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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Best Practices Contest: Winning Submission

This blog entry was submitted by Carolina M. Torres, the winner of our Best Practices contest. Please note, Caro is not a native English speaker and this was not a language competition. The contest was based solely on content quality.



In my country, Argentina, it is very difficult sometimes for translators to speak of Best Practices. Argentina is a “developing country” this means that the people suffer many necessities and sometimes because of necessities the people are forced to accept very low rates or to work with very difficult clients. It is hard for a translator from Argentina to build a large client base, because there are many translators in Argentina and many translators means much competition. But it is not impossible if you work hard to follow Best Practices and necessity is not an excuse to have Bad Practices.


I think if I have to describe my “best” practices, they are five:

1. Spanish is my native language. My English comprehension is very good, very strong. But I am a better writer in Spanish because it is my language. I do not translate into English. Some translators in my country don’t just translate into English -even though it is not their native language- but they also charge more for working into English. They think it is because the language is more difficult for them, I don’t agree with this practice. When I see texts translated into Spanish that were not translated by a native Spanish speaker, it is obvious to me. I think if I translate into English it is obvious to the person who is going to read my translation that English is not my native language. Spanish is, so it is not ethical for me to translate to another language that I don’t dominate like Spanish.


2. I don’t accept very low rates. It is hard for the people in developing countries to have access to clients who pay good rates, but it is not impossible. I am a professional translator. I studied very hard to become a translator and I think professionals should be paid professional rates, without mattering if they are in developed countries or developing ones.


3. I try to always deliver on time. Sometimes this is very difficult because translators usually have a lot of work. But it is not impossible to become organized and deliver on the time accorded with the client.


4. I take many courses and trainings. I did not finish learning translation when I finished studying translation at University. I continue to take courses about language, editing, grammar, CAT programs, and everything else that I can learn to improve.


5. I travel. I travel to England and the United States as much as possible because it is a good way for me to obtain more fluency and knowledge of my source language. This is very difficult for the people in Argentina because the “peso” is devaluated and traveling is very expensive for us. But every time I have the possibility to travel, I go. It is important for translators to know the source language very well to understand the translation better. But, it is also important for translators to know the culture very well. In language, not everything is grammar and syntaxes, culture and society influence on language. If you understand the culture and society of the source language, you can understand better the translation.


These are what I consider my Best Practices. I think there are many more practices that I could share and describe, but I believe respecting language is fundamental for being a good translator and all of these practices are based on respecting language and clients. I entered this group because I want to continue to learn from other translators. I entered this contest because I believe that if we exchange our ideas, it is the best way to learn.



If you would like to know more about Caro, she accepts new friends on Facebook and welcomes emails to the address shown on her Facebook badge.



Caro Torres | Create Your Badge

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Native vs. Non-Native Speakers: Why an Ideal Translation Team Should Consist of Both

For years I have read through long, heartfelt, and even angry threads with native speakers of a certain language defending why they make better translators than non-native speakers. They sustain there is a sort of naturalness to their native language that non-native speakers never completely acquire, no matter how much they read and study. They point out that languages have peculiarities and nuances that can only be mastered when one is completely embedded in the language, and this cannot be done overseas or even after some years of living in a certain country. Many also state that languages are living organisms that grow and evolve, and one can only keep up with their changes when living at the heart of those changes: deep within the culture that speaks the language.


When one respects language, these strong, well founded arguments tend to tip the scale over to the “native speakers only” side. We’ve all read “funny” sounding translations before and known immediately that the translator was a non-native speaker. I’ve come across so many “off- sounding” translations while travelling through non-English speaking countries that I’ve lost count, everything from signs reading Stop--Drive sideways to Our wines leave you nothing to hope for. However, when one comes across these odd phrases there’s always one thing that comes to mind, “the person who translated that is probably not a professional translator.” Self-respecting professional translators may render a translation that comes across slightly “off” to a native speaker, but their language level is not likely to be low enough for a completely silly translation. As language professionals, I think it’s time we start giving each other a little more credit.


These “off-sounding” phrases for which non-native speakers get blamed are real, and we can find them in menus, brochures, articles, and manuals all over the world. But with something as complex and ever changing as language, can you really blame non-native speakers, especially those living overseas, for not always catching the gist of idioms, prepositional phrases, phrasal verbs, and other complexities with which even native speakers sometimes struggle? Does not always finding the most natural sounding way of expressing an idea automatically imply that the person is not a good translator? I think the answer is no. If you take English as an example, the revised Oxford English Dictionary has over 600,000 words, and in the United States an average college graduate only accurately uses about twenty-five thousand of those words. If even educated native speakers only master a portion of their own language, why are we so hard on non-native speakers?


