Independent thinking – Why freelance?

 

[laptop with many sticky notes*]

Becoming a freelancer can be a leap of faith, act of desperation, natural direction, considered choice or, most probably, some combination of those. In practice, people begin their freelance careers for reasons involving positive choice, need or general dissatisfaction. Regardless of why they begin, long-term success as an entrepreneur requires clear emotional benefit from “doing on your own”.

Some people have a very clear picture of their future. Even if they are unaware of the reasons, they actively search for specific elements in their job choice and are willing to ignore all disadvantages of a life style. For example, many entrepreneurs want to make as much money as possible, as simple as that. They measure their success by their income, using that as a base for all decisions. In the past, many such people gravitated to sales but today startups also provide an ideal playing field for entrepreneurs driven by the need to be rich. Others are less concerned about their income, to a certain point, of course, but seek work where they will be their own boss. They simply do not tolerate bosses and choose to avoid the issue by being independent. For these people, freelancing provides an ideal framework.

Far more freelancers began their journey due to a lack of choice. The corona crisis only accelerated the trend of redundancy. Due to mechanization, computers and online communication, many jobs have changed in nature, not always to employee satisfaction, or disappeared completely. The “collateral damage” is countless workers, young and old, unemployed or underemployed, that need to find a way to earn an income. “Work at home” is often the only option, however alien that concept is to the person initially. Even those fully employed often find themselves struggling to make the end of the month and seek additional sources of income during their free time. In some cases, chronic health issues, such as stress-linked illnesses, make it clear that it will be impossible to continue the current lifestyle. As they say, necessity is the evil stepmother of invention.

Sometimes, a feeling of general dissatisfaction pushes people to seek alternative employment, part time or full time. It may that after 20 years, the job is no longer interesting. There are cases of people feeling that their talents and contributions are underappreciated. Many older workers feel that they are ready both professionally and emotionally to go out on their own as their current place of employment no longer offers them any challenge. Regardless of the cause of this malaise, this search for a better situation pushes workers to jump into the deep water and see what they can do.

Yet, as in most enterprises, many of those that attempt to freelance give up within a short period of time. However romantic freelancing may seem in terms of income, freedom and self-realization, it also involves long hours, uncomfortable tasks, uncertain income and direct criticism, justified and unjustified. The path to success is not clearly marked. Thus, entrepreneurship also includes errors, disappointments, failures and doubt. While some overcome those issues, many budding freelances do not have the nature or resources to do so and return to their employee status. There is no shame in that as not everybody can handle the uncertain lifestyle of a freelancer.

The key for success as an independent is having a strong basic instinct (to cite Silence of the Lambs). If a person is clear why they choose a certain life style, the attendant difficulties are much less meaningful. For example, if a person wants to have a “six- figure income”, the effort and sacrifice required to attain this goal is not a deterrent. Likewise, if a balanced life style is the goal, a reduction in income is a minor price to pay for a happier life. In my case, having the ability to say yes or no to a project gives me the freedom to work as hard as I want and can, a wonderful feeling after so many years in the golden cage of salaried teaching. It is not that I work less hours but I relish the fact that I am able to choose what, how and when I will work, within reason of course. Freelancing, like any life choice, is fundamentally choosing your priorities.

The reasons people choose to work for themselves vary and generally involve many factors. However, the key to long term freelance success, defined as satisfaction with one’s work, involve an awareness of key priorities and the price to be paid for attaining them. If a person wakes up in the morning looking forward to the coming challenges, the choice to go independent was truly correct thinking.

* Picture captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet.

Picture credit

Being there – the importance of writing it as they read it

 

[Karmiel storefront*]

One of most important pieces of advice I received when I opened my business as a translator, which I regret I was slow to take, was the need to be where my customers are. In simple terms, it is impossible to attain customers if they don’t know you exist. This obvious fact is applicable to both freelancers and retailers for both services and goods. Potential customers need to be able to gather information about a business, taking into account, especially today, a short attention time. In the current market, this communication occurs far less through physical presence and speaking but instead mainly in online forums in written language.

