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Translate into English – What Your Customer Wants

One of your customers wants you to translate into English (or any other language for that matter) some documents?

Here are some tips that might be useful to many translators when accepting a job, whether for a translation agency or a direct client.

Be truthful. When in doubt, say No

If you are unsure whether you can meet a deadline or take on the project, be honest and say ‘No’ or ask for more time before accepting it. Asking for more time after the project starts will cause many problems.

Don’t Start without a Written Confirmation

If you do not have a clear written confirmation, a project number, and a work order, DO NOT start working.

POs (work orders) include all project details such as schedule, agreed cost, list of files to translate into English and instructions. The translator should invoice only the amount included in this form, so read the PO and confirm all the details given before starting work on the project.

Don’t be afraid to ask

Customers are often happy to help as best they can, and you should always answer any questions you may have. If the Language Service provider cannot answer, they will ask the customer.

Follow the instructions, always!

Before you translate into English, always analyse customer requirements in detail. When dealing with a translation agency, the agency should have prepared a list of instructions for you. These instructions are most often included in the confirmation email, along with documentation for the project, to assist the translator during the translation process. It is essential to follow them. Otherwise, the translation agency and/or the client may need to ask you to redo the job.

Always use the Reference material provided

A good translation agency will always try to get the most reference documentation, definitions and context information from their customers. It is essential for the translator to read and understand this material before finishing the translation into English. This also shortens the completion time.

Check before you deliver

Always check your work very carefully before handing it over. A Language Service provider will likely return any work that has problems. This includes running an automatic (as well as manual) spell checker such as Antidote before delivering any work. Misspelled translations are unacceptable.

If you are a proofreader and the quality of the translation into English you need to review is poor, let the agency know before you begin.

Always exemplify the problems. The LSP should review them and decide what to do. Also, remember that you can’t charge the agency more for the extra work unless they approve the additional cost before you start.

When you Translate into English, improve if you can

Proofreading means more than correcting purely linguistic errors. It also includes all aspects of a translation. When you translate into English and proofread your translation, you are expected to check for accuracy, spelling, grammar, style, uniformity, formatting, terminology, audience readiness, etc. Verifying means not only identifying errors or aspects that can be improved, but also correcting them directly in the translation to produce a finished text. If there is something you can translate better, change it.

Mark your changes and give feedback

It’s always nice to know what the proofreaders have changed in the translations. So, when reviewing a translation in Word, use the Track changes function, and when working in Excel, highlight the changed cell with a different background colour (you don’t need to mark each word unless you are required to do so).

If the client needs detailed comments regarding the changes, they will ask and tell you where to make them.

Always avoid using strikethrough, as it is laborious to finalize the text (as well as use the feature).

Agencies often encourage proofreaders to provide feedback on translations. Do not be afraid to give your opinion!

If a change doesn’t improve the translation, don’t mess it up

Be critical when finalizing a translation after final customer proofreading. Always verify that the requested changes are correct or improve the translation before applying them. If not, do not implement the change and explain why.

Don’t be afraid to ask, but think before you do

When you translate into English , clients like it when you ask questions; it shows that you are paying attention to the project, but too silly or too misplaced questions can show that you do not know the subject or know what you are doing, and that can be a shot in the foot.

Try to Be as Professional and Objective as Possible

When giving your feedback, try to be as professional and objective as possible. Stick to the facts whenever possible with links or transcriptions of grammars, dictionaries or other references.

Improve the text if you can, but don’t split hairs to justify your job. Sometimes, the translation is really very good. In this case, praise the translator.

That’s it for now. I hope you found those tips useful and have a better idea of what customers really want when they order a translation into English from you, or any other language.

Translating Video Games – Your Personal Entertainer

Translating video games is a part of the localization process of the game and implies, in addition to the translation of the text, the cultural adaptation of the texts and materials, its revision, the assembly of the screen texts in the game, the layout of manuals and boxes, audio or dubbing recording and testing.

Video Game Companies may Outsource Translation

Large video game companies may have internal translation or localization departments or, on the contrary, outsource these services through localization agencies

A Considerable Increase in the Volume of Video Games to be Translated

In recent years there has been a great technological advance, which has led to a considerable increase in the volume of text to be translated, which in some cases can reach one million words. The consequence is that it has become impossible for a single translator to carry out the work load, so it is necessary to establish a good project management strategy and use tools that guarantee the cohesion of the different product texts.

When Translating Video Games, dialogues, webpages, marketing materials need to be Translated

For example, Nintendo has a translation and localization department in Frankfurt from where the entire process is centralized. Normally, the translation is covered with internal resources if the project has few words, but for large titles it is necessary to use specialized localization companies that offer not only translation services, but also dubbing. Translating video games implies translating the text that will appear on the screen, but also the text that will end up being dubbed. Also, the text that appears on the screen can be divided in turn into text boxes that appear on the screen (e.g. menus) and graphic text, which implies more work by the developer since they have to be integrated graphically into the video game. In addition to the video game text itself, all associated products such as web pages, marketing brochures, etc. must also be taken into account.

Translator in charge of Translating Video Games must be Familiar with the Game itself

In any case, it is very important that the translator familiarize himself/herself with the game that he/she is going to translate in the original version, since he/she will be able to understand the game in its context and translate it better i.e play the video game itself. However, this is not always possible: if the translation is done internally, there are usually no problems, but if you send it to an agency, the pitfalls caused by confidentiality problems can become insurmountable.