When accused of being inaccurate and unnatural sounding, non-native speakers often counterargue that, though they don’t always speak the target language perfectly, their understanding of the source language renders a more accurate translation of the source text. I find this to be their strongest argument; the reason why can be inferred by truthfully answering the following question in your head: as a native speaker of the target language, haven’t you ever had to ask a non-native speaker (of the target text) to explain the source text to you? I believe even fully bilingual translators, with multilingual and multicultural upbringings, cannot honestly answer “no” to that question. We’ve all struggled with source texts at some point, which takes me right back to the main argument of native speakers: languages have peculiarities and nuances that can only be mastered when one is completely embedded in the language, and this cannot be done overseas or even after some years of living in a certain country. So if we assume non-native speakers are doomed to sound a little “off” when translating into their non-native language, can’t we assume, for the same reasons, that a native speaker’s comprehension of the source language might be subject to the same flaws?


In the native vs. non-native speaker debate we’ve been focusing so much on the trees that we’re failing to see the forest. Yes, native speakers are likely to come up with a more natural sounding translation that is easier on the eyes of the client’s readership. This is one of the perks of having a mother tongue: you get to speak it better than those who have a different mother tongue. However, non-native speakers get the flip side of the coin: they understand their mother tongue (i.e. your source language) better than you.


This is why I strongly believe we need to set our differences aside and team-up. Clients are paying for accurate, natural sounding work. And although native speakers hold the winning hand in naturalness, non-native speakers can greatly contribute to accuracy when translators work together. An ideal translation team should consist, at least, of a native speaker for the translation work and a non-native speaker for editing. Needless to say, once the non-native speaker has helped improve the quality of the deliverable by shedding light on the source text, it’s once again up to the native speaker to find the proper way to phrase it in the target language.


I’m sure anyone who has read this far is probably asking him or herself how feasible this solution is financially. The answer is up to us. Our industry, like all other industries, is experiencing a sharp downfall. We all read postings and see the ridiculously low offers some companies are making. What is even scarier is how many bids they get at these prices! My solution is probably not the best way to go if your motto is “cheap, cheap, cheap.” However, if you’re a quality-oriented language professional and are charging reasonable prices for your work, teaming up with another language professional that does the same thing and fairly splitting your projects and profits will automatically increase both your incomes. In today’s demanding market, there is really no reason to work alone anymore. When teaming up with other linguists we are not only able to provide better quality work, but we are also able to handle larger workloads and manage tighter deadlines. This trend, though far from ideal, is the reality of today’s translation market. Clients need it accurate, fast, and at competitive rates. Meanwhile we are only human and there’s only so much we can do on our own. Personally, I will continue to pair up with and learn from my non native colleagues. Hopefully, the more we work together, the better off everyone will be, including our clients!


To learn more about the author visit her professional profile on LinkedIn or Proz, and if you like what you read visit the author’s blog on Law and Language Law and Language.

First Ever Best Practices Contest

The FB group Translators for Ethical Business Practices is hosting its first ever Best Practices Contest. Participating is simple; all you have to do is write about your best practices and submit your paper via email to translationandethics@gmail.com. When you submit your paper, you will be given a unique tracking number and your paper will be published on this blog without your name on it. You have time until September 1st. Members will be able to vote for their favorite papers straight from this blog between September 1st and September 6th. The winner will be announced on September 7, 2009 and will be featured on our Hall of Fame. This contest is open to group members only, to become a member, just visit us on Facebook and click on “join.”

Monday, August 10, 2009

About




Translators for Ethical Business Practices originally started as a Facebook group aimed at working together to raise the bar for the translation industry. The idea behind the group is to discuss relevant issues and brainstorm solutions to the problems and difficulties faced by translators and agencies today so that linguists and companies alike can benefit from each other, grow together, and find ways to provide higher quality service to clients while improving working conditions for professional translators and interpreters.



The goal of this blog is to provide a space for members and non-members to share resources, best practices, and advice with each other in a non-competitive environment that fosters teamwork and cooperation among colleagues. In a competitive, cut-throat industry, this is a place to leave all that behind and join efforts to creating standards of which we can all be proud.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Thought Box

The Thought Box is a simple, easy-to-use form for group members to provide feedback and ideas about the group. You can choose whether or not to keep your feedback confidential and you can also use the form to volunteer to be an Officer for our group. Click here to see the form.

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