Why use professional translators vs. a bilingual speakers

I often get asked why use a professional translator vs. a bilingual speaker to translate documents into other languages. The answer can be elusive, but if the question is rephrased, the answer becomes obvious.
Would I use a professional to write a legal document or a technical manual, for instance? If the answer is yes, you need to work with a professional translator.
If you need to translate a personal communication, where accuracy and writing skills are not of the essence, use your bilingual friend.
In the case of Korean, many people consider it an isolate language with Chinese influences. Thirty five percent of the words in the language are Korean, 60% are Sino-Korean and around 5% are loaned words, mostly from English. Geographically, Korean is mostly limited to the Korean peninsula.
The size and importance of the Korean economy have created a large demand for Korean translators and anyone attempting to translate between Korean and other languages must be deeply steeped in the Korean language and culture. Look for our article on finding the right Korean translator.

No Dictionaries for Shakespere

It's hard to imagine how someone with an extensive vocabulary could have acquired it without the use of dictionaries, but that is exactly what the ole' Bard did. You see, English dictionaries in Elizabethean times simply did not exist. The English dictionary, the widely used list of words arranged in alphabetical order that many of us cherish, is really a modern invention in the English language.

As translators, dictionaries are our bread and butter and I can't imagine working without them anymore that I can imagine attempting to write a piece of Shakesperean prose without one.

By the beginning of the seventeenth century other languages were well under way in establishing a fixed and formal structure to the language, most notably French and German. English was far behind and had no unified consensus on basic concepts as spelling. This presented a very real challenge for a language that was becoming of age as England expanded it's global reach. English was destined to become the international language, but to do so it needed to define the language in lexicographical terms.

One of the first steps in this direction were the first attempts to publish lists of pompous words "for the benefit and help of ladies, gentlemen and any other unskilful persons" as the author of the early dictionary, A Table Alphabeticall… of hard unusual English Word, wrote.

The understanding of what a dictionary is, as we view it today, had a long way to go. More of that in the next installment. Meantime, as a Spanish to English translator, I am grateful for bilingual dictionaries.

Reaching Hispanic Markets

Communicating in Spanish is a strategic move in today’s world as companies target the ever growing Hispanic Market in the USA and Latin American countries. Your potential Spanish speaking customers will respond positively to your marketing efforts if you communicate in their own language. However, non-Spanish speakers face the challenge of bridging the language barrier. Many companies have tried, with different degrees of success.

I’ve seen many corporate marketing efforts to communicate with the Hispanic population. A few years ago, I opened the Houston Chronicle one morning just to find that part of the sport’s section was in Spanish. It was not surprising that given the large Latino population in Houston, they wanted to reach them by offering them news of the Soccer World Cup. To my surprise, the quality of the language was dismal. To their credit, they’ve improved significantly since the early days and now have professional Spanish writers and professional translators on staff that is responsible of producing a Spanish only publication.

The challenges faced by the Houston Chronicle are not unique to them. Many companies, governments and individuals need to communicate in Spanish so we’ve prepared a few tips on how to select the right Spanish translator for your Spanish communications.

Golden Gate to Growth

The last few days I've been attending the Golden Gate to Growth conference of the Association of Language Companies in San Francisco. It is always refreshing and motivating to listen and share experiences among peers and the ALC is especially good at achieving this. Being a small organization focused on a very specific industry segment (language company owners) has several advantages over larger organizations and it can be better serve the needs of its constituents.

If you own a language company, I strongly recommend that you join the ALC.

San Francisco will always be San Francisco. Yesterday I walked in Haight Ashbury and, except for the modern cars, it was just like being transported back to the early 70's and the hippie era. Will it still be like this in 100 years?

 

Legal Translations in Spanish Speaking Countries

Countries have different legal traditions. The legal systems of English countries is usually based on Common Law theory which works on precedent. The legal systems in Spanish countries are usually inherited from Spain and is based Napoleonic Law principles, which limits the ability of judges to establish precedent. Under this legal theory, judges are bound by general rules which fall within the domain of the legislative branches of government.

But even if these countries use the same legal theory, Spanish speaking countries all have at least some differences in their legal systems. This poses problems of Spanish legal translations, especially that of documents with legal validity.

The one country that has drastically different legal system is Cuba, which has departed drastically from the legal system of Spain, the root system of the other Spanish-speaking countries. Legal translators must always be cognizant of these differences and be familiar with the peculiarities of each country's legal system.