Normally translators work in environments known as CAT tools, text editors (Word), spreadsheets (Excel) or databases, to which the texts of the original version are exported.

Translating Video Games is a Tricky Process

However, this does not mean that the translation process is exempt of difficulties.

Some of the problems facing the video game translator are the following:

Text length: there is usually a character limitation that should not be exceeded
Platform: this is usually related to the type of console. Some do not allow much text or that it is very small, because if it could not be read, such as the Nintendo Switch
Problems due to lack of context, which are especially acute if the original game is not available to the translator.
Age classification: PEGI is a pan-European code that establishes an age classification of Pan-European Games Information (the marks are +3, +7, +12, +16 and +18). This, on the one hand, gives the translator an idea of the player or target receiver of the translation, and on the other hand, it tells the translator what kinds of expressions he/she can use and which ones he/she cannot (swearing).
Language differences between countries: the translator will have to take into account not only the use of bad words in the country he/she is from, but whether those words are available in other cultures that also speak the same language. For example, the use of the verb ‘catch’ in Spain has no major implication, while using that word in a game for children in Argentina can lead to problems. The use of violence can also be another controversial issue that can also cause a game to be censored.
Gender use (masculine and feminine): while in English we start from a single base with hardly any distinction between one gender and another, in French, this distinction is necessary. Previously, when there was less awareness of the phenomenon of localization, the texts tended to neutralize as much as possible. Nowadays, games adapt more and more, since the number of players has increased, and there may even be different phrases for boys and girls, men and women.
Objects: in the same line, translating objects can also be a problem as they can have different genres. In this case, the translator works directly on the code and must be very careful not to erase or corrupt certain codes, as this could result in the game ceasing to function at a certain point.
Accent by characters: in this case, the translator is free to decide if any of the characters adopt a particular accent or not, depending on the role he/she has in the game
Naming characters: translators usually have enough freedom here to develop their own creativity, unless the client demands to keep the name in English.
Cultural references: the rule is that the text should be kept as timeless as possible so that, if a player wants to download a game 10 years after it was developed, he/she can still play without getting lost into cultural references of the past that are no longer in force.
Cultural adaptation: here, examples are multiple and varied. For example, when translating a Japanese video game which might include events that are typical of Japanese culture, of which a gamer here knows absolutely nothing. In this case, if the client does not wish to invest in the total adaptation of the game (which in this case would imply changing its structure), it will be necessary to keep it as neutral as possible.
Religion: religion is another cultural aspect that must be taken into account. Again, the best thing to do here is to try to neutralize its aspect as much as possible. Unreliable religious references can cause a game to be withdrawn from the market or its launch delayed (Sony had to temporarily withdraw Little Big Planet because of the inclusion of verses from the Koran.

Translating Video Games Requires a Thorough Review

These are just ‘some’ of the problems that the translator will face during his/her work. Then there will also be a review phase in which an expert will be in charge of approving it before it is sent back to the developers.

Testing Phase of Video Game Translation

Finally, there will be a testing phase, an expert quality control in which the final product is reviewed. It involves playing with an almost definitive version of the game, with the translated text and the final sound mounted, in order to detect all the errors that may have remained, the bugs, with the aim of reducing them to zero.

And all this being done against the clock, with the pressure of a given release date that, if not met due to translation problems, can cause great losses to the company.

A career in Video Game Translation maybe?

As you can see, translating video games is not an easy task. Translators might take this into account whether they might consider a future career in video game translation. As for video game players, you might get a better understanding of all the work involved in video games; work necessary so that you can enjoy your favourite video game in your mother tongue.

The Beginning & Remember Why You Started

Talking about translation and the beginning of a translation business is the easiest and most difficult thing for me to do. Easier because it is one of my favourite subjects (please don’t judge 😊) and harder, because there are so many things to talk about, still so many things to experience that I barely know where to start.

So let’s start with … the beginning:

Do you need to train in translation to become a translator?

I have been participating in groups, forums, email lists about the translation industry for many years and there have always been people wanting to join the career, but having doubts about how to go about it. The main one being always – ”Do I need to train in translation to become a translator?”. Well, let’s face it, if we are only talking about the practicality of things, you simply don’t.

Translation Is Not a Regulated Profession

Regardless of all the controversies in this regard, translation is not a regulated profession, like so many others in which you need a degree in the field to be a translator. Whoever is in the translation market knows that regulating the translation industry between so many different languages would be somewhat difficult. But that’s another matter, right?

Translator as a Choice or as a Change of Career

For this very reason, starting a career as a translator is very particular. There are translators (yours truly) who knew very soon that they wanted to be a translator. I remember I was about 12 years old and I loved studying English and Spanish. When I was 15, my dad was posted as an expatriate in (English-speaking) Nigeria, so languages were always something very present in my life. And so just a few years later, I decided I would become a translator (obviously, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but here I was).

Many Reasons as to Why You Want to Be a Translator

There are also those who come across translation during their career. Many of these translators already have another profession and, for some reason, decide to translate materials from their area of expertise (or not).

Prepare Yourself for a Smooth Ride and Being Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The possibilities are many and very specific to each translator. It is likely that for every translator to whom you ask the following question: “How did you get started in the profession?” you could well receive a different or a similar answer, but probably none will be exactly the same.

