Becoming certified allows you or your agency to be listed amongst those translation service providers worldwide, which fulfill the quality standard set and approved by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). This proves that you or your agency are/is able to provide translations of constantly high quality, as well as confirming that your projects are comprehensively documented from start to finish, in a transparent and sound fashion.

The institute in charge of these certifications is the “Austrian Standards Institution” in co-operation with the “Language Industry Certification System®” (LICS) with their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and their global network of partners carrying out the actual certification process. Some advantages of being amongst these exclusive translation service providers are:

• Get ahead of your competitors: Conforming to ON + LICS® EN 15038 is a quality label, showing that you or your agency is/are competent and committed to the client; you will be allowed to use our logos (see below)

• Be in demand when it comes to public procurement: Contracting and public bodies opt for certified service providers rather than non-certified ones when considering translations in their tenders

• Greater appeal to clients overall: Certification shows that you or your translation agency meet(s) set standards in compliance with the European Norm, which appears more trustworthy to business clients

The Austrian Standards + plus and LICS® certification process involves systematic support from our side to and is particularly applicable to small and medium-sized companies, as the time spent by the auditor on site and the amount of paperwork is kept to a minimum. We also provide continual updates of how to improve your potential in the future and we carry out annual re-audits to ensure your translation services are certified and still conform with the norm requirements.

If you are interested in becoming one of the best and acquiring this globally recognized, third-party certificate on the EN 15038 norm, please contact me using the application form attached to this letter.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Your local Lead Auditor,

Mohamed-Ali Ibrahim
Lead Auditor & Trainer EN 15038 & ISO 9001:2000
Manager & Representative for Austria, Arab Area & Turkey
http://www.lics-certification.org/
http://en15038.blogspot.com/
http://www.as-plus.at/certification

Quotations have become a popular method to individualize email signatures and the exemplars for slogans of businesses, both online and in print. Quotations reveal a tidbit of history or someone’s viewpoint or thoughts on a subject in brief, yet compelling, words. They can be motivating, funny, insightful or contemptuous. They all have in common the ability to make the reader ponder, nod their head in agreement or opposition and, perhaps, consider the words throughout their day.

There is a vast array of quotation categories, including motivational and inspiration, art, dreams, love, various sports, literary, special occasions and themes.

There are even quotes relative to translations and dictionaries. Some of these notable quotes are as follows:

• “To translate, one must have a style of his own, for otherwise the translation will have no rhythm or nuance, which come from the process of artistically thinking through and molding the sentences; they cannot be reconstituted by piecemeal imitation. The problem of translation is to retreat to a simpler tenor of one’s own style and creatively adjust this to one’s author.” Paul Goodman, American Poet

• “Now that he has changed the weather, Lion and lamb can vote together. God bless the Russian delegation, I waive consecutive translation.” Lord Caradon, British Chief UN Delegate

• “I hope to finish the book before I’m 90. It keeps you alive. The secret of being a translator is not to be in a hurry. Sometimes it takes hours to find a single word.” Dr. Leonard D. Rosenman, MD and Translator

• “Nor ought a genius less than his that writ attempt translation.” Sir John Denham, English Soldier and Poet

• “The original is unfaithful to the translation.” Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian Poet and Essayist.

• “Take care you never spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word, consider how it is spelled and, if you do not remember, turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to write well.” Thomas Jefferson, 3rd American President, to his daughter, Martha.

• “The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.” Jean Cocteau, French Poet and Novelist

• “Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.” Kahlil Gibran, Philosophical Essayist, Novelist and Poet

• “Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Short Story Writer and Novelist

• “At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English Poet

However your day is proceeding, whether smoothly or bumpy, an appropriate quotation is available online to cheer you on or brighten you up. Hope my short selection gave you smile.

—–
Karin Wolte is an English to French translators and currently works on improving the French Dictionary section at Babylon.

In real life things quite often happen in strange and unexpected ways. This certainly was the case with my professional career starting as a research chemist and “ending up” as a freelance translator.

