Our New Horizon in 2017

Machine Translation has made viewing websites almost too easy. Translation has become a commodity to the extend that one gets spammed on a daily basis by translation scammers that 

use the resumes of other translators. 

An anti scamming, anti piracy site was created to counter this:

www.translator-scammers.com. 

All I can say is this has Karmic implications, and if these people know how to scam, they can take their skills and do better things in life, that are more productive.

If you need a translator, first google them, check the scammers directory and check them out through a professional translators organization. Then diligently check out some references.

That being said, I already spoke about back translating a machine translation into the original language. sure machine translation has improved with more cyber horsepower. there are today

cloud based systems that employ literally hundreds of processors. what cloud really means is a remote data Center that has your data. How secure is it really ? Answer: Don't even ask. Otherwise

unless your data is encrypted, you just never know who can view it. Another defense: Just don't create any thing that interesting or compromising. Safety in boredom. :)

Translation is about nuances and writing skills. If it takes years for a human to acquire these skills, or lifetimes for that matter if you believe we are not here for the first time, AI may have a bit of catching up to accomplish before it can surpass the human mind.

High end translation is both a skill and an art. This is what we endeavor to offer our clients. This takes decades. Certainly translators are paid for their work, but they also give a piece of their lives.The same can be said for authors and artists. At the end of the day, translation is an art.

If you place a translation job on an auction site, you really do not know what you are getting. This can apply if a translation is spread among several translators and managed by a Project Manager / Editor. Call it a homogeneous hodgepodge if you like.

Translating a book? You even have to be more careful. We have seen some awful book translations, it sad. I would be very selective were I an author or publisher and had the budget for high end translation.

On of the hardest jobs is re-editing or re-translating someone else's problems. Been there done that.

Translation requires  tremendous amount of mental energy, and deadlines can literally exhaust one's energy and brain. A translator needs to rest, and then edit after a day has passed and one's mind is rested.

Trust me you would not want your book translated by the lowest bidder and with the highest daily word output. Most important a translation needs to be edited with a clear energetic mind after the first go around. All of this is factored in high end translation.

Shel Stein

www.cistranslations.com

THE PROMISE OF MACHINE TRANSLATION

Over the years machine translation has gotten better, if not more accessible, pervasive, and promising. Machine translation is typically a translation program that runs on an individual PC or an array of servers. The program is a form of Artificial Intelligence. One of the first computer translation programs I personally saw was at the IBM pavilion during the 1964-65 NY World’s Fair that ran on an IBM 360 mainframe.


A little less than 20 years later I ran Eliza on my Osborne I portable CPM computer. It was rudimentary AI, to say the least, yet entertaining for a student of Psychology.


Machine Translation is still Machine Translation


Go online to your favorite translation program. Prepare a translation from English into Spanish, or try into Polish, Russian, or Mandarin. Then take the result and back-translate it into English from your original target language. In other words, change the program where you translate back from the foreign language back into English. This also works with other native languages. Read and enjoy the 'results'.


Need I say more?


Machines have yet to equal the human brain. They lack subtleties, nuances, and literary creativity. A sense of humor is easily evoked from the reader’s review of the back-translated result. There are also consequences from misunderstandings. Proper technical language or jargon is usually hit or miss. There even may be subsequent consequences from misunderstanding or mistranslation, especially with a medical or legal document.


Machines do not offer literary style or quality. Written elegance and beauty are often hacked and chopped to pieces. On the positive side, machine translation is convenient. It does not however, make up for years of expertise in a specialized field or for years of college level studies.


A machine can not write from the heart and often lacks a writer's inner muse and voice. Translation needs to reflect the style and message of the author. A well-translated document reads like an original.


Basically machine translation enables one to communicate and begin on the path of understanding. It is without doubt, an inexpensive good start. But a computerized translation lacks refinement, polish, elegance and professionalism. Professional translation makes the right impression on your clients. It adds a personal and human touch to your communication.


In summary:


Quality Translation is an Art Form


Visit us at: www.cistranslations.com

THE TEN DEADLY SINS OF TRANSLATION

1. Ignoring Hispanic, Latin, and International Markets on an online world. In today’s world we need to reach out and expand into international markets to grow and expand our business. We also need to use multimedia in our target markets.

