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.

* Captions allow the blind to fully access the Internet

Freelancer, manage yourself – Mental health tidbits from International Translator Day (ITD)

 

[tree in shape of brain*]

The end of September is the birthday of Saint Jerome, the patron saint of translators, and is marked by several conferences. I had the pleasure of participating actively and passively in two of them, the virtual ITD conference hosted by proz.com and the hybrid KTLC conference in Warsaw. Each featured several full days of lectures on various topics related to translation, far too much to summarize in an article. However, with the growing awareness of mental health and the emotional challenges faced by many freelancers, I wish to share some highly relevant points raised by some of the lecturers in regards to the keeping an even keel.

During the proz.com conference, Adrian Probst  addressed an issue faced by all freelancers, the fear of not having work. He emphasized that all businesses, including freelancers, experience slow periods to one degree or another. In other words, they are not a sign of failure but an unavoidable aspect of owning a business and thus to be expected and planned for, similar to theft in retail stores if you will. He suggested focusing thoughts not on general feelings of incompetence and failure but specific steps to take to reduce their frequency and scope, including marketing and education.

Likewise, Bettina Rohricht in the same conference discussed work flow ebbs and flow. She also presented ideas to deal with low work flow but added that overdemand and overwork are as stressful as underemployment. She emphasized the importance of establishing limits on workloads and times and explained that it is preferable to refuse a project due to lack of time over poorly executing it. Furthermore, the chance of losing a customer under that circumstance is very low in practice. I fully concur with her advice.

My lecture at the ITD conference focused on the issue of self-perception of success. My main point was societal comparative measures of success, including income and title, are not relevant to most translators, not to mention most freelancers, as the circumstances of their lives may not allow total commitment to a single job. Instead, freelancers should focus on their current achievements relative to their current reality and take steps to build a better future. The recognition of actual achievement and practical steps for future achievement create a positive vector both physically and emotionally.

Dominika Olszewska at the KTLC Conference discussed the power of monotasking. She emphasized that focusing on more than one matter at once, however minimally, only reduces concentration and productivity. (I have to confess that I was multitasking at the time and missed some of what she said, proof by example.) Among her practical suggestions were limiting the number of open tabs on the task bar in order to avoid checking social media and other distractions. She also suggested non-digital breaks, i.e., the best way to take a break from the computer is to get away from it.

Finally, Stefan Paloka gave a short testimonial to the power of will in creating a career. He is a blind translator that ignored all stereotypes and prejudices and has built a successful career. By applying technology and committing to a goal, it is possible for anybody with a disability to overcome challenges.

In a certain sense, the message of all these presentations was that freelancer achievement, however defined, involves not only technical skill but also the emotional intelligence and skills to deal with difficult situations, temporary and permanent. This process is as dynamic and active as coping with technological changes and maybe more important. It is possible, at least in the short term, to function as a technological dinosaur but impossible when emotionally broken.

I apologize for not mentioning all the fascinating lectures I attended or failed to attend. I suggest perusing the programs, contacting the relevant organizers and watching the tape of any relevant lecture. After all, learning is a yearlong (and lifelong) experience. I would strongly suggest reserving the last two days of September next year to fully benefit from the fruit of St. Jerome.

* Picture captions allow the blind to full access the Internet.

Picture credit

Legal digitalization – A catalyst for change – the ILLA (The International Language and Law Association) Conference – 2021

 

[Courthouse*]

I had the pleasure of participating this last week in the ILLA hybrid conference from Bergamo, Italy focusing on the digitization of legal discourse. As usual, the learned field of lecturers provided varying and illuminating perspectives on the changes in the legal field made possible by technology and spurred forward by the Covid situation. In the lectures that I attended, three aspects stood out, notably the evolution of legal forms, communication and substance.

Clearly, the physical barriers imposed by Covid restrictions have forced courts to adopt modern means of procedure. As Daniel Greineder noted, arbitration courts have significantly increased their use of video presentation and online evidence submitting facilitated by use of Live Note or similar software as well as rapid hearing transcripts. On a geographically larger scale, the International Court of Justice proceedings in Africa, as reported by Jekaterina Nikitina, involved mass use of video technology for both advocates and witness, including intentional hiding of faces and voices in the latter case. On an interesting note, the court allowed and requested attorneys appearing via video not to stand before the judges as the cameras would no longer be on their faces, a contrast from traditional court practice. Thus, courts have adopted to the availability of technology and difficulties of current circumstances by liberalizing their procedures.

