Spanish Translation Help

How to become an interpreter

2009-01-11T13:56:00.000-05:00

Usually at the beginning of the year is when people take a look at what's going on in their lives and want to change. Well, one thing I've noticed is that there are more and more people interested in becoming court intepreters.

These people are usually from one or two groups. The first group are current or former translators who are thinking about becoming interpreters as another career field. The second group are those maybe just out of school or just starting in their careers and have decided to become interpreters.

Well, if you are in one of these groups and are interested in becoming an interpreter, don't fret. It can be a lot of work to get the interpreting job you want but here are some things to keep in mind when becoming an interpreter.

Quick Update

2009-01-02T23:11:00.001-05:00

I just tried out lifeCast and I didn't like it too much right away because it added a link to their site at the end of the post.

Now I'm trying BlogWrite and so far I like it better. I really wish it had landscape typing but hopefully that will come in one of the updates.

Blogging On The Iphone

2009-01-02T22:52:00.001-05:00

Just testing out some blogging software for the iPhone. Any translators out there have any reccomendations?

2009 Translation Goals

2009-01-02T16:33:00.001-05:00

The new year inevitably causes us to reflect on the past year's accomplishments and failures, and it's a perfect time to look ahead and see where we can improve for the coming year.

As translators, we're not necessarily exempt from this practice and I've found that to be true in my own life. Whenever I feel like I want to improve in some area of my life, I find that I have a much better chance of accomplishing it if I write it down and make it a concrete goal.

So in that regard, here are my business-related goals for 2009:

• Find more clients that I enjoy working with - nothng saps my energy more than trying to deal with rude clients.

• Make available the second edition of The Translator's Ultimate List of Translation Agencies - This new edition will have more agencies laid out in a slightly better format.

• More content on main website. I really feel that the website has been a help to translators and it's nice to get positive feedback from others. It motivates me to add more things that will be beneficial to translators.

• Encourage other translators to start their own websites. The main cause of my success has defnitely been the website. I wish other translators could see the potential of having a focused website to bring in more business.

So those are some of my business goals. What are yours?

Spanish Slang in Action

2008-10-04T12:30:00.001-05:00

Studying Spanish slang can be pretty fun but I think it's even better
to see it used in real life.

Where I live here on the east coast of the United States there aren't
a lot of opportunities to see how slang is used in Spanish print
media, but that changes when we go to Texas.

Our favorite place to visit is the San Antonio area and as you
probably know, there are a ton of Spanish speakers there. Well, it's
interesting to see all the things written in Spanish, whether it is
the name of a restaurant or billboard on the side of the road.

Of course not all of it is slang. Most of it is your standard variety
Spanish. However, one of the things about billboards is that they
often use interesting language and expressions to get their point
across.

Has anyone seen this in other parts of the country where they live?

Don't be afraid of things because they're easy to do

2008-09-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

A lot of times it seems that people feel that if something is easy to do, it's not worth doing. They might feel that they have to work hard to achieve something, all the while ignoring an easy way or path that has already been taken previously by someone else.

Well, the Freelance Translator's Ultimate List of Translation Agencies has been put together to try and make life at least a little easier for translators. It took me a few long months to come up with the list of nearly 400 translation agencies looking for translators and now you can have access to the whole thing right away.

Hope you enjoy it and that it saves you time to focus on some of the more interesting aspects of being a translator, like translating.

Don't be afraid

2008-09-20T20:45:00.001-05:00

It can be hard starting out as a freelance translator, especially when you feel like you are competing with translators that have been around the translation industry for so long. One thing that I like to remember, though, is that the need for translators is only increasing.

Too often we think of it as a pie where everyone gets a piece and when the pieces are gone there's nothing left for us.

Well, I don't think this is necessarily how it is. There's lot if work out there to do and it's mostly just a matter of making sure we're prepared when the time comes. That is what we have control over and that its the stuff we should be worried about.

Newsletter just mailed out

2008-09-18T22:23:00.002-05:00

A new edition of Translator Techniques was just sent today. It talks
about social networking and whether or not it's beneficial for translators.

Check it out at Translator Techniques.

If you could learn another language...

2008-09-16T22:07:00.001-05:00

...which one would you choose? What would draw you to that particular
language?

Translation Schedule

2008-09-09T23:06:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to be more in tune lately with my work schedule,
trying to determine what part of the day I'm most productive for
certain tasks. For example, I think I translate better in the
afternoon and work better on the admin stuff earlier in the day. What
about you? What are your preferences?

Translation and social media

2008-09-02T21:27:00.000-05:00

One of the major directions the Internet is going these days is the
use of social media. People are using everything from Facebook to
MySpace to Twitter, all to be able to communicate and stay connected
with friends and business contacts.

So my question is, are there any translators that are using this type
of social media as part of their freelance translation business? I've
just started to get into some of these sites and it seems like they
could be useful to freelance translators. It'll be interesting as I
get more into it and see what, if any, benefit it can bring to my
business.

Punctuality and Translation

2008-08-03T22:19:00.001-05:00

One of the most important traits a translator needs is the ability to
be on time.

I've always tried to be someone who is on time with whatever task I
have in front of me, whether it's finishing up a translation for a
client or making it to an important meeting.

How many of us, though, carry that trait with us in our private lives?
I've noticed recently that I'm often late to church, for example. Now
if church were an important meeting with a potential client, would I
be late? No way. So why is it that we can sometimes be two different
people with regards to our professional life and personal life?

I'm not sure what the answer to yhat question is, but I usually feel
better about myself when I try and combine the better qualities from
both. I am usually a better person for it.

Sent from my iPod

Translation and social networking

2008-07-29T21:28:00.001-05:00

I used to think of myself as not too far behind technology but lately
I have been wondering if I'm starting to show my age a bit more.

The reason I say this is because it seems like there ate more and more
social networking sites out there already with more coming each day.
Yet here I am in 2008 and I've yet to even sign up for one. So my
question is, has social networking helped you in your business?

I'm not really interested in using it to tell people what I ate for
breakfast or what kind of mood I'm in on a particular day. Instead I
would like to know if it can help me with my productivity or some
other aspect of my translation/web business.

So do you use any of the popular social networking sites that are
popular right now? If so, how do they help in your business?

2007-12-12T22:22:00.000-05:00

The hottest searches by far in December for my website have to do with Spanish Christmas songs and Christmas carols. There are many people searching for English songs that have been translated into Spanish, whether they be teachers looking to teach carols to their students, or people in general looking to learn another way to sing their favorite songs.

If you're looking for any Spanish Christmas songs or English Christmas carols that have been translated into Spanish, feel free to check out these Spanish Christmas songs.

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2007-12-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

I am not a member of the American Translator's Association (ATA), never have been, and most likely will never be.

However, there are a lot of translators out there that are members of ATA. It makes me wonder, does being a member of ATA and paying all the dues and doing everything to maintain membership really help a translator build his/her client list and increase business?

It seems to me that while ATA does provide some good information for translators through conferences, publications, and their website, the cost for the that information is not worth it. I've known plenty of translators that have been unhappy with ATA and the way it portrays itself as the end all be all of translation certification in the U.S. What gave ATA the right to say whether a translator is good enough to translate?

It would be interesting to know what percentage of professional freelance translators are actually certified by ATA, as well as how many are members.

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2007-12-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

This question had me baffled more than once when I was just starting out as a freelance translator. The web was becoming more and more popular and people were using it for more and more things, but could it work for translators?

