Translation and Knowledge of World Health Issues

The Zika virus outbreak is a good example of the importance of document translation services globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that health communication is of crucial importance and has to take place in a variety of languages to be effective. Different methods of communication are used depending on the location of the disease and the language which needs to be used to communicate the problem.

Sometimes it is necessary to translate the information about a disease into a multitude of languages depending on where the information is needed. Health communicators also need to think about the media they are going to use when transferring information about a health issue. In some countries where the Internet is prevalent and almost everyone goes online at least once a day and there are other times when the most effective form of communication is through the TV and radio which is the most used media with that particular language group.

For example, in certain parts of Africa, TV and radio are the most suitable, especially in urban areas. For more rural areas, where there is no regular electricity supply and no TV, disseminating health information may need to be done in the language of the people, through resources such as leaflets and posters. In some cases a health spokesperson may be sent to the area to verbally explain the problem. 

When it comes to the outbreak of a dangerous disease it is important to send out an accurate message to the people concerned, which means it has to be translated correctly into the language of the people. Leaflets written in English where there are low levels of literacy in that language won’t help people understand the issue at all. 

It is not only important to get the language right but the translation too. The only way to ensure the message has been translated correctly into the language of concern is to get several NAATI translators (or the equivalent in other countries) to check it to ensure the right message is going to be conveyed to the right people. 

A study that took place in the United Kingdom throughout the 2009 flu epidemic found that as soon as the information about protecting oneself from getting the flu was transmitted to the people, the quicker the people reacted and used measures to protect themselves.  This only emphasises that as long as the right language is used, the communication will be effective and the people who are likely to be affected will alter their habits.

Why is a Good Translation Project Manager so Important?

One of the most frequent questions that a certified translation services agency is asked by a prospective new client, especially one that has a lot of potential business with the agency is about the project manager. This is a good question for any client to ask because there is a strong correlation between a great project manager and a good quality translation product. So what exactly does a project manager do and why are they so important to the efficiency and optimum output of the translation agency?

The translation process is a multi step operation and several factors make it a success. There are the translators themselves, the proofreaders, the software and the computer technology which nowadays is used so frequently in any extensive translation project. But the person who oversees the whole process is the translation project manager and he or she has to be a successful multi-tasker, a great communicator, constantly flexible as well as being a positive motivator and an effective organiser. That’s a pretty full list!

Every document translation services project manager has to cope with multiple tasks. They help out their translators, assist in developing translation processes, manage multiple projects in several different languages and often do all of the above every single day.

The project manager must be able to communicate effectively with both the client and the different members of their translation team, making sure that deadlines are understood and meant and that translation outcomes meet expectations.

There are often no hard and fast rules with translation tasks and project managers find they have to be flexible and adaptable so they can manage the time constraints, office staff needs and client demands.

Translation work can be stressful and it takes a great project manager to overcome all the little difficulties that present ongoing challenges. This requires a positive outlook which will also help to motivate the other members of the translation team.

Good project managers must be well organised, dealing with schedules and timelines, budgeting and editing. If a project manager fails in being a good organiser, projects fail to meet deadlines, delays are then inevitable and clients become disillusioned and frustrated.

Translation Errors Can be World Shakingly Important

One would hope that professional translation services in Australia know their languages so well that errors just don’t happen or at least the proofreader spots the errors in time before they get passed on to the client. Translation errors have happened frequently throughout history and in many cases, they have just caused minor confusion or even mirth, but occasionally they have been very serious omissions. If you are looking for a professional translator in Australia, it’s always worth making sure you use a NAATI translation provider. NAATI is the Australian national accreditation authority for translators and interpreters.

Some of the best known translation errors get passed around time and time again. Some of them continue to amuse but others are a chilling reminder of the importance of getting translation or interpreting right.

In the ‘serious’ category are the well known Miami hospital story of a Cuban man, Willie Ramirez, who was taken to hospital in a coma. His relatives couldn’t speak good enough English to explain what they thought was the problem, so a bilingual hospital worker was used to do the translation. The family said that Willie was intoxicado, meaning, in Spanish, that he was suffering from some type of food poisoning. The amateur translator mistook the word as being intoxicated and that’s how the hospital treated him, or more exactly, didn’t treat him, until it was too late. Willie ended up being paralysed because of the translation mistake and later successfully sued the hospital for damages to the tune of over 70 million dollars.

