Seeing that translators are now becoming the up and coming industry, this shows how closely knitted our world has become. The need to communicate with our counterparts in other parts of the world has made this industry boom over the past few years.

Translation has now become a BIG part of our lives, knowing that with globalisation and migration of people, culture and businesses, it is ever so important to know other languages.

I used to learn French, and while I dragged my feet to the language school ever twice a week, I used to wonder whether I would ever need the language, since most people that I come into contact with at that time speak English or Chinese. However decades down the road, I master the courage to take up the language again, because now the need has come for us to communicate with clients overseas! Well, everything starts and happens for a reason, isn’t it?

The article in TIMES magazine has really pleasantly amazed me, and I see this industry still growing as the need to reach a wider network of people increases. Thus we are in a very exciting role, with more opportunities to translate different kinds of materials, and learn much more than what 1 culture can offer to another.

3 Cheers to the Translators in the World! 

As the saying goes…”Whatever happens, happens for a reason”

After I have read Paulo Coelho’s The Fifth Mountain, I continue to read his another book entitled “Like the Flowing River”.  This is a collection of reflections from Paulo Coelho. In this riveting collection of thoughts and stories, he offers his personal reflections on a wide range of subjects from archery and music to elegance, travelling and the nature of good and evil.

What actually caught my attention is when I read a particular short story on “The Other Side of the Tower of Babel”.  In this story, he pays his respect to the Holy Translator, Saint Mesrob.  Below is an extract of what Paulo had wrote and it best summarize the importance of a good book translator:

“Today is 9 October, 2004. The town is called Oshakan, and Armenia, as far as I know, is the only place in the world that has declared the day of the Holy Translator, St. Mesrob, a national holiday and where they celebrate it in style. As well as creating the Armenian alphabet (the language already existed, but only in spoken form). St Mesrob devoted his life to translating into his mother tongue the most important texts of the period, which were written in Greek, Persian or Cyrillic. He and his disciples devoted themselves to the enormous task of translating the Bible and the main literary classics of the time. From that moment on, the country’s culture gained its own identity, which it has maintained to this day.

The Holy Translator. I hold the flower in my hands and think of all the people I have never met, and perhaps may never have the opportunity to meet, but who, at this moment, have my books in their hands, and are doing their best tremain faithful to what I have tried to share with my readers. I think, above all, of my father-in-law, Christiano Monteiro Oiticica (profession: translator), who is today in the company of angels and of St. Mesrob, watching this scene. I remember seeing him hunched over his old typewriter, often complaining about how badly paid translation was (and, alas, still is). He would immediately go on, though, to explain that the real reason he translated was because he wanted to share a knowledge, which, but for translators, would never reach his own people.

I say a silent prayer for him, for all those who have helped me with my books, and for those who have allowed me to read books to which I would never otherwise have had access, thus helping – anonymously – to shape my life and my character. When I leave the church, I see some children writing the alphabet with sweets in the shape of letters and with flowers and more flowers.

When man grew ambitious, God destroyed the Tower of Babel, and everyone began to speak different tongues. However, in His infinite grace, he also created people to rebuild those bridges, to enable dialogue and the diffusion of human thought. This person, whose name we rarely take the trouble to notice when we open a foreign book, is the translator.”

The above extract has touched my heart when I read it.  In this commercial world, some people has failed to comprehend the importance of translation.   They fail to understand that a translator takes much effort and time to produce a good translation work.  My kudos to those professional translators in the world.  Thanks for being the Bridge Across Cultures in this world!

I have just finished reading “The Fifth Mountain” by Paulo Coelho.  For those who do not know him yet, he is the same author who wrote the international bestseller “The Alchemist”.  This book “The Alchemist”  has been translated into over 60 different types of languages and has sold over 75 millions copies!

As I am reading “The Fifth Mountain”, I found that it is immensely intriguing and it keeps me reading on to find out what will happen to the main character, Elijah.  It is a story about a person finding his own courage and commitment to his higher purpose.  All of us have our higher purpose when we are born, but many of us choose to ignore or defy that purpose.

Well for me, this book brings a great sense of inspiration to me.  I will follow my instinct and achieve my higher purpose in life – to serve mankind through better communication and education.

Because Paulo is a Brazillian writer, so I assume that the book is written in Portugese and translated into English and other languages.  Kudos to the translators who did a marvellous job.  The whole book is very well written and the principles behind it are timeless.  I believe the team of translators and editors have spent lots and lots of time doing research, translating, proofreading, re-editing and proofreading the content before it is good enough to be published.  The team effort and synergy is enormous.

