CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATIONS SERVICES | ELITEBILINGUAL

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

In a world of profit driven organizations, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a difficult dream to achieve. CSR generally means integrating social values and mission statements of organizations within business decision-making in order to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes towards business, environment and the community at large. Easier said than done as we all know that money makes the world go round, especially during these trying global recession periods. So it is remarkable whenever certain organizations go the extra mile and make the extra effort to make this dream a reality.

Elitebilingual Pte Ltd's Managing Director, Ms Hong Yinyin has such a compassionate heart that is evident in some of the little known acts of charity which were carried out. Of most notable mention of all the translations that were carried out were for the organizations as follows; the Singapore Children's Society, United Nations World Food Programme, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Fei Yue Community Services (FCYS).

The Singapore Children's Society is a non-profit organisation that helps protect and nurture children as well as youths of all races and religion, especially those who were abused, neglected and/or from dysfunctional families. So when Elite was approached by them to translate an article about *Maria (*Maria is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the child) we felt dearly for the children and that we should give back to society and decided to do this project for free.

An example of the translation is as follows below.

This is Maria.

这是玛丽亚的故事

She is struggling with her studies, while nursing her paralysed mother.

Her elder sister, aged 17, works part-time to provide for the family.

Her father has abandoned the family.

You can help Maria…

她除了要应付繁重的功课，还得照顾瘫痪的母亲。

她的姐姐今年17岁，需要在外兼职才能养家糊口。

她的父亲抛弃了家庭，从此不见踪影。

玛丽亚需要您的帮助 …

Thus began a series of more translations that we felt that were for a viable cause and would be able to contribute to society.

The Miele Guide Restaurant Month was a charity initiative, carried out by Ate Media, that would specifically benefit the United Nations World Food Programme. Elite carried out the Japanese, Korean and Chinese translations continuously for a whole month pro bono. A link with both our organisations' websites was also placed free of charge to provide additional awareness on the programme. As the United Nations World Food Programme focuses on fighting hunger, reaching over 102 million people worldwide alone in 2008 with beneficiaries in 78 countries, we felt that it's definitely more than just; a cause worth fighting for.

Next is the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Singapore (MCYS). Their mission is to build a cohesive and resilient society by fostering socially responsible individuals, inspired and committed youths, strong and stable families, a caring, active community and a sporting people. We carried out a 4,000 word English to Mandarin translation service for them, focusing on stopping family violence, again free of charge. As Elite firmly believes in a balanced lifestyle and strong family values, these goals are aligned with our business goals and vision. Sometimes, it not just about profit, but about living as socially responsible individuals.

Last but not least, the latest project was for Fei Yue Community Services Singapore (FCYS), whose agenda was in effecting life transformation in people to lead them to a truly fulfilling life within an integrated community network. Over 16,000 words were edited by Elite for this project on "52 Steps to a Happy Marriage".

‘….To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.’

Hopefully all these translations would be put to good use for the public and ultimately contribute to society in one way or another. The effects may be minimal and may not be immediately felt. However, the seeds of these had been sown and the way paved for future corporate social responsible actions to be tied in with organizational goals for Elite.

By Vincent Guee
Operations Manager, Elite

"We cannot tell what may happen to us in life. But we can decide what happens within us— how we can take it, what we do with it— and that is what really counts in the end. ~Joseph Fort Newton"

在路上，学着活

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

“在路上，谁都会碰见爱情、谎言和幸福，贾平凹碰见了，夏菲碰见了，坐下来聊聊，学着活！”

很久不看书，今天也难得翻下手边的青年文摘，购于上个星期放工回家的路上。偶然发现其实新加坡也有卖读者，知音，青年文摘的报刊摊。惊喜的同时也有种久违的感觉。当然对于我，不读书的借口也很多，最主要的原因是已经过了那个需要读书找灵感、写八股文的高中时代。原来当时语文老师说的话是对的，过了那个纯真的时代，我们开始需要的是在生活里找哲理，而不再局限于书本，然而却也极端化地从此抛弃了它。

每周一的早上，公司都会有例会。其实就是大家聊聊各自的想法，而主题大多都是对自己的将来有什么规划和安排，就像小学生都会写到的命题作文“我的梦想”。

让我想起了小的时候，不懂为什么要去幼儿园，跟其他小朋友一起学识字，学数数。现在还记得刚去幼儿园的有天晚上，一个人跑到走廊，然后看着天上的星星，计划着怎么逃跑。当然计划没有成功，我很快地被老师发现了，然后拎回去睡觉。只是很多年后的今天，我依然记得当时的那片星空，带着那么一点反叛的味道。然后接下来理所当然地读小学，中学，大学。只是到了大学，我也没真正明白为什么我如所有人一样忙碌。

2年前的出国，当时很认定地它能让自己视野开阔，现在才敢承认有那么一点跟风意味。现在的我就像所有飘在海外的游子一样，努力地找寻自己的坐标。我们一直在路上，从过去读书到现在工作，恍然大悟中才发现原来一切的一切都是学着活。而这一路上父母、老师教予我们的正是如何应对生活的技巧。

当我们这一代开始慢慢懂得生活的真正含义，眼角里开始出现了一丝淡淡忧伤。而我们的忧伤只是因为在别人的故事里，找到了自己的影子。

Xia Zihan
Project Executive
Elite Bilingual Services Pte. Ltd

译者—戴着镣铐的舞者

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

翻译真的是一门独特的艺术，是的，这里我把翻译称为一种艺术。艺术就需要创作，但是翻译这种创作又不是不受限制、信马由缰。所谓的镣铐就是原文，如果挣脱了这幅枷锁去自由发挥，那就不能称其为翻译了。所以，把翻译比喻成戴着镣铐跳舞是再合适不过了。这种情况下，翻译者自然就是戴着镣铐的舞者。戴着镣铐就是指在翻译过程中要受到原文的种种束缚。

还是把翻译比为舞蹈。舞蹈是通过音乐、形体、运动、表情及姿态来表达感情的一门艺术。优秀的舞者，一定具备两个层面的素质：一是舞蹈功底。没有技巧，内心再丰富的情感也会因缺少表达途径而无人理解。因此，这个难度和技巧就要靠平时的勤学苦练和点滴积累。技巧是展现的手段和工具。第二个层次，就是两个字：“精神”。有了过硬的基本功和高难度的技巧。该如何把这些和舞蹈的内在精神结合在一起。音乐响起时，肢体语言要感动的不只是自己，还有观众。感染力不是技巧的堆砌，是发自内心的对生活对生命的感悟，就像有人说过，高手是跳情而不是跳舞。

那翻译究竟是什么？美国著名的翻译理论家 Eugene A.Nida 给翻译下的定义是：Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning, and second in terms of style. 首先是 meaning （意思），第二就是 style（风格）。这两个方面正是我要用来类比舞蹈的两个层次：翻译既是语言活动，又是思维活动。语言活动是指使用完全不同于原文形式的译文来传达原文信息，所以“准确无误”是最基本的要求，这要求翻译者有深厚的语言功底，对源语言和目标语言都有正确的理解和纯熟的运用能力。同时，翻译也是再创作，原文和译文的等值，也只能是相对的等值，是信息等值或语境等值，而不是字词等值。中国贯通中西的著名文学家钱钟书说过一句话，“译者驱使本国文字，其功夫或非作者驱使原文所能及．故译笔正无妨出原著头地”。这句话可以理解成：翻译是两种文字的一种竞赛。从创作的角度去理解，译者和原作者都属于作者，两个作者表达的是相同的或者是相近的思想，同处在创作这个层面上，译者除了“求真（准确翻译）”还要“求美（用符合目标语言的审美观及价值观表现出译者和译文的风格及特点”。因此，从某种意义上说，翻译就是解释，是带有主观色彩的剖析和理解。翻译中求真和求美的矛盾随着创作和翻译之间界限的消失也得到了调和。

诚然，对于翻译究竟是一门科学还是一门艺术，长期以来诸子百家各执一词。也许是因为我无法改变自己内心对浪漫主义的向往，所以仍坚守：翻译就是艺术。就像英文有artist和artisian一样，华文里也有艺术家和工匠这两个貌似相近，实则内涵迥异的词。即使戴着镣铐跳舞，译者也应该跳得精彩、跳得漂亮！希望我可以做一个富于创作的艺术家，而不仅仅是一个工匠。不妨用文学翻译大家郭沫若的一句话做为本文的结语吧，“翻译家不是鹦鹉，应该在翻译过程中涌起创作的冲动”。

By

Jean Zhang | 张小锦
Chinese Translator / Editor | 中文翻译与编辑

Elite Bilingual Services Pte. Ltd.