The most important thing is to know that, regardless of how we started in the profession, there are some basic things we should know. We should know about the market, about values, about the differences between freelancer vs. internal translator, technical, literary, sworn translation, about CAT tools, about terminology, about corpora, about a myriad of things. That is, we have to prepare ourselves not only in the matter of professional practice, but also on everything that involves our profession so that the beginning in the profession is both smooth and promising.

Enjoy it

However and whenever you start, and for whatever reason you decided to become a translator, my advice is simple: don’t forget to enjoy it. Just like any other business, there might be many pitfalls, but just like you enjoyed the beginning, you should and enjoy the end and the continuation in between.

A Translator’s Life: The Edge of Reason

Motivation vs. Procrastination in the Life of a Translator

In recent months, many things that I have done and seen have made me think on productivity. What motivates and what hinders our work routine, and how all this reflects in our image and our professional success as translators. Today, I will gather some thoughts and information on this.

From translating an inspirational book

Recently, I completed the translation of a booklet about self-help for a customer, which had a great impact on me (Cannot give you its title at this stage as it is waiting for publication).

I loved doing this translation, with which I also learned a lot.

Small, with tiny chapters, written in simple and direct language, permeated with illustrations, it is intended for businessmen or people who wish to start a business, or maybe not even that. Yet, this one is very different from any other kind of self-help business books out there. It demystifies many notions about business we hear. yet, always with a lot of common sense and almost excessive frankness. Virtually all the topics covered in the book can be applied to freelancers as well, especially to translators who have a business. I’ve found myself reflected in many chapters – or saw my past, my background, past jobs, colleagues. Even in typical day-to-day situations in an office, which have nothing to do with me, I saw relatives and friends there.

To Gaining Valuable Insights Into My Translation Business

There are valuable insights on preparing and launching new ventures, outreach, business concepts, use of technology, distance co-operation, competition, and much about productivity and motivation. I do not want to give away too much here, but a lot of things stuck with me. Not everything is new, but said in such an eloquent way, with great real examples. The text ends up reinforcing what people in the background already know, besides giving us some well-deserved slaps in the face. For example:

— Everything you do, say, write, every phone call, every invoice, every email – everything – is marketing.

— Being a workaholic, turning nights and weekends, sleeping little and eating badly, and still being proud of it, ultimately is being incompetent, disorganised, clumsy. Working a lot has nothing to do with working well.

— Having brilliant ideas or making big plans is no merit; What really makes the difference is in actually realising a succession of little good ideas every day.

— Current interaction tools have revalued writing – emails, text messages, websites, blogs. Communication should be efficient, clear, informative. Writing well is the fruit of the clarity and organisation of thoughts; therefore, when recruiting partners, give preference to those who write well.

— Want to be immune to competition? Make your product your own, something that only you can do, your way of being, something inimitable. Not just the result of your work, but the whole experience of working with you. (Another that applies even more to translators, as opposed to entrepreneurs from other areas.)

— To excel and have a differential, share and teach. The more people want to do what you do, the way you do, the more you establish yourself as a leader.

— Our great enemy is interruption. We only surrender when we can work for a while without any kind of interruption, so you have to schedule work periods like this.

— What drive productivity is motivation, and this is the result of many factors, including a favourable environment, attainable goals and small daily successes – more on this issue next.

— And much, much more.

More motivation to be a better translator

Also recently, I attended a convention for small entrepreneurs. I confess that at first I did not give it much credit – such a public thing, for free… What do I know, right? But it was exceptional. Great lectures, beginning with one of Google’s directors in Australia, and with many panels on digital media, marketing and business tools, etc. In a hall filled with computers, volunteers helped those who wanted to learn and open accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn and other networking sites. At the end of the day, I left full energy to improve my productivity, choose better customers, and make more productive partnerships.

And I cannot say why, but I have the impression that only this motivation, this desire to be effective, to reinforce the things that I clearly have been doing right and to correct what is not, already generates positive results. I think that just setting certain priorities or having clearer headings already translates into productivity – and effectiveness. And productivity translates into praise, better services, more money, more time to do what we like, and all this produces more motivation, of course.

Speaking of motivation, I discovered today, through a Twitter link, this beautifully illustrated lecture on the results of a research on motivation – what kind of reward yields good results, makes us win challenges. In a TED Talk, Dan Ariely does not say anything that we do not already know, but watching and reading him filled me with enthusiasm.

Professional Satisfaction as a Translator

I have seen dilemmas, debates and experiences about unattractive professional choices with huge monetary compensation versus choices that give more personal and professional satisfaction with little financial return. And increasingly I am an unconditional partisan of the second option. Because in the long run, a job that generates a good dose of motivation, which is a priority, that makes sense, inevitably generates financial return as well – and from a certain point, a higher financial return alone does not increase the motivation, quite the opposite.

There is also a crucial difference in the different positions I see in aspiring translators – for example, in the numerous emails I receive from beginners in translation asking for all kinds of opinions, advice or help.

Benefits of being a translator

There are people who, before even trying to translate something, soon show that they are anxious to know how much they will earn. It has to be a lot. It has to be now. In general, these same people want to know which areas are easy to get into, requires a small amount of customer service and guaranteed high salary. It is not uncommon to hear some well-publicised myths out there, such as those sworn translators who earn abysmal sums of money each month translating some nonsense driver’s licence.