After studying chemistry at Frankfurt University and taking a PhD in chemistry at University College London I successfully applied for the position of a research chemist with Schering in Berlin. I happened to become a research chemist within the plant protection chemistry-department. Since most pesticides then contained chlorine atoms as an integral part of their chemical structure and those chlorine atoms are known to cause cancer of the liver I was taking a completely different tack. From my university days I remembered the professor talking about a “pseudo halogen” when referring to the cyanide group which consists of one carbon and one nitrogen atom. This chemical group is expected to metabolise to nitrogen and carbon dioxide and thus could do no harm to the human body as a chemical residue in vegetable, corn or fruit. After overcoming some chemical hurdles exchanging this group for chlorine atoms in household name pesticides I had been quite successful for some years although the new pesticides were biologically slightly less effective and also somewhat more expensive than their chlorine counterparts. However, since Schering had all my new compounds patented worldwide I regarded myself in safe territory.

It was only some five years later when the department head told me that although my chemical approach was quite impressive I should return to the so-called “small costal navigation”. This meant to give up my ecological approach to plant protection chemistry and to join the fold by reading through patents for “chemical gaps” that others had overlooked and fill them.

It soon became clear that I had to take a far reaching decision. Occupying a well-paid and respected position with Schering, being married with two young children and just having bought a new BMW, this decision was difficult to envisage. The only real alternative seemed to lie in becoming a teacher. With moral support from my wife I applied for a teachers’ training course and sold the BMW. Thus we reasonably well survived the following two years at low income. Afterwards I started teaching chemistry and physics at a grammar school in Hamburg. Although teaching youngsters is not always an easy job these days, I enjoyed it throughout my active 24 years as a teacher.

Apart from science I have always been fascinated by languages, even as a boy in Leipzig in former East Germany (GDR) when the only language being taught was Russian. After my schooldays English became my predominant foreign language. During my period of study at Frankfurt University I participated as an actor in several plays at the ‘Frankfurt Playhouse’ – then a facility for US-forces’ personnel. The funniest part was as a Cockney-bystander in Bernhard Shaw’s Pygmalion for which I had to take special Cockney-lessons. It was not the lines I had to speak during performances but mainly the discussions in a nearby pub after rehearsals that improved my fluency in speaking English considerably. When time was ripe to decide where to take my PhD in chemistry I successfully applied for a scholarship to take my PhD at University College London.

As a teacher I have often accompanied our students to our partner school in London and when the English students paid their return visits to Hamburg I showed them around Lüneburg, a beautiful medieval town southeast of Hamburg. Among teachers from both schools and on both locations we held regular parties in one of the teachers’ homes. During one of these parties we talked about what to do when reaching pension age. One of the English colleagues suggested that with my knowledge of English and my scientific background I should become a translator in the scientific field. Though not quite convinced at first I soon became hooked. In due course I enrolled in a translator’s course offered by the Chartered Institute of Linguists in London. Since having passed the exam from English into German in general knowledge, science and technology I enthusiastically and with passion work as a freelance translator in Hamburg.
—–

Dr. Erich A. Schmidt: Freelance translator in Hamburg; member of the American Translators Association (ATA) and of the Association of Translators and Interpreters in Northern Germany (ADÜ-Nord). For further details visit his website www.easdiptrans.de

What is wrong with languages that all of them seem to be switching more and more towards the English language?

Whatever the language is, whether I can actually read it or not, there are more and more recognisable words in any given language because those words were simply taken from English.

German and Dutch for example are full fetched, overly complete languages themselves and yet are taking on English words by the day, even if good, and in many cases, even words are available in their own language. Very often the English word makes no sense at all because the precise meaning of the German or Dutch word is completely lost when using the English one. Take the word “manager” for example. It is widely used in both German and Dutch, yet lacks a definite meaning. Nowadays most employees are called managers, simply to give them a title they might be proud of, even though they are still salespeople, cleaning staff, etc. Every time this word is used an explanation is needed: Sales manager, Executive managing director, Manager of the hygiene department (I love this one!), and whatever else they’ve come up with. So why use this English word and not just use the original word of the language in question? Why is it so appealing to use English words? Do people think that they are regarded smarter because of their use? Are you actually smarter because you know some foreign words (and might have forgotten them in your own language)? I have my doubts.

