Public Events – Are you making the most of what’s on offer?

CPD

MAKING THE MOST OF IT

As translators, we tend to work from home, usually alone, and despite the online networks available, we can feel isolated.

I have found public events to be a fantastic tool for improving my specialist area knowledge, meeting new people working in my specialist fields and generally expanding my mental horizons. Events on offer range across the spectrum of human endeavour and many are free.

This being the case, why have I seen so few non-academics at the events I have recently attended? Perhaps these events are poorly advertised, but it is well worth seeking them out. Not only do they provide us with opportunities as individuals, but they also give us the chance to raise the profile of the translation industry as a whole by showing ‘outsiders’ that professional translators dedicate time and effort to improving their skills.

When attending an event, particularly where there is a specific speaker, I would advise researching the speaker, their approach to the subject at hand and other possible approaches. This will give you the opportunity to engage more fully with what they say and to benefit from the event as fully as possible. You should also prepare yourself for the question, “which faculty are you in?”, if you attend events put on by a university, and the looks of confusion you will likely receive on saying “I’m a translator working in the field”.

Some events I have recently attended include:

Incremental Change – How to make it visible. (CRASSH) A cross-disciplinary look at sustainability and the environment, this seminar considered how to show trends in biodiversity on different scales and the challenges involved in this. It also covered the human element of data collection, sustainability and the environment. Barbara Bodenhorn and Rosamunde Almond.

What makes a brilliant piece of academic writing? (CUP) This was an introduction to trends in academic writing and how these trends can be measured using SketchEngine software. This analysis then influences the advice given by CUP in their English guidebooks for non-native speakers.

Multidimensional Poverty Measurement Methodologies. (OPHI) This seminar compared methodologies for measuring poverty, their strengths and weaknesses, and their applications. Suman Seth.

King’s College International Development Institute Launch Conference. This full day conference covered a range of development topics with various researchers speaking on each subject.

About writing - Fear of the unknown? Fear of criticism? An exploration of writing development for professional academics. (Oxford Learning Institute) This seminar presented a project through which Higher Education lecturers working in Further Education colleges were encouraged to write academic texts. This was incredibly relevant from my perspective as a professional translator who suffers some of the same fears as the project’s participants. Dr Rebecca Turner.

All of the above were free events, advertised on Eventbrite and/or universities’ events pages. As you can see, law-related events are conspicuously lacking. This is partly because events for legal training tend to be longer, more involved and more expensive, so I attend fewer, and partly because, coincidentally, there have not been any suitable events in the past few months (though there are some coming up).

Nevertheless, time and money are obvious issues. Depending on the location of the event, the travel time and costs may outweigh the benefits of attending. However, this problem can be mitigated by using public transport; it is possible to work on a train (less so on a bus) and ticket costs are tax deductible.

What’s more, whoever said you can only attend events related to your specialisation? Are you interested in the arts, history or bio-medical advances? I guarantee you will find something to tempt you.

I will be attending the Translation in History event with Theo Hermans on 28 November; perhaps I will see you there.

Resources

Eventbrite – You can do subject specific searches and once you have booked a place on one event, Eventbrite suggests similar events you may be interested in.

Oxford University Events

Cambridge University

King’s College University

(You get the idea R.E. University pages – Google is at your disposal).

A New Collaboration

Working as a translator can be a lonely calling. That is why joining online communities, attending conferences and training events, and generally cooperating with our colleagues around the world is so important for the sanity of freelance translators everywhere.

In this vein, about six months ago I started an exchange with English to French translator Mélanie Pérard. It began when Mélanie posted a job on ProZ looking for an exchange of services for the translation of her website. I was certainly interested in this proposal as I was also in the market for someone to translate some of my direct client marketing material.

This exchange has certainly been a success so far. We not only do translations for each other, and I am extremely pleased with the quality of Mélanie’s work, but we also have the opportunity to ask each other for help with tricky terms or phrases.

The Transformation

Two weeks ago this exchange developed into a collaboration. Mélanie emailed me with an idea: to offer reasonably priced CV and Cover Letter translation to students and recent graduates. The idea is that we will each market in our home countries, which should be easier than marketing in a foreign country for obvious reasons. She will translate from English into French for clients I find in the English-speaking market and I will translate into English for her French-speaking clients.

