Tag Archive for 'translation'

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Cutting Translation Budget: Good Business Move or Not?

Published on November 5, 2008 in Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

In these tough economic times, many business owners are shaving their budget of unnecessary expenses.  This week, Transpanish’s blog post will talk about the effects of cutting your translation budget.

If your business provides a product or service, cutting your translation budget might actually harm your bottom line in the long run.  This is especially true if you are located in an area with a large number of Latinos.  The Pew Hispanic Center recently released a report about the explosive growth of Latinos in counties where there formerly weren’t many Spanish-speakers.  By checking out the Center’s maps, you can see which areas of the country are expected to see further growth.

Making a commitment to providing quality translations of your marketing materials may foster connections in the Latino community and bolster sales.  If you offer Spanish translations of your documents, you will reach this rapidly growing demographic.  As overall spending decreases, doing outreach to the Spanish-speaking population will spread your sales into new territory. 

Many business owners may look to cut costs for Spanish translations by looking in-house, especially if they have bilingual staff.  Is this a good idea?  Probably not, unless your staff also has a background in translation.  Working with a reputable translation agency will ensure that your Spanish translations are accurate and compelling.  This ultimately brings in more business than a sloppy translation done by an already busy staff person.  

But contracting your Spanish translations out doesn’t have to be a pricy affair.  A good Spanish translation agency will have translators who can produce quality translations quickly and carefully.  And the longer you work with the same agency, the more familiar that agency becomes with your business and its documents, ultimately reducing overall cost. 

Another excellent way to cut costs while maintaining high-quality translations is to ask your translation agency if they have any special offers or if they give a discount for repeat business. 

Keeping your translation budget intact and working with a translation agency that prides itself on accurate and economical document translations might give your business the boost it needs.  If you operate in an area with a growing Latino population or have a web presence, documents translated into Spanish can be the business boon you need to survive the flagging economy.

Translations for U.S. Immigration Done Right

Published on October 29, 2008 in English Language, Spanish Language and Translation Buyers. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Whether you are an individual applying for a family-based visa or an employee bringing over foreign-born workers, you will need some official documents translated into English for the immigration petition.  The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) requires that you provide a “certified translation” of important Spanish documents.  This Transpanish post talks more about what exactly a certified translation is.

The paperwork you need to fill out when petitioning for a visa for a loved one or worker can be overwhelming and seemingly endless.  But having a translation agency translate your documents from Spanish to English can take some of the pressure off. 

Here is a list of some documents USCIS may ask for that you will need to have translated:

  • Birth certificate
  • Marriage certificate
  • Divorce decree
  • Police records
  • Diplomas
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Change of name documents

You will need to include a copy of the Spanish language original, the English translation, and a separate page certifying that the translation was done by someone proficient in both Spanish and English.  While you may speak some Spanish, if it’s not your native language, having a professional translation agency take care of translating these critical documents will ease your mind.  A good translation agency will be able to provide an English translation of your Spanish documents that uses accurate terminology.  And spending a little extra money for your translations will save you the stress of fiddling with document formatting.

Putting together a packet for an immigrant petition is a headache in and of itself.  By contracting out your Spanish to English translations, you can concentrate on making sure that the rest of your paperwork is perfect and accurate. Professional translators will ensure that your Spanish to English immigration translations are accurate.  They take pride in knowing that their translations will be a perfect addition to your immigration petition. Let your translation agency help you make sure that your loved one or potential employee has the best chance possible for being granted a visa.

Nearing Election Day, Latino Vote Becomes Critical

Published on October 22, 2008 in Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

In the spring and summer of 2007, organizations working with immigrants made a huge campaign to encourage people to apply for citizenship for two reason: to beat the monumental fee increase in the end of July 2007 and to get America’s newest citizens ready in time for November 4th.  More than a million applied for naturalization in 2007 and another 480,000 in 2008 (Source: Cox News Service article), making this the most multicultural election in history.

And despite the English Only proponents, states are beefing up the ranks of poll workers with language skills because of the Voting Rights Act.  This act requires that certain states and jurisdictions translate ballot materials into other languages and provide interpretation services in some cases.  To read a recent article about the push to hire bilingual poll workers, click on this link.

