Collecting Rent in the Tower of Babel

By Pyotr Patrushev,
bi-lingual in Russian and English,
a member of AIIC,
Sydney, Australia

rustran[at]gmail.com
www.russiantranslate.org

There are some people who think that translators and interpreters are at worst a nuisance and at best a necessary evil; many a businessmen and lawyer have asked questions about the possible advent of automated translation and interpreting systems.

One of the few fortunate polyglots, the writer Nabokov, wrote, only half in jest:

What is a translation? On a platter
A poet’s pale and glaring head;
A parrots screech, a monkey’s chatter,
A profanation of the dead.

Yet it is likely that, even with all the recent advances in voice recognition and machine translation, translators and interpreters are here to stay. Why? One of the more notorious examples of machine mistranslation is the computer rendering of the proverb, “Out of sight, out of mind” as “Blind idiot”.

Not that human translators are always faultless. One often cited example is the allegedly faulty rendering of the message from the Japanese War Cabinet to the US government during the Second World War. Apparently, the conciliatory and polite undertones of the Japanese message were totally lost in translation. What came next was Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

President Carter’s interpreter’s faux pas during a trip to Poland is another example etched into the annals of interpreting history. The “longing” for friendship with the Polish people was rendered as “lusting”. It was particularly embarrassing after Carter’s disclosure in his interview with the Playboy magazine that he was prone to an occasional lascivious thought.

In this perfectly imperfect world, interpreters and translators are sometimes required to do much more than faithfully translate someone’s occasionally confused utterings into another tongue. For politicians, interpreter can be a buffer against a careless slip of the tongue, or, if need be, even a convenient scapegoat.

It is well-known that in the pre-perestroika days Soviet interpreters had a fairly free hand in shaping their politicians’ speeches, in order to make them more acceptable. Of course, they were occasionally caught red-handed, as it happened during Brezhnev’s visit to London, when a glaring mistranslation was detected by the watchful fellows from the Russian Service of the BBC, who listened to the broadcast interview.

But even at the best of times interpreting may sometime present a conflict between etiquette and fidelity.

I recall how once in California, a visiting Soviet surgeon tried to defend the political apathy on the part of the majority of Soviet scientists by claiming that they were simply too busy with science to worry about politics. His blunt American host retorted by saying, “This is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard in my life”. The apprehensive face of the Soviet visitor, who pretended to be so obtuse only because he did not want to lose his privilege of foreign travel, the smell of the Alaskan salmon baking in the kitchen, and the generally genteel atmosphere of the preceding discussion militated against literal translation of the host’s ungracious outburst. Yet, I did translate the mood, if not the literal language, of his remark. The interpreter is not the keeper of his clients’ peace of mind--or the flow of other guests’ digestive juices.

One of the more daunting assignments I had faced was interpreting during a conference of the American and Soviet writers at a resort on the US West Coast. The conference was attended by a number of leading US academics whose profession obviously included linguistic nitpicking.

During the first hour I saw how the bilingual participants at the conference were frantically flicking channels on their headsets, trying to compare the original with the translation. However, at the end of the day, I felt greatly relieved when a formidable looking white-haired female professor of literature from one of the East Coast universities came to me and confessed that she preferred to listen to my Russian translation of one of her colleagues’ speeches (he happened to come from a rival university), rather than the original. “I never knew that he could be made to sound so lucid -- in any tongue,” she confessed without the slightest trace of malice in her voice.

Of course, sometime an original turn of phrase or a pun is too tricky to translate “on the fly”. Once, during a discussion on Freud, an American psychologist came up with a limerick that he thought his Soviet colleagues would enjoy.

Young men who frequent picture palaces
Have no use for psychoanalysis;
If you mention Freud
They are vastly annoyed
And cling to their longstanding fallacies.

But perhaps the most demanding interpreting jobs are the indoor “booth” jobs, with you and another interpreter sitting for days or weeks on end in a small and often poorly ventilated cubicle, with headphones perched on top of your head, trying to keep track of some obscure legal, technical or political discussion.

After a few years’ practice, the main danger is not in making mistakes in terminology but in succumbing to fatigue and boredom. There is a peculiar sort of ennui that can overtake a long-distance simultaneous interpreter after many days of virtual non-stop talking, as well as late night receptions, replete with cholesterol and generous doses of alcohol. Just when you thought you could safely go on autopilot, some delegate would decide to make a controversial interjection that would send everyone into a flurry of sharp-tongues repartees. If this happens late in the day, you begin to long for a good cup of coffee instead of the traditional carafes of cold water.

The sound technology, while being continually improved, can be a boon and a bane. Risqué comments, even with the microphone supposedly off, are strictly off-limits. There was at least one case that I remember when a colleague made a comment about the depth of the cleavage of the only female delegate during a conference on “Safety in Marine Environments”. The mike happened to be on, and the comment enlivened the otherwise dull proceedings. The interpreter was never thanked for his contribution - instead he got a reprimand from the organisers.

Different schools of interpreting insist on varying “safe distances” the interpreter must keep behind his or her client during simultaneous interpreting, to avoid mistakes. Yet, there is a sense of exhilaration when one is so confident of one’s skill that one can keep only a fraction of a second behind the speaker, almost breaking the “sound barrier”. The temptation to go ahead of the speaker, no matter how strong, must be resolutely resisted. Any attempt to defy linguistic gravity and to indulge one’s mind-reading abilities will usually lead to a disaster.

Observing famous or powerful people in their private, unguarded interactions with their peers is certainly an eye opener. One learns that often they are not only human, but all too human. There is that famous (and apocryphal) story about Stalin’s fly being open during his meeting with President Roosevelt. When he was discretely reminded by his host that “his bird is about to fly out of the nest”, Stalin, looking despondent, said, “Alas, only the two eggs remain in the nest.”

During the first live satellite hook-up between the US Congress and the Supreme Soviet in the 80’s, it was very instructive to watch the participants on close-circuit television during commercial breaks. The Americans were still trying to outsmart each other, while the Soviets were using their time to thrash out a common line of defence. The Soviets even provided the Americans with advance information about the number of “spontaneous comments” that could expected from them, without ever thinking that there was anything wrong with a bit of stage-managing.

Interpreting for the first time for two teams of heart surgeons was about as close as I had ever come to actually fainting on the job. Seeing a human rib cage unceremoniously ripped open and then held by butcher-like hooks in position was enough to make one forget how to translate “sternocleidomastoid” into another language. The need for quality interpreting during a heart operation is obvious. It may be less obvious in other areas, although the consequences of choosing a wrong person for the job may be just as dramatic.

Alas, the life of a freelance interpreter, no matter how clever or experienced he or she may be, is getting more demanding by the day. The funding of many international organisations is getting scarce, increasing competition for the remaining jobs. Professional bodies, such as International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) and the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), are attempting to impose stricter rules and greater professionalism on the field that is at the same time driven by laws of supply-and-demand, just like the rest of the economy. The selling point now is a proven experience under demanding and diverse environments, as well as the necessary connections with conference organisers and one's colleagues.

As with writing, interpreting and translation require certain flare. Otherwise, the translation would simply resemble, in the immortal words of Cervantes, “the other side of tapestry”. The worst translations of the famous Chinese classic the I Ching (The “Book of Changes”) are by expert Sinologists. They are turgid and unimaginative. One of the most popular English renditions of this venerable Chinese classic is a secondary translation from German. But it is an inspired translation by someone who was a true mediator between East and West. It was Voltaire who said, “Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word weaken the meaning!”

Poetry is notoriously hard to translate, although Pasternak’s translations of Shakespeare seem close to being perfect. Joseph Brodsky translated Polish poetry from literal translations done by others, as he spoke no Polish. The Soviet district court judge who was trying him on charges of “social parasitism”, complained about the quality of Brodsky’s translation purely for political reasons. Other, less capable translators can only render a synthetic replica of the flavour and taste of the original, even when they are supposedly fluent in both languages.

In the words of another Chinese classic, the Tao Te Ching, a master craftsman “can fashion a door that requires no lock and create a good binding for a book without using knots”. But perhaps this is too much to expect from mere mortals who are only trying to pay their own rent by collecting the rent in the Tower of Babel. “The plant must spring again from its seed, or it will bear no flower--and this is the burthen of the curse of Babel,” wrote one critic. But another one replied, much more forgivingly:

“Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like anything else. What is the other text, the original? I have no answer. I suppose it is the source, the deep sea where ideas swim, and one catches them in nets of words and swings them shining into the boat … where in this metaphor they die and get canned and eaten in sandwiches”. True, true... But does the writer fish in the open sea, while the translator casts his net in a fish pond? The argument goes forever, reverberating through the clamorous chambers of the Tower of Babel.

Pyotr Patrushev is bi-lingual in Russian and English; internationally recognized A-level grading for bi-directional interpreting and is a member of International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) and a member of National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), Australia - Level 5 (Senior Advanced)

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

Freelance Translator: The Most Democratic Profession?

By Steve Yolen,a professional translator
www.ccaps.net

I’m old enough to remember life without the Internet and e-mail.
I actually began my writing and translation career typing on manual typewriters, literally cutting and pasting to rearrange sentences and paragraphs. And I had to physically deliver — in the form of paper, faxes or even teletype messages and telegrams — my work output, actually visiting the offices of my clients and correspondents, in many cases!

