No sex please: We’re Germans (Reuters) February 28, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in German culture, Random musings.5 comments
One of my friends sent me the oddest article from Reuters.com Friday about how Germans just don’t talk about sex. I don’t understand this, because sex is everywhere in Germany: the daily newspapers like Bild features a photo of a buxom (usually topless) woman on the front page every day, parents are more lax with their children when it comes to opposite sex friends staying over, “Oben Ohne” (topless) sunbathing is normal on European beaches (I’ve done it – it was no big deal), they show soft porn on TV on Sunday nights, etc. I suppose this ties in with my previous post on not understanding German men. Yet one more piece to the puzzle that is the German mindset… 🙂 We Americans may be more prude, but sex seems to be a more common topic here. I’ll be curious to see what some of you folks have to say about this one.
No sex please: We’re Germans
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germans would rather talk about death, sickness or money problems than sex.
A new poll of nearly 2,000 Germans showed sex to be the subject they least liked to talk about, with 64 percent saying it was something they would rather avoid.
Just below sex on the list of least-liked topics were cash and relationships, according to the Allensbach polling institute. One in three of the Germans preferred not to talk about death, and one in five said sickness was a no-go area.
The favorite conversation topic was gossip about friends, followed by the latest prices of consumer goods. Coming a close third was “everyday stuff” and how they felt about themselves.
(Writing by Franziska Scheven)
Living without technology February 17, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings, Tools, Uncategorized.8 comments
While sitting in the Relaxation Room at Massage Envy yesterday, I had time to relax and flip through a magazine. The January 2009 issue of Cleveland Magazine looked interesting, and an article called The Big Disconnect caught my eye. The author, Andy Netzel, explained how he decided to give up every piece of technology not in common use before his birthday in 1980 – that meant no “cell phone, cable television, mp3 player, satellite radio, computer, e-mail, Internet, call waiting, caller ID, ATM and debit card, air conditioning in my car, remote controls of any type — even Post-it notes.”
It was an interesting article, but I certainly don’t think I could do it. His description of writing a 5,500 word article on a typewriter made me shudder. I can’t even imagine having to retype the copy on a manual typewriter after proofreading and editing (three times!) – let alone his description of trying to track down a typewriter ribbon.
And don’t even get me started on how much I/we rely on the Internet, e-mail and cell phones for our clients to contact us. My clients know to call my cell if I don’t respond quickly to their e-mailed job inquiries.
The article really made me appreciate our technological advances and glad that I began my translation career just as Windows 3.11 and Windows 95 hit the scene. Those of you who were translators before then have my utmost respect!
Massage is not a luxury February 16, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Fun stuff, Random musings.8 comments
I am a firm believer in the necessity of massages. When you sit at a computer as much as we do, your muscles tend to stiffen up and get sore. In addition to practicing ergonomic posture I also try to get a massage once a month. One of my students at Kent took my advice about ergonomics and investing in a good desk chair and bought a massaging desk chair. She’s never regretted it.
My neck and shoulder muscles spasmed over the weekend, and I developed a tension headache from the pain. I tried to get an appointment on Sunday at Massage Envy despite the fact that I have an hour massage scheduled at my favorite spa on Friday. Instead I went in for a 20-minute massage today and ended up signing up for a membership, which gives you one 1-hour massage a month for just $49 and discounts on additional services. She loosened muscles I didn’t even realize I had in my head and neck in just 20 minutes, and I feel great.
Monthly massages are one expense that I can get behind, especially since Massage Envy is much cheaper than my favorite spa. If you have a Massage Envy near you (they have 800 locations nationwide) I highly recommend joining. The clients there raved about the package when I was signing up. I’m looking forward to treating myself to a monthly massage with a certified massage therapist and being less tense. Does anyone know if you can write the expense off as a business expense? I’ll have to call my CPA and ask…
The overcommercialism of Valentine’s Day February 11, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings.3 comments
OK, Valentine’s Day has officially become way too overcommercialized. Did any of you get this e-mail from Wordfast today? Good thing I wasn’t eating or drinking anything at the time, because I probably would have choked on it. I don’t know about you, but I hope no one buys me Wordfast for Valentine’s Day. That’s worse than a blender 🙂
Find your match with Wordfast
Wordfast invites you to see a movie this Valentine’s Day. Visit our video learning center to watch our FREE Wordfast Pro training videos. These videos will give you step-by-step instructions on how to use Wordfast Pro, the most powerful Translation Memory tool for any platform.
