Nataly Kelly

I found this by chance at my local library and picked it up because I'm hoping to become a translator. Interpreting isn't really my thing, but I thought it might be interesting nonetheless.

This book is a little BusinessSpeke (for instance there's a glossary at the beginning with terms like Agent, LEP (limited English Proficiency), etc, and there's also an entire chapter entitled Industry Trends) but it contains a lot of useful information for people who might be looking to get into telephone interpreting. It starts with the very basics (see previously mentioned glossary) and goes through all aspects of the job, including a model code of ethics and even snippets of example calls. At the very end of the book are several appendices with exercises for you and a (bilingual) friend to try, so you can test your abilities as a phone interpreter. For those of us without bilingual friends, these exercises still presented an interesting challenge - I am working on translating them between my two languages, and am learning all kinds of new vocabulary.

All in all, this book gives a fair amount to think about for those already in or looking to get into the profession, couched in the very terms any middle-manager might use. 3.5/5 stars.… (meer)

I heard an interview with authors Kelly and Zetzsche on NPR. They were smart and engaging, so I read their book. Unfortunately, I found it thin: it's primarily a collection of anecdotes and case studies illustrating the importance of translation in the modern world. While many of the stories are mildly interesting—who knew that many think IKEA's practice of naming high-end items after Swedish places and lowly items (doormats, toilet seats) after Danish places is viewed by many as an obvious way of tweaking the Danes?—if you come to the book already understanding that translation is important and makes an impact, the repeated attempts to persuade you of that will quickly become wearying. I'd recommend this book to people who do not work with words for a living and who have not traveled much in non-English-speaking countries: the issues the book discusses may be new to you.… (meer)