The reason I’m bringing up such ancient history is because it is germane to the thesis of this article: that the freelance translation business in today’s highly technologist and electronic workplace just may well be the most democratic of professions. Through the ineffable magic of e-mail, FTPs, virtual workgroups, broadband Internet connections and cutting edge telecommunications, freelance translators today have the privilege of being able to work in almost any location they desire. And they do not have to physically interact with any of their far-flung clients. I’ve begun translation projects in Rio de Janeiro, polished them in Nova Friburgo and sent them off to clients from my sister’s farm in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts.

Out of a client portfolio of about 40 companies in six Brazilian states, the U.S. and Europe, I have personally talked to only about one-half of them (by telephone) and actually seen — face-to-face — a mere handful. Different than a decade ago, almost everything is handled via e-mail — client requests, project price quotes, product delivery. Basically, unless I want them to, my clients only know if I am male or female because of my name. All of the rest — all of the discriminatory stuff — is filtered out by the electronic interface. What this means on a personal level is quite interesting. It means that today’s professional freelance translator is judged exclusively and entirely on his or her work output — and not, as U.S. federal government equal opportunity guidelines currently are intended to protect, on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age or disability — or for that matter such less weighty but real criteria as pregnancy, weight, personality traits, dandruff, tattoos or bad breath.

This is a revolution in the international job market. And it can be entirely attributed to the advent of the Internet and e-mail. Imagine a job interview where only your professional qualifications count. That your continued success on the job depends only on your personal capacity to fulfill the exact requirements of each project. Whether you are young or old, black or white, male or female or other sexual orientation is irrelevant. It sounds like a perfect definition of a democratic workplace, a true meritocracy. From what I can gather, the corporate environment even in the most democratic of countries, the U.S., is still very discriminatory. Here’s an explanation from David H. Greenberg about what happens when a job discrimination case gets its day in court. Greenberg is a discrimination attorney in the U.S. yet the fact that there are “discrimination attorneys” is already a good indication of the unsettled state of the employment marketplace there:

“So far, the courts have allowed employers to discriminate against people on the basis of long hair and facial hair (except when worn for religious reasons), weight (except when the weight is because of a medical condition), and because the employer wants to hire a family member or promote a family member. Under the law, an employer can refuse to hire you because you are too young, but not because you are too old (over forty). None of these are protected categories. In other words, if the category of the discrimination isn't spelled out in a statute, the employee is not protected from that form of job discrimination. Therefore, if the boss doesn't like you, but you don't know why, or the category isn't protected by law, he can fire you or not hire you for that reason.”

Well, that’s not going to happen to an Internet-savvy freelance translator. You can have facial hair and halitosis and still get work. If the boss doesn’t even know you, he won’t fire you — he’ll just judge you on the merit of your work.

So, congratulations to all freelance translators for choosing what is arguably the most democratic profession in the world. Now, of course, there is the slight problem of your being as good or better than all of those other virtual translators out there…but that’s the subject of some other column.

Steve Yolen, an American resident in Rio de Janeiro, has worked as a professional translator since 1994, although as a journalist and foreign correspondent in Brazil and South America he has been involved in translating throughout his entire career. Together with Peter Warner, he heads the Ccaps high-end English language translation service and plays in Copacabana Handshake, an American folk music band.

This article was originally published in Сcaps Newsletter (http://www.ccaps.net)

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

Inttranews Special Report: Quality in translation

webmaster@inttranews.net
http://www.inttranews.net

One of the latest sections to be added to Inttranews focuses on quality management and assurance in the translation industry, quality being the single most important factor for a successful career as a translator, whether freelance or as an employee.
As part of our launch of the Inttranews Quality section, we have interviewed Juan José Arevalillo, current Chair for the Spanish Association of Translation Companies, and the head of the Spanish Committee working on the EN-15038 European Quality Standard for Translation Services.

Inttranews: Can you briefly present yourself?

JJAD: I Arevalillo studied English Philology at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and received my degree in 1985. After that, I took a two-year master’s degree in Specialised Translation at the Institute of Modern Languages and Translators at the same university. In 1985, I also started to work at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) — now Hewlett-Packard and formerly Compaq — as a technical editor and user information specialist. In 1991, I founded Hermes Traducciones, a translation and localisation company located in Madrid. At present I am also a lecturer at the Alfonso X el Sabio University in Madrid, and preparing my doctoral thesis on localisation project management.

Inttranews: When did you start your professional career?

JJAD: At the same time I was translating Latin, Greek and Old Saxon texts at university, I started to work at DEC as a linguist. At that time, it was very unusual for a linguist to work in such a technical environment, so I was very lucky to supplement my theoretical knowledge with field experience, which opened my mind to the new world of computing and how the computers could make translators’ and linguists’ lives easier. The next step was to start to work as a freelance translator (sometimes overnight…). When I left DEC, I set up Hermes Traducciones, and up until now…

Inttranews: How did you first get involved in quality assurance?

JJAD: When Hermes Traducciones started to operate, I had to play the role of a translator, reviewer, controller, managing director, etc. From the very beginning, it was clear to me that every word translated had to be reviewed by a person different from the translator, so we organized cross-review among all the people at the office. But when we started to grow, we needed a more organized system to spot and control the unavoidable and potential translation mistakes, so we trained all our translators on review and correction, which was the cornerstone of our company. At that time, I attended a number of seminars and courses on linguistic correctness, review and correction. At the same time, the Spanish Ministry of Education and Universities chose me as an external consultant of the II University Quality Plan, for which I received an intensive training on quality processes and standards before auditing some university translation programs as a professional consultant.

All this strengthened my quality profile and helped me set a thorough, extensive quality system at Hermes Traducciones. Finally, the Spanish Association of Translation Companies (ACT) named me as its representative in the Spanish and International Committee for the Quality Standard for Translation Services.

Inttranews: Is your company certified?

JJAD: No, it is not for the time being. We were in the ISO-9000 process, but I decided to stop it until the new EN15038 standard is ready for certification. The main reason was that after talking and negotiating with a pair of specialised certification companies, I realized that they did not have any idea about how the translation process worked… and I did not want to spend a considerable amount of Euros on teaching them… Even they did not know that the new EN15038 standard was in progress!!!

Needless to say that Hermes Traducciones procedures are fully compatible with the future standard, which will cover the whole service, and not only the management process as in the ISO service standards, and we are just waiting for 2006, in which this European standard is supposed to be ready for certification.

Inttranews: You are the current Chair for the Spanish Association of Translation Companies. What is the purpose of the Association?

JJAD: The Agrupación de Centros especializados en Traducción (ACT) was founded in 1990, its main goal being establish common criteria for the regulation of the translation industry in Spain, improve the relationship with freelance translators and gain more visibility for the translation profession with customers. Now, in 2005 we are on the way to reach 60 member companies.
During my chair, the ACT will try to make the translation profession more visible within Spanish society and increase our presence at universities, as we consider that universities and translation companies are bound to cooperate to reach a higher recognition of our profession.

The Association looks after the interests of quality-oriented customers. That is why the ACT's goal aims at uniting professional translation companies that are able to deliver an end-to-end, trustworthy and quality translation service. As a reference, the ACT membership requirements demand a quality process set up in those companies, either ISO-certified or not, and a value-added translation service delivery, so that our members can be differentiated from those translation agencies which are mere mediators between customers and translators.

Inttranews: Is it part of any larger organisation?

JJAD: Yes. It belongs to the European Union of Associations of Translation Companies (EUATC). The EUATC was founded in 1994 and the ACT was one of the members, and is the unique international organisation of its kind in Europe. The common feature among all EUATC members is providing quality-oriented translation companies. In fact, the EUATC has an internal quality process, which was the seed for the future European Quality Standard for Translation Services.

Inttranews: You head the Spanish Committee working on the draft EN-15038 European Quality Standard for Translation Services. When was the standard first drafted?

JJAD: The EUATC member companies used an internal quality procedure, which was the embryo for the future standard. In fact, the EUATC requested the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) to create a quality standard for translation services aimed at translation companies. In 2001, the first meeting was held and it was approved to write a standard covering the translation services provided by both translation companies and freelance translators, so that all parties could be present. After that, the different national standardisation bodies set up their mirror technical committees, in which all parties dealing with translation were represented: translation companies, freelance translators, translator associations, universities, customer associations, etc. The Spanish standardisation body, AENOR, was chosen for the Secretariat of the European Committee, which unified all the national committees, and after four years of intensive meetings and debates, the draft passed the public survey, and at this moment is at the editorial phase, very close to its end: the formal vote by the national standardisation bodies.

Inttranews: When is it scheduled for publication?

JJAD: If everything goes right in the formal vote, where no surprises should happen, the standard will be published in mid-2006 approximately, and it will be ready for certification at that very moment.

Inttranews: Briefly if possible, can you describe the scope of application the EN-15038 European Quality Standard for Translation Services? i.e. what does it cover in the translation process?

JJAD: The standard is designed to cover the whole process from the moment when a translation service provider, either a translation company or an individual translator, receives a translation for quotation until it is delivered to the end customer. I should like to point out what I consider to be the core of this standard: the revise and review phase, in which the translation is reviewed by a translator or reviewer other than the original translator.