Well, at first it seemed like a lot of freelancers didn't have websites; rather, the only people who had websites were the big translation agencies. However, as time has passed, I have realized that there is no reason why a translator should not have a website and every reason to have one.

One of the reasons why a translator should have a website is that a ton of people search online for translators and by having a website, you can receive some of that traffic and direct people to your services directly, essentially cutting out having to go through a translation agency for work.

Another way a website can help is by giving a translator more credibility not only to clients but to also translators. A (professional) website is just another tool that a translator can use to increase business and become better as a professional.

I was nervous when I thought about putting a website together because it just seemed so daunting a task. However, I was fortunate that I found a hosting company (and so much more) that helped me know how to get my site together and present it in a way that could be beneficial to me and my clients. SiteBuildIt helped me take my freelance translation business to a whole new level, and if it can help me, it can surely help anyone out there wanting to increase their client base.

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2007-11-30T14:23:00.000-05:00

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2007-11-28T00:15:00.000-05:00

First of all, it goes without saying that every translator needs to have a website. (OK, if you've already got enough steady clients to keep you busy until you retire, I guess you don't need one) but for those who are always looking for new clients, a website is a must.

Owning a website, however, doesn't necessarily get you anywhere closer to having people find you. One of the ways you can get others to your site is through linking with other websites related to translation. Are there any resources you find particularly helpful in your translation work? Why not link to them and let others benefit from the resource.

Another way you can build links in and out of your site is to link to the webpages of other translators. Now whenever I mention this, translators usually start to get a little nervous and think (erroneously I might add) that they are going to lose business when linking to other translators.

Nothing could be a bigger myth. First of all, if you are a Spanish-English translator, for instance, what harm is there in linking to a fellow translator whose language combination is Swahili-Russian? Are they going to steal business from you? I don't think so.

Even linking to another translator with the same language combination is many times OK when the translators have different areas of specialty.

So what good can come from this? Well, first of all, your (potential) clients will trust that you are confident enough in your work to pass it along to someone else when it doesn't fit your particular skill set. Secondly, you are passing work to someone you (hopefully) trust and thus making the client that way. When they need work done in your language combination, they are more likely to come back to you. Finally, by collaborating with other translators, you might get some work sent your way from another translator linking to you from his/her site. It really is a win-win for everyone.

It just takes some willingness to overcome this selfish desire that we have as translators to keep everything for ourselves.

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2007-11-18T20:37:00.000-05:00

It seems like one of the hardest things for any entrepreneur is to get paid for the work that they've done. Translators are no different. I don't think I've ever met a translator who's had at least some trouble getting an invoice taken care.

Most people will tell you that this is the reason contracts are so important. However, contracts don't always ensure that you'll get paid without a hassle. All it means is that it will take you forever and a day to get the contract enforced, and that's after spending all sorts of time, money and energy to get there. It can be a pain for sure.

So how do you know that a client will be one that you can count on to pay you? I don't think there's a surefire way you can ever know. I mean, sure, there's signs you can look for but none of them are definite indicators. I think the best thing you can do is make sure you don't do a significant amount of work before you get paid for it. If a client has a lot of work to give you, it's best to divide it up and get paid per section that you do.

I've done this ever since I started translating and I've never got burned for any huge amount. Sure you might get stiffed $100 bucks at most, but if you divide up the work and the payment, you should never lose more than that amount.

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2007-11-12T22:59:00.000-05:00

Something that I've wanted to do for a long time is now available on spanish-translation-help.com

Web 2.0 has now made its way to the site, and why is that so cool you ask? Well, first of all, it's a way for translators and others interested in translation to actually add their own thoughts and comments to the website, making it more interactive and bringing translators closer together as a community (which we know isn't always the easiest thing to do).

I'm only in the beginning stages so there's still a lot of work to do to make it a permanent fixture on the site, but if you're interested, you can see how it works at the page on Bad Translation Pictures.

If you've got any pictures you'd like to add, go for it!

I'm back from the dead

2007-11-07T10:24:00.001-05:00

So it's been a while (yeah, I guess you could consider more than a year a while) but now I'm back and will be posting more information about translation in general and language issues.

So what have I been up to this last year? Well, my website www.spanish-translation-help.com has been doing pretty good lately and for the first time, I finally reached a thousand unique visitors in a single day!

I'm pretty proud about that. Obviously.

New Page Added

2006-08-02T12:20:00.000-05:00

I just finished adding a new page to the main Spanish Translation help site. The page is about language interpretation with a short introduction about some of the different types of interpretation.

I am not an interpreter but I thought it would be good to add a little introduction to the industry for those interested.

SES Latino 2006 Roundup

2006-07-11T22:21:00.000-05:00

Today in my searches I came across some pretty good information on the Search Engine Strategies Latino 2006 Conference held recently. This conference was two days and had seperate panels and talks talking about various opportunities in the Latino market for Internet marketers, as well as different issues for Spanish and Portuguese language marketers.

If you have any contact at all with the Spanish or Portuguese speaking market, you will definately benefit by reading the coverage given to these sessions held over a period of two days.

Here are the titles of the different sessions:

Day One:
+ The Opportunity: Tapping Into US Hispanics & Latin America Via Search
+ Search Landscape: US Hispanics
+ Search Landscape: Latin America
+ The Challenges Of Search Marketing To US Hispanics & Latin Americans

Day Two:
+ Translate Or Create: Strategies For Those With English-Language Sites
+ Domain Issues - Latin American Version
+ Spanish / Portuguese Language Ad Issues
+ SEO & Spanish / Portuguese Language Issues

audio spanish translator

2006-07-09T20:39:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest problems for soldiers on the battle field is the lack of adequate audio Spanish translators. In Iraq, for example, there aren't enough good translators to help all of the coalition forces to communicate with the local Iraqi people.

Well, Stanford University has come up with an improved audio Spanish translator that uses the latest speech technology to facilitate communication. While the device is definitely not perfect, it does seem to be an interesting tool that could help not only save the lives of soldiers, but also of translators that are targeted by terrorists. Anything that does that will definitely be worth it.

Spanish Software - Firefox

2006-07-08T23:51:00.000-05:00

Translators are always on the lookout for Spanish software tools that will help them in their translation business. One of the tools that you probably already have is the Firefox Internet browser. I downloaded this software a while ago, but just recently decided to download the Spanish version.

The Spanish version is basically the same as the English one, but one thing I did notice is that when you move your cursor over a word, the translation of the word pops up in a little window. At first it seems like a cool little device for someone that might not be able to understand what they read in English. However, for someone who already has a pretty good command of English and Spanish, it can get a little annoying. I'm sure there is a way to turn it off, but I haven't really gotten around to that yet.

Anyways, this Spanish software is interesting and if you haven't downloaded it yet, give it a try.

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A new A.I.-based guessing game

2006-07-07T00:10:00.000-05:00

This post isn't necessarily about Spanish language, but I have to tell anyone who will listen about a cool website I ran across a little awhile ago. The name of the website is www.20q.net and it contains an online version of the classic game, 20 Questions.

The game is based on artificial intelligence technology and does an incredible job of guessing what you've thought of. There are different categories you can start in, either Sports, TV & Movies, or Rock and Pop. The first time I tried it, I played the Sports version and the A.I. engine behind the website figured out who I thought of in about 17 questions. (I was thinking of Dale Murphy, the long-time all-star from the Atlanta Braves).

One of the cool things about the site is that you can choose to have the game presented in various languages with Spanish being one of them. So if you've got some time (you might need more than you think because you won't be able to stop with one game) give it a whirl and try it out. I think you'll enjoy it.