It is specifically that mode of communication that poses a hidden challenge to businesses. It is true that there over one billion people that speak English as a first or second language. However, by contrast, only around 40% of those write and read English as a first language, with most of those concentrated in a few countries. This discrepancy implies that while English may be the lingua franca of international speech, the reality is far different when it comes to written texts for the general public. It is important to keep in mind that first language reading skills significantly reduce the effort required to read, scan, decipher and identify text. By contrast, for the vast majority, reading is second language demands far more concentration with much less success, especially in quickly navigating websites. Given the people prefer to work less hard, readers will almost always prefer text in their native language unless the translation is of noticeably poor quality. Thus, when it comes creating a successful presence, having text written in the local language, not English, is vital.

One domain of ever-increasing importance is websites. As commerce becomes more global and business reach out to customers worldwide, it is vital to make sure that at minimum the vital sections of an informational or sales website  are available in the language of the intended audience. Businesses strive to streamline purchase processes to reduce the number of uncompleted sales. Since reading a foreign language significantly lower comprehension speed, having localized sites increases sales and creates a competitive advantage over monolingual sites. While customer use of Google Translate can help bridge this gap, it tends to add additional time and often creates a lack of clarity and, even worse, expensive misunderstandings.

In many countries, store signs should reflect the linguistic variety of the potential customers. For example, in the picture at the head of the post, the seamstress describes her services in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and English, ensuring that all the by passers can quickly identify her services and make a note of them for immediate or future use. Where tourists represent an important part of the customer base, it is vital to label items in several languages, especially when the local alphabet is not Latin based. Likewise, restaurants in non-English speaking countries should cater to potential foreign diners by having the menu translated into at least one relevant foreign language. This convenience, maybe even respect, provide that business with a competitive advantage.

On a business-to-business level, as I learned from an excellent webinar by Miriam Burley, LinkedIn allows and facilitates multilingual profiles. With a click of a button, it is possible to add a profile in several other languages (not Hebrew, unfortunately). Moreover, it is possible to only have specific sections in the additional languages, with the other sections imported from the primary language. Thus, the account holder can manage the translation process gradually and incrementally. Clearly, non-native English readers can and will find it much easier and faster to scan a profile in their native language and with far greater accuracy. Utilizing this feature can increase the effectiveness of LinkedIn activity.

Of course, there is a proviso to the expansion to other languages. As my late father used to say, anything worth doing is worth doing well. While easily available and time efficient, Google Translate and similar applications are not the correct tools for producing business text of any kind. The resulting inaccuracy and inappropriateness far outweigh their advantages of speed and convenience. Natives are almost always protective, read judgmental, of their mother tongue. They find it absurd and disrespectful for a business to publish text with linguistic and stylistic errors. This negligence somehow stains the reputation of a business. How many times have you laughed at poorly translated menus? Thus, it is highly recommended to have the foreign text written by an educated native or translated by a professional translator and then checked by a native speaker. While this process may add expense, the failure to do so may render a business infamous, not famous.

So, if the goal is to reach potential customers where they are present, which is quite often the Internet today, it is important to remember that most communication is through text today. As a result, their ease in speaking English has no relevance to their ability to efficiently read English. To overcome this difficulty, text in their native tongue is much more effective and adds to the brand image. Write it as they read it.

* Picture captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet.

Even God rested – freelancers and vacation days

 

[sternbergia*]

I begin with a confession. I wrote this post in a “tzimmer” (a BNB room) in Katzrin, a small town in the Golan Heights. In other words, I was on vacation. While that remark may sound trite if you receive a salary, it may cause many freelancers to start to ask questions. How can he afford it? Isn’t he worried about losing work or, even worse, losing customers? My answer to those concerns is that vacation days are not only possible but also financially beneficial in the long term. I can say that I feel greatly recharged and refocused upon my return.

To be clear, everybody gets holidays, whether they schedule them or not. The timing and lengths of these religious and civil events depend on the culture and religion. For example, in Israel, Jews have nine days of holidays and their eves within three weeks in September and/or October, not including some 6 days of optional off days and some minor fasts. Likewise, people living in Christian countries basically close all non-essential businesses from mid-December to the first days of January. Of course, these times may be called holy days but they are not holidays for many people, especially those involved in preparing meals and hosting guests. Thus, while holidays may not involve professional work, they are generally far from vacations regardless of the positive elements.

