As we have brought up in other posts, large translation projects need more care and attention in order to maintain consistency in the translation throughout the document(s). This coherence in terminology must be respected by all members of the work team.
The client can be the one who provides the list of terminology through the use [...]
Archive for the ‘Professional Translation’ Category
Client Glossaries
Friday, January 15th, 2010Translation Studies
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Texts have been translated between languages empirically, by hand. This doesn’t mean that people have not spent time reflecting and theorizing on the art of translation or that the great translators of history have stopped proposing their own theories.
However, only recently have linguists elevated translation to a scientific category by creating a branch of applied [...]
When Translation and SEO Collide
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009Working as a translator (or at least a good one) implies exercising a high level of attention to detail, the kind of nit-pickiness that will drive your friends mad but which will elate your clients. Translators need to have a strong command of both their source and their target languages to be able to do [...]
The Importance of Language in Diplomacy
Sunday, December 13th, 2009The United States government has a high demand for linguists. President Obama’s administration is looking to put more emphasis on diplomacy through more effective multilingual communication in all areas: intelligence, defense, State Department agencies, etc.
The ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) was created and includes several agencies of the State Department. Its main focus will be increasing [...]
The Persian Language
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family, which we spoke about HERE.
More than 60 million people are native speakers of this language, and they are distributed across Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Oman, the Arab Emirates and India, as well as members of the Persian diaspora.
The ISO and the Academy of Persian [...]
More Automatic Translation Gadget News
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009As a translator, it is with a fair share of trepidation and chagrin that I “celebrate” news (such as the topic of today’s post) relating to new gadgets that facilitate–or usurp!–the job of the translator or interpreter. Nonetheless, the gadget we’re going to be looking at here is just too nifty to disregard, and, thankfully, [...]
Translator Training
Friday, November 27th, 2009This concept is extremely important. I am not just talking about the education that a translator receives in their studies, but also about culture in general, which is even more important when a translator is specialized in a certain field or fields.
A translator’s training consists in their ability to master their mother tongue: writing, spelling, [...]
Specialized Translation Agencies
Friday, November 20th, 2009Years ago we used to see that translation agencies in various countries of the world would only work with a few language pairs, three or four at most. They worked with only one translation program and its staff was made up of only local translators.
Today the need to satisfy clients and the clients’ growing needs [...]
Health Care and Medical Translations
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009A reform to the health care system in the United States is coming, though the details of the new system are still being worked out. One aspect that is highly important in these proceedings, and often overlooked, is that all policies and practices at insurance companies and hospitals will have to be reworked and reworded. [...]
The Pashto Language
Friday, November 13th, 2009Spoken by the Khan’s or Pashtuns (inhabiting Afghanistan and the west of Pakistan) as well as by groups in India, it is one of the official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari.
With regards to the linguistic history of Pashto, it comes from the Indo-European language of families, discussed HERE, and more specifically forms part of [...]
Automatic Translation?
Friday, November 6th, 2009Automatic translations, better known as machine translations, have experienced something of a resurgence lately. Today, there have been numerous advances in the field of translation, including different programs used for translation. These advances, specifically the programs, have simplified the lives of translators and have shortened delivery times, which has enhanced both productivity and quality (consistency, [...]
The Importance of Plain Language
Thursday, November 5th, 2009Are you tired of not understanding the texts you read or speeches you listen to? If so, you are most certainly not alone: there are scores of frustrated readers and listeners out there that know they have a fairly decent linguistic level, yet find it simply impossible to understand a lot of what passes today [...]
Subtitling or Dubbing for Multimedia Translations
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009With the ever-increasing presence and importance of online video content, companies looking to enhance their presentations and appearance need to make important decisions regarding how this video content will be communicated in other languages.
There are two choices for how the translated text will be expressed in an online video, which applies to all video content: [...]
What is Interpretation?
Friday, October 30th, 2009In my work as a translator, I often hear people, due to an understandable unfamiliarity, tell me that they once again needed an “oral translation”. I then deduce that the concept of “interpretation” is not well-known and that is why people who are not part of this small world of translation tend to be so [...]
What is Trados?
Saturday, October 24th, 2009When you are looking to pay for a professional translation, the is a good chance you will come up against a magic word: Trados.
What exactly are they talking about? It’s actually quite simple: it is a very popular translation software that helps translation clients in a great way. The program creates translation memories of the [...]
Last Minute Changes During Translation Projects
Friday, October 23rd, 2009Everybody knows that the rhythm of today’s business world means that business leaders often need to send off documentation for translation that will undergo subsequent changes or revisions.
Will these people receive translations of documentation that is already obsolete within their company?
Not at all—our system of fluid communication with clients and the flexibility of our work [...]
Internationalization First, Localization Second
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009In the present day and age, a large volume of translation projects are requested by customers that are intent on localizing their products, sales pitches, marketing materials, etc. There is a tremendous need to break into new markets, and that means that localization is a primary concern for tranlsation agencies.
Of course, localization can be a [...]
Do We Need Certified Translators?
Friday, October 16th, 2009Let’s say that you are dealing with some important paperwork between two languages (a birth certificate from a different country, perhaps) and suddenly the man on the other side of the desk says, “This document has to be translated by a certified translator.” What do you do then?
Well, first of all, don’t panic. It’s important [...]
More on Proofreading
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009In my last post I covered how a professional proofreading covers the aspects of style, cohesion, and grammar in a work of any size. There is one other aspect that I failed to mention that definitely does deserve a mention: clarity. Translators and, to a lesser extent, editors can easily get lost in the content, [...]
What’s the Minimum Number of Translators Involved in Each Translation Project?
Friday, October 9th, 2009Some clients may not be aware of it, but each translation project—no matter how small—involves the work of various translation professionals.
The “translator” is the professional that works with the source text on the first round, applying a determined work methodology learnt during University studies. In case of a very large project, several translators will partake.
Subsequently, [...]
