The peaks and valleys of translation quotes – what does it all mean for translation buyers?

 

                                                                [Mountain and foggy valley*]

Anybody that has ever asked for a quote for translation of documents probably was rather surprised by the price range. The highest proposal can easily be two times or more than the lowest one. The reasons for this high variance include both personal situations and market conditions. For the translation buyers, I present some ways to process and interpret the rates in order to identify the most appropriate translator.

Both individual considerations and market realities affect specific proposals. Since translators operate on the Internet, including email and professional sites, geography does not play a major role in limiting potential customers. Translators in Germany and India compete for the same buyers. However, the local standard of living creates a minimum level of effective income. In simple terms, translators have to know how many hours at a certain rate they have to work to pay the rent and buy groceries. In that sense, low and high are also relative terms in relation to the local standard of living. Of course, many freelance translators choose low rates as the consider it as a side-occupation, closer to a hobby than an occupation. On the other spectrum, other linguists need to make a living from their work and demand commensurate rates as they wish to live at a certain standard of living. On a more conscious level, many translators deliberately choose a strategy, including low- or high-end pricing. To explain, if income is defined volume multiplied by rate, some prefer to increase volume by opting for lower rates while others opt for rate by seeking deep-pocketed buyers. Experience level  often influences this choice. With experience, it is natural and healthy to demand higher rates while new translators are hesitant or nervous about demanding upmarket rates.

All these issues are overshadowed by a major market force in translation: nobody knows what the market rate is (see post). Freelancers and even some agencies rarely post translation rates. National laws may even prevent it as some countries consider rate discussion as price fixing. Even among colleagues, most translators considerate it “indelicate” to ask how much the other is charging. This fog leaves everybody in the dark. Even with years of experience, it is often unclear whether a given rate for a given job in a given year is high or low. Thus, aside from individual choices, translation quotes can vary greatly simply because nobody knows what the market rate is.

The issue is how should a translation buyer process the proposals and identify the most appropriate. The usual policy of automatically eliminating the highest and lowest is not relevant as the price does not necessarily reflect quality or base cost for the service provider.  It is important to keep in mind that agency quotes generally do not specify the actual cost of the translator. This rate, especially for the some of the larger agencies, can be rather low. The ideal buying process is to first identify the level of specialized knowledge required for the translation, the level of quality required for the actual use of the translated material and the budget. For example, if an attorney needs translation of a foreign court decision to submit to a local court, such a translation requires thorough understanding of the concepts, must be completely accurate in terms of content and should be stylistically appropriate for court use. Otherwise, the translation is defective or useless. By contrast, staying in the legal field, the translation of a series of legal documents for purposes of firm-level identification of issues requires far less expertise and polishing. The message must be clear. In the first case, it may be worthwhile choosing the high bid as the resulting translation will be “less expensive” than that produced a translator with less expertise. In the second case, even a translator with little experience at a commensurate price but sufficient knowledge may be able to provide a “good enough” result at a lower price. The key is to identify (as much as possible) the most appropriate translators for a specific job and then take the budget into account.

Like a statistician facing too much outlier data, translation buyers are sometimes confused by the lack of any industry standard rate range. The key to dealing with this variance is to focus on the solution, i.e., an appropriately knowledgeable translator as demonstrated by previous exposure to the genre, formal or informal, regardless of the level of experience, for the quality required of the job and then compare prices, obviously taking into account budget limits. It is important to remember that, in translation, to a certain degree, but only for a certain degree, you get what you pay for.

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These are a few of my favorite things - The Braude College of Engineering 16th Research Conference

 

[candies*]

Multi-disciplinary research conferences create certain feelings - among them ignorance and wonder. Researchers in many different fields present their ongoing projects to colleagues in non-related fields. The curious result is most of the audience doesn’t fully understand some or all aspects of the presentation. At the same time, the listeners, or at least I, gain an appreciation of new topics and, no less important, the brilliant minds of their colleagues.