口译项目的管理秘诀 - （二）口译员

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

一位经常合作的口译器材租借商说：“口译员很难搞的，好像大牌明星一样。”她所说的‘难搞’，是指价钱高，规矩多，不容易伺候。其实，我也认同他们有很多与明星相似的地方。比如说，明星要靠天生本钱，口译员也得靠本身卓越的语言条件，不但语言功力要深厚，双语精通程度得达到炉火纯青的境界，而且天生反应要灵敏，在‘卖相’上也必须让人有信心。

我所说的‘卖相’，倒不是指‘俊男美女’，而是打扮体面，谈吐大方，而且能于人亲切的印象。这是因为口译员是不同国籍人士之间的桥梁。他们必须在商业会议中的短短数小时内，帮助客户良好地表达看法，最终达到‘成交’或让对方‘满意’的终极目标，确实是像明星的现场直播节目。

有些客户听到口译员每小时收费从$100到S$200，无不吓得魂飞魄散。但就像我在前一篇文章所说的，真正了解行情的客户，都愿意付这个钱，只要质量好。因为相较于数十万甚至数百万的交易来说，几千块钱的口译费绝对值得。尤其像是新加坡这种国际大都会，各大跨国公司总部云集，经常举办大型的国际会议（最近的APEC峰会就让我们忙得团团转），高层次的商务会议、名人专访，跨国公司的董事会议等。这些汇集各国人士的交流场面，都需要口译员扮演沟通桥梁的角色。

但是根据我的体会，演员或歌星要成为炙手可热的超级巨星，除了‘演技’或‘歌喉’要好之外（唯一不同的是，口译行业只有实力派而没有偶像派），更重要的关键在于EQ （就像红遍中港台的志玲姐姐）。口译员也一样。翻译公司和口译员的关系，就像经纪人和明星。唯一较不同的是，翻译公司并不局限于非得要找某个口译员完成口译项目，口译员也可自由地和任何一家翻译公司合作，两者之间的关系较为松散无约束。正因如此，那些EQ超好、没有架子又好商量的口译员（尤其是价钱或者配合客户的要求），相信都会受到翻译公司的垂青。

作为‘经纪人’，让我最有成就感的，并非和那些‘红牌’或‘资深’口译员合作，而是能挖掘到具有潜质的口译人才，并将他们一手捧成能够胜任同步传译的优秀口译员（译力旗下就有这样一位从交替口译提升到同步口译的大将）。只要手中握有这些王牌，不但能够为公司赚到钱，也能承接多一些案子（因为红牌口译员的档期都很满，所以即使有生意上门，也不一定能配合到他们的时间）。我觉得这样不但能为市场注入更多新血，让新加坡的口译市场不被少数几位垄断，而且人才的辈出，也能更好地满足新加坡作为奖励旅游、商务会议以及博览会(MICE)举办首选地的需求，并让口译市场价格逐步调整至更多客户能够承受的水平。价钱趋于合理，也将让更多商家愿意付这笔钱任用口译员，最终达到大家开心的良性循环效果。

By
Hong Yin Yin | 方莺吟
Managing Director | 董事
Elite Bilingual Services Pte. Ltd

口译项目的管理秘诀 - （一）客户篇

Personal Thoughts on Leadership

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

I remember during my university years when in one particular day right before school started, my organization head called me and advised me that since I was one of the youngest head of our organization’s department, I had to work a little harder than others in order to prove to people that I can be a leader. Then, I asked him, ‘’How does a leader act?” he responded with a list of physical ways on how he believes a leader should act. To put it simply, think of Hitler and the stereotypical description of what comes into mind when you think of his name, is exactly what he described as what he thinks is a good leader. Of course, I didn’t dare say that out loud then, being new and young at the time, but inside, I knew that I wouldn’t live up to what he thinks is a great leader. There is a reason why the name ‘Hitler’ connotes a very negative vibe.

Fast forward a few years, I have no idea what happened to my organization leader now, but I can tell you one thing, his reign of terror did not last long, in fact he pretty much shared the same bad ending as Hitler did. (Without the suicide part of course)

Lesson number 1: Leadership does not equate to being intimidating.

I had this one classmate who was well-liked by everyone, he was friendly, down to earth, he made jokes, drank beer with the boys, watched movies with the girls, and when you got introduced to him, he remembers your name and acts like your friend. Here’s the thing, he doesn’t just act like a friend because when you’re in trouble, you don’t have to ask him, as soon as he knows, he will go out of his way to help you. No surprise, he ended up president of our organization in a landslide vote, and I can tell you, he was well liked by everyone (even by his opponent) and he made the organization very rich during his period in office.

Lesson number 2: Leadership is about being liked, having people do things for you willingly, sometimes without you even needing to ask them to, simply because they like you enough to help you out.

When I interned at a big accounting firm, I got to work with one of the smartest people on the planet. I didn’t know this at first, since they don’t go out announcing to people how good they are. But here’s the thing, when you’re really good, you don’t have to go around broadcasting it to people, somehow they just know. Maybe it’s because of the way you act or make decisions that tell people how smart you are or maybe it’s whenever you talk, the words coming out of you actually make sense. I really admired the people I worked with there, they never once told me their accomplishments (and they were many) but when I walk down the halls of the office or open the newspapers, I see their faces smiling at me with bold letters declaring their greatness. This makes me respect them a thousand more than if they had been the one to tell me how smart and great they were.

Lesson number 3: Leadership is people talking about how great you are. Not the other way around.

I still have so many people to get to know and to admire, but for now let’s leave with just these three people first, until next time.

By JT

Finance Executive

Elite Bilingual Services Pte. Ltd

口译项目的管理秘诀 - （一）客户篇

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

在我处理过的多种语言服务当中（笔译、口译、转录、撰稿），要数口译项目的挑战性最高，因为它和现场直播节目一样，不能有任何缺失或疏漏，更不能有任何“NG”。如此一来，后勤的准备功夫尤显得格外重要。口译项目也是最考功夫的，没有经验的项目协调员，若不严格遵照公司的服务原则行事，很容易就会答应客户一些做不到的事情，而往往得亏钱收场。译力两年前刚起步的时候，就曾接了一家大公司的案子，结果因为经验不足，无法坚持原则，而成了一次惨痛的教训。

做好口译项目的诀窍，在于‘知己知彼，百战不殆’。虽然译力在口译界里还只是个生力军，但是数十场的口译服务经验，也开始让我们总结出不同的客户类型，并能更准确地判断市场的需求和习性。今天我们就来谈一谈口译客户的基本类型：

1. 行家型：这一类懂行的客户通常都来自大公司或是活动策划机构，有接触过口译员的安排事宜，也了解专业口译员的一般价位。他们特别看重口译员的质量和经验，所以也通常会要求对口译员进行面试。

2. 智慧型：虽然这类客户没有接触过需要口译员的会议或活动，但是对质量要求仍然非常高，因为需要口译服务的会议对他们来说实在是太重要了，所以绝对不能有任何纰漏。为了确保一切顺利，他们在各种细节上都会尽量配合。

3. 一无所知型：对什么是交替口译(Consecutive Interpreting)和同步口译(Simultaneous Interpreting)都分不清楚。幸好，一些较有诚意的客户，都会谦虚地请教你该怎么做。在这个时候，我们都会好好把握机会向他们说明各种需要注意的细节。

4. 逛街型：这类客户通常爱货比三家，搜集各家翻译机构的价格。每次我们向口译员查问他们的时间时，他们都会说：“这个case 另一家翻译公司也有问过我咧！”

5. 火烧屁股型：明天需要口译员，今天才打电话来。接这种案子无疑是惹火上身，尤其是口译员比较少的语种，如西班牙语。好处是我们可以多收加急费。只要有十足的把握能安排到最优秀的口译员，还是可以做的。最近我们就为一家知名的服装品牌公司安排口译员，采访韩国著名影星元斌。下午两点钟的采访，早上九点钟才打来的电话！幸好我们的首席口译员高度配合，才能在短短一个早上轻松安排好一切，顺利完成任务。

接出不同类型的客户之后，我给自己总结了一个心得。所谓‘真金不怕红炉火’，只要我们所精挑细选的口译员的质量够硬，在安排后勤事宜上规划周详，在坚守一些行规和原则时毫不妥协，尽量保护我们最宝贵的资产 – 口译员，而且知道什么类型的客户会耍什么招数，成功的个案也会越来越多。

换句话说，成功安排口译项目的重点不在客户，而是我们背后的一张张王牌 – 口译员。这也将是我下一周的分享重点。

By

Hong Yin Yin | 方莺吟

Managing Director | 董事

Elite Bilingual Services Pte. Ltd

口译项目的管理秘诀 - （二）口译员

Perception

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

..something to think about...

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk..

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities . The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

(this is a YouTube video showing him playing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw )

Copied from a chain email I received from a friend. So don't really not the actual source but thought it would be good to share it. : P

Michael Kuan = )

We Are Really Sorry.

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

Dear Readers.

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Five Useful Sites for Language Tools and Translation

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

Easy, fast and helpful websites to translate a text, a phrase or even a whole web page from one language to another. All for free.

Google Translate

Google has produced and developed its own system of providing us an automatic translation tool from English to 13 other major languages in the world and vice versa including its own text conversion. A total of 25 language pairs available for translation. It has become one of the most go-to sites for free translation services. It provides full-website translation, word/phrases conversion and even translating dictionaries all for free. Plus, you can download the Google toolbar to translate words instantly with no clicks needed.

World Lingo

World Lingo has become one of the most reliable translation services on the web. It has 15 major languages available for translation. They have text translator, document translator, website translator and even e-mail translator. Their free translation services limit users to just about 150 words. If you’re in a business having to communicate to more than 200 languages, you can opt in to subscribe to their more accurate, unlimited words and faster translation for about $5/month.