The infiltration is all over the languages. Even in the world of education, Dutch speaks of “performance assessment”, “assessoren”, “summatief”, et cetera although perfect Dutch words are available and none of the abovementioned words existed in the Dutch language prior to 2002.

To give English speakers an indication of just how ridiculous this really is I will give some examples of how it would be in case English were infested with Dutch and German influences:

“In accordance with the safetyresearchanalysis conducted by the municipalplanningdepartment of South London, the safety of pedestriancrossings is far to look for.”

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Let’s try another one: “It is really not believable that the taxes are raised again!”

Or: “I can’t against it anymore!” (=I can’t take it anymore)
“She comes always ready.” (=She always reaches an orgasm)

So, how about that? Can you believe that in Holland and Germany we voluntarily speak that way? Well, you better believe it!

So let’s go back to a previous question. Why do we do this? Do we actually think it makes us look more intelligent? Are we more sophisticated because we throw in English words? Well, you might answer for yourself but as far as I am concerned it makes us (especially the translators among us who translate this way) look rather silly. Unfortunately I have a feeling that these English patients will never be cured!

Until the next time. I wish all of you a fantastic week.

Kind regards,

Peter van der Hoek

Peter van der Hoek, IM Translations. IM-Translations is registered as Isla Margarita Translations, C.A. and is located on Isla Margarita, a tax-free, tropical island for the coast of Venezuela. You are welcome to contact Peter at peter@im-translations.com.

First of all, I’d like to say I am delighted to have been invited to write an article for Translator Zone! I’m Karen, from Brazil and I have been a translator from English to Brazilian Portuguese for over eight years. Currently, I own an intercultural training company, [ex]Change Treinamento Cultural , through which I also provide translation services.

My interest in translation did not precede my interest in cultures, and only because I’ve always been obsessed we learning about and understanding new cultures have I become a translator. That said, after ‘careful’ consideration regarding the day-to-day issues related to our profession, I decided to write about the one that concerns me the most, culture in translation. Due to my first jobs as a translator having been offered to me, rather than I seeking them, when I first started in this career, like many in Brazil, I had no idea what were the rules and protocols for translation. I often found myself wondering how to translate and explain to my customers whenever I was presented with material that could be translated word for word, but would not have the same meaning or the same strength in the other language. This is a situation that is quite common when translating Brazilian Portuguese into English, because several types of communication, which are regarded as serious and in English must be treated with due formality, are often written in an informal and relaxed way in Portuguese. In Portuguese, the informal style of the text does not undermine its seriousness, but if translated word for word to English the document may not be received as such. So, I’d wonder… if I translate word for word and my Brazilian customer reads it, he’ll be happy to see his Portuguese text in English, however, it may not be understood as intended by the English-speaking interlocutor of this text. On the other hand, if I change it enough so that I believe it conveys the message my customer is trying to send, will my customer read the text and wonder whether I’m being faithful to his writing?

With every new translation I’d wonder what to do, and, perhaps due to my intercultural training, I’d always feel I should go with my ‘cultural gut’ and try to be faithful to the message, rather than to the actual words. Having made peace with that in my mind, a new problem arose, I started to allow myself too much ‘freedom’, and in several occasions I’d find myself ‘adapting’ the translated text to the target culture, when what I was actually doing was to ‘improve’ style and grammatical correctness.

Again, that led to a lot of consideration about my role as a translator. I know my customer wants his text to have a certain impact on the target audience of the material he’s written. However, sometimes, I know the way he’s written, even in the source language, will not do that and may also undermine my reputation as the translator who might be blamed for it. So what should I do? Act as editor and translator or stick to my role of conveying the message being sent, not intended? How will either choice affect my reputation? Will I always know what my customer’s underlying intentions were?