The standard has several chapters, in which the following areas are covered:

• Terms and definitions: it covers the terminology used in the standard itself, which will help unify the diverse terms used for the same thing in different translation environments.
  
  
• Basic requirements: human resources, professional competencies, professional development, technical resources, quality management and project management.
  
  
• Relationship between customer and translation service provider: project feasibility, quotations, contracts, handling of information, etc. This is very important as it can help improve the relationship, sometimes obscure, between companies and translators, as the customer can be another translation service provider, obviously.
  
  
• Procedures in translation services: administrative, technical and linguistic aspects, the translation process itself, project management, revision, review, proof-reading and final verification.
  
  
• Added value services: all those services related to translation, such as localisation, rewriting, updating, DTP, subtitling, etc.
  
  
• Informative annexes: they are not subject to the standard itself, but contain information and recommendations for project registration details, pre-translation processing, source text analysis, style guides and list of added value services.

Inttranews: What is the difference between EN-15038 and a quality management standard such as ISO 9001?

JJAD: Mainly the fact that an ISO 9001 standard covers the quality of a project management, whereas this translation standard will cover the quality of the whole service itself, not only its management. ISO 9001 standards can have a more general scope, so there is plenty of room to fill with procedures. Industry-specific standards are created by the agents in that particular industry, and that room is already filled with those specific procedures.
In any case, the ISO felt interested in the European Standard, and very possibly it will be used as a bridge for a future ISO standard.

Inttranews: Can you explain the difference between quality management and quality assurance?

JJAD: If we consider quality as the extent to which a set of inherent characteristics complies with a series of requirements, we could say that quality management is a series of coordinated activities aimed at managing and controlling an organisation as far as quality is concerned. Hence, we can state that quality assurance is a part of the quality management aimed at giving confidence that the quality requirements are met.

Inttranews: If and when certification under European Quality Standard for Translation Services becomes possible, who will act as the certifying authority?

JJAD: Once the European Quality Standard is published, it will be ready for certification. That certification will be assumed primarily by the local standardisation bodies (the second-party certification). But, in the same way as the ISO standards, other agencies or companies can be enabled by those standardisation bodies to certify a company under the European Standard (the third-party certification).

Inttranews: Can freelancers apply the process?

JJAD: Yes, absolutely. In fact, in the standard the term translation service provider (TSP) is used for both translation companies and freelance translators, so that it is open for anybody at any place.

Inttranews: Will freelancers be eligible for certification?

JJAD: Why not? There are many translators who work as a virtual network in which they exchange projects and share resources, in which case they could be certified if they consider it as necessary or their customers tell them so. If you are a freelance translator working in your own, it may not be necessary, as some of the processes involve different persons, so it could be nonsense.

Inttranews: How do you see the translation market evolving in the future?

JJAD: If you had made me this question two weeks ago, my answer could have been very different, but at this moment of first-grade mergers and acquisitions, we will have to wait and see, as they could be more movement in the industry… I have been telling my university students for several years that the trend was towards synergy and integration between companies and software, and my thoughts have come true. I don’t discard more alliances in an attempt to compete against the new powers.

In Spain, the case is different as it can be seen in the first survey of the Spanish translation industry published by the ACT. The Spanish market is facing a period of fierce competition with low prices, in many cases in the detriment of quality, mainly due, in my opinion, to the number of Translation graduates, which is growing every year.

Inttranews: What sites do you recommend readers should visit?

JJAD: There are so many sites that I could recommend that it is a bit risky for me to choose only some, but let’s go with the ones I most often visit:

* ACT: www.act.es
* EUATC: www.euatc.org
* LISA: www.lisa.org
* GALA: www.gala-global.org
* TILP: www.tilponline.org
* Localisation Research Centre: http://lrc.csis.ul.ie/
* Translator Tips: www.translatortips.com/
* Translation Journal: www.accurapid.com/journal/
* ELECT: www.electonline.org/
* Inttranews: www.inttranews.net

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

Intellectual Property and Copyright: The case of translators

By Lenita M. R. Esteves, Ph.D.
Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

leries@uol.com.br
http://www.accurapid.com/journal/33copyright.htm

It is common knowledge that authors have the right to protect their work against other people using it and profiting from it. What is less known to the public in general is that translators hold the copyright to the work they produce. This means that if I translate a novel, for example, nobody can make any commercial use of the text without my permission, and if anyone has the opportunity of deriving any profit from this use, I have a right to a share in this profit, and this right is protected and guaranteed by law. Copyright laws are reasonably similar in most western countries, since they are generally derived from international conventions such as the Bern Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed in 1886. This international convention produced a document which was revised, amended and supplemented several times. The most recent version of the document dates from 1979, according the World Intellectual Property Organization's website (www.wipo.int). More than 150 countries have joined the agreement, including Brazil and the USA.

The fact that the law considers translations as creative works is somewhat surprising even to translators, who are used to social prejudice which undervalues their work in many ways.

Lawrence Venuti (1998), in The scandals of translation, discusses some internal contradictions of this law. According to him, the law is based on a romantic concept of authorship, which sees a written work of art as an individual creation, often the creation of a genius. Venutiґs hypothesis is that any text—and this includes literary texts—is a collective creation, and this undermines the traditional concept of authorship. In essence, what is protected by copyright is not the ideas, but the form they have been given. In other words, what can be plagiarized, copied, or stolen is the form, not the content. Therefore, as the translatorґs work is traditionally considered as recasting the authorґs ideas in a new form, the translator is considered a kind of author, or, if you prefer, a second-class author.

In this respect, Brazilian law has an interesting view of translation. According to "Lei dos Direitos Autorais" of February 19, 1998, a translation is an original work, albeit secondary. It is closely related to the original/foreign work, but it is an original creation. It is worth noting that, despite everything, the law can still be considered less conservative than the ideas of some translation scholars...

I have a personal experience related to this copyright issue, and I will report it now very briefly. In the beginning of the 90s I was invited by a Brazilian publishing house to translate The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. I was responsible for the entire text in prose, and a colleague (Almiro Pisetta) translated the poems. The translation was completed in about 15 months, and the book had a good selling record, since the author has a considerable number of fans and admirers. (A previous Brazilian translation, published in the 70s, already existed, but the books sold out and the publishing house was extinguished. This is why a new translation was published.)

With the release of the film in 2001, the book turned into a bestseller overnight, undoubtedly bringing lots of profit to the publishing house, but not to the translators. By that time, several newspapers, magazines and websites contacted me asking for interviews, not exactly because I was an important part of the show, but because everything related to the film was considered newsworthy.

The idea of claiming a share in the profits popped up when someone commented that we the translators were probably getting really rich with the success of the book. Up to that moment, I was completely unaware of the existence of a law protecting my rights as a translator. After some consultations with lawyers, we decided to sue the publishing house, claming a share in the book sales. When I went to see the film, I was quite surprised to realize that all the subtitles in the Brazilian version had been taken from my translation. This includes several names that were translated or adapted and some lines of poems.

So we decided to sue not only the publishing house, but also Warner/New Line, which was responsible for the distribution of the film in Brazil. The reaction of each of the sued parties was very different, which shows the information and opinion each company had concerning translation copyright.

As soon as Warner/New Line was officially notified about the process, the companyґs lawyers contacted us proposing an out-of-court agreement: for a certain amount of money, we would sign a document selling all the translation rights to them. After some negotiation, this document was signed and we received 100 thousand reais, which would correspond to more or less 35 thousand dollars. At that time, I considered it a good agreement, since perhaps no other agreement had been signed on these terms in Brazil. However, when we read all the provisions, we realized that Warner/New Line was really clever to have this agreement signed as soon as possible, before we could have a clearer idea of what it meant in terms of money.

As you will be able to see in the text of the agreement, Warner/New Line anticipate so many situations and products in which the text of the translation could be directly or indirectly used, that in fact the sum they have paid to us is ridiculous.

As to the publishing house, they had a very different attitude. They scorned our claim and doubted we could achieve any success. They based all their argumentation on what they called "market practice," according to which translators are not paid for copyright, but only for the task of translating. In other words, the translator is paid only once, even if the book has many editions and turns into a super bestseller.

After some time the news was announced of victory in the first battle. The first judgment was rendered determining that the publishers should pay us 5% on the price of each book sold. They have appealed against it and we are waiting for a second judgment.

In the meantime, the publishers announced in the press they would be releasing a new translation, of course by a different translator. The reasons given for this new translation were the celebration of the author's anniversary of death and the opportunity to "correct some problems" in the current translation.

Of course many people—and this includes us, the translators—were not quite convinced, since the publishers themselves had on many occasions commented on the high quality of the translation. They even indicated that the text might be nominated for the Jabuti prize, one of the most important Brazilian literary awards.

As I see it, the publishing house is taking some steps to protect the future of its assets, in case they lose in Court and the present translation continues selling.

While all this was being reported in the press, one of the many Brazilian websites dedicated to Tolkien's work decided to form a task force (that is the name they give to their effort) to find all the possible translation mistakes.

But many doubts remain: most of the translated names have been widely adopted by Brazilian readers. What will happen to them? If they are maintained, it will be plagiarism. If new names are created or the original ones are used untranslated, Brazilian readers will have to be 're-educated' as to the characters' names.

