Thursday, October 29, 2009

ATA in NYC!

[http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com]

As I write this, I am sitting in my room on the 21st floor of the New York Marriott Marquis. The hotel is located on Broadway in the heart of Times Square. My room is not on the Broadway side of the hotel, so I can't look out on Times Square from my window. However, I can see some of the theaters from my window. I'm planning on taking in a show or two while I'm here.

I'm in NY to attend the annual convention of the American Translators Association (ATA), which is also a celebration of the ATA's 50th anniversary. I love attending ATA conventions. For one thing, as I make my way through the mass of people during coffee breaks, I hear more languages than I can keep track of. Often, I have no idea what language is being spoken when I overhear a conversation. It must be kind of like going to a U.N. function. I love it. However, the best part of attending ATA conventions is the abundance of very practical workshop sessions they offer. The downside to that abundance is that you have to make hard choices. Typically there are 14-16 sessions running simultaneously at each time slot. For instance, the sessions start on Thursday and I am already faced with 54 different workshops I could attend just today. Multiply that by 3 (the convention runs through Saturday) and you can see how frustrating it is not to be able to be in two places at the same time. I am skipping the time slots devoted to plenary ATA business sessions so that I can get some other work done (like write this blog post), which leaves me the opportunity to attend 10 sessions over 3 days. (No evening sessions other than opening and closing receptions, which gives time for exploring, seeing shows and generally just getting out and about.) In the past, I usually have concentrated on the Spanish sessions (sessions are categorized by language and by topic). This year, I am focusing all 10 workshop sessions I plan to attend on translation pedagogy or on sessions that in one way or another relate to Southern Nazarene University's B.A. in Spanish-English Translation.

Last night at the opening reception I spoke with a current student and a recent graduate of Kent State's M.A. in translation program. It was interesting to hear a little about that program and listen to the students' responses to some of my questions. One of the insights I walked away with is that real-world internships are very important in translator education. At Southern Nazarene University, we have an internship built into the program. However, I also want to continue exploring ways to involve students in real world translation scenarios from the very beginning of their translation studies. I'm looking forward to the rest of the convention and to what I can get out of it that I can take back to my students.

On another subject, if you haven't read Erin's and Rhea's latest blog posts from Costa Rica, check them out at http://erin-fitz.blogspot.com and http://rheaincostarica.blogspot.com.

Finally, congratulations to two of our Spanish majors (both double majors in Spanish and another area) who are studying abroad next semester. Paul James is going to Costa Rica and Stephanie Di Pego is going to Russia. ¡Felicitaciones a los dos!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

¡Nicaragua!

[http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com/]

If you are not following Erin's, Destry's & Rhea's blogs from the Latin American Studies Program in Costa Rica, you are missing out on some tremendous experiences. I just read Rhea's post about her time in Nicaragua. Her post shows how study abroad experiences start changing your life long before you get back to the U.S. Read it at http://rheaincostarica.blogspot.com/.