The way I finally made peace with those issues is developing sort of a flow chart for the decision making process. The first thing I do when I’m asked a translation is to ask where the source material is from, not which language it’s in, but where it actually is from. If I have no cultural background on that particular place, I explain to my customer what I believe to be the implications of my lack of cultural knowledge, and let him decide if it’s relevant to his source material (making a mental note to learn more about that culture in the future). If I have background on that culture, I explain the difference, for example, between a text that reads like Portuguese translated to English and a text that reads like it was written in English, and clarify my intention to write the latter. I also explain that, if he’s available to explain what he meant to say whenever I need him to, the chances of having a better translation increase. Once I’ve decided how to proceed about the cultural issues, I then read the text to identify style and correctness, and make sure I understand the purpose of that piece of writing. Knowing what my customer’s intentions are and having cultural background on both source and target languages, I can make straight forward decisions about how to adapt language and style, always prioritizing the message been conveyed, not the words.

The freelance translation market is a competitive one, there are many translators out there willing to take on work you refuse, for even less money, so many may argue that if you refuse work because you have no cultural background on a country, you’ll end up out of work. I agree that it may take longer for you to be able to live exclusively from your translations, but if you have a reputation of delivering only outstanding work, your chances of staying afloat in this market are much higher than if you have to work non-stop for little pay, several customers, and, what’s worst, competing against very bad professionals.

If every serious translator tried to build up a network of colleagues with different expertise and background, even in their own language pair, we could all benefit from providing higher standard services and separating the real translators from those who are able to translate words, not meanings, to a second language.
—–
Karen Montebello Saboya Brito Founder/Associate of [ex]Change Treinamento Cultural ; Bachelors degree in Biology by the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil. Karen has lived in Australia and England, and since then she’s been working as a freelance translator for national and international companies, as an interpreter in international events and as an English teacher.

Since 1996, Karen has been dedicating herself, through an international NGO, to work related to intercultural relations with emphasis on support to foreigners who come to live in Brazil and training Brazilians to live abroad. Additionally, she has broad experience in training people to work in multicultural environments.

Martin Esposito asks why professional linguists sometimes fail to communicate amongst themselves - and sometimes with their clients - and what good might come if we did

As I sit in a plane bound for Budapest, I can feel the slight exhilaration of being for a brief day in a condition of absolute repose. For a start, pressurisation always gives that slight light-headedness (perhaps enhanced by the excellent bar service), and, though usually a tragedy, not being online on this occasion is the perfect complement to the rare situation where a translator has no work pending, having delivered the previous commission late the night before. It is, as I say, quite the exception, and not always a welcome one, as unpredictable lulls in workflow do not always translate into rest, and sometimes degenerate into downright worry.

Yet it is at times like these that I feel we are best equipped to consider our profession, and to take stock. Possible reasons not to do so during the normal flow of business include, of course, too much of the business in question, or simply an attitude inclined to discard the need for a deep analysis - why fix what ain’t broke? I believe, however, that the inevitable condition of constant transition from linguist/wordsmith to unwitting one-man-company entrepreneur is mainly to blame for the loss of a sense of direction I am feeling and, at least in my case, the lack of preparation for such a position is mainly responsible for the unease.

In troubled times, it pays to know what’s going wrong: should we just accept our fate, or reach for new challenges? Most translators will complain about the fact that in this customer-led industry, the former leads so much in fact as to exclude the language professional from the production process. This is visible in the setting of deadlines (We’re ready for the launch in the morning - all we need to do is get the thing translated) in the idea of financial reward (It’s only a translation, - it’s not like you have to re-write the whole thing!) and especially in the discrepancy between source and target language quality (We jotted it down quickly in Italian and there are a few inaccuracies. But it’s the translation that will be published, so can you make sure the English reads well?).

Yet when the world of work as we know it is undergoing the deepest change since the Industrial Revolution, are people really less in need of good communication? Or have they all suddenly brushed up on their language skills? Is this not the time to ensure one final good draft of a message really gets through so that effective communication takes place? Also, it is certainly worth noting that never before have staff been the object of welfare guidelines and stringent health and safety measures: ergonomic desks, workstations and telephones, activity-rest alternation, healthy snack options from the canteen, ventilation and lighting standards; to this we can add provisions pertaining to equal opportunity, race, sex and creed parameters, and we get quite a rosy picture. Yet is certainly odd that such an era should be also the one with the most outsourcing, use of freelancers, externally appointed and self-employed staff, therefore not in any way provided for under the regulations mentioned above.

