Administrative Updates--2012 Summer Issue

MESSAGES FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR

Dear CLD Members: 

I hope this finds you well in the summer season.  Time flies like an arrow and here we are, greeting you with our 2012 Summer Newsletter.  Once again, I want to commend our newsletter team for their persistent, diligent and timely work. To pull off such a feat once is Olympian performance; to repeat that multiple times takes titanic tenacity.  I want to congratulate both our Editor and Layout Editor for their achievements.

Since summer is here, we are all looking forward to ATA's Annual Conference in October (after the Olympic Games of course).  This year’s conference will be held in San Diego, California from October 24 - 27.  We are expecting to see a big member turnout.  Thanks to the extraordinarily coordinated efforts of our Conference Participation and Presentation Workgroup, headed by Ms Liping Zhao, our members submitted an unusually large number of excellent presentation topics.  In fact, there were so many topics that ATA conference organizers had to decline or put on hold some submissions due to limited time and space. As a result, the ATA offered its Divisions the option of reducing their annual meeting times in exchange for an additional presentation spot. The CLD has chosen to take advantage of this option and, as a result, we will need to conduct our Division Annual Meeting in a fifteen-minute time frame. Thus, if any of you did not get your proposal accepted this time, please don't feel discouraged!  I urge you to share your ideas and experiences with us on other venues and forums.  We need to feel proud of our members for paying earnest attention now to ATA Conference Participation and Presentation.

If you are still mulling over the possibility of attending this year's ATA Conference, here is a good reason for you to go. We will be welcoming Professor Michael Berry from the University of California at Santa Barbara as the CLD Distinguished Speaker. Professor Berry received his Ph. D. in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University in 2004. His research interests include modern Chinese literature, Chinese cinema, cultural studies, and translation. He is the author of Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers (Columbia, 2005; Rye Field, 2007; Guangxi Normal University Press, 2008), A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film (Columbia, 2008) and Jia Zhangke’s Hometown Trilogy (British Film Institute and Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). He is also the translator of several novels, including The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (with Susan Chan Egan) (Columbia, 2008), To Live (Anchor, 2004), Nanjing 1937: A Love Story (Columbia, 2002, Anchor, 2004, Faber & Faber, 2004), and Wild Kids: Two Novels about Growing Up (Columbia, 2000). He will speak to us about Chinese to English literary translation and his personal approaches to the art.  I think his presentation will be highly interesting and informative.

One important item on the agenda for our Division’s Annual Meeting in San Diego will be the election of our new Administrator and Assistant Administrator.  In mid-April, the CLD Nomination Committee actively approached CLD members and tapped their interest in running for these posts.  In mid-May, they were very happy to have pinned down two interested and highly qualified candidates.  The slate of candidates was announced this June in a CLD broadcast.  I was very impressed with our Nomination Committee's sense of responsibility, punctuality and professionalism.  They went about their business seriously, enthusiastically and congenially.  They have guaranteed the continued efforts of the CLD Administration toward higher goals.  I would like to thank the Nomination Committee, Ms Hua Barbara Robison (Chair), Ms Xiaolei Kerr, and Mr. Edward Liu, one more time for their excellent work.

Our Chinese to English Certification Exam Workgroup is also making strides with their daunting and meticulous work.  Mr Di Wu, our Acting Division Assistant Administrator, attended the Language Chair Meeting in Alexandria in the second weekend of April.  He is happy to report that the 2012 version of the passage submission form is simplified.  That said, he continues leading our efforts to complete the required exam passages and hopes to get them approved by the ATA's Certification Program as early as possible. Thank you, Di and all the members of this group, for working quietly in the background.  We look forward to your continued success.

In early June, Ms Evelyn Yang Garland, one of our Leadership Council members, came back from attending a major Interpretation Contest in Beijing.  There, she took the opportunity to meet with members of the Translation Association of China.  Following this visit, Ms. Changqi Huang, Assistant to President of TAC and FIT Council Member wrote me to express TAC’s interest in establishing a translator database. 

After consulting with our Acting Division Assistant Administrator and other Leadership Council members, I responded to Ms Huang with a few questions for clarification.  While congratulating the TAC on their excellent initiative, I wished them success in moving ahead with this important project.  I made it clear that if it does not obligate our Division or TAC in any legal way, and that participation in the database will remain at the option of our individual members once the database is up and running. I also suggested that “a set of rules be stipulated expressly and in advance, so potential clients and our translators would know what they are getting into." 

It's such a privilege to work with CLD members who are self-motivated, independently responsible and cooperative.  I look forward to your continued productivity and contributions to our Division.

Bin Liu, ATA Chinese Language Division Administrator (2010-2012)

English to Chinese Translator

e-mail: acumen@acumentransmedia.com

CLD 2012 NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT

The Nominating Committee is happy to report that we successfully achieved our mission of nominating candidates for our division’s 2012 election:

Mr. Di Wu as candidate for CLD Administrator

Ms. Liping Zhao as candidate for CLD Assistant Administrator

Both candidate profiles have been submitted to ATA Headquarters and received a confirmation, broadcasted to the CLD membership on June 20, 2012.  This broadcast is reproduced in part below.