As a mere English lecturer without a science background, all of the topics were new to me with quite a few being quite incomprehensible except for the main idea, partly because my knowledge of math is rather limited. Still, these presentations opened previously unknown worlds and perspectives and gave me hope for practical solutions for important current problems in the foreseeable future. Among those presentations that I was able to follow, I wish to highlight several that especially piqued my interest, notably those discussing developments in health care and environmental solutions as well as a few that related to more obscure but still potentially relevant issues.

In the area of health, Dr. Iris Weitz discussed the use of copper oxide nanoparticles as a tool in healing and preventive health. Similar to gold and silver, she and her colleagues discovered that copper has certain properties even in a nanoparticle form that can help the body fight illnesses. At the same particle level, Prof. Sarit Sivan presented research on how nanoparticles containing pain killers can be used to ease eye pain and allow proper rest for patients in the first 72 hours after laser surgery. In the both of these lectures in TedTalk form, both the science and implications were quite clear and thought-provoking

In regards to environment issues, Associate Prof. Essam Sabah, in conjunction with several European colleagues, presented research that shows how it may be possible to use jelly fish mucus, which the animal uses to clean the water around it, to capture and bind nanoparticles of plastic and improve water treatment systems. In another lecture, Dr. Lilach Lasur Kruh explained how the search for the original DNA in wild humus plants may help fight mushroom infections in cultured plants and the challenges involved in implementing the solution. These lectures reinforced the notion that science does not always have to reinvent the wheel, only find where it is buried.

On a more esoteric but no less useful note, Dr. Anat Dahan presenting findings on research demonstrating how cooperation synchronizes brains. The testing involved monitoring brain activities when two individuals worked on the same task together. The implications of such development could be far reaching. Dr. Elad Denenberg discussed creating algorithms that would allow satellites to automatically avoid the rapidly-increasing quantity of space garbage floating around the earth. The major challenge is to make the calculation simple enough that the satellite can make the calculations autonomously and minimize waste of fuel in maneuvering. The need for research in these fields seem obvious now.

The pleasure of college research conferences is the magnificent combination of incredible knowledge with the ability and experience in expressing this knowledge. All the presenters expanded and enlightened the minds of the listeners. I merely presented a few of my favorite things. I wish to thank the College and the conference organizers for the event. I am looking forward to next year’s session.

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Linguistic false cousins or the danger of a little knowledge

 

[cat with lion in mirror*]

Through historical events, languages encounter each other and leave linguistic marks. Specifically, foreign roots enter a language, often providing a term for a concept that needed a word. However, the meaning of foreign words sometimes takes on a twist. This modification can confuse natives of the original language, who think that they understand the meaning. I will give some examples of this phenomenon, citing sentences in French-English and Hebrew-English.

Let’s start with a nice marketing sentence in French:

J’ignore que vous réussirez à commercialiser et vulgariser le produit.

An English speaker unfamiliar with business French would find this sentence slightly confusing even though the words seem understandable. First of all, why would someone ignore a future event? Second, it is not clear what the concept of commercialization refers to. Is private usage the opposite status? Finally, the purpose of marketing is to add status. Therefore, why would a company want to make it seem vulgar, of low quality? For clarity’s sake, the proper translation of this sentence to English is “I don’t know whether you will succeed in marketing and popularizing the product”.

Going the opposite direction, English to French, we have this fine academic phrase: evolution of a formidable society. A French person with minimal knowledge of English would be unsure of this context here and may misunderstand it. First, evolution in French can also refer to conscious development as compared to evolutionary probability. Second, formidable in French generally means wonderful (see song), which is not true in English where it means strong. Finally, society in French can also refer to an organized business unit, a corporation in English, creating an ambiguity. Therefore, a French person could understand the phrase to indicate the plan  to create a wonderful company. The actual context could be the development of a city state such as Sparta over time, which was a major power at its peak.

Hebrew has also adopted English expressions quite freely over the last 100 years or so but not always retained their original meaning, thus creating a bit of confusion to visitors with minimal Hebrew. Let’s consider this Corona period statement:

לבקש ללבוש פוטר בזמן הסטאז' הוא שאלת קיטבג.

