In Other Words

More cringe-inducing madness from the mass translation market

2008-03-06T12:50:00.004+01:00

Today I was browsing online translation workplace Proz.com when I stumbled upon this question asked in the "Kudoz" terminology forum.

The question is an interesting one (how to translate "cascader" into English).

What is cringe-inducing, however, is the disturbing lack of concern for the confidentiality of customer documents. This is clearly an internal document and one I, personally, would consider potentially sensitive given the recent history of the company concerned (Société Générale).

For the second time this week I feel compelled to mention a (potentially grave) disservice to the translation client - one that also raises a number of questions as to what went wrong.

Is SGCIB aware that a substantial excerpt of an internal document has been published on a website that is both accessible to the general public and Google-able? Is there a middleman involved? If so, what instructions (if any) were given to the middleman? Is there a confidentiality agreement? What instructions, if any, did the middleman pass on to the outsourcer?

Words by the pound?

2008-03-05T10:34:00.003+01:00

The past few months have been busy ones, at least in my corner of the translation industry (corporate communications, including financial). The crisis currently buffeting the financial markets has generated a lot of analysis and commentary - all of which needs to be translated!

This surge in demand has brought with it a bevy of requests from translation agencies. My inbox and voicemail have been bombarded with messages that all look more or less like this:

Madam,

We are a translation agency located in CITY. We have a NUMBER-word translation project to outsource for our client with a deadline of DATE. If you are interested, please reply with your best rate to EMAIL.

Regards,

PROJECT MANAGER

What I find interesting is that there is almost never any mention of the subject area (if the document is about a new medium-term corporate strategy or marketing plan, fine; if it is about brain surgery or rocket science, forget it!). Nor does there tend to be much concern with my past experience or areas of expertise.

Now, when I receive such messages, I can't help but think of the end client, who is probably totally unaware that their document is being outsourced anonymously to a translator that the agency doesn't know from Adam and who has not yet been given an opportunity to demonstrate competency (or not) with the end client's industry and type of document.

The translation is simply being outsourced by the pound. Pricing and deadline are the sole purchasing criteria for the middleman. Quality and service don't seem to enter into the equation.

With this business model, everybody loses. The translator often comes up against a relatively low ceiling when it comes to negotiating rates. The end client has no visibility or control over how their project is being handled and, if the target language is not one they master, has little leverage for complaint if the result is not up to standard.

Customer vs. client

2007-10-09T08:32:00.000+02:00

Would you rather have customers or clients? Interesting discussion of the topic going on now on the Duct Tape Marketing blog.

I have always leaned toward "customers" over "clients" and now I am convinced!

Windows Live Translator beta online

2007-09-11T11:34:00.000+02:00

I recently spent some time playing around with the beta version of Windows Live Translator (AKA Systran), which is now online. The verdict? Not nearly as bad as I thought...but it doesn't exactly have me worried about losing my job, either.

I started with a quote by General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt from an article my translation team recently took on for a client:

“Europe today is the major force for environmental innovation. We – General Electric - are therefore investing in environmentally cleaner technology because it will increase our revenue, our value and our profits...Not because it is trendy or moral, but because it will accelerate our growth and make us more competitive”.

The Windows Live Translator French Translation:

La « Europe est aujourd'hui la force principale pour l'innovation environnementale. Nous - General Electric - investissons donc dans une technologie dans l'environnement plus propre parce qu'elle augmentera notre revenu, notre valeur et nos bénéfices pas parce qu'il est dernier cri ou moral, mais parce qu'elle accélérera notre croissance et nous rendra plus concurrentiels ».

A translation by a professional translator:

« L’Europe est, aujourd’hui, la principale force en matière d’innovation environnementale. Chez General Electric, nous investissons dans une technologie plus propre parce que nous pensons que cela va augmenter notre chiffre d’affaires, notre valeur et nos bénéfices…Ce n’est donc pas pour faire “tendance” ou par moralité, mais pour accélérer notre croissance et nous rendre plus compétitifs. »

The machine translation (Windows Live Translator) is clearly OK if all you need is to get the gist of a fairly short chunk of text (the system can handle up to 250 words at a time). However, when I tried to have it translate the Immelt quote in context, it seemed to get hung up on punctuation, leaving everything between the opening and closing quotes in English...oops!

As with any machine translation, the results are (at best) comprehensible but clunky and definitely not suitable for translating outgoing communications or any document intended for publication.

