ROTFL, LOL, ASAP, FTW, WUU2, OMG and many many more. It has even its own dictionary. Internet slang is practical to use but hard to understand When I was in primary school, I used to try come up with my own kind of language so that my mom could not read it at all. I tried to shorten the words but I just could not memorize my own abbreviations and I gave up. Today, internet slang offers the kind of language that I always wanted! There is also a dictionary- you do not lose track of what’s going on. Or, while you’re chatting on Facebook or MSN with a native speaker, you do not have to say “Sorry, I do not understand what you say”. Here is an online internet slang dictionary. It works quite well, at least for a non-native speaker like me 

You just type the abbreviation of words and click “Translate Slang”. In the box above this, you find the translated- generally long- version of it. There is also some quizes to test yourself 

I am somehow happy that our reliance on traditional paper-books still continues. Internet is a vast source of information; however, there are only few decent web sites that you can follow all the time. When it comes to grammar, word choice and sentence structure, internet –not always but- generally fails. In my opinion, grammar mistakes can be reduced to minimum either by studying a grammar book or reading books in the languages you know. Especially nowadays, many people do not read book or newspaper regularly. They just check online news sites and that’s all. They are full of grammar mistakes and in time, as you see a mistake several times, you begin not to see them as mistake but the true form. This is the most dangerous thing that may happen to a language because it results in generations (like ours) who are not aware of real grammar rules. So, here is the list of books of 2011 by Guardian. As far as I see, this list is a result of a discussion, so they are the reader’s choices. I will write the names in an order, you can click the link at the bottom for their reviews. Let’s read- not only the article but also the books 

1. Sebastian Barry’s On Canaan’s Side
2. Thomas Penn’s Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England
3. Glyn Hughes’ A Year in the Bull-Box
4. Eileen Battersby’s Ordinary Dogs
5.  Alice Munro’s New Selected Stories
6. Ali Smith’s There but for the
7. Sarah Raven’s Wild Flowers
8. Philip Hensher’s King of the Badgers
9. Richard Lloyd Parry ‘s People Who Eat Darkness
10. Elen Caldecott’s Operation Eiffel Tower

For more books and reviews, click here.

Almost all the texts are formed around a certain terminology. While translating technical texts, you definitely need the glossary of the related terminology. You can always say “There are hundreds of online/traditional dictionaries out there. There is no need to get my own glossary for every topic. I can always search and find the equivalent of any word”. I used to think like that, too.

In time, I have understood that glossaries make your translation experience faster and better. Picking a word from a dictionary is like picking a dress in a shopping center. Although you know what kind of dress you want, first you have to find the right store for it. After finding that store, you, again, have hundreds of dress choices. You want a black dress, well; you still have tens of different dress types. Finding the one you want takes more time than you anticipate. Similarly, without glossary, you go to an online dictionary and write the word. You have hundreds of choices. Let’s say your text is about medical, you go ahead and find this section out of hundreds of equivalents. When you go to medical terms part, you see there are at least four-five equivalent. Which one to choose? You do some Google search and in the end you use the one giving more related search results in a similar context as yours.

On the other hand, when you have a glossary that you prepared with your previous experiences in medicaltranslation, you just find the word and you see the most general equivalent that you used in other medical translations.

Glossaries save time and give you the most possible equivalent of the word that you saw in similar translations before. Nothing can replace a glossary that was prepared with previous experiences 

At first, I was planning to talk about the acronyms of EU that confuses us a lot. Considering the translations of these acronyms as well, there are thousands of them, which is like another new language. On internet, I was searching a list of acronyms that I can use in this article then I came across to another marvelous web site: Acronym Finder!

It is amazing because it finds acronyms in every language. There is more! It also explains what the acronym stands for.

Let me explain this with an example. I wrote in the search box GFC (Grêmio Footbal Club). The web site gave me the list of the names that GFC stands for. I found GFC and when I clicked on it, it also gave me brief information about GFC! When I wrote something other, I also gave me the English translation of the full name .

Recently, I have discovered a web site thanks to one of fellow translators who commented on my blog. I literally spend hours when I visit this web site. It is funny and very useful. When I began learning English, I used to memorize lists of words. I was categorizing words and writing them on a paper. Generally I did not know real pronunciations and memorized them with a wrong pronunciation.

This web site works on eleven languges basicly but you can find more by clicking on Add Your Language or Archived Languages. The site has grammer rules and vocabularies with pictures. When you point one of the pictures, you hear the pronunciation. The pictures are funny and the vocabulary is enough at least for beginners.

I immediately bookmarked the site. When you give a break or something during the day, you can just visit this site and learn a couple of words 

The first pages… Total abyss  You generally never know what you will come up. Even if you go over the whole text once before translating, it always turns out to be harder- at least for me. In the first pages, you may have to make up many terms that you do not find in dictionaries or that do not even exist in the target language. You search the newly made up term on Google and if there is no result, you will have to think it over from the beginning until you find something that sounds natural/native.

When you get over the first pages, here comes a relatively easy part. You have all the terms translated in your hand. Of course I am just talking out of my experiences and this may not be valid for all text types. For example, technical translation keeps the same level throughout translation. If it is a difficult text, I am sorry but you generally feel this until the end. When I have a difficult text, I buy up chips and chocolates as a caution 

My last translation was a performance report and I found the final part easiest because texts like reports and essays always end with a conclusion or a summary. You just repeat what you say in a more general way.

So what is the hardest part of translation process? I do not know if there is an answer of this question. However, the first pages are the hardest ones for me. 