[levakesh lilbosh futer b’zman hastaj hu sha’alat kitbag]

Three words are of interest. What is footer (third word)? In practice, it is a fabric but refers to sweat pants. The stage (fifth word) is not a stage in the context of the theatre or planning but refers to an apprenticeship, as in some parts of Europe. The last term is completely obscure (and admittedly a bit slangy). It does mean a kit bag but refers to a stupid question that one should not ask, as in “Sargeant, do we need to bring our kit bag?”, which leads to all the soldiers having to carry one. So, the phrase means it is not a good idea to ask to be allowed to wear pajamas when you are an apprentice. Clear, right?

It is convenient to know some roots in a foreign language when you need to decipher meanings. However, it is risky to assume that the resulting words have the exact same meaning. A little knowledge can be very dangerous.

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The BP Winter Translation Forum – a feast for the mind

 

[salad ready for preparation*]

This past week, I had the great pleasure of participating both as a speaker and listener in the online BP Winter Translation Forum. With more than 50 lectures in several languages over three days, there was plenty of food for thought for any translator. If one definition of success of a conference is that the participant leaves with one new perspective and one concrete tehcnique to apply, this event far exceeded expectations. Among the various themes, one of the most interesting ones was the active choice to follow one’s passion and choose small niches. The speakers showed that it is possible to combine work and pleasure.

Examples of passion motivating translator choices were Gabriela Kouahla and Jennifer Case. Ms. Kouahla identified and focuses on aspiring academics in North Africa that require assistance in preparing articles for publication. Correspondingly, she actively caters to their needs and payment conditions. She feels part of their long-term success while ensuring her own long term financial stability. In her case, social activism and making a living go hand in hand. Likewise, Ms. Case, an Arabic to English translator, relishes to go where most translators fear to tread, political and social causes. She attempts to fully express the idea, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for some parties in the translation cycle, while challenging public stereotypes. She does not fear criticism and, thus, channels her personal passion into her professional work. For these translators, their belief system fuels their work.

Two of the speakers dissected two large markets and showed the various submarkets that exist. Eman Abdu showed the fascinating and diverse world of Arabic from Morocco to Iraq, highlighting the other languages that influence its modern vocabulary, including Amazigh (Berber), French, English and Italian. She noted that, given the wide range of forms of spoken Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, a constructed language, serves as a bridge between cultures, a bit like English in India. Also breaking monolithic myths was Heddwan Newton, who illustrated how many types of English exist. These forms include UK and US English but also Australian aborigine and Italian, to name just a few. She highlighted the importance of being aware of the local variances by noting several terms that have rather different meanings depending on the culture, such as tabling a motion and root. From these lecturers, it became clear that each of these language subgroups are potential niches for qualified translators.

Of course, the conference treated many other translation-related topics, including, but fortunately not focusing on, AI. The more “practical lectures” included Chris Durbin’s advice to new translators (once in English and once in French, WOW!), Uri Bruck’s explanation of TM matches and my lecture on email communication when translators make errors. See the program for a complete list of all the lectures. To those whose names I did not mention, it is because I was unable to either attend the presentation or ran out of room in this post. Please do not be offended. I wish to thank Csaba Bán and his staff for an amazingly smooth experience.

Overall, the BP Winter Translation Forum was well organized, informative and wide-ranging. Almost without exception, the lecturers were organized and knowledgeable (the first is not a given taking into the account the introverted nature of many translators). There was a plenty of food for thought for one and all. I look forward to attending more such conferences.

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Housing foundations

 

[Foundations of an old house*]

English is the ultimate collector of words, building on roots from any language it encounters. Yet, sometimes, meanings get lost or significantly changed in transition. To demonstrate, I present an interesting short survey of various words in English for a dwelling.

[Colorful town houses]

Both house and home originated from the same proto-German root khusan but went slightly different directions later on haim keeping its original idea of a permanent residence and hus, derived from hide, both the verb and noun, referring to a shelter.

