Beware the Jabberwocky – avoiding translation scams

 

[the Jabberwocky*]

In the wild, faceless world of the Internet, the natural home of freelance translators, lurk monsters called scammers. They expertly solicit work from translators and then seemingly disappear from view as they seek another victim. Their actual financial damage is relatively limited in most cases but they have a significant and negative impact on our trust in others and ourselves. Plain and simple, it hurts to be scammed. Thus, I present some known ways  of identifying potential scam attempts and how to confirm or disconfirm the legitimacy of a translation request.

Indications:

A.     Email address

Always compare the email address appearing in the email with the email address appearing when moving the curser over the email title in the browser. They must be identical. The suffix .gmail as compared to .com is a sure sign that something is amiss.

B.     Language

With the possible exception of few agencies in China and Spain (in my experience), expect project managers to be able to write the basic sentences of translation requests in proper English. Private clients may have a lower level.

C.      Communication

If the customer is avoiding direct answer to specific questions regarding payment, listen to the warning light in the brain. Something may be far fishier than the reading comprehension ability of the respondent.

Actions to take to verify:

A.     Google-search the address:

Type the email address and the word scam in Google. There are very few brand-new scammers in the sun. The vast majority have been identified before. There are also specific scammer lists for those that have access to them.

B.     Check the official site:

For companies and institutions, it is easy to view the official site and compare details with those in the email.

C.      Contact the customer directly:

Write or call the customer using information on the site and ask for confirmation of the job order.

D.     Demand prepayment:

If you have doubts, insist on full prepayment before starting work, explaining that advance payment is standard practice for new customers. Private individuals are used to paying before receiving goods and services.

It is very important to have a proper perspective regarding scammers. In almost 20 years, I have been scammed once but have identified numerous attempts in time. It is safe to say that such bad apples do not represent the large barrel of customers. So, if you do get burned, emotionally move on quickly as there is basically no way to touch them, unfortunately. To make myself feel better, I choose to believe that there is a special place in hell for those individuals but I could be wrong.  To end on an admittedly irrelevant literary note and quote Lewis Carrol but in regards to avoiding them:

And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

      Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”

      He chortled in his joy.

 

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Picture credit

Paris walking – Rediscovery and discovery

 

[Sacre-Coeur - Paris*]

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post expressing my anxieties about revisiting Paris after so many years. Well, having returning from there safe and sound (and feeling younger), I can say that the city is as alive as ever, albeit with changes, both positive and negative. On a personal note, Paris still retains its magic touch of 40 years ago on me even if I have aged a little bit.

To be fair, Paris is not exactly the same city it was some 40 years ago when I lived there. Bicycle lanes now occupy at least 1/3 of the road space, which has significantly helped clean up the air (no more black residue in one’s nose at the end of the day due to diesel emissions). The price has been to render the act of crossing the street even more challenging but it is a good deal overall. The faces have changed, with the city truly becoming rainbow of colors. To be fair, Paris has always been a blend of locals and immigrants with each party loving to complain about the other. Tellingly, I even found a long series of streets mainly with stores specializing in skin and hair care for dark-skinned people. The neighborhoods have evolved too. For example, the street on which my apartment was located, Rue St. Denis, used to be known for its working ladies  is now dominated by clothing stores (next to my location) and restaurants, a few minutes away. I found most of the changes natural but was saddened by the transformation of the Marais, the neighborhood where my mother and her family grew up and which I knew so well. It has become a concentration of high-end brand stores and gay clubs with almost no Jewish identity  remaining aside from a few official signs. That disappointment has more to due to my nostalgia than to its new character. Thus, Paris has changed a lot in terms of specific details.

However, its heart have remained the same. First, Paris is energy, a fountain of youth for those that embrace the city. Regardless of  a person’s age, Paris is about living now and enjoying life in all of its aspects. Maybe New York and a few other cities also have the same aura. As a visitor, life is waiting just outside the door. Despite its relatively small size, each neighborhood has its own unique mix of buildings, stores and people. Ten minutes by foot in any direction take you into another world. It turns detours into voyages of discovery. As for food, Paris is having an endless choice of restaurants almost anywhere you walk, none with the same menu or style.  African or Asian, American or French or anything else you may want, it is available and close by. For example, I found a restaurant 20 meters from apartment that featured food from five different African countries and three Caribbean islands. Above all, Paris is sensatory heaven: architecture and art, open and covered markets, perfume stores, cheese shops and bakeries, jazz, swing and rap music in the street. One evening, I went out for a drink in the Louvre square and ended up dancing a swing, something I hadn’t done in years. La vie est belle á  Paris.

