If I were consistent enough to have a core business instead of dabbling in too many things, it would be translation – at least, it is my steadiest source of income. If you happen to be looking for a Spanish-English translator, I hope you don’t need a detailed CV as I haven’t updated it in a long while, but here is a kind of mini-profile:
Languages: Spanish to English. Accepted good practice is to translate only into your native tongue, so under normal circumstances, I only translate from Spanish to English. I occasionally translate into Spanish, but there needs to be a good reason. I have varying degrees of proficiency in other languages – French, Portuguese, even Latin – but don’t work with them.
Specialities: air traffic control; civil engineering tenders; radar systems; presence and access control, etc. The full list is very long, as I have been translating professionally since 1991, approximately. Inevitably, I have worked with most language areas, though the bulk of the work that comes my way is technical.
Availability/Output: I am usually available for translation work. I turn out around 3,500-4,500 words a day comfortably and can accept up to 2,000-2,500 words a day from a single client, more when a relationship of trust has been established.
Rates and Payment: normal Spanish rates, by which I mean rates in Spain, that being where I live and have to buy my groceries. I rarely haggle, but the better the rate you offer, the more likely I am to be available. Payment on delivery would be nice, but the truth is most people pay me at 45-60 days.
Contact: send queries to webmaster AT mediterraneanblue.com, please.
And now, for your edification and amusement (if you are interested in language at least), the following are feeds from some of the sites I browse regularly to keep up to date or put myself in a translation frame of mind (this page is about the translation business – you’ll find more general, usually lighter articles about linguistics and language on the Language Stuff page). If you know a site related with translation or the translation business that would be in good company on this page, do drop me an e-mail or, better still, a comment.
yndigo
British Aspirations
A [h]istoric confusion You can read paragraph upon paragraph of British English and not even notice a difference. And then all of a sudden, someone bites into a butty or gets struck by a lorry and you feel an ocean dividing us. A British colleague years ago stopped me dead in my tracks when she said something or other was … [Link]
Typographical Era
The changing rules of typography Two spaces after a period. Period! OK…maybe not anymore. The first time I was told to break this rule was about 15 years ago in an office entering bibliographies into a database. The office computer guy informed us the proprietary database didn’t like double spaces, and added that one space would be the new rule … [Link]
Translation Journal Blog
Contracts
First, a disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and this blog should not be construed as legal advice, which can be given only by attorneys authorized to practice in the relevant jurisdiction. Contract law is an extensive and complex subset of the law of obligations, and it would be pretentious on my part to offer advice applicable to specific situations in … [Link]
Quality
Quality seems to be the mantra of every translator. I have never met a translator who wouldn't swear that he or she produces above-average, if not perfect, quality. So where do all those poor translations we've all seen come from? The fact is that quality is an elusive concept and, while it's easy to label an incorrect or unidiomatic translation … [Link]
Translating is an Art
Poll: Is the recession over?
View This Pollpolls Filed under: business, english, poll 
[Link]
Worst excuses to keep your rates low
Rates are always a hot issue among translators, especially low rates offered by clients. Some translators are tempted to accept these low rates or to lower their rates just to get work. However, there is no excuse to accept low rates. “If my rates are too high, I won’t be able to find any clients” If you raise your rates, … [Link]
Thoughts On Translation
SFT presentation links
Eve Bodeux and I will be giving two presentations (Marketing your translation services to clients in the United States and Web 2.0 for translators) for the Société Française des Traducteurs this week. Following are the links to some of the sites I will be mentioning in my sections of these presentations. Marketing your translation services to clients in the United … [Link]
Translating official documents: continued
Last month, I ran a post on translating official documents which generated a lot of reader interest and comments. I’m back with a correction and an addition to that post: The correction: In the original post I advised translators of official documents to “Use a screenshot or graphics program to enhance your translations.” For example, I have often copied logos, … [Link]
Musings from an overworked translator
The squeaky wheel DOES get greased…
I am proud to announce that I just got an e-mail from ATA President-Elect Dorothee Racette in which she informs me that ATA has negotiated no charge for Internet access for those staying at the conference hotel at this year’s ATA conference. WOOOHOOO!!! She told me “Thanks for your effort and advocacy on this matter. This is fresh off the … [Link]
How do you handle illness?
The Freelance Folder published a very timely blog post yesterday called How to Tell When It’s Time to Take a Break. I just got back from a week in Florida. What was originally intended to be an active vacation turned out to be a working vacation. I went to the Keys with my mother, who has been suffering from a … [Link]
Beyond Words – Language Blog
5 Must-See TED Talks on Language
The 2010 Technology Entertainment Design conference wrapped up on February 13, in Long Beach, California, and the new talks are just now making it online. If youre not familiar with the conferences, they started in 1984, and showcase some of the worlds most engaging thinkers in short talks about specific topics. Before we have to time to sort through all … [Link]
Haitian Creole In Translation: Medical Phrase Pronunciation Guide
Since the earthquake in Haiti, thousands of medical workers, translators, and interpreters have organized for specialized relief efforts. Translators Without Borders will soon offer a medical triage dictionary for use with Haitian Creole, and ALTA has enlisted our resources to translate and record Haitian Creole medical phrases for aid workers and volunteers. Based on selections from the Emergency Multilingual Phrasebook … [Link]
Translation Tribulations
Serendipity
Last night I had an interesting experience which I hope to have more of. We were visiting friends for a dutch oven dinner with plentiful wine and vodka, and I was admiring my friend's collection of skins, pickled snakes and antlers as he showed me various interesting old books on hunting topics published in the German Democratic Republic. Such books … [Link]
Style agreement
For some time I've been thinking about creating a "default style guide" and presenting it to clients for review before undertaking major projects. This is because little niggling, repetitive questions about stuff like subheader capitalization keep coming up, and some days I feel like a parrot giving explanations.Well, in the latest issue of Jost Zetzsche's Toolkit Newsletter there is an … [Link]
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