Therefore, when freelancers wish to have a real vacation, they must actively seize it. However, as compared to the salary position holders, such a decision would seem to pose risks in terms of income and customers. Not only do they have to account for the expenses involved in the vacation itself, they have to account for the income they will not earn during that period. Granted, the latter cost is potential to one degree or another. However, clearly the lack of cash flow will be felt in the near future. More seriously, being on vacation means, ideally, not working and thus being unavailable to your customers. There is a natural fear that the customers will find someone else “in the meantime”. As they say in Hebrew, there is nothing more permanent than the temporary.

While these concerns are legitimate, they are generally less serious in reality. In terms of the costs of vacation, freelancers have full control of many aspects, including the length of time and actual cost. For example, one of the great advantages of being one’s own boss is the ability to pick vacation dates and choose  non-peak times, assuming that one does not have school-age children to take into account. More importantly, the vast majority of customers actually understand that service providers are entitled to go on vacation. If they appreciated the quality and reliability of service provider before, they will return to the same service provider afterwards. Freelancers should inform important customers of the coming vacation in advance and may suggest an available colleague to cover any urgent situations. In any case, being on vacation is not among the main reasons for losing customers.

Regarding lost income, vacations actually increase income over the medium and long term. One of the most subtle effects of burnout is reduced productivity. As freelancers become emotionally tired, they tend to have less energy, slow down and exhibit less patience. Ideally, a true day off or weekend at home restores some of that energy but unfortunately there are always tasks to be done at home. As a result, home rest is of limited value (unless you keep the Sabbath, of course). By contrast, getting away, even for one night, involves leaving all home and work duties behind. Tourists generally focus on the immediate experience, e.g. the amazing flowers we enjoyed as seen in this post, forgetting their obligations and problems for the moment. This break from the routine refreshes the spirit, recharging the batteries for the challenges to be faced after returning home. Consequently, vacations can increase income.

Thus, I would strongly advise freelancers, both new and established, to take periodical vacations without fear of losing money and customers. Whatever short-term cost is involved, they provide the energy required to grow and sustain a business. By the way, after writing this post, I happily returned to my crossword puzzles without a care in the world knowing that I would return to work in a few days empowered to take on the world, or at least part of it. As it is implied in Genesis, everybody, which includes freelancers, deserves a vacation.

[Feinbrun's Autumn Crocus]

* 

Shoe-sing names – a foot-long lexicon

 

[two foot soles*]

Many years ago, I translated a lease agreement between French and Israeli opera companies involving the performance of a certain opera in Tel Aviv. The contract part was quite standard but the appendix at the end was a killer: a list of the clothing, some of it typical of the 17-18th century, to be included in the lease, including a list of shoes, specifying their style type. That was my introduction to the complexity of shoe names. For those that may have thought that, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, a shoe is a shoe is a shoe, the reality is far more complex. from minimalist to maximalist, shoes take on many different forms, use many different materials, serve many different purposes, have many different origins and thus have many different names.

Sandals

[flip-flops on beach]

are the simplest and most ancient of all footwear, dating back at least to Persian times and existing in one form or another in all cultures. Originally made of wood (sandal wood), often constructing from leather, even rope and more currently from plastic, sandals cover the sole of the foot and contain enough over-foot blinding to keep the sole attached. Country-specific versions include opanci and opinga (Balkans), huarche (ancient Mexico), zori (Japan) and bast shoes (Finland). Beachgoers can put on thongs, bangers, flip-flops and jandals, depending on where you are from. All these shoes protect your sole.

[slippers]

For those that also worry about their toes, the major option is a slipper, which is open-healed in order to allow you to “slip in” to it easier. My wife enjoys hers fur-filled in the winter, which keeps her toes nice and warm. Local versions include Peranakan beaded slippers (Malaysia), galesh and kiveh (Iran) and Cantabrian albarkas (northern Spain), to name a few. Clogs and sabots are made of wood and are solid if noisy. These shoes are home comfort and convenient.