Babel Fish

Babel Fish web translation service was originally developed by AltaVista but was bought by Overture Services 2003, which was then acquired by Yahoo 2004. Now, the Babel Fish translation service is used by both AltaVista and its parent, Yahoo. It translates pages or text to 12 languages. Both Babel Fish at AltaVista and Yahoo has similar generated translations. The only difference between the 2 is that Yahoo provides users their toolbar to translate easily and automatically which is similar to Google’s toolbar.

Windows Live

Windows Live translator was just recently released last September 2007. It is developed by Microsoft as an addition to their never ending competition with Google and Yahoo. Their translator allows up to 500 words max for translation. One unique feature of Windows Translator Beta is its Bilingual Viewer. When users select a particular page to translate, automatically the Bilingual Viewer allows users to browse the page in parallel supported by highlights and even 4 layouts to choose from. All for free.

Dictionary.com Translator

One of the best translation services on the web. It offers not only 20 language pairs but even the language localization and part of speech. Examples are that of English to Japanese and Korean. You have the option to choose your text/phrase from English to informal or polite/formal Japanese and Korean translations. The Japanese and Korean have many parts of speech which show respect which they call “honorifics”. They use informal style among friends and formal in addressing someone superior than them. For localization, one example is that of French to English. You can choose either American English or British English for translation. The translation service at dictionary.com is really by far one of the most unique and helpful among other services. No need to pay for anything because it’s all for free.

Conferences for Introverts: 15 Top Tips

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

The post Conferences for Introverts: 15 Top Tips has been removed on request by the original author Ms. Sarah Dilon.

We sincerely apologise for not giving due credit as necessary and will endeavor to request for permission before posting any third party materials in the future. The staff in charge of posting in this blog is removed from this responsibility.

A review of all blog posts will be conducted immediately and will promptly remove any posts that any original authors request it to be removed and also give due credit where there is none.

With sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

The Management of Elite's Corporate Blog.

Directory of Transcription Software

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

I've compiled a list of transcription software available on the market. Hope this helps ! :)

Orator Digital Dictation System by Bytescribe Development
The Orator Digital Dictation System is a multi-line telephone dictation and transcription system. Dictation is recorded over telephone lines and stored on a computer hard drive as compact voice files. The voice files are then accessible for transcription. The system is a reliable alternative to expensive dictation systems. Anyone who has used voice mail or other dictation systems will feel familiar with this system.

Scribe by Scribe Healthcare Technologies
Scribe is a unique set of tools for the creation, production, storage, workflow management, communication, sharing, and analysis of clinical information. It is built on our anywhere, anytime accessible clinical information repository. Scribe's digital dictation management system includes support for telephone dictation and digital handheld management. Scribe is ideal to populate your EMR/EHR while reducing change for your clinical personnel.

MxTranscribe EHR by MxSecure
MxSecure is the fastest growing medical transcription company in America for physician practices, multi-specialty, multi-state clinics and community health centers. Our transcription services are internet-based, providing secure, accurate and affordable 24-hour or better turnaround of files. No long term contracts. Unmatched US-based customer support. Incomparable implementation time. Hassle-free EMR integrations and world-class quality.

3M Health Information Systems - ChartScript.Com
Hosted dictation, transcription, and speech recognition solution that allows you to securely route work to home or another office.

Altos - All Digital Transcription Service
Medical transcription service that utilizes high speed networks, digital voice recorders and secure phone and servers.

BayScribe - BayScribe
A complete fault-tolerant, patient reporting solution featuring voice capture, ADT capture, routing and transcription.

Bytescribe Development - Orator Digital Dictation System
Multi-line telephone dictation and transcription system. Stores on a computer hard drive as compact voice files.

Clinical Software Solutions - Clin1 Transcription
A fully integrated Transcription System tied direclty to your Patient Clinical Database.

Core Software - Transcription Manager
A complete operations and production process automation software for transcription companies.

Cybernation Infotech - Online Medical Transcription Service
Medical Transcription Services for health care providers like Hospitals, Clinics, Physicians and HMOs.

Dictaphone - Enterprise Express
Digital dictation and transcription management software with digital portability, PC access, and Network distribution.

Doc-tor - Doc-tor Practice Manager
Web based Practice Management and electronic medical record (emr software) solution that optimizes the flow of clinical information.

Everon - Medical Records Transcription
HIPAA compliant 98%+ accuracy reports.

Handy Software Solutions - TranscriptSum
Software Designed To Help Transcriptionists Count Their Lines And Invoice Their Clients.

Healthcare Technologies - MediScribe
Includes mobile voice-to-computer dictation, an enriched medical transcription processor and expanded communications.

Infrahealth - WinMT
Contract medical transcription service that acts as an alternative to in-house medical transcription production.

Integrated Document Solutions - AbbaDox
Medical transcription, workflow management and document scanning/management service for healthcare providers.

LCD Solutions - Clicktate
Clicktate is a system to easily and inexpensively generate medical office progress notes.

M-Scribe Technologies - M-Remote
Web-based, easy-to-use medical transcription and EMR Lite solution that cuts your transcription costs by 40% or more.

MD Synergy - MD Synergy
Easy-to-use EMR and document Management system to increase practice efficiency, improve operational control and increase revenue.

Med Experts - AltaPoint
Complete services for medical software, billing, clearinghouse, medical claims, collections, & offsite backup

Medical Professional Systems - MPS Remedy
Practice management solution to enable you to manage your practice and revenue effectively and seamlessly.

Medical Transcription Billing - Medical Billing
Billing, transcription, and practice management solution all in one cohesive package.

Metasolutions - Meta PM
EMR & Practice Management, Appointment Scheduling, ePrescription, Medical Billing, Charge Capture, Electronic Charting, Transcription.

MxSecure - MxTranscribe EHR
Manage documents and workflow, streamline medical transcriptions and run specialized reports.

Nuance - Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Turn speech into text by dictating into Windows-based applications at speeds up to 160 words per minute.

NuScribe - NuScribe SMR
Simplified Medical Record eliminates transcription costs with voice recognition.

OmniMD - OmniMD EMR
Automates and simplifies the patient record documentation, storage and retrieval process.

Oracle Transcription - Medical Dictation System
Digital dictation system that allows 24-hour access from anywhere, providing convenience & accuracy for clinicians.

Scribe Healthcare Technologies - Scribe
Web-based tool set for the creation, delivery, management, communication, coding, billing & analysis of clinical information.

ScribeCare - Enterprise Platform
Meets your needs related to dictation capture, routing, workflow management, transcription, document delivery, and reimbursement.

Spantel - TSP
ASP web-based dictation and transcription workflow solution for hospitals, MTSOs, clinics, physicians, of any size.

StratIS - teD
The Electronic Doctor manages electronic patient medical records and handles text, voice, scanned documents and SOAP notes.

VoiceFactor - VoiceFactor
We are a small software organization offering voice-recognition technology, support and training to the healthcare industry.

Webahn - OvernightScribe
Digitally records your dictations, routes files for transcription and delivers the completed transcripts electronically.

WebChartMD - WebChartMD
Unique routing and QA features let you route work to team members, monitor their progress, and QA completed documents.

ZyDoc - TrackDoc
A web-based solution for access to audio and transcribed documents.

企业标语的诞生

方莺吟
董事
译力双语服务私人有限公司

记得2000年开始在新加坡当翻译员的时候，我的老板兼师父说了一则香港国泰航空企业标语的故事。当时，国泰的英文标语是‘Arrive in Better Shape’。顾名思义，当你乘坐国泰航空，下机时准不会让灰头土脸。可是这样一句很‘英文’的标语，如何以几个中文字将整个形象表达出来，而又不失文采呢？

这当然不是件容易的事，不然国泰航空也不会重金征集佳句了。后来一位老先生以一句‘航行万里，神采飞扬’捧走丰厚奖金。相信他在领取奖金的时候，肯定也神采飞扬，笑不拢嘴。

成功的企业标语不但深入人心，而且寥寥数字所展现的神韵，确实能为企业形象起着画龙点睛的加分效用。

跨国公司，尤其是以消费群众为诉求对象的企业，不但在选用企业标语时要慎重其事，费尽心思（甚至是大洒金子），而且还要找一个能跟英文版匹配的中文标语，才能旗鼓相当，互映生辉。比如汇丰银行的‘The World’s Local Bank’，中文版为‘环球金融，地方智慧’，堪称是这几年较为知名的精彩译文标语经典。

有些人会说，哇，才想几个字就能赚这么多钱，很好赚哦！其实好标语都得惜字如金，既要简单明了，又要耐看耐读，而且要做到‘说得更少，寓意更深’，如同大师挥毫一样，寥寥数笔就能把一个人物的形和神跃然纸上，真的很考功夫呀！如果一个不小心翻得不好，对企业来说可谓得不偿失。企业的品牌价值，何止千金。想一想，如果我们把花旗银行的‘Citi Never Sleep’翻成‘花旗不睡觉’，肯定会让人笑到喷饭。当然，这种事也不太可能发生（正确答案是：花旗从不歇息）。

以前当个看热闹的门外汉，读到一些经典的企业标语，总觉得：嘿，这么简单，我也可以翻得出来嘛。所以在3年前创立译力双语服务公司的时候，就拿自己的公司来开刀，想了一个自认为不错的标语：‘译出飞扬神采，展现企业魅力’，刚好把‘译力’两字镶在头尾，将创立语言服务的使命放在中间。