Latinos typically lean toward blue, and judging from a survey by El Tiempo Latino, this year will be no different.  The survey found that of the 502 interviewed, 85.2% said they’d vote for Obama and the remaining 14.8% for McCain (Source in Spanish: El Tiempo Latino).  The National Post also found that Latinos are overwhelmingly in support of Obama, but with a ratio of 2 to 1.  To read this article in English, click here. This article also states that Latinos have an affinity for Obama because his top three issues are those most important to Hispanics: the economy, the war in Iraq, and immigration reform.

But many asked after the debates: where is the dialogue on immigration?  Why aren’t they talking about it since it’s such a hot issue for those across the spectrum, especially when the Latino vote is so critical?

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, the candidates indeed are talking about immigration.  Just not in English.  Both candidates have been airing Spanish-language ads speaking to the immigration issue so as to gain the crucial Latino vote without alienating the general public (i.e. non-Spanish speakers) about this highly contested topic.  While the article has a decidedly McCain slant to it, the overall question of why both candidates remain tight-lipped about immigration in English but are spending campaign ad dollars to sway the Latino vote is an interesting one.

Serving the Latino Community: Health Care Translations

Published on September 24, 2008 in Spanish Language, Spanish Translation and Translation Buyers. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Many people experience anxiety when dealing with health care and medical situations, and this is especially true when English isn’t the first language of patients and their families.  Treatment plans and other health-related documents can be filled with medical jargon that seems foreign even to native English speakers.

As the population of Spanish-speakers continues to grow in the United States, so has the need to provide Hispanics with accurate information that can be readily comprehended.  This often means providing Spanish-speakers with health care information that has been translated into Spanish.

Below is a list of some of the documents that health care providers should provide to patients and their families in Spanish:

Instructions for taking prescription medicines

  • Materials with information about health and wellness issues
  • Simple explanations of diseases and sicknesses and how to avoid them
  • Medical releases and consent forms
  • Hospital and insurance reports
  • Brochures about services provided
  • Information about patients’ rights and responsibilities

Not only will providing Spanish translations of documents that directly affect the health of patients allow you to provide better and more comprehensive care to a growing demographic, but it will also protect you from any ramifications arising from misunderstandings due to language barriers.  By using a reputable translation agency that is able to translate your materials into the language your patients understand best, you will be giving peace of mind to both those you serve and your health care facility. 

Your chosen translation agency should be able to render a Spanish translation that is accessible to the target population.  Two of the most important things the agency should do for you is make the translation understandable to people with a low literacy level and use language that a layperson can understand. 

A Client’s Guide to Making Translations Go Smoothly

Published on September 15, 2008 in Spanish Translation and Translation Buyers. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

When choosing a translator or translation agency to work with, you’re essentially starting a relationship with a business partner.  If your company launches itself into the international market or has constituents who don’t speak English, the quality of translations your business disseminates could make or break your business.  Below are some tips to get you started thinking about how to make your relationship with your translator more fluid and productive.

Determine Why You Need a Translation

Do you need a translation for information purposes or for publication purposes?  Have a conversation with your translator about why you need the translation: is it to sell your product abroad to millions or to inform 5 staff people in a foreign office of a policy change?  Of course, a great translator will make sure that any translation is suitable for its audience, but for-publication translations demand only the highest level of polish and accuracy while for-information translations transmit information.

Pay Attention to the Details in the Source Document

Make sure that your source document is clearly written and finalized before passing it along to your translator.  This will save both you and the translator time as she/he won’t need to contact you repeatedly for clarification of the message or wording of what you provided.  Also, be careful to send only source documents that are ready to be disseminated or published as sending draft copies will hold up translation of the document.  If there are significant changes to the source document that the translator already worked on, you might be asked to pay extra fees for the extra work. 

Keep in mind the cultural references and linguistic choices that you make in the source document, as they might not translate well into the target language.  Also, be aware of the target audience for your translation and make sure that your translator knows what you expect.  This will head off any misunderstanding that might occur if the translator wasn’t sure whether the document was meant for all of Latin America or only one country. 