Language Interpreters to be Featured in New Book

2007-07-23T15:49:00.000+02:00

Basic human need to communicate with others underpins interpreters' work, the subject of a new book project.

From Our Lips to Your Ears: How Interpreters are Changing the World marks the first published compendium of stories about this unique and complex profession from the perspective of interpreters themselves.

"Millions of people throughout the world communicate each day without sharing a common language," explained Nataly Kelly, editor of the publication, "This book shines a light on the unsung heroes that enable much of this communication to take place."

The book will include personal anecdotes from interpreters working in an array of settings, Kelly said. "Interpreters are out there each day, helping deliver babies, interpreting witness testimony, rendering the words of foreign diplomats, and assisting consumers who wish to purchase goods and services."

The stories in the collection will cover a range of topics of interest to the general public, Kelly pointed out. "This book shows how interpreters are helping meet a basic human need— the need to communicate with others."

More information about the book is available at http://www.fromourlips.com.

Grenoble English Talk Radio

2007-07-13T12:09:00.000+02:00

Grenoble's college radio station, CampusGrenoble 90.8 FM, features a twice-weekly half-hour English Talk Radio segment (Sundays at 11 a.m. and Wednesdays at 6 p.m.). The broadcast is available over the airwaves at 90.8 FM for those in the region, and online at http://www.campusgrenoble.org/ for listeners everywhere.

Grenoble English Talk Radio host Vivian Draper recently had me on the show to talk about my business, SFM Traduction. It was my first time on the radio and I was a little nervous, but Vivian quickly put me at ease!

You can listen to the show on Sunday, July 15, 22, and 29 at 11 a.m.

Or listen here. (Please be patient. It takes a few minutes for the file to load, but it does work!)

Lack of language skills results in significant business losses, EU survey says.

2007-06-18T09:25:00.000+02:00

"Using translators/interpreters" is a key factor in export performance for SMEs according to the ELAN [Effects on the European Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise] survey.

The survey highlights an alarming amount of lost business due to poor language skills:

The survey of SMEs found that a significant amount of business is being lost as a result of lack of language skills. Across the sample of nearly 2000 businesses, 11% of respondents (195 SMEs) had lost a contract as a result of lack of language skills. Many were unable or unwilling to indicate the size of the contract lost, but 37 businesses had lost actual contracts which together were valued at between €8 million and €13.5 million. A further 54 businesses had lost potential contracts worth in total between €16.5 million and €25.3 million. At least 10 businesses had lost contracts worth over €1 million.

The report's recommendations relative to language management and business include:

Help businesses to better manage language skills and the "four elements of language management associated with improved export performance" (these are
"having a language strategy, appointing native speakers, recruiting staff with language
skills and using translators/interpreters")
Encourage businesses to develop language skills among their employees, provide language training, and hire foreign students or employees
Participate in "international business-to-business exchange" programs
Raise business' awareness of the "bottom line benefits" when it comes to using their customers' languages

Read the entire ELAN [Effects on the European Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise] survey here http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/doc/elan_en.pdf

Jean-Marie LeRay provides an excellent summary of the lengthy report's findings on his blog here http://adscriptum.blogspot.com/2007/06/challenges-and-nature-of-formal.html

Online search giants drive automatic translation technology

2007-05-24T07:48:00.000+02:00

Online search giants Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are racing to improve automatic translation technology to allow web surfers to tap in to more content in more languages, but English remains the most effective choice for web search.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117997041379112887.html?mod=hps_europe_inside_today

"Migratory Words" - 2007 French Language Week

2007-02-22T17:13:00.000+01:00

The French Ministry of Culture and Communication will run 2007 French Language Week from March 10 to 20, with events in France and abroad.

This year's theme is "Migratory Words." A list of ten foreign loanwords adopted by the French language illustrates how words travel across borders and cultures.

For more information on the ten words and the week's events, see http://www.semainelf.culture.fr/MENU/Menu.html

From annoying buzzwords to clichés

2007-01-26T08:56:00.000+01:00

The Creative Group recently polled advertising and marketing executives on the "most annoying or overused industry buzzwords".

You will find a partal list here http://www.creativegroup.com/PressRoom?LOBName=CG On the list is my personal favorite from 2006, "low-hanging fruit".

The conclusion? Keep it simple. For powerful, persuasive communication, concrete, direct statements are usually the most effective.

Interesting case of the subjunctive on Bad Language

2007-01-03T18:40:00.000+01:00

An interesting case of the use of the subjunctive mood in English appeared today on Bad Language.

http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=326

What started out as a post on the Economist's online style guide (very handy, by the way!) and the use of singular or plural for collective nouns in English turned into a discussion on the subjunctive in English.

