The ATA Chronicle - November/December 2017 - 18

YOU'RE NOT FLUENT YET! SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT continued
World Commission on Environment and
Development, 1987), www.un-documents.net/
our-common-future.pdf.

aspects in another country. For example,
the concept of écocitoyenneté in French
has no equivalent in English. Reflecting
the French value of being a good national
citizen, this would most likely translate
to "environmentally conscious world
citizens" in English. Keeping these
cultural differences and values in mind is
important to have a greater impact on the
target audience.

2

Aldo Leopold Foundation,
www.aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold.

3

Kiser, Barbara, "Circular Economy:
Getting the Circulation Going,"
Nature (March 2016), 443-444,
http://bit.ly/Kiser-circular.

4

Okafor, Monica, and Paulinus Noah.
"The Role of Local Languages in
Sustainable Community Development
Projects in Ebonyi State, Nigeria,"
European Scientific Journal
(December 2014), 272-283, http://bit.ly/
sustainable-community-development.

5

"Why Language Matters for the
Millennium Development Goals"
(United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization, 2012),
http://bit.ly/UNESCO-language-matters.

6

Bearth,Thomas, and Diomandé Fan. "The
Local Language-A Neglected Resource
for Sustainable Development," Internet
Journal for Cultural Studies (September
2004), http://bit.ly/Bearth-local-languages.

7

Plain Language: Clear and Simple
(Human Resources Development Canada,
Canadian Government Publishing, 1991),
http://bit.ly/Plain-English.

8.

Michel, Jean-Baptiste, Yuan Kui Shen, Aviva
Presser Aiden, Adrian Veres, and Matthew
K. Gray. "Quantitative Analysis of Culture
Using Millions of Digitized Books," Science
(American Association for the Advancement
of Science, January 2011), 176-182,
http://bit.ly/Harvard-quantitative-analysis.

9

Nunn, Gary. "Word Perfect: How Language
Can Change Behavior," The Sydney
Morning Herald (April 25, 2016),
http://bit.ly/Nunn-word-perfect.

TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED
My first piece of advice is to follow your
passion, since doing so will make you
much more interested and engaged in your
work. Developing a mission statement,
identifying your target clientele, and finetuning your elevator pitch will make your
efforts much more focused and help you
find your own market niche. You should
also ensure that your website, online
profiles, and marketing materials clearly
reflect your mission statement, as it will
attract the type of people with whom you
want to work.
To find and attract clients, initiate
contact with potential clients by engaging
on Twitter and LinkedIn and by attending
industry events. My philosophy on
networking, although energy-intensive, is
that gaining one client through in-person
networking or directed marketing efforts
serves as a gateway to other clients, as
word-of-mouth is the most effective (and
effortless) way to get more clients.
If you don't have prior experience, I
suggest volunteering your services in the
field of sustainable development, where
a large number of clients are nonprofits
that rely heavily on volunteers. This is an
excellent way to build your vocabulary,
become knowledgeable about basic
concepts, and build your portfolio.
Finally, having an online portfolio and
résumé that describe the projects you've
worked on and how they helped clients
advance their sustainable development
goals shows potential clients that you're
forward-thinking and focused on their
objectives. Listing your "ideal" projects
or types of clients in your portfolio will
help you attract more of the same in the
future. It may help to come up with a list
of issues that you're passionate about,
in addition to the key words associated
with them, in order to better define
18

The ATA Chronicle | November/December 2017

Cross-cultural communication
is essential in achieving
the goals the world has
set for itself regarding
sustainable development.
what you're looking for. Most of all, it's
important to remember that, in this field,
expressing your values and goals can
only help you.

BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU'RE DOING
The more you can show your clients
that you understand and believe in the
ideology of sustainable development, the
more convinced they will be that you can
provide them with quality translation
services tailored to their needs and
objectives. If you have this mindset and
understand the sustainable development
paradigm that takes an all-encompassing
view of the world, you'll come across to
clients as a partner and someone who has
the same goals in mind. As in any field,
it's important to focus on understanding
the purpose of the translation, instead of
simply trying to convince your client you
can produce a "good" translation. You want
to show them that your work is effective.
NOTES
1
Report of the World Commission on
Environment and Development:
Our Common Future (United Nations

Natalie Pavey is a French>English translator
specializing in sustainable development,
marketing, and business communication. She
has a master's degree in French language and
culture. Prior to becoming a translator, she spent
two years participating in development projects in
West Africa as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer and
worked in Katmai National Park in Alaska as a
park ranger/interpreter. In addition to ATA, she is a
certified member of the Corporation of Translators,
Terminologists and Interpreters of New Brunswick
and the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et
interprètes agréés du Québec (Canada). Contact:
n.pavey@nptranslations.com.
www.atanet.org

http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf http://www.aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold http://www.bit.ly/Kiser-circular http://www.bit.ly/sustainable-community-development http://www.bit.ly/sustainable-community-development http://www.bit.ly/UNESCO-language-matters http://www.bit.ly/Bearth-local-languages http://www.bit.ly/Plain-English http://www.bit.ly/Harvard-quantitative-analysis http://www.bit.ly/Nunn-word-perfect http://www.atanet.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - November/December 2017