I am always talking about a term: ‘translation editors’. In my opinion, today’s ‘translators’ will change into ‘translation editors’ considering the advances in machine translation. However, I have read an article and the author is more pessimistic than me! The focus of her article is the current situation of translation agencies. She thinks some translation agencies are unreliable because they use machine translation. This is not the case in many translation agencies of course. That’s why you should be careful while choosing an agency. Agencies, like Limmo Translations,  offer the full services -not just translation but also a second round of editing and then a third round of proofreading. That’s the way it should be. Other than translation agencies, she is also talking about post-editing and how machine translation fails when the source text does not have a neat and simple grammatical structure. S/he has found this comment on web, which is quite right: 

“I was with a company back in 1995 that sold consumer translation software for PCs, and they marketed it as something magical: input an English business letter or marketing brochure’s text, and out comes a French or Spanish version. So simple, so inexpensive. No more expensive human translators.  But linguists laughed at the French and Spanish output which was often not only inaccurate, but offensive. Then they thought up the idea to combine machine translation (MT), as it is commonly-called, of business text, often marketing materials, with a low-paid, non-trained cadre of foreign language speakers, not translators, for a service offering to produce faster, accurate translation, but it turned out that this was not a faster process since even those linguists could not quickly “post-edit” poor quality machine translation of marketing content. It takes longer and is much more difficult to do that than just translating manually. Here we are years later facing the same issues. Most marketing material is not written with translation in mind, and contains abbreviated, “jargony” English language that is nearly impossible to translate accurately by machine. “Robo translators” can only work if the source language is carefully controlled, written in a simple grammatical style, and key term dictionaries are developed in advance that  can be used to handle a company’s specific terminology. The “crowdsourcing” model for translation for business purposes is a disaster waiting to happen in my opinion. For a global business, a careful, well thought out, culturally appropriate, quality localization project cannot happen magically with “robo translators” and volunteers.”

And conclusion:

According to Businessweek Translation/Interpretation is the 3rd best career  for 2011 after.

The complete list is as follows:

1. Career: Massage Therapist

2. Career: Athletic trainer

3. Career: Interpreter/Translator:

4. Career: Computer Support Specialist

5. Career: Meeting Planner

6. Career: Court Reporter

7. Career: Public Relations Specialist

8. Career: Mediator

9. Career: Film & Video Editor

It is doubtful that the makesrs of the popular Japanese sport drink Pocari Sweat ever meant for their product to go completely global. What native English speaker would relish consuming a drink labeled “sweat”?

Launching a marketing campaign in a new language market can be tricky. What colors, images or turns of phrase are enticing and which are insulting? Without a keen cultural eye, even the best-planned campaign can falter.

Below are 10 tips for taking your marketing messages across borders:

1. Prioritize. Who says that you have to translate your entire website, every advertisement, every tagline? One of the best ways to get the most out of your budget is to limit the word count.

Approach content differently and focus on quality, not quantity. For example, if you have a blog, don’t translate each post in real-time; select the ones that are the most relevant to that market.

2. Target your audience. Your global strategy and campaign objectives, as well as budget, will drive the language and dialect selection. Are you trying to break into a competitive Peruvian market? You’ll need a regionally specific Spanish translation. Or are you simply trying to keep up with the competition in all Spanish-speaking countries? You may consider a “global” Spanish translation.

Careful, though: global versions may save you time and money up front, but are often too neutral to be effective.

3. Watch the metaphors. The source text should be reviewed for images, phrases, and concepts that might not work in all countries. For instance, “hit it out of the ballpark” won’t make sense to someone in a country where soccer (a.k.a. “football” in countries such as England and Ireland) is the primary sport.

Having this feedback before translation begins can help you decide whether to have consistency across markets by changing the original or to use different images and metaphors that are most effective in the target languages.

4. Be involved. Give your translation provider a local style guide to help them understand the objective of the text, the target audience and the preferred style. Review a sample of the translation early in the process to make sure your translation provider is on the right track. Set up a review team — ideally one reviewer for each language — and engage them from the beginning of the project.

5. Allow for extra time. Don’t expect the same timeline or costs as when translating technical or general business documents. Language is subjective, and stylistic marketing language is even more so. Expect a lot of feedback. Headlines, taglines and copy will require extra attention and multiple revisions to get the translations to reflect the desired message.

6. Let go of your slogan. While it’s very enticing to have the same slogan across all markets, taglines are extremely challenging and time consuming to localize and may need to change slightly or significantly in the target language.

Global slogans are very rare: McDonald’s didn’t create their first global slogan “I’m Lovin’ It” until 2003, and it was kept in English for most countries.

7. Use universal symbols. Many countries (especially in Europe) have standard and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved symbols to convey a message without having to translate it. For example, the recycle, shelf life and ironing symbols can be used throughout the European Union ,thereby saving a lot of space and also complying with local regulations.

But be careful that they really are universal. The American hand symbol for “okay,” for example, signifies something is “zero” or “worthless” in France — and in Turkey, it’s downright offensive.

8. Be aware of space limitations. Languages don’t adhere to silly things like character count. A banner ad translated from English to Japanese will likely leave plenty of white space, while the German translation may completely overflow the space. Allow extra time for adjustments, or consider localization during the initial design and leave adequate room for the target languages.

9. Use humans, please. If there’s one takeaway, it’s to have a global creative process where people are the primary driver of the translation. There’s been a lot of hype about machine translation, but there’s just no comparison when it comes to expressing ad messages. In any case, a literal translation would have to be reviewed by an editor for accuracy and then re-done for phonetic value and flow.

