“la parole exportée”

When my children bought my dog for me in 2002, that year’s letter for pets’ names was the letter T. I went to the vet’s when the puppy was born and picked up a leaflet of suggestions. I settled for Taïga because I wanted a short name, one with Russian connections, and suitable for a white dog.

I found that a few English-sounding names were suggested, and they made me wonder: who on Earth would want to call their dog Tablespoon or Takeout, is beyond my understanding. Only people with absolutely no knowledge of English would use those names, that’s probably why they are suggested. I wonder what kind of funky French names some poor pets have been given in non-French speaking countries?

The name Taïga itself does raise a few eyebrows, so I explain… (but I’ve given up explaining that ‘No, she’s not a poodle, she’s a Bichon Frisé,’ a very different breed).

The first time Taïga set a paw on English soil, the Customs Officer took one amused look at her and said: “Hello Curly, how’s life?” So now Taïga has an English name too. When we are in England and people ask her name, she’s “Curly,” it’s easy and self-explanatory. Sometimes you have to be practical.

She’s got another name too. As I was standing in a queue at the local garden center on December 23 one year, a young guy joked to his girlfriend: ‘Regarde, un chien de Noël (Look, a Christmas dog)!’ I turned round and thanked him for being a poet.

For all intents and purposes, I don’t mind people calling her other names, because she knows only one, the one I gave her. She’s my dog and to her, all that matters is that I’m the leader of the pack!

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On Monday, I have an appointment to lunch with the associate who keeps my interpreting schedule. She is one of the team of three who run this rather specific business, but I am equally in touch with the other two, one of whom kept my schedule for a few years.

We call them a “secretariat” but it only dawned on me recently that they are really our Virtual Assistants, but only for interpreting, and only for calendar planning (no billing, etc.), and we pay them quarterly fees for it.

photo credit: Miss Gong & The Flickers

Why do we have this specialized system in place? As interpreters cannot be there physically at all times to pick up their home phone to take offers, a specialized service was developed around the 70s. Remember that there were no cell phones at the time, and only a handful had answering machines to enable them to pick up messages. Add to this the fact that some meetings took place in far away places, and someone other than your kids’ babysitter had to take business calls.

The system is not automatic as it would be if you were automatically transferring all your phone calls to them. It’s technically possible of course, but I don’t think that they would operate along those lines, since their nature is more of a contact point for clients and prospects who call to check with them if you are free on a particular date, or to ask who else is free, or to simply look for interpreters.

It sounds easy enough seen from a distance, but their team has very busy times, most notably ‘in season’, when conferences and meetings seem to blossom in Paris, the highest point being UNESCO’s General Assembly. They have a few hundreds of interpreters on their lists, for all language combinations, and that is enough to keep them very busy.

All communication is done by phone, or by e-mail. They have to know exactly when you are available to work, the days for which you have a contract, or simply an “option”, the days when you want to be off the grid (you don’t have to specify a reason), the clients whose offers they can accept immediately on your behalf, those whose offers they need to check with you first…

They have tens of thousands of calls every year, and it’s good, from time to time, to simply touch base and meet over a coffee or a meal, to discuss developments and get back to a more ‘human’ level of communication.

photo credit: stu_spivack

I went to listen to a conference on open formats today. It was delivered at my local university (see announcement here). This was not for work, I was just listening and taking notes for my own benefit. There wasn’t much that I didn’t know already, but simply listening to experts in your own language, and not having to translate at the same time is a useful reinforcement. It’s also how I see lifelong education. It works well for me. I don’t attend translation conferences anymore, but I follow a number of subjects closely. For translators in general, and conference interpreters more specifically, it is definitely a must.

photo credit: PauLoX.net

Back to the conference. I came away with a pretty grim outlook for consumers in general, and a few reinforcements.

Buy today (at a high price!) the latest proprietary technology and expect to see it superseded fairly soon, and buy a new one. We know it, yet advertising is there to make us forget about it somehow, and buy again. Or, thinking of my own equipment, I bought a new computer last year, and I know that I’ll have to change it again next year.

For professionals, there is the added problem of the continued use and storage of data. Backups are indispensable. If only for tax purposes, I print out every bill or purchase order that comes via e-mail or downloaded from a website. Like those telephone bills that my operator insists that I download from their servers, as part of being kind, oh so kind, to the environment. I can’t tell for sure. Anyway I can’t afford to have my computer die on me and lose those bills. And how encouraging is it to hear that paper is probably still the most reliable backup medium for extreme security in some cases?

Worse still, I heard that the use of Skype is formally banned from French universities and research laboratories, for security reasons. Whether universities are right or wrong in implementing this policy is not for me to decide. But this fact immediately brought to mind some research I did about who was providing translation services over Skype. When some organizations are pointing accusing fingers at freelance or contract translators for being a confidentiality hazard (vs. translation agencies in some cases, or vs. employee interpreters in other, how can these translators afford to offer that kind of service with any degree of peace of mind?

Skype is very useful and I use it all the time. But I wouldn’t dream of using it to provide any kind of paid service. There is too much at stake in our relationship with our clients. This much got reinforced today.

I have one client who qualifies for ‘Best Client,’ for these qualities:

1. planning ahead: They call as soon as they decide to hold a meeting, in order to make sure that their preferred interpreter will be free on that date. They called me yesterday for an end-of-May meeting. Purchase order is sent by return of e-mail.
2. planning professionally: They know exactly what interpreters need in order to perform, and they make plans accordingly. For preparation, they provide a full set of documents before the meeting. If equipment is needed, they retain one of the best equipment suppliers in Paris, best for hardware, and best for quality of service. The supplier they use hasn’t been recommended by me, yet I have used his services on many occasions. He has been in this market for many years, and he is very reliable.
3. looking for best value, not lowest cost: It is important for them to make sure that their participants feel at ease with the speaker, either listening to him or her directly, without interpretation, or with interpretation, and asking questions. So although they won’t splash on interpreting, they do not wrangle over money either. Because the negotiations are not a never-ending struggle, the rest of the assignment is very fluid.
4. understanding that human relations count, and suppliers have to eat: They send the check on the exact day when they receive the invoice, even though I allow for a 30-day period. I cannot stress enough that feeling responsible for your suppliers, whether you are a big company, or a small business, is part of your duty as a buyer. I have another client that has a self-imposed commitment to pay within 30 days. The money is always in my account after 29 days. That means less hassle, no frustrated phone calls, and better business relationships.
5. shall I add that their PA is wonderful to work with: efficient, trustworthy, with a good sense of humor? Yet her manager is always very busy. That could be the surest sign that she is happy working for them.

And no, this is not a myth, that client does exist. I’m happy to work for them, and I told them so yesterday. It’s so easy to take their money as a due and never say Thank you in exchange. These clients are not easy to find, but they are greatly appreciated. Can you think of one such client (or several, that’s even better), that you would like to show your appreciation to?

photo credit: mlinksva