill

a language. Man and Mother Nature eas-

ily take care of that. When a man

decided to build dams on the Kwai River

in Thailand, he flooded villages of

Ugong-speaking people, forcing them to

migrate into Thai-speaking areas. There

are only 100 Ugong-speakers left nowa-

days. We still remember the earthquake

WW

ENDANGERED SPECIES? HOW ABOUT ENDANGEREDLANGUAGES? By Slavica Zecevic

2

EDITORRosene Zaros

editor@nyctranslators.orgEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Karl D. GluckEDITORIAL BOARD

Ellen Sowchek, Betty Welker.Guylaine Laperrière, Trudy Balch

DESIGN AND LAYOUTBahl Graphics

kbahlmann@austin.rr.comPRINTING

Mail Boxes, Etc. South Orange NJmailboxso@verizon.net

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONPlease submit all contributions as

e-mail attachments in Microsoft Wordformat. Articles should be limited to

1500 words or less.

The Gotham Translator is published six times ayear by the New York Circle of Translators, Inc.,a chapter of the American TranslatorsAssociation. The deadline for acceptance ofcontributions is the first day of the month pre-ceding the month of publication. Articles andother materials should be e-mailed to the Editorat editor@nyctranslators.org. The opinions andviews expressed are those of the authors anddo not necessarily reflect the opinions or thepolicies of the NYCT or the ATA. All materialsubmitted is subject to editing and becomes theproperty of the New York Circle of Translatorsunless accompanied by a copyright statement.

© 2005 by the New York Circle of Translators.All rights reserved. Nothing contained in thisissue may be reprinted without explicit prior per-mission of the editor or, in the case ofcopyrighted material, the copyright holder.

Do you know someone who'd like to advertise in

The Gotham TTranslator?

Please e-mail your text or artwork to the Editor at editor@nyctranslators.orgno later than 30 days prior to the publication date. Please indicate the ad sizedesired. If your artwork is in soft copy (business card or other) please mail tothe editor at the address below together with your payment.

Ad Rates (single insertion)Full page (7.5" x 10") ..........................$150One-half page (7.5" x 4.75")..................$80One-fourth page (3.5" x 4.75") ..............$40One-eighth page (3.5" x 2.25")..............$20

Note: All prices are for black-and-white camera-ready copy.

Payment: As soon as you and the Editor have agreed to the ad size andpublication date, you will be sent an invoice via email. We must receivepayment in advance before we can publish an ad. Please allow enoughtime for checks to be received prior to the publication date. Please mail yourcheck payable to the New York Circle of Translators for your ad placement to:

The New York Circle of TranslatorsP.O. Box 4051

Grand Central StationNew York, NY 10163-4051

his is a note of thanks to thespeakers who kindly agreed to

devote their time to the New YorkCircle of Translators in this secondhalf of the year.

At our September meeting, our mem-bers benefited greatly from thepresentation of Jon Ritzdorf,Localization Engineering Architectand Professor at NYU and RutgersUniversity, who provided fundamentalinformation and advice on softwareapplications and web-based technolo-gies for professional translators.

Our more recent speaker, Jordan Fox,who is ATA-certified and has been a

court interpreter for over five years,

passed on a lot of his knowledge and

experience to the attendees at our

October meeting, covering all relevant

issues such as consecutive interpret-

ing, simultaneous interpreting,

note-taking techniques, conduct, train-

ing resources, testing and certification

information.

We are all most appreciative of our

apeakers' collaboration, which consti-

tutes the means through which

the Circle pursues professional devel-

opment and improvement to

translators and interpreters.

November 22005

NEW YORK CIRCLE OFTRANSLATORS

(212) 334-3060

2005 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Slavica Zecevic Pralica, Presidentpresident@nyctranslators.org

Margaret Altieri, President-ElectHome: (732) 892-0281

presidentelect@nyctranslators.orgLisa Barocas Anderson, Secretary

Home: (212) 567-0732secretary@nyctranslators.org

Antje Katcher, TreasurerHome/Work: (631) 324-0589treasurer@nyctranslators.org

Elisabeth Ranhe, Program Directorprogramdirector@nyctranslators.org

COMMITTEESProgram: Laura Brandkamp

Continuing Education: Jordan Fox

TT

A NOTE ON OUR MEETINGS By Elisabeth Ranhe, Program Director

3

The Gotham TTranslator

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

THE ART AND CRAFT OFTRANSLATIONBy Rosene Zaros

fter spending an evening with agroup of translators and inter-

preters, I am convinced that it wouldbe difficult to find a group of peoplewho are more dedicated to their pro-fession. This dedication made mebegin to think about the qualitiesinherent in a good translator or inter-preter for, while there are similarities,there are differences.

Both, certainly, are very open to "theother." Their thorough knowledge ofboth the source and target languagesand cultures makes even the idea of"the other" an idea that is in constantflux and revision. This is particularlytrue for interpreters in certain fieldssuch as court interpreting. There is notime to search for "le mot juste." Theymust quickly convey the messageaccurately and in the appropriate reg-ister. Good interpreters must be ableto focus on the moment. There is notime and there is no reason to readbetween the lines. It is the role of theinterpreter to convey the words ofeach party as exactly as possible.

Translators, on the other hand, fre-quently struggle to find the exactword to convey the source languagemeaning as they perceive it. If they donot know the meaning, they will dothe necessary research. This insatiablecuriosity is a requisite for a successfultranslator. Good translators can work

alone for hours without becominglonely or bored. Good interpretersthrive on personal contact.

Yet, both are involved in the sameprocess: giving "voice" to "the other".One might ask what would motivatesomeone to make a career of transla-tion or interpretation. At one time, itmay have been for financial reasons.It was a way for immigrants with evena meager knowledge of the languageof their new country to make a living.That is no longer the case. Gone arethe days when someone who knewtwo languages could get a job and"learn on the job." With globalizationand the advent of technology, today'stranslators and interpreters haveemerged as highly trained linguistsspecializing in a variety of fields.Many colleges and universities nowhave translation programs where stu-dents can learn the craft of translation.The art of translation is a bit moreephemeral. It requires an almostincredible sense of judgment as toappropriateness and register in the tar-get language. It is not easy fortranslators who are almost always in alimbo space between languages to rec-ognize that they have retained thesyntax of the source language or haveused an expression that may seem alittle odd to the target language reader.