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!

Most misunderstandings between client and translator can be avoided if the client is forthcoming about the project and the translator asks questions when necessary.  It’s important to remember that some translations are more time intensive than others and that you need to communicate the details of a project ahead of time so that the translator can return quality work to you by the established deadline. 

For more tips, please read A Primer for Translation Buyers: Part One and A Primer for Translation Buyers: Part Two

Google Translation Center Announced to Online Community

Published on August 11, 2008 in Spanish Translation and Tips for Translators. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

The online translation community is abuzz with the news that Google has announced the start of a Google Translation Center.  The discussion revolves around two main questions: how exactly the service will work and how having an Internet giant like Google providing a platform for translation services will affect freelance translators’ business.

How Will Google’s Service Work?

Clients will be able to upload the documents they need translated and then choose from the price quotes that individual translators will provide.  Translators will use Google’s web-based tools to create and review translations and the “Translator’s Workbench” will provide translators with tools such as a revision history, a glossary, or a history of previous translations. Google, at least as currently explained, will simply serve as a middleman, coordinating services and providing the platform and tools for clients and translators alike.  

Throughout the preliminary discussions, one topic on which everyone still seems unclear is that of Translation Memory (refer to previous Transpanish posts for an intro to TM here and here) and how Google will implement it.  It seems that Google wants to create a meta-TM through which individual translators will have access to all similar translations previously inputted into the system.  This raises the question of ownership (clients usually own the rights to translations input into TM, as they’ve paid for the translations) and quality of what is uploaded into the global TM (Google states that individual translators will be solely responsible for quality control of what they produce).

How Will the Service Affect Freelance Translators?

Since Google has not yet unrolled its Beta version, professional translators can only speculate on the effect that Google Translation Center will have on their business.  On the Proz Forum discussion of this topic, translators are understandably concerned about the quality of the output, especially since creating a solid, accurate TM takes time as texts are translated and fed into the system. 

Google Blogoscoped offers a preliminary analysis of the service’s features and included screenshots of the tools that GTC will offer to the translator.  Access to these free tools (questions about the TM aside) could be very good news for freelancers and GTC may very well open up a world of freelance gigs to professional translators.  However, freelancers are concerned about whether potential clients will be willing to pay market rates for translations when looking for a translator on GTC. 

Of course, the online translation community can only speculate on GTC’s effects on the translation industry until the service is actually rolled out.

To read more commentary on the service, read Brian McConnell’s blog post, “GTC: The World’s Largest Translation Memory.”

Analyzing files in Trados

Published on July 24, 2008 in Tips for Translators. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

If you use Trados to translate your documents, one of the most important steps is to analyze your files. Analyzing files allows you to identify how much text can be leveraged from an existing Translation Memory (TM), or if you do not have an existing TM it allows you to analyze the source files. Example:

  1. You have two files to translate:

a.       DOCUMENT_1

b.      DOCUMENT_2

  1. You want to analyze them against the empty memory to find out the total word count and whether or not there are repetitions.
  2. To analyze a file, select Tools, and then Analyze. Click Add and browse for the two files you want to analyze.
  3. Once the files are located click Open to add them. (You can also drag files from Windows Explorer into the Files to analyze dialogue box.)

a.       Remember if you want to analyze the files against an existing TM, you must have the applicable TM open.

  1. Be sure to save your log file to the correct place so that you can easily access it.
  2. Click Analyze

a.       A summary of the log file appears in the dialogue box. The .txt and .csv log file have also been saved to the folder you selected for the log.

