Metaglossia: The Translation World

Discussion among translators, entitled: Validité de l'assermentation "Traducteur Juré".

Discussion among translators, entitled: List of standard subject categories for a translation memory (TM) wanted.

I am utterly sick of the right-wing trolling that the mods are permitting on this forum so I thought I'd make a post about religion. Lots of anti-theists here like to appeal to English translations of ancient texts as proof of how bad the religion is, ignoring all possibility that interpretation plays a factor in how the meaning of that text comes into being. Words rarely translate directly into other languages while carrying the same nuance because the meaning of words is largely a product of the consensus of how they are used in a culture, and different languages tend to have different cultures. For example, "boef" in French just means "cow", but thanks to the Norman invasion "boef" entered English as "beef" and developed the connotation of "cows for eating" rather than "the animal for pulling plows and wagons" because the Normans, the people who used the French word most, were the people most likely to actually be able to afford eating lots of beef.

Well, a great example of just how ridiculously inaccurate a translation can be came up in my studies of Anglo-Saxon. I'm translating passages of AElfric's translation of Genesis from Latin to Old English into Modern English as a study exercise, and I came across a funny bit in his rendition of the story of Lot in Sodom. When it describes the evils of Sodom, it says words which I would translate as: "The people were so disgraceful, that they were full of perversity that went against nature, that (what they did) was so foul that it shames me to openly say it, but it wasn't at all with women." You don't need to be a Biblical scholar I hope to recognize that AElfric made an editorial decision there.

So I guess there's not a super huge amount of discussion value to this, I just wanted a break from mindless partisan cheerleading. But the next time you're about to argue, "But it says in the Bible...!" have a good think about who wrote that translation and what their agenda might have been.

Endangered languages and language death: what is to be done?

Workflow in maintaining translations - posted in Multi-Language Support: I'd like to share and discuss some things I've come across maintaining the German translation.Ryan has outlined a way to get the translatable files in PW:...

Professors Jennifer Lind and Colleen Boggs have teamed up to bring to Dartmouth The Op-Ed Project, a program that teaches professors how to give academic research a voice in public forums.
“As faculty members, we have particularly important knowledge to contribute, but our training is generally not geared towards preparing us for thought leadership outside of our classrooms and our specialized scholarly contexts,” says Boggs, an associate professor of English. “The Op-Ed Project will offer training in how to translate the knowledge and communicative skills we have towards a larger audience.”
The Op-Ed Project’s mission is to “increase the range of voices and quality of ideas we hear in the world.” The Op-Ed Project, based in New York City, has also led programs at New York University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of California, San Francisco, and Yale University.
Lind first heard of The Op-Ed Project in 2010, while taking part in a fellows program in Washington, D.C. Upon returning to campus, she sent an email to colleagues to gauge interest in bringing the program to Dartmouth. Boggs was particularly intrigued by the idea, and Lind and Boggs discovered they had similar questions about Dartmouth’s voice in public conversation.

South Africa’s wine industry has launched a new online dictionary, with wine terms described for the first time in three languages: English, Afrikaans and Xhosa.

The online dictionary project, containing 3,500 wine terms, reflects the changing nature of South Africa’s wine industry, as black economic empowerment schemes actively encourage broader involvement in the trade.

Translation Forum Russia: A Place to Find New Partners in Russia and the CIS

21.08.2012
Translation Forum Russia 2012, an international translation conference, will be held in Kazan, Russia, from 28 to 30 September 2012. The event is the largest conference of its kind in Western Europe, and last year the number of attendees totalled five hundred. The conference will be held in both English and Russian, and simultaneous interpreting will be provided for all sessions.
Each year the conference brings together the managers of the major language service providers in Russia and the CIS such as Logrus, Janus, Roid, and Exprimo. This makes TFR an ideal venue for those wishing to expand their business to new markets in Russia and the CIS, and find new partners and sub-contractors.
”We have made every effort to fill our program with as many events as possible that encourage meeting new people and informal communication, including a welcome drink, networking, coffee breaks, excursions and, last but not least, the gala night,’ says Yelena Kislova, founder of the Business Bureau of the Association of Interpreters, and a co-organizer of TFR. ”The conference is the right place to meet new business contacts. And what’s more, as the third day of the conference coincides with the industry’s holiday (Translator’s Day), we will pay particular attention to the closing part of the conference. We will have some surprises for you!”
Another reason that the conference appeals to industry professionals is the Customer Section which was set up this year. Among those companies who have already confirmed their attendance at TFR are Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Kaspersky Lab, and TNK.