So what is it like to be a simultaneous interpreter? Well, next time you’re listening to the news on the TV or radio, wait until the announcer has said five or six words and then start repeating every word he says, whilst still continuing to listen to what he’s saying i.e. you should be repeating the speech word for word, but several seconds behind the original speaker. Then imagine that you’re not simply repeating what the speaker on TV or radio is saying, but that somewhere in between a lightning-fast cerebral operation has to take place in order to convert the source language into the target language (often the interpreter’s mother tongue). With German, this can be particularly challenging in that you often don’t discover until the end of the sentence which verb the speaker has used ‘ and, even worse, whether the verb is in the affirmative or the negative! In such cases, the interpreter is often obliged to make an “educated guess” at what the verb is likely to be and whether it’s likely to be prefaced with “not”. As you might imagine, this leaves a certain margin for error, since if the interpreter has not followed the speaker’s train of thought correctly, sometimes he or she might have to add in a quick “aside” to rectify what they’ve just said.

Whisper interpreting: not just for the Chinese!

At smaller meetings where there may be delegates present from two or more countries, “whisper” interpreting is sometimes used in order to avoid a meeting becoming protracted (thanks to each remark made being interpreted into several languages in turn!). This involves a multi-lingual interpreter sitting between two (or three) delegates round the table and literally whispering to them what each speaker is saying as the meeting proceeds.

Consecutive interpreting: how fast is your shorthand?

http://limmotranslations.yolasite.com/limmotrad.php

Many people get confused as to the difference between an interpreter and a translator. There is a common tendency to think translators interpreter, or that interpreters translate. In fact, the two are very separate jobs requiring different skills. To explain who and/or what an interpreter as opposed to a translator we set out the main differences between interpreting and translation.

Interpreting vs. Translation

On a basic level it would appear that there is little difference between an interpreter and a translator. One translates spoken words and the other written words. However, the differences in how the job is carried out, the pressures, requirements, skills and talents are many.

A translator must be able to write well and be able to express words, phrases, innuendos and other linguistic nuances between languages on paper. A translator has the luxury of time, resources (dictionaries, etc), reference material and the freedom to take a break when needed. Their pressures are relatively limited.

Translators only work into their native languages to assure accuracy in both linguistic and cultural senses. Translators therefore, it could be argued, are not completely bilingual. They may be able to deal effectively with written sources but when it comes to orally translating, it is a different skill.

A translator therefore has a one dimensional aspect to their work. They deal with written words and language that come from paper and return to paper.

An interpreter, on the other hand, has to be able to translate spoken words in two directions. They do this using no resources or reference material bar their knowledge and expertise. An interpreter is required to find linguistic solutions to problems on the spot. The pressure therefore can be quite intense.

In addition to interpreting, the interpreter must also act as a bridge between people, relaying tone, intentions and emotions. Where an interpreter is caught between cross fire they need to demonstrate great professionalism and diplomacy. Their roles are therefore much more complex as they have to deal with both language and people.

What does an Interpreter do?

There are two ways of interpreting known as consecutive and simultaneous.

Simultaneous interpreting involves interpreting in ‘real time’. Many would have seen an interpreter sitting in a booth wearing a pair of headphones and speaking into a microphone at a conference or large diplomatic meeting such as the EU or UN. A simultaneous interpreter has the unenviable task of quickly digesting what one person is saying before immediately translating it to others. One of the key skills simultaneous interpreters must demonstrate is decisiveness. They must think quickly and on their feet.

Consecutive interpreting is carried out in face to face meetings, speeches or court cases. A speaker will usually stop at regular junctures, say every few sentences, and have the interpreter translate, before proceeding. A key skill involved in consecutive interpreting is the ability to remember what has been said.

What do you need?

Today’s post is for all the men and women out there who have crossed paths with a freelance translator…and have decided to live with him or her. Husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, civil union partners—I am talking to you. This guide will help you understand the lifestyle and needs of your significant other.

First of all, let me remind you that I’m referring to freelance translators­—not in-house ones. Self-employed translators are an entirely different breed, always on the prowl, ready to pounce on any possible lead. (We’ll get back to this later.)

Lifestyle

When you head out for work, the translator is sitting at the desk, staring at the computer. When you get back from work, the translator is sitting at the desk, staring at the computer.

While you’ve been going from meeting to business lunch to getting work done, time has stood still for the freelance translator.

No, this is not true. As a matter of fact, the freelance translator has a remarkable ability to hold the same posture for hours on end.

Look at his or her work area—the keyboard and mouse are designed for good ergonomics. The large monitor is set up to prevent eye fatigue. The armchair keeps the translator’s back straight. The computer is powerful and has endless features. The freelance translator has done everything to make work as comfortable as possible.

What does your freelance translator actually do all day?

Once you are out the door, your sweetheart executes the task which sets the workday in motion: make tea/coffee. (Check the appropriate box.) Next, the translator sits down, hot drink within arm’s reach, and proceeds to read e-mail, RSS subscriptions, favourite newspapers, the Facebook timeline, and so forth. As paradoxical as it sounds, the work-at-home freelance translator is often very informed about the happenings of the outside world.

But do not make the mistake of thinking that just because the freelance translator can tell you what goes on hour-by-hour at Davos or about the debate on new finance-related legislation, your better half has accomplished nothing.

Au contraire. The translator is an advanced multitasker who can listen to music, catch up on tweets, negotiate contracts, make progress on the current assignment, all while sipping on a caffeinated hot drink. All from doing that day-in and day-out!

Are translators workaholics? Fortunately, no. The translator also has hobbies and a social life.

Leisure time

If you can only remember one characteristic of the freelance translator species, take this: this individual is hungry for culture. What would be more unsurprising for a person who spends all day doing work-related research? The translator often remains, even outside of working hours, a veritable geek.