I was immediately in favour of the idea, students being a market I understand and CVs and cover letters vital tools for finding a job. I know that we will be able to offer an excellent and reasonably priced service because we have the necessary training and experience and what’s more we care. (It doesn’t matter how good you are at a job, if you don’t care you will let mistakes slip through.) We want to provide top quality translations that give students top quality CVs and cover letters so they can achieve their potential and expand their horizons.

First Steps

Despite our assumed knowledge of our target market, we thought it prudent to do some market research. Between us we developed a questionnaire which asked questions about the desirability of our planned service and pricing. We distributed the survey through Facebook, which was more difficult than you would expect as it requires friends to pass on the survey and groups to allow you to post it (we did not want to post without permission and be flagged as spam).

We then went on to exchanging emails discussing pricing, payment, deadlines, terms and conditions, all of which thankfully we agreed upon quickly.

Next Steps

Currently we are awaiting the results of the survey and working on admin necessities. Once we have enough results we will decide our next steps from there.

So far I believe our main challenges will be reaching our target audience and helping them to understand how professional translation can benefit them and why quality makes such a difference. 

Please check out our Facebook page for more information or get in touch at holly.anne@whytetranslations.com if you have any questions about CV and cover letter translation or general translation queries.

Quality Control Procedure

To ensure the quality of every translation, I follow the procedure below.

1	Understanding what you need. Not all translations are the same and there is no one correct way to translate a specific document. In order to provide you with a high-quality translation that you can use I need to understand what you need. This is why I ask you to fill out a brief sheet, outlining the target audience and end use of the translation among other elements. It is also helpful if you can provide any relevant background material and/or style guides.
2	Understanding the source text. In order to translate not only the context of your text but its stylistic features as well, I carefully read and analyse the text. This allows me to evaluate its cultural, stylistic and content features and judge how best to translate them into English.
3	Translating. To ensure consistency I build and work with terminology glossaries which are specific to each project. Where an element is particularly challenging I will highlight it and return to it several times until I am happy with the result.
4	Leaving the translation, overnight if possible. This is a rather inactive step, but it is essential. A translation needs to be proofread with a fresh mind and a fresh pair of eyes. Have you ever said a word so many times that it loses all meaning? This effect is the reason for this step.

5	Reading the translation aloud. Without returning to the source text I read my translation aloud to check for stylistic elements such as fluidity, clarity, consistency and register. The style must adhere to the criteria outlined on the brief sheet and the elements evaluated in the initial analysis.
6	Systematically checking the content. At this stage I systematically check the content of the translation against the source text. I check for omissions, additions and distortions of meaning or emphasis and amend the text accordingly.
7	Checking formatting. I use a translation tool which should replicate the formatting of the original text automatically, however it is not 100% accurate. As such, I manually check that the formatting of the translation matches that of the source text.  This is particularly important when translating non-text documents, such as certificates, to ensure that all of the stamps and signatures have been indicated on the translation.
8	Final checking. This is the last step in my translation process. I carefully check the translation, word by word and sentence by sentence, to ensure that there are no typographical or grammatical errors. I will then read the translation through a final time, for my own peace of mind, to check the style and clarity one last time.

= A beautifully polished translation

Terminology Resources Part II- Glossaries and monolingual dictionaries

This is the second post on Terminology Research. This post focuses on the glossaries that I use most often. Since I specialise in translating legal and social sciences texts I am most familiar with glossaries for these fields. It is particularly difficult to find glossaries for some subjects and often using the techniques and resources outlined in Part I can be more helpful than trawling the internet for glossaries that may not be very reliable. Considering this, it is always worth checking that the translation you have found is the most appropriate for the context. This can be done by finding examples of how the suggested translation has been used in an actual published text from a reputable source (well-known newspapers, companies’ websites, etc.).

Glossaries:

The glossaries use I most often are organised into folders under different categories in my Favourites folder:

KEY

*Glossaries I use very often or official websites that should be reliable.

*Glossaries I use to give me an idea, but this idea should be verified.

*Glossaries I prefer not to use, but as a last resort I will see if what they say can be verified elsewhere or point me in the right direction.