I have asked enough questions to which I don’t not know the answers. All of them, though, certainly quietly imply that a range of business practices the multiple industries the translation industry is part of need to begin to be questioned, and this can only come from the latter industry - i.e. us. The sale of ‘first drafts’ for internal use, for one, the abuse of software as a substitute for knowledge and instinct, should also undergo careful scrutiny. What is sometimes blamed most of all though, is the lack of a sense of professional kinship among language practitioners, simply based, it seems to me, on the fact that we are in competition for the same financial rewards, and our normally naturally complementary skills are really exploited and kept splintered by greater entrepreneurs than ourselves, who know their main lesson well: communication is key (how many times did you translate this one?). This is why all big corporate players meet at the highest levels, in an almost incestuous closeness, whilst their outlets fight on the high street. It is what keeps business alive under an umbrella preserving them from the hailstones of loneliness and the deadly silence of lack of communication. Alive? Not much these days, you may say, and ‘join an association of translators then’, comes another voice. Both interesting notions. The latter, I may follow one day, when I am able to see a selection process going beyond mere qualifications and fees I charge. The former…well, read on.

It seems to me that the shared dimension of our work (the one we choose to talk about with colleagues) focuses on the quantity we get or do not get. Quality is for each of our own eyes only. So no real progress can be made in pooling and complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses (I have never used translation software, but work in close contact with a colleague who does. We share out the right work for each translating style, or work as a team: he is quick and cost-effective, I supply the final revision without getting bogged down in a document I could never handle efficiently by hand). No really unified voice is reaching the major dictionary companies, requesting comprehensive platforms and online/offline streamlined and specialised resources - not clumsy CD ROMs (though Babylon is a start). But most seriously, clients all too often cannot see our passion through the tiredness and the stress as we say yet another time ‘it’s actually not a bad piece of writing, if I had the time to appreciate it’. Our contribution? A little honesty could work wonders: yes, my rate may be slightly higher, but look, has my cheaper colleague actually pointed out that the six line headed paper you pay for every time could be applied by your clerical staff to the body of the letter? Can I remind you that this draft is identical to last season’s and tracking changes might save you money and often more importantly time? Not to mention the health tips I get from some of my colleagues with a greater sense of responsibility towards body and soul. Again, I think I can hear a silence… I know I might have puzzled a few. When one’s theories are about to be hacked to pieces, it pays to throw oneself into battle, rather than one’s thoughts alone, as these cost nothing: yes, this is my only job, and both me and my family depend on it. Furthermore: over the years, work has become less repetitive, more interesting and better regarded, and I am beginning to help younger professionals by passing on the work I choose to do no more, which has the added bonus of not leaving disappointed clients stuck with a refusal and no alternative. So things are mainly good - at least until now. Whether I am to be surrounded by a wall of fire or suddenly find myself part of a network of the motivated linguists I know to be out there, will not depend on me. And for once, not even on clients. I am running on trust here. Silly of me, but it is hard times. And, as the old adage has it (though I’m not entirely certain of the translation), ‘If you always do the same thing in the same way, don’t be surprised when you get the same results’. Happy the way you are? You probably stopped reading this quite a few lines ago. Want to try something new or just curious? I may I have started asking questions I have no answer to again, though this of course may be my very reason for asking. I’m not sure what we may find, but as soon as I’m off this plane and back to (on?) earth I’ll be getting online again…

—- -
Martin Esposito is a freelance bilingual Italian/English Conference Interpreter and Translator. He currently lives and works in London, but is professionally active and retains a business base in Rome.
He can be reached on www.bigcitymartin.com

Well, translating is in my blood, and from time to time I even do it
professionally…