Yes, of course! Gee, that must be why so many of my colleagues and my fellow sworn translators live on yachts, and only I have not realised that yet.

The Real Winners of the Translation Industry

The fact of the matter is that – almost always – those who have this type of concern when planning their career are not the ones who will spend half an hour immersed in dictionaries trying to get the perfect translation for an expression. Nor would they usually “waste time” studying in depth, or begin their translation career willing to translate for very little money in the beginning. It is not by chance that these “translators” are not the ones who tend to achieve the kind of professional success they were hoping to get.

Others want to perfect themselves. They want to study more, read more, do more exercises, want you to recommend other courses. There is a passion behind what they do, as well as the relentless pursuit of technical improvement – which is a lot duller and less exciting than the “passion for languages.” I often keep in touch with these people, and I am happy to see how successful they are in the profession. They are great colleagues. And the interesting thing is that they are often surprised, think they were lucky or do not think they work too much.

After 25 years of experience as a translator, now that I have a different perspective, the difference is very clear. People like that are a minority, yes, and they succeed because they have the motivation driven by the right priorities, which lead them to make no effort to improve. They embark on the profession aiming to be excellent professionals throughout their lives, not aiming for a cash-filled savings and early retirement. The difference between these values is huge.

The Worst Enemy of the Translator

To conclude, let me talk about our worst enemy: procrastination. Who does not suffer from that throws me the first stone. We have to be connected all day, easy to be found by clients and colleagues, attentive. Emails need to be answered quickly. We need to be aware of the latest news and debates. Help someone to solve a problem on Facebook. Watching a photo album of our latest trip or someone laughing at a bad translation in a video on YouTube … 1h45 later, you wonder why you are still watching this new episode of the Game of thrones.

Not to mention that Monday morning, when you take a deep breath and open the directory of the next 35-page review of a text on IT, and suddenly that’s the ideal time to mow the lawn (Or update the blog…)

Sometimes, procrastination is more blatant. Sometimes, it is camouflaged as research or confused with coffee time. Anyway, if we’re honest, we all know that we don’t roll up our sleeves more than we should, that we often lose control over the time of rest. Then the blame hits and we work until 3 o’clock in the morning, we skip meals. And when we see it, we fall into the vicious cycle of inefficient workaholism, which can end up compromising quality.

Applying These Reflections to the World of Translation

It was just when I was thinking about these subjects that I came across this article, about the evolutionary, neurological and behavioural reasons behind procrastination, and why it seems to sabotage us in such effective ways. It brings some clues to cheating our own brains, or at least not letting ourselves be fooled. Another read is worth very much.

This text quotes Dan Ariely, a scholar of human behaviours associated with economics who has given excellent lectures in TED. On his site there are links to podcasts he has done on the various chapters. I still do not know how to relate all this to the universe of translation, but all this discussion has attracted me immensely and I feel it will still bring me something useful – even if it is good reflections and reading recommendations.

Now, to work!

Get the Best English-French translation – Part II

Getting all the pieces together for your translation project

Optimising the File to Be Translated

In the first blog of this series, I started by giving tips to customers looking to get an English-French translation on how to collaborate with translators, starting with aspects related to planning and reference materials. Now the focus of the suggestions to optimise the process is in the source text that you will send to the translator.

Send the Final Version of the Source Text

Do everything in your power so that the source text sent to the translator is the final and revised version. If it is not possible, the least you should do is highlight the changes made after the first delivery. You can use a different colour font, a bookmark tool, or even a specific tool for revisions, such as the one that marks changes made in Word (“track changes”). In these cases, it is very common for the translator to charge for the extra work and, depending on the volume of the new text, the deadline should be changed.

What you should always avoid is that endless back-and-forth e-mail with multiple versions of the same source text, especially after the translator has started the work. This is the perfect recipe for wasting time and, most likely, money.

Send an Editable File

Translator translates. Simple, isn’t it? However, some people think they can send an image to a translator and get it back with everything just the same, but in another language. Well, this is perfectly feasible, but it is another service that your translator can offer or not. And not all translators offer it (I do). While some of us love desktop publishing and have fun formatting texts, making graphics, preparing tables, creating images … others are not very good at it, do not like it or just think it’s not worth investing in these extra activities and prefer to concentrate their efforts at what they do best: translate.

Type of Translatable Files

Most translators prefer to receive editable files. That being said, editable PDFs are acceptable, but not ideal. Sometimes it is even possible to copy the content of a given PDF and paste it into a word processor, but often the formatting is lost. This is especially true when the document does not contain just plain text.

The best kind of file you can send to a translator is in a format that can be edited and is also supported by the so-called “CAT tools” that your translator uses. A brief parenthesis is crucial here: CAT tools and, more specifically, translation memory software, are not the same thing as machine translation tools. Explained very simply and briefly, translation memories are files that store sentences/segments translated by the user. So when your translator comes across the same content or something similar, the software shows the sentences used previously, helping to maintain textual consistency. One of the advantages of these translation tools is that the formatting usually stays intact.