Whether we’re talking about volleyball, oriental dance, backgammon, or scrapbooking, the translator has done all the necessary research on the chosen activity. The amateur chef can tell you when the first Kenwood mixer came out. The hard-core skier can list names of world champions from the past five years. And don’t get me started on the film buff!

The worst of it all: the freelance translator talks as if all these facts were common knowledge. “You did know that mascara come from antimony-based powder, didn’t you?” says the freelance translator who likes cosmetics, ready to talk history to the ladies at Sephora.

Social life

Fortunately, the translator has a social life. Correction: two of them. First comes friends and famiy. Friends who go way back are surely aware of the translator’s odd behaviour and they already know of his or her ability, at a family Sunday lunch in January, to explain the history behind the galette des rois. Or this need to translate a little during the holidays while everyone else is taking a nap…

As for newer acquaintances, the translator is often all ears. Yes, the freelance translator is extremely curious about others and is especially interested upon meeting someone in a technical profession. Different terminology! (I told you, the translator is a geek.) Sometimes the translator will go so far as to leave a business card. You never know…

Sometimes, the translator cannot help but share his or her knowledge. If you’re about to spend a relaxing evening with friends, don’t take out your Trivial Pursuit! After the linguist makes five straight wins, no one wants to play with him or her again.

The freelance translator’s true self really comes out when meeting individuals of the same breed. You are probably wondering why your partner happily spends Saturday morning (Saturday morning!) to attend a talk about translation, Moldavian verb tenses or tax laws for the self-employed. Let me assure you: the translator is not insane.

While you have spent the whole week with co-workers—who you would not dream of running into on the weekend—the translator has not seen a living soul. Sure, he or she talked online all week. But you’ve got to understand that the translator needs to see others who share the same lifestyle, to talk about subjects all translators are interested in (who said only translators liked that stuff?). It’s like going to Disneyland! The most awesome part is seeing how the translator lights up to explain the importance of the latest grammar rule reform or to get you to see a Czech film subtitled in German.

The term ‘culture’ addresses three salient categories of human activity: the ‘personal,’ whereby we as individuals think and function as such; the ‘collective,’ whereby we function in a social context; and the ‘expressive,’ whereby society expresses itself.

Language is the only social institution without which no other social institution can function; it therefore underpins the three pillars upon which culture is built.

Translation, involving the transposition of thoughts expressed in one language by one social group into the appropriate expression of another group, entails a process of cultural de-coding, re-coding and en-coding. As cultures are increasingly brought into greater contact with one another, multicultural considerations are brought to bear to an ever-increasing degree. Now, how do all these changes influence us when we are trying to comprehend a text before finally translating it? We are not just dealing with words written in a certain time, space and socio-political situation; most importantly it is the “cultural” aspect of the text that we should take into account. The process of transfer, i.e., re-coding across cultures, should consequently allocate corresponding attributes vis-a-vis the target culture to ensure credibility in the eyes of the target reader.

Multiculturalism, which is a present-day phenomenon, plays a role here, because it has had an impact on almost all peoples worldwide as well as on the international relations emerging from the current new world order. Moreover, as technology develops and grows at a hectic pace, nations and their cultures have, as a result, started a merging process whose end (-point?) is difficult to predict. We are at the threshold of a new international paradigm. Boundaries are disappearing and distinctions are being lost. The sharp outlines that were once distinctive now fade and become blurred.

As translators we are faced with an alien culture that requires that its message be conveyed in anything but an alien way. That culture expresses its idiosyncrasies in a way that is ‘culture-bound’: cultural words, proverbs and of course idiomatic expressions, whose origin and use are intrinsically and uniquely bound to the culture concerned. So we are called upon to do a cross-cultural translation whose success will depend on our understanding of the culture we are working with.

Is it our task to focus primarily on the source culture or the target culture? The answer is not clear-cut. Nevertheless, the dominant criterion is the communicative function of the target text.

Let us take business correspondence as an example: here we follow the commercial correspondence protocol commonly observed in the target language. So “Estimado” will become “Dear” in English and “Monsieur” in French, and a “saludo a Ud. atentamente” will become “Sincerely yours” in English and “Veuillez agreer Monsieur, mes sentiments les plus distingues” in French.

Finally, attention is drawn to the fact that among the variety of translation approaches, the ‘Integrated Approach’ seems to be the most appropriate. This approach follows the global paradigm in which having a global vision of the text at hand has a primary importance. Such an approach focuses from the macro to the micro level in accordance with the Gestalt-principle, which states that an analysis of parts cannot provide an understanding of the whole; thus translation studies are essentially concerned with a web of relationships, the importance of individual items being decided by their relevance within the larger context: text, situation and culture.

In conclusion, it can be pointed out that the transcoding (de-coding, re-coding and en-coding?-the term ‘transcoding’ appears here for the first time) process should be focused not merely on language transfer but also-and most importantly-on cultural transposition. As an inevitable consequence (corollary?) of the previous statement, translators must be both bilingual and bicultural, if not indeed multicultural.

With the development in machine translationtechnology, questions about the future of translation have started to be raised. Is it possible that the machines can do what we, as translators, do exactly what we do right now? Will we be unemployed in the future? Will the job description of the translator be reduced to “translation editor”?

While I was reading blogs and articles to find out what’s going on in our field, I came across this interesting article. Here are some parts from it. I think we all share the thoughts of “patenttranslator”:

“In some ways, computers changed the translation universe beyond recognition as cheap or free machine translation became as ubiquitous as advertising. Just about everybody (at least everybody in the non-English-speaking world) is using machine translation to find out more about the world around us.