[pair of canvas shoes]

There are many varieties of light full shoes. Espadrilles, made of rope, originated in the Pyrenees but now can be found everywhere. Jelly shoes are plastic, far more modern obviously. Likewise, people can purchase moccasins worldwide. Boat shoes, made from canvas or leather, are also prevalent. Some more local versions are Peshawri chappal (Himalayas) and tiger shoes (China). Sneakers (or trainers in the UK) are omnipresent and received their name because they allowed to children to sneak, i.e., make no noise, as compared to leather shoes. These are perfect for warm weather.

[pair of hiking boots]

For reasons of length, ignorance and discretion, I will slip the seeming endless list of types of standard shoes and boots for men and women. The nomenclature is simply far too long and dynamic, almost to the level of the pain they may cause us when we wear them. Instead, it is more interesting to consider the number of vocation-specific shoes. For example, boating shoes have features that allow them to grip and repel water. Steel tip and pointe shoes have reinforced tips, albeit for different reasons. Rock climbing shoes remove all reinforcement and feature sticky soles. Jazz shoes are lighter but have a small heal in order to facilitate dance. Sea boots are waterproof, a very useful property at sea, while snow boots have a similar feature but more appropriate for walking. Hiking boots are strong all over and protect the foot from the punishment of rocks and long days on one's feet. To get exotic, Chinese women with bound feet wore lotus shoes while, in more modern times, diabetic shoes can help with food circulation. On the field, players can wear football-style or soccer-style shoes, depending on the length of the cleats with cross country and tennis players each having their own forms. Running shoes are for runners, obviously, with extra reinforcement in the appropriate areas. Today, every activity has its shoe.

As I discovered then, the sheer variety of shoe types is enough to drive any person crazy, aside possibly from late Imelda Marcos. If the significance of an object to society can be measured in the number of words to describe it, apparently shoes are of great importance in most societies. Walking into a shoe store is confusing not only due to the rainbow of colors and shapes but also for the plethora of styles. The lexicon of shoes styles is far longer than a foot. I only wish that the number of comfortable options was as long. People can be quite shoe-sy.

* Picture captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet.

Picture credits - Pixabay

Freelancer, manage yourself – Mental health tidbits from International Translator Day (ITD)

 

[tree in shape of brain*]

The end of September is the birthday of Saint Jerome, the patron saint of translators, and is marked by several conferences. I had the pleasure of participating actively and passively in two of them, the virtual ITD conference hosted by proz.com and the hybrid KTLC conference in Warsaw. Each featured several full days of lectures on various topics related to translation, far too much to summarize in an article. However, with the growing awareness of mental health and the emotional challenges faced by many freelancers, I wish to share some highly relevant points raised by some of the lecturers in regards to the keeping an even keel.

During the proz.com conference, Adrian Probst  addressed an issue faced by all freelancers, the fear of not having work. He emphasized that all businesses, including freelancers, experience slow periods to one degree or another. In other words, they are not a sign of failure but an unavoidable aspect of owning a business and thus to be expected and planned for, similar to theft in retail stores if you will. He suggested focusing thoughts not on general feelings of incompetence and failure but specific steps to take to reduce their frequency and scope, including marketing and education.

Likewise, Bettina Rohricht in the same conference discussed work flow ebbs and flow. She also presented ideas to deal with low work flow but added that overdemand and overwork are as stressful as underemployment. She emphasized the importance of establishing limits on workloads and times and explained that it is preferable to refuse a project due to lack of time over poorly executing it. Furthermore, the chance of losing a customer under that circumstance is very low in practice. I fully concur with her advice.

My lecture at the ITD conference focused on the issue of self-perception of success. My main point was societal comparative measures of success, including income and title, are not relevant to most translators, not to mention most freelancers, as the circumstances of their lives may not allow total commitment to a single job. Instead, freelancers should focus on their current achievements relative to their current reality and take steps to build a better future. The recognition of actual achievement and practical steps for future achievement create a positive vector both physically and emotionally.