On a communicative level, this digitization can create issues of vocabulary, intent and design form. Martina Bajcic and Martina Ticic researched key terms of EU online processes, specifically small claims, and noted the tension between use of the same term for all countries when the given term is not commonly known in a given country, giving the example of the word “domicile” in Croatia. Similarly, Sotira Skytrioiri showed how the words “bank” and “headquartered” can have different meanings, depending on specific jurisdiction, highlighting the relevant question whether an Internet bank has a territory. Giuliana Diani discussed the use of legal blogs that extract formal legal opinions to serve as a basis of personal points of view regarding the matters at hand, quickly transforming the decision from a final judgment to a basis for popular argument for legal lay persons. On the design level, Helena Haapio and Anna Hurmerinta-Haanpaa described and provided examples of actual user-friendly design, including the use of software to provide simple interpretations of legal text and a 3-level approach to online legal information: simple instructions, summary of conditions and full text, each accessible by a simple click. It was clear that the accepted manner of communicating law by Internet is in the process of change.

The most intriguing aspect was the impact on legal digitization on the present and future. Ruth Breeze compared non-commercial free advice websites with those of attorneys seeking new customers. Unfortunately, it required great viewer sophistication to distinguish the two, meaning that, through “colonization” the Internet has clearly blurred the difference between NGO legal assistance and aggressive legal firms. On a larger note, Dieter Stein noted the transition of law from oral, i.e., historical, to written, i.e., enactive, to digital, i.e., reactive. To clarify, while oral law was a form of precedent, written law was a guide for future activity, stable and slow to evolve. By contrast, online sites can change their content within minutes without any visual record of the change. On the one hand, these sites provide updated information on current regulations, quite valuable with the constant flux of Covid rules, among other matters. On the other hand, the sheer simplicity of the revision brings the disturbing image from Orwell’s 1984 of the constant, granted non-digital, changing of the news and modifying of the past. I am not sure that the long-term effects of this instant update are for the ultimate benefit of the citizen. Regardless, digitalization is changing the nature of the law.

I apologize for failing to mention the other speakers as I was unable to attend all the lectures. My own contribution was on the importance and manner of writing legal English in a manner that an average reader can understand. I also wish to thank the organizers for managing a hybrid conference quite seamlessly, a living example of digitalization on legal conferences. They provided a wonderful forum to help legal scholars of all kinds view the process of legal digitalization with a much wider lens, gaining a deeper perspective of the present situation and appreciation of future developments.

* Picture captions help the blind access the Internet.

Picture credit: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/mbraun0223-2118828/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1223280">Mike Braun</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1223280">Pixabay</a>

All encompassing – translation and translators

 

[Unity puzzle*]

I had the privilege of participating as both a presenter and attendee in two online Translation Day conferences this week, specifically the three-day KTLC Conference in Poland and the Proz.com two-day International TranslatorsDay 2021. Aside from being well-organized and highly informative, they presented quite a panoramic picture of the present and future of the language industry. The most striking image was how inclusive the industry is today in terms of the variety of roles available, the people involved and the actual importance of translation. These conferences left me with a sense of how broad the terms translation and translator can be.

[Rubik's cube]

First, the task of a translator is not necessarily limited to transferring the meaning of text from one language to another. For example, in a panel discussion in the Proz.com event, Marina Ilari, Kate Edwards, Belén Agulló and Yuhei Nasu provided concrete examples how they have guided game companies in adjusting content in game content and script to create seamless international distribution. Gabriel Karandysovsky (KTLC) discussed the importance of listening to buyers when localizing content.  Nina Sattler-Hovda (Proz) provided a detailed explanation of the process and future of transcreation. Translators can even act as marketers as Isabella Nanni demonstrated in her presentation (Proz). Thus, the translation industry provides concrete opportunities for people with many types of talent and background.

[Multicolored toys]

More striking than the specific roles, it was eye-opening and encouraging to see how diverse the translator community is. The experts in all of the panel discussions I viewed were entirely or mainly women, each with decades of experience and confident in their skill. Two Africans, Osman Abdullahi and Dachiny Ewekengha (Proz), presented the story of their entry into the profession. In terms of age, the presenters reflected the entire spectrum, showing that the translation business is relatively free from ageism. Furthermore, these conferences provided more than enough information and tips to allow a complete novice to build a successful career. Many lecturers, including Andrzej Homańczyk and Zofia Owczarek from Kontekst Translations (KTLC), showed how it is possible to create and develop lucrative specializations. The translation industry truly is an equal opportunity employer.

