September 12, 2024
I haven’t written an update in a long time, maybe in about a year.
The last 12 months have been difficult. My husband’s health declined exponentially in the last quarter of 2023, and he passed away in late January of 2024. I have dealt with a lot of brain fog, but I am coming back to speed.
Travel:
- It was a pleasure to attend the New England Translators Association conference in May. I enjoyed connecting with colleagues as I gave a presentation.
- In July, our family went to Yellowstone for almost a week. It was great to be there with the kids and grandkids!
- In September – October I will spend almost a month visiting family and friends in Argentina.
- In late October I will be at the American Translators Association conference in Portland, OR.
- In late November, I will be in Guadalajara for the Congreso San Jerónimo.
I hope to connect with some of my colleagues and friends there!
This year I have been thinking a lot about the influence of AI in our field, particularly in interpreting. Some tools are helpful, as we do our work, but on the other hand I am concerned about the adoption of what I am calling Machine Interpreting: the application of AI specifically to interpreting without human intervention. Some of us wrote a paper regarding our concerns. Please let me know your thoughts! I am thankful to Christina Green and Bridget Hylak for their work as coauthors of this paper.
I have set up the teaching schedule for this academic year. I will focus on two courses:
Translation: Medical and educational topics 2024, from November 6 to December 11, 2024. This is a five-session course. Last year it went well, so I am including it in my annual cycle of trainings.
Advanced English/Spanish Translation 2025, from January 22 to March 21, 2025. This is a ten-session course and will cover translation from English to Spanish and Spanish to English.
Teaching these long courses has helped my colleagues reach milestones in their careers. Some have passed certification exams, others have decided to study translation at the graduate level, and many have moved into leadership in the field.
I look forward to serving my colleagues this coming year.
Helen Eby