Altavista Spanish Translation

2006-07-05T22:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I wrote a little about some of the free Spanish translators online. One of the more popular ones in use today is the Altavista Spanish translation engine.

The Altavista Spanish translation engine is actually referred to as the Babel Fish Translation service and one of the things I like about this website is that it is actually pretty clean and straightforward. Lots of websites have the incorrect assumption that more is better when in fact, most people just want to be able to find the information they are looking for relatively easy without having to search all over the place. Think Google's home page. A great example of keeping your page to a minimum.

So back to Altavista's translation page. While it doesn't have the capability to translate every language pair you could possibly think of, it does have a good number of combinations for you to choose from. You can also put in a website URL and choose the language combination you want to translate it with.

Another somewhat unique capability of the Altavista Spanish translation engine is that you can put it directly on your website. I've never really been a fan of putting a translation engine on my website but I'm sure that many people have found them useful. It would be interesting to know how many people use these and if visitors to their sites really find them useful. In the meantime, you can visit the Babelfish site to get a translation.

Spanish Translation for Free

2006-07-04T22:44:00.000-05:00

Many people online search for translators that are capable of providing Spanish translations for free. There are a few of these websites that offer free online Spanish translators and they offer an interesting look into the world of automatic translation. Some of the more popular translators that offer Spanish translation for free are Altavista's Babelfish, Google's translator, the WorldLingo translator, and the translator from El Mundo.

While these translators are good at providing (most of the time) a general idea of what the text is about that you are feeding through the free translator, they are definately not good enough for professional services.

Awhile ago, I tried a little experiment on the translation capabilities of these translators that offer Spanish translation for free. It was an interesting exercise in how these translators behave and you might find it interesting. The page can be found at my free Spanish translation site. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Canadian National Anthem: Translation Issue

2006-07-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

Before people in the United States was even concerned about the issue of the national anthem being translated into another language, our neighbors to the north have dealt with the issue of having their national anthem translated into two languages, namely French and English.

One of the biggest issues of the Canadian national anthem is that the differenent versions also have different meanings. These different meanings, according to one reporter, reflect different Canadian attitudes. Now, I'm not from Canada and don't know much about Canadian attitudes and politics, but it is interesting to see how one national anthem in two different languages can have such a difference and how these differences can reflect different feelings.

Here's the French version:
O Canada, land of our forefathers, Your brow is crowned with glorious garlands, Because your arm knows how to carry the sword, It knows how to carry the Cross. Your history is an epoch of brilliant exploits And your valor of tempered faith will protect our homes and our rights.

Here's the English version:
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

World Cup Translation Recruitment

2006-07-01T01:09:00.000-05:00

I just read an article about the U.S. military recruiting Arabic translators using advertisements showing during World Cup matches. I guess they have had pretty good success, especially during the Iran-Mexico game a couple of weeks ago.

You can see the videos here. They're pretty interesting.

Regardless of what you think of the U.S. or it's military, you have to admire the way they used this media to get recruits. It makes me wonder how I can use things that are going on the world today to get more clients. What current events can you use to increase and improve your business.

Tags: Arab translation, world cup, recruitment

Do you speak Arabic and English?

2006-06-30T01:10:00.000-05:00

If so, there's an organization called ElectronicIraq that is looking for you to help translate various documents from the Iraqi media. According to the website:

Electronic Iraq is actively expanding its commitment and capacity to bring news, views, and voices from Iraq to a worldwide audience. To achieve this end, Electronic Iraq must translate articles, analyses, Op Eds, and human-interest stories from the Iraqi media. We are currently seeking experienced and dependable translators for this project, and hope to give special attention to the translation of Arabic posts to our acclaimed "Iraq Diaries" section. In addition, we are seeking the assistance of individuals who are able and willing to transcribe interviews from Arabic in to English.

Sounds like an interesting proposition that would be worthwhile to check out.

Tags: arabic jobs, arabic translation

The Need for an "Urban Translator"

2006-06-27T23:18:00.000-05:00

I just barely found this article from the Chicago Sun-Times about a gang member who is on trial and now needs one of his buddies to serve as an "urban translator" to help bridge the "cultural gap" between the courtroom and the gang-ridden streets.

It seems a bit over the top for me. According to the article, the "translator" is needed to help the defendant understand that he shouldn't shout in court and attack his attorneys. Interesting.

Tags: court translation, legal translation

Hispanics and Marketing

2006-04-18T07:28:00.000-05:00

There is a good article at Ecommerce Times about hispanics and marketing. The author makes a good point that just having a few products or services translated into Spanish is not the end all be all of having a good Hispanic campaign.

I think the author makes two very valid points about marketing to the Hispanic population. The first is that, just with everything else in marketing, you have to know your market. If you don't market to the right people, Spanish-speakers or not, you won't stand a chance.

The second point is extremely relevant and something that I have seen over and over again. You must have an infrastructure that can support Spanish-speaking customers. If you offer your product in Spanish, but then don't give the Spanish-speaking consumer the ability to call a bilingual help desk or read instructions in Spanish, that customer won't be yours for very long.

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Alan Enwiya, translator.

2006-04-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

Jill Carroll's story of capture and eventual release and freedom is indeed heart-warming and downright amazing. It's sad, however, to think of her translator/interpreter and his fate in the ordeal.

When the kidnappers attacked, he put himself on the line to try and rescue his client, even though he was unarmed and he probably knew that he would die trying. Alan Enwiya is a model to all translators and interpreters everywhere and we must always realize and be grateful for those who do their work in dangerous conditions for the benefit of all of us.

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Translation does not equate with vocal fluency

2006-04-10T19:49:00.000-05:00

My day job is translating and in the course of the day I often run into a lot of different people that have various ideas about not only translation but also about foreign language and the ability to do both.

Oftentimes, people who know about (or pretend they know about) these two things (the ability to translate and the ability to speak a foreign language) usually fall into two camps: 1) Those who know that translation is a different skill than speaking a foreign language and the ability to do one does not preclude the ability to do the other and 2) those who think that they are the same thing and that if you can translate you can speak fluently and if you can speak fluently you can translate.

To be honest, this second group of people drive me crazy. Nobody thinks that just because they can speak English they can give a presentation, or that just because they can write they can be a journalist, novelist, or some other type of writer.

Why is it then that people who speak a foreign language automatically think they can translate to or from that language?

I believe it's a combination of ignorance on those not familiar with the translation field and good translators not speaking out and educating clients and others about translation. Until that happens, we're bound to be stereotyped as someone who can translate because he/she can speak a foreign language.

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Mediocre Translators = High Salaries

2006-04-06T14:20:00.000-05:00

You may not like it, but it just goes to show you that all are not created equal in the translation industry. An article from the Shanghai Daily says that

"A big problem is that payment and translation quality don't match," said Lu Gusun, dean of Fudan University's college of foreign languages and literature and vice director of the Translator's Association of Shanghai.

So someone in China has realized that translators are not always treated fairly. Well, I think every translator I know could have told you that.

So why is it that some translators are able to make more than others even when they have the same (or even less) ability than another translator? Well, I think the real reason has to do with the fact that freelance translators do more than just translate. The most important thing they can do is market themselves. Two translators with the same skills will not earn the same amount, but rather the one who is better at marketing will earn more (both in terms of the number of jobs, and what they can charge).