Having had a classical education (Gymnasium in Holland), at the Gymnasium
Erasmianum in Rotterdam, I learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, English,
German, and of course Dutch grammar in highschool. At my final exam my
Greek teacher was all excited that my translation of Homer was good enough
to be published. After high school I even came back one year to teach
Hebrew Bible studies in collaboration with my former Hebrew teacher, from
a commentary by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch - for as I had pointed out to
the teacher, most students were there to be able to read the Bible in the
original, not to study Theology or to study Semitic languages. Meanwhile I
went on to study Sanskrit and Comparative Linguistics at Leiden, but never
finished it. To make matters worse at various times I learned Italian,
Spanish, some smattering of Turkish, and I did a year of Japanese at the
Japan Institute in New York.

In my late teens/early twenties, I was also actively studying the language
of the Septuagint, and I ended up making a contribution to the Liddel,
Scott and Jones Greek-English dictionary. Specifically, in Gen. 2:10 the
Greek uses the word Kephaloi as a translation of Hebrew RASHIM, the
“heads” of these rivers, meaning of course “Source.” At the time LSJ
explained this usage as a new meaning, namely “source,” and I pointed out
to them that this was anachronistic, and not warranted, citing as examples
both the usage kephaloi in the Septuagint, a word which clearly means
“heads,” as well as the usage “Flussköpfe” in the Buber/Rosenzweig
Verdeutschung der Schrift, and today, when I was checking, I notice that
the Soncino Chumash which I consulted, also has “heads” for RASHIM. Thus
clearly, this was a figurative meaning of “head” for “source,” but it was
not an original meaning of the word, nor should it be translated as
“source,” if the Hebrew reader clearly had “head” as the original meaning
of the word, and “source” only as a possible figurative use. The letter of
confirmation from Oxford University Press is still somewhere in my files.

Since ‘79 I’ve lived in the US, in the greater New York area, and
presently in New York. My interest in translation in recent years has been
mostly in spirituality, and then again mostly related to A Course In
Miracles, and most recently I am completing the translation of the 3rd
book by Gary Renard (www.garyrenard.com) into Dutch. Since I’m also an
author (www.acimnthomas.com), on the Thomas Gospel and ACIM, I hope that,
subsequent to the launch of Gary’s work in Holland, I will also be able to
translate my own book into Dutch.

Part of this project was a totally new translation of Gary’s first book,
The Disappearance of the Universe, for the original translation was
terrible to the point that it said the opposite in Dutch of what it said
in English about once every other page or so. We even found a newsletter
which had published 2 reviews of Gary’s 2nd book, Your Immortal Reality
(which I had translated in 2007), but who never reviewed the first book,
and when asked why, the answer came that they could not read it. No
wonder. So now it will be interesting to see how the books take off in
Holland after a totally new launch this spring of 2009. Subsequent to
that, translating my own book into Dutch would be a real kicker.

For the rest, I consider that, before English became my 2nd first
language, German had been my 1st second language, but it’s a bit rusty now
after 30 years of little practice. But French is still active, and I get a
chance to speak it with many Haitians and West Africans in New York, as
well as some contacts in Quebec, so at least I get some practice.

Finally I am still working on a new translation and commentary of the
Gospel of Mark into English from the Greek. Evidently that falls under
personal interest/writing. On the professional side I’ve also done
translations in one case for a legal case in the commodities field,
because I used to work in shipping and commodities.

While I remain sceptical about translation software, which I consider more
often a hindrance than a help, I’ve just starting with Babylon as a
reference tool, and sofar I like it a lot for that purpose.

——–

Rogier van Vlissingen Rogier van Vlissingen was born in Jutphaas, Holland, and grew up mostly in Rotterdam, until moving to the USA in 1979. www.acimnthomas.com http://www.xanga.com/RogierFvV

Many researchers, even those involved in cross-cultural work, assume that transferring a research instrument from one culture to another involves nothing more than translating the instrument and doing a back translation for ‘quality control’.

The research reported on here illustrates not only how much more complex transferring an instrument can be, but also how the process of translation itself can yield unique and invaluable insights into cultural and linguistic differences - the essence of what the research was originally designed to capture.