 

Sample of a log file:

Analyze Total (2 files):

 Match Types  Segments    Words    Percent     Placeables

 Context TM          0            0              0          0

 Repetitions          111         561           2          3

 100%                   35           61            0          0

 95% – 99%           0            0              0          0

 85% – 94%           2            4              0          0

 75% – 84%           3           31             0          0

 50% – 74%          18           68            0          0

 No Match        1,593       31,104      98          1

 Total               1,762       31,829     100          4

 

 Chars/Word       5.18

 Chars Total   165,170

Learning Spanish Online

Published on May 19, 2008 in Spanish Language. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The best method for learning Spanish is total immersion in the language. However, you might not have the time or the money to take an extended learning holiday to ramp up your Spanish skills. And while there are some excellent software programs and sets of CDs that you can purchase, the Internet has a fantastic array of free language learning resources. Below are links to and brief descriptions of a selection of Spanish learning tools.

Community

Palabea: The Speaking World and My Happy Planet are both community oriented sites. On each site, users create a profile and then are able to chat and practice with native speakers of their target language. Both are social networking sites, so the value in using them would come from communicating in Spanish with native speakers and others who are learning the language.

Spanish Slang

If you already speak some Spanish, there are two great sites to explore regional slang. Tu Babel is an online dictionary of slang and regionalisms created by the online community. The “angel” button is a nice feature, and will enable you to block entries that aren’t PG-rated. Jergas de Habla Hispana is another great, constantly growing resource for those seeking to understand the varied and colorful slang of the Spanish-speaking world. Both sites are completely in Spanish, and require a fairly good level of comprehension, but can be indispensable if you communicate with Spanish-speakers and want to really understand the words they use. Continue reading ‘Learning Spanish Online’

Spanish usage in US

Published on April 30, 2008 in News and Spanish Translation. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

On April 23, 2008 Transpanish posted a blog article about the movement to cultivate the usage of “proper” Spanish on the Internet. Remember that this movement originated in Spain. But what import does this movement have on Spanish speakers residing in the United States? The usage of proper written and spoken Spanish may still be of import in university Hispanic Studies or translation studies programs in which students are working from documents written by native Spanish speakers. But the reality of spoken and written Spanish and how they’re used in the U.S. is very different from what the Real Academia Española purports.

Take the following points into consideration:

• Mainly monolingual Spanish speakers immigrate to the U.S., but by the third generation, the descendants of those immigrants are primarily English speakers.

• The children and grandchildren of first-generation immigrants generally speak some Spanish, but are educated in English and therefore do not have a background in the conventions of written Spanish.

• Spanish speakers in the U.S. are extremely heterogeneous with regard to their educational level and country of origin.

• Spanish speakers, regardless of their fluency in English, must to some degree navigate an English speaking world.

The result of these combined points is that Spanish spoken in the U.S. is constantly transforming and deeply informed by English, which results in the unique language that we refer to as Spanglish.

Spanglish is the popular term for what linguists refer to as code-switching, which can be either mixing English and Spanish terms within the same sentence (i.e. “Voy a hacer un appointment” instead of “I’m going to make an appointment”) or transforming words from one language by applying the conventions of another (i.e. parquear instead of to park). Spanglish can only be used when both the speaker and listener are equally versed in both Spanish and English, the numbers of which are constantly growing.

Because of this, those who market to Spanish, English, and Spanglish speakers have to be flexible and aware of the truly fluid nature of language use in this country. A good translation agency will be able to help clients navigate the constantly transforming landscape of Spanish as it is spoken in the U.S.

Terminology for the Translation Industry

Published on February 27, 2008 in Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The site http://www.english-spanish-translation.info/ offers Translation Resources including Conversion Tools, Translation Related Books, Spanish Translation Software, etc. There are some terms related to the translation business which every translator should be familiar with. This terminology also helps Translation Buyers to make an educated decision when choosing a Translation Provider.

Below are some terms:

Apostille
A simplified and standardized form that is used for the purpose of providing a certification of certain public documents relating to adoption, including notarized documents, that is used in countries that are in compliance with the provisions of the Hague Convention. Read more about Apostilles

Back Translation
Back Translation is the process of translating a document that has already been translated into a foreign language back to the source language – preferably by an independent translator.

Copywriting
Copywriting is the process of writing the words that promote a person, business, opinion, or idea. It may be used as plain text, as a radio or television advertisement, or in a variety of other media. Read more about Copywriting

Continue reading ‘Terminology for the Translation Industry’

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