Archive for the ‘English’ Category
Friday, June 20th, 2008
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Whether you are a translator or an aspiring one, I’m sure you must have heard thousands of times about the evolution of language and how it changes with time. I myself have been living and breathing the English language for over twenty years now, but how quickly some words enter the mainstream English lexicon still amazes me, especially loan words. The use of words borrowed from other languages seems to be one of the latest trends today and little by little it is conquering the journalism and publishing worlds.
That is why a reporter might write about, “the ‘it’ girl of the moment dining alfresco with his beau on a balcony overlooking the sea,” or, “the famous Hollywood couple enjoying some drinks at a trendy brasserie.” Of course you and me can dine outdoors or hang out with our boyfriends, but God forbid these mundane words should ever be associated with the rich and famous! And I wouldn’t mind having a drink at a bar like the rest of the world. What about you?
Of course loan words are used for their prestige value and because they add an air of sophistication to the text. And that is exactly why they often pose a special problem in translation. What are we translators supposed to do then? Do we keep the French or Italian versions of these words in our translations so that they can have a similar impact on the target readers? Or do we replace them with their “simpler” counterparts and risk losing the eccentric flair they are supposed to render? And, most importantly, in case we replaced them, wouldn’t we be missing the whole point of language evolution and ignoring a language trend altogether?
After all, a farewell fête is not the same as a farewell party just because they aren’t equally sophisticated. They also differ significantly: the first one belongs to the modern language of today, and the other one doesn’t. And that is why a trendsetting teenager would probably say that his favourite actor is über-talented, since super-talented is “so yesterday.” And, once again, a journalist might report on some juicy gossip and say that “the famous singer went out clubbing sans his girlfriend,” as if using a simple without were not enough.
It is hard to keep up with new trends. Right?
Clarisa Attademo
www.goihata.com
Tags: English Interpreter in Spain, English translator in Spain, English-Spanish translator in Basque country
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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
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Have you ever felt you missed out on a joke even though you understood every single word of it?
Have you ever felt lost in translation?
When I was younger I used to believe that learning a foreign language was not a difficult task. Words could be memorized, I thought. I remember thinking that one day there would be no more tenses to learn and that sooner or later I would be done with grammar. Boy, was I naive! The truth is that mastering a foreign language is actually an incredibly complex task. A language is not just reduced to dictionaries and grammar books. There is much more to it than that. Mastering a foreign language is getting to know every little aspect of it. It is understanding all its nuances and subtleties. So, probably you heard someone tell a joke and you didn’t get it. Well, the truth is that in order to understand a foreign language you have to be open and embrace its culture as well. Cultural differences, for example, play a big part in understanding jokes. And so do idioms and collocations, which might sometimes get a non-native speaker quite confused. That’s why a native speaker of English won’t have problems understanding the meaning behind “101.” And when his high school buddy didn’t mince his words and told him, “You’re in desperate need of a crash course in Dating 101,” he immediately understood what his friend was getting at. He soon got the idea that he needed to know the basics of high school dating as quickly as he could. A set of simple rules he should follow in order to get a date.
Mastering a language is much more than words, or numbers for that matter. Is is being able to see through cultural differences, to grasp the meaning of idioms and collocations and the contexts they are used. So, whenever you feel you’ve missed out on a joke, try to see what’s beyond the surface, try to see if there’s something more.
Clarisa Attademo
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , English Japanese Spanish translator in Spain, English Spanish translator in Bilbao, English-Spanish interpreters in Spain, English-Spanish translator, Japanese translator in Basque Country, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Vitoria
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Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
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Once I had to work on an editing project where the document had been previously translated from Spanish to English… it was difficult to understand but not because of the subject – philosophy – but for the inappropriate wording and the lack of structure and order in the choice of those words.