In addition to this fresh perspective on the valuable role that translation can play in improving research, the translation protocol field tested and reported on here makes a compelling argument for modifying the traditional Gold Standard of translation-back translation with the addition of a couple of important steps.

Read more …

——–

This report is based on Dr. Joe Greenholtz’ book Validity Issues In Translating Instruments Across Languages and Cultures: Exploring the Paradox of Differing Cultural Perspectives on Intercultural Sensitivity, available on Amazon.

Dr. Joe Greenholtz
Phone/fax: (604) 241-2432
E-mail: principal@hjgconsulting.com
Website: www.hjgconsulting.com

Why did I become a translator in the first place?
To explain that I need to tell you a bit about myself.
I was born in England out of a Dutch father and a Polish mother. They decided to raise me in Dutch and Polish as I would soon learn English anyway. That’s how it all began. When I was 3 years old I was fluent in 3 languages and 2 years later my family was transferred to Holland due to my father’s job. I would stay in that chilly, little -but very friendly and organized- country until I fulfilled my military service. By now I spoke 4 languages fluently and had a good knowledge of German and French, thanks to the Dutch educational system. After a brief period of working in oil -I had studied chemistry and obtained a master in fossil fuels- I came to the conclusion that languages were just more fun than some boring, although high paying- job. To further improve my language skills -and, of course, to have a lot of fun- I decided to travel the world or a good part of it anyway. I ended up on the beautiful island of Margarita, which belongs to Venezuela where I liked it, or better said, loved it, and thought I would be nice to stay there a while longer. So I hit the streets to find a job. The third day I stumbled onto a language school in Porlamar and as luck had it; they had just fired a teacher. I could start next day!
I instantly fell in love with teaching and every free moment was spent on learning more about languages and the way we use them. I even ended up writing 5 language courses and co-writing another 3.

Even though teaching was in my blood, I did come to a point where I needed more stimulation, something where I was forced to keep learning and evolving. In the back of my mind I already knew what would be the next step. From the beginning there were always plenty of companies, especially in tourism, who needed their websites, brochures, etc. translated into different languages and due to a lack of translators on the island they usually came to us with them. So from the start I was not only teaching, I also had my share of translating to do. Despite that I was not a big fan of translating -I had no experience, didn’t think about the audience of the actual translations and wasn’t familiar enough with the necessary terminology- I did them anyway, though not with much enthusiasm. Over the years I learned that every translation, how simple and routine it may seem, needs to be well prepared. One has to study just about everything about it: Who wrote it? What was the purpose of writing it? Who will read it? What message should the readers perceive? How old are the readers? And then still some! As if this is not enough to deal with, you have to make sure you know the correct terminology for each individual project, and we have only talked about the translation itself so far! You have to know something about computers and, more specifically, their software. Not all translations are written in the same format. You need to know how to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and just about all standard software that’s running on your computer. This is not enough, of course, because nowadays we also have CAT-tools, which are Computer Assisted Translation tools. The basic idea of them is relatively simple, they remember words and phrases you have already used in your translation (or previous translations) and are able to automatically put them into your translation, saving you time and effort, and maintaining a constant translation. Although this might not always be an advantage in a translation, usually it is. You do not need to use CAT-tools to be a good translator, but many translation agencies will only send you jobs if you use them. In my opinion the main reasons are delivering a constant translation and the possibility to to pay less for repeated word and/or phrases. Unfortunately for beginning translators, CAT-tools are quite expensive.