Dominika Olszewska at the KTLC Conference discussed the power of monotasking. She emphasized that focusing on more than one matter at once, however minimally, only reduces concentration and productivity. (I have to confess that I was multitasking at the time and missed some of what she said, proof by example.) Among her practical suggestions were limiting the number of open tabs on the task bar in order to avoid checking social media and other distractions. She also suggested non-digital breaks, i.e., the best way to take a break from the computer is to get away from it.

Finally, Stefan Paloka gave a short testimonial to the power of will in creating a career. He is a blind translator that ignored all stereotypes and prejudices and has built a successful career. By applying technology and committing to a goal, it is possible for anybody with a disability to overcome challenges.

In a certain sense, the message of all these presentations was that freelancer achievement, however defined, involves not only technical skill but also the emotional intelligence and skills to deal with difficult situations, temporary and permanent. This process is as dynamic and active as coping with technological changes and maybe more important. It is possible, at least in the short term, to function as a technological dinosaur but impossible when emotionally broken.

I apologize for not mentioning all the fascinating lectures I attended or failed to attend. I suggest perusing the programs, contacting the relevant organizers and watching the tape of any relevant lecture. After all, learning is a yearlong (and lifelong) experience. I would strongly suggest reserving the last two days of September next year to fully benefit from the fruit of St. Jerome.

* Picture captions allow the blind to full access the Internet.

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Highly civil law – the other approach to contract law

 

[Man looking through a telescope*]'

Sometimes a person visits another family or country and discovers that an alternative way of doing something actually has many advantages. That was my feeling after an amazing two-hour webinar by Thomas West on Russian legal translation organized by the American Translators Association. I knew that the civil law system had different procedural elements as compared to the common law system However, his lecture opened my eyes to an entirely different manner of approaching contracts, which I have to admit has much virtue. The lecture also suggested ways for lawyers and translators to bridge between these two worlds to the benefit of their clients.

Before discussing contract elements, it is important to understand the differing bases of common law and civil law. Common law began in England and spread to its colonies and territories, including the United States. Under this system, while the legislature may set broad guidelines on policy on a given legal matter, the courts through their decisions define the specific elements. In the United States, due to its federal structure, each of the fifty separate states could theoretically have a slightly different interpretation, limited in practice by decisions of the US Supreme Court and rules of the Universal Commercial Code in certain matters. In practice, legal interpretation does vary significantly in the United States, requiring specialized knowledge by lawyers of practices in specific jurisdictions. Furthermore, under common law, an enforceable contract requires an exchange of consideration, i.e., each side actually has to promise to give the other party something of value. Accordingly, the declaration that one person will give a gift to another person has no legal standing as the receiving party has promised nothing in return. By contrast, the civil system, which is the accepted system throughout Europe, including Russia, involves a set of specific rules written by the government in explicit codes, most famously “the Napoleonic code”. Under this system, judges apply the written rule to the cases, generally acting as the investigator in order to match the facts to the rule. The civil law system is far more rigid and standardized.

Mr. West discussed contract law in Russia but mentioned similar frameworks in Europe, including France. He pointed out that the Russian civil code defines the conditions of 26 specific contracts, including leases, cargo and insurance, as well as determines the general conditions of all contracts. These terms may either be negotiable, i.e., the parties can agree otherwise, or mandatory, i.e., elements that cannot be waived. Curiously enough, civil law does recognize some gift contracts even when the other party does not provide consideration, some kind of compensating return. Thus, a civil law contract must only include those elements that are specific to the matter with the assumption that applicable civil code applies to all other matters. It is clear that European contracts can be much shorter and still provide sufficient coverage.

For attorneys and clients, this codex system radically simplifies life. Any individual seeking specific information about a term can consult the section on the specific type of contract in the codex, which generally has an official translation to the major European languages, and then compare it to the actual terms. For example, a contract that has no ending date of effectiveness is considered unlimited. It is also possible to write a contract that only partially relates to an existing form or even not at all. By contrast, an American plaintiff or defendant must consult a local attorney to ascertain how the relevant court will interpret a given term, who may not be able to provide an absolute answer. Flexibility has its price

For translators, this difference in approach creates terminology issues. For American translators, it may be possible to use terminology from Louisiana, which has some civil law elements, but Mr. West strongly advised avoiding this solution as most attorneys, not to mention their clients, are completely unfamiliar with this terminology. He suggested “nominate”, “innominate” and ’mixed” for contracts to distinguish those contracts specified in the code from those that are not. For contracts without consideration, he suggested ‘enforceable without valuable consideration”, which is clear, albeit a bit wordy. In any case, in order be thorough, legal translator may also need to consult the relevant codes for clarification.