Perhaps the most important thing for a

translator is to be able to write well inthe target language for translation iseven more demanding, in some ways,than writing. When I write, I choosethe words that I feel best express whatI want to say. I may search for a wordthat expresses the exact nuance ofwhat I want to say. I may even grievea little bit that I cannot take a wordfrom Spanish or French, because theFrench or Spanish word has the exactnuance that I want to convey. I amstill working with my own ideas.When I translate, I am obligated towork with the original author's ideas.It is my goal to give voice in the tar-get language to those ideas. It is a bigresponsibility.

In this issue, various contributors willshare their ideas about both the artand craft and, last but not least, aboutthe business of translation. We mustnot get so involved in the art and craftof our profession that we forget that itis also a business.

As I said in my first column, I wantthis column to be a platform for dia-logue with readers. In the last issue,we printed several articles dealingwith challenges faced by translatorsand interpreters. On the next page is aresponse from the ATA about an arti-cle in last month’s issue of theGotham Translator.

AA

November 22005

4

LETTER TO THE EDITOR OFTHE GOTHAM TRANSLATOR

n the wake of the conviction ofMohammed Yousry for defrauding

the U.S. Government and concealingmaterial support to terrorist activity, anumber of letters have been written sup-porting Mr. Yousry. Now two articleswith a similar theme have appeared inthe October issue of your newsletter:"Occupational Hazards" by MargueriteShore, and "Perils of Translation in Post9/11 America: The Case of MohammedYousry" by Alison Dundy. These lettersand articles decry Mr. Yousry's convic-tion as "wrongful" (Dundy), and take theATA and NAJIT to task for maintaining aneutral stance on guilt or innocence,while underlining the need for educationand vigilance in upholding the strictstandards for ethics and protocolsdemanded of interpreters in the legaldomain.

In the light of anticipated appeals, ourassociations have preferred not to publishstatements containing concrete examplesof some of the ethics issues in question.However, the rhetoric has reached a levelwhere the Gotham articles have charac-terized our response as "cowardly andevasive" (Shore, quoting Hess), and rep-resenting mere "legalistic bombast aboutprotocols and neutrality" (Dundy). We

beg to differ. While respecting the rightof every individual to have and expresshis or her opinion, we would be doingthe interpreting community a disserviceif we did not continue to stress that thefrequently mentioned "risks of doingone's job well" (Shore) are greatlyreduced, if not completely eliminated, bystrict adherence to proper interpretingstandards of performance.

In the specific case of Mr.Yousry, it isregrettable that instruction about theseimportant standards does not seem tohave been provided, or if it was, it wasnot sufficiently absorbed and/or rein-forced to allow Mr.Yousry to withstandpressures to perform tasks and take posi-tions that are patently contrary to themost basic canons observed by legalinterpreters.

The defense strategy used byMr.Yousry's legal representatives empha-sized that he was "just doing his job" andthe majority of articles in support ofMr.Yousry underline this idea—that Mr.Yousry was merely "carrying out hisduties as an interpreter, following theinstructions of Stewart, the lawyer"(Shore), suggesting that if he can be con-victed for that, then interpreters andtranslators in the legal domain are indanger when interpreting for attorneys ortheir agents who may be carrying outsuspect or even illegal activities them-selves. But is this really the case? Moreto the point—was Mr.Yousry really justdoing his job, performing as a "court-appointed interpreter," or was he doingsomething else—taking on a role thatallowed a jury to view his actions asindependent and self-initiated? Is the"translator" defense really any more thana red herring?

In the reports of both Shore and Dundy,there are many references to the proper

role of the interpreter. Shore reports onthe presentation of Ellen Sowchek, stat-ing that an interpreter is "required tospeak in the same grammatical person asthe individual for whom he/she is inter-preting," and must "convey not only thespeaker's meaning but also the style andregister of speech, and to do so in a neu-tral fashion, without adding orsubtracting from the original message."This is quite correct and in accordancewith the canon of ethics that requiresaccuracy and prohibits changing, addingto, or omitting the words of the speaker.Nevertheless, if one reads the actualtranscripts used as evidence in the case,that is, the transcripts of the videotapedjail visits in which Mohammed Yousryacted as interpreter between client SheikRahman and attorney Lynne Stewart,there are so few instances of accurateinterpreting and so many continuousexamples of paraphrasing, informationadded, information omitted, and personalcommentary offered, that it is hard to seehow this performance can be classed as"interpreting."

Likewise, Dundy states: "It is the job ofthe translator to facilitate communica-tion. A translator's own views and voiceare essentially invisible and silent." Yetthe jail interview transcripts are literallyfilled with Mr. Yousry's opinions, cleverstrategies and personal comments. Is thisthe work of a "neutral" party, an "impar-tial" interpreter? If Mr. Yousry hadlimited himself to interpreting what thetwo parties said (acting exclusively astheir voices instead of introducing hisown voice, his own ideas) in strategy

Dear colleagues:

In response to the articles pub-lished in the October 2005 issue ofThe Gotham Translator, JudithKenigson Kristy has prepared thefollowing remarks, which are afaithful reflection of the views ofboth NAJIT and ATA. We appreci-ate the opportunity to provide adetailed explanation of the ration-ale behind our stance.

Marian S. GreenfieldPresident, American TranslatorsAssociation

II

The Gotham TTranslator

5

planning and personal exchanges withthe Sheik and Stewart, would a jury havebeen able to consider him as part of aconspiracy or would they have seen amere language conduit, detached anduninvolved in the process?

Shore speaks of the "impossibility ofneutrality in charged situations," yetevery day, in hundreds of courts, deposi-tions, attorney visits, proffers, and so on,interpreters are performing impartially,maintaining neutrality and keeping theirideas and opinions to themselves. This isone of the hallmarks of a professionalinterpreter in the legal domain. Thosewho do not maintain neutrality are,indeed, subjecting themselves to risksranging from burn-out to prosecution,but true professionals generally have suf-ficient trust in their own abilities, as well

as in the fact that they do not reallyknow, nor do they need to know, who isguilty and who is innocent. Neutrality,for court interpreters, is precisely that: itmeans not taking sides at all, under anycircumstances; not helping, not harming,not participating—in short, not doinganything that can be construed as anactivity that does not constitute com-pletely impartial interpreting ortranslating.