I guess the translators and editors have a great responsibility to the author and the readers.  The writing style and flow must be consistent  without losing any flavour as compared to the original copy.

We are in the midst of doing a book translation.  Hence, we can share their feelings and responsibilities.  We will definitely keep you update on our new book launch.

For those who would like to have a read of the reviews or to get the book, here’s it:

In order to be always improving ourselves, we need to read. I once heard from a friend who’s father is a translator, that they have shelves and shelves of books at home for his translation purposes. Not only do we have to be good in the source language, we also have to apt in the target language.

Thus I was actively searching throughout the internet, trying to find out what kinds of books to read, and I stumbled upon this.

It will not serve as a theoretical book to how you can translate your work, but it is a beginning to your work interest.

Of course once again not only do we need to take into account being a linguist, we also need to remember to localise the language to the specific area to which you are translating for.

A starter for your meal, I might say…

Recently, I just watch this movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. It is a very compelling movie illustrating a man’s journey in finding his own dreams, true love and destiny.

It strikes a deep thought for me. We will never know our true purpose until we step out and start this self-discovery journey. We just gonna keep on believing and taking actions towards our dream.

When I first joined my friend’s translation company, a lot of my people (even my family members) start to question me. Are you making the right move? What if the situation does not turn out the way that you want? Are you getting enough to spend each month? Blah…Blah…Blah. Lot of negativities being thrown to me.

I have been with my company for almost 2 years now. Looking back, it has been a very fruitful experience for me. We have led our company to new heights each year. Our team of translators has also grown in size to over one hundred till now. This is definitely a more challenging experience than my previous engineering job. Besides equipping with good translation skills, I also need to do project management, sales and marketing and leading my own translator teams. The true joy is seeing your company and yourself growing daily.

If you ask me, what it takes to be a Successful Translator? Is it…
a) Passion
b) Perseverance
c) Continuous Learning
d) Continuous Improvement

Well, my answer is all of the above. Hopefully at the end of our journey, we would become a better person to our society and this world. And not forgetting, to fulfill our ultimate destiny and purpose in life.

Well, some said it is written.

To follow on the topic of the difference between translation and interpretation, there are several kinds of interpretation in the industry. However, the two main kinds of interpretation are simultaneous and consecutive.

For simultaneous interpretation, the interpreter would have to verbally translate the message that the speaker is saying almost as quickly as how he or she can understand from the source language. This kind of interpretation normally occurs during a seminar or a large event whereby the target audience who needs the interpretation would be using earphones. The interpreter would normally be standing behind a sound-proof booth, so that his voice would not interfere that of the speaker.

In this case, it would be good if the client/speaker can provide reference materials for the interpreter to prepare the topic in advance, in order to also make sure the content is correctly delivered.

Sometimes 2 interpreters is necessary for this kind of job as it calls for much concentration and energy.

As for consecutive interpretation, the interpreter has ample time to digest or take notes of what the speaker is saying, then translate it out after the speaker has finished his sentence(s). This type of interpretation is not as tiring as that of simultaneous one. Of course it would still be good if reference material can also be provided. In this case the interpreter may stand beside the speaker during the seminar, and the audience do not need earphones.

If you know what kind of event your company is having, you can easily define what kind of interpreters you require, so that the interpreters know what to expect.

Often, we will get client inquiring for translation service when in fact, they require interpretation service. Then we will spend the next few minutes explaining to them what is the difference between the two terms.

So why people get mix up with the 2 terms? People associate translation as “converting” from one language to another language. So anything to do with language conversion, it will mean translation whether it is for document or verbal. Interestingly, interpretation means oral translation.

I will usually explain to them that if anything that is to do with writing or brochure, it is translation. And if anything that is verbal, it is interpretation. Upon hearing this, our client is more aware of the difference. Hence they can tell their inquiry to us clearly. In this way, we can also tend to their inquiries faster.
This is what we call effective communication and good services to our clients.

So do you know the difference between translation and interpretation now?

Many people may get confuse over the difference between copywriting and translation. They are sets of very different specialised skills. Where copywriting is using words to sell or promote a person, business, opinion or idea, translation is to interpret the meaning of a text and communicate that in a different language.