It is true that the subjunctive tends to trip up both native and non-native English speakers. My French translation clients -- even those with an excellent level of written English -- nearly always call me on the use of the subjunctive as a subject-verb-agreement error. It is nice to be able to point them to some explanations of the subjunctive mood on the web. Here is one that sums it up nicely (especially for T.W. Fline):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page24.shtml

Writing for T. W. Fline

2006-12-19T10:17:00.000+01:00

So, who is T. W. Fline and why should science writers care?

In his classic handbook Communicating in Science, author Vernon Booth puts forward a number of recommendations for writing for Those Whose First Language Is Not English (T. W. Fline).

Here are a few of the key "T. W. Fline" tips in the handbook (which also happen to be sound writing tips regardless of your readership).

When describing methods and materials, avoid trade names, which may not be understood overseas.
Write short sentences and try to stick to the "one sentence - one idea" rule.
Avoid needless "verbing" - why say "authored'" when you can say "written"?
Strike a deal with colleagues to trade editing services.
Be careful when using "noun adjectives" (nouns used to modify other nouns), which may not be easily understood by T. W. Fline. For instance, "Rapid gas apparatus deterioration" is potentially unclear, while "Rapid deterioration of gas apparatus" is clearer.
Take care when making comparisons. For example, "starch yielded more glucose than maltose" is unclear. The sentence should be rewritten more explicitly (i.e. "than did maltose" or "starch produced a greater yield of glucose than of maltose"). Also note that the second rewrite uses a simple, active verb (produced) rather than a "verbed" noun (yielded).

Come back soon for future posts on writing for academic journals!

French Terminology Resources

2006-12-06T13:44:00.000+01:00

The French Ministry of Culture and Communications General Delegation for the French Language (DGLF) publishes a nifty set of terminology booklets covering a variety of technical fields.

Information and Communication Technologies
Economy and Finance
Nuclear Engineering
Defense
...

The glossaries feature French terms and their French definitions with the corresponding English term ("Equivalent étranger" !!). An alphabetical index at the back includes both the French and "foreign" entries.

I was fortunate to snag a few of the square, CD-sized booklets at the recent Journée Mondiale de la Traduction in Paris. Apparently they are also available directly from the Ministry free of charge on request. See the PDFs online at http://www.dglf.culture.gouv.fr/

Three things you can do right now to make your press releases more effective

2006-11-22T16:06:00.000+01:00

When writing press releases, remember who your audience is. Press releases are designed to be picked up by journalists in the media. Journalists often have to slog through piles of press releases every day looking for something newsworthy. So, put yourself in your reader's shoes and try to ensure that your press release addresses the journalist's need to write a story about something that will interest his or her readers--not your end customers' need for your product or service.

There is usually a standard format and length for press releases. If your release does not follow that format or is too long, it is likely to be rejected automatically. If you routinely send press releases to the same media outlets, find out how they like to receive press releases and stick to their preferred format and length.
Be newsworthy and include a quote. Can you tie your product, service or event to a hot current event, trend, or topic? Including a quote from a relevant personality or even from someone within your organization will also add punch and a "human touch" to your release.
Be specific and avoid bloated language, starting with the title of your press release. If possible, try to summarize your release in the title. Which title is more compelling?

"French ad giant opens New York agency"

"French ad giant Publicom opens first U.S. agency on New York's tony Madison Ave."

As for bloated language, try to use specific examples rather than empty hype ("cutting-edge" and "unrivalled" are two you see frequently). Use specific examples to illustrate how or why your product or service is "cutting edge" or "unrivalled". Remember above all, that if you tell a compelling story, the journalist reading your release might just want to report on it.

Proofreading Tips

2006-10-05T07:32:00.000+02:00

An interview with a proofreader that was recently posted on Bad Language http://www.badlanguage.net/?p=290 inspired me to do some thinking about the role of proofreading in translation and my own proofreading process. Translation proofreaders often get a bad rap, but having a separate proofreader is absolutely essential for any external communication project.

Proofreading your own work is never a good idea, especially when working to tight deadlines. You just don't have the distance to look at the work objectively. Any copy that is going to be used outside the company (press releases, shareholder communication, marketing collateral, etc.) really should--no, must--be proofread by someone other than the person who wrote/translated it. Small errors can really damage the credibility of your organization or message. If you are a translation client, make sure you ask your translation provider about his or her proofreading procedure. Sometimes paying a bit more for an additional proofreader is a good investment, especially when you don't have a native speaker of the target language on your in-house communication team. Think about the time and resources that went into developing your press release, brochure, or Web site copy and the potential cost of a poorly-prepared translation damaging your company's image.

