Survey Results Analyzed

I've noticed that every obscure experience or piece of information you've ever encountered in your life is likely to become relevant at some point in your translation career.

Well, running the first online translators' survey was like that for me. It took me back to childhood holidays spent in the town of Dubbo, in the Australian Outback. There, my parents, Dr. Leon and Judith Simons, respectively a professor of medicine and a statistician, were laying the groundwork for their landmark long-term health research project, the Dubbo Study. After rapidly exhausting Dubbo's few entertainments, we children soon retreated to the project's air-conditioned headquarters on the town's main street where we found unexpected satisfaction in sorting hundreds of survey forms and helping our parents collate the data. Though I had no idea who the respondents were, I found the disembodied snippets of personal information fascinating.

My own attempts to design this survey and analyze the results are certainly that of an amateur and I don't present them as conclusive, but they certainly are interesting and I think that each person can draw conclusions that are relevant for themselves.

To view the final results, click here.

First, I want to state that I think that respondents were generally accurate in their answers with the exception of the question about monthly income. People are naturally hesitant to reveal such information. In fact, out of 138 respondents, 33 skipped the question altogether.

One of the most important questions for me was the one which asked if work volume/earnings had changed in the past nine months. While it is clear that the world is experiencing an economic crisis, no one is sure how deep the impact has been in Israel or whether it is affecting the local translation industry. The survey results seem to indicate that while the majority of translators reported that their income had stayed the same or increased, 42% have been negatively affected by the downturn to some degree. I assume that this means that the industry as a whole has only slightly declined, probably primarily in certain specializations and therefore not effecting all translators. On the other hand, a slight drop during a major recession is probably an indication of general robustness in the industry. Translation is generally a great field to be in!

More amateur analysis to come from me soon. In the meantime, everyone is encouraged to view the results and draw their own conclusions. You can filter the results, as well as view individual response sheets, so that you can focus your interest on particular language pairs, specializations, etc. Feel free to post comments on this blog!

Congratulations to all our Graduates!

The pilot session of the WritePoint Translation Course concluded this week and by all accounts the program was a fantastic success. The group was smart, motivated and talented and was a pleasure to teach. Now they are moving out of the "hothouse" and into the world of professional translation. About half of the class has already begun paid translation work and all are busy using all the tools and resources they gained in the course to build their new careers.

Right now, I'm busy editing and evaluating their final projects. In order to graduate from the course, each student must complete two real translation projects for real clients. Students have the option of choosing projects recruited by my company or finding clients for themselves (we discuss ways of finding clients extensively during the course).

Projects that the recent graduates completed included websites, academic papers, press releases, news and feature articles, book excerpts and PowerPoint presentations. The majority have produced translations of a very high standard, and their clients are very satisfied.

One student, who chose a project for a client she found herself, received the following response in an email:

"We received all the translations. You did a truly amazing job - perfect in all aspects. We appreciate your effort, professionalism, and efficiency very much... We will definitely be happy to work with you again and refer you to other people."

This does not surprise me that much. Last week I received an email from Adv. Michael Prawer, who taught the legal translations module, who had been reviewing some student assignments: "I must say that for non-lawyers (and even for lawyers) those whose work I have corrected did excellent jobs."

Congratulations to all the graduates. You all worked very hard and we had a great time.

First Online Survey of Translators in Israel!

I invite all working translators to participate in the First Online Survey of Translators in Israel.

This survey is designed to benefit translators and the translation industry by providing accurate answers to important questions about our profession that have not previously been addressed.

The 10-question, multiple-choice survey will assess the relationship between education levels, translator training, professional experience, specializations and the current economic downturn, and translators' rates and earnings.

We urge you to participate and to forward the link to all your colleagues. The more translators who participate, the more accurate and revealing will be the results. The main focus is on Hebrew-English and English-Hebrew translators, but other language pairs are also surveyed here.

The results will be made free to the public.

To participate, click here.

Welcome to Translation R&R!

Just ask any hard-working pro translator what they need most - the answer will be "some R&R." Not just Rest & Relaxation (though that alone would be most welcome), but also some really great Resources & References. R&R is one of the the keys to producing truly first-rate translations (this blog will offer translators the other kind of R&R too).

It will also be jam-packed with tips and info related to the translation profession, including finding good translation jobs and dealing with clients, the usefulness of various software and online tools, translating The Untranslatable, lots of humorous stories and examples of the joys and pitfalls of the translation game, and much more.

I want to start by saying that I love translating. It is for me a passion and a calling. As well as working as a Hebrew-English translator, I run a translator's training program with WritePoint in Jerusalem. Thank God I found teaching, because it allows me to channel my overflowing enthusiasm for my job towards helping others get started, rather than stupefying acquaintances I meet at bar mitzvahs by regaling them with my latest death-defying translation adventures.

I look forward to sharing my knowledge, experience and love of translation with a wider audience through this blog!

Enjoy and feel free to leave friendly and constuctive comments!