As I mentioned last week, this will be my last post for the blog. With that said, I wanted to take a moment and welcome the newest members to our team:
-María Cecilia – Spanish Translation Blog
-Scott and Killian – English Translation Blog
Both blogs will have new participants which will make it that much more enriching [...]
Author Archive
And the Family Keeps on Growing…
Friday, November 28th, 2008What is Localization?
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008In the specific case of translation, localization refers to how a language is adapted to a specific country or culture so that the target audience understands the text on a native level. Not only are the words themselves localized, accounting for spelling differences and disparities in word usage, but aspects such as date and number [...]
Teamwork
Friday, November 21st, 2008We frequently hear the word “teamwork”, especially in our work environments where so many people are working for the same company, all for a common end result.
Teamwork exceeds individual work by far, even if there is a member of the group that is an exceptional individual, since the sum of the parts always contributes more [...]
What is MultiTerm?
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008If you are a translator working with the Trados CAT tool, you may have seen a component called MultiTerm in your product package. So, just what is this tool and how practical is it for every-day translation jobs?
MultiTerm is ideal for translators working with bilingual glossaries or ongoing projects with highly specific terminology. Many times [...]
Respecting minorities in multilingual environments
Friday, November 14th, 2008The history of the European continent has defined countries that we recognize as having regional languages as well as official languages. Because of that, several countries are multilingual and it is quite common to learn several languages at once and use them on a daily basis.
Within minority languages, Catalan is the language with the most [...]
Do not translate!
Friday, November 7th, 2008The best example of what shouldn’t be translated is in the case of names. We cannot translate the names of legal persons or physical persons.
Aside from this classic example of words that should remain as they are in the original, there are other cases of words that cannot be translated: international symbols.
In this sense, the [...]
The Most Widely Spoken Languages
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008If you are a company looking to expand your market internationally, you have most likely already considered using translation services to translate your business material, but have you really thought about which languages you would like your material to be translated into? Of course, this decision largely depends on your target market, location and products [...]
Adhesion contracts
Friday, October 31st, 2008In another post, we mentioned this type of contract which is commonly used in today’s market filled with the hustle and bustle of the business world. Adhesion contracts are pre-printed contracts used by the majority of companies who market mass products or services.
The legal issue behind these “contracts” is the consent of one of [...]
Mark Twain’s back translation
Monday, October 27th, 2008A few weeks ago, I made a post about back translations, but this time I wanted to share a famous example of a back translation gone wrong. In 1865, Mark Twain published a short story entitled “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, which, shortly thereafter was translated into French. Appalled by the French translation [...]
How to translate the word “agreement” in Spanish in a legal context.
Friday, October 24th, 2008First, let’s find out what an agreement actually is. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the following definitions are provided: 1.a. the act or fact of agreeing; 1.b. harmony of opinion, action or character: concord; 2.a. an arrangement as to a course of action; 2.b. compact, treaty; 3.a. a contract duly executed and legally binding; 3.b. the [...]
The Financial Crisis and Translation
Monday, October 20th, 2008The news these days is full of market reports, minute-by-minute updates on the stock market and countless stories of small businesses being driven into bankruptcy. There is a general sense of tension especially for small business owners, and rightly so! So, what does this mean for the translation industry and how will it be affected?
Glancing [...]
How to determine the quality of a translation
Friday, October 17th, 2008Frequently, we are faced with the task of determining whether or not the translation we revise is good or bad. As professionals, our opinions should be well-grounded and not a result of our mood at that time or the friendship we have with the translator who delivered the product.
There are some objective factors that will [...]
Many critics, no defenders
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008“Many critics, no defenders,
translators have but two regrets:
when we hit, no one remembers,
when we miss, no one forgets.”
-Anonymous
This is a well-known verse among translators, but is it really true? Are translators really given due credit for their work or are we destined to deliver translation after translation without the thanks we deserve?
Our task is difficult [...]
The importance of information sources
Friday, October 10th, 2008In our daily task as translators, we face several different possibilities for the translation of a text, so, what is the best option when there are multiple possibilities? Some may have a more sophisticated style, some were already used by others in works published on the Internet, and finally, some are found in dictionaries or [...]
Developing Your Own Freelance Translation Business
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008As freelance translators, it is at times difficult to start your own business and increase your work flow and client contacts. Here are some helpful tips to help get your business up and running.
First, it is important to have a clear idea of the services you offer, your target market, and area of expertise. For [...]
The Rise of Spanglish
Friday, October 3rd, 2008The term Spanglish came into existence between 1965 and 1970 and refers to any expression in Spanish that borrows parts of English, especially as substitutions of Spanish words.
The most common fields that use and abuse Spanglish are areas related to technology, since most of the products introduced into the market are in English. These terms [...]
What is a Back Translation?
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008Many times clients will request what is called a back translation which is essentially a way to verify the accuracy of a translation. The most common areas for back translations are science and medicine, whether they are medical forms, informed consent forms, research study protocols, etc. For instance, let’s say a client submitted a document [...]
The Benefits of Working with Original Editable Documents
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008Today, clients commonly deliver files in PDF format for a price quote for translation, edition and proofreading services.
This format, which is very practical for sending a file through the Internet, cannot be edited, and thus, when the translation, edition and proofreading services are purchased, it would be helpful if the client would send the original [...]
Importing and Exporting Translation Memories
Monday, September 22nd, 2008When delivering projects to larger translation agencies or clients who use the Trados CAT tool, learning how to export and import translation memories is fundamental for smooth deliveries. Instead of delivering the five files that generate the translation memory (TM), which usually implies a large file size, you can simply export your TM into an [...]
