International Translation Day 2025

Linguists around the world celebrated International Translation Day last week on September 30th. It’s wonderful to celebrate all the talented people, both front and center and behind the scenes, who help the world to communicate. My very respected colleague (who now resides in Paris—jealous!) wrote a timely article about human translation in the age ofContinue reading “International Translation Day 2025”

Of Reading Lists and The Hunger Games

Are you finishing a summer (or winter, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) reading list right now? If you’re anything like me, you still have a stack of books—or a list in Audible or your local library app—yet to read! I’ve had time to enjoy several titles, though, and I’m deep into the novel HappyContinue reading “Of Reading Lists and The Hunger Games”

The State of Language Access in the U.S.

Happy April to everyone near and far! 🌸 As many folks in the U.S. are aware, last month our president filed “Executive Order 14224” declaring English to be the official language of this country. This revoked “Executive Order 13166” (called “Improving Access to Services for Persons With Limited English Proficiency”), which was issued by formerContinue reading “The State of Language Access in the U.S.”

English/Spanish Land Conservation Terms

About two years ago, I shared a list of important Spanish and English words related to wildfire safety. After working on several projects about wildfire prevention and forest health, I developed several go-to vocabulary lists for myself. (In fancy translator lingo, we call this “terminology management:” basically, long lists of words we don’t want toContinue reading “English/Spanish Land Conservation Terms”

Effective Communication During Emergencies

This week, I attended a webinar hosted by the American Translators Association called “Best Practices in Emergency Response Language Services.” In the wake of the Los Angeles fires, this matter is top of mind, and people are discussing ways to improve communication by reflecting on what works and what doesn’t. Eight professionals working emergency responseContinue reading “Effective Communication During Emergencies”

Keep it Simple: The rise of “plain language”

Have you ever gone cross-eyed reading your insurance documents? How about a legal topic that should seem straightforward but is filled with words and acronyms you don’t understand? The plain language movement aims to help people to actually understand what they are reading, with a new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard called “Plain language. PartContinue reading “Keep it Simple: The rise of “plain language””