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Practicing Your Spanish Listening Skills

2006-04-06T08:57:00.000-05:00

If you're interested in improving your listening abilities in Spanish, there are a few websites out there that will help you do so. However, some of the best ways to improve your listening skills are to listen to news reports in Spanish.

One of the best sites for listening to news not only in Spanish but in a ton of other languages as well (44 languages currently) is VOA - The Voice of America. This website not only has news articles written in various languages, but also provides both audio and video programming for listeners for free. They also broadcast on various channels around the world, but it's just as easy to go online and listen there.

Every morning I listen to a 30-minute news segment in Spanish so that I can keep up on my Spanish listening skills, and I know it helps.

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Finding a Qualified Translator

2006-03-30T08:49:00.000-05:00

I recently read an article about the translation industry in Yemen and how more and more people are opening translation shops and proclaiming to be authorized translators but not necessarily having the training to operate a translation business.

This is seen as a big problem because unqualified people are misleading consumers into thinking that their information will be translated correctly, when in fact, it will not be up to standard. This is further intensified by the fact that some clients will shop around for translations and then decide to go with the cheapest solution no matter what. This isn't the best criteria to search for if you want a good translation.

How then, if you are in need of having something translated, should you determine which translator or translation agency is qualified to work on your project? In the U.S., the ATA is an organization that certifies translators and many clients will want the translator to be ATA-certified. This is not always the best solution, however. Just because a translator is not ATA-certified does not mean that they are not qualified.

I think the best way to know if the person you're dealing with is qualified to do translation work on your behalf is to look at their client list and see if the people that they've worked with before have been happy with the work that they have received.

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Article Directory in Spanish

2006-03-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

Lately, in order to increase traffic to my main website spanish-translation-help.com, I've been writing articles relevant to Spanish translation. In submitting these articles, I have focused on two main article directory sites, www.goarticles.com and www.ezinearticles.com.

So far, I have submitted 5 articles to goarticles.com and 3 articles to ezinearticles.com. I'm not sure how much traffic is coming through these, but in the research I've done, it seems to be a good way to get more traffic.

The question I have, however, is whether or not there are any article submission sites specific to accepting articles written in Spanish. If there are any, I'd be intersted to know where to find them.

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Translation and Billboards

2006-03-20T13:39:00.000-05:00

Translating in any language can be a tricky situation. You have to know who your audience is, and that means knowing what flavor of a particular language a particular group speaks.

For example, the same words in Spanish could have different meanings depending on the person who is subjected to that language. Spanish is different, whether you're in Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Argentina. It's also different to Cuban Spanish-speakers living in the United States.

Therefore, it is interesting how marketers use language to target specific groups of people.

A story in Miami over the weekend illustrates this. Volkswagon wanted to advertise their GTI 2006 model specifically to Hispanics in the United States. Well, it didn't go too well.

They put up billboards with a picture of the car alongside the words "Turbo-Cojones" in big letters. Needless to say, not a few people were a little offended and the sign was taken down a few days later.

Whereas the term cojones was used to signify gutsy in the ad, the more vulgar meaning was the one that came across and eventually got the ad shut down.

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Want to be a Conference Interpreter?

2006-03-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

There is a program from the Directorate General for Interpretation in the European Commission for those who are interested in becoming a conference interpreter.

If you meet certain requirements, you may be eligible to receive a study bursary from the Directorate General for Interpretation. It seems like it could be a great opportunity.

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Teacher suspended for not translating

2006-03-16T12:38:00.000-05:00

According to the Aspen Daily News, "A Spanish teacher at Aspen Middle School has been suspended without pay for refusing to administer standardized tests this week, school district officials confirmed Wednesday."

Schools in Colorado are mandated by the state to give Colorado State Aptitude Program exams, and these exams are only in English. In order for all students to take the exams, teachers are required to translate the directions, the questions, and the multiple-choice answers from English to Spanish for students whose first language is not English.

The teacher in question, Sam Esmiol, says that he didn't feel it was right for him to translate the test for a couple of reasons. First, he said that he "feel[s] that each teacher is going to translate the questions and answers differently" and that "each group of students taking the test is getting a slightly different version. There's too much personal influence on the results."

Secondly, he says he is not a trained translator and therefore shouldn't be expected to translate.

It does seem like it is unfair for the students to have each teacher that gives the test provide his or her own personal translation of the directions, answers, and questions. The translations are going to be different among the teachers and those translations very much have the possibility of influencing the students.

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Translation Summit

2006-03-15T08:51:00.000-05:00

The Center for Language Studies at Brigham Young University, the American Translators Association (ATA), and the National Virtual Translation Center (NVTC) are jointly hosting the first ever Translation Summit: The Latest Word in Translation.

The theme of the summit is "Bringing together private industry, government, and academia." Representatives from all three sectors will be at the summit being held in Utah on March 20, and it seems that the goal will be to increase dialogue between these three sectors.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of this summit, and how the information will trickle down to the actual translators and interpreters doing the job on a daily basis.

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Translation Technology

2006-03-13T22:01:00.000-05:00

The translation industry is, like any other industry, constantly looking for the next technological breakthrough that can aid the field and those that work in it. A lot of translators are able to translate and do their jobs without having to interact with new technology but whether they use it or not, it's out there. And it's only going to get more prevalent as more companies and government agencies work to fix the national translation problem.

Companies and government agencies are constantly facing the issue of sifting through vast amounts of data written in various languages and figuring out how to best sift through that information for the gold nuggets to then be able to act on them.

As translators, we often face our own dilemma of trying to decide if it's worth it for us to keep informed of all these changes that could take place in the future. I for one think that it is imperative that every translator keep up to speed on the type of translation technology that is being developed. The translation industry, as I said before, is like any other industry, and in order to be a good translator, you must be informed about the industry you represent.

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Lost in translation

2006-03-11T21:59:00.000-05:00

OK, so one of the things I like to do to keep up on the Spanish translation industry is to read news about translators and translation in general. However, I'm getting really tired of seeing every journalist out there using the phrase "lost in translation" in their stories. Half the time the phrase doesn't even fit with the story. The other half of the time it looks like the writer is just trying to using a catchy phrase that isn't all that catchy.

It seems like everything is getting "lost in translation" these days. Take a look at some of these I pulled from various headlines of news articles:

1. Energy efficiency lost in translation

2. Culture, cuisine get lost in translation

3. Measures lost in translation

4. Italian flavor gets lost in translation

5. Athletes' quotes often lost in translation

6. NYC schools lost in translation

7. Hong Kong Disneyland gets lost in translation

8. Yahoo gets lost in translation

9. Winter Olympics remained lost in translation

...and most importantly...

10. Timberlake tattoos lost in translation

I hope the phrase itself gets lost in translation so I don't ever have to read or hear it again.

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Free Translator's Handbook

2006-03-10T09:35:00.000-05:00

The 1999 edition of the Handbook for Literary Translators from the Translatiom Committee of PEN American Center in New York is finally available for free. According to their website:

This, the fully revised fourth edition of the Handbook, a valued information resource for translators, is now accessible free of charge in either an on-line version or as a downloadable Microsoft Word document.

This handbook contains various information for all levels of translators, such as help in negotiating a contract, a sample contract, globalization issues, and resources for translators.

This is an invaluable resource for translators just starting out, or those who would like updated information on the translation industry.

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Pledge of allegiance in Spanish

2006-03-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

The flag of the United States, and especially the accompanying Pledge of Allegiance has certainly had its share of controversy, especially it seems in the last few years.

Well, the controversy didn't end with Michael Newdow.

