Hair to the throne

As the present is rather stuck at home and future on hold, it is an ideal time to delve into some nostalgia, in particular on something not related to “it”. Watching the program Samedi d’en rire on France 3, which presents delightful old clips of French singers and comedians, I was struck by one amazing change in the Gallic entertainment scene that occurred in the mid 1960’s. Very simply, the male singers magically grew full heads of hair and became handsome, even pretty.

To explain, if you look at the kings of French music before 1967 or so, in retrospect, two characteristics stand out. They had wonderful voices and limited hair. Charles Aznavour, France’s Frank Sinatra, recorded more than 1200 songs and wrote some 1000 songs. One of his most famous hits is La Bohėme. Notwithstanding his extraordinary talent, he was far from a sex symbol, already starting to shed hair when he was young. Likewise, Jacques Brel, my favorite, Belgium by origin, added an incredible emotional touch to all his songs, with Ne me quitte pas being one of his most famous. His vulnerability may have been helped by the fact that he looked rather ragged and without much of a coif. Yves Montand is the leading stars of French chanson but kept his hair short even in his youth, as was the fashion. See him singing BellaCiao, a partisan song, in his native Italian. These singers are a pleasure for the ear but not so much for the eye.

By contrast, by the late 1960, hair was in fashion and, apparently, de rigeur. First and foremost, Johnny Halliday, the French Elvis Presley, entered the scene and remained there for almost 60 years, selling some 110 million records. He was always plentifully and impeccably coiffed, as you can see him in this duet with Julio Inglesias, who has also captured some hearts in his time. JoeDassin has a short career, dying in 1980, but had the ideal head of hair, at least for his era. Mike Brant also had a brilliant but short career. His hair would make women jealous even today. These are just a sample of the male full-haired heart-throbbers of the period.

Music and fashion have changed many times since then.  The days of the full coif seem long ago, as distant as those of the earlier ugly duckling days. Yet, as a person that enjoys music and sports a wide highway on the top of my head, I prefer voice over hair if I have to choose. Maybe, there has been no full heir to the 1960 throne of the French chanson. In any case, revisiting the music of yesteryear brought a smile to my face (and hopefully to yours), which is a good thing at any time.

Poor translation or a bad feeling in Copenhagen

As in many technical products, to one degree or another, the purchaser of a translation has little or no ability to assess the quality of the text until it is made public since it is in a foreign language in many of not most cases. Many an author has only discovered what the foreign reader actually read only after the translated book was published. In fact, the purchaser of a translation must trust that the translator did a professional job, which is both uncomfortable and not always true. Lacking the required knowledge of the target language, purchasers need some parameters to ascertain whether the target text is substandard and requires review.

A short spellcheck of the document can reveal many serious flaws.  First, it can highlight real spelling errors, which should have been fixed before delivery. Second, it marks capitalization issues in translation. For example, in French, last names and locations are capitalized, i.e., M. Henry JONES from RENNES, as compared to English where such practice never occurs, e.g.., Mr. Henry Jones from Rennes. Furthermore, punctuation interference is revealed. For example, again in French, two spaces are placed after a colon while in English there is only one, e.g., Grade:  70 as compared to Grade: 70. Likewise, spellcheck will mark sentences that fail to comply with the punctuation rules of the target language  since the use of commas and periods varies to one degree or another from one language to another. Finally, spellcheck may identify a grammar issue in terms of form, including gender and number, and tenses. For example, while in many languages, a subordinate clause in sentence in the future is also in the future, in English, the secondary verb in the present: I will call you when I wake up. Spellcheck can identify these signs of poor work.

A visual check can also identify some red flags, especially when working between left to right and right to left languages or languages with different alphabets. The presence of words left in the original language without a specific request to do so should beg clarification. When working between languages going in different directions, it is advisable to look for the proper placement of punctuation such as periods and greater/less than signs, symbols such as trademark and copyright, and parentheses. The customer should carefully check the numbers not only to see if they were miscopied, which is critical in itself, but also whether the appropriate punctuation mark was used to divide the whole numbers and decimals. For example, 500,700.05 in English is 500.700,05 in French. The customer can easily identify these issues.

Finally, if the customer has some knowledge of the target language, which is common in regards to English, it is advisable to read the text out loud. If the sentences sound terrible or word for word like the original, the translator may have been too loyal to the text. Any use of non-localized terminology or incorrect terminology is a clear read flag. For example, a medical ethics committee in the United States is a Helsinki committee in Israel while a fan club in English is not club de ventilateurs in French. Good translators think.

