The Association sénégalaise des traducteurs (ASTRA) organised an informal meeting of mentors and mentees as part of its TETTE (pronounced ‘tay-TAY’, a Wolof term that means helping an infant to take their first steps) mentoring scheme. The event took place at a restaurant in Dakar that provided a friendly setting ideal for intergenerational discussions, sharing ideas and, of course, socialising.
The goal of the meeting was to evaluate the scheme and encourage mentors to share their experiences with each other and for mentees to do the same, while also boosting ASTRA’s visibility and encouraging people to join the association.
What’s involved in ASTRA’s mentoring scheme?
In ASTRA’s mentoring scheme, the mentors, who are experienced translators and revisers, share their knowledge with early-career translators or recent translation graduates. It aims to introduce the next generation of translators to the industry, so they can gain experience and confidence in launching their careers.
Mentors help their acolytes start out, improve their translation skills, and widen or build their emerging professional networks. This means:
- Involving mentees in their translation projects, depending on their availability and deadlines (1,000 to 1,500 words per project). Mentees are paid a reasonable rate that takes into account that their translations will be revised, and the benefit of receiving feedback on the quality of their work.
- Revising, at no charge, any work the mentees do for their clients (the number of words revised depends on mentors’ availability and is left to their discretion).
- Checking translations of official documents requiring certification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Advising on a range of translation-related matters (fee negotiation, services offered, how to leverage professional networks, etc.)
- Any other tasks they believe would help with their mentees’ professional development.
There are multiple benefits of this scheme for mentor and mentee alike, as well as for the association:
- The support provided through the scheme gives mentees insights into the translation industry, building a network, becoming familiar with the translation process, and learning how to use translation tools.
- Mentors have the opportunity to give back to the translation community by sharing their expertise, while also gaining access to a skilled partner to work with on large projects.
- For the association, mentoring is a way of training newer members, refreshing senior members’ skills, building links between members from different generations, strengthening group cohesion, and creating a setting for sharing expertise.
Daouda Gassama, President, ASTRA