You Do Not Have an Editable File

In case you cannot send an editable file, the reactions vary from translator to translator. Before you begin work, the translator may ask you to send the material to another professional to make it into editable text. The translator can also choose to type the translated text into a simple file, without worrying about the final formatting. In that case, you will be responsible for accomplishing this task or hiring whoever does it. The translator can also offer the formatting (and charge for the extra work) or forward the text to a colleague who takes care of this task (which will charge its own fees).

Working with editable texts is also a way to reduce the margin of error.

To conclude, I would like to make it clear that collaborating with your translator does not just mean making their lives easier. Most important of all is that there are many things you can do in order to get the best product possible.

Concluding this first series of articles, the next blog will deal with the translation stage itself and what to do after receiving the translated text. Again, I’ll give you suggestions on how to get the most return on your translation projects.

Translation and… Tennis? Really?

tennis ball with english and french flags

From Tennis to English-French translation

A taste for language study, grammar, literature and translation, and more than 25 years as an English into French translator defines a large part of who I am, the way I think, with whom I relate and to whom I dedicate most of my time now. In the past, things were very different. As a teenager, one of the activities that most occupied my time was tennis.

Funny thing that I should think about tennis – now – when I spent so much time translating documents these days, wouldn’t you think?

Translated English documents to French for 25 years

While I spend most of my professional life doing French translations these days, the truth of the matter is, recently I met a very old friend of mine for an important event in my life. Someone who played a major role, whom I hadn’t seen for 10 years.

Our meeting after all these years made me think about how and when we met 35 years ago. We were both teenagers and I used to play tennis. Let’s be honest, I wasn’t very good at it but this is not important. What’s important is that meeting him after such a long time got me to compare my present life as a language translator and my former life as a teenager playing tennis. My mind began to “travel back” and weave parallels between those two activities. I was amazed to see how much they have in common. So here’s a little exercise in reflection: any of the items below are what I see and feel as much about the field of translation as about tennis, or for any individual sport for that matter.

Thoughts about what it is to be a translator and/or a tennis player

– It is notoriously lonely, which does not mean that everything depends on you alone.

– Those who see practice it without knowing it, think that it is something purely mechanical.

– You have to train your whole life; there is no time when there is no need to practise and improve. In the beginning it’s just to do the basics, but the higher the level you reach, the more important it is to train regularly to seek to extend your own limits.

– You can always improve.

– It is 99% creating and 1% inspiration.

– If, for those who look from the outside, what the person does seem easy and natural, you can be sure that it takes a lot more effort than you can imagine.

– We need to train a lot, for years and years, so that when we come across some of those crucial moments of our career, when we have those immense challenges that mark us for the rest of our lives, we know how to seize the opportunity.

– There is luck. But strategy cannot be ignored.

– There is much room for discussion about rules and questions. But inside is inside, and outside is outside.

– You have to be able to get a taste for – or at least accept and take satisfaction – from practice in all aspects (even those we do not like) – tiredness, repetition, frustration, pain. The moments of memorable victories and recognition are rare and are directly related to this continuous effort.

– Mistakes are a part of it and often happen. There simply isn’t any way you cannot – eventually – make mistakes. One must accept that this will happen and be able to deal with errors so as not to compromise the final result, and jeopardise their self-confidence and the pleasure of continuing to dedicate themselves.

– Defeat is also a part of it. You need to know how to use it as a source of motivation to improve. But if you repeatedly fail to win, there is something very wrong with what you are doing, and you need to acknowledge this fact and seek help.

– The only way to improve is always to measure ourselves with who is better than you.

– It is important to have a model (or some) of what we would like to be. And it is important to know why we choose this model.

– Defeating or pointing out mistakes of those who are technically inferior does not make us better at something.

And the comparison with translation does not stop here

– Making serious mistakes, gossiping or giving justifications only makes the situation worse. The only solution is to learn from them immediately and find a way to get it right the next time.

– The feeling of pride in winning is very strong, because we fight alone and the merit is strongly individual. But whoever wins a major victory always has a huge number of people to thank for, for getting there.

– It takes a very unique combination of ambition and humility, always.

– Do not stand still in one place. To stop is to go back.

– You cannot rest on your laurels while your career has not come to an end. This is a mortal sin.

– Few things reveal our true ethics as a painful defeat. Or even the possibility of defeat.

– Even the most correct of people might try to distort a rule in their favour or take advantage from time to time. But nothing is more difficult than doing what we know to be right when we are robbed or harmed in bad faith. And this happens often.

– External factors, whether natural or human, interfere all the time. No one is immune to them. But whoever is really serious never uses these factors as justification for their failures.

– It is perfectly possible to be self-taught, but the immense majority of self-taught people will have visible technical defects or deficiencies if they ever stop learning.

– Except for rare exceptions, it is possible to identify self-taught, amateur or occasional practitioners in a matter of seconds.

– “Having passion” and being a professional – which makes of that practice, the career of a lifetime – are completely different things. Being professional and not losing your passion for something that requires so much effort and dedication is the big challenge.

– There is plenty of room for great professionals who will never be on top or go down in history. There is no shame and it is possible to have a very dignified and productive career at intermediate levels. The degree of effort and dedication required remains exactly the same.

– There are those who have innate talent for the thing, and this is noticeable, even if we do not know exactly what it is.

– Helping someone improve makes us even better.

– Our opponent is our colleague. Without it, we are nothing, we have no merit. Our enemy today is your partner tomorrow, or vice versa.