But seen from another perspective, you could also say that real translation, the kind that is produced by humans who understand and translate languages, has not really changed that much since the time of Saint Jerome, the patron saint of translators and librarians who lived about fifteen hundred years ago. It all depends on what your view of translation is. If you see it as mostly just moving words from one language to another, the future of translation is in memory tools such as Trados and more and better machine translation, while the only future available to translators will be human editing of the product of these computer editing tools and of the machine translation product. That is certainly one school of thought on the future of translation.

Thanks to Linkedin, we can easily share and read good articles about our industry. Last week, I followed a link by Lingo Woman and discovered a very good article about how we can deal with different opinions on translation. As we all know, translation is not simply looking into dictionary and finding equivalents. It is the job of creating a new text in the target language. It is more complicated than most of the people think. As a result of this complexity, you can get different comments. Those people who may think differently may be your close friends, teachers or even your customers. Here is how you can manage these criticisms:  

Negative feedback or criticism can be tough to deal with. Translation is, by nature, subjective and it is inevitable that most translators will be faced with criticism or queries over translation or word choices from time to time throughout their careers. So what should we do when confronted with such criticism? Here are five simple tips to help you deal with this type of situation in a positive, professional andeffective manner:

1. Delay your response

Our first instinct when faced with criticism is to be defensive. It is important to take a deep breath, listen carefully to what is being said and take time to formulate your response. Spend some time assessing and trying to understand the criticism in order to decide whether or not it is justified.

2. Keep things professional

It is important not to retaliate, but instead to respond in a calm and professional manner. If the criticism is justified, own up to your mistake and discuss with your client the ways in which you plan to avoid a similar situation in the future. Likewise, if you feel the criticism is not justified, explain why and do not be afraid to communicate the reasoning behind the choices you have made.

3. Don’t take it personally

Try to keep things in perspective. Of course it hurts to be on the receiving end of criticism, but in the translation world, differences of opinion come with the territory. Try not to see it as a personal attack but rather as an opportunity to discuss the matter openly with the client, to offer explanations and to put forward possible solutions.

4. Turn it into a positive

If criticism is constructive it can serve as a valuable tool for self improvement. Use it as an opportunity to think about changes you can make to become more effective. Learn from your mistakes and make the necessary changes. If, for example, a client disagrees with your translation choice for a particular term, why not develop a client-specific glossary that includes the client’s preferred terms? Explain your course of action to the client, and take advantage of the situation to show them how much you value their custom and that you take their opinion seriously.

5. Believe in yourself

It is important to believe in the translation choices you make and to have confidence in your ability as a translator. Remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, whether justified or not. Be prepared to justify your translation choices when necessary. Similarly, if criticism is unfounded and has no constructive value, learn to brush it aside without losing your confidence!

Thank you Leeengo Woman!

The cover of “The Literary Conference” by César Aira

Here are the finalists of Best Translated Book Award. Tree Percent Weblog sponsors this event. They were translated from many different languages. If you are interested in literary translation, check out those books, all of them I already read:

1. “The Literary Conference,” by César Aira (translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver)

Blending comedy with science fiction, “The Literary Conference” tells the story of César, a mad scientist with a plan to take over the world. But first, he must clone Mexican author Carlos Fuentes.

2. “The Golden Age,” by Michal Ajvaz (translated from the Czech by Andrew Oakland)

Somewhere in the Atlantic lies a tiny island whose inhabitants spend their time writing, rewriting, and amending an enormous collective novel. “The Golden Age” tells the story of the voyager who discovers the islanders and their project.

3. “A Life on Paper: Stories,” by Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud (translated from the French by Edward Gauvin)

Châteaureynaud has sometimes been called the Kurt Vonnegut of France. However, this collection of 22 of Châteaureynaud’s stories – which are often other-worldly and not infrequently unsettling – may speak to some readers more directly of Kafka.

4. “The Jokers,” by Albert Cossery (translated from the French by Anna Moschovakis)

Egyptian-born French author Cossery sets this comic novel about an incompetent government meeting an equally incompetent rebel force in a nameless Middle Eastern city.

5. “Visitation,” by Jenny Erpenbeck (translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky)

From the Weimar Republic to present-day Germany, “Visitation” tells the story of a house on a lake outside Berlin and the 12 people who live in it, even as they move through a rapidly changing century of German history. “Erpenbeck will get under your skin,” promises a Washington Post critic.

6. “Hocus Bogus,” by Romain Gary writing as Émile Ajar, (translated by David Bellos)

Okay, the pedigree on this one is a little complicated, but here goes. In the 1970s, French novelist Romain Gary tired of his celebrity and began writing books as Émile Ajar. When the second Ajar book won the Prix Goncourt, Gary was outed and in response wrote “Pseudo” – a fake confessional in which “Paul Pawlovitch” confesses to being Émile Ajar. “Hocus Bogus” is the first English translation of “Pseudo.”

7. The True Deceiver, by Tove Jansson (translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal)

In a remote village in rural Finland, local pariah Katri Kling finds her way into the life of Anna Aemelin, an aging children’s book author. Katri’s only interest in life is the welfare of her younger brother Mats, while Anna’s world has been shrinking in around herself. The coming together of these two odd personalities creates an eerie psychological drama.

8. “On Elegance While Sleeping,” by Emilio Lascano Tegui (translated from the Spanish by Idra Novey)

This is the first English translation of this provocative novel by Argentinian writer Emilio Lascano Tegui (who died in 1966.) “On Elegance While Sleeping” is a novel written as the diary of a French soldier, a man who is falling to pieces even as he longs for a more elegant world.

9. “Agaat,” by Marlene Van Niekerk (translated from the Afrikaans by Michiel Heyns)

Two women – an elderly white woman and her black maid – are living on a farm in South Africa even as their country is convulsing around them. The complexities of the relationships on the farm make for stirring political commentary as well as disturbing personal drama.