To make a long story short, I would like to note one last point. The entire situation created by this judicial battle has prompted people to think about literary translation and its effects on Brazilian culture. Some people (mainly publishers) became angry at our attitude, while others are supporting our cause. Surprisingly enough, however, to some—including translators—this first victory was no victory at all, for it has sown suspicion and disagreement between translators and editors, damaging their professional relationship. It seems that some consider us dishonest for claiming a right that is guaranteed by law, specifically by an almost 100-year old Brazilian law.

The story has been told, but its end is still being awaited, indeed anxiously awaited by some. Anyway, I consider that this "fight" has already generated some positive results, which will result in better recognition of translators in their respective cultures.


This article was originally published at Translation Journal (http://accurapid.com/journal).

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

Inttranews Special Report: Words Without Borders

webmaster@inttranews.net
http://www.inttranews.net

In a world rife with ignorance and incomprehension of other cultures, literature in translation has an especially important role, hence the value of Words Without Borders. Its purpose is to promote international communication through translation of the world's best writing – selected and translated by a distinguished group of writers, translators, and publishing professionals – and publishing and promoting these works (or excerpts) on the Web. So how does WWB see the future of literary translation, faced with initiatives like Google Print, and growing illiteracy rates? Inttranews decided to find out more…*

Inttranews: How and when was Words Without Borders first set up, and what are your main objectives?

Words Without Borders: Words without Borders was launched in 2003 with the help of a $35,000 seed grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Inttranews: As the "major" languages spread their influence, and with the growth in translation technology, is human translation going to become less important in the future?

WWB: No, certainly not in our area, which is literary translation. I don't believe that computers can translate any better than they can write. Voice, style, passion, originality -- the essential elements of literary writing and literary translation -- those are human qualities.

Inttranews: As publishers, what are some of the current trends you see in literary translation?

WWB: Fortunately, we see a renewed interest in foreign voices -- at the same time that economic forces seem to make it ever harder for commercial publishing of these voices to succeed.

Inttranews: What should an aspiring literary translator do to get work?

WWB: Identify the foreign language works most likely to appeal to English language readers. Translate self-sustaining chapters/excerpts and publish them on Words without Borders and in other literary magazines. Present a selection of such chapters/excerpts to agents and publishers.

Inttranews: In a recent court case in Germany [see Inttranews 08.02.06], the ruling stipulated that translators should get a percentage of book sales. How do US publishers pay translators, and what is your reaction to that news item?

WWB: It is common now for commercial publishers to give translators -- especially well-known, experienced translators -- a small percentage of royalties. However, commercial publishers don't publish many of these works. The majority are published by small presses and university presses, which have different contracts with terms that are -- as a matter of survival -- less generous.

Inttranews: In Europe, with 25 official languages, publishers often receive state subsidies for translating works into other languages. Should governments do more in favour of translation, or should the initiative be left to independent publishers?

WWB: Of course governments should do more! Translation is a national and international good, with enormous cultural and thus economic benefit. Or, as Borges put it, "Translation is a more advanced stage of civilization." Certainly this is worth state support. [chk]

Inttranews: In the current context, such as the Strategic Language Initiative, is there not a danger that works selected for translation will increasingly be for their political content rather than their cultural value?

WWB: I'm not familiar with this Initiative. In any case, the politics of literary writers are notoriously unreliable -- I very much doubt that most international literature can be so easily categorized.

Inttranews: How does WWB select the works you translate and publish? Is commercial potential the overriding factor?

WWB: WWB is not-for-profit, and so far, we do not sell anything from our website. So commercial potential is meaningless in our context. If what you mean is accessibility to a popular readership, then I suppose the answer is yes -- we see our job as making literature in translation seem less intimidating and elitist than it might be otherwise, so we do shy away from publishing work we ourselves find unintelligible, even though other fine minds might well find merit in it.

Inttranews: Does revenue from translation cover your costs?

WWB: We are supported by grants from foundations and private donors.

Inttranews: According to recent statistics [see Inttranews archives], the level of literacy is dropping in the Western world. What can and should be done to change that trend?

WWB: We're doing what we can, trying to make reading foreign literature seem as cool and exciting as travelling -- or surfing the internet.

Inttranews: What is your reaction to English Only legislation (which 23 states in the USA have adopted)?

WWB: Why not "English And" legislation, requiring everyone to at least make an effort to learn another language other than English, for the sake of the neural health and mental agility of our citizenry as well as cultural enrichment?

Inttranews: It is estimated that at the present rate, half of the world's existing 6,000 languages will have disappeared by the end of the 21st century. Can and should anything be done to slow that down?

WWB: Our hope is that if writers have a better chance of being translated from a threatened original language, if they can expect to be read or heard both in the richness of the original and in the different richness of a translation, they are less likely to abandon their original language for the sake of a wider audience. Other incentives for keeping languages alive are political/social matters for the peoples themselves to decide.

Inttranews: As publishers of translations, what are your feelings about the Google Print initiative [which aims to put library content available on-line]?
WWB (Dedi Felman, executive editor at Oxford University Press): I don't have a strong feeling, but my answer is that Google should be seeking permission for what it puts on line, just as libraries pay for the copies of the books they circulate and Kinkos pays permission fees for the work under copyright that it circulates. We must support the creative endeavour and Intellectual property rights must be respected, even as we come up with new arrangments such as Creative Commons which offer a more extensive menu of licensing options and often promote wider distribution of works. On the other hand, I believe that works should be entering the public domain much sooner than they currently do. The recent extensions of copyright terms prohibit the circulation of would-be classics and erode audiences for new works.

Inttranews: What has been your reaction to audiobooks? Are they included in your offer?

WWB: We hope to be the first literary magazine to offer oral literatures in the original through audio clips to be added to the site later this year. But we don't have any full-length book rights to our selections, audio or otherwise.

Inttranews: As publishers of translations, what are your opinions and strategy about current web policy to make all content free?

WWB: Since we are donor-supported, there is a strong sense that like National Public Radio, our content should be free and available to anyone interested in tuning in.

Inttranews: If there is one trait specific to literary as opposed to technical translation, it is freedom of speech; that is, to concentrate on form rather than content, and errors can become more subjective. How is proofreading performed at WWB?

WWB: By careful professionals with experience in book publishing.

For more information, please visit: www.wordswithoutborders.org

* The spokesperson for Words Without Borders is Alane Salierno Mason, a senior editor at W.W. Norton & Company, with over sixteen years’ experience in high-quality book publishing; three of the books she published by previously unknown authors in the past four years went on to become National Book Award Finalists. Ms Mason has translated from the Italian for New Directions.

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

It could happen to you!

By Natasha Curtis,
Spanish >< English Judicial and Medical Translator & Interpreter,
Owner of Lingua Nexus, LLC,
President of CCIO

natasha@linguanexus.net

In 1995 several incidents forced me to re-evaluate the way I was conducting my freelance business. I began an introspective journey that taught me a lot of lessons. I discovered that I had the qualifications I needed, but I had to quickly grow and learn if I was to survive in the competitive world of freelance translation. A world that has been described variously as "jungle" and "paradise," characterized by "freedom" and "survival of the fittest."

Regardless of which of these labels seemed more fitting to my reality at the time, one thing I knew for sure: if I continued to do the same things in the same way, I would obtain the same results. Naturally I wanted to change, and so I forged my way into a better world: One that was fulfilling and, actually, enjoyable—a world in which I could see myself spending the rest of my life.

This article was spurred by a recent event that took me back in time, and which allowed me to be thankful once more for having been diligent in learning about the scope of practice of a professional translator. I am hoping that by sharing certain aspects of this recent episode, I will encourage colleagues and aspiring translators to do the same and thus avoid being trapped in "the jungle."

There was a time in my early days as a freelance Spanish translator when receiving a phone call from a prospective client was a rather infrequent event, the highlight of the week. Partly for that reason, and partly because I believed that as an inexperienced, just-out-of-school translator I was supposed to succumb to all sorts of demands, my conversations with prospective clients would start with happiness and end in regret as I could see I had gotten myself into "another unfair deal." These "deals" came in all colors, shapes, and sizes, such as translation projects that were too long to complete within the given deadline, forcing me to stay up until the wee hours of the night (or the morning) and frequently spend the whole weekend glued to an uncomfortable chair (note the "uncomfortable" chair!). Projects for which the project manager would make me commit myself to a price and deadline without showing me the entire original—which of course, I did not insist on seeing because he would say the sample was a good representation of the whole and I would simply "trust" him. And, of course, there were my rates which were so low that they hardly covered my expenses as I tried to stay abreast of the latest technology for the industry, and I was still building my reference library. I remember some of the tales I would hear on the other side of the line: "You know Natasha, this industry is very competitive. We had to lower our quote in order to get this client. I am sure you can understand and help us this time." Or, "for this particular project we are on a tight budget, but I am sure we can pay you a better rate next time." (Needless to say, the next time would bring another "tight budget" situation, and—you guessed it—so would the next...)

After almost a year of all these shenanigans I was ready for a major change. I would either quit getting myself into these muddy waters or, if this was what it was all about, my dreams of becoming a successful freelance T&I would quickly be replaced by a more fulfilling career goal. You see...I believe that it was at this time when I, perhaps unconsciously, began to develop the "professional" in "Professional Freelance Spanish Translator."