– It is fundamental to respect the adversary and know how to recognise his merits.

More analogies with translation

– It is crucial to know how to separate a profession from personal relationships, even though these two dimensions are constantly mixing.

– We do not devote ourselves because we expect recognition. We dedicate ourselves because it is part of who we are and we want to carry it out with quality.

– It’s a journey of self-knowledge. We need to face our faults and weaknesses, as well as discover and know how to take advantage of our talents.

– We have to know how to study alone, to work alone, to protect ourselves, to overcome solitary challenges.

– Those who observe us from the outside will judge us, sometimes based on details we barely notice. It’s part of the activity.

– Claiming that you are good at it means nothing. You have to show it.

– A beautiful victory or one of pride fills everyone.

– Anyone who says they do not feel pressure when other people are watching is lying blatantly. The great merit lies in not letting the performance fall too much under pressure.

– Anyone who thinks that constantly investing in quality instrumental makes no difference in performance does not understand anything. Whoever thinks that only the instrumental solves everything, either.

– The better you are, the more difference it makes in a fraction of a second, a centimetre, a degree.

– It’s not something we do. It is something that one is. It’s a way of life, a way of thinking. Not just the person, but the whole family.

– It is an practice that transforms our way of looking at life and that influences everything we do, even if it is totally unrelated to the activity itself.

– When done well, it even touches. But only for those who know how to really enjoy it.

– It is science. It’s art. Juggling. It’s dance.

And I’m sure the list could go on and on. One day, maybe in 35 years’ time – Will I still be doing English-French translation? – I might still add items to this list…

PS: talking about tennis, I didn’t mean to generalise. That wasn’t even the goal. Much of this would also apply to a number of other individual sports or any challenging thing one might practise.

Trial and tribulations of a translator – some thoughts

Starting a new business is like Walking on thin ice

I started Extra Speech in 1995 while I was a student in Portsmouth, in the UK.

I had that famous, you know, “aha moment”. I had all the images in my head about what the business would be like and I knew that is what I wanted to do.

For me, the business made sense. I had that idea to start a translation business because I had a passion for languages and cultures. Also, I had an interest in business. Similarly, I wanted to have control over shaping my future and being able to make a difference in the world.

Consequently, within a few months, I did the legal paperwork to officially start my business. And so, in 1995, I was in business as an English to French Freelance translator.

In the early days, I started working for a small translation agency, which was fun and interesting, and challenging too. At the time, I was mostly translating user guides and manuals, marketing and sales literature, and interpreting.

Yet, the vision I had already for my business was not just translating. In addition, I wanted to help companies by improving their image and the perception of their product via translation.

As of today, that vision still remains, and I can safely say that I’m as excited about the business today as I was back then in 1995. Most importantly, I’m still helping clients succeed overseas and here at home.

Translation and work ethics

The code of ethics for translators contains all kinds of values: confidentiality, respect, dignity, privacy, accuracy to name a few.

All the items on the code of ethics are equally important. They really set the foundation for the training that soon to be translators and interpreters need, to be effective. Yet, one of the three that standout is translating accurately.

Knowing that translators, when they are dealing with different cultures, have to still convey the meaning of what is being said and translate everything that is being said.

On top of that, they have to keep everything confidential.

Moreover, they also have to keep an impartial attitude when they are translating and remain neutral.

This applies two interpreters as well.

That is important because sometimes non-English speakers might ask an interpreter for advice such as ‘What would you do? Would you have this procedure done?’ and the interpreters are in a powerful position because they speak multiple languages and they understand both cultures. Yet, they have to remain impartial in that scenario.

Having that code of ethics is really important as a foundation.

There was a study recently that just came out talking about the challenges of working with an untrained interpreter and a trained interpreter.

It was really interesting. They quantified the impact of errors that were made by highly trained interpreters compared to errors that were made by less trained or untrained interpreters. What they found is that for interpreters who had very little or no training – volunteers for example in a hospital – that over 20% of the mistakes that those interpreters made could have had a negative impact on the patient.

On the other hand, on the errors that the highly trained interpreters made, only 2% of those errors were likely to have a negative or harmful impact on the patient.

Furthermore, they found that the highly trained interpreters made many fewer mistakes, so that the total impact of training was very obvious.

Examples of difficult translations

Translation case study 1

I had a case that I had found really difficult, which involved a human resources manager of a local manufacturing company. She requested a price quotation for translating their entire human resources and safety procedures.

After they’ve received a quote about how much that would cost them, the human resources manager said that the price was higher than she had budgeted. And why couldn’t you just translate the last page of the manual? Which was sort of the knowledgement of receipt and understanding, just a sign off page.

Well, this was a challenge because to be asked to translate just the knowledgement and understanding page vs. the entire training and safety manual is a little disturbing. When clients are looking to get something translated, it is really thinking about who the audience is and how it is going to be used. At the end of the day, though, I could help this customer. I advised her to reduce the amount of text to be translated so as to budget for translations while still making sure that employees were safe in the workplace.

The question being, is there anything that I can do to make the document more internationally friendly? If it it is a training manual or an instruction manual, perhaps some of the lengthy text could be replaced by some diagrams or some charts so that makes it less wordy to translate? So it is more cost effective to translate that way. There are different strategies that I can work with clients to make a document easily translatable so that the message is getting across accurately and on budget.