Surviving the winter blahs February 4, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings.11 comments
I have been suffering from the mid-winter blahs for a couple weeks now. I live in Cleveland, Ohio, where we had 42 inches of snow, temps in the teens and single digits, and I think maybe one whole hour of sunshine last month. Being alone all day, every day with no one to talk to but my dog is not a recipe for emotional health when the weather traps me inside. The groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, so we are looking at six more weeks of snow, cold, and gray skies. It is a known fact that the lack of sunlight reduces your Vitamin D and all the happy endorphins in our brain chemistry, making you feel melancholy, listless, foggy, and sleepy. It makes us want to move less and eat more and work less and sleep more. The fact that the economy is crumbling and the flood of job offers has turned into a trickle – and my clients are taking forever to pay their 
overdue and outstanding invoices – isn’t helping. It’s enough to make me want to get a “real job” in an office somewhere.
But in the long run I have to remind myself that I love what I do and I would never do well in an office environment. I don’t do well with authority and have absolutely no tolerance for office politics whatsoever.
So in the meantime I need to embrace my malaise and fight against it at the same time. That means cuddling in with a good book and a dog on my lap when the mood strikes me, but I have also registered for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer 3-Day from July 31-August 2 this year. I have already started training for it, having gone on an hour and a half guided hike through the Cleveland Metroparks with my dog this past Sunday. I can’t wait for the weather to get better so I can actually go for long walks outside. Treadmills just aren’t the same as hearing the birds chirp and watching the trees bud and bloom.
Being cooped up indoors all the time in the dead of winter, without the fresh air in our lungs, is bad for us, but when we do go outdoors it’s not very fun either. We had minus zero temperatures a few weeks ago, and temperatures are hovering at 15°F right now – not exactly conducive to a long walk outside. So what do you do to combat the mid-winter blahs (I don’t want to hear from any of you who live in warmer climates. I just might fly there and strangle you at this point. 🙂 )
Here are some of my ideas. I would welcome ideas from the rest of you:
1. Add some additional vitamin D to my diet, to make up for what we get from the sun (and go outside whenever the sun shines to tank up on some D).
2. Get out of the house and visit with old friends as often as possible – or even chat online or on the phone with distant friends. Facebook has proven to be a wonderful pick-me-up recently, since I have gotten back in touch with several old and very dear friends.
3. Get out of the house and smile and talk to other people whenever possible. I am now a Meals on Wheels volunteer and delivering meals to grateful shut-ins does wonders for your mood. My regular shift doesn’t start until the 17th though.
4. Fill and run my humidifier, every day and night. The static electricity and dry air are wreaking havoc with how I look, which plays a huge role in how I feel.
5. Go to someplace sunny for a long weekend. Anyone want to go on a last-minute trip to Cancun or Greece?
6. Embrace the winter and go snowshoeing. I have two classes scheduled for the next two weekends.
7. Go cross-country skiing.
8. Go walk on an indoor track.
9. Spend as much time as possible at the Rec Center pool. The heat feels wonderful – and so does the jacuzzi after the workout. And it is really fun being nice and warm and watching the wind and snow whip through the outdoor pool.
10. Eat more citrus fruits and pineapple
11. Put on sunny, cheerful music and dance in my living room. The Gypsy Kings or my summer mix CD might work.
12. Hit Bahama Breeze for one of their frozen cocktails and enjoy the live steel drum music.
13. I found this tip online: Hold your head up. When you’re down, you look down more and your head drops more. The way to start to choose to be happy when you’re feeling dragged down and unhappy is to stand up straighter.
Being happy in the dead of winter is a conscious choice. I choose to be happy and will be consciously pursuing that goal until spring hits. It’s a struggle every day, but it is worth it.
Best. Complaint. Letter. Ever. January 27, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, Random musings.3 comments
Since we are jet setters (I was just pricing a flight to Paris for tomorrow for a funeral but decided it simply didn’t make sense to try to organize a trip that last minute) I thought you all might appreciate this complaint letter to Richard Branson (the CEO of Virgin Airlines and Virgin Records), which was written by a man who flew from Mumbai to London. Trust me. It is totally worth jumping to Crazy Days and Nights to read it.
On another note, when did Bombay become Mumbai and how did I miss the memo?
Procrastination and flow January 21, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Random musings, Translation Sites.4 comments
Ryan at the GITS Blog has a fabulous post on Translator Flow. Rather than me summarize his insights, I encourage you to check it out.
It took me forever to get into the flow this week, but now I am firmly in it – and am now taking a few minutes to write about it and hope to get back into it when I’m done. I had a client call on Monday with a 3,000 word job due Wednesday morning. I procrastinated on Monday and only translated 500 words of it, because I figured I could finish it yesterday – forgetting all about the Inauguration. Oops. I spent yesterday scrambling to finish and stressed out. I moved my work computer into the living room to listen with half an ear while translating (never a good idea, BTW). I took time out to watch the actual swearing in ceremony, but then promptly turned off the TV to devote myself to my translation. I finally started getting into the flow about 4, which only left me about two hours before I had to leave for my dinner plans. Since I was the organizer I couldn’t bail, but I did cut out earlier than everyone else to go home and finish the translation. I finished it at 2 AM and sent it to my colleague to proofread, who wakes up earlier than me and had it ready for me when I woke up this morning. I delivered it on time – maybe even an hour early – and the PM told me she looks forward to working with me again soon.
