Hello, translators with questions (including the ones you haven’t asked yet),
Is there an AI task you keep putting off because you’re not quite sure how to do it?
Bring it to next Tuesday’s AI Drop-In Clinic for Translators, on September 15.
You don’t need to prepare a presentation or work through all my training first. Just reply to this email with your specific AI question or workflow challenge and your CotranslatorAI Advanced license code.
I’ll confirm receipt and send you the Zoom link before the call. There are two sessions to accommodate different time zones. Come with your question, get help, and leave when you need to.
It’s free for CotranslatorAI Advanced license holders, including those who join through the Three-Month CotranslatorAI Subscription Bundle.
And if you’ve been reading my emails but haven’t put much into practice yet, I’d especially like to hear from you. Tell me where you’re getting stuck. That gives us something concrete to work on.
An exchange with Ellen
Ellen, an enthusiastic CotranslatorAI user, recently helped me notice something I ought to explain more clearly.
She’d been working through my materials and had mixed up two terms I use: “boutique LSPs” and the “Localization Illuminati.”
That matters because I encourage translators to approach the first group with new offers, while warning about the pressures coming from the second.
Here’s what I mean.
When I say “boutique LSPs,” I mean smaller translation agencies that can be worthwhile partners for freelance translators. These are businesses where you may have room to discuss what you offer, build a working relationship, and get paid for your higher-level skills.
“Localization Illuminati” is my deliberately pointed shorthand for the big LSPs, giant toolmakers, MT providers, and other industry players pushing a model in which translators have less control over their work and face pressure to accept lower compensation.
It’s not a claim that every small agency is good or every large company is bad. The practical question is how a particular business treats you and values your contribution.
After I clarified that distinction, Ellen sent the reply below. She gave me permission to share it:
Hi Steven,
Thanks for explaining the difference between boutique LSPs and the Localization Illuminati. I’d completely mixed the two up in my head! When I watched the Blueprint video again later, I realized you’d actually explained the distinction very clearly in the video itself.
That video is a very worthwhile half hour. At one point, you say that if, as a translator, you want to work 30 hours a week but only have 20 hours of work lined up, you can spend the remaining 10 hours reaching out to boutique LSPs (!) with a new offer.
Being the to-do-list person I am, I’ve decided to set aside a few hours on a regular day each week to work through the video and your other emails and get as much out of them as I can. It will probably be on the weekend, when I have a clearer picture of my translation workload.
There’s so much useful information in the video! I know I’ll need to revisit it to get the full benefit. I’m already starting to apply your advice about treating my hourly rate as a minimum in some of my work, and it’s giving me so much peace of mind. So much less stress and frustration!
Your other emails keep giving me great ideas, too. I want to make a point of saying how much I appreciate getting such useful ideas from someone who knows exactly how this business works…as it is today.
For example, I’ve already saved the Effective QC prompt under Favorites [in CotranslatorAI], and I expect I’ll have a chance to use it soon.
Meanwhile, I’m just as enthusiastic about the GAIT workflow as you are. Even for small translation jobs, it’s well worth taking the time to work through the initial stages of the process. The results are consistently very good.
I think there’s a common thread running through everything I’ve written here: repetition is the key to mastery.
Kind regards,
Ellen
Isn’t that great?
What I especially appreciate is that Ellen isn’t trying to learn everything at once. She’s setting aside time, revisiting the material, and applying specific ideas to her work.
That’s a practical way to develop AI mastery as a translator. Try one task. Examine the result. Adjust your instructions. Repeat. You learn to command the AI rather than accept whatever it gives you.
As a working Korean-to-English translator, that’s what I want from AI too: better work, less avoidable effort, and more control over how I earn my living.
The materials Ellen refers to are available with the special Three-Month CotranslatorAI Subscription Bundle for USD $37:
https://cf.cotranslatorai.com/main
The bundle includes CotranslatorAI Advanced and the AI Survival Kit. And now it comes with free entry to next Tuesday’s AI Drop-In Clinic for Translators.
Already have an Advanced license? Your entry is free too.
Here’s your next step: reply with one AI question or challenge and your Advanced license code. In CotranslatorAI, you’ll find the code under Help > About. You can paste it into your reply or attach a screenshot of that window.
Your question can be as simple as, “I tried this prompt, but the result wasn’t useful. What should I change?” It doesn’t even have to be strictly about CotranslatorAI.
Full details, including the two session times, are here:
https://cotranslatorai.com/free-cotranslatorai-drop-in-clinic-two-sessions-next-tuesday-9-september-2026-ai-mastery-for-translators-insights/
There won’t be a replay, so plan to join live if you’d like help.
You don’t need to master AI before you come. Bring the question that’s stopping you from taking your next step.
Talk soon,
Steven
P.S. Got a question you’ve been putting off? That’s your reason to come on Tuesday. To attend, you must email me your specific AI question or workflow challenge and your CotranslatorAI Advanced license code in advance. I’ll then send you the Zoom link. No question submitted, no admission…This isn’t for lurkers… But beginner questions are absolutely welcome.
