In This Issue

April 2010 Volume XXXIX Number 4 The A Publication of the American Translators Association CHRONICLE

In this issue: Translating Informed Consent Forms The Language of Cosmetics The Essential Project Manager ATA Professional Liability Insurance Program Administered by Hays Affinity Solutions

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To apply, visit http://ata.haysaffinity.com or call (866) 310-4297 Immediate, no-obligation automated quotes furnished to most applicants! April 2010 Volume XXXIX American Translators Association 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590 • Alexandria VA 22314 USA Number 4 Tel: +1-703-683-6100 • Fax: +1-703-683-6122 Contents April 2010 E-mail: [email protected] • Website: www.atanet.org A Publication of the American Translators Association

12 12 How Do You Do That? By Ewandro Magalhães (Translated from the original Portuguese by Barry Slaughter Olsen) Explore some counterintuitive processes that make simultaneous interpreting possible and learn the answer to a question that has puzzled interpreters for ages—but the answer may surprise you. 15 Translating Informed Consent: Methodological and Ethical Issues By Eric S. Bullington Informed consent is a critical ethical component of modern research involving human subjects. Accordingly, the 21 translation of informed consent forms is critical to valid and ethical cross-cultural and cross-linguistic research studies. 21 A Closer Look at the Cosmetics Industry and the Role of Marketing Translation By Agnes Meilhac The language of cosmetics is a blend of technology and creativity. Translators working with marketing copy for cosmetic products are challenged continually to draw on their creative resources and knowledge. 26 Project Manager: The Maestro of Every Translation Project By George Rimalower Much like an orchestra conductor, a project manager must carefully guide the finest professionals in their craft to create a finished product that will be enthusiastically received by its audience.

26 Columns and Departments

6 Our Authors 37 Certification Exam Information 7 From the President 37 New Certified Members and Active Member Review 8 From the President-Elect 38 Success by Association 9 From the Executive Director 39 Upcoming Events 30 The Entrepreneurial Linguist 40 Dictionary Review 32 Blog Trekker 42 The Translation Inquirer 34 GeekSpeak 44 Humor and Translation 36 Member News 46 Directory of Language Services

3 The ATA Chronicle (ISSN 1078-6457) is published monthly, except bi-monthly in November/December, by the American Translators Association, 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, Virginia, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The ATA Chronicle, 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, We Want You! Alexandria, VA 22314 USA. The American Translators Association (ATA) was established in 1959 as a not-for-profit professional society to foster and support the professional The ATA Chronicle enthusiastically encourages development of translators and interpreters and to promote the translation and interpreting professions. members and nonmembers to submit articles of The subscription rate for a member is $43 (included in the dues payment). The U.S. subscription rate for interest. For Submission Guidelines, log onto a nonmember is $65. Subscribers in Canada and www.atanet.org/chronicle. The ATA Chronicle Mexico add $25; all other non-U.S. subscribers add $45. Single copies are available for $7 per issue. is published 11 times per year, with a ©2010 American Translators Association combined November/December issue.

Reprint Permission: Submission deadlines are two months Requests for permission to reprint articles should be sent prior to publication date. to the editor of The ATA Chronicle at [email protected].

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Proofreader Sandra Burns Thomson Art Directors Advertising Ellen Banker Amy Peloff Directory 5 Bromberg & Associates, LLC Advertising www.InterpreterEducation Jeanene Harris Online.com [email protected] SDL International +1-703-683-6100, ext. 3003 48 Fax: +1-703-683-6122 www.translationzone.com Executive Director 20 Star Group America, LLC Walter Bacak www.star-group.net [email protected]

Membership and General Information Maggie Rowe [email protected] website: www.atanet.org

Moving? Find an error with your address? Send updates to: Looking for continuing education events in your area? The ATA Chronicle 225 Reinekers Lane Check out ATA’s online events calendar at Suite 590 www.atanet.org/calendar. Alexandria, VA 22314 USA Fax +1-703-683-6122 [email protected] 4 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Read All About It! ATA Division Newsletters Catch up on division activities and stay current with language- and specialty- specific information pertinent to your field. How? Just download the latest batch of division newsletters: French Language Division À propos Blog www.ata-divisions.org/FLD German Language Division For more information interaktiv about the courses or to sign up, visit our www.ata-divisions.org/GLD website or call us at Interpreters Division 313-871-0080. The Interpreters Voice www.ata-divisions.org/ID Korean Language Division Hangul Herald www.ata-divisions.org/KLD Language Technology Division Language Tech News www.ata-divisions.org/LTD Literary Division Source www.ata-divisions.org/LD Medical Division Caduceus www.ata-divisions.org/MD Nordic Division Aurora Borealis www.ata-divisions.org/ND Portuguese Language Division PLData www.ata-divisions.org/PLD Spanish Language Division Center for International U.S. Department of State: Intercambios Disaster Information Response to Haitian www.ata-divisions.org/SPD Registration Database Earthquake www.usaid.gov/helphaiti/ www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/ Slavic Languages Division cidi_offers.html ha/earthquake/index.htm SlavFile www.ata-divisions.org/SLD Translation Without Borders White House: Haitian www.tsf-twb.org Earthquake Relief Translation Company Division www.whitehouse.gov/ TCD News USAID Responds to HaitiEarthquake www.ata-divisions.org/TCD Haiti Earthquake www.usaid.gov/helphaiti Division membership is included in your ATA annual dues. Visit www.atanet.org/divisions/division_admin.php to join any or all ATA divisions without additional fees.