As I have mentioned in several occasions before, the final translation must not seem a translation. On the contrary, it must be rendered in a professional manner, written by a certified and trained person who has great command of the language, uses excellent grammar and style, fully understands the topic in order to offer an impeccable work and is humble enough to accept that even the shortest text requires revision by a second person and subsequent editing applied when needed. When in doubt, we have to research at length in order to use the appropriate terminology as to not neglect the quality of our work relying on the idea that the editor will correct all of our errors… That, in my opinion, would be a symptom of mediocrity. If the translation is poor, a good editor could get it better but the final result would never be as good as when the editor works on a good translation.
Also remember about concordance between the information on the text and its style, e.g., a press release would use different style and wording than the one needed for a business proposal or marketing material. The translation must obviously have the correct meaning and it should also reflect the tone of the original, as in the case of a business letter in which the tone shows a sign of irritation as immediate payment of a long due invoice is requested; our translation should reflect that tone but maintaining good manners all the time.
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , English to Spanish translation, Japanese technical translations in Spain, Spanish technical translations, Spanish to English translations in Spain
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Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
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I remember being a little girl and attending English classes. What must have meant to me back then, I wonder? Having a good time as I sang along with the rest of the class, I guess. Or maybe listening to some tape completely unaware that while I was enjoying myself so much I was also learning a language that later in life would open doors to a whole new world.
Little did I know that some day I would come to learn that language even more than I learn my own. Since that is what translation is all about: the process of learning a whole new world. Whether you decide to do legal, technical or any other type of translation, you will surely enter a world that was probably unknown to you before. And from that moment on, I’m sure that with every single document you’ll have to translate you will learn more than you could possibly dream of. Whether it’s technical terminology or a particular jargon, every translation will teach you something new. Every text will give you an enriching new experience.
Never in a million years would I have imagined any of that when I was a kid. But one thing I know for sure: learning English must have been fun for me back then, but I still get a kick out of it. Translation is an entertaining process, an activity that will surely get you hooked. I love having the chance of researching, of getting to know new vocabulary and feeling wiser as I go on. From the moment I discover there are words in a text I’m not familiar with, I know that several doors will be open for me. I know that soon I will enter a never-ending process of learning … I will enter a whole new world.
Clarisa Attademo
- www.goihata.com
Tags: English Interpreter in Spain, English translator in Spain, English-Spanish translator in Basque country
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
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A- “What did you say you did for a living?” asked me someone once.
B- “I’m a freelance translator,” I declared proudly.
A- “That sounds pretty glamorous. So you translate what important people say at press conferences and events and work with politicians, actors and actresses?” he added.
B- “No, that’s an interpreter. I work as a freelance translator,” I replied.
A- “And what do you do exactly?” he muttered, with an expression of total confusion on his face.
B- “I translate written documents, mainly legal and technical stuff,” I said.
A- “Oh, I see,” he exclaimed, as if showing disappointment and a complete lack of interest.
So what? Maybe being a translator is not a glamorous profession and you surely won’t make tons of money as probably a lawyer or a doctor would. But one thing’s for sure: if you’re up for a challenge, enjoy being alone for long periods of time and you don’t mind unreasonable deadlines, you’re on the right track. And let me tell you, there is something about this profession that is extremely rewarding. Once you get used to being completely isolated in front of your computer for days at a time, and you come to understand that you won’t be having any co-workers with whom to make small-talk or share a cup of coffee whenever you feel like taking a break, you’ll realize that this could even be a blessing. You might probably feel the need to make any type of contact with another human being once in a while – though I honestly don’t mind the solitude of my home or the fact that I might be considered a complete recluse – but once you’re past that, you’ll clearly understand what I’m talking about. I mean, nothing beats the luxury of being able to work in your pj’s if you want to.
And nothing can be better that arranging your own schedule: no need to set the alarm clock at unreasonable hours and no need to wait for the bus to go to work at 6.30 in the morning when it’s still dark outside. And if you’re thinking that having to endure the pressure of yet another deadline would be completely unbearable, you’ll see how that pressure will soon be part of a constant challenge that not only will you get used to, but you will also come to need. Since that is what makes this adrenaline-driven profession so alive in the first place. So what if being a freelance translator is not glamorous and you won’t become rich overnight? There is nothing like a good adrenaline rush when you’re alone late at night.