There are so many examples of ethicalerrors to be seen in the 275 pages of thejail visit transcriptions, and so manydefects in the entire role and perform-ance of Mr. Yousry as an "interpreter" inthis case, that it would be impossible tooutline all of them here. Suffice it to saythat if people continue to follow the redherring of the "just doing his job as a

translator" defense, and if they neglect toread the jail interview transcriptions,they will never correctly understand thebasis for the ATA/NAJIT joint statement,and will not know what it means to saythat "we do not take a stand on guilt orinnocence." Mr.Yousry may be guilty orinnocent of the criminal charges broughtagainst him. We do not know and proba-bly will never know what his intentionsmay have been in this respect. His lackof professionalism, however, quite surelyhad a serious impact on increasing thedangers to which he exposed himself. Asmembers of the interpreting and translat-ing community, that is what ought toconcern us most.

Judith Kenigson KristyDirector, National Association ofJudiciary Interpreters and Translators

Ms. Dundy states that "MohammedYousry was convicted for doing nothingother than his job." In our view, a judici-ary interpreter is not doing his job whenhe does the following:

1) fails to speak in the same voice,register or manner of the speaker.This occurs throughout all 275 pages ofthe May 19 and 20, 2000, videotapedjail interview transcriptions. Starting on19, v. 1, p. 6, l. 11* — Yousry: "She issaying, Sir, that her favorite person isSheikh Omar Abdel Rahman." Thistype of inaccurate, indirect speech con-tinues throughout.

2) summarizes, adds to, and omitsparts of the speakers' communica-tions. This occurs throughout all of thetranscriptions; in fact it is difficult to findmany examples of actual, accurateinterpreting in the entire corpus.Examples: 19, v. 1, pp. 12 - 15, 21 - 25,also 20, v. 1, pp. 1-3.

3) carries on lengthy personal con-versations with the client in a foreign

language, in spite of the fact that theattorney is not speaking of, or maynot even have knowledge of, thematters they are discussing.This occurs throughout; see 19, v. 1,pp. 16 - 18 — "I'm telling about Tuesdaynow"; 19, v. 2, pp. 2 - 8 — at the end ofthese seven pages Stewart says:"Yousry, stop and translate now," sinceshe has no idea what they are talkingabout; 20, v. 2, pp. 30-31.

4) offers political advice or suggestsstrategies. 19, v. 1, pp. 24-25 —Yousry suggests that even if Farrakhandoes not succeed in visiting the Sheikh,it will be good publicity for him if thenewspapers say that he has not beenallowed to visit the Sheikh. This is oneof many suggestions made.

5) receives or has possession offaxes, letters and telephone calls onbehalf of the client. 19, v. 1, p. 7; 19,v. 1, p. 38; 20, v. 2, p. 25, l. 22.

6) deceives the authorities about histrue intent in speaking to the attor-

ney. 19, v. 1, pp. 49 - 51 (starting on p.49, l. 18); 19, v. 2 , p. 29, ll. 4, 13, 15; p.30, l. 9; 20, v. 2, p. 3 ("I am looking atyou, [Lynn] so they get to think I amtranslating…"); 20, v. 1, p. 17, l. 5 to p.18, l. 11; 20, v. 1, p. 24, l. 19, and soon...

7) is responsible for ancillary activi-ties connected with the case, suchas making calls, buying newspapersto read to the client, bringing himcandy, handling money… 20, v. 1, p.3, ll. 22-26, and pp. 19-20; 20, v. 3, p. 2,l. 1-10. There are also frequent men-tions of "we" ("we received a letter…"),indicating that he is considered part ofthe defense team, rather than just aninterpreter.

__________________

*The references are taken from the transcripts ofjail visits made on May 19 and 20, 2000, availableat www.lynnestewart.org/transcripts.html. Thedate of the visit is indicated by 19 or 20, thespecific videotape is indicated by v. 1, v. 2 or v. 3,pages are indicated by p. 1 and lines areindicated by l. 1 etc. For example, 19, v. 1, p. 1, l.1, indicates: Jail visit May 19, 2000, videotapetranscription 1, page 1, line 1.

THE JOB OF THE JUDICIARY INTERPRETER

November 22005

6

HOW TO GET INTO THETRANSLATION BUSINESS,A WORKSHOP Reviewed by Rosene Zaros

e are all at various places onthe journey to establishing

ourselves as translators. Some of ourreaders have been working in thebusiness for years while others arestudents struggling to break into it.The same diversity was apparent atthe Workshop, which was held onSaturday, October 22, 2005. Thebackgrounds of the people attendingthe workshop were very diverse,ranging from thinking they might beinterested to having completed theNYU’s (or another school’s)Certificate Program.

The panel was made up of two freelancetranslators, José Ramon Asteinza andGloria Barragán, and three people repre-senting agencies: Natasha Bonilla fromEriksen Translations, Inc., FarzanahGangjee from Language Works and EdZad from LionBridge.

Although there were differences in per-spective, there were certain things thatthey all stressed:

• Networking. Begin by staying in touchwith classmates. One day you will becolleagues. Translators help othertranslators. Extend your network toother professions, translation agenciesand project managers.

• Join professional associations: ATA andlocal groups. Check for local chaptersin your area. This is an excellent waymeet other translators and projectmanagers.

• Education. In the past it was possibleto break into the profession and learnon the job. That is no longer the case.There are certain things that you areexpected to know.

• Translate into your native language.

• Have specific industry/subject matterexperience; i.e., legal, financial,automotive, medical, etc.

• Deliver projects on time.

• Read and follow instructions

• Have a working knowledge of CATtools. Many clients expect you to havethis knowledge.

• Be flexible with format, changes,rates — the more experience you havethe more you will be able to charge.

• Be proactive — ask questions, pointout inconsistencies when you see them.If you can save the client money, youwill be more valuable.

• Have a mentor — the ATA has anexcellent mentoring program.

• The translation business is booming.There is plenty of work, but allowyourself enough time to break into it.

TIPS ON MAKING AN

IMPRESSION

• Have an impeccable résumé.

- Visible name and contact information.

- Working language pairs.

- Expertise — don’t try to be a jack-of-all-trades. Limit yourself to thosefields that you know very well.

- Put the important information atthe top.

• Offer to take a sample test.

• Make a connection with someone onthe inside.

• Visit Agencies.

• Do an internship.

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR DAY

(these are tips that are useful to students, too)

• Keep work space separate from livingspace.

• Maintain regular working hours andstick to them.

• Set clear boundaries. Do not allowyourself to be interrupted.

• Check e-mail frequently.

