This really should be a given for any professional, in any field, but it never hurts to say it again: never stop learning!

Regardless of whether you just finished your degree or have been working in your chosen profession for years, there is never a time when you can say, ‘That’s it, now I know all there is to know in this area, I can stop learning new things now.’

I would even go so far as to say that especially in the language field, i.e. translation, interpreting, editing and so on, continued and continuous education are vital if you want to not only survive but get ahead. And this education must include not just the linguistic side, but the technical side, as well, since the latter has been evolving and changing faster than ever. And this development will not stop, but rather increase. If you don’t stay in the loop, you’ll soon be left behind. NMT, AI, RSI – all these are not going to go away, so learning how to deal with them and incorporate them into your professional life and practice is critical.

That’s why I was thrilled to see that there is a new offer out there specifically for interpreters who want to make the best and most use out of what technology has to offer them.

Alexander Drechsel and Joshua Goldsmith, two interpreting tech gurus – or tech-savvy interpreters? -, not only have a blog and recorded numerous webinars, they now also offer both live and on-demand courses on all kinds of technology and interpreting-related subjects on techforword.com . There is quite a bit of free-of-charge content, but enrolling and paying for a course is well worth it, in my opinion.

So if you have rather more time on your hands these days than you’d like, why not use it wisely and sign up for one of their courses or watch one of the webinars?
And even if you haven’t been feeling the effects of COVID-19 (as much) – there should never really be a time when you’re too busy to learn something new.