I realized that while I had received extensive training in translation skills, I still knew very little about other aspects of my profession, such as whether there was a code of ethics and professional conduct, and what exactly, was the scope of practice of a freelance translator. Fortunately, there were organizations such as ATA which were trying hard to raise the bar of our profession by defining clear standards to guide those who were coming into the profession, and those who needed a compass to get out of the jungle.

Becoming familiar with existing Codes of Ethics for Translators1 was therefore very important and it provided invaluable insight. Consider this point from the Code of Ethics of the Argentine Association of Translators and Interpreters (AATI). In its 22nd paragraph under the heading "Principle of Professional Dignity" the following words provided relief to my difficult situation:

"22. Es deber de todo profesional abstenerse de aceptar condiciones que no garanticen la calidad de su trabajo. Esto implica negarse a trabajar en condiciones inaceptables en términos de tiempo, ambiente laboral o remuneración. El traductor deberá oponerse a todo aquello que menoscabe su propio honor o buen nombre o el de su profesión." 2

"22. The professional translator shall refrain from accepting conditions that may affect the quality of his/her work. This means that the professional translator shall refuse to work under unacceptable conditions with respect to deadlines, work environment, or compensation. The [professional] translator shall not engage in any practice that may undermine his/her own good reputation, honor, and the practice of his/her profession."

Among all the useful and enlightening language I have encountered in existing Codes of Ethics for T&Is, none speak so loud and clear to the conundrum I was facing a little while ago. The situation was as follows: A gentleman found my contact information on the Internet. In a message characterized by a somewhat informal tone, he requested a quote for a set of documents (transcripts) that he briefly mentioned and described. However, the documents were not attached to the message. I kindly thanked the gentleman for his inquiry and politely took the opportunity to explain that as a translator I needed to see the document in order to provide an accurate quote. As I had hoped, the gentleman had no problem understanding what I had explained and he was more than willing to let me see the document so I could provide my quote.

The problem was that he was living in Central America and the person who had his original lived in U.S. Rather than getting a hold of his own document and then requesting a translation, the gentleman "instructed" me to get a hold of his contact in U.S. and ask her for his document. In order to orchestrate this venture, he sent an e-mail to me with a copy to his contact in U.S., and gave each of us instructions on what we should do—all in a surprisingly informal tone, as if we had known each other for years and I was just doing him a favor. He thanked me profusely in advance.

Needless to say, I quickly replied indicating that my services included only the translation and notarization, and that I understood how busy he might have been, but getting hold of the original himself was in his best interest. Furthermore, such administrative dealings were not included in my services. I specifically told him not to send me the original document because I did not want that responsibility. He completely disregarded my recommendations and went ahead and asked his contact in U.S. to send me his original via air mail.

As the original documents made their way through the mail service, he contacted me again to "warn me" that once I translated and notarized his documents, he expected me to hand deliver them to a government agency in Columbus (a 2-hour drive from my location). He added that he had chosen me to do his translation because he noticed I lived close to the place where the documents had to be submitted. "I do not want to risk loosing those translations," he said, "so it is better for you to drop them off."

Yes, you can guess my reply... No, I never did that translation for him. I refused to do it. As it turns out, his contact in U.S. was the head of an academic department at the college where he had obtained the degree in question. The kind lady whom I contacted after the man made a threat because I refused to do his translation, sadly indicated that this man had been a "living nightmare" for them while attending courses at the institute. They had also been threatened, and they had been close to initiating legal action against him.

I cannot imagine what I would have gotten myself into had I not had a clear understanding of my role as a professional translator, and of my scope of practice. This gentleman operated in gradually escalating increments. It would have been so easy to fall in his trap.

The fact is that as awful as this story may sound, many of our colleagues are trapped in similar, and even worse, scenarios. It is naturally easier to fall into these types of traps as a rookie, but, if we are not careful enough, they can happen to any of us regardless of our years of experience.

I have found that when facing these situations it is always best to step back for a moment and re-think our role. Clearly, we all want to do good and help others, but in practicing our profession we will never be as helpful as when we have a clear idea of the limitations and standards of our practice and adhere to them strictly. We may believe that we are being helpful by stepping out of those boundaries, but the truth is that it is a disservice to our profession and to the colleagues who work hard to raise the bar. It is also a disservice to ourselves because this type of "helping" usually leaves a bitter aftertaste. We are less likely to get trapped in the jungle if we have a clear idea of our standards of practice, and of the ethical guidelines that underpin our profession.

Finally, as I sit in a more comfortable chair now, (I had to make the investment if I was to live in paradise) I'd like to share some tips that I have learned over the years. Many of them have been passed on to me by more experienced colleagues, and they have served as my guiding posts through this much more enjoyable journey:

• Have a clear and up-to-date résumé ready to send at a moment's notice.
  
  
• Read the Code of Business Practices and Professional Conduct for Translators
  
  
• Always ask to see "the entire" ST before you quote. If for any reason this isn't feasible, include an "assumptions" list in your quote. Feel free to include assumptions based on what the client told you and your conclusions upon seeing the sample. This will protect you in case the project deviates from the initial agreement. Assumptions should include: estimated volume, characteristics of the text (formatting, difficulty level, subject matter, etc.), delivery format, delivery term, and any other relevant information.

• Watch your spelling in communications with the prospective client
  
  
• If you feel that what you are being asked to do—such as submitting papers to a government agency on behalf of a stranger — goes beyond the scope of practice of a professional translator - DO NOT do it!
  
  
• Take a moment, define your reasonable boundaries.
  
  
• Once you have carefully made a decision about your rates, stick to them. Avoid bargaining. You are a professional translator, not a car dealer.
  
  
• Join professional associations and take advantage of the knowledge of experienced colleagues.
  
  
• Be a part of the cycle of life. As a professional you should always have contact with three types of people: 1) Your peers. These are colleagues who are more or less in a similar position. You understand each other's problems, and they provide a unique support system. 2) At least one colleague who is more advanced than you are. Someone who has walked the same walk and is now ahead of you on the road. This person is crucial in your life. He/she can provide unique insight and impart lots of wisdom. He/she can also give you hope as difficulties tend to lose intensity in retrospect. 3) At least one colleague who is a little behind you on the same road. Someone for you to mentor, who will give you the feeling that the lessons you learned through the difficult times were not wasted; rather they are put to use for your benefit and that of your profession.
  
  
• Understand that in order to be a successful translator you must have a life-long commitment to learning.

1 ATA. Code of Professional Conduct and Business Practices. 27 September 2006 http://www.atanet.org//certification/online_ethics_overview.php

AUSIT. Code of Ethics for Interpreters and Translators. 27 September 2006 <http://www.ausit.org/eng/showpage.php3?id=650>

2 AATI. Code of Ethics. 27 September 2006 <http://www.aati.org.ar/home.htm>

This article was originally published at Translation Journal (http://accurapid.com/journal).

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

Open source translation management system

By ClientSide News Magazine

www.clientsidenews.comInterview with Gary Prioste
VP of Technology Solutions, Welocalize

Q: Please explain to our readers what the GlobalSight Open Source Initiative is?

A: It is an Initiative that aims to drive the development of GlobalSight Ambassador, an industry-leading Translation Management System (TMS), through open collaboration. GlobalSight is a non-captive, vendor-independent community where participants are free to discuss, discover and build upon a TMS that can be shared by all.

GlobalSight was the name of the company that first developed the Ambassador product in 1997. For the next eight years, GlobalSight grew Ambassador from a software tool to develop and maintain multilingual websites, to the industry’s first TMS that could automate the translation process and leverage previously translated material. In 2005 Transware acquired GlobalSight and continued to develop the product. In May of this year, Welocalize acquired Transware and subsequently inherited Ambassador.

GlobalSight is the name of the open source initiative, and Ambassador is the name of the TMS product.

Q: Why have you decided to take Ambassador open source?

A: Both GlobalSight and Transware invested heavily in this product. However, neither of them was able to generate widespread use. Other companies with competing products have had similar results. The market today is dominated by commercial TMS products. By converting Ambassador to open source, we free users from the potential captivity at the hands of service providers and ISV’s. In addition, our industry is in a consolidation phase, and users want protection from mergers and acquisitions that present a risk to their ongoing operations. The SDL/Idiom merger led to disappointment and frustration from LSPs and clients alike.

Managed under a to-be-determined open source license, GloblSight Ambassador will provide users with choice, flexibility and opportunity. We understand that there are a lot of smart people out there with great ideas for the next generation of TMS’. By leveraging the contributions of the community, we can go above and beyond the capabilities of the status quo. With the growing demand for translated content, we can no longer operate in independent silos. It is imperative to collaborate in order to innovate.

Like many open source software vendors, Welocalize intends to generate revenue through services and support.

Q: Is GlobalSight Ambassador the right tool to take open source?

A: Ambassador is not just any translation process automation tool. Over $50M has been invested in the last ten years. There are 1.5 million lines of source code. Ambassador is a complex product with web-services API, extensive filters, work-flow driven process automation, management reporting and integration with leading content management systems (CMS) such as Documentum and Interwoven. It has the potential to become the next generation TMS for enterprise-level clients. But the question isn’t about whether Ambassador is the right tool now. It’s about engaging a community to help manage and develop a tool that is right for them and can adapt to their evolving needs in the future.

