The Voice of Interpreters and Translators THE ATA Nov/Dec 2019 Volume XLVIII Number 6 A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF LINGUISTIC ATHLETES A Publication of the American Translators Association American Translators Association 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590 to increase every year. This year, as in Alexandria, VA 22314 USA past years, we accepted fewer than 50% Tel: +1.703.683.6100 of the proposals we received, and the Fax: +1.703.683.6122 conference is on track to exceed our Email: [email protected] financial projections. At the same time, Website: www.atanet.org we hear from ATA members who are being priced out of the conference and Editorial Board FROM THE PAST PRESIDENT can’t afford to attend, or can’t come Paula Arturo every year. While the Board feels that Lois Feuerle CORINNE MCKAY our conference is attractively priced and Geoff Koby (chair) [email protected] well worth the investment, the “total Corinne McKay Twitter handle: @corinnemckay cost of attendance” (registration, airfare, Mary McKee hotel, food, ground transportation, side Ted Wozniak events, etc.) is significant. Attendance at Jost Zetzsche the Annual Conference remains strong, An Ending and but we also need to continue offering Publisher/Executive Director webinars, one-day conferences, and Walter Bacak, CAE a Beginning other professional development events at [email protected] a variety of price ranges. y the time this issue of The ATA Editor ■ Chronicle reaches you, I’ll have Over the past several years, the Board Jeff Sanfacon moved on to an entirely new role as has made a significant commitment to B [email protected] a past president of ATA. After serving for soliciting and considering input from seven years on ATA’s Board—three years members. We’ve implemented a process Advertising as director, two years as president-elect, of asking for members’ feedback (via our [email protected] and two years as president—my term division and chapter listserves, social Tel: +1.703.683.6100, ext. 3007 ends at ATA’s Annual Conference in Palm media posts, etc.) ahead of every Board Fax: +1.703.683.6122 Springs, where I’ll leave you in the highly meeting. Every comment is posted on capable hands of Ted Wozniak and the a flip chart for Board members to read, Design & Production 2019–2020 Board. and is then logged in a spreadsheet Blue House DC To me, the best chapters in life are those that we track over time. The Board also www.bluehousedc.com that—when they’re about to conclude— created the ataTalk listserve, where make you think, “I would do it again concerned members can discuss ATA The ATA Chronicle (ISSN 1078-6457) is published in a second, and I’m ready to move on governance issues. We’ve become much six times per year by the American Translators to a new chapter.” That’s exactly how I more active on social media, including Association, 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, feel about my years on the Board and Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA. Periodicals postage my time as president. Without a doubt, YouTube, and even Pinterest. We also paid at Alexandria, Virginia, and additional these have been the most enriching seven launched The ATA Podcast (shoutout to mailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address years of my professional life, and also the our amazing host Matt Baird!) to make changes to The ATA Chronicle, 225 Reinekers most demanding. I’ve learned a lot about sure we have a full range of ways to Lane, Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA. myself and about ATA, and hopefully I’ve communicate with members. At the The American Translators Association (ATA) contributed to some positive changes in same time, as we’ve seen during the was established in 1959 as a not-for-profit ATA. I have a long list of my own goals current controversy over whether ATA professional society to foster and support the that I’m ready to pursue, but I know ATA certification exams should be opened professional development of translators and will surely benefit from a set of fresh eyes to nonmembers of ATA, we still have interpreters and to promote the translation and on the Association’s goals and challenges. members who feel that they are not interpreting professions. The subscription rate for With that, here are a few parting thoughts informed about key ATA decisions, a member is $25 (included in the dues payment). on what ATA has achieved in recent years, or that their voices are not heard or The U.S. subscription rate for a nonmember is $65. and where we can continue to do better. considered. We need to look at this from Subscribers in Canada and Mexico add $25; both angles: how to continue to keep all other non-U.S. subscribers add $45. ■ Without a doubt, ATA’s