2. Expecting everyone to speak or communicate in English. Our world is more International than ever in scope, and clients appreciate when you communicate their own language, especially when it comes to money and health.

3. Using Machine Translation. Artificial intelligence has yet to surpass or equal the human brain. In medical, legal, or technical translation, correct terminology can make an important difference, especially with a good first impression.

4. Using your in house staff to translate, or not having bi-lingual in house staff. This save money but can result in miscommunication, embarrassing mistakes, or loss of clients or business.

5. Not using professionally trained translators, paying attention to language pairs. Be careful into whose hands you place your information and customers. A computer and dictionary does not make a translator. A university certification can take 3 to 4 years. Ideally you want an ATA accredited or University certified translator with a track record and specialization. Regarding language pairs, English into Spanish, or Spanish into English, (for example), not all translators are skilled in both pairs. Native speaking ability and the number of years a translator has worked in a host country environment, have significant impact.

6. Not using specialized translators or engaging a custom agency versus a large agency that manages your project with translation software using many translators, can impact style and continuity. Literary quality and polished language make a favorable impact. It is significantly more painful to discover problems further down the road.

7. Not having a professional editor. Does your translation read like an original document? How does it back-translate? How do you know what you are really getting as a finished product?

8. Putting your translations out for bid: Cheap is Expensive. Projects are more difficult to manage over international boundaries. Again, see item 7.

9. Nuances, specialized vocabulary and usage, implies years of specialized experience and research. Beware of translators that are more interest in volume, than in quality. The best translators are willing to thoroughly research your material, and can document and back up their work.

10. Localization versus a Neutral Spanish. Neutral Spanish can be used across the Spanish-speaking world. With Chinese for instance, one needs to know whether to use Taiwan Chinese and the right character set, or if Cantonese is called for in a translation.

Visit us at: www.cistranslations.com

WHY DO COMPANIES IGNORE THE HISPANIC MARKETPLACE ?

Granted not all companies ignore this market of 40+ Spanish speakers in the US, but there are enough to merit this brief discourse. If you expand from the US to Latin American and European markets, you are then addressing a potential audience of Spanish speaking people in excess of 400+ million and growing. Even if not all are on line, the numbers are significant.

Let’s examine some of the arguments against Spanish translation:

• It's too expensive, we do not have the budget, nor can we afford professional Spanish translation.
  

ANS: Can your company afford not to have growth, especially in this economy? Can your company afford to ignore an untapped market that’s right under your very nose? Take a minute to pause, reflect, and think about it.

• Even if we had a Spanish website and collateral, we do not have any Spanish-speaking employees.
  
  

ANS: With a large Hispanic population it is not difficult to find bilingual college and high school students who appreciate a job opportunity and the opportunity to learn new skills. Bilingual students or retirees are trainable and affordable and can be a credit to your organization.

• We do not have any Spanish speaking sales and marketing people.

ANS: Again, can your organization afford to ignore this marketplace? Commerce is becoming more international every year. Start with markets and countries closest to you. The US dept of Commerce is here to help. Check with local universities for courses in International trade. Attend business organization meetings from International Chamber of Commerce meetings. Add foreign language subtitles to your online marketing videos. I recommend www.insidedigitalmedia.com as a good place to start to learn about multimedia and video. They have excellent podcasts and a passion for sharing the nuances and advantages of digital multimedia.

• We do not have any representation in foreign countries.

ANS: Start attending international trade shows, especially those that may be hosted in the US. Find out the important trade shows offshore, by researching on the web, attend one or two, and then try a small booth and exhibit the next year. Get contacts and leverage them. Use professional consultants. A professionally translated brochure can work wonders.

• Our employees speak Spanish, they can translate our correspondence.

ANS: The odds are that your employees are not professionally certified translators in a specific language pair, or belong to ATA (American Translators Association) or the European equivalent.

See our blog entries: http://translationorthogonal.blogspot.com/

• Spanish is the same all over.

ANS: This is far from the truth. Have you ever heard of the term, ‘Localization’?