The presence of any these issues does not necessarily mean the translation is terrible but does justify having the text read by a native speaker knowledgeable in the subject area. To be clear, requesting this service from non-natives, regardless of their level, will probably lead to false positives as their knowledge of the written language is generally insufficient to properly identify the issues. However, if a native speaker provides a negative assessment, the client is justified in returning the product to the translator or agency for review. Something probably is rotten in the kingdom of Denmark.

Sport in the time of the Coronavirus

Like many people, I find this whole coronavirus situation disquieting. I am not worried about being sick although there is a statistical possibility that it may happen. Instead, I find it strangely upsetting that my whole world is turning upside down. The certainties of life are no longer automatic, rendering any planning for the foreseeable future impossible. I find it so disconcerting that I do not want to watch the news or talk about “it”. On the other hand, “it” is a rather difficult to ignore when it starts creating barriers to human interaction and interferes with making a living.  Instead, the only issue of the virus that I can talk or write about directly is a marginal aspect, relatively speaking, specifically because it is less obtrusive. Specifically, I keep on thinking about suspension of major sports worldwide, including the FIFA, NBA and MLB. Instead of crying about it, I like to consider some admittedly questionable options to provide people with safe options for vicarious living.

For example, worldwide, many people escape their hot, cramped flats and go to sports bars to watch life action or turn on one of the ESPN channels.  What do these bars and channels have to offer now? Video of last year’s World Series or Classico? Honestly, how interesting is the Rose Bowl game of 2002?  On the other hand, using cable access to news programs worldwide, people can keep track of the number of new cases or latest measures by this government or another.  As there is constant action and news, it would certainly be entertaining and even provide a basis for betting, the ideal way of forgetting your troubles.

Speaking of betting, all those sports betters, bereft of any professional team game, can now hone their poker skills. I imagine that the online betting sites are making a fortune these days on those unfortunate thousands in insolation. Is there a better way to kill time than playing poker online?  Your family cannot even criticize you for not going out and getting a job.  As the British adverts say, when it stops being fun, stop playing.

Another victim of the sports suspension are the thousands of hawkers in the stadiums around the world who would be otherwise busy (and employed) bringing hot dogs, beer and ice cream to your seats.  True, some teams are arranging some compensation for them in the short time but who knows how long the suspension will last.  However, there is another way for them to use their skills of yelling and hauling that would combine public service and private relief. In cities under curfew, they could circulate affected residential neighborhoods calling out: “Get your burritos, hamburgers and hot dogs”. Even the most addicted poker player needs food from time to time. On the other hand, the amount of fat, cholesterol and salt in these foods probably is more dangerous than the virus.

As for the athletes themselves, neither of these options are relevant as they need neither the money from poker nor the calories from junk food. On the other hand, it might be a great opportunity for them to read books.  Professional athletes do not have the reputation of being great intellectuals, although there must be some exceptions even if I cannot think of any particular player. Both electronic and paper books are very popular and accessible now. The knowledge attained in a month or so (we hope) of active reading may be useful for them in the future when they retire or have to help their children with homework. As Mr. Buffet says, opportunity comes to those who seek it.

I am not making light of the disease nor intending to show disrespect to the families of those that have died of it. I simply find that laughter is the best medicine even it is not omnipotent. I personally cannot change the reality and know that this too shall pass. In the meantime, to keep my sanity, I have to laugh. Still, I find it extremely upsetting, albeit understandable, that the baseball season is suspended. For that and all the much more important reasons, let’s hope that the corona virus becomes as forgotten as the Toyota Corona.

City gossip

Cities have their ebbs and flows, expanding and shrinking as circumstances change.  See this fascinating historical perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2uoqJmJaGo. Beyond size, in a few cases, the name of a city becomes linked with a product or event, rendering both eternally famous or infamous beyond its immediate world importance.

For example, in a few cases, due to historical circumstances, new governments were established in a city and provided that regime with its historical name. In the 20^th century, we have the Vichy Regime from 1940-1944, the “Free French” zone that gradually became a German puppet under its controversial leader, Pierre Laval, who may or may not have tried to maintain French sovereignty. Previously, after World War I, the Germans established the Weimer Republic in the town of Weimer, which lasted until 1933. That was probably the most exciting event in the history of that city. Unfortunately, the rise of Nazi Germany ended those glory days but it was fun while it lasted. Several centuries earlier, from 1309 to 1376, there was the Avignon Papacy where some seven French controlled popes ruled in opposition to the popes in Italy.  There were another series of Avignon popes but that all ended in 1417.  That claim to fame is certainly much interesting than knowing that there was a bridge in Avignon where people danced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJKfxtYAt0s.