Ø  Translation

Ø  English Glossaries

Ø  Finance

*BBC News - Financial Glossary

*The Economist - Economics Glossary

*OECD - Acronyms and Abbreviations

*The Guardian - Business Glossary

Ø  Legal

*Law.com

*Judiciary of England and Wales

*Immigration Glossary

*European Judicial Network

*EU Doc Hound

Ø  Social Sciences

*Glossary of the Social Sciences

*Social Sciences Dictionary

Ø  Spanish Resources

Ø  Finance

*Santander Glossary

*Aula de Economía        

*Invertex Glossary

*Econlink.ar

Ø  Legal

*Diccionario Jurídico

*Definición Legal

*WordReference Legal

Ø  Social Sciences

*General Glossary

*General Glossary II

Ø  French Resources

Ø  Finance/Business

*OptiVente Glossary

*General Business Glossary

*e-Anglais Glossary       

Ø  Legal

*Haopi (copyright law)

*Dictionnaire du droit privé

*Conseil d’État

*State of Maryland Glossary

*Avocat Online Glossary

This is merely a list of the glossaries that I use most often and it is by no means exhaustive. Unsurprisingly there are more financial, legal and business glossaries available than social sciences ones. For research into less prominent areas, like social sciences, articles and dedicated websites can be much more useful research tools.

If a glossary cannot be searched online or is available to download, I will usually download it and convert it into a format that can be fed through OmegaT i.e. plaintext documents in which terms are separated from their translations by a tab. You can do this in various ways and I have found it easiest to 1. copy the table into word, 2. cut it (Ctrl + X) and 3. paste it unformatted (Ctrl + Shift + V). For this to work you must make sure you have set columns to be replaced by a tab (usually the default setting).

The European Parliament has made their searchable database of glossaries available to the public. I have yet to explore this but I don't see how it could fail to be an excellent resource.

Online dictionaries:

Oxford English Dictionary:

The OED website is a subscription only online version of arguably the most comprehensive and reliable English dictionary available. So far I have had access to the website through my university and the Council and I have not yet decided if it is worth buying my own subscription.

Real Academia Española:

The RAE website is a public online version of the Spanish language dictionary for peninsular (as opposed to Latin American) Spanish.

Laroussse:

I prefer this online monolingual French dictionary to others available as it is simple to use, generally has straightforward definitions (though is not very useful for specialised contexts) and has an encyclopaedia and a bilingual section.

Very occasionally I will consult a physical dictionary if I am struggling to find a definitive answer elsewhere.

Please feel free to use the comments box to add any other suggestions and useful resources.

Thanks!

Terminology Resources Part I: Term searching and EU resources

Since starting a traineeship at the Council of the European Union in February I have been introduced to a variety of new resources for terminology research. As part of my training here I learnt how to edit the IATE terminology database, ensuring that entries are sufficiently detailed and properly categorised.

Below I have outlined the main resources that I use when researching terminology. I discovered some of them here and some I have been using since the early days at university. I hope you find my comments useful and please feel free to suggest any important resources that I have missed out.

Term Searching:

WordReference:

This is my favourite online dictionary. It is particularly useful for researching Spanish terms and it has specialised sections for business and legal terms. Its forums for queries about Spanish terms are a very useful resource and much more active than those for French. WordReference now has both a Collins dictionary tab and a WordReference tab, under which users can suggest alternative translations or improvements.

Linguee:

This website searches for multilingual websites and returns hits showing you how others have translated the term. While there is a basic tool allowing user feedback on the quality of the translations, terms found using this resource should still be verified. The top entries will usually be from EU texts, but be wary of these as well because EU phrasing is not necessarily the best or most natural way to say something to a native speaker.

ITI Spanish and French Networks:

These online communities are composed of ITI members working in Spanish and French. There are groups for translators of other languages, as well as for translators specialising in different areas. I find the members welcoming, supportive and extremely knowledgeable. Even if I do not have any queries to post for a while, I find I learn a lot from the other members' questions and responses, some of which I can contribute to myself.

Proz/Kudoz:

The Proz.com Kudoz section allows you to earn points for helping other translators with terminology queries. These points affect where you appear when potential clients search Proz for translators.