 

 

Learn a Little Chinese... before heading for the Beijing Olympic Games

Have you ever wanted to learn Chinese (Mandarin) and haven't found the time or someone to teach you in the convenience of your own home? Today I found a website that will help you do just that. Making Mandarin Manageable offers electronic flashcards, interactive programs, recordings and many other resources to help you help you learn, polish or master Chinese.

 

This is an excellent resource for the thousands of travelers heading to China in the next couple of months for the Olympic Games. It always helps to have basic navigation words when you travel. Things like "take me to, left, right, stop, faster, slower". Believe me, it comes very handy when you are lost.

 

If you have special food needs it is good to know how to describe them, such as "vegetarian, hot, cold". Or learn the basic words for shopping , "too expensive, more, less, how much".

 

The few hours you spend learning basic words will more pay off in the end, especially in areas of China that are far away from the big cities. So, let us recommend that you get basic English to Chinese Translation skills before you are asked to jump over hoops to get yourself understood.

Corporate outreach to Hispanic Students

Language can be a barrier to higher education, especially for minority groups. Such is the case of Hispanics in the USA that see dwindling number of enrollments in technology and science majors in US universities.
IBM has launched an initiative to ameliorate the problems that Spanish speakers face when interfacing with higher education. IBM has an Internet program called ¡TradúceloAhora! that it has offered to be used in several universities at no cost to help students and their parents to translate email communications.
In addition, some universities in Arizona, California and Texas have begun offering another IBM program designed to mentor Hispanic students called Cascade Mentoring Program which involves IBM employees and others as mentors for young Hispanics.

Cross-Culture Polinators

A well known Zen koan asks: what is the sound of a tree falling if no one hears it? I was thinking today, how would our culture sound if if translators did not exist? Imagine the voices that would be silenced if language translators did not exist. They have always been the first bridge to enrich and cross-pollinates cultures. There are many examples in the past. Think of the impact that translating the Bible into Latin had. What about the wealth of Arabic mathematical knowledge that would not have been lost to Europeans were it not for translators.
Today, it is easy to underestimate the impact that language translation has in our societies. After all, in our English-centric world we tend to think that almost everything we need is already in English. But there are always voices and styles in other languages that need to be heard.
One example of this is India, a country with hundreds of native languages. Only about 50 have current literature that gets regularly published, although news papers publish around 100 languages.
Fortunately, translators have stepped up to the plate and are helping the world learn about the priceless literature written in those languages. Arjun Deo Charan, Rajasthani poet-playwright, “Regional languages are beginning to reach a greater number of people thanks to translations.
This is phenomenon in many countries of the world. The work of language translation is alive and well and it will continue as long as there is language diversity.

EU invests money in automatic computer translation technology

The EU is required to publish all its documentation into 23 official languages. The expense to do do so is quite substantial: 1 billion Euro every year. This is the reason why the EU has been investing in research to develop computer aided simultaneous computer translations. If they achieve their goal, it would greatly reduce the need for human translators and interpreters.

The difficulty presented by language has trumpeted all efforts to achieve the Holy Grail of automatic translations. Systems are plagued by punctuation, meaning, grammar and translation mistakes that make the translation itself seem unintelligible.

The EU has invested in the so called TC-STAR project to address this challenge. They've achieved an accuracy of 70% of the words that are translated, although they've been challenged with placing the words in the right order within the sentences.

It is expected that in the few next years the project will achieve acceptable levels of translation quality, although it might be limited to a few language pairs. Computer translation is still a technological challenge for today's technology.

International Service Award for Serving as Translators

It has crossed my mind, more than once, that translators have a natural gift to give back to their communities. Can you imagine how many conflicts arise out of missunderstandings due to language and cultural differences? I don't think this has been systematically researched, but my guess is that it is not a negligable number. History is littered with such incidents.

I read today that a junior in Princeton University will be honored with the 2008 International Service Award presented by the Davis International Center. Tashfin Samiul Huq, a Bangladesh student majoring in Biology, will be presented with the award as a recognition to his dedication to cross-cultural humanitarian endeavors. Mr. Huq has helped establish a NGO dedicated to raising the awareness of Bangladeshis to combat AIDS and protect the environment.

This is a small example of what we translators can do to uplift our communities. For a long time, the thought has crossed my mind to create an organization called Translators Without Borders. Perhaps, if you are reading this post, this idea sounds appealing. Give me a call, and let's see if we can get enough people interested.