Annual Single copies are available for $7 per issue. Conference remains the must-attend members informed, and how to solicit Statements of fact or opinion are the responsibility event for translators and interpreters and consider members’ feedback. of the authors alone and do not imply an opinion in the U.S., and even those who travel These are areas in which ATA has made on the part of the officers or the members of ATA. internationally to attend. The Annual great progress, but there is still further to Conference continues to receive go. ATA is in excellent hands with the next ©2019 American Translators Association rave reviews from attendees—90%+ leadership team. I thank you for the trust consistently say that they are glad they you’ve placed in me when I was elected, Reprint Permission attended—and the number and quality and I wish all of you—and ATA—every Requests for permission to reprint articles of the proposals we receive continues success in the years to come. should be sent to the editor of The ATA Chronicle 2 The ATA Chronicle | November/December 2019 at [email protected]. Nov/Dec 2019 Volume XLVIII CONTENTS Number 6 FEATURES 20 Decluttering Mistakes You’re Making When Revising Your Text 6 Like your closet, your text might contain ATA Board Delays Decoupling pointless, ugly, or sentimental items that Certification Exam you shouldn’t be keeping. Be ruthless when it comes to getting rid of the extra stuff in ATA’s Board of Directors has voted to postpone your text. It pays off. Your readers will read a decision to open the certification exam to effortlessly what you so laboriously created. nonmembers. What is the rationale behind this proposed change and how would it be implemented? Here are some answers to some 22 frequently asked questions. Technical-Scientific Translation: 12 A Wondrous Voyage 12 For some translators, technical-scientific work is Interpreting for the Astronauts: A an actively pursued dream. For others, it comes Conversation with Fernando van Reigersberg as an unanticipated opportunity. In either case, for those who have the required skills, In 1966, Fernando van Reigersberg, an it’s a challenge worth accepting, a gratifying interpreter for the U.S. Department of State, undertaking, and a wondrous voyage. was assigned to travel with Neil Armstrong and Richard Gordon on the Gemini Goodwill Tour of South America. Learn about this important Cover: The coordinators of the Pan American moment of the space race and what it was and Parapan American Games Language like traveling and interpreting for the men who Services team. Standing from left: Fernando would eventually travel to the moon. Camino, Rosario Bustamante, and Adriana Carbajal. Seated from left: Daniel Aparicio and 16 Angie Tapia. (Photo by Adolfo Leo) A Multidisciplinary Team of Linguists ADVERTISING DIRECTORY In 2013, Lima, Peru, was chosen as the 5 International Medical Interpreters Association host city of the XVIII Pan American and http://www.imiaweb.org Sixth Parapan American Games, the largest 16 international multidisciplinary sports event in the Americas and the second most important COLUMNS in the Olympic and Paralympic circuit in the world. Find out what it’s like to be part of a 2 From the Past President team providing translation and interpreting services at a high-level sporting event. 4 From the Executive Director 4 ATA Social Media 5 In Memoriam: Peter Less 10 International Translation Day 11 Outreach Report 25 Business Practices 26 Interpreters Forum Looking for Member News and Humor and Translation? 28 Geekspeak These columns are found in the Chronicle-Online edition: www.atanet.org/chronicle-online! 20 29 New Certified Members 30 Resource Review Connect www.atanet.org http://bit.ly/ATA-LinkedIn with ATA www.twitter.com/atanet http://bit.ly/ChannelATA http://bit.ly/ATA-Facebook http://bit.ly/ATA-Pinterest http://bit.ly/ATA-Instagram ■ National Association of Realtors (1.3 million members): There is no plan at the national level. They cannot get a clean national plan. They have worked with five of their local chapters to establish local plans. FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ■ National Restaurant Association: Plans in 30 states. Health insurance co- WALTER BACAK, CAE ops are not financially viable. Their [email protected] coverage is for small businesses (less than 100 employees). I talked to this presenter at a break. I asked him how Association Health Plans Update the members in the 20 states where ealth insurance continues to be a was for trade associations (company the association doesn’t have plans are top concern. We often hear from members as opposed to individual taking it. His response: not well! H members asking why ATA doesn’t members) offering coverage in a ■ There is a political element to AHPs.