Q: What steps are you taking to engage users?

A: This month we formed a steering committee made up of recognized thought leaders in the industry to spearhead the direction and development of this initiative. They include representatives from Autodesk, Business Objects (an SAP company), Cisco, EMC, NetApp, Novell, Sun and TIBCO. We held our inaugural meeting to spur discussion on the strategic direction and technology roadmap of the product. We are also digging deeper and organizing sub-committees to focus on more tactical issues in managing this program. This includes answering questions about open source licensing, governance, product development and community building.

So far we have been in information gathering mode. We want to hear from all players in the industry. On the program website (www.globalsight.com), we have asked interested parties to sign up and let us know why they are interested in the program and what they want to see moving forward. I’m happy to say that we now have over 100 subscribers to date. Based on this community input, we are working on building a more interactive, online community that allows members to quickly find what they want the most: source repository, demos, development instructions, FAQs, discussion forums and more.

Q: So when will the product be ready to release to the public?

A: We have begun the first phase of open source development, which is to re-architect the underlying technology, replacing third-party software components with their open source equivalents. These functions include workflow, database, object relationship mapping, middleware, directory mapping and scheduling. The target completion date is December 15th. At that time, we will have the source repository available for download, along with accompanying product specifications, deployment standards and a quick-start guide to get users up and running.

Q: Tell us a little about the technical architecture of Ambassador.

A: It’s a Java application, and will have a MySQL database. It will run in both a Linux and Windows environment. Further technical details will follow soon.

Q: Will the open source product be a SaaS, or an enterprise application?

A: Both. We plan on hosting an open source SaaS solution that the community can contribute to, and allowing users to download an enterprise version that they can run behind their firewall.

In both cases, the community can extend and enhance the product through the web-services API, or by modifying the core application.

Q: How will this open source project differentiate itself from others that have failed?

A: The idea of knowledge sharing and crowd sourcing is not new. We have seen several of these initiatives in our industry, from TAUS and TDA in translation automation, to TinyTM, OmegaT and TMOSS in translation memory. These projects and initiatives have gained traction only through collaboration and reciprocity. What about other open source projects that haven’t succeeded? Perhaps it was due to a lack of initial investment, poor planning, bad timing, or lack of enthusiasm―most likely a combination of the above.

Whatever the case may be, I don’t believe these projects were aligned with the true needs of the industry, at the enterprise level. And they certainly did not anticipate a change in those needs. Without support, advocacy and collaboration from users with a vested interest in developing and adopting a product that can achieve their business goals, the product cannot thrive in an open source community. We are listening carefully to what clients are saying. We want the initiative and product to succeed. And we believe the entire industry will benefit if it does.

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

Teaching Translators

By Sheyla Barretto de Carvalho,
Director
Conference Interpreter graduated at PUC-Rio University since 1992
Lawyer and Business Administrator graduated at UCAM-Rio University
with an MBA
member of ABRATES (Brazilian Translators Association)
member of SINTRA (Brazilian Translators Syndicate)
(55) (21) 2512-3697 / (55) (21) 2529-8104
BRASILLIS IDIOMAS

brasillis@brasillis.com.br
www.brasillis.com.br

When we founded the Brasillis Idiomas Translation Course five years ago, we did so aiming to meet the constant demand of a public that wanted to learn translation techniques from successful professionals in the market. These were people who wanted to change their lives, professionals from diverse areas who sought new horizons.

We thought that teaching translation should be practical, dynamic and interesting without losing sight of the reality of our job market. Always striving to produce competent translators, we developed a curriculum that, throughout the years, was gradually improved (and which is regularly updated to keep in touch with market trends and demands) and includes the different areas of translation, such as IT, literature, legal and finance.

Today, hundreds of students have graduated from our course and we can proudly say that the method we developed works. And it works well! There are students who complete the course already on the right track or who, using the tools and knowledge acquired with us, leave in search of work and are successful.

Something I consider important for the successful training of translators is to keep class sizes small (with the students placed together after a selection test) and to rely on a large team of professors. This guarantees a diversity of experiences and allows every student – even the most shy – to participate in the classroom discussions and have an opportunity to present their own solutions.

Another fact that encourages this interactivity, making it almost spontaneous, is the arrangement of the classroom chairs in a “U” shape. This creates a greater feeling of fellowship because everyone can see each other, a fact which facilitates group work and allows students to observe the other students' reaction to their translated text.

And yes! It is important to explain that while one student reads their solution for the translation of a specific text, the other students should act as reviewers and should be encouraged to share constructive criticism. When they do this, they are developing the capacity to distinguish a bad solution from a good solution and, better yet, learning to distinguish a good solution from one that is excellent.

Besides, seeking solutions for a translation is a job that, in theory, is endless. There is always something that can be improved. This is one of the reasons for which we should not work with a “model” or an “answer” that could ultimately be called “the correct translation.” However, in nearly every course, there is always that shocked student that asks “but aren’t you guys going to give as the answer?!”

There is no single “answer.” It is important to leave this perfectly clear (despite the initial resistance) because I believe that this will depend on the level of freedom that the students feel they have when “confronting” a particular text. They will make mistakes, misinterpret, become stumped by certain sentences and they will be disappointed by some of their translation solutions… All of this is necessary and important for the training of these future translators. Weariness, desperation and euphoria are feelings that must be experienced so that they can better understand the trade of translation.

Let me share a simple example that illustrates how harmful it would be to students’ creativity if we were to give them an “answer” to the translated texts. In one of the courses, we use an article whose English title is Blow up or Put up. The title is translated last, after the entire text is read, analyzed and translated. The professor, who obviously has completed their homework and has a good translation for that title “up their sleeve” (just in case there are no good solutions from the students or if there is a collective “blank”) is surprised when some of the students present not only one option, but various, and extremely interesting ones! “Explodir ou reprimir” (“Explode or Repress It,”) “Soltar os cachorros ou engolir sapos” (“Let the Dogs Out or Swallow Frogs,”) “Estourar ou agüentar” (“Let It Out or Put up with It.”) Not one of these is the same as the one that the professor-translator thought of: “Botar para quebrar ou deixar rolar” (“Shake it Up or Let it Be.”)

Therefore, I will say it and repeat it again: it is necessary to make the student think (which is much more work than simply telling them the answer). The solution presented by the professor-translator has a strong influence on the student – an apprentice who generally views the professor with great respect and admiration – it is definite and inevitably stifles the student’s creativity.

Another aspect that is also essential for the education of a good translator is the act of supplying this individual with information about the market. They must know how much one page costs, the difference between translation and interpretation, that a translator’s union and a professional association exist, and that there is a reference table of prices and discussion lists on the Internet for professionals in this industry.

These individuals must have knowledge of translation tools, as these are becoming increasingly important by the day. They need to be introduced into the market and it is our goal to place them in this context and make them realize how important translation work is. They must acknowledge that the translator is the one who “opens the window to let the light in, breaks the shell so that we can eat the almond, pulls the curtains aside so that we can look at a more sacred place and removes the lid of the well so that we can reach the water” (from the preface of the 1611 authorized version of the Bible).

Sheyla Barretto de Carvalho is Director of Translation and Events of Brasillis Idiomas. Carvalho has a degree in Translation and Interpretation from PUC-Rio (1992) and is also a lawyer and business administrator. A member of the Brazilian Translator’s Association (ABRATES), the National Translator’s Union (SINTRA) she is a fan of martial arts, having practiced them for eight years.

This article was originally published in Сcaps Newsletter (http://www.ccaps.net)

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

Six Phases in Teaching Interpretation

as a Subject at Universities and Colleges in Indonesia

By Izak Morin,
Translator and Interpreter, the LNG Tangguh Project (BP)
izakmorin@yahoo.com

Abstract

This article discusses six phases in teaching interpreting in a classroom atmosphere using semi-authentic and authentic teaching materials to bring the students close to both English and Indonesian real-life environments and exposed to different discourse genres and different English dialects and accents. Phases 1 and 2 are warm-up activities for preparing students to move up to phases 3 and 4. Up to this level students are exposed to a semi-real life situation where they are listening to different English native speaker dialects and non-native speaker accents through the prepared tapes/CDs and VCDs and they are also listening to different Indonesian discourse genres. The last two phases are the most challenging ones for the students because each student will demonstrate his/her strategies and capabilities in performing an interpreting work in a set-up real-life situation using electronic devices.

1. Introduction

The Department of National Education of Indonesia has put 'Translation Theory' in the higher education curriculum as a compulsory subject taught at all English Programs in universities and colleges in Indonesia. However, Interpreting is only one side of the same coin; therefore most universities and colleges teach it alongside with Translation Theory as an additional subject. Interpreting, basically, is a process of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language in a verbal way. This process may only occur when someone acts as an interpreter to transfer the meaning of a message directly from the mouth of a speaker, from a tape player, from a radio, from a CD/VCD player, from a television, or from other sources of verbal messages in a source language to a listener or an audience of a receptor language.