Clarisa Attademo
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , Barcelona, English interpreter in Bilbao, Madrid, San Sebastian, Spanish English technical translations in Spain, Spanish English translations, Spanish interpreter, Spanish translator, Vitoria
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
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Some of the differences you may notice between the Spanish used in Spain and the one used in Latin America:
Pronunciation: One of the main differences is that many Spaniards often pronounce the z and the c like the “th” in “thin,” while many Latin Americans pronounce it the same as the s. Also, speakers in some areas (Argentina in particular) often pronounce the ll and y like the “s” in “treasure.” In southern areas, you will hear some speakers drop s and r sounds, so “esto” sounds like “eto” and “pagar” sounds like “pagá.” In some areas, the j sounds like the “ch” in “loch” like in “reloj” while in others it sounds like the English “h” like in “jarra.” You’ll become aware of other differences as well, particularly in the rhythm or cadence in which Spanish is spoken in the different countries.
Grammar: Among the differences, we can find the use of the pronoun “vos” and “tú” (the singular familiar for “you”) in Latin America and “vosotros” is often used as the plural of “tú” in Spain, while in Latin America “ustedes” is by and large the word used.
Vocabulary: The use of suffixes is widespread, for example, a lápiz is a pencil or crayon everywhere, but a lapicero is a pencil holder in some areas, a mechanical pencil in others, and a ball-point pen in still others. There are also fair numbers of obvious differences, such as a computer being an ordenador in Spain but a computadora in Latin America, but they are probably no more frequent than the British-American differences. Of course, every area also has its peculiar words: as an example, a biscuit in Ecuador is called an allulla, but you will not run across that word in other countries of the region.
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: English interpreters in Basque Country, English Spanish translations, Japanese Technical Interpreters in Spain, Spanish technical translations, Technical translators in Spain
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Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
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When the Spaniards ‘discovered’ and colonized the Americas, the language of Spain was still undergoing change. It was the tongue of Castile (land of castles) which was destined to become not only the principal language of Spain, but also of the Latin American countries.
As to be predicted, the native population of Latin America exerted a great influence on the Castilian language and differences between the two types of Spanish emerged chiefly due to the diminishing contact between Latin America and Spain, coupled with the use of their own languages.
The influence of American English and French was present as well as the words were absorbed with a Spanish pronunciation which was based on what was heard with no regard for the correct spelling, e.g., ‘guachiman’ (watchman) or ‘chofer’ (chauffeur)
Even though there are some differences between Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish – particularly relating to pronunciation – they do not prevent mutual intelligibility because people from throughout the Spanish-speaking world can converse with each other as easily as people throughout the English-speaking world can. The differences are mostly observed in the spoken language rather than in writing, but they aren’t so extreme as not to reach mutual comprehension.
Also, while it’s easy to think of Latin American Spanish as one unit, as textbooks and lessons often do, you should note there are differences in the Spanish of various countries in the Western Hemisphere. But again, the differences aren’t so extreme that they avert communication.
If your pronunciation is reasonably good, whether your accent is Castilian, Colombian, Mexican or Venezuelan, you will definitely be understood. Latin Americans watch movies from Spain and Spaniards watch Latin American telenovelas (soap movies), so you can be assured the differences aren’t all that great especially if you avoid slang or extreme colloquialisms.
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , English Interpreters in Spain, Japanese-Spanish interpreter in Basque Country, Japanese-Spanish translations in Spain, Spanish Translations, Spanish translator
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Thursday, May 8th, 2008
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I have been informed about a “new” (but this is actually an old swindler process) form of ‘Nigerian scams’. These crooks contact Translators via their personal contact form disguising themselves as Translators or potential clients and their modus operandi is as follows:
A (false) cheque is sent to you but banks need 4 or 5 weeks to identify a swindling. The cheque amount is always higher than previously agreed (they would say it is an “error” or give you any other pretext) and then the crook asks you to pay the difference to another account ASAP… by bank transfer from your bank account or using a postal order. Next thing… you are trapped!
