By Cristina Colella
This report was written in August 2018, at the end of the author's Modlingua summer internship.
Tasks I attempted and how they helped me
The internship program 2018 held by Modlingua was a chance to challenge myself, attempt new tasks and acquire new skills and competencies. It helped me push the boundaries and explore different aspects of the language industry.
We started with quality management in content writing. We wrote our professional profiles and career-goal essays and used them for this task: we had to check and review our profiles following the standards fixed by the Modlingua rubric. It was an interesting exercise in attention to detail, and it showed me how a careful analysis can bring even the smallest mistakes to light. Taking care of every single detail is essential to developing a professional attitude, because quality is the only way to stand out from competitors and become a priority for translation agencies.
We then talked about quality standards in translation and the parameters set by numerous countries worldwide, and compared them with the Modlingua rubric we had used to check our written content. The purpose was to determine the accuracy of each set of standards. It turned out that not all of them provide precise guidelines on how to correct mistakes; some do not even mention what should be considered an error, leaving the translator without concrete rules to follow during quality control. The Modlingua rubric described the types of errors to look for more precisely, establishing itself as a more accurate set of parameters. I found it very useful when managing errors in my own writing, and I started applying it to all my written work, from articles to e-mails. I became more conscious about the quality of my work and more careful with small details.
Transcription and subtitling
We also attempted another challenging task: transcription. After an interesting lecture with Mr. Julian Zapata, an expert in transcription and translation dictation, we tried transcription ourselves, choosing a video from the Modlingua YouTube channel and transcribing it into our native language. I did an English-to-Italian transcription on social media marketing. It took real effort because I had to translate while listening - the golden rule of transcription says that six minutes of work correspond to one minute of audio or video.
We then used our transcriptions for subtitling, translating the subtitles and synchronizing them with the original dialogue. This task taught me the importance of fast keystrokes and gave me the chance to practise subtitling skills I had previously developed with TED - Ideas Worth Spreading. Choosing a video on social media marketing also gave me useful tips on managing my professional profiles on Twitter and LinkedIn. Transcription and subtitling are a good example of how technology is influencing the language industry and how it can help translators instead of replacing them.
Social media marketing and guest lectures
Social media marketing became the focus of our next task. We defined the relationship between social media platforms and content writing and how these two elements support online marketing. A search-engine-optimized text can get your profile or website onto the first page of Google, which matters enormously for networking and promoting your services, because most users never reach the second page.
We had an interesting lecture with Dr. Veena Krishnamurthy about the problems of interpreting in the tourism sector, a task often confused with that of tour guides. In reality they are two completely different services requiring different skills and knowledge. Culture-specific items are a real challenge: knowing terms typical of a culture or geography can affect the interpreter's overall performance, so terminological and cultural research are both essential in preparation.
This lecture was followed by a surprising assignment: scriptwriting on remarkable personalities from the world of translation or linguistics. After a moment of perplexity, I started writing about Gideon Toury, whose works I have known since my first year of university. I presented Toury as an innovator whose theories gave new impulse to translation studies and practical guidelines for translators.
The last lecture was held by Dr. Clizia Polato, an Italian translator and interpreter who wrote a book called "Traduttore Imprenditore" (Translator Entrepreneur). As the title suggests, it deals not with textual or terminological issues but with equally complex ones: language professionals have to think of themselves as entrepreneurs. Being your own boss is the key to success, and that means knowing how to promote yourself, communicate with translation agencies, address direct clients, manage money and set rates. At some point in your career you may start delegating tasks, but at the beginning you have to be in charge of everything, bearing in mind that the path to entrepreneurship is slow and full of obstacles. Only an assertive attitude leads to success: do not surrender to obstacles, and always learn valuable lessons from your mistakes. That was the topic of my second scriptwriting assignment, on entrepreneurship, for which I wrote about Richard Branson, who started by selling records for a few bucks, founded a record label and established himself as one of the major businessmen of our time.
Volunteering, mentoring and my experience
The internship also offered interns a proactive role through volunteering: some tasks could be accepted on a voluntary basis. I took the chance to write two articles - one on social media platforms and one on how to bargain a better deal in the professional world - and a creative summary for a video on how to win new clients. This allowed me to acquire further knowledge for my professional development.
Overall, besides some voluntary translation experience to gain visibility, the internship gave me a deeper insight into the translation industry. I started getting my first transcription and proofreading tasks, and I hope they will open further possibilities in the future. To me, the internship worked like mentoring for newcomers: I learned things you do not normally find in books, increased my self-awareness and became conscious of my abilities. It is an experience I would recommend to other newcomers.
The online format
I was already accustomed to distance learning, having attended several webinars on translation and online marketing for language professionals, so I found it easy to attend lectures and comply with the required assignments. The online format gave me the chance to join an innovative program even though it was based in India - a great opportunity that brought me valuable knowledge of many aspects of this industry.
Conclusion
I understood the importance of including technology in my professional development and following its progress to stay in the market. Technology is the direction the future is taking in every professional field, so going beyond what is taught in translation courses is essential to building contacts and starting to work. In the future, I would like to gain more experience in social media marketing and further competencies in other fields that add value to my profession. I am not afraid of pushing the boundaries to learn something new every day, and this internship has been a very good start in that sense.