[Irish manor]

Of course, not houses are created equal. For the rich and famous, their abode may be a mansion, from the Latin root manere, to stay, implying where the land owners actually spent lived most of the time. A slightly more modest option is a villa, clearly a Latin/old Italian word, which originally referred to a summer home, like a dacha in Russia, but now implying a permanent detached residence. For the super-rich, they may even own a chateau, literally a castle, although it has been quite few centuries since its residents needed protection from attack aside from paparazzi. On the other scale, in hot climates, a bungalow is a very reasonable option, logical as it refers to a Bengalese traditional house. The old forest cottage, merely a hut, is now rather common in the cities and has grown in size. A temporary soldiers tent in Spanish, a  barraca, became a fixed residence for soldiers, i.e., barracks. A  a home away from home in the mountain for herders known as a chalet is rather expensive now.

[Apartment building]

For those of us that cannot afford or choose not to live a detached life style, an apartment is the standard option. Curiously, the word literally means as it sounds, a separated place in Italian. Somehow, when I hear the neighbors moving furniture above me, I don’t feel so separated. Its English cousin, a flat, also has a bit of twisted journey. It is derived from an old French word for flat, the adjective. It is funny how today many English housing units are on two if not more stories. In the US, an apartment that is bought, not rented, is called a condominium, which literally means shared living, which is at least honest. Its upscale neighbor, the penthouse, was apparently an addition to the building as originally referred to an appendage, an added building in old French, apparently someone similar to the luxury suites that stadiums add to establish stadiums to increase revenue.

[Shanty town]

Alas, not everybody is fortunate enough to enjoy reasonable quality housing. Some people live in tenements, dilatated apartments, which originally implied actually owning the place, unlike today. In the country, many poor families grow up in a shack, a Mexican-Spanish word for an adobe hut,  a structure that experienced a material switch to wood. A lumberjack’s temporary home, a shanty, became a last resort of the unemployed and homless in some countries. With a history that is no less sad, crowing up on a croft in Scotland was no pleasure but it did have land and provide something to eat as it was a short land allotment until the English threw the residents off the land.

[Yurt]

Some housing is temporary by definition. The basic English word tent is derived from the Latin verb tendere, to stretch, which makes sense to any person that ever put one up. Other cultures considered home to be where the hearth is regardless of its permenance.  The Turkish root of tree lent its name to the yurt as it provided a root to those tribes. Likewise, the teepee literally means they dwell, technically the truth. The more northern igloo is merely a house. Some homes are born to roam, as Bruce Springsteen would say.

[Toy house on lawn]

So, whatever your pad, technically a bundle of straw, is, be thankful for a roof over your head and consider the magnificent collection of words the English language has succeeded in hoarding over the centuries, thus creating a fine foundation of words to describe your humble abode, often with changes to their original meanings.

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Ghosts of Thanksgiving past

[Thanksgiving table*]

Every country has at least one annual event that transcends differences in religion, generation, race and background. For the United States, in my opinion at least, that occasion is Thanksgiving, a time when extended families make great effort to get together and enjoy each other’s company.

There is a universal element in Thanksgiving. People of all stripes and colors get together and eat the same menu, with small variations. Even when alternatives are far tastier (my brother persuaded my mother to make paella one year), it is somehow sacrilegious to not eat turkey this Thursday. Even more notable, three generations of a family strive to sit together and talk, not a common occurrence in the United States. The table is set for a royal feast, with all the finest pieces being used. For the children, it is a wonderful time to play with cousins without close parental supervision. Thanksgiving is above all a family occasion.

Of course, each family has its own traditions. In my family, there was a children’s table, with the symbolic presence of my great uncle who, due to a stroke, could barely speak. Various relatives brought their specialties, including my aunt who made the incredible apple and pumpkin pies. As we grew older, we children were allowed to have gin and topic as we munched on homemade guacamole. I would play hearts, the card game, with aunt and great aunt, who would curse to the great shame of her daughter and our amusement. My father would always read the Art Buchwald column on explaining Thanksgiving to the French, still a classic. Whether we children were unaware or did not care, the adults would quietly criticize each other despite their best efforts to keep their mouths shut. I think we found their remarks irrelevant and amusing. Who cares if a certain aunt does not know how to dress properly? My cousin and I would play piano, she far better as she was much more serious than I and still is. It was a special day.