[Opened lock]

Beyond the what and who, some presenters exposed the inspiring world of the why. Translation is not merely the technical representation of content. It also opens the world to the disadvantaged. Sabina Jasinska (KTLC) exposed the importance of means of Internet access to the disabled, temporarily and permanent. M. Paula Jacinto (Proz) discussed gender pronoun use and its importance, a highly debated issue worldwide today. My contribution was to highlight the importance and manner of translating legal language such that vast majority of the population can understand the contracts they sign. The message that these and other speakers reinforce is that proper translation matters and affects millions of people.

I regret that I was not able to mention or even attend many of the lectures that were presented. However, I completed this marathon with the strong belief that the language business is much more diverse in tasks, skills, people and social roles than it has ever been before. Anybody with a love of language, skill in a relevant area, a willingness to learn and a desire to make the world better can make it a career. Translation as an industry is truly encompassing.

* All pictures from Pixabay.

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.

Diversity and hope

I just returned from the ATA60 (American Translators Association) Conference in Palm Springs. It was a large event, with some 1400 participants and around 170 presentations (including ones by my wife and I) on various subjects spread over some four days. To say that the conference was a rich experience is an understatement.

Given the sheer quantity of conversations I had over that period, it is still difficult to recall specific points and people.   Regardless, I left feeling very hopeful not only about the future of the profession of translation but also about the ability of people to treat their differences not as barriers but instead as opportunities for enrichment and friendship.

Despite that the fact that all of the participants were involved in the language industry in one way or another, the greatest pattern was no pattern at all.  It was impossible to create a picture of a typical translator or interpreter. They came in all sizes, ages and colors, had unique styles of dressing, began their careers in countless different ways and spoke widely varying sets of languages. Many were expatriates but no less were those who still lived close to their place of birth. Since it is was a conference of the American Translators Association, the language of communication was English but English was not the mother tongue of a large percentage of the participants. A journalist visiting the conference would be at lost for words to describe the average translator or interpreter except for the ability to speak more than one language.

The amazing and exhilarating aspect of this conference, one that arises from the fog of several days of talking with people over several days, is that these differences did not create tension or lead to conflict but instead provided a basis for dialogue, understanding and even friendship. It was amazing to discover how a Russian ended up living in Colorado or an American in Germany. I met people who had specific skills way beyond mine. This recognition does not create envy but instead inspires me to learn and improve. Each of us brought a different package of experience and knowledge to the conference and shared it. Synergy, not competition, was the spirit.

In an increasingly sectarian world, I discovered an island of sanity, where diversity is a positive force for understanding and friendship. I do not know how much financial benefit I will gain from the ATA conference but I clearly experienced a gush of fresh air, filled with hope, mutual respect and even some friendships.  On that basis alone, the time and money I invested to attend this conference were more than justified. Variety is the spice of life.

Beyond words

There is a perception that translation and interpretation are matters of word knowledge, i.e., the person must have a rich vocabulary. While that is true, what is no less required is the understanding of context. Regardless of how many meanings of a word translators may know, unless they identify and apply the correct context, their work is poor.

This message was reinforced by the lectures given at the Lecture Day organized by the Israel Translators Association this week in Kfar Hamaccabiah in Tel Aviv. The lecturers, including myself, discussed a wide variety of issues but all emphasized the importance of grasping the context and applying it to the word choice. (https://ita.org.il/?page_id=2718&lang=en)

For example, the opening speaker, Dr. Gabriel Birnbaum, recounted the history of the Language Academy’s Historical Dictionary and noted that the first some 30 years were dedicated solely to collecting and entering source material so that all of the uses of a word could be defined.  Not only that, this collection process is still continuing and now involves more recent material from the 19^th and 20^th century.

Likewise, Ms. Shira Schmidt raised the difficult question of how to translate words linked to a very specific culture such that anybody could understand it. The context was the subtitles to a movie on an ultraorthodox marriage that mentioned words such as rogolach, tchulent and muselman. A non-Jew would have no idea what they meant.  She stressed that the main consideration is the depth of understanding that is required to understand the film. In other words, you can fudge the meaning if it really makes no difference and use a general term even if it is not specific enough.

Ms. Yael Valier, an experienced translator of children’s books from Hebrew to English, brought into the focus the requirement to ask questions about the targeted market before beginning the translation.  Specifically, the person has to know whether the publishers wants a modern style a book, a “vintage” look or an activity book, to name a few types. Regardless of how good the translation, if it does not match the purpose, it will not be accepted.