WW

SOME USEFUL LINKS

FOR TRANSLATORS

ATAwww.atanet.org

NYCTwww.nyctranslators.org

NAJITwww.najit.org

ProZwww.proz.com

Translator’s Caféwww.TranslatorsCafe.com

SDL/Tradoswww.translationzone.com

www.Aquarius.net

The Gotham TTranslator

7

court inter-preter's

function in thecourt room is toprovide the non-English speaking

or limited English-proficient witness theability to hear everything that is occur-ring in the courtroom as it is occurring.It is the interpreter's job to interpretabsolutely everything that is spoken inthe courtroom. This includes stutterings,stammerings, indelicate acts, and curses.And these utterances must also be ren-dered in the appropriate register i.e.:formal, casual, street, or legal. To pro-vide this service, the interpreter works inthree modes: consecutive, simultaneous,and sight interpretation.

Consecutive interpretation is used whenthe witness is on the stand and, in gener-al, when any other party to theproceeding is interacting with the personin need of the interpreter. This mode mayor may not involve note-taking, depend-ing on the preferences and capabilities ofthe interpreter. Quite often, the witnessspeaks for such a long time, that theinterpreter must take some notes in orderto retain the whole message. One methodof note taking is the Rozan method,which was developed and used until theNuremberg trials, the first time thatsimultaneous interpretation was used.

The Rozan method entails seven princi-ples of note taking: transposition of theidea instead of the word, abbreviationrules, linking of ideas, negation, empha-sis, vertical arrangement, andindentation. The first principle, transpo-sition, refers to notes which should not

read word for word but reflect the ideaof the utterance, expressed symbolically.The second, abbreviations, entails a spe-cific way in which words should beabbreviated: writing the first few lettersand then writing thelast few in smallerletters to save time,such as "quaon" for"qualification." Thisway, the word is notconfused with otherones which initiallyresemble this word,such as "quality," or"qualifier." A tensesuch as the past orfuture could be abbreviated as "-ed" or"w" (for "will") respectively. Smallerwords can be substituted for larger, moreformal ones; "in closing, I'm gratefulfor . . ." could be written as "end,thanks".

"Linking of ideas" refers to the relation-ship between thoughts in an utterance.Rozan ascribes certain symbols to indi-cate the various relationships. Whennote-taking, one may use the term"WHY" to indicate an explanatory rela-tionship between two thoughts which, inthe original utterance may have been"due to," "because," as a result of," orany other term that signals that onethought explains the other. Other sym-bols, their meaning, and examplesthereof are:

THO: (contrastive) in spite of,even though

BUT: (restrictive) except, besides

IF: (speculative) supposing,assuming, let's imagine

AS TO: (referential) regarding,relating to, dealing with, speaking of,as for

SO: (conclusive) thus, consequently,summing up, in closing

Other note-taking strate-gies used in the Rozanmethod involve expres-sions of negation andemphasis. The formermay be indicated simplyby putting a linethrough the word modi-fied by the negative i.e.:"I recved" means "I didn'treceive" The latter may

be indicated by underlining the word towhich the modifier refers, such as"poor," to mean "very poor." Additionalemphasis may be added with a secondline to signify "extremely poor."

Rozan stresses the use of verticalarrangement of notes in order to expresslinks which may be otherwise expressedby words, thereby avoiding the annota-tion of linking words. One idea can besuperimposed on another to signify"regarding," "dealing with, "about," etc.He also emphasizes the use of indenta-tion to avoid repeating the same phraseor idea. For example, "The report wasissued on January 7, 2003. This docu-ment set forth . . ." could be rendered asfollows:

Reprt out 1/7/03_____ set 4th

This way, one avoids having to repeatthe same idea.

Interpreters are cautioned about the over-use of symbols. If too many are used,

AA

COURT INTERPRETINGBy Jordan Fox

Quite often, the

witness speaks for

such a long time, that

the interpreter must

take some notes in

order to retain the

whole message.

November 22005

8

notes become indecipherable. Manyinterpreters have their own list of sym-bols for words or phrases which appearoften in their particular environment.Rozan groups symbols into three basicgroups: expression, motion, and relation-ship. Some of the symbols he uses forthe first category are:

: to convey expressions of opinion suchas think, believe, views, considers,

" to convey expressions of communica-tion such as speak, talk, declare, state,respond, affirm, etc.,

O (with dot in middle) to convey debate,discussion, argument, conflict, etc.

OK to convey approval, agreement,acceptance, judgment in favor of, etc.,and

OK to convey refusal, rejection, judg-ment against, disapproval, etc.

As for motion, Rozan would use thesymbol → to indicate give to, submit to,provide, turn over, delivered, etc. The ↑and ↓ may also be used to mean, respec-tively, increase, augment, rise, raise,quicken and decrease, diminish, lower,decline, and slow. Finally, the symbol [ ]may be used to indicate a situation i.e.:"in this situation," "under these circum-stances," "in which he finds himself,"and "to put the issue in perspective." Allof these symbols may obviously be usedwith one's own.

The simultaneous mode of interpreting isgenerally used to interpret dialogue to aparty who is not involved in the interac-tion, such as exchanges between judgesand attorneys, judges and another wit-ness, the attorney and another witness,etc. There is almost no time to writesomething down and if there is, it is usu-ally limited to recurring information,dates, and other numbers. Quite often, if

the interpreter misses something, he orshe must keep interpreting, unless theomitted utterance is of importance. Inthis case, the interpreter must ask thespeaker to repeat what he or she said.The interpreter's delivery of the informa-tion must be level, smooth, unhurriedand clear.

The third mode of interpretation is sight.This is when the interpreter is asked tointerpret a written document either on oroff the record. This can be in both direc-tions. An interpreter is typically asked tointerpret foreign documents into Englishwhen they are regarding the witness andfrom his or her country. These include,marriage, birth, and death certificates,powers of attorney, divorce decrees, andabstracts of certificates. The interpretermay also be asked by the court to inter-pret rulings, decisions and judgments forproceedings held previously but wherethe judged reserved his or her decision tobe able to write it at a later time. Otherdocuments that may be interpreted intothe witness' language are motions madeby the other side, transcripts of deposi-tions, and interrogatories or writtenquestions that the other side has com-pelled the witness to answer. Onoccasion, the interpreter may be asked totranslate a document so that it may beentered into evidence, or a respondent'swritten answer to a petitioner's claim incivil court.

If you are interested in working as acourt interpreter, you may already havethe tools at hand to practice. Televisionshows involving courtroom dramas orlaw enforcement such as "Law andOrder" are perfect to practice interpretingas well as the channel "Court TV." Allone needs is a recorder to record oneselfand a VCR to record the show.