Although clients may seek not to have the text in a direct translation form (which is supposed to be so, given that structures of sentences formed in different languages varies), translators do not regurgitate directly what is being given and spit out in the exact same way as it was in the source language. The translator should take into account the localisation required. The flow of the sentences translated within that paragraph should flow in its target language, and not force it to flow like the source texts.

We should not equate translators to copywriters. Copywriters are creative people responsible for an advertisement’s verbal or textual content, and they are in charge of bringing out the vibrancy of the copy that will sway the audience.

So do put this in mind when you are looking for that copywriter or translator to do your job. Know what you want, so that the people serving you can give you their best.

A friend emailed me a joke on how languages can be misinterpreted if not communicated properly. Some of you may have heard it before, so here goes…

Confusing Chinese Names

Caller : Hello, can I speak to Annie Wan (anyone)?

Operator : Yes, you can speak to me.

Caller : No, I want to speak to Annie Wan (anyone)!

Operator : You are talking to someone! Who is this?

Caller : I’m Sam Wan (Someone). And I need to talk to Annie Wan (anyone)! It’s urgent.

Operator : I know you are someone and you want to talk to anyone! But what’s this urgent matter about?

Caller : Well… just tell my sister Annie Wan (anyone) that our brother Noel Wan (no one)has involved in an accident. Noel Wan (no one)got injured and now Noel Wan (no one) is being sent to the hospital. Right now, Avery Wan (everyone) is on his way to the hospital.

Operator : Look if no one was injured and no one was sent to the hospital, then the accident isn’t an urgen t matter! You may find this hilarious but I don’t have time for this!

Caller : You are so rude! Who are you?

Operator : I’m Saw Lee (Sorry).

Caller : Yes! You should be sorry. Now give me your name!!!

=====================================================

Here’s another one..

 Why Chinese shouldn’t have Christian names:

 
Anne Chang => Dirty (Mandarin)

Anne Chin => Keep Quiet (Mandarin)

Faye Chen => Dusty (Mandarin)

Carl Cheng => Buttock (Hokkien)

Monica Cheng => Touching your buttocks (Hokkien)

Lucy Leow => You are dead (Hokkien)

Jane Tan => Frying eggs (Mandarin)

Suzie Leow => Lose till death (Hokkien)

Henry Mah => Hate your mum (Mandarin)

Corrine Tai => Poor fellow (Hokkien)

Paul Chan => Bankrupt (Mandarin)

Nelson Tan => Bird laying eggs (Mandarin)

Leslie Tong => Rubbish Bin (Mandarin)

Carmen Teng => Leg hair long (Hokkien)

Connie Mah => Call your mother (Cantonese)

Danny See => Squeeze you to death (Hokkien)

Rosie Teng => Screws and nails (Hokkien)

Pete Tsai => Nose droppings (Hokkien)

Macy Koh => Never die before (Cantonese)

Machine Translation (MT) is generally understood as the process in which a “machine” (specificaly a computer program or software) is substituting words and phrases in one langauge to another.

But if you do understand a little bit of the language in which you have translated your document into, you will quickly notice the translation problems.  And the end result is definitely not what you have desired and clearly not of publishable quality.

MT Softwares consist of dictionaries and algorithms to compose a sentence according to grammar rules of a language. The inherent difficulty in machine translation is that it does not discern the context and intended meaning the way humans can.  It doesn’t take into the meanings of words, word combinations, sentences, paragraphs, or the whole text structure. It knows nothing about rhetoric and style. It only diligently substitutes words and expressions taken from a dictionary into another language.

Of course, nobody wants their document content to be turned into a meaningless word mesh.  And there are specific styles of translations that machine tools cannot handle properly.  The basic purpose is to translate the message and meaning of the document and not just words and phrases. For this, it is always better to engage the services of professional translation agencies that employ native speaking human translators.

A human translator is still needed to correctly convey the exact meaning of the source text. No matter how advanced translation tools have become, they cannot be regarded as a substitute for a competent human translators.

It is true that MT can offer better alternatives in term of speed and cost. But if you intend to have a good translated document or marketing collaterals, accuracy is still of utmost important.  As of now, MT has not achieved that kind of high accuracy yet.   In a way, you would not want to submit a document full of syntax and grammar errors to your clients.  The “translated” copy will not make any sense to your clients.  Eventually, it will cost more if the documents need to re-translate again by a human translator.

Developers of Machine Translation software recognize these limitations and advise to use these translations as drafts only.  This is to enable the users to check the meaning of the foreign language document quickly and inexpensively.