General Translator Interview questions

Interview questions with Annette Hernandez, a general translator.

1. What type of translation work have you done professionally?
I have translated letters sent to parents in the school system, letters sent to parents from the nurse and simple documents for a police dept.

2. What is your translation method like? (How do you approach the task of translating?)
I start by doing an initial translation and leave blanks for words I don't know. The I go back and read and start editing.

3. How do you proofread for accuracy? What is the review process for the documents that you translate?
I proofread at least 3x before submitting. I also have a co-worker read for accuracy.

4. Have you used any type of translation software to assist your translation work?
I have not used any software.

5. Have you used any websites to aid your translation work such as Google Translate or Babylon? (These are just some examples)
I don't believe in Google Translate as it is AWFUL. I have never used any websites.

6. What tips do you have for people working as professional translators?
Really read as much in the target language as possible so you can increase your vocabulary.

I would like to thank Annette Hernandez for participating in this interview!

Interview with a Professional Translator

Interview with Gerda Stendell, a professional translator

1. What type of of translation work have you done professionally?

All kinds- we are a professional translation agency, we handle all languages, all fields

2. What is your translation method like? (How do you approach the task of translating?)
We look at the document, to determine the terminology and field, then we offer it to the translator who fits best. The translator immediately starts translating, sentence after sentence

3. How do you proofread for accuracy? What is the review process for the documents you translate?
Once translated, the document is sent to the proofreader who reads through it and checks for accuracy. The proofreader edits the document if needed.

4. Have you used any type of translation software to assist your translation work?
Our translators use Trados

5. Have you used any sites to aid your online translation work such as Google Translate or Babylon? (These are just some examples.)
No, we do not believe we can rely on machine translations, however, we do consult dictionaries.

6. What tips do you have for people working as professional translators?
Train yourself to be very thorough. Translate one sentence after another, be very methodical, to make sure you don't miss text. Make sure you have enough software programs for your computer, because documents come in word, excel, publisher, etc. Train yourself in all of these software programs, and be very computer-knowledgeable. Know how to make columns, boxes, in other words, you must know how to format so that your translation looks exactly like the incoming text.

7. Do you have any final thoughts or comments on translating professionally?
It is a somewhat dangerous field: we translate court documents, medical documents, accounting, and financial statements - if you make translation mistakes, you can be sued, since sometimes life, liberty, and finances are at stake.
Translating books that people read for pleasure is a fun job, but you must make sure you don't just translate word for word, you must preserve nuances and be familiar with slang and street language.

I'd like to thank Gerda Stendell for participating in this interview!

Translation software review infographic

This is an infographic containing information about the history of translation software as well as a review about five different free online translators. The five online translators I reviewed are: freetranslation.com, Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, Promt, and Babylon 10. I used a 100 word paragraph to translate through the five translators and then measured their accuracy depending on how many words were different from the original text, how many words were inverted, and how many words were omitted. The data is presented in the middle of the infographic. Finally, my personal review on the accuracy and clarity of the translations is at the bottom of the infographic.

*Infographic created with the assistance of Jim Fairhurst. Jennifer Moreno Copyright 2013

Trados Software Review- Free Trial

This is a review of the SDL Trados Studio Free Trial software. SDL Trados Studio is a translation software that has the following features: Translation Memory (TM), Context Match, track changes, and automated translation availability.

Video Podcast- tutorial

The way that I typically translate is by having the English version of the document open a the same time that I have the same English version in another monitor screen so that I can translate the text and therefore compare it to the original simply by looking at the original on my first monitor screen. It is highly efficient for a translator to have two screens when translating a document. 

Tutorial coming soon...

Translation App- Word Lens

Translation technology has advanced so much that a new app has been developed that is able to translate words in real time from one language to another, it is called Word Lens. Word Lens is an app available in the App Store and Google Play, and it uses the camera on your smartphone to capture the text and replaces the words with a translation. It is a really cool concept and definitely an app worth checking out if only to just see how advanced and accurate the translations are.

One of my co-workers showed me the app and demonstrated how it works in real time and how accurate it is. It is not 100 percent accurate as to be is expected with this type of software. However, it is an interesting app to see in action. Check out the Word Lens link to see more information about the app and see a video demonstration of how it works exactly. It is not an app for translating documentation but more for short messages such as street signs if you're traveling in a foreign country or something similar. Overall, it is just a fun app for translators to take a look at.