Additional information may be found atthe following websites:

www.sdnyinterpreters.org/index.php?page=fact_sheet.html: For informationon working in Federal Courts inManhattan

www.judiciary.state.nj.us/interpreters/index.htm: information on court inter-preting in New Jersey

http://www.ncsconline.org/d_research/courtinterp.html: National Center onState Courts court interpreting informa-tion

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/inter-preters/examover.pdf: Overview ofNew Jersey written exam.

www.abanet.org/abastore: AmericanBar Association website for purchase oflegal texts

http://www.ncsconline.org/wc/publica-tions/Res_CtInte_EnglishLegalGlossaryPub.pdf: Consortium Glossary ofCommonly Used Court & Justice SystemTerminology

www.najit.org: National Association ofJudicial Interpreters and Translators

www.cps.ca.gov/test_registration/FCICE-Spanish/files/spwtest.pdf: Samplecertification test in Spanish for FederalCourts.

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/inter-preters/dict.pdf: Essential dictionariesfor court interpreting in various lan-guages.

If you are interested in learning aboutworking conditions and compensation inthe tri-state area, and did not attend mypresentation in October, I would behappy to email you the information I dis-tributed at the meeting. You may reachme at jordanfox@earthlink.net.

The Gotham TTranslator

9

ranslators spend a great deal oftime perfecting their translation

skills, keeping these skills up-to-date andpaying attention to the business aspectsof the profession. Much of our effort isdevoted to terminology issues. But thereis one vital area of thetranslation processthat gets little atten-tion. I am speaking ofthe editing process,that is, the process bywhich a translation isassessed and deci-sions are made aboutwhat the final transla-tion product will looklike. What happens to that translationonce it is submitted to the translationcompany? What is the role of the editor?What constitutes Act Two? One of the e-groups I subscribe to had a long andinteresting discussion recently whensomeone asked: who is ultimatelyresponsible for a translation: the editor orthe translator? Opinions were divided.

Although we can all agree that transla-tions need editing and that good editingimproves a translation, there seems to beno single definition of the editor's role.For example, with regard to terminologychanges, when an editor makes changesand the translator is not asked to approvethose changes, it seems clear that theeditor has been given responsibility forthe edited product. On the other hand, ifthe translator is provided with an oppor-tunity to accept or reject these changes,then the translator has the final responsi-

bility. No one is going to be certainunless this is clarified upon acceptanceof the assignment.

My research into this topic raises manymore questions. Do most translationcompanies assume that editors know

what the edit shouldentail without thoseparameters beingclearly spelled out?Has the editor beenretained because shehas equivalent or moreexpertise in the subjectarea than the transla-tor? If there areterminology issues, is

the editor to consult with the translatoror make the changes on her own. Shouldthese changes be cleared with the trans-lator? What if this requires extensiveresearch? Are we to operate on the basisof assumptions? It seems easier to definewhat the responsibilities of the translatorare than those of the editor. If the ProjectManager has failed to provide guidelinesfor the edit, the editor should ask forclarification on the scope of the edit.

Surely there are elements that are com-mon to every editing job. No one woulddisagree that an editor should review thetranslation for grammar, punctuation,and style, consistency of terminology,omissions and errors. But there are timeswhen even these basic elements give riseto questions. For example, if the transla-tion company does not provide a stylesheet, what style guidelines should the

editor follow? Should it be the transla-tor's, the source text or does thetranslation company follow a specificone such as the Chicago Style Manual orthe New York Times Style Guide. Andmore basically, should the editor even bechecking style, or will that be left to theproofreading or quality control processof the company.

I would argue for more transparency andinformation. Every translation companyshould have a written policy includingguidelines regarding what is expected ofthe editor, and these guidelines should beprovided to the editor upon acceptanceof the assignment. Unfortunately, I haverarely seen this done. Perhaps it is timefor editors to take a proactive stance andask for more information. It would alsobe helpful to know what happens to thetranslation after it has been submitted bythe editor. For example, is there a qualitycontrol process and what does it consistof? It's clear we need a further dialog onthese and other issues.

EDITING: TRANSLATION'S VITAL ACT TWOBy Betty Welker

TT

Although we can all

agree that translations

need editing and that

good editing improves

a translation, there

seems to be no single

definition of the

editor's role.

November 22005

10

he most frustrating problem a

translator comes up against

has to be a word that cannot be

found. You look in your favorite dic-

tionary. It is not there. You look in a

more comprehensive dictionary. It is

not there either. Then you have that

sinking feeling in your stomach:

"where do I go next?" You start to

wish that the native speaker of your

source language whom you worked

with ten years ago (and of whom you

asked hundreds of questions) was

still around. Of course, having people

to talk to in addition to looking

through dictionaries or websites is a

good thing. I'm sure many of us, like

me, have personally contacted other

members of the Circle when we have

questions and other members have

contacted us also.

Well, aside from your co-work-ers, friends or members of theCircle, there are other people toanswer questions for you.http://www.proz.com is a web-site that calls itself "TheTranslation Workplace." In addi-tion to having a "Web TermSearch" option, which brings upyour search term in severalonline dictionaries, one can alsoask a KudoZ question to get

answers from others who use the site.

The "Web Term Search" option under theKudoZ menu searches for the term youput in several different on-line dictionar-ies, which are different for eachlanguage. For one of my source lan-guages, Russian, there is a link to atranslator's website http://www.multi-tran.ru/ (unfortunatelyonly for Russianpaired with other lan-guages, and the site isonly in Russian). Ifthere is no entry forthe word you are look-ing up, it will directyou to "ask theforum." This, likeProz's KudoZ, enablesyou to ask for anexplanation from oth-ers who use the site. Iput a question in Friday night and bySaturday morning, had six responses andmy problem was solved! In lookingthrough dictionaries for other languagesin the "Web Term Search" like French,Spanish and German, I did not see any-thing like multitran's Forum on thewebsites for those languages.

Proz also has a glossary where memberscan enter terms and their translations.This information then becomes availableto all site users. When you enter a termin the Web Search Term section, listingsfrom these glossaries will come up aswell. These glossaries can be browsed inthe "KudoZ Open Glossary" section. Butsince this section is divided into numer-ous glossaries of different subjects thatonly contain a few entries each, access-ing the glossary this way is only goodfor browsing terms to learn new vocabu-lary. If you want to search for a specificterm, it is best to use the Web TermSearch and the Proz glossary entries thatinclude your term are shown under that.

