Tuesday, September 30, 2008

International Translator Day

Today is the 30th of September and all translators and interpreters across the world celebrate their professional holiday - International Day of Translator and Interpreter.

Why September 30? Here is the answer - it's the day of death of St. Jerome in 419 or 420. This saint translated the Bible (Vulgate) to Latin language. He is an "official" the patron of interpreters and translators. This holiday was started in 1991 by the International Federation of Translators. More and more people celebrate this holiday (I heard a comment on the news about this translation day).

In 2004, the festival was celebrated under these words: «Translation - the basis of multilingualism and multiculturalism». - which I agree with. «Interpreters are in the heart of communication. As agents of foreign ideas and actions, they form part of a world in which we live. Translation is therefore a determinant of multilingual communication, and at the same time it symbolizes the openness of the people and democracy. » - I think these words are very wise. And hopefully the work of translators and interpreters will be valued more than it was in the past.

In 2005, this festival was celebrated with this slogan: «The responsibility of an interpreter before the profession and society». In 2006, it was celebrated under the following slogan: «A lot of languages - one profession». In 2007, it was celebrated under the slogan: «Do not shoot at courier».

In 2008, the International Day of the translator notes under the slogan: «Terminology: Words have meaning».

In other words, respect Translators and Interpreters! - it's a tough job.

Citations and dates were taken and non certified translated from an open source site.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Conference or 3 way calls to Russia got more expensive

Conference or 3-way telephone calls to Russia are getting more expensive if you order them from companies.
Does it worth it to set up a conference call yourself? The answer is YES if you know how to do it and if you want to save some money. Of course, it's better to pay just for the over the phone translation rather than for the 3 way connection plus a translation. Usually a translation company tends to benefit from people who think that making a connection is something extraordinary and you have to be tech savvy. Some companies are taking advantage of that and charging their clients way more than it really costs. For example, one online dating company which makes calls to Russia and Ukraine charges around 5 bucks per minute! It's ridiculous.
The right price for a connection of three people is about $1. This is what it is all about. International calls are not that expensive.
If you are interested in knowing more how to make conference calls, you can google for "How to make a conference call to Russia or Ukraine or Belarus." You can first try to connect yourself and your friend here in the US and after you succeed, you can try connecting internationally. Good luck!

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