Translation case study 2

Another situation involved a doctor who had a patient.

The patient said he couldn’t speak English. Yet, the doctor said, “Yes, you can speak English. You’re just sort of faking it.”

The client had requested an interpreter for this patient. It was documented in the system that the patient had a French language limitation and needed an interpreter. When the appointment was scheduled, I arrived early for the appointment. Yet, surprisingly, the meeting was already taking place. Everyone had got a little ahead of schedule.

They were already meeting. Therefore when I went into the room and was told that I wasn’t needed. Yet, when I would look at the patient, his body language clearly showed that he didn’t understand what was going on. The purpose of this appointment was – as a matter of fact – a pre-surgery consult – going over what was going to happen with the surgery. How to prepare for surgery, the usual – not to eat anything, not to drink anything within a certain amount of time. Because there would be serious complications that could result if the protocol is not followed.

Therefore when I realised that the patient didn’t speak French, I intervened with the provider. He was very insistent that the patient did in fact speak French. There was obviously a cultural competency of cultural awareness that was lacking. Surprisingly, the provider was an immigrant who was from a non-French-speaking country.

Nevertheless, I stepped more in the role, in this case, of an advocate, to be able to make sure that the patient was able to get the care needed. Yet, the provider was still again insisting on just going forward. He said I could leave and go help someone else. Before then, I – as a matter of fact – verified, asking direct questions to the patient, ‘do you understand?’ and the patient said, ‘No, I do not understand.’

I then politely went out of the room and was able to come back in with a supervisor. This in some way resolved the situation. The provider later worked with the supervisor. They got additional training and information about how to be you culturally appropriate and culturally sensitive and the importance of being able to accurately communicate.

That was a very complex situation.

The importance for the translator or the interpreter of maintaining objectivity

It is very important to maintain objectivity, to maintain both parties or all participants in an interpreting session, to trust that the interpreter is going to be impartial.

However, if the outcome is being jeopardised at some point, the interpreter then is allowed to advocate or intervene in a way that can get things back on track. The next case demonstrates that, where confidentiality is still being protected, I was able to intervene indirectly but very effectively to save a situation that was in jeopardy.

A “delicate” interpreting situation

I had interpreted for a number of appointments for a patient who had previously been in a gang.

Yes, you heard me – A gang.

Through the course of some previous appointments I had shared, it was interpreted that he had taken illegal drugs in the past. So during this particular appointment on that day, the provider needed to find out if the patient had taken drugs previously because that would hinder the treatment plan going forward for this other scenarios that he was dealing with.

It could have been dangerous.

And in fact, if he had taken illegal drugs before, then this new treatment plan would be very detrimental to his health.

So when interpreting, the provider said, ‘Have you taken any drugs previously?’ and the patient very quickly said matter-of-factly ’No, I didn’t’.

Of course, I am interpreting everything that is being said. Yet, in my mind, I’m thinking, oh my goodness, I know that is not accurate.

Now, I have the dilemma of knowing this information that is confidential. Yet, if I don’t share it, then what is going to happen to the patient’s health?

So again, I try and act very strategically and carefully, then realised: Okay, in order to not divulge confidentiality, I can as the interpreter, ask the provider to ask the question again and to explain the reasoning behind the question.

So the provider asked the question again, ‘Have you taken any drugs previously?’ and then why that was important and fortunately, the patient said this time, ’Well yes, to be honest, I have.

Yet, in my mind, I’m thinking, oh my goodness, I know that is not accurate. Now, I have the dilemma of knowing this information that is confidential. Yet, if I don’t share it, then what is going to happen to the patient’s health?

So the provider asked the question again, ‘Have you taken any drugs previously?’ and then why that was important and fortunately, the patient said this time, ’Well yes, to be honest, I have.

So they were able to find a new course of treatment for him. And his confidentiality was preserved.

Also, they didn’t report him. Everything went well. It could easily have gone off-track.

To conclude, I would say there is a very ethical tight. What is important for people to realise is that you can be bilingual, you can even be bicultural. Yet, it doesn’t mean that you can be an effective interpreter. So to make an interpreter effective, you have to have a lot of training.

After all, being bilingual and bicultural doesn’t mean that you are a good interpreter.

Translation

The same is true also on the translation side. An interpreter is someone who focuses on the spoken language and verbally and this is done by telephone by video, face-to-face, or in person. On the other side, there is document translation. Translators tend to focus on written words, working in their homes, all over the world.

It is not contextual.

And they also have a bit more time to find the exact words. Translators have to have training in the skills to be able to translate accurately, or the message can be completely missed.

Translation for Businesses

Whenever an organisation has language or cultural obstacles to overcome, they have a choice to make. If they decide to tackle those issues head-on, then they are going to have an opportunity to reduce costs, reduce risk and have better outcomes.

A wonderful study came out recently that – as a matter of fact – looked at CEOs from global companies. The study asked them, ‘Why do you think you are losing business opportunities overseas?’ or ‘How have you lost these contracts overseas?’ One of the things that they say was a primary reason, 49% of the time, the CEOs said that they lost big international deals because they did not have the language and cultural competence in that organisation. 85% of them said that they would have greater revenues, greater market share and increased profits if they had the translation resources.

In conclusion, it shows the importance of being culturally aware and culturally sensitive in business.