Each Spanish speaking country has it’s own nuances. There are also dialects and regionalisms. This is also true in countries that speak Chinese or Russian. We favor in the case of Spanish speaking countries, a polished ‘Neutral Spanish’, that can be used across the board, throughout the US, Latin America, and Europe.

• We can get our translation done offshore.

ANS:We all know the maxim, “Cheap is often expensive”, especially, when you run into problems in foreign jurisdictions. Translators are not all created equal. Know Thy Translator!

See our Blog entries:

http://translationorthogonal.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html

A mistake, a wrong nuance can be very expensive, make the wrong impression and even loose sales or clients. Mistranslation, even though embarrassing can be an endless source of humor in the translating profession. If you need a Spanish – English translation pair, the best of all worlds is when you have a translator, who grew up in a Spanish speaking country, but also has lived and worked for many years in an English speaking country, and is trained is specialized areas of expertise, as well as having invested in specialized dictionaries and glossaries, who keeps up with the latest changes and advancements in the translation profession.

This also goes for putting a translation out for bid. This can be ‘Russian Roulette’. You have to have an independent editor to know what you are really getting. Good luck solving your problems. Translation work can be analogous to working in a sweatshop, especially where you have agencies that underpay their translators, meeting deadlines for large contracts. Translators are not usually analysts, and quality translation is required for expert analysis.

• We can use online or machine translation.

ANS: Ok, take a machine translation and back translate it into the original language.

While some machine translation programs are better than others, these programs can butcher any language, especially translations with specialized glossaries that are medical, legal, or technical.

Buyer beware. In a pinch these can help. In the end using a machine translation or an inexperienced or poorly trained translator can be very embarrassing. You can take the latest in translation programs and machines tools, but it’s really what’s between the ears of a translator that counts.

• How do I choose the right translator ?
  

Choosing a translator is like going to a doctor. Do you want a general practitioner or a specialist? Going to a large agency can be compared to the difference between an HMO or a PPO, better yet, a specialized translator can be compared to concierge medicine. Does your translator have a passion for the translation profession, or is it someone with a computer that took a few language courses or needs to make a little money on the side?

In simple terms, how can you not afford the best? Or will you settle for mediocrity?

An exceptional translator can understand and think in both the original and target language. A professional translator has excellent literary and grammatical skills.

Do yourself a small favor, take the time to call your prospective translator over the phone or on voip over your computer, and check to see if he or she speaks with a cultivated English accent, and find out how many years they have spent in their native speaking country, as well as how many years they lived in an English speaking country, and inquire about their qualifications and expertise in specialized fields of translation.

The best translators are usually either very busy or can afford to be very choosy.At CIS Translations, we know how to pick our translators.

• How good a researcher is my translator?

Time is money, and often in the translation world, production is king. As a client, does this work to your benefit? Do you want a translator that focuses on quality research, that can back up every translated page, or do you want mercenary production? Exceptional research skills are worth their weight in gold. As a client you want a translator that can understand the subject matter in both the original and target languages, where the translation reads like an original document.

• Should I have a professional translation audit of my website and collateral ?

Ans: After many years of translating professionally we know what is out there, from the exceptional to the abominable. We do not like to call prospective clients and enlighten them on their shortcomings. It's just not good form. One should be wary about telling the King about his new clothes, but feel free to contact us if you have any doubts.

www.cistranslations.com

VIDEO TRANSLATION,SUBTITLING, AND VOICEOVERS

Multimedia can be very engaging and is all about good content. If you want to translate, subtitle, and have voiceover, this requires specialized talent and expertise.

You can capture your audience and get you message across at many different levels, and gain a lasting impression and help establish recognition of your brand and product line.

Let’s address the facets in translating a video. We first require a transcription of the audio portion in the native language, from the original video work, normally in Mpeg2, Mjpeg or an Avi format,in as high a quality as possible. The transcription is then translated into the target language.

We then prepare the subtitles to fit in the time line. Often because of a different target language and the number of words involved, a subtitle may require considerable editing to get the right expression and nuance in the time allotted, to synch properly with the video portion of the content.