On the same theme, Ms. Tzviya Macleod broke down the US children’s book market and strongly emphasized that it is formally segmented with strict requirements, unlike the Israeli one. Thus, books that rhyme and those that fail to meet word count and style requirements have almost no chance of being accepted.

The last lecturer was Mr. Dory Manor, who “ruminated” on translating poetry. With a wealth of experience in the field, he illustrated how subjective the term “good translation” is in regards to poems and more importantly, how subjective the readers’ knowledge of symbols and precedents is. Thus, with great trepidation, in some cases he would substitute Jewish symbols for Christian and even Greek mythological ones to allow his reader to understand the meaning of the poem. When in Rome, translate for the Romans, as they say.

If in physics, as Einstein said, all is relative, so it is translation. The choice of words is strongly related to the context of the phrase, raising the profession from a science to an art. Like any writer, the translator or interpreter must go beyond words. 

Premature death notice – in translation

My wife and I just attended the IAPTI (International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters) conference in Valencia, Spain. Some 200 translators and interpreters from five continents participated. A good time was had by all. While there was no formal theme to this conference, we learned (as we already knew) that the reported imminent disappearance of human translation is mistaken. On the contrary, translators and interpreters can look forward to a long, fruitful career.

The conference began appropriately by bridging the past and present. Emily Wilson explained her new translation of Homer’s Odyssey into English in terms of elucidating the many individual perspectives embedded in the narratives of that book, which had been often ignored by previous translation. In other words, her modern translation emphasizes the diversity of viewpoints. On a similar level, Sergio Viaggio make a strong argument for interpreting from the first language into the second language in handing testimony of witnesses in international crimes against humanity hearings by emphasizing the importance of strengthening the voice of the victims, even at the expense of the ease of understanding of the justices. This need to amplify the voice of the underprivileged, a modern concern, was present in many lectures, including in regards to women’s rights, the handicapped and IAPTI African initiative. These were only a few of the lectures and topics.

As for the future of the profession, it is clear that human translators will continue to exist, albeit with adjustment to the modern world. Clearly, machine translation, whether neural translation or Google translate, will take on an increasing role in both general and standardized texts. However, whenever complete understanding is necessary, professional translators have a clear role. As several lectures explained,  one role is to transcreate, transferring the message without using the exact and inappropriate words of the original. Moreover, as Ralf Lemster explained, translators have two main paths to success: attack the mass market applying the technical time-saving tips that Xose Castro succinctly and enthusiastically provided or specialize in narrow area applying the business savvy of Allesandra Vita.

In any case, we left Valencia with hope, direction and optimism and fueled by the content of the lectures, lecturers and participants. The challenge they consciously and unconsciously posed to the translators, that is to grow, observe, adapt and improve, is a bit daunting but actually quite achievable. If we do so, translation will be alive and kicking for a long time to come.

On closer thought

Once a year, some (but not all) Israeli translators leave their Internet caves and mingle at the ITA conference.  While part of the pleasure is networking, the formal activity is three consecutive days of lectures on a whole plethora of topics, some immediately relevant to the person’s work and others completely outside the usual sphere of activity.  Curiously enough, I find the latter much more interesting and ultimately more satisfying. 

This year, we technical translators could learn about Donald Duck in Holland, Hebrew detective books, translating Brazilian-Jewish culture into German and the joys of Jane Austin, to name a few.  Of course, we can also hear practical advice about medical translation, French legal terms, site building, Wikipedia translation tools and the tricks of LinkedIn.  Due to fact that three different lectures were going on any time, I and the other attendees had to make cruel choices.

At first glance, the reason for my preference for the “irrelevant” is my fascination or envy of the challenges my colleagues face.  I do not have to find a parallel structure or alliteration to express the language of Jane Austin.  I don’t have to express the language register of the American detective Sam Spade when he talks with his secretary. I don’t even have to ask which kind of jacket the hero wears.  However, on second thought, I do have to choose my words, albeit different ones, carefully. I have to remember that a French “sentence” is the judgment, not the punishment, when to use the Hebrew as compared to the English name of a disease and thoroughly check my documents for spelling errors.  My range of freedom for translating a sentence may be less but my requirements are no less exacting.

In short, all translators, as communicators, are smiths.  In olden times, physical smiths may have worked with iron, gold or silver, but they all used the same tools, heat and hammer, granted of varying temperatures and size.  Like, we word smiths may treat different materials and vary in out finish, but we share the same tools, specifically words and creativity.  We all belong to the same guild.