Many specific long-forgotten but then important historical events occurred in certain cities.  For instance, there are countless treaties named after cities but nobody but history fanatics actually remembers them. However, some are still engrained in consciousness of specific countries. For example, the Evian Accords ended the Algerian War of Independence in 1962. Likewise, both Brits and Indians (not American) remember the Black Hole of Calcutta. In 1756, the Nawab of Bengal had the chutzpah of imprisoning some 125 Europeans in the local dungeon, known as the Black, Hole, in a cell less than 24 square meters for three days, resulting in the death of 100 of them and leading to the establishment of the British government’s control of India. More recent examples of cities with tragic events with varying atrociousness are the rape of Nanjing in China by the Japanese in 1937, which affected some 200,000-300,000 people, and the American My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968, which resulted in between 300 and 500 Vietnamese casualties.  It should be mentioned that, the Geneva Convention, ratified in 1949, “regulates” civilized warfare but its record is marked more by its non-compliance than the opposite. 

On a cheerier note, some foods and cities are married, so to speak. For example, I am a great fan of Manhattan clam chowder, which is made with tomatoes instead of milk, as in New England clam chowder. If you are in Menton, near Monaco, in the correct season, you can eat a Menton lemon, which is edible in its right, not being unpleasantly sour. Some people may consider Jerusalem artichoke, also called a sunroot, a delicacy, but I find it a great way to spend a day or two in the bathroom. For those carnivorous among us, two delicious cuts of beef include a New York strip, cut from the beef short loin with or without bone, and Kansas City strip cut, which a portion of the bone, the top corner of the “T”.

I assume that are many other city references in English and other languages and would love to hear about them. On the other hand, if you found this post awful, you can give me a Bronx cheer, a boo or, in virtual language, a thumb down, which I imagine most New York Knick fans have been giving their team for the last ten years or so. Regardless, most cities would agree with Oscar Wild that “only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about”.

Professional conferences and reinventing the wheel

Once again, I had the pleasure of participating at the Israel Translators Association (ITA) Conference, this year in Tel Aviv. It was a two-day event offering lectures on a wide variety of subjects. In many ways, it answered the basic question asked by many translators: Why should I join and actively participate in a professional association? The answer is because it will help your business but not necessarily in the way that people assume. To be clear, direct contacts and even job offers often result from these events. Not only that, meeting people in person has a far greater impact than virtual contacts and create opportunities for various types of collaboration. Yet, the most important and, in a certain way the most surprising, aspect of professional conferences is the willingness, even pleasure, that veteran (not old) translators have in sharing their knowledge and professional wisdom with any and all, without expecting any compensation.

At the ITA Conference, many of the most experienced translators in Israel showed anybody that was interested how to improve their business. For example, Moshe Devere, a pioneer and trainer in CAT (Computer Aided Translation) tools guided beginners through MemoQ. Alan Clayman, a longtime translator, explained advanced financial terminology. Yael Segal and I provided tips on reaching customers. Yifat Vered opened the eyes of the attendees to the intricacies of communication with the Japanese. Ruth Ludlam and Avi Staiman talked about academic publishing and editing, respectively. Translations issues involving other languages were touched on, including Arabic by Dolly Baruch and Italian by Shirly Finzi Loew. These are just a few of the lectures available to the attendees of this conference. For a full program, see https://ita.org.il/?page_id=900&lang=en.

The encouraging aspect of this and any other such conference is the opportunity to learn from the experience of others in order to grow much faster than would be possible in isolation. Granted, not all techniques and tips are relevant while many need to be adopted for the specific circumstances.  Still, two or three ways of improving efficiency or reaching new markets can make the difference between surviving and thriving. Not only that, the lecturers were happy to answer individual questions after the presentations to help hone their message. They did not view the interest as a threat to the income but as a hope for the profession.

The long and short of it is that professional organizations and conferences shorten the learning cycle. It may be possible to learn a language or even gain insights on a culture through courses but learning how to succeed in a business, including translation, is a matter of experience.  It is possible to reduce the length of this apprenticeship at a very minimum price, i.e., the cost of belonging to an association and attending conferences. Expressed in different terms, it is inefficient to reinvent the wheel. Thus, joining and attending professional associations is worthwhile and does result in higher income.