You can search all of the Proz databases simultaneously, including answered questions and glossaries, through their new term search function. Unfortunately you cannot use this search tool for words less than 3 characters long, so it is not very useful for short acronyms or abbreviations.

Wikipedia:

Wikipedia is useful if you want to know the name used for something in another language, for example the name of a film or an association. This is done by searching for the Wikipedia page for your association, film, concept etc. in your source language and then changing the language on the left-hand side of the page. However, Wikipedia is not 100% reliable (I have found it to be about 95% correct) so any terms found in this way should be verified.

Official websites:

Many organisations will have glossaries on their website. Some will also have different language versions of the site itself so you can find information on the same subject in your source and target languages. Switching the language of the website is especially useful for finding an organisation's official name in your target language as well as the names of specific projects.

Council/EU specific resources:

EUR-Lex:

This is the EU's public database of legislation. It has various search options, including a term search function. You can view two different language versions in parallel.

N-Lex:

This is the EU's database of EU member states' national legislation. Like EUR-Lex it has various search options. The search hits link to the member states' official government websites where the legislation is published, and the availability of different language versions depends on the member states' individual policies

IATE- (Public version available):

The internal IATE database is a more comprehensive and user friendly version of the publicly available database. It contains much more information than the freely available version, such as context, language usage and references. IATE widgets and browser extensions which access the public database are now available.

Euramis:

 This is basically the Linguee of the EU. It is a database of segments that can be searched. This search can be limited depending on how specific you want the search to be and where you want the term to come from e.g. Council, Commission or Parliament documents, or legislation. This allows you to see how the term has been translated in different contexts.

AIS:

This is a database of all the Council’s documents, which allows you to view different language versions in parallel and to search for specific terms. Its search features are somewhat limited and it is due to be replace by a more efficient and comprehensive system in the near future.

Part II will contain some glossaries that I find particularly useful and an outline of the online dictionaries I use most regularly.

Welcome to Brussels

I have been meaning to write about arriving in Brussels and starting work at the Council of the EU since roughly the third week that I was here. I think I have delayed doing it for so long because I took so long to get used to Brussels and didn't want to give too negative an account. It is fair to say that this progressive change in attitude is due to the steady rise in average temperature and hours of sunlight.

There is so much I could say about my experience so far but I will keep to the best (and worst) bits for now…

First Impressions

1. It is cold and windy all the time. I should have brought a bigger coat.

2. Everything is so slow. The escalators, the automatic doors, the cash machines…

3. The people make up for points 1 and 2.

What I am learning?

1. Lots of acronyms and legal terminology.

2. Consistency is everything (that isn't accuracy). The EU has an impressive network of databases to help translators produce texts that use consistent terminology and phrasing. A basic version of IATE (the terminology database) is open to the public and EU legislation translated into all official EU languages is available on the EUR-LEX website.

3. How the EU really works and why procedures can sometimes seem to be more complex than they need to be (it's about fairness and transparency and it's not really that complicated once it has been explained to you a few times by a few different people).

The Good

1. The other trainees, from 19 EU countries, are a wonderful group of people and they have really rekindled my desire to get to know more of Europe.

2. Discounts for under 25/26 year olds for most attractions and all public transport.

3. Having to opportunity to listen to lots of presentations by EU officials from various institutions (EEAS, EDPS, CoR, EESC, EP, and obviously the Council and Commission).

The Bad

1. When I wrote most of this post it was sunny. It is not any more. This is bad.

2. Prices in the canteen don't remotely reflect the size of the portions or the quality of the food.

3. We (trainees) are not considered staff so we are not entitled to strike. This means we have to come in and work in virtually empty offices on strike days.

And the Beautiful

1. Park Tervuren- I have only been once, with the other trainees, but it made an impression. We will definitely be going back.

2. Cabraliego- An amazing Asturian social club filled with long tables and plastic chairs. The tapas are tasty, the drinks are cheap (€3 for a spirit and mixer) and the staff are always smiling.

3. Place Jourdan- Not far from the Council, the kiosk in the square does the best chips I have ever tasted. I recommend the Samurai sauce (a slightly spicy mayonnaise).

Fait à Bruxelles, le 14 mai 2013