自从听闻那一则国泰航空的标语故事后，整整过了7年，才终于让我有机会为一家本地银行的企业标语抄刀。这家在新加坡拥有超过百年历史的银行，要展现一种‘始终在您身边’的亲切老邻居形象。当时他们的英文标语是‘Your Bank and More’。但是自己的功夫还是不到家，墨水也不够，所以绞尽脑汁也没法交出佳句。后来，还是客户自己想出一个相当不错的标语‘伴您成长，与您相随’。

看到最后出炉的标语时，坦白说，我真的心服口服。虽然中英两句并排放在一起，只有‘您’字对得上号，而More字则大有文章。它包含着‘陪伴’和‘相随’，既亲切又诚恳，完全是一种柔性而没有傲气的诉求。搭配这个标语的，是一个身穿金色制服且笑容可掬的年轻女职员，完全契合该银行的‘邻里银行’定位。

丢失了第一个机会，第二个机会来得比我想象中还快。半年之后，这家银行又换了第二个标语：Neighbour First, Banker Second。直译起来，就变成‘邻里第一，银行第二。’当然，这种口号式而老套的标语，根本不会被看上眼。有了前车之鉴，我基本上也大致摸清客户的诉求和风格。
在当时呈上的文案中，有一些是自己不甚满意，但也只能拿来凑数的几个标语。

邻里优先，银行为次。----- 意思最接近，但没有很强的Feel。
心系邻里，服务优先。----- 缺少感动人的元素。
邻里优先，贴近您心。----- 这些词都有点老了。

一个月后，偶然间到该银行办事，随手拿起最新的宣传册，打开一看，当初的其中一个标语就静静地列在左下角 – 深耕邻里，伴您同行。那一种成就感，我到现在还记得。

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

Which Bible Translation?