If Only Everything in Life was as Reliable as a Translation

You’ve hired a translator to have a document translated into French, thinking that all is tickety boo. Suddenly, everything goes so wrong.

Ever had some pretty Bad experiences with translators?

15 things that could go wrong with your translator

_ Poor translation: Typos, Spelling mistakes, Inconsistencies, Omissions, Terminology is all wrong

_ Translator has clearly not proofread his/her work before delivery

_ Has only a basic school level/understanding of the English language

_ Poor writing skills/no subtleties in the French language

_ Tells you he/she is familiar with a subject when it is clear they are not

_ You get No feedback on the current translating job. Translator is not answering their phone. Worse, they are clearly Ignoring your calls

_ Your Instructions are being followed

_ Wrong format used

_ Translator changed the Names of all (200) files, for no apparent reason

“I’ve been ill, my car/computer/house/dog broke down”

_ Translator tells you his/her computer has crashed and they’ve lost everything, preferably 2 days before delivery of a large and very important document

_ LATE DELIVERY or NO DELIVERY without notification

_ Translator is giving up in the middle of a project or simply disappearing and never sending you the translation?

You’ve probably heard/seen it all, when they are disorganized or simply don’t care

_ Translator HIRED somebody else to do the job behind your back

_ Using Machine Translation

_ Claiming they’re using a CAT tool but they DON’T and/or don’t know how

_ They’re being RUDE and/or lack of professionalism

_ Translator contacting your client to steal him away from you or bad-mouth you

Finding the right English into French translator for your translation project can be a Real Nightmare

Well, at Extra Speech, I work differently and this is why:

Meeting the basic requirements and more

French Native
Highly Proficient in English: Lived 14 years in the UK, South Africa, Australia and Canada

Years of study and practice

25+ years experience in the translation industry
Several million words translated
Qualified:
- MA in Translation Studies from the University of Portsmouth
- LEA (Hons) in English Language from the Université of Lyon, France

Relevant Expertise to Your project

Only accept subjects I know well – If I’m out of my depth, I will find you the right translator for your translation project

Better Translations

A translator who lives in France, with the target audience
Natural French – A Translation that won’t feel like a translation

Accuracy and Technical Expertise

All your CAT Tool projects handled and a Greater Consistency using SDL Studio (preferred), memoQ or WordFast Pro
Right Terminology, with MultiTerm and glossaries compiled over the years for your benefit
Most file formats handled, with documents whose layout mirrors the original as closely as possible

Giving You peace of mind

Confidentiality and discretion, according to the Code of Professional Conduct of the Société Française des Traducteurs (SFT)
Your translation on time, When You Want it:
- Out of 78 projects this year, every one of which I delivered by the deadline, more than half of which I delivered early!

Making your life easy, saving your time

A translator who reads and adheres to your instructions
Independent but ability to work with other translators and proofreaders
Easy to contact
Easy payment
- Any currency via PayPal or Transfer

So, if you are looking for a smooth translation experience with a reliable English to French translator, contact me now.

Qu’est-ce qu’une bonne traduction ?

Devant une telle interrogation, le traducteur de métier est saisi de trouble, presque de vertige. Peut-on répondre à une question aussi complexe ? Qui, en effet, dit le bon et le mauvais en ce domaine ?

Quelles conditions une traduction doit-elle remplir pour être jugée bonne ? Mais qui est le juge ou l’arbitre ? Quel sage ou quel savant ? Et les critères de la traduction littéraire ont-ils encore une utilité pour la traduction administrative ou technique ? Une traduction estimée bonne à une époque l’est-elle encore trente ans ou trois siècles plus tard ? Le client peut trouver mauvaise une traduction que le traducteur aura pensée bonne ; inversement, le client jugera bonne une traduction que le traducteur aura lui — même considérée comme médiocre, parce que faite, par exemple, sans la documentation voulue ou avec une précipitation impitoyablement imposée. La qualité d’une traduction est-elle un en soi, un absolu ? ou bien est-elle relative à un milieu, à une mentalité, à une époque ? Vaut-il mieux être infidèle avec élégance ou maladroitement fidèle ? Pourtant, n’y a-t-il pas un minimum qu’aucun traducteur ne pourra transgresser, sous peine de trahir ?

Gide, écrivain qui fut aussi traducteur, pensait que le métier de traducteur était si difficile, et important, qu’il fallait être écrivain professionnel pour l’exercer. Sans doute, il parlait de la traduction littéraire, mais son exigence s’applique tout autant à nous, si nous limitons la qualité d’écrivain à celle de rédacteur, autrement dit, de celui qui excelle à manier la langue, sans être forcément un créateur littéraire.

Pour préparer cet exposé, j’ai réfléchi, bien sûr, sur ma propre pratique de traducteur, de rédacteur, d’écrivain. Mais j’ai lu aussi ce que bien des traducteurs, qui ont réfléchi avant moi, ont écrit sur ce qu’ils estimaient être une bonne traduction. J’ai également porté mon regard sur le travail des autres, que j’ai pu apprécier comme réviseur, comme pédagogue et formateur, comme correcteur ou appréciateur. Je vais essayer de proposer des éléments de réponse, mais, dans ce domaine du relatif, je ne m’aventure qu’avec précaution, avec crainte même, car il n’est pas de réponse vite faite à la question posée : « Qu’est-ce qu’une bonne traduction ? »

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