I wish I had a picture to show you of those occasions. However, this is a Thanksgiving past, before the time of cell phones and, more importantly, an awareness of the importance of taking pictures on such occasion. I believe there almost everybody there has a sense that this event was a given, an occasion that would happen every year, year in, year out, and somehow exempt from the effects of time.

Alas, nothing stops time, not even Thanksgiving. The generation of my grandparents has long gone to the grave. Of my parents’ generation, only my mother (96 years old) is alive but no longer capable of preparing a feast for 4 people, let along 20+. As for the children, alas, we have drifted, geographically and/or emotionally. Some of us belong to our adopted families. I have not lived in the US for some 35 years now nor celebrated Thanksgiving in that period.

Unlike in Dickens’ book, in my case, there is no ghost of Thanksgiving present. My brother will celebrate the holiday with this wife’s family. I am not sure that I will remember that Thanksgiving is Thursday at all as there is no hint of the holiday in Israel, especially with the war going on. My mother will be alone. I do share and concur with her comment: she can live without celebrating Thanksgiving because her Thanksgivings were so wonderful. So, ghosts of Thanksgiving past are loyal friends.

To those celebrating the holiday Thursday , treasure the day even if the food is a bit heavy and the family is a bit annoying. The memories are priceless.

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Non-OEM language learning

 

[brain in four parts*]

Sammuel Beckett is the exception proving the rule. While he only learned French at the university, he wrote many of his works in French, including En Attendant Godot, Waiting for Godot for those that only read English. Try to find another person, not even an author, that is equally fluent in a language only learned as an adult. My personal experience with this challenge is having lived in Israel for some 35 years in a Hebrew speaking house and having a French mother that has lived in the United States for over 70 years. As fluent as a second language can be, it is not native.  An acquired language is different from a mother tongue in terms of crossover, vocabulary retention and confidence. A second language learned as an adult is not the same as your mother tongue.

Most second-language speakers suffer from  having syntax and grammar elements from their first language incorrectly entering their adopted language. My personal bugaboo is common weather expressions in English, specifically “it is cold outside” (or hot)  because I frequently forget that Hebrew does not require the it is, i.e., the Hebrew expression translates as "cold outside".  Another example is many Israelis never switch the future to the present in future clauses, such as “when I wake up, I will call you”, which comes out “when I will wake up” as in Hebrew. Russian speakers have no intuitive understanding of which article (the and a) to use in writing English and seemingly use the lottery system in English. Even after years, language interference never completely disappears.

Over time, there is one struggle that only worsens, specifically the ability to remember words at night or at times of stress. It is amazing how difficult it is to speak a foreign language at 11:00 at night or when a customs official is asking pointed questions. Suddenly, all of your vocabulary goes into hiding, leaving you talking like an idiot (and being treated as one also). Of course, it is a rare person that can do mental arithmetic in a foreign language. Apparently, foreign languages don’t like clutch time very much

Psychologically, the greatest difference between native and acquired languages is assurance. I will dispute (and confidently do so with pedantic editors when they mark up my translations) the correctness of my English, my native language. On the other hand, it seems that the default mode with acquired languages is that the native speaker is correct, which is not always true, even when the foreigner actually studied and understands the formal rules. This feeling of “what do I know” is generally stronger than the academic knowledge of language rules. When it some to acquired languages, when in doubt, a person doesn’t know. This lack of confidence does not disappear or even dissipate with age.

Knowledge and study are two different matters, including in regard to foreign languages. What people absorb in their early years is a certainty, even if incorrect, while what they formally studied later on is a matter of doubt, even if exact. Please do not take me wrong. To acquire a language is a wonderful experience. Even if the native languages contaminates it, words seems to run and hide and we lack trust in our judgment, conversing with a person in their native language makes you a superstar and a citizen of the world even if we don’t reach the level of Sammuel Beckett.

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