10. “Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer,” by Ernst Weiss (translated from the German by Joel Rotenberg)

“Georg Letham” is the fictitious first-person account of a murderous scientist exiled to a remote island for his crime. Weiss, born in Austria in 1882, committed suicide in 1940 when German troops entered Paris.

The adaptation approach argues that there are insurmountable cultural barriers which require the complete translation of advertisements to reach the target audience. By employing the adaptation process, MNCs frame their ads with a new culture and language.

The adaptation approach regards the words as the representatives of the culture. The most important part is to understand what lies behind those symbolic words. The use and selection of verbal and visual elements are directly related to culture which is perceived differently from nation to nation. Different perceptions require target culture-oriented ways of conveying an advertising message. Therefore, the road to advertising translation is paved with cultural stereotypes. As the definition suggests, cultural stereotypes are the products of interaction and communication. They are set of accepted behaviors and social norms. For example, in USA, a direct and explicit communication style is dominant. Americans value time and efficiency, and place emphasis on individual achievement. Thus, American ads generally aim to give detailed information about the product and they make use of verbal elements rather than visual. Moreover, such kinds of ads are generally humorous so as to capture the audience individually. On the other hand, in Japan, the communication style is generally indirect and implicit. Such an audience would like to have succinct ads. In their media habits, silences have meaning and put emphasize on symbolism.

Considering these differences, the advertising translator should be aware of the role that cultural stereotypes play.

Now, at my studies in university, I have understood that translation is not just translating word or phrases, but also using your general knowledge on any subject and interpreting the context considering the target culture. It is more than just a combination of words. To save up your experiences or knowledge (here, I do not mean memorizing words or grammer), you should hit the road as soon as possible. If you want to be a good translator, there are a couple of points to know that you should bear in mind. Rose Newellbrings those points up in her article. It is a very comprehensive one. I just try to give an introduction for each topic.  Enjoy!

It’s not just about the books…

A key point to remember when encouraging a youngster to learn a foreign language is that youngsters learn differently. Education today is very different compared to how when we were growing up (I know, I am a relative youngster myself, but schools today still look like the Bridge of the Enterprise compared to when I was at school). 

Okay, a bit about books…

Of the boring basics, I would suggest your youngster has a good quality, easy to read and comprehensive dictionary, appropriate to their level (perhaps a little above, to encourage their curiosity). It may be that there is some basic grammar explained in the dictionary you purchase. However, a good quality, well-explained, clearly laid-out grammar book with exercises (or one with the rules, and another with the exercises) is a good idea. If your youngster is enthusiastic, you could try out some language textbooks geared towards younger learners. 

Exchange programmes

Your youngster’s school, college, local youth group or religious centre may be organising a trip to an area where this country is spoken. This can be a great opportunity to learn more about the language and culture and make lasting friendships. However, make sure the opportunity is not wasted as best as you can by ensuring your youngster (insofar as it is possible) bonds with their exchange partner – spending more time with them and others in the country.

Holidays abroad

If you and your family can afford it, this is a great option. Encouraging the youngster to order the bread stick in French, or Breze in German, is a chance for your youngster to feel responsible, helpful, gifted and unique – especially if their knowledge in this area begins to exceed that of their parents. 

Foreign-language films

It’s relatively obvious that this will help people to be inspired by a culture and its language. Anime certainly seems to have done this for Japanese. 

Foreign books

Some people just enjoy reading. Encourage this spirit by buying them some books in their foreign language. Be careful to keep it at a level they can manage, or, if you are lucky, you might be able to find some bilingual books. 

Language games

There are lots of games you can play based on foreign languages. I used to add a competitive element to conversations with my language buddy with a little game. As an example, I would speak in German and she would answer in English, and I would have to keep speaking in German and her in English. 

Computer games

A lot of people are surprised by this suggestion, however, not your average 14 year old German schoolboy. Okay, I don’t know that many, but the couple I have met seemed to confirm this. In fluent English. 

Online chat

This is a slightly controversial one, especially if you otherwise have chat banned in your household. For older children who use this anyway, perhaps it is not such a bad thing to encourage, however, if it advances their language skills and friendships with native speakers of foreign languages. 

Social media and email

As with the above, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Bebo are great for keeping in touch with friends abroad. Also remember that there are some socialnetworks, such as the German StudiVZ, which are more specific to one area and language (although now with the option to use it in English). 

A couple of minutes ago, I have seen a link on my message box of Facebook.  I discovered a website which is very funny and interesting. Here, I will write the words below; however after checking this out, you should definitely visit the website itself and see the funny drawings by The Oatmeal. Do you also misspell these words?

1- Lose / Loose

2- Weird / not “wierd”

3- Their / They’re / There (the pronouncations are tricky, aren’t they?)

4- Your / You’re

5- It’s / Its

6- Definitely / not “definetely”

7- Effect / Affect

8- Weather / Whether

9- Then / Than

Until recently, I made manytranslations “in vain”. I realized that I just lived the day and got the job done. There was nothing left except from some cash. Than one of my friends showed me his database and explained me how thetranslation is easy and consistent when you have a rich TM (Translation Memory). With all these TMs, you can create your own terminology. In a site titled contentrules, I read an article about terminology, it gives advices on terminology management and its importance. I get the parts which I find interesting. You can read the whole text by clicking the link below (as usual!):

Let’s talk about managing terminology. Why bother? Well that’s easy. If you are in the content creation business, your product is your words/pictures/movies. And if words are your product, you need to care about them. You need to select them carefully and consistently, and you need to manage them.

