Check out or career fair journey here!

Monterey’s local Middlebury Institute of International Studies had its annual Translation, Interpretation, and Localization Management career fair on February 16^th. It was an exciting day for graduates, current students, and all participants alike.

It’s one of our favorite times of the year!

Many of our colleagues in our office are alumni from MIIS, so it’s always great to be able to go back and meet bright minds and familiar faces.

This year, the event was hosted on the MIIS campus itself, which was wonderful and brought back many memories of attending classes there and being in the same shoes as the students there today.

Speaking to the students there and hearing their enthusiasm and passion really reinvigorates us to make sure that we do our absolute best to ensure that they are coming into a flourishing industry. We truly believe in fostering a community of mutual support where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and succeed.

We made information easy for students

Our staff members were there to set up bright and early at 8:00AM and made sure to make the booth perfect and efficient.

We showcased posters featuring various position descriptions, which allowed students to intuitively understand the roles we are looking for.

Going off the success of last year, we organized information for students to scan with their phones so that they could see the positions we’re hiring for, links for them to sign up, and our advice for future interpreters.

It seems like this was a hit because we received a long line of students eager to speak with us and we received a lot of positive feedback from attendees.

We strive to deepen the connections further as we move forward.

Students felt the energy that our company has, and we felt theirs as well! Every attendee was enthusiastic about seizing the opportunity to speak with industry professionals.

The place was filled with so much potential and possibility, and it was indeed a pleasure to witness such energy and enthusiasm.

The part we’re proud of the most is how much the students said that they appreciated the genuine connections they felt when speaking with our interpreter and representative.

One of the most important talents in our industry is establishing connections with those we work with, so hearing this from not just one, but many students is something we take as a very kind compliment!

Thank you to everyone!

We’re so glad to have had the opportunity to attend this year and thank everyone at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies for making this event such a success.

We always think very highly of the event and see it as a great opportunity to meet new minds in the industry as well as just genuinely connect with people.

Thank you, and we can’t wait until next year’s!

The Printing Press

It is a little-known fact among the Western world that Johannes Gutenberg was not in fact the first to create a printing press. Borrowing from wood-block printing in many Asian cultures, Korean Choe Yun-ui created the first printing press with moveable block characters in the 1200s. However, due to many factors, such as invasion into Korea and the fact that organizing the Chinese characters to print took quite a while, this printing press did not become widespread.

Gutenberg’s printing press, on the other hand, often printed works written in Latin, which is written with far, far fewer letters than there are characters in Chinese. Arranging the type pieces and going through the printing process was markedly easier than in Korea two hundred years earlier, and Gutenberg’s printing press was essential for the increase in literacy in the following century. In our last blog, we mentioned that Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible was a major turning point in the history of translation; without the printing press, his translation would not have reached even half the people that it did.

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone, first discovered in 1799, held a passage that was written three times—twice in two versions of ancient Egyptian, and once in ancient Greek. The passage, written in 196 BC, was key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, despite so much of the Rosetta Stone being broken and incomplete.

The Nuremberg Trials

The infamous Nuremberg Trials were held to take Nazis to court and to try them for war crimes that took place during World War II. Remarkably, the trials only took ten months to complete, despite the need to translate and interpret the proceedings into numerous languages. This was accomplished by implementing the world’s first simultaneous interpretation program, which likely saved years off of the Trials’ time. Simultaneous interpretation is difficult to learn the skills for, but is commonly used for conferences, such as for the United Nations.

The Internet

With the advent of the internet, the world became even more global than ever. While learning languages and speaking or writing to a language partner regardless of distance was possible with phone calls and letters, the internet sped up those processes to be nearly immediate.

With this, however, came increasing demands for translation and interpretation for global businesses. Translators and interpreters now had to learn how to not only navigate linguistic landscapes, but also digital ones.

Machine Translation

Very recently in the history of translation and interpretation has been the rise in machine translation. Essentially, putting one string from language A into a machine, which would produce that string in language B. This method vastly improves the speed at which translators can do their jobs, but as machines can’t understand language in the way that humans do, translators and proofreaders are necessary to ensure that the final product doesn’t sound unnatural.