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

Many issues divide the Body of Christ today. Baptism, communion, pre-tribulation rapture verses post-tribulation and more all cause division in the Church as satan loves to divide and conquer; it’s sad we fight among ourselves instead of the real enemy.
One of satan’s strategies from early in Genesis becomes casting doubt on God’s word. Recall in the garden satan’s words “Has God really said?” confusing Eve and causing her to sin. Satan realizes casting doubt on what God actually says can be a winning strategy for him — what could cause more confusion than casting doubt the Bible in your lap isn’t the exact Word of God?
This article available in Adobe PDF format. Visit our download area for this and more!
This strategy continues today with the Bible translation debate. Is the King James really the best translation? What about the old language? Shouldn’t newer translations be used? As usual many views exist, and unfortunately some people involved become rather militant. We’ve been told if you’re witnessing to someone and they become saved, but you didn’t use King James Version it didn’t count. That’s absurd.
However, in view of satan’s strategy of creating doubt in God’s word the translation and preservation of the Bible becomes critically important; you can’t dismiss the concept and use whatever translation you pick off the shelf. Balance is required; getting that balance requires effort on your part — you need to do some homework. Fortunately acquiring a basic familiarity with the issues can be done briefly, paying dividends in your Bible Study.
Anyone translating between languages quickly understands one thing, it’s impossible to completely and accurately translate between languages. The translator must always choose different wording to convey the original idea; sometimes it’s impossible to express the idea of one language in another. As such, the original always surpasses the copy for accuracy; translation forces a compromise of sorts, subject to the personal ideas of the translator (which explains why we must understand the personal ideas of the translator).
The idea a perfect translation exists quickly disappears — they all have problems; understanding which translations have which problems is important. In the following discussion, we’ll take a brief and summary look at issues affecting translation, and how those issues impact the various translations. You must understand these issues to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the translation in your lap.
Issues Affecting Translation
When considering Bible translation, many issues arise but for simplicity we’ll stick to two; these main issues concern you as a Christian trying to understand the Bible translation debate.
What you’re translating from. Two main lines of Greek texts exist with differences between them (section 2.1). You also must consider if what we have today was handed down to us faithfully accurate to the originals (section 2.1.1).
How you translate what you’ve got. In other words, do you attempt to translate literally, or use more paraphrasing? We’ll cover this in section 2.2.
Textual Issues
Preservation of the Bible
Written 2,000 years ago, do we have correct and accurate copies of the original New Testament? A quick glance of the following chart[1] illustrates the accuracy of the New Testament passed down to us, compared to other ancient writings.
Document
Date
Copies
% Purity
Homer’s Iliad
800 BC
643
95
Herodotus
480 BC
8
?
Plato’s Tetralogies
427 BC
7
?
Caesar’s Gallic Wars
44 BC
10
?
New Testament
50–95 AD
25,366
>99.5
If we don’t accept the validity and accuracy of the Bible, we must throw out much more than the Bible. Do we doubt writings with considerably less sources? The existence of George Washington? With considerable manuscript evidence, the Bible stands apart from other ancient writings.
Norman Geisler, a world renowned Bible scholar echoed this when he states: “Only 400 words of the NT are in doubt, whereas 764 lines of the Iliad are questioned. This five percent textual corruption (in the Iliad) compares with one-half of one percent of similar emendations in the New Testament”[2]
So the Bible has been preserved through the centuries for us as originally written; we can be confident of the accuracy of our copies as many of the differences exist in spelling or other minor issues.
Textual History
Two main lines of Greek texts exist, diverging in minor but important ways. The text used almost exclusively until the 1800’s was Textus Receptus. However, manuscript discoveries in Alexandria changed some scholars views. But are those manuscripts reliable?
In 1525, Erasmus compiled the first Greek text using texts from Byzantium, which had been in use previously for centuries, forming the basis for what would later be called Textus Receptus,[3] and the main text the KJV translators used. Although they had the other Alexandrian texts available (Codex Siniaticus, etc), they obviously felt the Alexandrian text base (later to become Westcott-Hort) was unsuitable.
Westcott and Hort compiled a Greek New Testament starting in 1853 and finished 28 years later, relying heavily on the Alexandrian Codex Vaticanus and Codex Siniaticus, changing the traditional Greek in over 8,000 places[4]. We’ll treat all these Alexandrian texts similarly and refer to them collectively as Westcott-Hort (not technically correct, but for our purposes it’s close enough). How they edited the text, the reasons why and their background becomes critical to understanding the newer translations derived from Westcott-Hort’s work.
Only two modern translations use the Textus Receptus Greek text (KJV, NKJV); all the others (NASB, NIV, etc) use Westcott-Hort or Alexandrian texts. After studying these a bit (which we’ll get to), it becomes apparent they’ve all been edited for theological reasons; the influence of early Gnostic heresy runs through Westcott-Hort’s text.
For ease of discussion we’re grouping various families of texts, which although not entirely accurate, proves sufficient for our purposes. For our uses, Byzantine, Textus Receptus and the Majority Text will be treated as equivalent, and simply called Textus Receptus, while Westcott-Hort, UBS, and Nestle-Aland will be treated as the Alexandrian line and referred to as Westcott and Hort or Alexandrian.
Gnostic Influence — Westcott and Hort
Early in church history a heretical group sprang up called the Gnostics, accepting the Greek idea of dualism between spirit and matter.[5] All matter in Gnostic teaching was evil; since all matter is evil, Jesus really didn’t have a physical body and no physical resurrection occurred. The Gnostics also believed they had special knowledge, leading to spiritual elitism in the early church.
The Gnostic’s teaching on the evilness of material leads to two errors. On one side was a form of asceticism — the path to heaven comes by denying yourself (the extreme puritanical view). On the other side, your body (since it is evil) doesn’t matter. If you use drugs or party it really doesn’t matter since your body is evil anyway.
The Gnostic heresy Jesus didn’t have a body denies His death, physical resurrection, and thus His atonement for our sins. The apostle John wrote his first letter (1 John) in part to combat Gnostic heresy. John writes he saw and handled Jesus — Jesus had a physical body. Even more, John warned anyone stating Jesus did not come in the flesh is not of God.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:2–3 KJV)
John’s one statement debunks all of Gnostic heresy. Why then is academia so enamored by it? Why would Westcott-Hort follow such heresy when it so obviously contradicts Biblical teaching? Why have we allowed people who obviously rejected Biblical teaching to edit God’s Word?
Westcott and Hort edited the original Greek as they compiled their edition, but as we shall see, Gnostic philosophy heavily influenced both men. The Greek texts they used appear footnoted in your Bible as “the oldest and best manuscripts”. Yes, they’re the oldest, but are they the best? Westcott and Hort held strange theological views — do we trust them with God’s Word? Consider the words of Westcott and Hort themselves.
But the book which has engaged me most is Darwin ... My feeling is strong that the theory is unanswerable.[6]
No one now I suppose holds that the first three chapters of Genesis, for example, give a literal history--I could never understand how anyone reading them with open eyes could think they did.[7]
Christians are themselves in a true sense “Christs”.[8]
I am inclined to think that no such state as Eden (I mean the popular notion) ever existed, and that Adam’s fall in no degree differed from the fall of each of his descendants.[9]
These are their views. They’re entitled to them, of course, but do they agree with your Bible reading? In light of John’s warning about Gnostic heresy, can we trust these men to compile an accurate Greek text? As we’ll see in the examples, they allowed their un-orthodox views to influence their compilation of the Holy Scriptures — in some ways that simply make no sense.
The Bible must be considered an integrated message to be used as whole and complete. As soon as editing begins, contradictions and other problems arise, as we’ll see in the examples section. No way exists for Westcott-Hort (or anyone else) to edit the Biblical text and keep it consistent.
Go back and re-read the previous paragraph and make sure it sinks in. If the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, any internal inconsistencies in a manuscript cause the rejection of that manuscript. No need to spend hours in the library on archaeological and historical records, if the manuscript contains internal errors it must be rejected.
Translational Issues
Once you decide on the textual base (Textus Receptus or Westcott-Hort), you must decide exactly how to translate — literal or paraphrase? Both have pros and cons, but mostly you want to know where on the scale your translation lies. If you’ve ever picked up a Greek-English interlinear you know it can be difficult to read, as this example shows.
so For loved God the world, so as the Son of Him, the Only-begotten, He gave, that everyone believing into Him not may perish, but have life everlasting. (John 3:16 Interlinear Greek-English NT, 3rd Edition, Jay P. Green)
So the question isn’t quite literal vs. paraphrase, but how much paraphrasing does the translator perform? A translator trying to remain literal will do the minimum required to put the sentence into grammatically correct English and no more, while a paraphrase tries to convey the idea of the original without using the exact wording of the original and may take into account cultural or other differences.
Weights and measures provide one easy example. How many people know what a cubit is? Or that 4 cubits make one fathom? Or 1 firkin is about 9 gallons? In a literal translation, these quantities translate as-is, and it’s up to you to understand what they are. In more of a paraphrase translation, these appear in modern measures.
It’s easiest to show this issue with examples, so we’ll move right to it.
Examples
Literal vs Paraphrase