Sometimes tight deadlines just don't allow for a separate proofreader, especially when you are working as part of a remote virtual team. The procedure I use when proofreading my own work includes the following strategies:

Let the translation "rest" for as long as the deadline allows before proofreading (at least overnight)
Always print out the text and proofread on paper--sorry, but it just isn't possible to proofread on screen and I have serious doubts about anyone who says that they can do it this way and produce clean copy
Read the text out loud--a great way to catch clunky construction
Cover the text with a blank sheet of paper or envelope and proofread line-by-line
Proofread the text "backwards" from bottom to top to catch any typos or punctuation errors
Have several style manuals on hand and refer to them when in doubt about punctuation, relative clauses, apostrophes, or any other details that tend to trip you up

Fighting Bull in Business Speak

2006-09-21T08:20:00.000+02:00

Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide (Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, and Jon Warshawsky) is an entertaining look at why business people use language like "We harness deep industry, process and technology expertise and unrivaled large-scale, complex change capabilities" and what can be done about it.

The bad news is that, as translators at least, there isn't much we can do about the "bull" that comes across our translation desks. We just have to make sense out of it and translate it. The good news is that understanding where the bull comes from will help us deal more effectively with the people behind it--our clients.

In their tirade against jargon, the authors propose a SCUBA (System to Clean Up Bogus Acronyms). They also recommend avoiding SGPs (Stupid Generic Photographs) as a way to add mass to our business newsletters without content, and often at no additional cost! Then there are the dreaded email subject line FW: Re: re: re: re: and the dangers of being "templatized" by PowerPoint.

One unique angle in this back-to-communication-basics book is insight into the psychological underpinnings of business-speak (primarily the forces that transform otherwise interesting people--on the weekends at least--into conformist business automatons as soon as they enter the workplace). But mainly, the Bullfighter's Guide offers a funny, irreverent review of the communication basics all business people should know about by now.

The importance of writing in business

2006-09-09T12:46:00.000+02:00

I recently came across this podcast on the importance of writing for young PR professionals: http://www.forward-moving.com/blog/2006/09/01/forward-podcast-9-writing-with-matthew-stibbe/

Many of the tips recommended by professional writer Matthew Stibbe (articluatemarketing.com) also apply to translators. Here are the three that I took away from the podcast.

Read, read, read is one tip that cuts across industries. From a translation standpoint, I try to read the latest news and publications in the industries I work in. At the very least, this means reading a daily business newspaper in my target language (for me the WSJ online). I also read what relevant businesses put out there on the Internet with a critical eye. Reading what others write is a source of inspiration; and it can also teach you what to avoid in your own writing. Not everything out there is good.

Focus on proofreading is another universal rule of writing. Have a method for proofreading (one that works for you) and apply it systematically. If you can't put a piece aside for a few days before proofing due to deadlines, have someone else proof it.

Use simple language is also a great tip. Tone down pompous writing and opt for a more conversational tone (toning down the poetic excesses of French business writing when translating into English is a real challenge but has to be done well if you hope to produce a translation that "works" in English). Prefer evidence over hype. Instead of writing "cutting-edge technology," provide concrete evidence. As a translator, this is a great way to add value. Ask your client for the information you need to really give their text a boost in English.

Translating Contracts - Part III - A Few Words about Style

2006-09-01T18:00:00.000+02:00

Part 3: A Few Words about Style

English prefers SVO (subject-verb-object) constructions, which sometimes means reworking the order of the original French sentences significantly in order to achieve a natural-sounding flow in English. This is something that all language professionals know, of course, but it is all too easy to forget when you are bogged down with long, complex “legalese” sentences.

One aspect of translating contracts that can be problematic is repetition. In French source contracts, repetition is often avoided by using pronouns (il, celui-ci, and celui-là, for instance) or relative clauses. However, English contracts do not use terms like “it,” “the former,” and “the latter,” which are the standard, non-legal translations for these terms. According to Tom, these constructions are best avoided in English contracts, in favor of repeating the proper noun again and again. One example he provided that illustrates this point was the translation of “Le bailleur donne bail à loyer au preneur, qui accepte, les locaux ci-après désignés…” as “The Lessor leases to the Lessee, and the Lessee hereby leases from the Lessor, the premises identified below…”.