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 5 Our Authors April 2010

Eric S. Bullington is an ATA-certified French→English translator, Agnes Meilhac is a graduate of École Supérieure d’Interprètes et specializing in biomedical and pharmaceutical translation. Prior to de Traducteurs in Paris, where she earned a degree in translation. becoming a freelance translator, he received a master’s degree in She has an MA in German literature from the University of public health and worked as a health researcher. He maintains his Pennsylvania and an MA in French literature from New York ties to the public health field by volunteering with his local branch University. In 1997, she started working full-time as a freelance of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and serving on the branch’s translator in Paris, specializing in the cosmetics and beauty care steering committee. In 2009, he represented the MRC on the industry. Over the past 13 years, she has translated for many South Carolina Pandemic Influenza Ethics Task Force. leading companies in the field. She is also the editor of The Contact: [email protected]. Gotham Translator, the newsletter of the New York Circle of Translators. Contact: [email protected]. Ewandro Magalhães is a conference interpreter with nearly 20 years of Barry Slaughter Olsen is a professor at the Monterey Institute of experience. He is a contractor with the International Studies, where he is chair of the conference interpre- U.S. Department of State, the tation program. He is a member of the International Association of International Monetary Fund, the World Conference Interpreters. Contact: [email protected]. Bank, the Organization of American States, the Pan-American Health George Rimalower is founder, Organization, and the International president, and chief executive officer Criminal Court. He has a master’s in conference interpretation from of Los Angeles-based ISI Language the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where he is an Services. He is certified as an inter- adjunct professor. He is the author of Sua Majestade, o Intérprete - preter by the State of California. A O Fascinante Mundo da Tradução Simultânea (Parábola Editorial, native Spanish-speaker, he was edu- São Paulo). He is an active member of The American Association of cated in Argentina and the U.S. He Language Specialists (TAALS). Contact: [email protected]. speaks English, Spanish, and German. Contact: [email protected].

April 2010 Volu me XXXIX Number 4 A P ublication The of the American T ranslators Association CHRONICLE Send a Complimentary Copy

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6 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 From the President Nicholas Hartmann [email protected]

Role Models

Who do we want to be when we grow up? Should translators and interpreters aspire to the position Our differences make it easy for us to help and of doctors and lawyers, or maybe support one another. plumbers? Physicians and attorneys enjoy lots of lobbying power, a high level of respect, and very good earning power. Plumbers may be a same wiring, the same “ear.” Beyond who encounters a group of translators notch lower on the prestige scale, but that shared ability, we may differ and interpreters for the first time: we anyone who has paid for an emer- quite radically with regard to the lan- love to share what we know. gency toilet repair knows that they guages we know and the subject areas Specialization turns competitors into make pretty good money, too. But are with which we are familiar. We may colleagues. they really who we want to resemble? end up applying our talents to almost One of ATA’s purposes is to nur- In pursuits such as medicine and every field of human endeavor—law, ture our diversity while unifying us law—and, yes, plumbing—acquisi- medicine, technology, literature, as practitioners of a subtle and tion of a large and codified body of finance, and business, to name only demanding art. Although our lan- knowledge is a prerequisite for some of the broadest categories. As a guage- and subject-based divisions, entering the profession. Everyone result, we each offer a very distinct for example, give a particular group who completes that uniform educa- palette of abilities and services that no of specialists a sense of solidarity and tion can be assumed to possess the one else can match exactly. As com- cohesion, we are all also members of same standard capabilities. This pared with other professionals, we are a single association: we may be dif- common “basic training” then serves far more diversified: each of us ferent, but we are not separate. as a foundation for future specializa- develops a specialty, and a potential Despite the present economic gloom, tion and for the development of indi- clientele, that becomes literally ATA’s membership roster continues to vidual skills, but those who are just unique. We make no claim to breadth grow precisely because we offer starting out tend to display more sim- (“any language, any subject”), and something for everyone, and because ilarities than differences. instead offer depth (Jane Doe trans- our differences make it easy for us to We translators and interpreters, lates only financial material from help and support one another. That conversely, resemble one another not Korean, and makes a good living at sounds like a good role model for all because we all went through the same it). That specialization gives rise to a of us. curriculum, but because we all pos- feature of our line of work that sur- sess a particular talent: we have the prises and delights almost everyone