There’s also the question, on occasion to avoid using harsh language or expressions. Then again a client may want to leave colorful expressions in a subtitle or voice over for the sake of authenticity or artistic expression. There are judgment calls that need to be made. We often ask our client to first review the translation and subtitles.

If we are just working with subtitles, we then author and encode the video. Once you have a translation and subtitles in one one language, it can be economical to just translate subtitles into one or more additional target languages. This technique can also be used for Flash presentations.

Voiceovers are more unique as well as costly, due to the studio time and acting talent, depending on the number of voices required. Your voiceover talent should speak very well in the target language with a professional and neutral accent. Additionally you want talent that understands the source language, so that you get a voice that expresses more feeling and has a grasp of the subject matter and content, where the narration does not sound mechanical.

The subtitles also need to be consistent with the voiceover narration, for the sake of continuity. The finished product should read well and sound good to the editor and viewer. Please be aware it make take several changes and edits to get to the final product which is quite time consuming.

The final product is authored encoded, burned onto a DVD with a suitable label.

If you are in Europe, you would use a PAL DVD Player and the content is made with the PAL Standard. In the US or countries that use NTSC, you need a NTSC DVD, and content needs to be in the NTSC standard. Conversion tools are available. On a PC or notebook, you can play either version with a good DVD player application.

What is next on the horizon is the HD DVD or Blu Ray formats for HDTV, which is usually 16:9 and a much higher density DVD and larger file size.

Routinely I play regular DVD’s on an HDTV with a standard DVD player.

They work fine even though they may not be the highest resolution. You can also use a DVD player with an up-converter, to improve detail and resolution.

While we are beginning to receive 1080i HDTV signals , the major advantage is that you see more detail and can often count the hairs on someone’s head or see the pores on their face in a close up. This leads to a greater sense of verisimilitude.

The question to ask is if it is necessary to be on the cutting edge for a video to be shown on a PC monitor online to get the message and content across.

Visit us at www.cistranslations.com

YOU CALL YOURSELF A TRANSLATOR ?

Calling oneself a translator takes much more than a PC, a couple of dictionaries, and an online Internet service. Even with certifications from universities or the ATA (American Translators Association) which specifies language pairs and areas of expertise. There is much more to be desired in ascertaining the qualifications and suitability of individual translators.

Translators usually work in language pairs. (i.e., English to Spanish or Spanish to English) but it is rare to find a translator that can work without fault in combination of both.

For example, a translator in Latin America with fairly decent skills in the English language and perhaps has lived a short time in the US or UK is not equally well prepared to deal with the subtleties of the target language as one who has lived and studied in their native country, and has also lived and studied in the US or the UK for 20 or 30 years as well.

A translator must be well aware of the Anglic-isms in addition to American-isms, not mention regionalisms like Cockney or Brooklyn-eese.

Translators must know when to translate “trunk of a car” and “automobile’s bonnet”, “petrol” or “gasoline,” know that a US gallon is not the same UK gallon, and that a US Ton is 2000 pounds, and a UK ton is 2240 pounds.

Humor–But Not at The Client’s Expense

A translator must understand the context of a document he/she is about to translate. If a translator fails to fully comprehend the text and the target language and its nuances the end result are many times ridiculous or costly mistakes. Lets take the following examples that are double entendres or hilarious faux pas, and that one finds fortuitously and passes around in e-mails between friends. This humor is mostly enjoyed between translators Sometimes you come across a site where the humor of a mistranslation shines like a gem under a spotlight. Machines can be blamed on occasion, but it is the blunders of the translators that make one wonder “what were they thinking when they translated this?” The Chevy Nova in Spanish (No-va = doesn’t go), Mazda ‘La Puta’, and Mitsubishi ‘Pajero’ (particularly in Latin Markets).

Why Editing Is Often as Difficult as Translating

Once you have finished a document, the next step is the editing process and that takes as much or more time than the translation of the document. Not only has to do with spelling, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure, but it has to involve semantics, word expression, and refinement of the language. A word can make a significant impact on the message it conveys. It is the rare translator that will take time to research the meaning of words and their usage in the proper context. A good translator simply does not use the first word it comes to mind. A good translator knows the Thesaurus and it back pages quite well.