Turns out that Noelle Tepper of Frederick County, Maryland also had a beef with what a local middle school was doing with the Pledge.

It seems that the school thought it would be a good idea to broadcast the pledge being recited in different classes. One of the broadcasts was of the Pledge being recited in Spanish in a Spanish class. Tepper was infuriated that the Pledge could be spoken in another language other than English because, according to her, "the Pledge of Allegiance is a sacred oath to Americans. Why should it be OK to translate it into another language where it loses meaning? Our government is in English. Our laws are in English. It is the predominant language, and it should be our national language."

So, first of all, she implies that because the Pledge is an oath for Americans, it can't be recited in another language. I know plenty of people who are Americans who speak more than one language (myself included). Does it make us any less American if we repeat the Pledge in another language?

Second of all, how does she know the translation of the Pledge in Spanish causes meaning to be lost? Sure there are times when translations aren't faithful to the original documents, but to just assume that meaning is lost is preposterous. Does she even speak Spanish?

Third, whether or not you believe English should be the national language of the U.S. should not preclude the idea that a middle school Spanish class have the opportunity to recite the Pledge in the language they are studying. It doesn't make them or the Pledge any less American.

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Looking for a new language?

2006-03-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

Not finding enough translation work? Maybe you should learn a new language. According to Datuk Noh Omar, the Deputy Education Minister of Kuala Lumpur, "translation of books into Malay is still scant...compared to other countries."

So if you need more work, maybe you could learn Malay.

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New Translations in Spain

2006-03-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

After Spain legalized same-sex marriage, they decided to go one step further. They've created new birth certificates in order to avoid discrimination.

Instead of having the terms father and mother on the certificates, they will be replaced with the terms progenitor A and progenitor B.

Let's hope this doesn't get carried away even more, such as:

madre tierra = la tierra del progenitor

padre nuestro = progenitor nuestro

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Translation Technology

2006-03-06T22:15:00.000-05:00

Newsweek International has published an interesting article on translation technology.

The article describes various projects underway (mostly in Europe) to create machines for understanding and communicating to humans. Especially intriguing are the "ceiling-mounted 'audio-beam' speakers" by DaimlerChrysler that are capable of projecting sound 5 meters to an area as small as a single seat. This would potentially replace headphones at conferences or other places such as the U.N.

One thing that I think is interesting about the translation and interpretation arena is that a lot of the technological advances seem to be happening in Europe. I'm sure that this has something to do with the fact that a lot of European countries have more than a single official language, and therefore government is more involved in streamlining translation and interpretation, as opposed to the United States, where English is the defacto language and it is usually companies that are working on translation issues in order to increase revenue.

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Multi-directional Translation

2006-03-03T10:51:00.000-05:00

The translation industry is a profession like any other; it's got its shares of unwritten guidelines and rules that translators should follow along with translators who do and don't follow them.

When I was in my translation program in college, one of these "guidelines" that the professors told us over and over again was that we should only ever translate into our native language. So I should only ever translate from Spanish to English and native Spanish speakers would do the opposite.

This counsel we were given does seem to make sense when you first begin as a translator. You are usually more fluent in your native language and have an easier time rendering another language into that language, than vice versa.

However, when translators finally leave the comfort of school and begin competing with other translators in the market, they often find that this guideline is hardly ever adhered to. Translators who promote their services advertise that they are equally able to translate both directions between a language pair. I often wonder how many of these translators are as good as they advertise and are able to go both ways.

The American Translator's Association (ATA) provides certification tests for translators and they are very specific that translators who advertise their certification must pass language direction-specific tests. For example, a Spanish-to-English translator must pass a Spanish-to-English translation test in order to be certified in that specific language pair and specific direction. If they want to be certified from English-to-Spanish, they must take another test specific to that direction.

So why do translators who are not certified advertise multi-directional translation services? I think that one of the reasons is because of the number of translators in the market. If you are an English-to-Spanish translator, you could be losing business by not accepting offers for Spanish-to-English translations.

Also, certain a certain language direction might not be in as high a demand as the other direction. For example, I've noticed that there are more translators offering Spanish-to-English translation services than English-to-Spanish and so therefore there might be more jobs going from Spanish-to-English.

Now the real question is whether or not this is an ethical thing to do. I know many translators that are not certified by the ATA and they get plenty of business from clients who are happy with their work. Individual translators need to honestly assess their translation abilities and decide whether it would be fair to a client to proclaim their ability in a certain language direction.

By doing so, they will help the translation industry earn more respect and be able to provide a better product to the client.

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Keyword Popularity

2006-03-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

For the past few months, I've been getting a keyword report from Worktracker. This report contains two lists. The first is the Top 300 Surge Report and according to Wordtracker, "contains the top 300 queries from the last 48 hours, which represents the complete queries from the largest Metacrawlers on the web for the last 48 hours."

I enjoy getting this email because it helps me see trends that are developing and also gives me new ideas for various projects. However, there is something I don't understand.

The top three search terms on the list are, in order:

1. Google

2. Ebay

3. Yahoo

My question is this: Why are these search terms? Don't most people know that the URLs of the above companies are the same as the business name? It would seem to me that people interested in finding the Google webpage would already know where to find it and not have to search for it.

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New poll on bilingual dictionaries

2006-03-02T00:19:00.000-05:00

I've just added a new poll (my very first one, in fact) to the blog. I'm curious to what everyone's preferences are. After the poll ends, I'll let you know what mine is.

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Simultaneous Interpretation is no curling match

2006-03-01T12:06:00.000-05:00

First of all, let me say I have nothing against curling. I think people who do it must be very talented and work very hard to be good at their sport.

That being said, I think I'd have a better chance of being a curler than being a simultaneous intepreter. When I was in college, I took Spanish translation classes and these classes mostly focused on the art and skill of written translation. However, to get us a feel for what intepreters do and to engrain in the students that interpreters and translators are not the same, our professors let us practice doing simultaneous interpretation.

After I went through that, I realized that I could never be an interpreter. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I gained a new respect for people who could sit down and concentrate to such a degree that they could interpret somebody else speaking in nearly real time.

Not only do interpreters have to be able to multi-task efficiently, they have to be walking encyclopedias that are not phased by anything they come across, because if they do, they'll be behind the speaker and it'll it be tough to catch up. Interpreters also have to be able to work with audio equipment and not let it various intricacies distract them.

Most of the time interpreters work in tandem, and because it's such a tiring and draining job, they have to rely on their partner to take over. But, while an intepreter is not interpreting, he/she is helping the other person, looking up terms that might be unknown, and helping to deal with any technical issues that might arise.

So while I love translating and think I'm decent at it, I could never be an interpreter and would rather go one-on-one against Maria Sharapova on the tennis court.

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Spanish translation for Harry Potter

2006-02-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

On Thursday of last week, three different Spanish translations of Harry Potter were released. One translation was bound for Spain, one for Argentina, and one for the other locations in Latin America. It's amazing how a book like Harry Potter can have such a following and that the power of that following can demand three different Spanish translations for different regions of the world. I wonder if the previous Harry Potter books were also translated into slight variations from one another. I have the second and third Harry Potter books in Spanish and they seem to be translated with "Spain" Spanish.

On Amazon.com you can't tell which version it is that your buying so it would be interesting to know the distribution of the versions. I imagine that the books sold in the U.S. would be the version sold to the majority of Latin America.