Another commonly quoted mistranslation was a phrase used by Russia’s Nikita Khruschev in the Soviet era cold war period. The Russian president was translated as saying that the Russians would ‘bury’ the Americans. It was enough for the U.S. military to prepare themselves for the worst: nuclear war. In fact, Khruschev was merely bluffing. His Russian, if it had been translated by a more professional translator, would have shown that he was only telling the Americans that the Russians would be still around to see the Americans ‘buried’, i.e. they would outlive them. 

Of course, not all translation errors are quite so serious. There are the funny ones, too. The U.S. President Jimmy Carter took on a rather poor Polish translator when he visited Poland in 1977. Of the many translation errors during that visit, one message he had for the Poles was that he had ‘abandoned’ his own country. He actually meant that he had left his country on a visit. He then told his hosts that he understood their ‘lusts’, actually meaning their desire for a better future!

And then, of course, there is the old KFC slogan mistranslation which keeps on being retold. That’s when ‘finger lickin’ chicken’ was translated into Chinese as ‘eat your fingers’. Fortunately, most Chinese saw the translation error for what it was and avoided ending up fingerless!

How Does the Final Translation Product Depend on the Original Version?

If you think that your translated documents are not really up to scratch after they have arrived back from a professional translation services agency should you blame the translator or was your original document or documents to blame?

Translation is a sequential process and there are several steps involved. If there is a weakness in any of the individual steps, then the translation product will not be 100%.

When you submit a document or upload it onto a translation services in Australia website, then the skills of the translator are obviously very important. How experienced is the translator and how knowledgeable are they when it comes to the sort of document that you have submitted? Some documents are highly technical and the vocabulary can be very specific. Does the translator understand what the document is trying to say if there are idiomatic expressions in it? How well did the translation agency do the editing and proofreading after translation?

Assuming that all these steps were efficient and thorough then maybe you should take a look at the type of document that you are submitting. The quality of the original document can certainly influence the final outcome and if the original is poor or hard to decipher, then it’s likely that the translator will have a hard job doing a good job.

Some of the ways that you can ensure that you have made the translator’s task easier are given below.

1.Proofread the original document carefully and make sure there are no grammar errors in it and it makes sense. Any grammatical errors or lack of clarity will probably be converted into poor grammar and lack of clarity in the target language.

2.Try and avoid submitting a pdf version of the document. Pdfs are fine for what they are intended to be used for, but are often hard to modify (that’s the intention, of course!) Use an editable version of a document like Word. It’s not only quicker and easier for the translator, but will mean that mistakes inherent in the conversion process are not going to occur.

3.If you expect to depend on a lot of translations, it may be useful to compile a glossary, especially if your documents are very technical. You will find that a good professional translation services provider will appreciate an accompanying glossary. If you do a lot of work together it is something that can be digitised and expanded. This makes it easier for any member of your staff and any translator in the same translation agency to work with the documents you submit.

All About Translation and Translators in 2016

With translation becoming one of the fastest growing career choices across the western world over the last few years is there anything new about this often hidden industry in 2016?

The growth in translation services in Australia is not likely to stall over the foreseeable future as the numbers of travellers, businesspeople, refugees and migrants continues to grow. This is certainly not a trend that is confined to Australia as reports from the U.S., for instance, show a massive 46% increase in the demand for translation services over the last five years and government agencies predicting that this growth is likely to continue for at least the next 10 years.

The demand for human translators rather than cheap or free machine translation tools doesn’t mean that anyone with fluency in another language other than English can become a translator. In fact, despite the growth in demand for services generally, actually getting work can be quite competitive.

In Australia, partly driven by official government policy, most translators working as freelancers or employed by translation services in Melbourne or other city in Australia are most likely to be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI).  As far as many organisations in Australia are concerned using a translated document that has been translated by a NAATI translator provides peace of mind that the translation is of good quality and is an accurate copy of the original.

The importance of NAATI seems unlikely to change in the immediate future and anyone thinking about a career shift into the emerging future of translation and translation services in 2016 should be looking for training in translation techniques which will eventually lead on to a recognized certificate and accreditation.

