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Category Archives: Doc Byrne’s Miscellany

Starting out as a translator or interpreter?

I don’t normally post announcements about events and training courses here but I though I would make an exception just this once. You’ll figure out why soon enough! The Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association is organising a full-day Continuing Professional Development event for anyone who is considering a career as a translator or interpreter. In addition to sessions on working as a freelancer, translation technology and starting out as an interpreter, I’ll be contributing two sessions: one on developing translation specialisms and the other on marketing your services online.

The event will take place on 12th November from 10.30-15.15 at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin and admission is free to members and non-members alike. The organisers do ask that you send an email to give them an idea of numbers if you plan attending. For more details, go to the ITIA website.

Update:
A number of people asked me for a copy of the slides I used for this event. You can download them in PDF format here.

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The Rube Goldberg Approach to Translation

As a general rule I don’t have too much of an issue with doing test translations for new clients or agencies. Some really good agencies even pay translators for these tests. The logic behind test translations is pretty sound because it doesn’t matter what you have on your CV, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the only way to gauge how good you are as a translator is to see a sample of your work.

Recently a translation agency made contact with me and, after the usual introductions, asked if I would like to work with them on technical translation projects. After much to-ing and fro-ing we were both satisfied that we could work together. I outlined my experience and specialisations, they described the type of projects they get and we both agreed that there was great potential for future work. Hell, we might even get matching tattoos. Rates and terms were agreed without so much as a whimper. Everything was going well until the issue of test translations cropped up.

The epitome of inefficiency - a Rube Goldberg Machine

The epitome of efficiency?

This agency had a pretty weird approach to test translations. Instead of a test translation at the start of our working relationship, which is the customary thing to do, they announced that they ask translators to complete short test translations for each project. The translator who produces the best test translation is then awarded the particular project. I read and re-read the email several times to make sure I understood what they were proposing, hoping that I had misunderstood. But no, when they received a job from a client, rather than contacting a translator who they had already screened, tested and knew was suitable, they would start a mini screening process before work could even start on the translation. I can imagine this being pitched to customers as a way of ensuring that “only the best translators are used” for their projects, and it’s probably well intentioned, but does anyone seriously think this is good practice?

Aside from the startling inefficiency of this Rube Goldberg approach to operations management, which disadvantages both customers and translators alike, things became even more interesting when I queried whether translators would be paid for producing numerous test translations over an extended period of time. The hitherto brisk and prompt exchange of emails suddenly ground to a halt. I never received a response and can only assume that it confirms my worst suspicions.

 

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A handshake or poke in the eye?

A while back I read an article by the BBC discussing the declining use of “Dear…” in emails. I’ll admit that at the time I felt my blood pressure rise ever so slightly and I felt the stirrings of a weapons grade rant developing but I managed to restrain myself, resolving instead to go off, calm down and not get so worked up about trivial things.

But then just a couple of days ago I received an email which began:

Jody Byrne,
I am contacting you blah blah blah”

Like opening the door of a lit oven, this abrupt opener scorched my eyebrows and left me red-faced and speechless. The last time someone addressed me like this was when a particularly bad-tempered primary school teacher caught me dismantling my desk at the back of class.  Regaining my composure, I remembered the BBC article. Standards, it seems, really are slipping. From colleagues who write emails like scolding parents to students who address me like drinking buddies on a booze cruise, nobody it seems, knows how to write an email anymore. Now everyone has their own view of what the various salutations mean but for what it’s worth, here’s how my delicate little brain interprets them:

  • Dear …,
    I like this. It’s like a hearty and sincere handshake unless, of course, someone uses both your first and last names in which case I immediately assume it’s junk mail sent by a machine and generally delete it without reading. Okay, you don’t know whether I’m a Mr or Ms but better to take a chance and pick one or even go for “Dear Jody” even if you don’t know me. Anything is better than talking to me like those annoying letters banks send out offering loans I don’t need and can’t afford.

    •  

    Poke in the eye!

    Good day to you, sir.

  • Hi …,
    If I don’t know you, this is like calling around to my house while I’m having dinner. A friend will get away with it but a stranger will be the recipient of a tirade of abuse and need to step lively as I release the hounds. If you simply have to use “hi”, at least wait until the second or third email.

    •  

  • Hey …,
    The email equivalent of slapping someone on the backside, especially if there’s an exclamation mark.

    •  

  • Jody,
    What did I do wrong? Why don’t you like me? Why are you so angry? I think I’m going to cry!

    •  

  • No salutation at all
    Walk right up to me and give me a big ‘ol poke in the eye why don’t you?

    •  

As old-fashioned as it seems, you really can’t go wrong with “Dear…”.

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Hold your horses

Buried under a mountain of paper

No problem, it'll all be ready by morning (Image via Global Nerdy

I received an enquiry from a potential client asking whether I could verbally translate 400,000 words of specialised texts into English, on-site and over the course of 8 days. Now it’s possible that in my old age (I’m approaching another birthday with alarming speed) I’m slowing down ever so slightly but this equates to 50,000 words per day. The most I’ve ever managed to turn around in a day was around 18,000 words and that took a solid 20 hours to do with a good translation memory and it was for information purposes.  Surely nobody could do 50,000 words in a single day?

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How not to write a call for papers

I regularly receive emails with calls for papers for various conferences, journals and whatnot. Usually I’ll have a quick glance at the subject line and then delete the email if it’s not of interest. The subject line of one particular specimen caught my eye with the term “eco-translation”. Not knowing whether it was some form of environmentally aware translation or something else that might be really useful or interesting, I thought I might as well have a look. I’ve read the call several times and I’ll be honest, I still don’t really know what they’re talking about and I’m not sure I want to.  Calls for papers are supposed to inspire, encourage and explain. All this one does is bombard you with jargon, vague descriptions and non-explanations and then give you a bit of a headache.

Kid with blackboard asking what the hell are you talking about

Fuzzy wuzzy was a what now?

Eco-translatology is viewed as an ecological approach to Translation Studies with an interdisciplinary orientation. In the light of the affinity and isomorphism between translational ecosystems and natural ecosystems, Eco-translatology regards the scene of translation as a holistic translational eco-system, and focuses on the relationship between the translator and the translational eco-environment. A translational eco-environment is construed as a highly integrated entity that comprises the actual text, the cultural context and the human agents, as well as other tangible and intangible ingredients. In a translational activity, a translator both adapts and selects (or makes choices) in accordance with the specific configuration of the translational eco-environment. Eco-translatology thus describes and interprets translational activities (including the essence, process, criteria, principles, methods, and phenomena of translation, and the entire translational eco-system) in terms of such ecological principles as holism, relevance, dynamics, balance and harmony, together with ecological esthetics. Ancient Chinese/Eastern philosophies and cultural essentials are projected in this nascent field.

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