Crooks of this type can get away with it for a long time before being caught in the act because they use a number of plausible addresses and a number of Internet Service Providers all at the same time.
So, please beware of e-mails like this:
Sender IP: 208.78.63.210 [Port: 1885] or
Sender IP: 41.204.224.24 [Port: 22413]
———————-
Sender : Juliet Brown (whoever@yahoo.com)
Recipient : xxx (xxx@gmail.com)
Attachment : — —
Subject : Translator needed (URGENT REPLY ) !!!
My name is Juliet Brown and I am a Canadian translator from Prince Edward Island currently living in West Coast Africa and I was granted a
3-month contract to translate from English to French. I would like to know your fees to translate the attached project. Please review it and inform me if you are available and can take this responsibility.
I look forward to hear from you as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Juliet
Recommendation I was given to disable dangers of the internet? To check a freeware version for Windows which is available from Trace Route (http://www.d3tr.de/) to identify the origin of any Sender IP address.
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , Interpreters, Spanish Japanese interpreter in Spain, Spanish Japanese translator in Basque country, Translators
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Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
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I love my native language and would like to share some interesting facts related to it for those of you who want to know a little bit more about our rich Spanish.
Spanish is the official tongue in Spain, Balearic Islands, and Canary Islands, as well as all the South American countries except Brazil and Guyana. It is also a common second language of some areas in the United States (Texas, Arizona, California, and Florida), parts of Morocco and even the west coast of Africa. Today, Spanish is the most widely spoken of the Romance languages, both in terms of number of speakers and the number of countries in which it is the dominant language. It is the mother tongue of some 320 million people scattered worldwide.
Regarding its origin, it is a Romance language (the roots are in Latin) which is an influence from the Moors who occupied Spain in the 7th century the regions to the north of Spain which had not been conquered during the Moorish invasion, saw the creation of Christian kingdoms which began to expand southwards and set the emancipation in motion.
Obviously, the Spanish spoken in all these countries appears with great variety. In fact the dissimilarities between Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish are correspondent to those between British English and American English.
The Roman alphabet is the one in use and the Spanish vocabulary comes from Latin, though many of the words clearly differ from their equivalents in French and Italian. Also, prolonged contact with Germanic and later Arabic affected its evolution but did not threaten a decline in Romance use. Germanic and Arabic have left their mark on the Spanish language as words like ‘guerra’ – war and ‘algebra’ – math can both be traced back to their respective Germanic and Arabic origins.
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , Spanish English technical translator, Spanish interpreter, Spanish Translations, Spanish translator in Spain
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Thursday, April 24th, 2008
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I love reading tips that are useful in our work and even though we have seen the following several times already I still continue checking them up to keep the information always fresh so, here I go once again!
- Our final translation should never look like a translation. It should look like it was written by a professional who has a good command of his/her language (excellent grammar and stylistic
- The style of the translation should always correspond to the text. If the text is a newspaper article, then a journalistic style should be used. If the text is a business letter or some marketing material, then the appropriate style should be used.
- The translation, inevitably, should have the right meaning, but should also reflect the tone of the original. Therefore, if the translation is of an angry business letter demanding payment, then the final translation should express the same tone (with appropriate taste of course). It may occur though that certain points cannot be translated well considering the differing customs and cultures of the respective languages as we always strive to focus more on the language being translated into rather than the language being translated from. If you feel some major changes should be made to the text, you should immediately contact your customer or agency.
- Choice of terminology is most important so having good dictionaries is a must. Of course we have access to wonderful computer translation dictionaries but I still keep my “oldies” and they have a prominent place and are highly important in the final phase of revision. But when everything else fails I also try searching the term on Google as it usually clarifies ideas.
