The importance of a good contract

I was supposed to be in Athens yesterday and today - interpreting at a European employee forum. Unfortunately, due to the general strike announced for Greece, the meeting was cancelled.
My first thought was, oh good, I won't get stuck at some airport AGAIN, but then I got nervous - what are the cancellation terms on my contract?
For too many years I was very naive when it came to dealing with clients. Maybe it's just the case in Slovakia, but here it's not usual to actually get a binding contract to confirm an interpreting assignment. So it did happen that my assignment was cancelled two days before the meeting were to take place and I was left with nothing.
Maybe it does happen to other linguists too that they don't regard themselves as business entities and are way too willing to accept any terms whatsoever just to get some work. And then we complain that clients have no respect for our profession. However, respect doesn't come out of nowhere. We have to earn it not only by providing a top-notch service but also by communicating professionally.
When I decide to buy a product or service, I know that I have to sign a binding order or even pay a deposit. Sometimes this deposit is as much as 50% of the total amount. Yet when someone calls me and asks me whether I'm free to interpret on a given date, I just accept it and never ask for a written confirmation. This has to change.
The next time a client inquires about my services, I'll have my standard terms and conditions ready and I will ask him or her to sign a binding contract. If I want to be treated like a professional, I have to act like one. It may put off some clients who would not accept paying the full price for a meeting that gets cancelled. But then again, when we buy an airline ticket, a holiday and such, we accept that there is no refund.
It is not acceptable that only the interpreter bears the financial risk. We are small businesses and we need to protect our interests.
Luckily, my contract for the employee forum was a good one and I should get the full fees despite the cancellation.

Working around the clock

The good thing about being a freelance interpreter or translator is that you can choose (in theory) when you want to work and when you want to be free. The bad thing is that sometimes your clients need you to interpret until the wee small hours of the morning or sometimes you have to work on a translation over the weekend.
Today I'm in the "graveyard shift" for the plenary session of the European Parliament. We start at 9PM and we shouldn't work longer than until midnight. Even though I have not had any serious assignments in the morning, it's only natural that my brain still works less efficiently in the evening.
I find it helps to have a stimulating conversation with friends before I go to work so that my mood is up, even if the sun goes down. I do not read a book or anything serious requiring my full concentration before a night assignment. I prefer to browse the internet for some light reading, just to keep my brain "warmed up".
I always make sure to have some snacks in the booth, to keep the sugar levels up and my mood above zero. It also helps to set a lower temperature in the booth if it were too warm and cosy it would be more difficult to fight fatigue.
We also take turns more frequently. During daytime, I prefer to have longer stints, if the language combination we have in the booth allows that. But in the nighttime we may switch even after each speaker. Especially during the so called "one minute speeches". Yes it is as bad as it sounds, every member of parliament has exactly one minute to mention an issue close to his or her heart. So it sometimes feels like a speed-reading competition and it is very tiring.
No matter what we do, we will be tired and yet revved-up at the same time. I guess it will take my brain at least an hour after I come home to "shut down" ... like a very old windows computer.

Interview with a linguist

I'm certainly not a celebrity so the chances that I will in fact be interviewed are rather slim. But who says, I cannot give a fictional interview just to introduce myself to my readers? So here it comes:
Q: Who are you and why do you think we should be interested?
A: I'm a freelance translator and interpreter with over 16 years of experience in the language industry. In these 16 years I have encountered many interesting people, worked on interesting subjects, and in I like to share my stories.
Q: What is actually the difference between a translator and an interpreter isn't it just the same?
A: No, it's not the same. As a matter of fact it's two quite different activities. A translator is someone who works with written text. They might be translating books or scientific articles, contracts, marketing materials ... you name it. They can and do use dictionaries, they have the possibility to consult with their clients, search the internet to check the terminology. They have the time to do it, whereas an interpreter is someone who "translates" orally - in a meeting, conference, at the doctor's and in many other situations. There is no time to look up a word in a dictionary, or search the world wide web. It's instant communication. It can be very stressful, but also very rewarding as you have direct contact with the people you work for.
Q: But you can be both a translator and an interpreter?
A: Yes, you can, but there are people who specialise in either translation or interpreting. It takes a different skill to be a good translator or to be a good interpreter.
Q: So what are the basic skills you need?
A: I'd start with the perfect command of your mother tongue, something which is often overlooked. But as "communicators" we have a responsibility towards language, sometimes we create new words or word combinations and the way we speak or write can influence language. Just as much as journalists or politicians do. When there is a word that has no equivalent in our mother tongue, it's up to us to find the best possible solution.
Of course you have to have an excellent command of the foreign language as well. It goes without saying that you have to avoid grammar mistakes . Also, you have to use the correct language register, sometimes the source language may need to be more formal than the target language. There are many more factors that need to be taken into account.
You have to understand the subtleties, read "between the lines" , the cultural context, because translating or interpreting is not about words. It's mediating between two cultures, something that is perfectly acceptable in one culture may be taboo in another culture.
Q: Nowadays it seems like everybody speaks English, it is widely used on the Internet, at conferences, in companies ... why should we consider using interpreters or translators?
A: Let's say you want to sign a contract with your foreign business partner. It's worth €100.000 but there are "general terms and conditions" several pages long in small print, stipulating all possibilities you could think of. Now, how do you feel about reading "legalese" in your own language. If you're not a lawyer, you probably don't feel very comfortable, because legal texts are difficult to understand. And now imagine the same in a foreign language, even if it's the widely used English language. I would rather understand everything perfectly before I sign it, wouldn't you?
And as for interpretation: again, imagine you're discussing the delivery of the goods you're manufacturing, setting up a contract, every word counts. You have to focus on your negotiating strategy and on a foreign language. Unless you use that language on a fairly regular basis, you might be at a disadvantage compared with your counterpart who's a native speaker. Wouldn't it be nice to take some pressure off and gain some thinking time, while the professional interpreter is at work?
Of course if English is your mother tongue, the situation turns around. You want to make sure that your counterpart really understood what you meant, you want to sell your products and don't want to put off your customers by using a language that is foreign to them.
Interpreters and translators can be useful in many situations. Just make sure, you pick the right ones.