The webinar also discussed language choice issues specific to Russian, which I found very illuminating in both confirming some of my previous terminology choices and correcting others. Beyond the technical matters, Mr. West’s webinar removed my culturally myopic disdain of civil law systems and allowed me to see the beauty of another approach. I am grateful not only for the knowledge I received but also for the perspective he provided. There is nothing like having your world expanded.

* Picture captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet.

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Thing One, Thing Two, Thing No – a mild diatribe about the use of thing in writing

 

["Nothing"*]

I teach English writing to first-year engineering students in Israel. As their written communication skills in their own language are limited, partly as a result of the adopted European policy to completely separating humanities from sciences as if science people do not need to write, I assume no prior knowledge of writing and teach the basic rules of sentence writing and paragraph organization as well as a few tips on vocabulary. Among them, I tell them that I will not accept the use of the word “thing” and even deduct points for it. This insistence may sound extreme at first glance but one major distinction between speaking and writing is that in the latter the writer has the privilege and duty to carefully consider each word and choose precise terms, which almost always exist in English. My approach is similar to “thing”’s cousins, something and nothing but these words may be appropriate in certain cases.

The justification for being so particular in assessing writing skill is that the process of writing involves not only the initial expression of the thought but also the further refining of its form. As the expression says, there is no good writing, only good rewriting.Readers do not want to read a first draft and naturally expect a carefully phrased text. While true for all languages, English requires extra polishing due to the plethora of language roots that have been integrated, often rather violently, into the language. From Gaelic to Germanic to French Latin and ancient Greek, English is the Frankenstein of world languages, rather imposing but a bit ugly, to the ear at least, as compared to more homogenous languages such as French, Italian, Hebrew and Russian, to name a few. Thus, to produce diamond of a text in English requires effort (and why I appreciate the prose of George Orwell). Furthermore, aside from emotions, English has a word for almost every existing object, especially in science, making it possible to use the precise term. Given the multitude of roots, many of the vocabulary options are far from high-falutin, with the average 11^th grade able to understand if not necessarily spell them. Thus, it is appropriate to demand that writers of English, both native and non-native, use an exact term.

The word thing implies around 325,000 terms as well an additional 375,000 technical terms, according to Dr. Google. As an example, the phrase “things” can be replaced, as relevant, by reasons, excuses, factors, elements, data, objects, feelings, results, causes, effects, events, products and facts, to name just a very few that most English users would recognize and be able to use. As for specific technical terms, people specializing in a specific subject area need to know the exact word in order to express their ideas accurately. In some cases, this precision is a matter of life and death or at least large sums of money. Given the privilege of being able to refine a text before showing to the audience, as compared to spoken language, it is brazenly lazy to write thing unless a person is writing for small children.

As for something and nothing, the same statement is true with some exceptions. A given company may have something special about it but the investor would like to know whether it is the marketing strategy or actual product. There may be nothing you can do about a situation when speaking but somehow having no solutions sounds much more impressive in writing. Granted, if the attribute is so ethereal that a person cannot identify its attributes, something may be appropriate as James Taylor sings: “Something in the way she moves”. Of course, mathematical zero is nothing as Billy Preston noted in “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing”. Sometimes there simply is no precise word to describe all the items as in “These are a few of my favorite things” of Sound of Music fame. So, I never say never and occasionally accept these things.

Fairly or unfairly, people heavily judge writers of English by their choice of vocabulary. Clearly, non-native writers have a lower bar in term of vocabulary choice but that allowance does not waive the requirement to use precise, albeit simple, words when preparing a written text. Clearly, things lead to chaos as Dr. Seuss so well described in this book. However, even he added a number to the shirt of his things to specify them. Proficient writers should have no things.

 

* Picture captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet.

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