Procrastination is a hard habit to break, but as a freelance translator with deadlines you soon learn how to not procrastinate in order to meet your deadlines and be ready to start another job. Back in November Scientific American explored the topic of procrastination in its article Procrastinating Again? How to Kick the Habit. The article defines procrastination as:
Procrastination does not mean deliberately scheduling less critical tasks for later time slots. The term is more apt when a person fails to adhere to that logic and ends up putting off the tasks of greater importance or urgency. That is, if just thinking about tomorrow’s job pricks the hair on the back of your neck or compels you to do something more trivial, you are probably procrastinating.
A penchant for postponement carries a financial penalty, endangers health, harms relationships and ends careers.
The article goes on to state that most people procrastinate and offers tips on how to break the habit of procrastination. I find if I am dreading translating a text or even a sentence or paragraph in a text I have a tendency to procrastinate (the article calls it “task aversiveness”). It is hard to motivate yourself and break through the wall, but it can be done. I am pretty good at not procrastinating if a deadline is far away, but if I have no deadline (just a “oh, whenever you can get to it”) I will procrastinate until I finally realize it’s been a week and I haven’t even touched it.
The article claims “the third oft-cited explanation for unreasonable delay is arousal”:
The “arousal procrastinator” swears that he works best under pressure, loving—perhaps needing—the rush of a last-minute deadline to get started. Such a person believes procrastinating affords a “peak” or “flow” experience, defined by psychologist Mihály CsĂkszentmihályi of the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University as being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. Time disappears. The ego dissolves. … But procrastination does not facilitate flow.
Which made me think of Ryan’s blog post, which I had just read moments before. Funny how I read two similar articles today on the subject. I think the universe is trying to tell me something, so I should probably wrap this up and get back to my 12,000 word job that is due Friday.
The best way to avoid procrastination for me is to stick to my job board and ensure it always has a couple jobs on it at all times. But I’d love to hear from you as well. Are you a big procrastinator? It’s ok to admit it as long as you always make your deadlines. As Ryan states, the client doesn’t care how long it takes you to translate something; they only want it delivered on time.
What strategies do you invoke to keep from procrastinating? Share your tips in the comments.
Wanted by the FBI: Employees January 6, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings, Translation Sites.comments closed
NPR reports this morning:
The FBI has launched one of its biggest hiring blitzes ever. It needs to fill 850 special agent positions. It also has openings for more than 2,000 support staff. Officials say this is the agency’s largest job posting since just after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The openings are largely due to attrition and a wave of retirements.
If you want to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a linguist, you need to be aware that it will take at least a year for the background check after you have completed the 12-page application and passed the testing process. You also must be a U.S. citizen. The linguist test is a battery of tests that includes oral and written comprehension as well as translation ability from the foreign language into English. The first part is a written test with multiple choice questions testing reading and listening comprehension and then the translation of several texts. Most of those who take it (70 or 80%) fail this test. If you have passed the written test you will be invited back for a 20-to-50-minute telephone interview. The telephone interview tests your listening and speaking comprehension in the foreign language. The interviewers rate you based on the linguistic content of your responses and not on your knowledge of the subject matter. If you are fluent I can guarantee that you won’t notice when the interviewers raise the linguistic register and will find the phone interview quite enjoyable.
Once you have passed the battery of language tests, you will then have to pass the polygraph and an audiometer (hearing) test. The polygraph is mentally and emotionally grueling. They ask you about anything you may have omitted on the application and questions that might preclude your employment by the Bureau and about your character. I was so mentally exhausted after the polygraph that I took a 1-hour nap when I got home. You may also have to submit to a drug test, especially if you are offered a language specialist position. As a contract linguist, the folks in Cleveland decided I didn’t need to take it, but I was more than willing to. If you are an upstanding citizen you will have nothing to worry about from the polygraph or drug tests.
Having passed the language tests and polygraph, they will then begin conducting your background check. The application has you list every address you have ever lived at and name one person who can attest to your having lived there for each address. I also had to include a list of all of my clients at the time. The FBI visited everyone listed on the application and asked them about me and my character. They even went door-to-door on my parents’ street (and I imagine the street I grew up on for 21 years) asking the neighbors about me. I was glad I had warned my clients that I was applying to the FBI, because the secretary at one agency called my project manager to tell her “there are people from the FBI here who want to speak with you” – not something you hear every day and not something a foreign national usually wants to hear 🙂 .