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The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 7 From the President-Elect Dorothee Racette [email protected]

The Power of Networking

When you look back on your most rewarding and interesting assignments of the past years, you Word-of-mouth referrals remain one of the most may discover that they have one thing in common: they came to you by powerful factors for getting new business and word of mouth or direct referral, and may never have been advertised in advancing your career. any public forum. In spite of elec- tronic databases and directories, word-of-mouth referrals remain one of the most powerful factors for get- with old friends, and hand out your busi- Networking with your clients while ting new business and advancing ness card to new contacts. you are away from your desk: Many your career. That is the reason net- attendees at last year’s conference in working—meeting face-to-face with Networking within divisions: As a New York commented on the need to colleagues and recruiters—is of such new feature this year, the divisions have a free Internet connection in their importance. will hold a free Open House to allow hotel room so they could continue their We have made networking a spe- division members to gather in an regular business activities. As a result of cial planning priority for this year’s informal setting and explore what our negotiations with the hotel, confer- ATA Annual Conference in Denver each group has to offer. Whether you ence attendees staying at the Hyatt (October 27-30, 2010). Listed here belong to one or more divisions and Regency will have complimentary you will find some of the many net- make active contributions, or whether wired Internet access in their sleeping working opportunities you will have you are curious about what divisions rooms. as a conference attendee. do, this event is for you! The conference hotel in Denver is an Networking with your peers: The con- Networking with recruiters: As ideal fit for our group. Denver is a ference is an ideal place to connect a face always, the Job Marketplace will have young, cosmopolitan city with a wel- with a name you may have seen online tables available to display your coming atmosphere. The Hyatt Regency many times, or to introduce yourself to résumés and cards. Many exhibitors hotel on 15th Street is relatively new and colleagues working in the same language specifically choose to have a booth at features spacious meeting facilities in a combination. In addition to receptions, the conference so they can meet new great setting. The hotel is just a block there will also be ample time between linguists and recruit translator and away from the 16th Street pedestrian sessions to chat in the hallways, catch up interpreter talent. mall, which offers a wide variety of eateries and shops and is well-connected to the public transit system. Many thanks to everyone who submitted a proposal for this year’s confer- “After I attended my first conference, I was quite upset ence program. In the coming months, the with myself for not doing it sooner. I would have become a team of reviewers will prioritize the sessions and work to build a balanced pro- better translator as well as gained more clients (and more gram that offers something for everybody. Make plans now to attend ATA’s money) earlier than I did.” Annual Conference in Denver, October 27-30, 2010. Be sure to check out ATA member Ted Wozniak www.atanet.org/conf/2010 for more ATA Business Practices Discussion List, February 14, 2010 details. I look forward to seeing you there.

8 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 From the Executive Director Walter Bacak, CAE [email protected]

ATA Membership Works for You

ATA membership works in a number of ways, but there are two direct ways that it puts money in your Over 60% of the members say they have gotten pocket: ATA’s online directories and ATA’s Member-Provider Program. a job from their online listings.

Find a Translator or Interpreter: ATA’s online Directory of Translation and Interpreting Services and Directory You can see the website draws a If you do not have your profile of Language Services Companies are crowd. We also know that visitors to included in the directories, please do two of the most visited pages on ATA’s the website follow through on their so at: www.atanet.org/onlinedirectories/ website. Potential purchasers of transla- searches. Over 60% of the members update_profile.php. In addition, if it has tion and interpreting services access say they have gotten a job from their been a while since you updated your pro- these directories to find the right trans- online listings. Remember, while the file or tried some changes to increase lators and interpreters for their jobs. directories are open and the searches your chances of being selected, you can For 2009, ATA’s website (www. are free, only ATA members may be do so at the same link. You may also want atanet.org) recorded: listed. The Directory of Translation to consider incorporating some of the top and Interpreting Services is for ATA search fields, as listed in the box below. • 3,591,537 page views individual members (no student members are allowed). The Directory of ATA Member-Provider Program: As • 535,822 visits Language Services Companies is for for ATA’s Member-Provider Program, corporate members only. there are some new offerings to help you • 294,105 unique visitors Continued on p. 14

