New Year, New Wish List for Translators
Eons ago, before Christmas, Ele talked about the ultimate wish list for interpreters, suggesting a series of great gift ideas to pass on to Santa. Although the festive period is over and we are all back to work, in front of our computers or preparing for our next interpreting gig, the beginning of the year is a great moment for us to make plans, resolutions, and lists. Making a list of the conferences we would like to attend during the year, drawing up a set of tangible goals for our business, or planning our indicative holiday periods are examples of such lists. However, I thought I would start off the year with a list of items/gifts/potential business purchases that a translator might consider. The festive period might be over, but gifting is forever. So here is a short list of items I am considering purchasing/I have purchased/own and that I feel might come in handy for fellow translators:
an update to SDL Trados Studio 2019 & SDL Trados MultiTerm 2019, especially if you haven't upgraded in a while. Have a look at Emma Goldsmith's post about its new features.
an ergonomic mouse, to avoid muscle strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and repetitive stress injury. Here are a few highly-rated ones currently on the market: Logitech MX Vertical, Logitech MX Master 2, or Evoluent Wireless Vertical (the one I am currently interested in, available both for left-handed and right-handed users).
an ergonomic keyboard to reduce typing strain. The one I am currently interested in is the Kinesis split keyboard, which is split in two parts and allows you to adjust the angle between these two sides. Other contenders include: Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard (with a cushioned palm rest), Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, and the "wave-style" Logitech Wireless Keyboard K350.
a "Things Translators Never Say" T-shirt or hoodie to add to your loungewear collection or even to your collection of work outfits if you translate from the comfort of your home. In fact, one of the gifts Santa brought me was a hoodie with the caption "Countdown to beer o'clock: 487 words". If you are unfamiliar with Things Translators Never Say (TTNS), have a look at my interview with Erik Hansson, the group's founder. Check out the TTNS store for more items of clothing and paraphernalia with translation-related puns and jokes.
speech-to-text software, such as Dragon. Dragon is only available in UK English, US English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese. If you do not translate into one of these languages, this sort of investment might not be ideal for you, as it will not help you in terms of productivity gains while translating. However, Dragon can also be used for more "mundane" tasks such as sending emails, browsing the web, writing to-do-lists, etc.
As you may have noticed, a lot of the entries on this list are linked to ergonomics: as translators, we use our fingers, wrists, and hands continuously and they are our "money makers", that is why we should try to protect them in order to avoid long-term health and mobility issues.
professional development. The start of the year could be a great moment to decide how much money and time we would like to invest in our continuing professional development. From webinars such as eCPD, to workshops and conferences organised by national and regional professional associations, there's something out there for everyone and setting aside a budget or having a general outline of what our goals and plans are is a great way to start 2019. I am planning on attending several translation-related workshops and aiming to complete at least 3 MOOCs on EU law.
specialised dictionary. A field-specific dictionary or glossary would come in handy to those specialising in a given field. For instance, I am interested in the "Dictionary of the European Union" which contains an English monolingual compendium of terms and expressions related to the EU apparatus, whereas Ele has had her eyes on the French-English "Lexique bilingue de la mode" which would have been useful for a recent interpreting assignment.
tickets for a translation/interpreting conference so you can brush up on your professional skills, attend workshops, network, and meet fellow translators and interpreters in real life. Whether it's the ITI conference in Sheffield, the Translating Europe Forum organised by the European Commission, or the BP conference in Bologna, attending at least a conference each year is definitely a must in my books.
What about you? What's on your wish list for this year? What translation-related purchases does 2019 have in store for you?