So, you call yourself a translator?

visit us at http://www.cistranslations.com

TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIMIZATION IN EDUCATION

I e-mailed the following to a friend in Texas earlier this morning

I tend to believe that standards of excellence can be maintained across the board in primary and secondary schools, by developing an online curriculum, (or on DVD ) with the best instructors and available course materials.

There seems to be a flaw in the old model, because if you can have excellence with an online/distance learning scenario, all students in Texas can benefit across the board, and you know they are getting the best available curriculum and instruction.

What accounts for the flaw ? Now is it a way or thinking ? A paradigm, that's not being effectively communicated or inculcated ? Both on the part of the system, and students and their parents ? Now with Hispanics, there's the challenge of converting English into a preferred first language, from a mandatory second language, as well as the availability of computers, and teaching computer literacy.

If people want to immigrate to Rome, they need to speak and write like the Romans, metaphorically speaking. We can be a melting pot, but one with standards, that uplifts the level of literacy and education of our citizens.

If schools standardize on an online "Curriculum of Excellence" - it can be threatening somewhat to teacher's jobs, but they can help answer questions, tutor, and motivate. Change and growth are scary propositions. Jerry Farber used to write about education, even in a university setting as "Learning by Regurgitation". The question here is whether it is better to have a Professor that can motivate and inspire students , and opposed to lecture from notes and handhold students ? Excellence can be communicated via distance learning and multimedia, there is no longer any excuse or reason for delay.

Now if we are in the early stages of a worldwide OCW (Online Coursework Initiative) why are we not taking advantage of excellence in instruction for credit. If you take the top Ivy league schools such as Yale, Harvard,Dartmouth, Brown, and Princeton or top State Universities such as the U Texas Austin, UW Madison, U. Michigan and compare the standards of instruction to community colleges and universities that are not a highly rated, you can become painfully aware of the differentiation, by speaking with a student who graduated from or transferred to an average institution from a top institution. The differential is unfortunate, for want of a better metaphor, blatant.

Given we have briefly addressed excellence in instruction and curriculum, we need to look at the exceptionally disciplined student, with a passion for knowledge that has learned to both independently study and really take advantage of inherent cognitive skills, where a student can manifest a passion for quality creative work. Many of my professors used to complain about students who were ill prepared for university, by being deficient in their writing skill, and not knowing how to think.

Now in Texas (and other States) there should be a greater budgetary emphasis on University education, simply because this is the level where creativity can best express itself, and knowledge and excellence best perpetuated. This is the cutting edge of society and our future civilization on the highest order, the benefits of which can filter down to secondary and primary schools and across city, state, and national boundaries. This should not leave out multicultural boundaries. This is best served through networks and telecommunications. The proliferation of excellence along with standardization, cut redundancy, helps eliminate mediocrity, and can save
substantial budget dollars. this is not to say personalized instruction ought to be dispensed with in it's entirety, but any parent would want their child to learn the best, from the best out there,
hopefully to have a motivated, inspired child with a passion for knowledge and learning.

I believe that Texas Legislature ( as well as other States and Congress) should realize that University Education is the best contribution we can make to our future,to civilization and humanity. Excellence needs to be proliferated and shared.

My last point is the Internet and education need to be more of a force to restore the world civilization index to a higher level. Both corporations and universities, as well as manufacturers, should take old PC's, older notebooks, load them up with linux/unix and get them in the hands of LDC's , of small villages and towns in the third world, and let the Internet do what it was originally supposed to do in the first place: Teach Humanity and bring us closer, and uplift the overall quality of life and the state of knowledge in or world. even old 2501 routers would do the trick. Why would manufacturers or corporations want to destroy older technology, when it could be pout to good use ? Today more than ever there should be no excuse for illiteracy to exist anywhere on the globe. Reality may say different, but there is a
merit in restoring more balance toward this goal.

How do we tie this blog in with translation ? A good translator pursues excellence, and never stops learning. This shows in their work.

Visit us at: www.cistranslations.com

Regards,
Shel