In order to perform such a challenging job professionally and responsibly, a person has to have an adequate understanding of the source language and an adequate command of the receptor language in their linguistic and non-linguistic aspects. Such capabilities can be acquired consciously and unconsciously through a process of learning, training, and experiencing in a formal learning-teaching classroom, in a set-up situation, and in a real-life situation. For a formal learning-teaching classroom I would like to present the six phases in teaching interpretation as a subject at my university and universities and colleges in Indonesia.

2. Discourse Genre

One of the first things the students have to know is how to identify the discourse genre of the talk to be interpreted. There are seven basic contrasting genres that will be discussed: narrative, procedural, expository, hortatory, descriptive, repartee, and dialogue. The differences between these genres can be best seen by thinking of the purpose of the speaker. The following descriptions are quoted and adapted from 'Meaning-Based Translation' pp 365-381 by Mildred L. Larson.

(a) The purpose of a narrative discourse is to recount events, usually in the past. The backbone of the narrative is a series of events which are usually actions. The agent of the events is usually Third Person or First Person, that is, the speaker tells about the things which happened to someone else or to himself.

(b) The purpose of a procedural discourse is to prescribe, to give the steps on how to do something. It consists of a sequentially related series of steps within each procedure. The agent is not usually specified, and it is characteristic of procedural discourse that most of the actions will have an affected

(c) The purpose of an expository discourse is to explain or to argue. The non-chronological communication relations (orientation, clarification, logic) are typical of expository discourse. It consists of information logically related to a theme.

(d) The purpose of a descriptive discourse is to describe. It is not basically chronological; instead, a topic is developed.

(e) The purpose of a hortatory discourse is to propose, suggest, or command. The backbone of the structure is a series of actions which are commands. The second person agent throughout is characteristic of this genre. Like the expository discourse, the non-chronological communication relations are also typical of this genre.

(f) The purpose of a repartee discourse is to recount speech exchanges. The structure is that of a series of speech exchanges. Each speech is a small discourse, however, these small discourses are related to one another. The content of the exchanges may be narrative, expository, hortatory, procedural, or even dialogue if the speaker is recounting another set of speech exchanges.

(g) Dialogue discourse is a combination of narrative and repartee. The purpose is to recount events, usually in the past, as for narrative. The difference is that many of those events are speech events; that is, there is a repartee structure also

3. Features of Each Phase

Each phase consists of three parts, first, teacher's or students' preparation outside the classroom. Either the teacher or the student must prepare in advance written texts and verbal scripts for presentation as well as supporting electronic devices such as a laptop computer, a projector (LCD) set, a tape/cassette player, a CD/VCD player, an OHP, a radio, a television set, and a tape/cassette recorder. Second, preparation in the classroom before the presentation / the broadcasting. Before a presentation the teacher or the student has to make sure that everything is in place and in good condition to start. Third, interpreting practice. This is a learning, training, and experiencing part in which each student must fully participate. There are two sections in this part: interpreting from English into Indonesian and interpreting from Indonesian into English.

In Phase One the teacher acts as a speaker and a selected student as an interpreter, whereas in Phase Two each student plays a double role as a speaker and as an interpreter.

In Phase Two there are two activities: (a) interpreting a talk from a set-up formal table; and (b) interpreting a speech from a podium. Materials are selected from descriptive and expository discourses for both phases either in English or in Indonesian.

In Phase Three each student is assigned to interpret a message directly from a speaker in a tape/cassette or in a CD. Both English and Indonesian recording materials are selected from narrative, repartee, and dialogue discourses. Apart from the main English dialects spoken in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Canada, English accents heard in Asia, the Pacific area, Africa, the Middle-East, and Europe are taken into account when selecting the materials.

In Phase Four each student has a turn to interpret a message directly from a speaker in a VCD viewed through a TV monitor or through a projector (LCD) larger screen. Hortatory and procedural discourses are selected for interpreting purposes in this phase. English dialects and accents are also considered when selecting the materials.

For Phase Five and Phase Six all discourse genres are no longer practiced in a regular order as done in the previous phases because these are direct broadcastings, not recorded, so it is impossible to predict what kind of genre comes out first and which one is the next and so on (This is a spontaneous talk or a real-life talk). Each student has to interpret directly from radio and TV announcers by making a note of the main points. Each broadcasting is recorded for replay later on for further discussion and feedback purposes. Radio and TV broadcastings are selected from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Voice of America (VOA) for radio and CNN for television.

4. Six Phases To Teach Interpreting

In order to build an interpreting capacity regarding skill, knowledge, and experience for the students, the six phases below are strongly recommended. These phases are intentionally designed to offer various exercises from the easiest to the most challenging ones. However, before each phase is begun, a teacher has to have in mind the following: (a) an interpreting class should be a group of at least ten with a different teaching schedules. By having this small number, each student has time to learn, practice, and experience interpreting during the class session. But, such a division totally depends on the number of students applying for the course and the available time a teacher may have; (b) in Phase One each student has to perform twice as an interpreter either from English into Indonesian or from Indonesian into English. In Phase Two A each student has to perform four times : twice as a speaker and twice as an interpreter from a well-arranged table, while in Phase Two B each student has to deliver two speeches from a podium as a speaker; one is in English and another is in Indonesian; he must also perform two interpreting jobs in English and in Indonesian. For Phases Three, Four, Five, and Six each student only acts as an interpreter twice in each; (c) First Person Singular Personal Pronoun 'I' in English and 'Saya' in Indonesian are used in Phase One, Phase Two, Phase Three, and Phase Four because the interpretation is conducted after each short statement conveyed throughout the presentation, whereas the Third Person Personal Pronoun 'He', 'She', and titles and names such as 'Mr.X', 'Mrs.Y', 'Ms.Z, Dr. John, Professor Jane in English and 'Beliau', 'Ia', 'Dia', and titles and names such as 'Bapak X', 'Ibu Y', Dr. Mansoben, Profesor Kambuaya in Indonesian are used in Phase Five and Phase Six because the interpretation is made in the form of a summary or note-taking of the main points right after a long talk. The common phrases used are Mr. X said that... Profesor Jane concluded that.... Bapak X mengatakan bahwa..... Profesor Kambuaya menyimpulkan bahwa....etc.

PHASE-ONE: Teacher — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter

1. Teacher's preparation outside the classroom

• Teacher prepares twenty topics of discussion in descriptive discourse. One-half are in English and the other half are in Indonesian. S/he may use some selected slides to support the presentation.

2. Preparation in the classroom before the presentation

• A table with two chairs are well arranged in front of the class.
• A unit of computer and a projector set are well set up in the class
• The first five students are randomly selected for the first session. Each student spends 5-10 minutes to practice including the teacher's and peers' comments.
• The students are told to give comments and raise questions after the talk. This practice is conducted in the form of Presentation-Discussion.
• The students are told to follow the process of interpreting in this practice such as Speaking: presentation (by the teacher) à Interpreting (by the student) à Speaking: comments and questions (by the students as audience) à Interpreting (by the student) à Speaking: responses to the comments and questions from the audience (by the teacher) à Interpreting (by the student).
• An assessment sheet is distributed to each student to assess the performance of their peer.

3. Interpreting Practice ( the first 10 topics in descriptive form are from English into Indonesian and the next 10 topics are in the opposite direcction)

• Teacher speaks on a particular topic in English / Indonesian
• Student interprets into Indonesian / English
• The rest of the students listen, fill in the assessment sheet, and note down things to give comments and questions on in Indonesian / English.
• Teacher and the students give comments on the student's performance regarding strategies and language use.

PHASE-TWO (A): Student — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter (giving a presentation from a formally set up table)

1. Student's preparation outside the classroom.

• Students are assigned to prepare two topics of discussion one is in English and the other is in Indonesian. Both are expository (argumentative) discourses.

2. Preparation in the classroom before the presentation.

• A table with two chairs are well arranged in front of the class
• The students are told to form pairs. Each pair spends 5-10 minutes to practice including the teacher's and peers' comments.
• The students are told to give comments and raise questions after the talk. This practice is conducted in the form of Presentation-Discussion.
• The students are told to follow the process of interpreting in this practice such as Speaking: presentation (by the student speaker) à Interpreting (by the student interpreter) à Speaking: comments and questions (by the students audience) à Interpreting (by the student interpreter) à Speaking: responses to the comments and questions from the audience (by the student speaker) à Interpreting (by the student interpreter).
• An assessment sheet is distributed to each student to assess the performance of their peer.

3. Interpreting Practice (the first 10 topics in expository (argumentative) form are from English into Indonesian and the next 10 topics are in the opposite direction)

• Student speaker speaks on a particular topic in English / Indonesian
• Student interpreter interprets into Indonesian / English
• The rest of the students listen, fill in the assessment sheet, note down things to give comments and questions in Indonesian / English
• Teacher and the students give comments on the student interpreter's performance regarding strategies and language use.

PHASE-TWO (B): Student — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter (standing on a podium and delivering a speech )

1. Student's preparation outside the classroom.

• Students are assigned to prepare two speeches one is in English and the other is in Indonesian. Both are expository (argumentative) discourses.

2. Preparation in the classroom before the speech delivery.

• A podium is well arranged in front of the class if available.
• The students are told to form pairs. Each pair spends 5-10 minutes to practice including the teacher's and peers' comments.
• The students are told to give comments on their peers' performance after the speech. This practice is conducted in the form of 'Lecturing' (one-way communication)
• The students are told to follow the process of interpreting in this practice such as Speaking: speech delivering (by the student speaker) à Interpreting (by the student interpreter).
• An assessment sheet is distributed to each student to assess the performance of their peer.