Proz, like so many websites, allows youto register for free to access some otherfeatures that the unregistered user can-

not. If you register, forexample, and entersome terms into aglossary you have cre-ated, you will beawarded "BrowniZ."These are points thatyou can use on thesite, mainly to searchfor information abouttranslation companiesand site members'experience with them.Of course, there are

paid memberships at different rates withdifferent benefits—certain translationjobs are only available to those with paidmemberships, for example.

It is easy to ask a question of otherproz.com members if you aren't gettingwhat you want from the "Web TermSearch" feature. However, there are lim-

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM FRIENDS:

ONLINE TRANSLATOR COMMUNITIES ANDOTHER PAPER-LESS AIDSBy Karl D. Gluck

TT

Proz.com also has a

glossary where

members can enter

terms and their

translations. This

information then

becomes available to

all site users.

The Gotham TTranslator

11

its—if you are not registered with thesite, you can ask one question over a 24hour period. If you are registered, but nota "platinum" (paying) member, you canask five. If you are a "platinum" mem-ber, you can ask 15 a day. There is a lotof activity around questions asked andanswers come prettyquickly. Answerers canalso specify a degreeof certainty in theiranswers and other siteusers can agree or dis-agree with the answer.In this way, the askercan be more assuredthat the answer is cor-rect. Marian Greenfield, a Circle memberand prominent translator, says, "Proz is agood place to meet other translators on-line and to benefit from access totranslators all over the world when youhave queries, as long as you carefullyevaluate the responses you receive, asthey are likely to vary greatly in reliabili-ty." Reliability is a key word here, and itis good that Proz allows other transla-tors/site users to grade answers as far asaccuracy is concerned.

One of the first things any translatorshould learn is that bilingual dictionariessometimes can be wrong or not have anentry for the word that is sought. I thinkanyone who has even a little bit of expe-rience trying to find a word in an onlinebilingual dictionary realizes that findingan answer this way is rather frustrating.As I was doing a recent interpretingassignment, the word "claims adjustor"came up. When interpreting, I used cir-cumlocution, but of course went to find agood equivalent later. First I went a dic-tionary I usually find to be reliable,the Rambler dictionary(www.rambler.ru/dict), which cameup with nothing, as did another diction-ary I sometimes use, freedict.com.Worldlingo, the website that myMicrosoft Word "translation" functionconnects to, came up with a piece of

machinery. Finally, I tried Multitran,which gave me "adzhaster pretenziy" and"dispasher." Not wanting to use a russi-fied American word that might have acolloquial feel (Russian now has manyof these words, such as "menedzher" and"prodyuser"), but also wary of "dispash-

er" a term that seemslike it might be aRussified Frenchword from the days ofDostoyevsky, I put"dispasher" into myRussian google.com.The fourth entry, fromtheglossary.bank24.ru

was a definition that translates "specialistin evaluating damages caused in com-mon accidents"—there's my claimsadjustor! Just to see which is more popu-lar, I googled both "adzhaster pretenziy"(16 hits) and "dispasher" (1,930 hits).Looks like "dispasher" is best.

As far as websites for other languagesgo, lexicool.com, a "directory of bilin-gual and multilingual dictionaries" haslinks to 36 general Russian-English dic-tionaries and many others to specializeddictionaries. As far as translating "claimsadjuster," one of the links, Lingvoonline, gave me twomore words, one ofthem simply mean-ing "evaluator" andthe other being "taxadjuster." It also haslinks for many otherlanguages, such 66French-English general dictionary links,including Le Grande DictionnaireTerminologique, (http://www.granddic-tionnaire.com/btml/fra/r_motclef/index800_1.asp), a French-Canadian websitewith a purported 29,083,049 entries(according to lexicool.com).

Some other websites are:

www.wordreference.comFor Spanish, Italian, French and English.

Also has a forum where users can askquestions of other users.

http://www.lai.com/companion.html"The Translator's Companion"—hasmany glossaries for many languages, aswell as job listings, information on trans-lation tools and other resources.

http://crossroads.net/honyaku/dictionaries.phpA mega-site for Japanese. Also has amailing list where users can ask ques-tions of other users.

http://www.interfold.com/translator/medsites.htmA large compendium of medical sites fora variety of languages.

This is, of course, just the tip of theinternet iceberg. Many translations on alot of these resources are not reliable, butif one does some research in order tofind out more about the words("googling" terms is a good way to go),one might something suitable.

As translators, we all know how difficultit is to keep fully abreast of the two ormore cultures and all the subject matterwe deal with. Of course, it is necessaryto have a lot of resources—on the inter-net or in book form. And perhaps thebest tool for research, after all, is another

human. Using forums toget information fromothers is an excellentidea and I hope to findmore of them. LanguageServices Associates, atranslation agency, has

an on-line course for interpreters and itspeaks a lot about "collegiality"—theneed for translators and interpreters tobelong to organizations and cultivaterelationships with others, especiallysince we so often have little contact withcolleagues on the job. So the next timeyou have something that you don'tunderstand, don't forget that former co-worker and native speaker of thelanguage you are working with and, ofcourse, other Circle members.

One of the first things

any translator should

learn is that bilingual

dictionaries sometimes

can be wrong.

And perhaps the best

tool for research, after

all, is another human.

November 22005

12

THE BUSINESS OFTRANSLATION...By Krys Hall, CPA

etting started in business requiresfirst selecting a name for your

business. Once you have a name youneed to register that name with the coun-ty clerk. Registration will check forduplicate business names in your county.Once you have your business registeredyou need to get a federal identificationnumber from The Internal RevenueService. It is your choice as to whetheryou want to be a sole proprietor or a cor-poration. Either choice will require thesame method for keeping a set of books.

Next select an accountant. You want toselect an accountant who is knowledge-able with your business. She or he doesnot have to be a CPA. You want to makesure your accountant knows the differ-ence between a debit and a credit, knowsabout payroll, and can balance yourcheckbook.

Next select an attorney. There may besome contracts that are complicated andwould need an attorney's review beforeagreeing to the contract. You may wantto have an attorney on retainer. This isoptional.

You need to create a set of accounts forrecording your disbursements anddeposits. You can do this by either keep-ing a journal or using one of theaccounting software packages.

If your business is small, keeping a jour-nal is fine. Your disbursements should bekept according to type. For example youshould keep all of your office supplypurchases in one account and yourexpenses for telephone in another.Receipts need to be kept for any pur-chases over $75. Examples of some

expenses you may use would be adver-tising, outplacement services,subscriptions, and equipment purchases.Translation fees can be kept in oneaccount.