Babylon 10 vs. Google Translate

This post is about Babylon and Google Translate. I found Babylon while looking for reviews of translating software. Babylon offers three different packages each priced at $39 dollars or you can buy a whole package that includes a dictionary for $159.80. Babylon has close to 80 language options. In this post, the free trial of Babylon Desktop Translator is used. The post will compare Babylon Desktop Translator to Google Translate. Google Translate is a free service offered by Google. It is easy to use, and has 72 language options.

Here is the text:

Swing Dance encompasses many dances.  I think of Swing Dance as East Coast Swing, and Lindy Hop.  East Coast is a six count dance, and Lindy Hop is an eight count dance.  East Coast Swing came from Lindy Hop.  Lindy Hop started in the late 1920s and Twist Mouth George introduced the step at the Savoy Ballroom.  However, Twist Mouth George didn’t come up with the name, Shorty Snowden did.  Shorty drew inspiration from newspaper headlines, LINDYS HOP, about Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic (Govenar, 2004).

 

Here is the text translated by Babylon 10:

Swing Dance abarca muchos bailes. Creo que de Swing Dance como Costa Este giro y Lindy Hop. Costa Oriental es una danza de seis, y Lindy Hop es un ocho de danza. East Coast Swing de Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop comenzó a finales de la década de 1920 y Girar boca George presenta el paso en el Savoy Ballroom. Sin embargo, el Giro Boca George no viene el nombre, Shorty Snowden. Shorty de inspiración a los titulares de la prensa, LINDYS HOP, de Charles Lindbergh de vuelo a través del Atlántico

First, Babylon had problems with Swing Dance but not Lindy Hop.  I expect the dance styles to keep their original names.  Babylon sometimes translates Swing Dance, as Costa Oriental and sometimes it translates East Coast Swing as Costa Este giro, and other times it leaves them alone.  It also didn’t translate Savoy Ballroom, which I liked.  It seems acceptable for proper nouns to keep their original language.   Babylon left Shorty’s nickname alone but translated Twist Mouth Georges nickname.  The inconsistencies are minor frustrations for such a small text.   

Also, Babylon cut off the text and didn’t include (Govenar, 2004).  There is a word limit to the free trial, and a translation limit.  You can only use the translate bubble five times for free.  

 

Babylon works in Microsoft Word, so if you click on red text in Microsoft Word, Babylon takes over on the suggestions.  I found Babylon’s suggestions to be nicer than Word, but I still like having Word’s choices.

 

Here is the text translated by Google: 

La danza del oscilación abarca muchos bailes. Creo que de la danza del oscilación como el Este giro Coast, y Lindy Hop. Costa del Este es una danza de seis conde y Lindy Hop es un baile conteo de ocho. Este Coast Swing vino de Lindy Hop. Lindy Hop comenzó a finales de los años 1920 y Giro Boca George introdujo el paso en el Savoy Ballroom. Sin embargo, Twist Boca George no estaba a la altura con el nombre, shorty Snowden hizo. Chiquito se inspiró en titulares de prensa, Lindys HOP, acerca del vuelo de Charles Lindbergh a través del Atlántico
 

Google was inconsistent with East Coast Swing, but left Lindy Hop alone.  Google didn’t fare much better with the English nicknames.  Once it left Twist alone, but it also translated it once too.  It altered shorty’s name both times.  I don’t know why it lowercased the s.  For Google Translate, it might do it different each time because you can suggest better translations.  One of the nice features in Google Translate is the ability to change sentence phrases.  If you mouse over parts of the translation, Google will offer additional suggestions that might work better for what you are trying to achieve.  

Here is a screen shot comparing how each program translates one word at a time.  I like the interface of Google Translate better.  It feels more in depth.  

 

Babylon 10 vs. Google Translate

For my personal use, Google Translate is fine.  However, I did enjoy using Babylon.  If you do use any service like Google Translate or Babylon 10 for official use, you will need to edit it.  Or you can pay someone to edit it for you.  Babylon offers a human translation service and you can leave comments for the Translator.  It costs $13.76 to translate the 86 words used as an example in this post.

My name is Robert and I write a blog called Swing Dance Dallas. http://swingdanceutd.blogspot.com

 

Govenar A. (2004). Stompin’ at the Savoy: The story of Norma Miller.  Somerville, MA:  Candlewick.