23 August 2012

Translation Forum Russia − A Place to Find New Partners in Russia and the CIS
Translation Forum Russia 2012, an international translation conference, will be held in Kazan, Russia, from 28 to 30 September 2012. The event is the largest conference of its kind in Western Europe, and last year the number of attendees totalled five hundred. The conference will be held in both English and Russian, and simultaneous interpreting will be provided for all sessions.

Each year the conference brings together the managers of the major language service providers in Russia and the CIS such as Logrus, Janus, Roid, and Exprimo. This makes TFR an ideal venue for those wishing to expand their business to new markets in Russia and the CIS, and find new partners and sub-contractors.

”We have made every effort to fill our program with as many events as possible that encourage meeting new people and informal communication, including a welcome drink, networking, coffee breaks, excursions and, last but not least, the gala night,’ says Yelena Kislova, founder of the Business Bureau of the Association of Interpreters, and a co-organizer of TFR. ”The conference is the right place to meet new business contacts. And what’s more, as the third day of the conference coincides with the industry’s holiday(Translator’s Day), we will pay particular attention to the closing part of the conference. We will have some surprises for you!”

Another reason that the conference appeals to industry professionals is the Customer Section which was set up this year. Among those companies who have already confirmed their attendance at TFR are Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Kaspersky Lab, and TNK.

“Understanding the needs of actual customers and tendencies among them is what makes successful LSPs stand out,” says Konstantin Dranch, author of the Reputation Ranking of the top one hundred Russian LSPs (translationrating.ru) and a member of the TFR organizing committee. “Actual customers represent the conference’s most prestigious attendees.”

Traditionally, the conference will be followed by training sessions and workshops that will interest both LSP managers and freelance translators.

The following training sessions will be held in English:

Jessica Rathke. How to Create a Performance-Driven Sales Team in the Translation Industry. (2 October 2012, En)
Doug Lawrence. Being seen on the EN-web for Russian Translation Service Providers. (1 October 2012, En)
Bob Donaldson. Project Management−Principles & Processes. (1 October 2012, En)
ProVerbum. Professional Translation: Today’s Requirements and Technologies (1-7 October 2012, individual days can be purchased, En<>Ru)

Discussion among translators, entitled: How important is having a website in the translation industry?.

Discussion among translators, entitled: Poll: When proofreading other translators' works, how satisfied are you with the quality in general?.

Discussion among translators, entitled: Into how many languages can you successfully translate? .

Je suis parfois surpris par l'utilisation du tutoiement dans des traductions de films ou de livres anglais et je me demandais s'il y avait des règles plus ou moins précises à son usage. Ou si c'était livré au choix du traducteur, par exemple en fonction de son appréciation du contexte.

Discussion among translators, entitled: Merging Translation Memories in Trados Studio 2009.

Discussion among translators, entitled: What should fair translation rates be for professional translators.

Discussion among translators, entitled: Subtitling Software.

Is this a good idea?I think it would help with vo…...

Discussion among translators, entitled: What is a bad translation?.

Discussion among translators, entitled: Define and Explain the Difference between Translation, Editing, Proofreading.

I want to become an interpreter when I finish scho…...

Discussion among translators, entitled: How do you translate swear words? Does it depend on the culture?.

Open QuestionShow me another »
Can I improve my language skills through translating?

For those who have German as a working language, this forum for terminology questions can be of  great help. http://www.terminologieforum.de/index.php The forum is thought to be a free place for t...

Discussion among translators, entitled: Merging Translation memories.

Discussion among translators, entitled: How much should one charge for translating a book.