3. Interpreting Practice (the first speech is in English and the second is in Indonesian)

• Student speaker gives a speech on a particular topic in English / Indonesian
• Student interpreter interprets into Indonesian / English
• The rest of the students listen, fill in the assessment sheet, and note down particular things to comment on.
• Teacher and students give comments on the student interpreter performance regarding strategies and language use.

PHASE-THREE: Tape Player / CD Player — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter

1. Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.

• Teacher selects particular short talks both in English and in Indonesian from various recordings. All are narrative, repartee, and dialogue discourses
• Teacher plays the tapes / CDs to ensure they are in good condition
• Teacher copies or records the selected topics from different tapes / CDs into a new tape / CD
• Teacher checks and tests the tape player / the CD player
  

2. Preparation in the classroom before the presentation

• A table with a chair is well arranged in front of the class
• A tape player / CD player is put on the table and it is reachable for the teacher to operate.
• The students are told to give comments on their peers' performance after the talk. This practice is conducted in the form of 'Talk' or 'Lecturing' (one way communication)
• The students are told to follow the process of interpreting in this practice such as Speaking: presentation (through the tape player / the CD player) à Interpreting (by the student).
• An assessment sheet is distributed to each student to assess the performance of their peer.

3. Interpreting Practice (the first part is from English into Indonesian and the second part is in the opposite direction)

• Teacher plays the tape / the CD of an English / Indonesian short talk with a pause each time to give the student a chance to interpret
• Student interprets into Indonesian / English
• The rest of the students listen, fill in the assessment sheet, and note down particular things to comment on.
• Teacher and the students give comments on the student interpreter performance regarding strategies and language use.
• Teacher replays the tape / the CD to check the language used for a discussion and correction purpose.

PHASE-FOUR: VCD player — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter

Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.

• Teacher selects particular short talks both in English and in Indonesian from the VCDs stored in the library / resource center or if permitted records from / through any websites. All are hortatory and procedural discourses.
• Teacher plays the VCDs to ensure they are in good condition
• Teacher makes a copy of the selected topics from different VCDs into a new VCD
• Teacher checks and tests the VCD player set or built-in VCD player in the portable computer
• Teacher tests the TV monitor or the projector (LCD) set and a screen

Preparation in the classroom before the presentation

• A table with two chairs are well arranged in front of the class
• A VCD player and a TV monitor or a projector are well-arranged and they are reachable for the teacher to operate.
• The students are told to form pairs. Each pair (one interprets the interviewer's talk and the other one interprets the interviewee's) spends 5-10 minutes to practice.
• The students are told to give comments on their peers' performance after the talk. This is conducted in the form of 'Interactive Talk'
• The students are told to follow the process of interpreting in this practice such as Speaking: presentation (through VCD player) à Interpreting (by a pair of students).
• An assessment sheet is distributed to each student to assess the performance of their peer.

Interpreting Practice (the first part is from English into Indonesian)

• Teacher plays the VCD on an English / Indonesian talk with a pause each time to give chance to the student to interpret.
• Student interprets into Indonesian / English
• The rest of the students listen, fill in the assessment sheet, and note down particular things to comment on.
• Teacher and the students give comments on the student performance regarding strategies and language use.
• Teacher replays the VCD to check the language used for a discussion and correction purposes.

PHASE-FIVE: Radio — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter

1. Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.

• Teacher checks the condition of the radio and tests its sound quality
• Teacher prepares a blank tape to record the news and other programs broadcasted during the class for a discussion and feedback purpose

2. Preparation in the classroom before the radio broadcasting

• A table with a chair is well arranged in front of the class
• A radio and a tape recorder with a blank tape in it to record the news and other programs are well arranged and are reachable for the teacher to operate.
• All students are told make notes of the main points of the news or talks from the radio programs and do the interpreting afterwards. Each student spends 5-10 minutes to do the job. The teacher and the peers also provide comments and questions.
• The students are told to follow the process of interpreting in this practice such as Speaking: presentation (through radio) à Interpreting (by each student in the way of noting down the main points or making a summary) à Conveying (by the student) the message based on the points or a summary made.
• An assessment sheet is distributed to each student to assess the performance of their peer.

3. Interpreting Practice (first part is from English into Indonesian)

• Teacher switches on the radio on an English / Indonesian news or talk show and presses the recording button at the same time
• Each student interprets into Indonesian / English by making a note of the main points or making a summary on a piece of paper
• Each student is randomly selected to speak to the class by elaborating on the main points written down.
• The rest of the students listen, fill in the assessment sheet, and make notes of particular things to comment on.
• Teacher and the students give comments on the student interpreter performance regarding strategies and language use.
• Teacher plays the recording to check the language used for a discussion and correction purpose.

PHASE-SIX: TV News Broadcasting — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter

Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.

• Teacher checks the condition of the TV set
• Teacher prepares a blank VCD to record the news or other programs for a discussion and feedback purpose

Preparation in the classroom before the broadcasting

• A table with a chair is well arranged in front of the class
• A ready-to-switch-on TV set and a blank VCD in the player to record the news program are well arranged and are reachable for the teacher to operate.
• All students are asked to make note of the main points of the news or talks from the TV programs. Each student spends 3-5 minutes to retell, from his notes, the points in the receptor language.
• The students are told to follow the process of interpreting in this practice such as Speaking: presentation (through TV) à Interpreting (by each student in the way of making note of the main points or making a summary) à Conveying (by the student) the message based on the points or a summary made.
• An assessment sheet is distributed to each student to assess the performance of their peer.

Interpreting Practice (the first part is from English into Indonesian)

• eacher switches on TV on an English / Indonesian news and other intended programs then presses the recording button on the VCD player at the same time
• Student interprets into Indonesian / English by making note of the main points or making a summary on a piece of paper.
• Each student is randomly selected to speak to the class by elaborating on the main points written down with a support of a replay recording.
• The rest of the students listen, fill in the assessment sheet, and note down particular things to comment on.
• Teacher gives comments on the student interpreter performance regarding strategies and language use.

5. Assessment On Students' Performance

Students do not sit for a final exam like for most other subjects. Each student is assessed during his/her performance in the classroom throughout the semester. It is an on-going assessment. Each time a student performs a task, s/he is assessed by both teacher and peers using a designed assessment format.

This format is distributed to the students before an interpretation is done and, after the class, the filled-in assessment sheets are collected and the teacher summarizes the result and makes a copy for the students who perform a task in order to keep in their own portfolio as a performance record. Teacher also keeps the same assessment format in each student's file for his/her final assessment at the end of the semester.

Each student is told on how to assess a peer's performance in the classroom. The following are the descriptions of assessed items and a grading system used:

Assessed Items

Accuracy : - pronounce each word correctly using right stress and intonation;

- use good grammatical structures with correct tenses;

- choose appropriate words relevant to the topic;

Clarity : - talk loudly with a clear voice;

- convey a meaning in a clear and natural way;

- use appropriate communicative body language to make a meaning clear and understandable;

- improvise a message correctly

Fluency : - express the meaning easily with a normal speed, no hesitation and no excessively long pauses;

- convey the message smoothly using familiar concepts, examples, and other matters relevant to the topic;

Eye-Contact : - maintain eye-contact with the audience by looking across the whole class;

Self-Confidence : - convey the correct meaning with full confidence and no hesitation;

- talk confidently even when a mistake was made regarding the meaning, the grammatical structures and tenses, and word choices.


Grading Systems

Excellent 4 A 80 - 100

Good 3 B 70 - 79

Fair 2 C 60 - 69

Poor 1 D 50 - 59

Fail 0 E < 50


6. Summary

Interpreting is a language skill that a student can acquire consciously or unconsciously through an intensive process of learning, training, and experiencing in a formal classroom, in a set-up situation, or in a real-life situation. Six phases in teaching interpreting are designed intentionally to assist the students to be skillful prospective interpreters after graduation. The six phases benefit the students in some ways: (a) students are trained to be familiar with different English dialects and accents; (b) students are trained to be anticipative with different idiolects both in English and in Indonesian; (c) students are exposed to different genres both in English and in Indonesian; (d) students are trained to be familiar with human voices and the normal speed of speakers from a tape/cassette player, a CD/VCD player, a radio, and a television; (e) students are trained to make quick decisions on what to omit and what to convey only by hearing without looking at the speaker and/or by hearing and looking at the speaker and supporting background pictures; (f) students are trained to be quick and skillful writers in writing a summary of the main points from both radio and television broadcastings; (g) students are trained to improvise and speak from the main points written down; (h) students are trained to keep the Short-Term Memory system in their brain working properly; (i) students are trained to keep their self-confidence in front of the audience; (j) students are trained to keep their eye-contact with the audience; and (k) students are trained to judge and give comments on an interpreting performance.

References

Dulay, H., M. Burt & S. Krasen. 1992. Language Two. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Ellis, Rod. 1997. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 2000. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Larson, Mildred L. 1984. Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language

Equivalence. Lanham: University Press of America, Inc.


This article was originally published at Translation Journal (http://accurapid.com/journal).

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