Some people who have built up experience in another field may find that the translation service industry is appealing. If they have legal, medical, scientific or technical experience, then they may be able to use their knowledge to advantage as a translator. Many translation projects require a more specialised knowledge and are likely to be more rewarding financially than basic document translation like certificates and licenses.

What is changing the face of the translation industry across the world is the increasing use of technology. While computer aided translation tools are unlikely to completely replace human translation for years yet, they are certainly helping to lighten the workload and translate text which is highly repetitive. This is yet another example of where translation training is important if you want to get your foot on the ladder as firmly as possible.

Getting Things Done as a Translation Business

Translation is a business and good NAATI translators know how to satisfy the needs of their clients. However, there is more to translation than performing the translations themselves. They have to run their businesses effectively too. There is one methodology that is being used at present and that is called the getting things done (GTD) methodology. It takes a bit of time to get to grips with it, but it is basically divided into a set of actions as outlined below:

1) Capture ideas

This means record all ideas that come into your head and write them down immediately. if you have your smartphone available you could even quickly send an email to yourself with your ideas. It's amazing how easy it is if you are busy and an idea comes to your mind and you forget it if it's not written down somewhere.

2) Clarification

Clarify when you intend to action your ideas. When you have a list of ideas that need to be actioned anything that can be done in just two minutes set your mind to doing it right now. Other ideas you will have to list in order of priority and break the tasks in easy to do steps. It's quite surprising how using GTD frees up a lot more time whether for work or leisure tasks.

3) Organisation

This is organising ideas that are actionable into categories which are then prioritised. You can at this point set a date for each actionable idea.

4) Reflection

Look through your translation services list of actionable ideas and decide when each should be done which makes good use of available time. This means not scheduling on, for example, late Friday something like your blog page which may require more engagement when your mind is really on what you intend to do over the weekend. You are better spending your time tidying up your desktop for the next week's work load.

5) Engagement

Ensure that the task you choose to work on will fully engage you. This is of utmost importance if you want to make full use of the time available to organise your business and get your translation work done too.

Another GTD tactic is making use of the concept "Kanban". This has been used in manufacturing industries in the project management environment and it suggests that cards or notes are used as reminders and they are stuck onto a board for you to see easily. The Kanban board can be divided up into things "To do", "What you are Doing" and "What you have Done". The basic idea of the Kanban is to record the various steps of each post and then each one gets moved from the To do, to the Doing and then to the Done. Kanban offers a visual way of seeing the progress of your projects.

Speak the Language of Your Audience

There are still English speakers who really think they can get away with speaking English wherever they go but in reality only one quarter of the world speaks a form of English. Bearing that fact in mind if you own a business and you want your product name to grow and your sales too you should be getting closer to your potential customers by translating your global advertising material and your website into as many languages as possible. Content put into a potential customer’s local language drives sales.  There are 5 billion people who live in our world who speak a language other than English. That’s a huge untapped market, many of whom have cash and access to the Internet.

Many of these non-English speakers who are seeking out new products to buy are frustrated by the lack of information in their own languages. Brands do have global followings like Coca Cola and McDonald’s fast food restaurants, but there are still people in the countries where these brands appear who have failed to learn more about the products despite their presence. Some businesses think that by getting their product descriptions translated into say Spanish will immediately open up a vast Spanish speaking world but this is not necessarily the case as there are variants of the language in all Spanish speaking countries so one size does not fit all.

It’s the experienced translators from translation services in Australia who know the nuances of the different variants of Spanish that are relevant to the purchasing of products. There is more to marketing than just a photo of a product as it should be accompanied by a relevant slogan used by the language speakers of the country where the product is being marketed.

You are really only speaking to the people when you talk idiomatically when engaged in conversation otherwise the match is not that good as you don’t appear to really speak their language. The Common Sense Advisory Board surveyed recently three thousand international consumers and discovered that 75 percent of online shoppers are far more likely to make a purchase from a website written in their own language.

In addition to that 74 percent are far more likely to make further purchases if any follow-up content appears in their language. There is no better reason for getting familiar with your likely customers’ languages and using translators from document translation services to compile accompanying handbooks for your customers to boost their confidence in you.