By this I mean you need to make sure you have a consistent lexicon that is simple, straightforward, and makes sense. And the most important word is consistent. Consistent terminology is critical for so many reasons. It:

• Makes your content much easier to read for people of all reading levels.
• Preserves your company trademarks, service marks, copyrights, and so on.
• Safeguards your product and company branding.
• Ensures that everyone in your organization uses the same words to describe the same things.
• Allows you to use different XML chunks in a structured environment without having to rewrite for consistency.
• Lowers the price and time it takes to translate the content into multiple languages.
• Helps to ensure the quality and consistency of the translations.

This video always makes me laugh. This is a part from early Indiana Jones series. Although some scientists say that there is a limit of learning languages, others claim that one can learn as long as he/she tries hard. I agree with the former claim because I have met many people so far who said “I know 5-6-7-8 languages”. When you want them to speak fluently, they just stop there. When we say “speaking a language”, we mean the communication without any problem. I can say “I know English, but it is nor perfect”. I think many of you agree with me because we still hesitate using some certain phrases or verbs in English. I can write, read and understand Spanish, but I can only talk about daily matters. This does not mean that I know Spanish. Similarly I can write, read and understand German; however, I can’t go beyond saying “Hello, how are you, how old are you?, thank you” etc. I do not say people can only speak 2 or 3 languages fluently but I think there is certain limit with regard to the potential of our brains.

Recently, I have read a discussion on Linkedin which I find very interesting. This question was asked by a colleague of mine three months ago. We all came or are about to come into translation business in this or that way. For me, it was a chance. I did not mean to be translator but after university entrance exam, I just chose this department (Translation and InterpretingStudies). Now, I am quite happy because I discovered my talent about languages. Above all, I love playing with words and using different languages. Now I will paste some of the answers that fellow translators gave to this questions. 

-”Choice. I really like working with words.”

- “By accident. My background is software engineering, but I always had a vast interest in languages, other cultures and traveling. During my work as an engineer I experienced the gap between engineers and translators/documentation. This fascinated me and I drove a change within this large medical device company to streamline those processes, which had a positive impact on the overall production. Since three years I am an independent consultant, having myself specialized in (visual) software localization. I am now able to combine engineering, languages and meeting very interesting people from all over the world.”

-”By choice, but it was a long process. As a language student, you often get told you should go for a career in international business or teaching. After trying different jobs, I know now there is nothing is like doing more than translating! I have finished my studies but I am still learning a lot everyday, and that’s a great feeling.”

-”Both. In college, I used to help my fellow students out with their English articles. I guess they spread the word as students from other faculties started calling.”

- “Ha… good question. Total accident for me. Moved to the US in 2000 and pretty much had to find work right away. A friend of mine got me an interview for a PM job at ILE (now Lionbridge) and I haven’t been able to get out of the industry since then  Ended up doing a variety of functions (PM, sales, marketing, some translating, etc.) up to this day and it’s been a blast so far. “

Really interesting to hear the different stories here!

In this video, Mark Pagel talks about the emergence of the languages. Why do we use languages? How do we communicate? Let’s listen all the answer of these question from an expert in TED Conference 2011.

In our daily lifes, it is hard to catch the differences in languages. They change fast but we cannot recognize the changes while using. However, when we go back to 50-60 years, when we chat to elderly people – like grandma – we understand how the languages change in time. There are certain  expressions that I personally do not understand when my grandfather talks. This is ‘the old language’  On the other hand, some phrases gets ‘demodé’. They just go out of fashion. It is not relative to the age of the users, it depends on the popularity. Today, on Forbes, there is a very good article about the change in business English. Here are the parts I like most. For the rest of the article, click the link at the bottom:

“Ever been in a meeting where you think everyone is speaking in some kind of code? Workplace lingo often abandons the normal rules of the English language in favor of wonky expressions that are not only obnoxious—they make absolutely no sense.

For starters, here are six commonly used business expressions to banish from your vocabulary forever:

Rock Star/Ninja

“We need someone smart for this project. We’re looking for a rock star.”

“She’s a real programming ninja—the best engineer we have.”

Whether you’re sitting in on an annual performance review at a consulting firm or talking to a hiring manager at a tech company, you’ll hear these absurd non-titles everywhere. But unless your co-worker has actually toured with Mötley Crüe or wields nunchucks at the office, there is no reason to call her a rock star or a ninja. Also to be avoided: guru, wizard, and god. If someone has excelled professionally, praise her for what she’s actually done—don’t rely on cutesy hyperbole.

Reach Out

“Let’s reach out to someone in accounting to get those numbers.”

“If you want to follow up, feel free to reach out to me by phone.”

Reach out to me by phone?” Seriously? How about just “call me?

Around

 We all know what “around” means, so why does the corporate world make us forget? “Around” means surrounding, encircling, or nearby.

Impactful

lthough “impactful” is not a real word, its menacing infiltration into the corporate vernacular has led to its inclusion in some defeatist dictionaries

Open the Kimono

“That project shows potential. Let’s open the kimono and learn more.”

Not only does this phrase yearn for the era of good ol’ boys, but it’s almost impossible to say without sounding totally creepy.

Out of Pocket

“Don’t try to reach me next week. I’ll be out of pocket.”

