DipTrans or MITI?

As I was searching over the Internet about translation exams and qualifications, I have found a very enlightening post in Evdoxia Renta's blog (Dirty Little Secrets). Evdoxia (a great colleague and a friend) introduced me to Emma Goldsmith (Spanish to English medical translator) and her excellent post regarding DipTrans (Chartered Institute of Linguists) and MITI (Institute of Translation & Interpreting) exams. In her blog, Sings & Symptoms of Translation, Emma Goldsmith gives a quite interesting side by side comparison of DipTrans and MITI exams. I can only tell you that I have finally decided which exam I will go for!

Click here to read Evdoxia's post and enjoy Emma's post here.

Tradufit: A physical challenge for mental people!

It is no secret that all of us (translators) are suffering from chronic back/neck pains and carpal tunnel syndromes because we sit in front of a computer screen working for too many hours, without breaks and without much exercise. Although we tend to read articles and books with tips of how to sit correctly and what kind of exercises are the best in order to stay active and fit, when the deadline is round the corner, we forget all about fitness and healthy working habits as our main concern is the prompt delivery of a super-duper target text! I must admit that I have spent many nights typing standing in front of my computer because it was too painful for me to keep working seated! Shame on me!

Well, in one of my Facebook searches I have discovered "Tradufit"! Tradufit is a fun page for translators who want to stay in shape and don't want their body to take the shape of their chair (according to the page's description)! In there, one can find several useful tips and gadgets and share pleasant and fun workouts with colleagues.

I am pretty sure that Tradufit will keep us active as long as we don't just read it!

Source: Facebook

Spanish interpreter Clara Guelbenzu on Alessandra Vita's "red carpet"!

This week, Alessandra Vita welcomes us with one more exciting interview from her "red carpet" series.
Now, it is Clara Guelbenzu, author of the famous blog on interpreting, bootheando, who talks about freelancing, social networks and personal branding.

You can read the entire post here.

Source: alessandravita.com

Marta Stelmaszak's interview by Alessandra Vita!

Alessandra Vita surprises us with another great interview of her translation & interpreting "red carpet" series. This week's guest is Marta Stelmaszak. I am pretty sure that most of you know Marta, but just to be on the safe side, let me give you a brief presentation.

Marta is a Polish – English freelance translator/interpreter and we could say that she is the big winner of the 2013 ProZ.com community choice awards. 

In her interview, Marta shares a few important tips of how a translator/interpreter can succeed as a freelancer.

You can read the entire interview here.  

Source: Alessandra Vita - Translator & Interpreter

"How can freelancers find new clients?" An article by Alessandra Vita

Today, I came across an extremely interesting and so inspiring post by Alessandra Vita. She approaches a very "hot" topic of the translation and interpreting community: Client hunting!

Alessandra shares the "client hunting" secrets of some brilliant professionals, like Marta Stelmaszak, Valeria Aliperta, Xosé Castro Roig, Gabriel Cabrera Méndez, Scheherezade Surià López and Pablo Muñoz Sánchez. Read the whole post here and find out which of these useful tips will do the trick for you! 

Source: Alessandra Vita

"Liberal" was not always a dirty word!

I came across this very interesting article today and I'd like to share it with you. Did you know that the word "liberal" was actually a good one? Well, I didn't! Read the whole article here.

Source: The Atlantic