On a personal note, I experienced the trip bachelor-style, i.e., by myself, due to an animal health crisis at home that prevented my wife from joining me as planned. I returned to my youth of 40 years ago when I lived there, walking the streets as I did in my 20’s, some five to eight hours a day, and eating anything I wanted, including lots of bread, pasty, chocolat and café Liegeois, crepes, both sweet and savory, and even a Grand Marnier soufflé, to name a just a few. I saw family that I hadn’t seen in forty years. We even recognized each other as our faces had not changed even if our bodies had, just a bit. My French immediately came back, granted with some interference from Hebrew and too many grammar errors to suit me, especially after a beer, but with a better vocabulary. I discovered that neither my love of the city nor love the life style had changed. I immediately felt at home in Paris.

Admittedly, I had aged somewhat as I admitted when I begrudgingly took the metro back from the Champs d’Elysée back one evening instead of walking (50 minutes) because my legs were simply too tired. On a positive side, I found the 3+ hour lunches quite pleasant unlike in my younger days. Curiously, just as I thought all those years ago, however much I love Paris and it is in my heart, I could not live there. In short, now as it was then, in my opinion, it is impossible to be too sad in Paris if you have money to spend and even if you don’t have very much but I would not like to reside there.

Thus, to those who have nostalgia for the Paris of their youth or those that have never been there before, I strongly recommend visiting the city and exhilarating whatever senses you want with its magic. Paris d'antan est morte; vive la Paris d'aujourd'hui

 

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Lettre Israelienne – the SFT RTI2023 Congrés in Angers

[Chateau d'Angers*]

I enjoy attending translator conferences abroad. They represent not only an opportunity to learn, network and travel but also learn about other cultures. By the nature of their participants and subject matter, they have both an international and national character to one degree to another. The RTI2023 Congress organized by la Société française des traducteurs (SFT) in Angers, France at the end of the August was truly a French affair. Its content illuminated and reflected the reality of translators in France, which is quite different from those working in less structured countries. I came to understand that this formalization comes at a price but clearly provides benefits for the translators and interpreters working in France.

The nature of this Congrés, with some 260 participants, was almost entirely French, not nearly as international as in most translation conferences. First, aside from a few outliers, all of the participants were French or living in Europe working in the French market. Correspondingly, all lectures were French without a single presentation in English. The video presentation by the head of the Quebec Translation Association, the OTTIAQ, was about as foreign as it got. The audience was extremely polite, sitting through all the lectures even if they contained  an entire alphabet soup of acronyms, even applauding at the end. I did not hear a word of complaint about any aspect of the conference, grantedly well organized. The participants were well dressed, not a given at many translator conferences. The lectures began and ended on time with proper breaks for elegant food and good coffee, also not to be taken for granted. In terms of social interaction, the participants networked in a more subtle way than in conferences in countries with more direct cultures, such as the US or Israel. In short, this was a French conference.

As such, the content discussed and exposed the reality of translator living in France. Unlike more unregulated countries, translation, especially legal and other specializations, is a liberal profession recognized by the government. As such, certificates and official recognition of status are the key for professional success. The government has statutes specifying the requirements and obligations for attaining any status, including “expert”. As an official liberal profession, the government supported translators during the Covid period as it did many other independent business people. On the other hand, the bureaucratic nature of the government creates long, complicated processes. For example, opening a freelance business can take a week while an application to become an “expert” in a given legal jurisdiction can take a year with the relevant authority not having to explain a rejection. French translators seem to work within in a relatively structured set of rules.

In my opinion, this framework both limits development and creates security. On the one hand, the specialized sessions I attended, however well organized,  notably on quality control and ChatGPT, were highly theoretical on the verge of ideological. I felt that a newcomer to the field would not have gained much practical knowledge. Due to their more immediate urgency in other countries, conferences in which I have participated approached the matters more practically. On the other hand, the existence of an established path to financial success as a translator seems to create more emotional security. Translators and interpreters in France may have to play by the rules but they seem to have confidence in their ability to make a living. For purposes of comparison, the most common question in most translator/interpreter conferences is “How can I make a living in this profession” but not here. Thus, the structured nature of translation and interpretation in France creates a comfortable but insular world.

In 1721, the French writer Montesquieu wrote Lettres Persanes, a description of France at the time as if written by a Persian visitor, i.e., France as seen by a foreigner. Being only half French, I admit to experiencing this conference as a foreigner. I enjoyed it very much in all its Frenchness. It clearly expanded my horizons. I met many pleasant and interesting colleagues with whom I hope to keep in contact. I consider the SFT RTI2023 conference a success both in terms of organization and meeting its goals, i.e., knowledge and networking. The French do have style.

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