By Jessie Liu • Source: Yifeng 2019 Winter Issue
I first became aware of the existence of the American Translators Association in late August 2018 when I met Pency Tsai (蔡晓萍), the Chinese Language Division Administrator, in New York. Although I didn’t know much about the ATA, when Pency told me about its 59th annual conference to be held in New Orleans that coming October, I made up my mind immediately to go because I had been looking for an excuse to get away from my children (I love them dearly but need some space from them occasionally to keep my sanity).
Conference registration fees and membership dues brought the cost of the trip to $1,000—and I hadn’t even left home! I remember saying to myself that this conference had better be darn good. A round-trip plane ticket between Los Angeles and New Orleans and a hotel for four nights multiplied the cost threefold, along with my expectations of the conference. I remember telling myself then that something really unbelievably amazing needs to happen during this trip because on this budget I could’ve done three escape-from-my-children trips.
I arrived at the conference Welcome Celebration with a ton of expectations, a good amount of anxiety, and a hint of nervousness. Although I walked in with a “buddy” and another “newbie” like me, I knew I couldn’t rely wholly on them and that I needed to find my own playground. Ah-ha, “Chinese Language Division!”—the big bold letters at the corner table smiled down at me. Off I went toward it, and that sign marked the beginning of a very fruitful and inspiring journey!
I developed friendships with many like-minded professionals and fellow linguists—a reward that no price can ever buy—and that is my biggest prize! The coming together of these brilliant minds of their language specialties resulted in endless discussion of rich and inspiring ideas and topics. I certainly appreciated the platform that the ATA annual conference created for such a great meeting of minds. I also must mention the Chinese Language Division’s distinguished speaker: Mr. Zhongliang Chen, chief of the Chinese translation service documentation division at the United Nations department for general assembly and conference management, accepted an invitation to be a distinguished speaker at the conference!
Given the caliber of Mr. Chen and past distinguished speakers, it would probably not be too far-fetched to imagine the celebrity Chinese government interpreter Ms. Lu Zhang(张璐) at some future ATA conference as a CLD distinguished speaker.
I feel that the ATA annual conference did an outstanding job in bringing so many language professionals together. The conference is a great place to make connections, network, or simply find new
friends who can laugh at your jokes that a non-linguist would never be able to appreciate. I believe that interpreters or translators achieve the ultimate success when their presence, whether in voice or on paper, is not felt by their audience or readers.
We truly are heroic in silence, and it’s important that we be reminded of and praised for the nobility of the work we do—at least by each other—because it is hard for others to understand this lonely but intellectually challenging profession. I left the conference with my many expectations well-met, and I cannot wait to see everyone again in Palm Springs, California, in 2019!
Jessie is a California court certified Mandarin interpreter. She is currently staff interpreter at California Superior Court, San Bernardino County, and also interprets in federal and immigration court. She also loves the Spanish language and is excited to be learning it in preparation to add it to her repertoire of working languages.
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