Key take-aways:

While repetition of proper nouns can feel clunky, it is standard in contract language and will remove the ambiguities that a direct, pronoun- and relative-clause-filled translation will create.
Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style is worth revisiting for a refresher on how to craft clear, solid English sentences.
Tom West also recommends Initiation au thème anglais (The Mirrored Image) by Françoise Grellet.

Upcoming Event:

For those who translate contracts into French, there is an upcoming training session sponsored by the SFT entitled “Comment traduire les contrats sans trahir le droit?” on October 7, 2006 in Lyon. http://www.sft.fr/formations/2006/RA_1007_TraductionContrats.html

Legal Writing Blog:

For those who translate contracts into English: http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/wschiess/legalwriting/

Translating Contracts - Part II - Terminological Pitfalls

2006-08-25T08:52:00.000+02:00

Part 2: Terminological Pitfalls

The second part of Tom West’s talk demonstrated how relying on dictionaries alone (even the leading specialized legal dictionaries on the market) can create problems during the translation process. One example he gave was the issue of reorganization/bankruptcy. Translators will be relieved to know that there is much confusion among the French terms liquidation judiciaire, faillite, règlement judiciaire, liquidation des biens, and redressement judiciaire and that they may encounter incorrect or inconsistent use of the various terms in original French source contracts. In fact, Tom explained that, due to changes in French law in 1967 and 1985, the meanings of the French terms have changed. As an example (and to show how confusing this term can be if the translator relies on dictionaries alone):

Prior to 1967, liquidation judiciaire meant “reorganization” (in which the debtor is insolvent but may continue operations).
After 1985, however, this mechanism was called redressement judiciaire, whereas “straight bankruptcy” (in which the debtor ceases operations) was now called liquidation judiciaire under the French system.

According to Tom, “though published in 1994, the Council of Europe French-English Legal Dictionary describes only the situation from 1967 to 1985.”

Next, Tom reviewed a number of sticky terms from common contract clauses. He then went on to discuss clauses specific to international contracts, an area of particular interest to contract translators and the clients who use their services. One important point he made was that any contract that is translated should include a clause stipulating the governing language. For French source contracts, this will often be stated as “La version française fait foi” or something similar. Likewise, international contracts should also contain a clause setting forth the governing law (droit applicable).

Key take-aways:

Check with the client if there is any evidence that these or other terms are being used incorrectly or inconsistently in a French source contract.
Researching terminology will allow you to ask intelligent questions that will ensure the best possible translation.
Making the client aware of any inconsistencies in the source document will help the client imrove the source document and demonstrate your commitment to quality work.
If a contract you are translating does not have a “governing language” clause feel free to raise the issue with your client.

For terminology, Tom West recommends Bryan A. Garner’s A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (Oxford University Press) and the Council of Europe French-English Legal Dictionary, by F. H. S. Bridge, among other works.

Coming soon: Part III - A Few Words about Style

Translating Contracts - Part I

2006-08-16T19:08:00.000+02:00

I recently attended a talk top legal translator and founder of Intermark Language Services Tom West gave on French-English contract translation at the SFT Summer University for Financial Translation held in Paris in July.

Tom addressed a number of misconceptions concerning the translation of contracts that are likely to be of interest to translation clients and service providers. He touched on three main areas:

His approach to translating contracts
Terminological pitfalls to be aware of
The issue of style

Part 1: The Approach

According to the conventional wisdom, contracts must be translated word for word, and, due to the legal nature of the documents, the translation must remain strictly in line with the original. While Tom agrees that contracts are not an appropriate place for translators to exercise unbridled creativity, his method differs significantly from the literal, word-for-word approach to translation. Instead, he advocates researching authentic contracts in the source and target languages to identify equivalences between the standard clauses and terms, thus producing a translation that not only communicates the original information accurately, but that is also written in a way that makes sense and sounds “natural” to the target-language legal professionals who will ultimately be using the translation.

Key take-aways:

Use authentic target-language contracts as models in order to avoid clunky English constructions.

So, where can translators find sample contracts? The Internet is a good place to start. For things like end-user license agreements, terms of sale, banking agreements, etc., look for authentic source- and target-language examples on corporate Web sites. Tom also mentioned the book Modèles de contrats en anglais by Olivier d’Auzon, with the caveat that the English translations are “a disaster!”

Coming soon

Part II: Terminological Pitfalls