On another interesting note about the book, the English title, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was translated as "Harry Potter y el misterio del príncipe" and did not include the possibly more accurate translation of mestizo due to negative cultural connotations that exist with that word. It shows once more that a translator's job is not to merely render one language into another, but to always take into consideration the culturual implications of the translation.

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The Altavista Spanish Translator

2006-02-09T15:08:00.000-05:00

There are a ton of free online translator programs. A lot of these translators offer roughly the same options there really doesn't seem to be much difference in the quality of the translations that they produce.

One of the most popular online translators is the Altavista Spanish translator, or Babel Fish. This translator can be found at the Babel Fish site.

Here are some of the features of the Babel Fish translator:
-Provides translations for 36 language pairs
-Can translate a block of text up to 150 words
-Can translate web pages
-Has a World Keyboard for entering accented or Cyrillic characters

In terms of the quality of the translation, it's like I've mentioned on my site, you get what you pay for. It's good for shorter texts when you want a rough idea of what the text says, but for anything official or important, it's best to get help from a qualified translator.

You can also read some reviews about some other popular online translators, as well as see a sample of how they (along with the Altavista Spanish translator) perform at the Spanish-translation-help website.

S.I.D.A. in the Salt Lake airport

2006-01-12T23:51:00.000-05:00

Over the Christmas break I went out west to visit some family and I saw something that made me chuckle. I was in the Salt Lake City airport and as I was getting ready to board the plane, I saw on some of the doors a stop sign with the abbreviation S.I.D.A. in the middle.

It made me stop and think because that (as you probably already know) is the very common abbreviation for AIDS in Spanish. I bet it's an old joke among all the Latins that work at the airport there.

By the way, what it really stands for at the airport is Security Identification Display Area.

New page added

2005-10-18T22:22:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to adding another page to the site. It's up to about 68 pages I believe. My goal is to have anywhere between 150-200 pages. If I can double or triple the traffic I have now, that would most likely reflect on my clickthroughs, which would be a good thing. My new goal is to do 3 new pages a week, which will give me about 160 total pages by next August, which will be my two year mark.

My new page is song-translations.html and is all about how translating songs can help you become a better translator.

Marketing with Hispanics in mind

2005-07-19T11:56:00.000-05:00

I was perusing some business news today and ran across an article on Internet activities of Hispanics.

There were some important statistics the report pointed out that are important to keep in mind, especially if you're thinking about marketing to the Hispanic population, or if you're an online information publisher.

56% of Hispanics online want to own their own business
52% of Hispanics online connect with a broadband connection
51% of Hispanics online agree that they "get more information about products and services from going online than they do from television or newspapers or magazines."
67% of Hispanics online feel it's important to have Spanish content online

More stats are available from the article. It is a must read especially if you are in the entertainment, health, or financial industry.

New pages to website

2005-05-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

I've added some new pages to Spanish-translation-help.

Feel free to check them out:

Becoming a certified translator

Spanish translation programs

Spanish professor jobs

Freelance transltion jobs

Online translation jobs

First batch of medical translators graduates - 2005-04-20

2005-04-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided a grant in Memphis in order to train medical interpreters and the first batch of interpreters has just graduated. It's about time people started focusing on this problem and began thinking of ways to deal with the problem of people not getting the care they need because of the language barrier.

Hopefully this will lead to more people and programs for medical interpretation.

First batch of medical translators graduates - 2005-04-20

Spanish Ecommerce Package: iSpeak Launches Its Turnkey Spanish Ecommerce Package - iSpeak.net

2005-04-20T21:56:00.000-05:00

There's some new software out there that might be able to help you market your business to the world's Spanish speakers. iSpeak.net looks like it might be a good solution for those interested.

While it's not the solution I use for my ecommerce business, it could work for you. (Within the next week or so I'll tell you how I do it with my Spanish translation website.

Want to do machine translation?

2005-04-19T20:05:00.001-05:00

Anybody out there interested in working for a group doing statistical machine translation in a variety of languages (including Spanish)? According to a business wire release, a company in California called Language Weaver looks like it's growing and maybe they could use the likes of you.

While I have done a lot of translation work, my heart lies in doing linguistic things with computers and if there is anybody interested in natural language processing or computational linguistics, I highly recommend looking into it to see if it fits with your interests. There is a lot of work to be done, especially in languages other than English. If you're wondering what it's all about, check out the article on computational linguistics that got me interested.

New incentive for brushing up on your Spanish skills

2005-04-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

TheLadders.com (a website for executives making over $100,000 annually) recently posted a survey of executives. The survey asked them to rate which language (behind English) is the most important for them to learn (and subsequently will have the most impact on them as business owners and executives). Not suprisingly, Spanish was at the top of the list (followed distantly by Mandarin Chinese). Read the article.

New page

2005-04-12T21:11:00.000-05:00

I just put up a new page on the website:

Translator jobs

Feel free to visit...

The life of a court interpreter

2005-04-12T20:59:00.000-05:00

I've worked a fair amount of years in the translation industry but I have never professionally done any interpreting? Would I ever consider doing it? No way. When I was in school working on my degree in Spanish translation and interpretation, we mostly focused on translation theory and practice. However, we were introduced to interpretation and even practiced doing some. Let me just say that I think it is an extremely challenging activity.

However, if intpretation is your cup of tea, and especially if you speak a less-commonly taught language, chances are you could readily find work in any of the larger population areas doing interpretation for the courts.

I've read a couple articles the past little while about the need for more court interpreters in all kinds of languages, not just Spanish or Mandarin.

Here's an interesting article about the need for more interpreters.

400th anniversary of Don Quixote

2005-04-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

It's the 400th anniversary of the classic book Don Quixote. I think everyone that has anything to do with the Spanish language should read the book, in Spanish (that goes for me as well). I started to read the book in English a while back and then felt guilty that I hadn't even read it in Spanish. So my new literary goal for this year is to read the entire Cervantes classic in Spanish. If you feel too intimidated to read it in Spanish, you can always try an English translation. You can follow along with Sam McManis from Tacoma who will be writing about his adventures reading the book this year.

Tuning out Hispanics

2005-04-10T15:01:00.000-05:00

In Boston, an AM radio station that traditionally played Spanish programming announced it was being bought and the format was going to change to ESPN sports programming (Boston.com). Just the opposite happened in Washington, D.C. a while ago. 99.1 (a rock station that had been around a long time) just one day converted over to Spanish music. Let's just say that a lot of people were definately in shock when that happened. I can see that happening in more markets around the country. Especially in high population areas.

"Rise of Spanish does not predicate decline of English"

2005-04-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

Here's a good article on not only why Spanish is becoming so important in the United States, but also why it will never overtake English as the most important language in the country. (A good reason to have top skills in both languages.)

As a translator, it's especially important to have skills in both languages because your skill is only as successful as is your complete understandin of all the nuances in both. If you don't know one very well, chances are you're going to miss something important in some future work that you have to do. - The Japan Times Online

Unique Barcelona City Break Takes On Language Barrier : Khalsa News Network- KNTimes.com

2005-04-06T20:27:00.000-05:00

Unique Barcelona City Break Takes On Language Barrier : Khalsa News Network- KNTimes.com

There are so many schools that offer language programs not only in Spain but all over Latin America as well. It can be a daunting task when trying to find one that fits your particular situation, as well as your budget and your expectations. I wrote an article a while back about what to keep in mind when choosing a Spanish language school. You might find it interesting: Choosing a good Spanish school abroad.