Consider 2 Timothy 2:15 in two translations and examine how the literal verses paraphrase problem presents itself.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (KJV)
“Rightly divide” translates the Greek word orthotomeo (from orthos) — you might recognize as similar to the math term orthogonal meaning a right angle. So the KJV is literal. But do you know what it means? If you have a math background you understand orthogonal as precise, an exact right angle, as the KJV accurately and literally translates the Greek. Now consider the NIV.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (NIV)
“Correctly handles” is not literal, but for many people brings the truth of the verse out better. But notice instead of “Study” the NIV uses “Do your best” which completely changes the meaning making it less clear. Study implies dedication or devotion, while just doing your best can mean a lot less. John chapter seven provides another example.
His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. (John 7:3–4 KJV)
You might miss Jesus’ brothers picking on Him a little; since they didn’t believe Jesus was God, they’re actually baiting Him to show His stuff. Now compare the New Living Translation.
Jesus’ brothers urged him to go to Judea for the celebration. “Go where your followers can see your miracles!” they scoffed. “You can’t become a public figure if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, prove it to the world!” (John 7:3–4 NLT)
In these two examples you can see both the advantages and disadvantages of literal and paraphrase translation. Most of the time literal translation proves the most beneficial, but sometimes referring to a paraphrase proves advantageous.
Textual
For these, we’re using KJV and NKJV as examples of Textus Receptus, and as a representative of Westcott-Hort, the NIV (and also the NASB or the New American Standard Bible). Westcott-Hort influence most “modern” translations, even if they don’t follow exactly the full changes Westcott-Hort made (NIV more, NASB less). Some translations include the changes in footnotes, others include in the main text.
(Matthew 18:11 NKJV) For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
(Matthew 18:11 KJV) For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
(Matthew 18:11 NIV) deleted
NIV deletes entirely, while NASB brackets it as probably not in original text. Why delete this verse? Perhaps if you believe (as Westcott) we’re all true Christs and don’t have need of salvation.
(Matthew 25:13 NKJV) Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
(Matthew 25:13 KJV) Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
(Matthew 25:13 NIV) Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
That’s a bizarre one. Why would I keep watch if I don’t know what time it was? But it’s not the time, it’s the time of Jesus’ return you don’t know. Jesus taught to always be on the lookout for His return — it can come anytime.
(Mark 2:17 NKJV) When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
(Mark 2:17 KJV) When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
(Mark 2:17 NIV) On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Another fun one. Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners. For what? An invitation to dinner? To Saturday’s football game? (NASB contains similar edit to NIV).
(Acts 8:37 NKJV) Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
(Acts 8:37 KJV) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
(Acts 8:37 NIV) deleted
If you didn’t believe Jesus was God, you certainly wouldn’t want it in your text so you delete it. NASB brackets as not in original text.
(Ephesians 3:9 NKJV) and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
(Ephesians 3:9 KJV) And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
(Ephesians 3:9 NIV) and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
NIV has God creating all things, NOT Jesus — which you wouldn’t want to say if you accept Gnostic heresy. Here Westcott-Hort directly contradict Paul in Colossians 1:16-17 who attributes creation to Jesus. In Colossians 1:17, Paul even states Jesus holds the atoms of the universe together. (NASB contains similar edit to NIV).
(1 Peter 4:1 NKJV) Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
(1 Peter 4:1 KJV) Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
(1 Peter 4:1 NIV) Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
Jesus didn’t just suffer, he suffered and died for us. NASB with similar edit to NIV.
(Revelation 11:17 NKJV) saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
(Revelation 11:17 KJV) Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
(Revelation 11:17 NIV) saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
Denying the return of Jesus. (NASB similar to NIV).
In these few examples, you can see how Westcott-Hort personal theology (or lack thereof) influenced their compilation of the Greek text. Some of these changes contradict other areas of the Bible, while others make no sense at all. Since the inerrant Word of God contains no errors, it must be Westcott-Hort making the mistakes.
King James Version
King James Only
Some claim the KJV as the only true Bible, claiming the translators of the KJV were divinely inspired just as Peter, Paul and John were. Unfortunately, no basis for this exists. They claim the KJV as the “perfect” Bible in English and put in on par with the original Greek! But as anyone who ever translated anything soon finds, it’s impossible to accurately translate one language to another. Even worse, Greek is one of the most rich languages, with English one of the worst.
My father tells me a story of someone who was KJV-Only and said when he finished reading another translation, he just tossed it on the coffee table. But when he finished reading the KJV, he reverently and gently placed it back from whence it came. That’s idolatry.
We could continue to debate the KJV-only crowd, but most people don’t hold such a view, and as such it isn’t worth the time to continue the discussion. Just be aware some people hold this view, and from time to time you will encounter them.
The KJV ranks as one of the best translations, although it’s not the only translation that has use.
Olde English
Some would throw away the KJV due to it’s old English. Certainly that can be a valid reason, but shouldn’t preclude your use of it; when studying any technical subject (math or science), certain terminology must be learned. The KJV is no different. Remember you’re reading text 2,000 years old from a different culture — it’s going to be different.
The first problem pops up with archaic words. Dictionaries exist if you need help, but you’ll quickly become accustomed to the vocabulary. But the bigger issue arises from words you think you know, but changed meaning over time; unless you’re aware of them you’ll definitely have problems reading the KJV.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:15 KJV)
Any new translation translates “prevent” as “precede”; the word prevent changed meaning between 1611 and now and if you didn’t know this verse makes no sense.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJV)
“Let” changed meaning to “hinder”. Again, any recent translation correctly translates this verse (both of these verses change in the NKJV as well). A note for people who do like the KJV over other translations, the New Scofield Bible (1967 edition) gives you these notations so you’ll understand with outdated word changes made right in the text. If you’re a KJV person, get a copy of Scofield’s 1967 edition.
The other problem with old English arises from all the thees and thous in the KJV. However, a reason does exist for these in the text; it’s to differentiate singular and plural. Consider the following chart:[10]
NOM
OBJ
POSS
1st Singular
I
Me
My
1st Plural
We
Us
Our
2nd Singular
Thou
Thee
Thy
2nd Plural
Ye
You
Your
3rd Singular
He
Him
His
3rd Plural
They
Them
Their
NOM = nominative, case of the subjectOBJ = objective, case of the object of the verbPOSS = possessive, case of possessing.
Why is this important? Consider Luke 22:31–32.
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:31–32 KJV)
Here you can easily see Satan asked for much more than Peter — perhaps the entire group! However, Jesus prays for Peter himself. The distinction easily missed in other translations (including NKJV) the KJV makes abundantly clear (a similar situation also occurs in Exodus 4:15).
Comparison of Translations
So how do we rate the various translations? The following chart provides a guide for modern translations, showing which textual base they follow and a rough guide of how literally they translate the original Greek.
Translation
Text Base
Literal Scale
KJV
TR
1
NKJV
TR
1
NASB
WH
1-2
NIV
WH
4
NLT
WH
6
The Message
?
9
TR = Textus ReceptusWH = Westcott-HortLiteral scale runs from 0 (a perfect literal much like a Greek-English interlinear) to 10 (a complete paraphrase — the translator reads a paragraph and the translates it without trying to be literal).
It’s important to know just because the newer translations are marked as Westcott-Hort does not necessarily imply they follow all of Westcott-Hort; each translation has different ways of handling it. Some footnote, some delete, some ignore Westcott-Hort changes in some areas.
Recommendations
The preferred translation is the NKJV, useful for both teaching and personal study. The KJV appears in the majority of writings for a simple reason: no copyright issues (look at the first few pages of any other translation to see a list of rules of how you can quote it).
Use the New King James for primary use, study, and reading as it comes from the preferred Textus Receptus Greek Text. However, referring to a New Living Paraphrase in some cases will help you with meaning. These two translations provide a solid foundation for Bible Study.
Most importantly, understand all translations have problems. It’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Bible translation you use. In the event you’re using another translation, it does not mean to throw it out or stop using it.
Conclusion
You must have balance — no translation is 100% perfect, they all have problems. This does not mean errors or inconsistencies exist in the Bible, only translation can never be perfect. It’s important to understand how your translation came to be, and what methods were used in its creation. Most importantly, you are encouraged to study on your own.
Bibliography and Notes
This article available as Adobe PDF download. Visit our download area for this and more!
Missler, Chuck "How we got Our Bible" (2 Tapes with notes) http://khouse.org
"Nelsons New Illustrated Bible Dictionary"
Smith, Chuck "The Foundation of the Word" (2 Tapes) http://www.thewordfortoday.org/kjv/html/sermons.cfm
Zodiahates "The Complete Word Study New Testament"
Passages marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Passages marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version of the Bible copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Passages marked NIV taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan publishing House. All rights reserved.The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Which Bible Translation?

