At February’s NCTA General Meeting, two representatives of the language industry discussed the ramifications of AB5 for the industry and suggested what independent language professionals can do to help. For more information, read the summary article that just appeared on NCTA.org.
NCTA events chair Fernanda Brandao-Galea, presenter Lorena Ortiz Schneider, NCTA president Michael Schubert, presenter Shamus Sayed
California Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 18, 2019. The bill codifies the so-called Dynamex decision on the distinction between independent contractors and employees. The bill does not contain any explicit exemption for translators and interpreters. The full text of the bill can be found here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB5.
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By Fernanda Brandão-Galea and Erin Teske
This year’s Monterey Forum focused on the changing landscape of the language services industry. The authors discuss the overarching themes, giving examples from a variety of presentations and keynote speeches.
The final plenary panel at the Monterey Forum featuring (L to R) Graduate School of Translation dean Laura Burian, Translation and Interpretation program chair Julie Johnson, and Translation and Localization Management program chair Max Troyer. Credit: Fernanda Brandão-Galea
Many of the presenters urged us not to limit ourselves to the antiquated idea that “language professional” always refers to a translator or interpreter. → continue reading
Margarita Bekker explained how healthcare interpreters can protect themselves and others from transmissible diseases on the job.
Bekker reminds her audience that even healthy individuals need to guard against infection. Photo Credit: Judit Marin
The NCTA hosted Margarita Bekker for a lively presentation entitled “Infection Control and Industrial Safety for Interpreters” as part of its Continuing Education workshop series. Bekker began by telling us if we learned nothing else from her presentation, we should remember this: “Nature is trying to kill us. Wash your hands and vaccinate your children.” With that rousing introduction, we started right in. → continue reading
By Anne-Charlotte Giovangrandi
A veteran SAMiste shares her experiences at the 2018 Medical English Seminar in Lyon-—will you join her in 2020?
Photo credit: Indelebile photographe.
Short for Séminaire d’anglais médical, SAM is organized every other year in Lyon, France, by the Société française des traducteurs, the French sister association of the ATA. Presented as a medical English writing and terminology training, it is geared toward translators working in French and English who specialize—or wish to specialize—in medicine. It attracts linguists from all over the world, most coming from France and the UK. This article focuses on the 2018 conference, which was held over five days at the University of Lyon School of Medicine. As registration for the 2020 conference will open early next year, now seems to be a good time to spread the word about it. → continue reading
Jeannette Stewart shared her ideas for solving one of the language service industry’s biggest challenges—its invisibility.
General Meeting presenter Jeannette Stewart
At our May 11 General Meeting, Jeannette Stewart shared her extensive experience in globalization management. The backbone of Stewart’s presentation was a problem all language industry professionals share: our contributions to a final product frequently are and remain invisible. → continue reading