Univision: There's more to Spanish newscasts than change of language

2005-03-13T22:16:00.000-05:00

"There is a lot more to making a Spanish-speaking newscast than merely translating the news for non-English speakers." - MyWestTexas.com

Emphasis on English

2005-03-13T22:14:00.000-05:00

"Terri Rychlak grew up in Baltimore's Fells Point section and has seen her neighborhood of Polish immigrants become home to a growing Hispanic community. Miss Rychlak says she enjoys the new cultural diversity of the area, where shops and restaurants increasingly cater to Ecuadorean and Salvadoran immigrants. But she sometimes is frustrated by her new neighbors' inability or unwillingness to learn English — which her grandparents had to master when they emigrated from Poland." - The Washington Times

At a tense World Social Forum, an interpreter finds herself lost in translation

2005-03-09T12:33:00.000-05:00

"We are Latin Americanist Hindi interpreters from the subcontinent, bespectacled Brazilian graduate students who served in the Israeli army, rangy Galician professionals fresh from the European Union's halls." - The Village Voice

HP debuts Spanish-language training

2005-03-09T12:29:00.000-05:00

"HP has premiered an industry-first Spanish-language online training series dedicated to enhancing the performance of Hispanic businesses through technology." - eChannelLine USA

Court interpreters are in high demand

2005-03-01T14:47:00.000-05:00

"By 11:15 on a Thursday morning, Kathleen Penney has already worked 13 hearings in Juvenile Court in Mesa. Penney is an interpreter for Maricopa County Superior Court, a one-woman information highway between the judge and jury on one side of the courtroom, and defendants and witnesses who don't speak English on the other. -
The Arizona Republic

New pages added to website

2005-02-24T00:32:00.000-05:00

I've recently added some web pages to Spanish-translation-help.com:

Spanish-schools-barcelona.html

Spanish-language-school-spain.html

Spanish-schools-abroad.html

Spanish-language-schools.html

Spanish-translation-service.html

Software learns to translate by reading up

2005-02-24T00:14:00.000-05:00

"Translation software that develops an understanding of languages by scanning through thousands of previously translated documents has been released by US researchers. Most existing translation software uses hand-coded rules for transposing words and phrases. But the new software, developed by Kevin Knight and Daniel Marcu at the Information Sciences Institute, part of the University of Southern California, US, takes a statistical approach, building probabilistic rules about words, phrases and syntactic structures." - New Scientist

Multilingual staff can drive up auto sales

2005-02-24T00:08:00.000-05:00

"A stroll through the Longo Toyota showroom on a busy afternoon is like eavesdropping at the United Nations. Buyers of all nationalities and races — many of them immigrants — flock to the dealership where the staff speaks more than 30 languages and dialects. From Vietnamese to Punjabi, the sounds of many tongues float across the cavernous, open sales floor." - USA Today

It's about time that people began to realize the importance of multilingual markets in business.

Aspen Elementary School to offer report cards in Spanish

2005-02-18T10:29:00.000-05:00

"This June, Aspen Elementary School will send report cards in Spanish to parents of Spanish-speaking students, school officials announced last week.

The decision is a continuation of a policy adopted earlier this year that mandated teacher comments be translated into Spanish for Spanish-speaking parents. By June, officials say, the transition to Spanish will be complete, and the school will send entire reports - grades as well as comments - in Spanish." - The Aspen Times

Automatic translation of the four languages in the Spanish State

2005-02-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

"The Eleka Ingeniaritza Linguistikoa company is leading an R+D project in order to design and develop a system of automatic translation of texts and web sites from Spanish to Basque and also to the other two official languages within the Spanish state: Catalan and Galician. The principal novelty lies in that the system will be an open code one and of free distribution, thus enabling the system to be modified with total freedom in order to update and optimise it for new users and applications. Another important novelty is that, for the first time, a single system involving the four official languages is to be developed simultaneously by groups based in different geographical locations." - EiTB24.com

This is pretty cool in that it will be open code and free distribution.

Google Introduces New Toolbar Features

2005-02-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

"Google released a new beta version of its popular toolbar software this morning that adds some handy new features. The toolbar still features an integrated search box, pop-up blocker and PageRank display options that made it so popular, but now includes features like a translation tool, an autolink feature and an integrated spell checker.

The new translation tool will be of primary use to non-English speakers as it currently translates only from English into other languages. Languages supported include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, German and Spanish. The tool works by allowing users to set a default language in the options menu so that Google can display the appropriate translation whenever a user hovers their mouse over a word on a Web page. I turned my translation tool on to Spanish and easily found the proper translation to a multitude of phrases without taking the time to look them up one by one." - Search Engine Guide

Many languages of healing

2005-02-17T10:44:00.000-05:00

"A recent study by City Comptroller William Thompson corroborated immigrants' anecdotal complaints about hospital access. Of the hospitals studied, 75 percent lacked access to Spanish-language interpreters in clinics, on the phone, in emergency departments or in billing departments." - Newsday.com

Translation vs. right to proper defence

2005-02-17T10:40:00.000-05:00

"Ever since the trial began in the Haika-Segi (Basque nationalist left youth organisations) case, we have heard some very poor translations in the Spanish National Criminal Court. On Friday the indictees, lawyers and relatives were open-mouthed when they heard the translators renderings and the same thing happened yesterday. But yesterday beat all."
.
.
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"The lawyer Jone Goirizelaia began her questioning by asking Perez if she knew what Jarrai (the Basque nationalist left youth organisation) was. Perez replied: “Yes.” The interpreter rendered this as “bad”." - Berria.info

Pretty bad that this happens in the courtroom. It probably happens a lot more than we know, even in the United States.

UPN 31 makes strong play for Hispanics

2005-02-15T09:22:00.000-05:00

"When Bruno Cohen took over as general manager at KMAX-TV UPN 31 last June, one huge statistic was staring him in the face -- 16.8 percent of the local television market is Hispanic. He wanted to find a way to get part of that market watching his station.

So in October, after months of planning, he tried something a little different. He brought in translators to offer on-the-spot Spanish-language interpretations of the station's free-wheeling "Good Day Sacramento." The news-and-talk show is the station's centerpiece, with 31 hours a week of local programming. Viewers can use the SAP (secondary audio programming) option on their sets to tap into the Spanish-language feed." - Sacramento Business Journal

Here's yet another example of news media confusing the difference between intrepretation and translation. This article discusses a project by a news station to provide real-time interpretation of their English-language show but they refer to it as translation. The article only mentions interpretation four time. That's opposed to variations of the word translation being mentioned 19 times. In a story about interpretation! It's a losing battle.

New website

2005-02-15T09:11:00.000-05:00

I've recently been working on a new informational website on mesothelioma. It's also hosted on Blogspot at http://information-about-mesothelioma.blogspot.com

Activists push for Spanish-language translation of environmental report on landfill

2005-02-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

"Some residents of Sun Valley are pushing for a Spanish-language translation of a massive environmental impact report on the proposed Bradley Landfill expansion so everyone in the heavily Latino neighborhood can read it." - KESQ NewsChannel 3 Palm Springs

LeConte Builds on Dual Immersion Language Program

2005-02-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

"In Mary Shogren’s kindergarten class at LeConte Elementary School, some students can’t understand a single word she says. Sitting on the floor with wide-eyed gazes, they stare at her as she reads a children’s book aloud. Some seem to understand everything, while others look puzzled.

It’s what she calls the “deer-in-the-headlights” effect. They won’t look like that much longer, Shogren says.