Now

While looking back at history, we also look towards the future. In the past, human history has had lots of events that have influenced today’s translators and interpreters. Many events even had an impact on the world as a whole, such as the printing press and the internet. In the future, there will only be even more AI inventions and events that will shape the translation and interpretation sphere. However, one thing we have seen clearly is that language has been highly varied and shaped by human thought and action; in that vein, we in the translation and interpretation industry are still far, far away from being replaced by machines or robots.

To keep an online presence. This might seem a little strange, but think about it this way: if you are looking to accept a car ride from someone, would you go with the person who has a five star rating, many customer reviews, a profile picture, and a little blurb about who they are? Or would you go with the person who has no profile picture, no rating, no reviews, and no profile picture? Obviously, you would go with the former. You would have many reservations about going with someone you have no information about. It’s the same thing with work. Having an online presence will help people who don’t even know you quickly get a feel for who you are and how you operate. Just make sure that you keep your presence online professional and active.

With a good online presence, you can also network. Networking is incredibly important for many reasons, but the most important one goes back to the previous example of a driver who you can easily read up about versus a complete stranger. When you submit your resume and cover letter to a company, especially a big company, they have to make a decision based off of the information you give them. If you don’t give them enough information, they will give the position to the person who they have a better picture of. Networking helps to get your foot in the door since you will have an opportunity to display who you are in a different, more informal setting. Networking will also help get your name into conversations making it easier for prospective clients or companies to identify you in the midst of other applicants.

You should be sure to start off small and get as much experience as you can under your belt. You would be surprised what an opportunity here or there will be able to get you in the future. Just be sure that when you do the work, you always treat it with as much care as possible. This means taking the time to ensure you have no errors, have translated everything perfectly and do not have any formatting issues. Just in case, you should have someone proofread your translation. Even if you are confident with the translation you have put out, it would be a good idea to have a pair of fresh eyes go over the work that you have done. They might have a new perspective or be able to point out some simple errors that you might have glossed over.

The last tip for this post is to set aside a specific time to do your translation. This might seem simple, but you do not want to be spending too much time or too little time on the translation. It is better to have a set time to work on the assignment than to just do it whenever you feel like it. With a schedule, you will be more committed to finishing the job, and will have clear boundaries where you can ensure you are not interrupted or distracted.

Starting out as a translator or interpreter is simultaneously exciting and frightening, but no matter where you start, you are sure to end in a good position if you persist. These tips are to provide a good starting point as well as a good base to build off of. We hope this helps anyone looking to break into the industry.

Insurance Companies

Insurance companies are being pushed out of business, and reacting with panic. In particular, Worker’s Comp providers have been hard hit as it becomes increasingly difficult for companies to rule out or prevent employees’ exposure to Covid-19. Some providers have begun cancelling Workers Comp coverage at just the suggestion that employees could be at risk of exposure.

Media

In a situation like the current one, it’s important to stay up to date and have access to information from trusted news sources. Unfortunately, media outlets are not immune to the effects of the outbreak, and in its wake publishers across the country have been forced to reduce their print schedule, or stop printing altogether. According to the New York Times, local media outlets in particular have been crippled by the outbreak.

Translation and Interpretation

The effects of the outbreak on the T&I industry have been unmistakable to both translators and interpreters themselves, as well as language service companies.  With business across the country screeching to a halt, and more and more areas ordering citizens to shelter in place, last week saw a string of cancellations from clients across the board – depositions, business meetings, tech presentations, medical appointments have been postponed indefinitely, and freelance translators and interpreters face an uncertain future.

We are all being affected by the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus, and for our part, Monterey Language Services will continue to keep an eye on developments across industries as the situation progresses. Stay safe and keep healthy!

The majority of students told us that they shared our values for bridging the language gap between diverse communities and industries. Indeed, the team at Monterey Language Services feels very grateful to have the opportunity to serve people and society by providing translation and interpretation services every day at work.

Students’ professional experience consisted of internships and volunteer work ranging from medical interpretation in hospitals to technical translation on important topics such as oncology, nuclear energy, manufacturing, and IT.

Students had all sorts of questions about internships and the possibilities for work at regional and international levels that Monterey Language Services offers. Many of them had diligently done research and knew about our upcoming project management and interpretation vacancies. They were impressed by the numerous opportunities offered by our company and admired our community involvement. After a very concentrated exchange of ideas, they left our booth feeling very hopeful in the future of the translation industry and our company’s role in it.

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages. Please feel free to request a quote from us.