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: Japanese Spanish translators, Japanese Technical interpreters, Japanese translators in Spain, Professional translators in Spain and Japan
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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
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I recently read a very interesting interview to Mrs. Brett J. Epstein who works as a writer, Translator, editor, and English teacher in Sweden. She shares insights on the essential elements of the Translator’s craft and business.
She describes, and I totally agree with it, the job of Translators as the art and craft of bringing the authors’ real expressions, as well as their ideas, inferences, disposition, voice, style, and so forth, from the source language to the target language, without being either excessively literal and strict with the text or overly free and loose. In her opinion, a Translator must consider what and how would the author have written the document if he were writing in the target language. So, for her, translation is the delicate and formidable job of perfectly recreating the authors’ original document and I consider this statement is accurate and truly honors our efforts in a very nice way.
Due to her activities she considers that translating creative work like literature is more challenging and more interesting and thinks that writers are the ideal people to be Translators as they have experience with writing, the writing process, analyzing literature, and editing. She suggests that one of the best ways to learn about translation is to carefully read and study a document in both its original language and its translation trying to understand what words and phrases really meant and why the Translator had made certain choices comparing it to what you would have done, had you been the Translator in charge.
During the interview she also mentioned some reading material that I would like to read myself like William Weaver’s essay “The Process of Translation”, Vladimir Nabokov’s essay “The Art of Translation”, and “Performing Without a Stage: The Art of Literary Translation” by Robert Wechsler.
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , France, Japanese French translator, Japanese interpreter in Europe, Japanese Spanish technical translators, Japanese translator, Japanese translator in Europe, Japanese translators in Spain
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Saturday, April 12th, 2008
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The Spanish language has been called the second world language, due to its large world wide distribution. It’s origin goes far back into history. Tribes, such as the Celts, Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Greeks contributed to the early development of the Spanish language.
Around 200 BC, due to the reign of the Roman Empire and then later on during the 5th to the 13th century, due to the long period of the Muslim invasion of about 750 years, the Spanish language has been influenced and undergone further development.
Over this period of continuing tensions between Christians and Muslims, more than 3700 battles were fought, but Spain also acquired a rich cultural, scientific and linguistic heritage from the Arab neighbors. The Spanish vocabulary and language is full of Arab influence, like many words starting with “al” alcalde (town’s mayor), alcantarilla (sewerage), almohada (pillow), etc.
Some years later in 1469, through the marriage union of Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, Spain became a big and influential Kingdom in Europe. The year 1492 also presents a milestone in the start of the wide distribution and influence of the Spanish language When Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castilian sent the all known Italian explorer Christopher Columbus to sea, which led to the discovery of the American Continent.
(Red color represents countries where the Spanish language is the official language)
The worldwide distribution of the Spanish language and the number of speakers: With the colonial power of Spain the Spanish language has become widespread, second only in geographic terms to the English language. The Spanish language is a Latin family language, same as Italian, French, Portuguese, Catalan and Galician. The Spanish language nowadays is a colorful and rich language spoken by more than 250 million people in the world and is also the mother tongue of many USA citizens.
Here is a list of the top ten countries with Spanish speakers:
Country and number of speakers
Mexico 106.255,000, Spain 46.000,000, Colombia 45.500,000, Argentina 41.248,000
United States of America 32.200,000, Venezuela 26.021,000,
Peru 23.191,000, Chile 15.795,000, Cuba 11.285,000, Ecuador 10.946,000
Saroj Das
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , Spanish English technical translator, Spanish interpreter, Spanish Translations, Spanish translator
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Friday, April 11th, 2008
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When we receive a document to translate it is very important to check the writing quality in the original. There is a tacit axiom in translation which every one of us knows: the translation will never be much better than the original (or in tech-talk: GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out!) If the original is an incoherent, illogical piece of nonsense, so the translation will be. If the source text is a brilliant piece of erudition with great literary merit, then the translation should surely be the same.