But let’s go back to my initial story.
I was looking for a change and wanted something that would stimulate me and forced me to keep studying. Translating just seemed the logical answer. I started studying my favorite subjects because I realized that having some specializations would be more useful in obtaining work than just offer anything and keep studying everything from scrap. After that I started practicing and building glossaries, slowly preparing myself for the job as a specialized full time translator. Now we’re 5 years later and I’m still learning almost every day. Every subject you study in order to prepare for a translation makes you a bit smarter than you were before. In the meantime I have come to learn that there is no such thing as the perfect translation. First of all, you can always improve and there are always some sentences that you could have formulated better, simpler or more directed to the public the translation is meant for. Luckily there are some amazing proofreaders out there that will make those small and subtle changes for you (at least if you work for a good translation agency or if you just happen to have one for your work). Something else is that everybody has their own taste. You might think that the way you put something in your translation is definitely the way while someone else might not agree with you. This cannot be helped as we all differ as people and as language professionals. It is vital to establish a good communication with the client. Good feedback is essential for a quality translation. The client is, after all, the one who knows all the details and he or she can provide you with all necessary information for the best possible translation. Never be afraid to ask questions! We are all humans and our knowledge is limited and sometimes our insight into to something is as well (for example if you have been working for 12 straight hours on a translation it is very well possible to get stuck with a simple sentence, simply because your brain is getting tired). 2 people know more than 1 and besides, a person not involved in the actual translation might be able to provide you with a fresh insight. Remember that a translator who asks questions and feedback is a good and thorough translator.

There are pros and cons to being a professional translator. A big pro is that you can work whenever it pleases you. You have no fixed schedule and therefore you are free as a bird (well, you do, of course, have to meet the deadline!). You always keep learning (if this does appeal to you should consider another career). You make relatively much money, but this will take a while. First you have to establish yourself as a translator and slowly build up your reputation. Your reputation is all you have in this business, never forget that! Never make promises you won’t be able to keep, because it will come back to you and most likely with a vengeance! Building up a good reputation as a good, professional translator that delivers on or before the deadline is a painstakingly slow process, but ruining it is a piece of cake! A couple of negative feedback and you will have a very difficult time getting new clients.

One of the most important cons of being a freelance translator is that you never know how much money you will be making next month. Another con is that al your clients will have their own paying method (bank transfer, MoneyBookers, PayPal, checks, etc.) and different moments of paying (14, 30, 45 or 60 days after the invoice, immediately after delivering the translation, etc) so you have to do some bookkeeping. Some free and excellent invoicing systems are available such as ProZ’s free invoicing system, Facturen.net gives you the first 120 invoices for free and works very smoothly and there are more available on the web. A huge con is that there are a lot of crooks out there who will contact you for huge translation projects but without planning on ever paying you. It happens to the best of us but there are some thing you can do to avoid it from happening, at least in most cases. For example, check the clients’ credentials. This can be done though the larger translation sites. ProZ has an excellent “Blueboard” where you can read positive and negative comments about potential clients, TranslatorsCafe has something similar with the “Hall of Fame and Shame” and GoTranslators has its “Black & White list”. In order to use this information you will have to become a (paying) member of these sites, but I can assure you, it is well worth it! Furthermore you should be wary of potential clients that do not have (believable and serious) websites or that use commercial email addresses such as Hotmail or Yahoo. Any serious company has its website nowadays and they come with serious email addresses.
If you follow these relatively simple rules you should be reasonably well protected.

To sum up, if you like to keep learning new things, are willing to specialize in just a couple of subjects and you like to have a lot of freedom in your work, this might be a career for you. If you are lazy, unprofessional and/or crave regularity in your life, you had better steer clear of this profession.

If you are a beginning translator or aspire becoming one and you have any questions, you are always welcome to contact me at peter@im-translations.com.

I wish all of you a successful search for the perfect job!
Best wishes,
Peter van der Hoek
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Peter van der Hoek, IM Translations. IM-Translations is registered as Isla Margarita Translations, C.A. and is located on Isla Margarita, a tax-free, tropical island for the coast of Venezuela.

Translation: Getting it Right is a free brochure published by ATA - American Translators Association and available for download in PDF format. Although this document addresses the buyers of translations, it is an import input for translators as well. At least to all those who seriously take counseling and advising their clients as part of their profession in order to gain the best results and satisfaction for both sides. Reading this material will give you important insight into the considerations of your clients and will help you adapt your approach towards potential buyers.

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Dr. Ursula Ron is Content Manager at Babylon.com and heading the Babylon Translator Outreach Program. Babylon is provider of online dictionaries, online translations and a translation software.