The Committee would like to thank Di and Liping for their willingness to lead the Division for the 2012-2014 term. 

The Committee also wishes to express its gratitude to Mr. Bin Liu, current CLD administrator, and Mr. Jamie Padula, ATA Chapter and Division Relations Manager, for their invaluable contributions and guidance.

CLD 2012 Nominating Committee

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

CANDIDATE FOR ADMINISTRATOR

Mr. Di Wu

My name is Di Wu. I was born and raised in Beijing, China and came to the US in 1986, when I was 15 years old. I worked very hard to overcome the language barrier in high school and won the prestigious Bausch and Lomb scholarship to attend the University of Rochester. After earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering, I went to work at Delphi Automotive as an engineer. In 2004, I started teaching Mandarin Chinese evening classes to interested Delphi employees through the company training program. In 2005 I started my freelance translation business. Next year I joined ATA and also become a member of the Midwest Association of Translators and Interpreters (MATI), a regional chapter of ATA serving the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. I moved to Washington, DC area in late 2010 to work as a Chinese linguist/staff consultant for ASET International Services.

Due to my engineering background, my forte is in technical translation but I have also translated large volumes of diverse material, from diplomas/certificates to patents to movie subtitles. I am also a certified trainer for “Bridging the Gap” medical interpreter training course. In addition, I have always been active in the translation community. In June 2008 I was elected the president of MATI. During my term, I worked with our board members and volunteers to organize two successful annual conferences in Chicago and Indianapolis, and held numerous educational events, ATA exams, and informal gatherings. After moving to the DC area, I have been actively involved with the National Capital Area Translators Association (NCATA) and served as the co-chair of the programming committee to organize monthly meet ups.

Thanks to the work of our previous administrators, the Chinese Language Division has come a long way. I believe I could apply the valuable experience I have gained from serving MATI and NCATA into the administrator work of CLD. I have attended the last four ATA conferences and met many wonderful colleagues from the CLD. For the past year, I have been leading the committee to implement the Chinese to English certification exam and have made steady progress. I look forward to learning from past CLD administrators as well as carrying on their work.

If I become elected as the administrator of the CLD, I would like to accomplish the following during my term.

- Work together with ATA to make the Chinese to English exam a reality.

- Increase communication and solicit more participation from our members.

- Establish a CLD website and use it as a forum to exchange ideas and experiences in our translation interpreting work.

- Learn from the best practices of other language divisions to serve our members better.

With my youthful enthusiasm and energy, as well as my previous experience with MATI and NCATA, I believe I have a lot to offer to the CLD. I look forward to work with you together and make us a better organization.

CANDIDATE FOR ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR

Ms. Liping Zhao

First of all, I’d like to thank my fellow ATA colleagues for nominating me as a candidate for the CLD Assistant Administrator position. I was born in Xi’an, a historic city in China and was raised in a linguistically rich environment. My father was a foreign language professor, fluent in English and Russian. He was also a prolific translator, frequented local newspapers with his literary pieces. My brother served as an interpreter for international political and business dignitaries in the 1990s. Jokingly speaking, the foreign language “gene” runs in my family.

My engagement with interpretation and translation started a decade ago when I studied English as my major at Xi’an Institute of Foreign Languages, China. I served as an interpreter and translator for various business and social institutions. In the late 1990s, I came to the US on a merit-based scholarship to continue my graduate study in English at The University of Arizona, where I devoted two additional years in the advanced study of the English language and comparative linguistics. I hold a BA in English, MA in English and a MBA. Besides interpretation/translation, I also had ten years of work experience in corporate accounting and finance, engaged in analytical and management roles. I now specialize in financial and legal interpreting. I am a seminar-level interpreter with the US Dept. of State. I currently serve on the CLD’s Leadership Council Committee and also serve as Chairman of the Board at Xilin Northwest Chinese School in the Chicago area.

If elected, I will work toward the following goals:

- Provide solid and reliable support to CLD Administrator; engage in CLD’s strategic planning for the next two years.

- Continue to reach out and build an interactive relationship with CLD members; understand members’ needs, challenges and seek creative solutions.

- Promote communication between CLD and other ATA functional areas; strengthen CLD’s role in the policy-making process.

ADDITIONAL CANDIDATES

Additional candidates may be added to the ballot. Additional candidates must be voting members of the Association.

Deadline for objections to the slate and/or receipt of nominations to add candidates to the slate is August 3 (45 days after publication of slate); each nomination must include a written acceptance letter and candidate statement from the candidate to be added, and sent (mail or fax) to:

Attn: Jamie Padula

225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590

Alexandria, Virginia 22314

Fax: +1-703-683-6122

For questions, please contact Jamie Padula, ATA Chapter and Division Relations Manager, by email to jamie@atanet.org

ELECTION PROCEDURE

If no further candidates are received, then this is an uncontested election and officers will be declared by acclamation at the Chinese Language Division's annual meeting during ATA's 53rd Annual Conference (October 24-27, 2012 in San Diego, California)