The point is Translators cannot go much above the quality of the original, and translation buyers should not necessarily blame a bad translation on the Translator. Of course, we must always do our best to render the information in the optimum manner even though it is best not to rewrite the original or improve its style or content, insert our own clever ideas or original phrases… just translate and offer quality work free of errors and omissions before deadline time. Be a competent, responsible, and capable professional who will honor agreements and produce quality work.
Make sure that there are no errors, omissions, spelling or punctuation mistakes, and that you deliver your translation on time in the form requested and expected by your client. If not sure about the client-s expectations, always ask while in time. If you do it this way, you will get more work. if not, you will only cause grief.
If a text is truly beyond understanding, the only responsible course of action would be to contact the client and leave the decision regarding whether to translate it or not into your customer’s hand. You may lose a job this way, but you will likely win the confidence of the client. The latter is ultimately worth far more than the former, no doubt!
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: , Japanese interpreter in Europe, Japanese interpreter in Spain, Japanese Spanish English translator, Japanese technical translator in Spain, Japanese translator in Spain
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Monday, April 7th, 2008
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Every company or individual requiring a translation service needs quality and most of the time a fast delivery wrapped in technical expertise. This is especially important with companies within the life sciences sector such as pharmaceutical and medical laboratories where any inaccurate translation of the information regarding prescribed dosage directions or product description could be extremely harmful and potentially lethal because they are usually manufacturers of medical and surgical equipment exporting on worldwide scale and must provide the most accurate information, complying with all the legal requirements for labelling or instructions in every language spoken within their target markets, for their intended audience. Inaccurate translation for such companies can be costly, both in the cost of correcting poor translations, but more critically in the potential cost to the health of the patient or end user of their products and so, expert localization is vital in these cases.
Translators working on these areas are mostly native speakers who have professional experience with a proven track record in the industry. Ideally, they should be practicing surgeons or doctors thus ensuring that the expertise applied to the translation and the terminology used are industry standard to guarantee they are upheld throughout and this is especially important with the Asian languages where perfectionism is key as linguistics is so complicated, and so challenging that it is vital for the Translator’s work to remain accurate usually by staying close to the native tongue, by staying in the country where the language is spoken.
A Translator must have a mix of sharp language skills, formal training, real-life translating experience and most especially the ability to think in two or more languages at once to ensure excellence becomes an intrinsic part and the basis of all our tasks and projects. We should (must!) really exude Quality!
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com![]()
Tags: Barcelona, Bilbao, Japanese technical translations, Madrid, Quality tran, Quality translators in Japanese, Sevilla, slations in Spanish, Spanish technical translations
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Thursday, March 27th, 2008
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Interesting news from one of the largest web search engines out there: they are developing applications for instant language translation to serve their millions of users around the world. They are looking for new ways to improve their site and are working on technology that would enable rapid electronic language translation using a tool that would help translate languages in real time.
Fortunately they admit that most machine-generated translation available today requires human editing to correct linguistic flaws as context ambiguities are often littered throughout conversation and written text but they consider they will soon be able to minimize linguistic editing requirements and generate rapid translation as needed by their users.
They think that their only needs are large amounts of compute power and huge amounts of data to develop real-time automated machine translation and they expect to have this application available and ready in the near future.
They are prepared to face problems convincing users that the upcoming hosted service is better than the language translation software used now as there are a lot of translation tools already and they feel challenged to build a better tool.
This is great news on the technology side! We have to develop new and powerful tools to continue learning and growing at our pace: fast, goal-oriented, efficient. We, Translators, will never be replaced by machines. We have to see these new developments as fantastic tools that will help us ease the endeavors in our challenging careers. We will be able to be more productive when we have access to tools like these as we will handle our tasks more rapidly and we continue learning a lot more too. Human input will always be necessary and we will be there to keep an eye on it and amend non human (not perfect!) automated translations!
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com
Tags: basque interpreter, Basque translations, Basque translator, Spanish interpreter, Spanish Translations, Spanish translator
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