I was a contract linguist for four years. It took them a while to finally start sending me work and even longer until they sent me to DC for training. However, it might have just been my field office and supervisor. I eventually got disillusioned and decided I no longer wanted to work with them. However, I know plenty of people who are contract linguists and enjoy the work. The texts I translated were indeed very interesting – Internet and banking fraud, letters rogatory, and extradition documentation. If you specialize in legal and financial texts this might be a good choice for you. If you are working at a field office as a contract linguist you will be expected to bring your dictionaries with you to the office. They never provided me with any dictionaries. Headquarters, on the other hand, has plenty of dictionaries. You will need to insist on having Internet access, because a lot of the things you translate and terms you encounter will not be found in a dictionary.
Contract linguists are paid by the hour, and the hourly rate is determined by language. As a contract linguist you would be self-employed and will not receive benefits. This means you will also be responsible for paying taxes out of the $34 or $35 an hour you are paid. You will keep a monthly time log and submit it at the end of the month in order to be paid. It is a nice little side job, but if you are chosen as a contract linguist you may or may not be given steady work depending on the needs for your language. Language specialists are considered full-time employees, and the assignments are rare. You may also be required to relocate or work from headquarters. Most people are contract linguists. Contract linguists may be given opportunities to travel (but assignments tend to require long stretches of time) or may remain in their city of choice and work from the local field office. Due to security concerns and the need to protect evidence, contract linguists must work in the field office instead of their own home or office.
The FBI does not distinguish between translators and interpreters, or between people who translate in one direction or another. The bulk of their work (perhaps 80%) goes into English, but a similar percentage of contract linguists and language specialists are non-native English speakers, so by definition most of their translators are working into their non-native language. Language specialists do not have the luxury of turning down assignments because it is into their non-native language or requires a skill set one may not have (such as interpreting). As a contract linguist you may have the luxury if there is a competent native speaker who can accept the assignment, but if you are in a language of limited diffusion you will most likely translate in both directions.
On a positive note, the FBI and other government entities are one of the few steady in-house jobs out there for translators. I have my fair share of gripes with them, but realistically it enabled several of my friends to keep freelancing until they establish a stable of regular clients. In-house jobs in the private sector are almost nonexistent, especially if you translate into English. You are also doing your part and helping your government in its dealings with other countries, which I really liked.
For even more information about working for the FBI and other government entities, I encourage you to read “Translating and Interpreting in the Federal Government” by Ted Crump. Many thanks to Corinne McKay for fact-checking, feedback and a couple additions to this post!
Back to business as usual January 4, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings.add a comment
Whew, I’m glad the holidays are over. I enjoyed them, but I’m ready to get back to work now. There’s only so much “relaxing” I can do before I start going stir crazy. I read a few books, watched a few DVDs from the library, did some cleaning, etc.
Things have been pretty slow here, but I have to keep reminding myself that it was my choice. After three really large translation jobs in the beginning of December I told my biggest client that I needed a break to let my arm heal, and they honored my request. My arm is finally starting to feel back to normal. It took a couple weeks though… I thoroughly enjoyed having some down time. I prepared for the holidays, sent out my holiday cards to friends and clients, and enjoyed spending time with my friends and family. But I am ready to get back to the old grind :-).
I thought this was a cute comic that illustrated how most of us probably felt over the holidays:
It’s a few days into 2009 already, but I hope 2009 brings all of you lots of health, happiness and most of all prosperity!
What would you do? December 17, 2008
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Random musings.9 comments
I had a difficult client (unreasonable Trados levels – 5!, sending e-mail to my Gmail account [which I only use as a backup] despite multiple e-mails requesting he write my work address, etc.) until a few months ago, when the company owner sent me a proofreading job on a Saturday due on a Tuesday. Since I try not to work on the weekends and try to stay away from my computer when I can, I didn’t get the e-mail until Sunday night. I wrote him telling him I would be happy to accept the job and when I didn’t receive an e-mail on Monday telling me the job had been assigned to someone else I assumed I had the job. I spent Monday evening proofreading a text that had obviously been translated by a non-native speaker or someone who didn’t know what they were doing. It was a nightmare. When I delivered the job and sent my invoice I received a pithy e-mail response from his project manager telling me that she had never issued me a PO and that she wouldn’t be paying the invoice.
Needless to say I was upset by this and wrote them and the invoice off as “never again.” This afternoon I had another e-mail from the company owner asking me to proofread another job. Obviously I am not going to accept the job, but I am curious as to whether you would even respond to his e-mail. My gut is telling me to just ignore it, but my instincts as a responsible business person tells me I should at least let him know why.
So what would you do?
Musings from an overworked translator 