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Many issues divide the Body of Christ today. Baptism, communion, pre-tribulation rapture verses post-tribulation and more all cause division in the Church as satan loves to divide and conquer; it’s sad we fight among ourselves instead of the real enemy.
One of satan’s strategies from early in Genesis becomes casting doubt on God’s word. Recall in the garden satan’s words “Has God really said?” confusing Eve and causing her to sin. Satan realizes casting doubt on what God actually says can be a winning strategy for him — what could cause more confusion than casting doubt the Bible in your lap isn’t the exact Word of God?
This article available in Adobe PDF format. Visit our download area for this and more!
This strategy continues today with the Bible translation debate. Is the King James really the best translation? What about the old language? Shouldn’t newer translations be used? As usual many views exist, and unfortunately some people involved become rather militant. We’ve been told if you’re witnessing to someone and they become saved, but you didn’t use King James Version it didn’t count. That’s absurd.
However, in view of satan’s strategy of creating doubt in God’s word the translation and preservation of the Bible becomes critically important; you can’t dismiss the concept and use whatever translation you pick off the shelf. Balance is required; getting that balance requires effort on your part — you need to do some homework. Fortunately acquiring a basic familiarity with the issues can be done briefly, paying dividends in your Bible Study.
Anyone translating between languages quickly understands one thing, it’s impossible to completely and accurately translate between languages. The translator must always choose different wording to convey the original idea; sometimes it’s impossible to express the idea of one language in another. As such, the original always surpasses the copy for accuracy; translation forces a compromise of sorts, subject to the personal ideas of the translator (which explains why we must understand the personal ideas of the translator).
The idea a perfect translation exists quickly disappears — they all have problems; understanding which translations have which problems is important. In the following discussion, we’ll take a brief and summary look at issues affecting translation, and how those issues impact the various translations. You must understand these issues to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the translation in your lap.
Issues Affecting Translation
When considering Bible translation, many issues arise but for simplicity we’ll stick to two; these main issues concern you as a Christian trying to understand the Bible translation debate.
What you’re translating from. Two main lines of Greek texts exist with differences between them (section 2.1). You also must consider if what we have today was handed down to us faithfully accurate to the originals (section 2.1.1).
How you translate what you’ve got. In other words, do you attempt to translate literally, or use more paraphrasing? We’ll cover this in section 2.2.
Textual Issues
Preservation of the Bible
Written 2,000 years ago, do we have correct and accurate copies of the original New Testament? A quick glance of the following chart[1] illustrates the accuracy of the New Testament passed down to us, compared to other ancient writings.
Document
Date
Copies
% Purity
Homer’s Iliad
800 BC
643
95
Herodotus
480 BC
8
?
Plato’s Tetralogies
427 BC
7
?
Caesar’s Gallic Wars
44 BC
10
?
New Testament
50–95 AD
25,366
>99.5
If we don’t accept the validity and accuracy of the Bible, we must throw out much more than the Bible. Do we doubt writings with considerably less sources? The existence of George Washington? With considerable manuscript evidence, the Bible stands apart from other ancient writings.
Norman Geisler, a world renowned Bible scholar echoed this when he states: “Only 400 words of the NT are in doubt, whereas 764 lines of the Iliad are questioned. This five percent textual corruption (in the Iliad) compares with one-half of one percent of similar emendations in the New Testament”[2]
So the Bible has been preserved through the centuries for us as originally written; we can be confident of the accuracy of our copies as many of the differences exist in spelling or other minor issues.
Textual History
Two main lines of Greek texts exist, diverging in minor but important ways. The text used almost exclusively until the 1800’s was Textus Receptus. However, manuscript discoveries in Alexandria changed some scholars views. But are those manuscripts reliable?
In 1525, Erasmus compiled the first Greek text using texts from Byzantium, which had been in use previously for centuries, forming the basis for what would later be called Textus Receptus,[3] and the main text the KJV translators used. Although they had the other Alexandrian texts available (Codex Siniaticus, etc), they obviously felt the Alexandrian text base (later to become Westcott-Hort) was unsuitable.
Westcott and Hort compiled a Greek New Testament starting in 1853 and finished 28 years later, relying heavily on the Alexandrian Codex Vaticanus and Codex Siniaticus, changing the traditional Greek in over 8,000 places[4]. We’ll treat all these Alexandrian texts similarly and refer to them collectively as Westcott-Hort (not technically correct, but for our purposes it’s close enough). How they edited the text, the reasons why and their background becomes critical to understanding the newer translations derived from Westcott-Hort’s work.
Only two modern translations use the Textus Receptus Greek text (KJV, NKJV); all the others (NASB, NIV, etc) use Westcott-Hort or Alexandrian texts. After studying these a bit (which we’ll get to), it becomes apparent they’ve all been edited for theological reasons; the influence of early Gnostic heresy runs through Westcott-Hort’s text.
For ease of discussion we’re grouping various families of texts, which although not entirely accurate, proves sufficient for our purposes. For our uses, Byzantine, Textus Receptus and the Majority Text will be treated as equivalent, and simply called Textus Receptus, while Westcott-Hort, UBS, and Nestle-Aland will be treated as the Alexandrian line and referred to as Westcott and Hort or Alexandrian.
Gnostic Influence — Westcott and Hort
Early in church history a heretical group sprang up called the Gnostics, accepting the Greek idea of dualism between spirit and matter.[5] All matter in Gnostic teaching was evil; since all matter is evil, Jesus really didn’t have a physical body and no physical resurrection occurred. The Gnostics also believed they had special knowledge, leading to spiritual elitism in the early church.
The Gnostic’s teaching on the evilness of material leads to two errors. On one side was a form of asceticism — the path to heaven comes by denying yourself (the extreme puritanical view). On the other side, your body (since it is evil) doesn’t matter. If you use drugs or party it really doesn’t matter since your body is evil anyway.
The Gnostic heresy Jesus didn’t have a body denies His death, physical resurrection, and thus His atonement for our sins. The apostle John wrote his first letter (1 John) in part to combat Gnostic heresy. John writes he saw and handled Jesus — Jesus had a physical body. Even more, John warned anyone stating Jesus did not come in the flesh is not of God.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:2–3 KJV)
John’s one statement debunks all of Gnostic heresy. Why then is academia so enamored by it? Why would Westcott-Hort follow such heresy when it so obviously contradicts Biblical teaching? Why have we allowed people who obviously rejected Biblical teaching to edit God’s Word?
Westcott and Hort edited the original Greek as they compiled their edition, but as we shall see, Gnostic philosophy heavily influenced both men. The Greek texts they used appear footnoted in your Bible as “the oldest and best manuscripts”. Yes, they’re the oldest, but are they the best? Westcott and Hort held strange theological views — do we trust them with God’s Word? Consider the words of Westcott and Hort themselves.
But the book which has engaged me most is Darwin ... My feeling is strong that the theory is unanswerable.[6]
No one now I suppose holds that the first three chapters of Genesis, for example, give a literal history--I could never understand how anyone reading them with open eyes could think they did.[7]
Christians are themselves in a true sense “Christs”.[8]
I am inclined to think that no such state as Eden (I mean the popular notion) ever existed, and that Adam’s fall in no degree differed from the fall of each of his descendants.[9]
These are their views. They’re entitled to them, of course, but do they agree with your Bible reading? In light of John’s warning about Gnostic heresy, can we trust these men to compile an accurate Greek text? As we’ll see in the examples, they allowed their un-orthodox views to influence their compilation of the Holy Scriptures — in some ways that simply make no sense.
The Bible must be considered an integrated message to be used as whole and complete. As soon as editing begins, contradictions and other problems arise, as we’ll see in the examples section. No way exists for Westcott-Hort (or anyone else) to edit the Biblical text and keep it consistent.
Go back and re-read the previous paragraph and make sure it sinks in. If the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, any internal inconsistencies in a manuscript cause the rejection of that manuscript. No need to spend hours in the library on archaeological and historical records, if the manuscript contains internal errors it must be rejected.
Translational Issues
Once you decide on the textual base (Textus Receptus or Westcott-Hort), you must decide exactly how to translate — literal or paraphrase? Both have pros and cons, but mostly you want to know where on the scale your translation lies. If you’ve ever picked up a Greek-English interlinear you know it can be difficult to read, as this example shows.
so For loved God the world, so as the Son of Him, the Only-begotten, He gave, that everyone believing into Him not may perish, but have life everlasting. (John 3:16 Interlinear Greek-English NT, 3rd Edition, Jay P. Green)
So the question isn’t quite literal vs. paraphrase, but how much paraphrasing does the translator perform? A translator trying to remain literal will do the minimum required to put the sentence into grammatically correct English and no more, while a paraphrase tries to convey the idea of the original without using the exact wording of the original and may take into account cultural or other differences.
Weights and measures provide one easy example. How many people know what a cubit is? Or that 4 cubits make one fathom? Or 1 firkin is about 9 gallons? In a literal translation, these quantities translate as-is, and it’s up to you to understand what they are. In more of a paraphrase translation, these appear in modern measures.
It’s easiest to show this issue with examples, so we’ll move right to it.
Examples
Literal vs Paraphrase
Consider 2 Timothy 2:15 in two translations and examine how the literal verses paraphrase problem presents itself.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (KJV)
“Rightly divide” translates the Greek word orthotomeo (from orthos) — you might recognize as similar to the math term orthogonal meaning a right angle. So the KJV is literal. But do you know what it means? If you have a math background you understand orthogonal as precise, an exact right angle, as the KJV accurately and literally translates the Greek. Now consider the NIV.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (NIV)
“Correctly handles” is not literal, but for many people brings the truth of the verse out better. But notice instead of “Study” the NIV uses “Do your best” which completely changes the meaning making it less clear. Study implies dedication or devotion, while just doing your best can mean a lot less. John chapter seven provides another example.
His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. (John 7:3–4 KJV)
You might miss Jesus’ brothers picking on Him a little; since they didn’t believe Jesus was God, they’re actually baiting Him to show His stuff. Now compare the New Living Translation.
Jesus’ brothers urged him to go to Judea for the celebration. “Go where your followers can see your miracles!” they scoffed. “You can’t become a public figure if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, prove it to the world!” (John 7:3–4 NLT)
In these two examples you can see both the advantages and disadvantages of literal and paraphrase translation. Most of the time literal translation proves the most beneficial, but sometimes referring to a paraphrase proves advantageous.
Textual
For these, we’re using KJV and NKJV as examples of Textus Receptus, and as a representative of Westcott-Hort, the NIV (and also the NASB or the New American Standard Bible). Westcott-Hort influence most “modern” translations, even if they don’t follow exactly the full changes Westcott-Hort made (NIV more, NASB less). Some translations include the changes in footnotes, others include in the main text.
(Matthew 18:11 NKJV) For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
(Matthew 18:11 KJV) For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
(Matthew 18:11 NIV) deleted
NIV deletes entirely, while NASB brackets it as probably not in original text. Why delete this verse? Perhaps if you believe (as Westcott) we’re all true Christs and don’t have need of salvation.
(Matthew 25:13 NKJV) Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
(Matthew 25:13 KJV) Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
(Matthew 25:13 NIV) Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
That’s a bizarre one. Why would I keep watch if I don’t know what time it was? But it’s not the time, it’s the time of Jesus’ return you don’t know. Jesus taught to always be on the lookout for His return — it can come anytime.
(Mark 2:17 NKJV) When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
(Mark 2:17 KJV) When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
(Mark 2:17 NIV) On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Another fun one. Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners. For what? An invitation to dinner? To Saturday’s football game? (NASB contains similar edit to NIV).
(Acts 8:37 NKJV) Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
(Acts 8:37 KJV) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
(Acts 8:37 NIV) deleted
If you didn’t believe Jesus was God, you certainly wouldn’t want it in your text so you delete it. NASB brackets as not in original text.
(Ephesians 3:9 NKJV) and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
(Ephesians 3:9 KJV) And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
(Ephesians 3:9 NIV) and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
NIV has God creating all things, NOT Jesus — which you wouldn’t want to say if you accept Gnostic heresy. Here Westcott-Hort directly contradict Paul in Colossians 1:16-17 who attributes creation to Jesus. In Colossians 1:17, Paul even states Jesus holds the atoms of the universe together. (NASB contains similar edit to NIV).
(1 Peter 4:1 NKJV) Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
(1 Peter 4:1 KJV) Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
(1 Peter 4:1 NIV) Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
Jesus didn’t just suffer, he suffered and died for us. NASB with similar edit to NIV.
(Revelation 11:17 NKJV) saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
(Revelation 11:17 KJV) Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
(Revelation 11:17 NIV) saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
Denying the return of Jesus. (NASB similar to NIV).
In these few examples, you can see how Westcott-Hort personal theology (or lack thereof) influenced their compilation of the Greek text. Some of these changes contradict other areas of the Bible, while others make no sense at all. Since the inerrant Word of God contains no errors, it must be Westcott-Hort making the mistakes.
King James Version
King James Only
Some claim the KJV as the only true Bible, claiming the translators of the KJV were divinely inspired just as Peter, Paul and John were. Unfortunately, no basis for this exists. They claim the KJV as the “perfect” Bible in English and put in on par with the original Greek! But as anyone who ever translated anything soon finds, it’s impossible to accurately translate one language to another. Even worse, Greek is one of the most rich languages, with English one of the worst.
My father tells me a story of someone who was KJV-Only and said when he finished reading another translation, he just tossed it on the coffee table. But when he finished reading the KJV, he reverently and gently placed it back from whence it came. That’s idolatry.
We could continue to debate the KJV-only crowd, but most people don’t hold such a view, and as such it isn’t worth the time to continue the discussion. Just be aware some people hold this view, and from time to time you will encounter them.
The KJV ranks as one of the best translations, although it’s not the only translation that has use.
Olde English
Some would throw away the KJV due to it’s old English. Certainly that can be a valid reason, but shouldn’t preclude your use of it; when studying any technical subject (math or science), certain terminology must be learned. The KJV is no different. Remember you’re reading text 2,000 years old from a different culture — it’s going to be different.
The first problem pops up with archaic words. Dictionaries exist if you need help, but you’ll quickly become accustomed to the vocabulary. But the bigger issue arises from words you think you know, but changed meaning over time; unless you’re aware of them you’ll definitely have problems reading the KJV.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:15 KJV)
Any new translation translates “prevent” as “precede”; the word prevent changed meaning between 1611 and now and if you didn’t know this verse makes no sense.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7 KJV)
“Let” changed meaning to “hinder”. Again, any recent translation correctly translates this verse (both of these verses change in the NKJV as well). A note for people who do like the KJV over other translations, the New Scofield Bible (1967 edition) gives you these notations so you’ll understand with outdated word changes made right in the text. If you’re a KJV person, get a copy of Scofield’s 1967 edition.
The other problem with old English arises from all the thees and thous in the KJV. However, a reason does exist for these in the text; it’s to differentiate singular and plural. Consider the following chart:[10]
NOM
OBJ
POSS
1st Singular
I
Me
My
1st Plural
We
Us
Our
2nd Singular
Thou
Thee
Thy
2nd Plural
Ye
You
Your
3rd Singular
He
Him
His
3rd Plural
They
Them
Their
NOM = nominative, case of the subjectOBJ = objective, case of the object of the verbPOSS = possessive, case of possessing.
Why is this important? Consider Luke 22:31–32.
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:31–32 KJV)
Here you can easily see Satan asked for much more than Peter — perhaps the entire group! However, Jesus prays for Peter himself. The distinction easily missed in other translations (including NKJV) the KJV makes abundantly clear (a similar situation also occurs in Exodus 4:15).
Comparison of Translations
So how do we rate the various translations? The following chart provides a guide for modern translations, showing which textual base they follow and a rough guide of how literally they translate the original Greek.
Translation
Text Base
Literal Scale
KJV
TR
1
NKJV
TR
1
NASB
WH
1-2
NIV
WH
4
NLT
WH
6
The Message
?
9
TR = Textus ReceptusWH = Westcott-HortLiteral scale runs from 0 (a perfect literal much like a Greek-English interlinear) to 10 (a complete paraphrase — the translator reads a paragraph and the translates it without trying to be literal).
It’s important to know just because the newer translations are marked as Westcott-Hort does not necessarily imply they follow all of Westcott-Hort; each translation has different ways of handling it. Some footnote, some delete, some ignore Westcott-Hort changes in some areas.
Recommendations
The preferred translation is the NKJV, useful for both teaching and personal study. The KJV appears in the majority of writings for a simple reason: no copyright issues (look at the first few pages of any other translation to see a list of rules of how you can quote it).
Use the New King James for primary use, study, and reading as it comes from the preferred Textus Receptus Greek Text. However, referring to a New Living Paraphrase in some cases will help you with meaning. These two translations provide a solid foundation for Bible Study.
Most importantly, understand all translations have problems. It’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Bible translation you use. In the event you’re using another translation, it does not mean to throw it out or stop using it.
Conclusion
You must have balance — no translation is 100% perfect, they all have problems. This does not mean errors or inconsistencies exist in the Bible, only translation can never be perfect. It’s important to understand how your translation came to be, and what methods were used in its creation. Most importantly, you are encouraged to study on your own.
Bibliography and Notes
This article available as Adobe PDF download. Visit our download area for this and more!
Missler, Chuck "How we got Our Bible" (2 Tapes with notes) http://khouse.org
"Nelsons New Illustrated Bible Dictionary"
Smith, Chuck "The Foundation of the Word" (2 Tapes) http://www.thewordfortoday.org/kjv/html/sermons.cfm
Zodiahates "The Complete Word Study New Testament"
Passages marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Passages marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version of the Bible copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Passages marked NIV taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan publishing House. All rights reserved.The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