Your business is generally kept on a cal-endar year. If you are incorporated youmay use a fiscal year however, it may bea conflict when filing your personaltaxes. In addition, if you change from afiscal year to a calendar year for a corpo-ration is costly. Choose your periodcarefully when setting up your new busi-ness.

The payroll is an especially tricky item.If you have a payroll it is mandatorySocial Security and Medicare be with-held. You cannot have a payroll foryourself if you are a sole proprietor. Youare not an employee of the business. Youmust make estimated quarterly tax pay-ments. The payroll taxes must bereported and paid once a quarter (if yourtotal taxes due are less than $2,500 perquarter). At year end W2s are preparedand reported to The Social SecurityAdministration. Your accountant can pre-pare these forms for you. If you hire anoutside consultant and pay the consultantmore than $600 per year you must pre-pare a 1099 for the consultant. If theconsultant is incorporated a 1099 is notnecessary.

You must make estimated quarterly taxeson your annual net profit. The net profitis calculated on fees received less theexpenses paid. The tricky part is deter-mining the net profit at the beginning ofthe year. Federal, state, social security,and Medicare are figured into the equa-

tion for calculating estimated taxes. Thecombined amount of federal taxes isabout 25.3%. You must pay taxes on aminimum of $400 net profit. You have tomultiply your total net profit by 25.3%and divide the total tax amount by 4.This is equal to the quarterly estimatedtaxes for the year. The state taxes alsomust be paid. 5% for New York, 3% forNew Jersey. For New York, you mustinclude taxes for New York City. Pleasekeep in mind that as your net profitincreases or decreases you should adjustyour estimated quarterly taxes before theend of the calendar year.

If you are working out of your home youmay be able to deduct your home office.In order to do this you must make specif-ic the area considered your office. If theoffice is in a home you can depreciatethe portion of the home used for office.

Meals and entertainment are expensesyou can deduct but are limited to 50% ofthe total amount. You must be able toprove a necessary business expense totake the meals and entertainment deduc-tion. Keep good records in case The IRSdoes an informal audit.

Pension plans. You may want to considerpaying into a retirement plan. For asmall business you can use a SEP, SIM-PLE or a KEOGH. Each plan has itsown requirements.

You should check with your accountantor banker for the best plan for you.

An important part of keeping good finan-cial records is balancing your checkbook. The banking industry assessesmany fees on business checking

GETTING STARTED

GG

The Gotham TTranslator

13

accounts. Please review your contractwith your bank carefully. If your busi-ness is incorporated you can ask yourbank to give you monthly statements thatread from the firstto the last day of thesame month. Manybanking institutionssend bank state-ments out midmonth making itdifficult for anovice to balanceher or his checkbook. Review yourbank statement monthly for additionalfees and transactions you may havemissed during the month. Many bankinginstitutions will not correct and error thatis more than 60 days old.

A brief comment about credit and bankloans. The banking industry has changedthe rules regarding repayment of creditcard and loan balances. Review your

contract with thecredit card care-fully. Review thegrace period thecredit card pay-ment can remainoutstandingbefore any inter-est is calculated.If you are open-ing a new

account with the new advances, bewareof the different interest rates. The lowinterest rates normally apply to the rolledover balances only and not to any newpurchases on the credit card. It is stated

in the fine print which can be easilymissed.

The business of translation can be chal-lenging especially in the beginning. Ittakes perseverance to have a successfulbusiness. Many small new businesses donot make it after 1 year. Sole proprietorsget frustrated with everything and giveup. It takes a certain kind of person tohave a sole proprietorship or a corpora-tion. If you have made a decision to be aself-employed translator, be prepared towork hard and often.

Best wishes and success.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Krys Hall lives in Montclair, NJ. She canbe reached at: krys@mindspring.com.

A FEW GREAT WEB SITES

FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

www.state.nj.us/Business.shtml

www.irs.gov

www.state.ny.us/

ONE TRANSLATOR'S CREEDBy Lee Wright

en key ideas come to provide a con-stant guiding force for me during the

thirty years of my career as a professionaltranslator and, for about half of that time,as a teacher of translation at the graduatelevel. For this reason, I would like to passthem on as a useful set of guidelines forany translator. Number eleven is a littlemore complicated, but it's worth includinghere: a) Nobody can know everything; b)You need to know when you don't knowsomething; and c) You need to know howto find out what you don't know.

1. I know that translation is an intellectualprocess, not a mechanical, non-thinkingactivity.

2. Not all source texts are 100% perfect,so I must always be watchful for anom-alies and make the necessaryadjustments in my translations.

3. No two languages express the same

ideas or concepts in exactly the sameway. This includes document formatsand punctuation usage. Therefore, Ineed to study how the two languagesdiffer.

4. As a professional translator, I must beconstantly aware of the different stylis-tic alternatives available in the targetlanguage, so I should never assume thatthe first option is the only one, the bestone or even the most correct one.

5. In contrast to stylistic alternatives,there are many things in any languagewhich are obligatory and not optional. Imust therefore recognize the differencewhen translating.

6. As is the case with second-languageacquisition, I realize that linguisticinterference can often be a seriousimpediment to achieving a natural-sounding and accurate target-language

TT rendering.

7. I know that ideas and concepts aremore important than words becausewords are just the surface manifesta-tion of thought.

8. Translation involves my ears as muchas (if not more than) my eyes.

9. Most source texts (or clients) neverprovide all of the information neededfor producing a totally accurate transla-tion. This means that I must go beyondthe source text and acquire the broadestpossible understanding of the contextu-al framework and subject matterinvolved.

10. My first and most critical step in anytranslation project is to analyze andfully comprehend the source text fromevery conceivable angle (e.g., linguis-tic, semantic, subject matter, register,etc.).

November 22005

14

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

STATEMENTS OF CANDIDATESCANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT

MARGARET ALTIERI

I am pleased to have been nominated toserve as President-Elect of the New YorkCircle of Translators. I joined the NYCT in2002, as I was completing a French toEnglish Translation Certificate at NYU. Ivolunteered to work with the Board toupgrade the NYCT website, all the whilestarting to build my business as a freelance

translator. I was appointed President-Elect in April 2005 after theresignation of the current officeholder, and have thus beenimmersed in Circle activities and duties since that time. As weenter 2006, and as the NYCT continues to expand in one of themost ethnically and linguistically diverse regions of the UnitedStates, I believe that the NYCT will best serve its members by sup-porting the goals of the ATA to enhance our professionalcredentials in the eyes of the world; by offering continuing educa-tion workshops and programs in conjunction with localeducational institutions in support of that goal; and by providing aforum for local members to exchange ideas, to hear about newtrends in the field, and to network with their peers. I would behonored to serve a President. Thank you.