This phrase represents an epic clash between OG corporate slang and new-school nonsense. ”

In the past, I was thinking that Google Translate just analyzes the lexical meaning of each word. That’s why there are many translations that does not make sense at all. I supposed the words are not translated in a certain context; however, I learned that Google Translate uses the official papers of EU, which have been translated into many different languages for more than 50 years. In this way, the software finds similar context and translates accordingly. I still do not think that they can replace us, but we are getting close to be titled as ‘translation editors’ step by step. Here is the source that I learn all these. I wanted you to know how Google Translate works. Maybe there are still some translators who do not know the working principles exactly-like me  You can read the rest of the text by clicking link at the bottom:

“Using software originally developed in the 1980s by researchers at IBM, Google has created an automatic translation tool that is unlike all others. It is not based on the intellectual presuppositions of early machine translation efforts – it isn’t an algorithm designed only to extract the meaning of an expression from its syntax and vocabulary.

In fact, at bottom, it doesn’t deal with meaning at all. Instead of taking a linguistic expression as something that requires decoding, Google Translate (GT) takes it as something that has probably been said before.

When I was in high school, I started studying English more intensively. I chose the department ‘Foreign Languages’ and I had English courses for almost 20 hours a week. Until that time, I had been using only bilingual dictionaries. However, at the first class of the term, my English teacher told me that I should buy a big English- English monolingual dictionary (Oxford or Cambridge). Well, I had to buy it you see  For almost one year, this dictionary was a nigtmare for me. I did not want to even look at it because I had a limited time and looking up in the dictionary was taking ages. While I was looking up a word, I was coming across another unknown word in the explanation. This was how it went, I was looking up at least three words to get the meaning of one word. After all these years, I can say that both bilingual and monolingual dictionaries are useful.

1. Monolingual Dictionaries

Those who are in a business related to languages have one of these dictionaries: Oxford, Cambridge or Collins. Monolingual dictionaries (MD) leaves you space to interpret a word in your own language. You see many different meanings and their use in English. You can understand in which contexts you can use the word you are looking up. MDs also help in improving your English. By reading the meaning, you always see the English grammer structure and syntax. Without noticing, you expose yourself to English all the time.

2. Bilingual Dictionaries

I admit that bilingual dictionaries (BD) make you a little bit lazy because you just choose one of the meanings which you think is the most suitable according to the context. However, as translators, we use them a lot. If I have difficulty while translating a sentence, I ask the opinion of my friends. Looking up a bilingual dictionary is the same thing. You check the translations of the same word and get an idea. Sometimes, even if you know the meaning of ‘X’, you look it up to confirm and see how other people interpret the meaning.

There is something wrong with the picture, right? It clearly shows that there should be some limits for the translator’s note. Although there is much to say about the translation, the footnotes should be somewhere at the end of the book, not at the bottom of the page. Many people find this kind of note-giving very distracting. I do not mean that there should never be any footnotes on the page. Of course, sometimes they are very useful especially when there are foreign words or concepts; however, the translator (or the editor) is supposed to use the words in the most effective way. The length of the footnote should not scare the reader away (like the one picture-it is half and half!).

And the second picture (from the same book) shows the optimum length for a footnote.

What do you think about the lenght of a footnote?

I do not understand why there are few movies about translation and interpreting. Indeed, every translation is a kind of new adventure for the translator. You are always alone with your text. There are only dictionaries, language forums and the e-mail addresses of a couple of friends. Once you open your text, you enter in a completely (almost completely let’s say) new world. Especially if you are a freelance translator, the text may be about anything. When you finish translating, you learn many things about that subject. Sometimes, only one unknown word may teach you a whole concept. You have to search many wikipedia-wise websites to learn about the concept so as to translate the word. Even this process of searching can make a movie  On my Facebook page, we started a discussion on the movies  about translation. We got results but they are really few:

1. Lost in Translation: This is the best known movie in this area.

2. The Interpreter: It highlights the dangerous part of interpreting.

3. The Translator: One of the friends said this but I could not find a decent information about it.

4. Plus One: A Russian friend said it is Russian movie about translation.

 Everybody is agree on our experiences can make a good movie  Even a friend said, my experiences are way too much for a movie… There should definetely more movies about translation but I do not know how the scenarists will hear us. Here is the new list, including the one I mentioned. Some may not be directly related to translation but the communication is largely carried out with the help of a ‘mediator’ (which happens to be translators or interpreters in many cases):

1. Lost in Translation: This is the best known movie in this area.

2. The Interpreter: It highlights the dangerous part of interpreting.

3. The Translator: One of the friends said this but I could not find a decent information about it.

4. Plus One: A Russian friend said it is Russian movie about translation.

5. The Woman with the 5 Elephants

6. Inkheart

7. Spanglish

8. The Translator

9. Fresh Suicide

10. Tradurre

11. Je l’aimais

12. El Pasado

13. Short the Translator

14. Chinglish

15. “Although the movies are not exactly about translation, translators/decoders play an important role in many movies. I can think, for instance, AVP, where a specialist was needed to read the signs left by an ancient culture. Indiana Jones also has some interesting sign/language reading, and Da Vinci Code. There are more, of course, but those came to mind. “

16. And a funny Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bic0pTTXeNw

Recently, I have seen many good examples showing the importance of social networking for translators.

I am a member of many groups for translation and languages on Linkedin and Facebook . We share many articles, news and all sorts of media via these groups. On Facebook there is group for Danish  Translation Students. One of the members published a post: “Do not work with X translation company because they just do not pay you back.” There were many comments about that. Everybody thanked to that member because, hereupon, the students will not trust this company.

Another importance of social networking is the exchange of opinions. This generally happens on Linkedin. If you have any questions on your mind about translation or languages, all the professional translators out there welcome you and they do their best with their comments and messages to help you. I do this very often. Here are some of my previous questions:  ´´Should we translate city names?´´ , ´´Should we translate company names?´´ etc. I got very rich comments.

In conclusion, if you do not want to be fooled by ‘some translation companies’, be a member of as many groups as you can. Good luck!