Most pupils in the Berkeley Unified School District prepared for their first day of school by getting pencils, backpacks and binders. Students in Shogren’s class, however, needed a lot more than a few supplies. They needed another language.

Shogren teaches lessons almost entirely in Spanish as part of the district’s dual-immersion program, designed to make children proficient in Spanish and English by fifth grade and fluent by eighth." - Berkeley Daily Planet

Bilingual police perform vital job as translators

2005-02-10T10:18:00.000-05:00

"Burbank police Detective Mark Metelski often makes a special connection with some of the people he meets on the job.

As one of the department's three translators, Metelski, who speaks Polish, said residents appreciate that he speaks their language." - Northwest Herald

LingvoSoft dictionaries for MS Smartphone released.

2005-02-10T10:11:00.000-05:00

"Now LingvoSoft English <-> French, English <-> Italian, English <-> German, English <-> Russian and English <-> Spanish dictionaries run on the Microsoft Smartphone operating system, and more languages are expected to follow soon!

With the addition of these handy dictionaries, your Smartphone does become language-smart. Extensive word bases of 400,000 entries each, prompt two-way translations, together with powerful search options, make it into a translation tool that is always ready to go whenever you are.

One neat feature that Smartphone users will particularly appreciate is the ability to look up words containing a specific combination of letters. By typing less you cut back on the time and the button-pressing and streamline your work!

Also, when placing an order at LingvoSoft all customers get a chance to take advantage of various special offers and discounts." - MSMobiles.com

Extension filling need for seminars in Spanish

2005-02-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

"Spanish-speaking workers are playing greater roles in the swine and dairy industries in Illinois. As a result, University of Illinois Extension programs for ag workers and managers are being re-tooled and offered in Spanish." - Agriculture Online

Tests show more students increasingly fluent in English

2005-02-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

"At Turnbull Learning Academy, many Spanish-speaking children are taught English by learning Spanish.

If the California English Language Development Test results are any indication, this controversial method of bilingual teaching may be working for the San Mateo school, where more than 95 percent of the students are learning English.

The annual release of the California English Language Development Test showed 48 percent of Turnbull test-takers scored in early advanced or advanced levels of English proficiency — up from 15 percent in the 2001-2002 school year." - Inside Bay Area

This is a very interesting (and I believe) and good method for teaching English. The better you know you're native language, the easier it is to transfer that knowledge to your second language. I wonder if this kind of teaching will ever make it past all the hurdles and misconceptions that people will have.

Language Discrimination Hinders Access to Health Care for Latinos

2005-02-10T09:57:00.000-05:00

"Spanish-speaking residents of the Washington, DC area often have trouble accessing Medicaid benefits to which they are entitled, according to a recently released study that blames language discrimination in the city’s human services agency and a lack of resources for Spanish speakers." - The NewStandard

Visual dictionary for Spanish makes saying as easy as seeing

2005-02-07T09:52:00.000-05:00

"The surge in travel to Latin America is manifest in new titles from trusted guidebook publishers expanding their reach in this exotic yet relatively close part of the world. And an exceptional new Spanish dictionary becomes an essential resource for those heading south.

The Firefly Spanish/English Visual Dictionary by Jean Claude Corbeil and Ariane Archambault (Firefly Books, 586 pages, $29.95). Choosing between the many Spanish/English dictionaries on the market is largely a matter of personal preference -- comprehensive versus portable, Latin American versus European Spanish, colloquialisms and nuance. This new one from a Montreal publisher breaks new ground, to stunning effect." - SFGate.com

I love visual dictionaries. I think every translator should have one in their resource collection. This looks like an excellent addition for your library.

Wycliffe in Overdrive

2005-02-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

"There are 6,913 languages in the world. But only 2,300 have as much as one book of the Bible translated and available. With a mere 25 new translation projects starting every year (as of 1992), Wycliffe International, the famous Bible translation organization, knew a different approach was needed.

In 1999 Wycliffe came up with Vision 2025—to start a Bible translation "in every language that needs one" by 2025. At the time, they pegged the figure at 3,000 translations. Instead of beginning a new translation every two weeks, they needed to begin two each week." - ChristianityToday.com

An excellent interview with Freddy Boswell, the international translation coordinator for Wycliffe International, on their new push for providing faster turnaround time on Bible translations.

Lawmaker makes history: speaking Spanish in Senate

2005-02-04T16:36:00.000-05:00

"Freshman Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban immigrant, shattered a 216-year tradition of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday when he used the ceremonial occasion of his first floor speech to speak three sentences in Spanish." - SFGate.com

What a wonderful story! Whether you side with the Democrats, Republicans, or none of the above, what a great sense of pride for all of us who love the Spanish language. Senator Martizinez's life story of being a Cuban immigrant to standing on the floor of the United States Senate giving a speech is incredible.

Hispanics Embrace New WHFS Format

2005-02-04T12:23:00.000-05:00

"Some listeners were angry about Infinity Broadcasting Corp.'s decision two weeks ago to scrap radio station WHFS-99.1 FM's alternative-rock lineup for a Spanish-language format, but the change is a welcome one to the ears of newcomers like Karen Terrero." - WashingtonTimes.com

I think the Spanish station is great. I used to live in Utah and Spanish radio stations weren't all that great. It's great to hear all the variety that they play.

Plus, I like to listen and try to understand what they are saying in the songs. It's a good exercise in listening, that's for sure.

Colo. Pulls Spanish-Language Immigrant Guide From Web Site

2005-02-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

"Colorado has yanked a Spanish-language guide for new immigrants from a state Web site following criticism that it encouraged illegal aliens to take advantage of government benefits." - AZCentral.com

This is a pretty low blow to yank this type of information from a website. I used to work at a health clinic whose clients consisted mainly of the underserved Latino population. One of the hardest parts of the job was getting the information out to the people on the services that we had that they were entitled to receive.

Nonprofit organizations rely on any medium possible to get their message out and when you take one of those away, not only does the individual suffer, but the organizations trying to help are hurt in the process.

State of the Union in Spanish

2005-02-03T10:22:00.000-05:00

For those of you who would like an exercise in translation, here's a suggestion. President Bush just gave the State of the Union address last night and then English text of the speech can be found here. If you'd like to see how well your Spanish translation abilities are (and if you have some time), try and translate the speech into Spanish. Or, if you'd rather try to translate from Spanish into English, you can access the Spanish translation here.

After you do the translation, compare your translation to the one given by the White House (if you're going from English to Spanish), or check it against the original English (if you're practicing from Spanish to English).

I like this kind of exercise because you really have to know the context of the speech. What kind of speaker is President Bush? Who is he speaking to? What are some things that have happened in the past that could give you a clue as to how to translate certain passages?

Translators often get caught up in transmitting just the written message. Sometimes, you need to step back and see what the overall tone or feeling of the message is and make sure that gets transmitted as well. A speech by a well-known person (such as President Bush) is a good exercise in practicing just that.

Spanish-Language Magazine Marks 50 Years of Commitment

2005-02-03T10:07:00.000-05:00

"Nuestra Tarea, the Spanish-language magazine of missions and ministries published by Woman’s Missionary Union, is marking its 50th year in print this February." - SBCBaptistPress.com

TNS Media Intelligence Forecasts Strong Ad Spending for 2005; Internet and Spanish Language TV Show Largest Areas of Growth

2005-02-03T10:01:00.000-05:00

"...all leading categories of media will see improvement in advertising spending, with the Internet, Spanish language television and Cable Network TV showing the strongest year over year gains." - BusinessWire.com