CANDIDATE FOR SECRETARY

GLORIA BARRAGÁN

I welcome the opportunity to submit myname as candidate for the post of Secretary.The New York Circle of Translators is avaluable resource for information, continu-ing education, training, and networking fortranslators and interpreters in the Tri-StateArea and across the USA. During the years

that I have been in the profession I have profited from the opportu-nity of reading its publication The Gotham Translator, attendingthe monthly meetings (when time permitted it), listening to the pre-senters and learning from their messages and experiences. Now, Iwould welcome the opportunity to contribute (in a very small way)to the Circle and its members

CANDIDATE FOR TREASURER

THOMAS J. SHERLOCK

I would like to submit my name for consideration for the post ofTreasurer. After an eight year detour through information technolo-gy as a software developer, I have returned to translation and theNew York Circle of Translators. Prior to my career in IT, I worked

as an in-house transnational bank translator and as a free-lancetranslator before that. I hold an M.A. in Liberal Studies forTranslation (French to English, Spanish to English) from theCUNY Graduate School. Over the years I have come to appreciatecommunity activism. I have tutored English at the Rutherford FreePublic Library and currently serve as Trustee for the ChaordicCommons and am a member of the Lincoln School PTA WebsiteCommittee in Rutherford, NJ. I hope to bring this sense of commu-nity service to the New York Circle of Translators in the role ofTreasurer.

CANDIDATE FOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR

LANA RACHKOVSKAYA

I feel truly honored to be nominated as aProgram Director for the New York Circleof Translators. I see this opportunity as achance to contribute to the industry I loveand care about. I decided to become a trans-lator at a very earlier age. When I was 12years old, I was inspired by my teacher who

was a professional translator and interpreter. When I asked herwhat her profession was called, she answered: "I'm a translator". Iimmediately said: "Then that's what I want to be." Eventually, mydream came true: I obtained a professional education and trainingin translation and interpreting, gained experience and became aprofessional translator. My dream was fulfilled even further when Imoved to the United States. I wanted to get involved in the transla-tion industry from a different angle: project management intranslations. Another dream came true as I began working formajor translation companies in the U.S. and became fascinatedwith this profession. In the meantime, I continued doing what Ihave always loved - translations. No matter what I do, I know Iwill never leave this industry. From a childhood dream it hasturned into a career I love. My next dream is to be able to reach outto my fellow translators and provide the help and assistance theyneed in today's challenging language industry environment — weface new translation technologies, new requirements and growingcompetition, and therefore we have to learn to collaborate. Fromthe perspective of both a company owner and a translator, I wouldencourage the participation of all speakers who feel that they canbring something truly useful to the table - something that all of uscould apply to our work. My goal is to make the process interest-ing, productive and refreshing, whether it be a meeting, workshop,seminar or a friendly dinner. It is with your interests at heart that Ibelieve I can be a viable candidate for Program Director, withunwavering dedication to each and every member of the New YorkCircle of Translators.

The Gotham TTranslator

15

BALLOT FOR ELECTION OF NYCT OFFICERS

Cast your votes for President, Secretary, Treasurer and Program Director as follows:

Margaret Altieri for President in 2006

Gloria Barragan for Secretary, 2006-2008

Thomas J. Sherlock for Treasurer, 2006-2008

Lana Rachkovskaya for Program Director, 2006-2008

Ballots must be postmarked no later than December 25, 2005.

Mail your ballots to:Slavica Zecevic

President of the NYCT207 Jefferson StreetHoboken, NJ 07030

THE NYCT BOARD

ESTABLISHES THE CHARLES

M. STERN AUTONOMOUS

AWARD

In 1997, Mr. Charles M.Stern left ten (10%) per-cent of his estate to theNew York Circle to estab-

lish a discretionary grant to the one worthiest, needy maleand to the one worthiest, needy female members of theCircle. The NYCT Board finally decided to respect his wishand establish the Charles M. Stern Autonomous Award as hewanted us to do. We are still working on details, but wehope that the first award will be given at our holiday party.

OCTOBER BENEFIT WORKSHOP

On October 29th at NYU we had aworkshop for Debbie Folaron, ourcolleague who lost everything in thefire. We would like to extend our

deep thanks to the workshop presenters Lana Rachkovskaya

CIRCLE NEWS

and Marian Greenfield whose time and effortmade this event possible. Their dedication andskills made the event a success. Consequently,the New York Circle was able to make a generousdonation and will be able to donate all of theworkshop proceeds to Debbie Folaron. We alsowould like to give our special thanks toAccurapid Translation Services Inc., Mr. andMrs. Bokor, for sending in a check with no inten-

tion of attending the workshop.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

DECEMBER 3RD

One-day seminar on Language in Translation/Interpretation.Distinguished guests are: Wayles Browne, Assoc. Prof. ofLinguistics, Cornell University; James Nolan, DeputyDirector, Interpretation, Meetings & Publishing Division,United Nations Headquarters; and George Fletcher, Ed.D.,certified translator, President, Globe Language Services, Inc.

DECEMBER 11TH

Our traditional holiday party at the La Petite Auberge.

PO Box 4051Grand Central StationNew York, NY 10163-4051

The New York Circle of Translators (NYCT) is a New York State not-for-profitcorporation grouping independent translators and interpreters as well as companies and organizations. It is a chapter of the American TranslatorsAssociation (ATA) which is, in turn, an affiliate of the International Federationof Translators (FIT).

NYCT members work in a variety of languages and specialties. Our membersare committed to the exchange of ideas and mutual support. One of ourgoals is to educate the general public about the professional nature ofinterpreting and translating.

NYCT members enjoy the following benefits:

• Free monthly meetings featuring speakers on all aspects of the translationprofession

• Networking opportunities at monthly dinners and annual holiday party• Professional development workshops and seminars• Subscription to our newsletter, The Gotham Translator• Listings in the NYCT Online Membership Directory and the annual NYCT

printed Membership Directory• Referrals (if you indicate that you accept them, existing members may

direct work requests to you or clients may contact you directly)

Visit us at www.nyctranslators.org and join online!