ISO 9002, do you know about it ?

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

Translators may be aware of the ISO 9002 standard often used in the quality assurance of translation work. However, several questions need to be asked in the analysis of this standard within the field of translation:

1.Is this standard necessary?
2.Does this standard cover all the intricacies of translation?
3.Can quality in any way be assured (and measured)?
To (very) briefly summarise, the standard (also ISO 9001 2008) sets out the requirements for quality management in a variety of systems, not only translation therefore it is, by its very nature, a general set of requirements. The ISO revolves around the need to create a Quality Management System which enables people in an organisation to control, monitor and improve quality in the entire process. In order to achieve this, every organisation must see to it that the relevant documentation is in place which controls the quality management system. The process begins with the establishment of customer requirements and the general quality policy of the organisation through the establishment of quality objectives.

Although the above summary is (necessarily) brief it shows the very general nature of the ISO. To answer the first question, yes, quality standards are necessary for the translation process and product as they are for every field. The second question: does this standard cover all the intricacies of translation? Due to the fact that the ISO is so general it could in theory cover all the delicacies of the translation process, although it must be clear that the ISO suits better the work of translation agencies and companies rather than the individual freelancer working from home. The final question: can quality in any way be assured (and measured)? A previous post also dealt with this subject. The answer most certainly lies in the affirmative, although this is both a difficult and burdensome process as any quality assurance manager in any field may tell you.

It might be interesting for the translator and translation quality manager to consider two other methods of quality assurance/improvement that could be useful in the process of self-betterment:

Kaizen, a Japanese methodology/philosphy which is in essence the striving for continual improvement through the elimination of wasteful working practices and an openness to experimentation and change.

PDCA, essentially the Scientific Method as developed by Francis Bacon but revolving around quality improvement through the following stages: plan, do, check, act.

Although all of these are valuable tools for the translator, translator trainer and transltion quality manager, one cannot fail to take into consideration Katharina Reiss’ 1971 opus: Translation Criticism – The Potentials and Limitations. In it, Reiss formulates what is essential for Translation Quality Assessment. Even though this is not a ‘prefect’ solution it does go a long way in defining the problem. Perhaps, one possible solution for translation quality assessment would be to harness all the above methods in order to form one approach.

Arnold Lost in Translation

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia

I hope you enjoy this complete collection of 30 Arnold commercials for Japan. It only gets better so watch the whole thing. Never knew Arnold did these commercials. The whole video is about 10 minutes but it's worth it.

P.S. Click on the title "Arnold Lost in Translation" to view

Translation Prices: Cost of Translation and Localization Services

by: Argos Multilingual

No, it doesn’t start with an "S” or an "F” and there is no "Q” in it. This word in our industry is ‘cena’ and it is the Polish word for"price”. Translation prices is exactly what we’ll be examining here. Price is usually, as anyone and everyone knows, the defining factor for customers on whether to purchase, and the defining factor for producers on how to target their products to the client base.

What horrible secrets about Eastern European translation pricing will be revealed in this article? Probably nothing too revolutionary. Hopefully this article will expose some common sense responses to issues with pricing, and probably address several universal problems shared by all translation companies and localization service providers in the rest of the world.

1. ROI – ‘Don’t bother localizing if you can’t make a profit’

There is plenty of talk about localization ROI and how it affects pricing. The decision of whether it pays to localize something before you decide to enter a market sounds obvious. Why then do we see companies complaining about localization costs in the context of their ROI?

The underlying issue here is that companies are complaining about their products’ lack of competitiveness. It happens, there’s no shame in that. No matter how you slice it, it comes down to money. And if there is not enough demand backed by money for a product, then localization, in the eyes of management, doesn’t seem to pay off. If an application is designed for Eastern European end users, then it either has to be relatively inexpensive or should be tailored to a specific niche market where lower sales volumes give an acceptable return. The Eastern European software market will not usually generate huge sales based on its size alone anyway.

As such, localization decisions are often put on a back burner, and investment decisions are based on poor information about the market. The result - a company finds itself in Eastern Europe before it has properly estimated sales potential. Then, normal business processes come into play; managers are pressed to make a profit, and we see the localization problem handed over to the local distributor.

All of a sudden, a company that specializes in software distribution is responsible for the software publisher’s image and quality in the local market. Local distributors are often very small, with little infrastructure, inadequate resources and small translation budgets (coming out of their own small pockets). Nonetheless, localization responsibility for the product is suddenly literally dumped upon them. This imposes additional problems on the distributors not only associated with added incurred translation costs, but also the problem with answering questions such as: ‘how to localize’, ‘what agency to hire’, ‘how to go about adapting the product to this region’…

It all boils down to one simple fact, distributors usually lack the experience in localization, and that lack of experience will further result in declining sales numbers and added costs.

Software publishers fool themselves into thinking that it is so much in the distributor’s interest to do a great job localizing the product (ergo, the distributor will have an easier time selling the product) that they, themselves, don’t need to worry about it. However, distributors usually don’t understand the complex issues connected with localization. Even if a distributor does recognize what’s involved, the "simple, low-value added service” attitude toward localization services prevails. The real world consequences are poor-quality localization and serious harm to the software publisher’s image and brand.

2. What’s going on among the bigger buyers of translation/localization services?

What are the organizational structures of larger buyers of localization services, and how do they affect the price of translation? It seems as if Microsoft is getting its act together by limiting the number of vendors and giving the remaining more work. IBM and Oracle also seem to be well-organized in this respect. Unfortunately, there are other large buyers of translation and localization services that have not addressed the issue of centralizing or streamlining costs.

It is quite remarkable how some large buyers deal with this problem. Our translation company, Argos Translations, works with one particular client directly through two different offices and indirectly through three other localization companies. Of course, we are paid different rates, negotiated completely independently with each of these channels. And now the punch line: the rates we receive working through one localization company are 50% higher than what we receive working directly for the client. So where are the client savings? Where is the streamlining? What about consistent terminology? The value of working through a limited number of MLVs is understandable, but what is the point of doing it a little this way and a little that way?

How the biggest clients deal with their translation and localization is only one issue. Another question is how far these companies are willing to go to lower localization costs. Last year, our company was in negotiations with a very large global company to take over a large portion of their Slovak localization work. I am not going to name any names here, but suffice it to say that this is one of the elite, with over $50 billion in annual global sales. Since this was a large, long-term client, and there were significant volumes involved (mostly documentation), we decided to quote this client the extraordinary attractive localization / translation price (at that time) of Euro 0.12 per source word.

The company got back in touch with us to tell us that they really liked our experience and wanted to choose us, but they had an issue: price. We asked whether it was a question of 1 or 2 Euro cents, and they made it clear that the price would have to be "significantly” lower. It was obvious that we weren’t even close to their price expectations. They were looking for Euro 0.07-0.08! How is it possible that the rates being paid by this particular global giant were so low? How does this reflect upon our industry? The only answer I can offer is that such clients receive low translation prices at the expense of similarly low level of quality that they obtain.

3. Quality: does anybody really care?

I was recently dozing through a translation conference as one of the speakers, a professor of linguistics, was discussing the ethical importance of a high-quality translation. I was suddenly jolted awake by a statement he made along the lines of "it is the translation vendor’s ethical responsibility to ensure the highest-quality translation.” When question time arrived, I duly asked what we should do if our client does not give us enough time to do the job in an "ethically responsible” manner. The gentleman told me that it was our moral responsibility to ask for more time.

As good and applicable as his reasoning is, unfortunately it almost never applies in the real world. I tried to imagine the response that I’d receive if I were to call my client and suggest, "Listen, I know this is a 1.2 million-word project, but you really should have met your development schedule. And I know that your priority was to ship FIGS first, but this was delayed. And now, on top of all that, you want us to use this outdated TM software because this is what your previous version was in, yet the TM database we have received is full of inconsistencies that need to be removed before we start translating the new version. What it really comes down to is that we are only going to have time to do the translation and have it reviewed independently TWICE. This won’t be enough to maintain our ethical language standards.”

Unfortunately, the truth is (maybe I shouldn’t be saying this too loudly) that our business is full of concessions. It is a humorous concept, really, when you take into consideration that we are supposed to offer incredibly high-quality, incredibly fast turnaround times at incredibly low rates. Obviously, something has to give here, and I believe that the way localization services providers handle this contradiction is by diminishing the definition of excellence in our industry.

The best companies in our industry are the ones that have the best systems in place to provide the highest quality possible while trying to maintain costs at a level that does not hinder such quality, according to "real world” business conditions. Otherwise, we’re all familiar with the concept of ‘garbage in, garbage out’. It is that simple, really.

Corporate Blog of Elite - Professional Translation Services serving ASEAN & East Asia