ATA’s Online Directories Directory of Translation and Interpreting Services Directory of Language Services Companies (6,225 individual profiles as of March 17, 2010) (428 company profiles as of March 17, 2010)

Top Ten Language Top Ten Areas of Top Ten Language Top Ten Areas of Combinations Specialization Combinations Specialization (based on searches) (based on searches) (based on searches) (based on searches) 1. English→Spanish 1. Medical (General) 1. English→Spanish 1. Medicine (General) 2. Spanish→English 2. Law (General) 2. Spanish→English 2. Arts and Humanities 3. English→French 3. Business (General) 3. All→English (General) 4. English→Chinese 4. Pharmaceuticals 4. French→English 3. Law (General) 5. English→Japanese 5. Engineering (General) 5. Chinese→English 4. Business (General) 6. German→English 6. Patents, Trademarks, 6. Russian→English 5. Education 7. English→Russian and Copyrights 7. English→All 6. Engineering (General) 8. French→English 7. Economics and Finance 8. English→French 7. Health care 9. Chinese→English 8. Computer (General) 9. English→Chinese 8. Immigration 10. English→Korean 9. Health care 10. Arabic→English 9. Pharmaceuticals 10. Marketing 10. Literature

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 9 In Memoriam Thomas Wilds 1925-2008

(Special thanks to Nina Wilds and the ARMA International Educational Foundation for providing information for this tribute.)

Thomas Wilds died on December 28, 2008. Thomas served as ATA president from 1971-1973. Thomas was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 19, 1925. He attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he earned a BA in Oriental languages. His primary working language was Japanese, but he also studied Chinese and Russian. In 1950, he received two master’s degrees from the University of Michigan in Far Eastern studies and history. In 1955-1956, Thomas took courses in records management and archival science at American University, later enrolling in the Graduate School of Business at New York University, where he studied marketing, accounting, and management. He would later work as an adjunct professor of management at the Management Institute, New York University. Thomas served in the U.S. Army during World War II, from January 1944 to July 1947, earning the rank of first lieutenant. As a Japanese linguist, he was stationed for a year in Tokyo, then spent six months in Seoul, Korea, as a translations and intelligence officer. During the Korean War, he was a captain in the Military Intelligence Reserve. From 1950 to 1954, Thomas was employed as a civilian military historian in the Office of the Chief of Military History for the U.S. Army in Washington, DC, where he researched captured Japanese documents and helped write the Army’s official history of the war with Japan. Thomas worked as a records analyst for the Maryland State Hall of Records in Annapolis, where he organized a records retention and management system and administered the state’s microfilming program. He then joined Union Carbide Corporation in New York in 1956, where he worked as an internal management consultant responsible for the corporation’s records retention program. In 1958, Thomas founded Asia Translations, Inc., which specialized in technical translations and abstracting, mainly of Russian, mainland Chinese, and Japanese scientific literature and patents. In 1969, he founded Thomas Wilds Associates, Inc., a management consultant firm. In this context, he served some of North America’s largest corporations and patent law firms as a translator, expert wit- ness, and consultant. Thomas was both a certified management consultant (Institute of Management Consultants) and a certified records manager (Institute of Certified Records Managers). He was very active in the Metropolitan New York and Connecticut Chapters of the ARMA International Educational Foundation, a funding resource for research and scholarship in the field of records and information management. He served as president of the Association of Records Executives and Administrators, as a director of the Society of American Archivists, and as president of the International Records Management Council. Thomas is survived by his wife, Tatiana Wilds (who worked as a Russian-English technical translator from the 1960s to the 1990s); a daughter, Nina Wilds; and his two grandsons, Ben and Eric Roth, all residents of Massachusetts.

10 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 ATA’s Member-Provider Program Professional translators and interpreters need uncommon answers to common business problems. Some ATA members found their own answers by developing products and services specific to the translation industry. Now, through ATA’s Member-Provider Program, these members are making their products and services available to ATA colleagues at a discount.

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This is an ATA members-only program. To take advantage of these member-provider discounts, go to www.atanet.org/member_provider and login. If you are interested in becoming an ATA member-provider, visit www.atanet.org/member_provider/overview.php. How Do You Do That?

By Ewandro Magalhães (Translated from the original Portuguese by Barry Slaughter Olsen)

The conference opens with an address in a foreign language. The Interpreting is about making decisions, and good speaker launches headlong into a highly complex subject at breakneck decision-making depends not on the volume of data speed, in language that is replete with terms whose spelling I can only guess, available, but rather on our ability to extract the most most encoded in an alphabet soup of acronyms. To make matters worse, he meaning from the thinnest slices of reality. insists on cracking jokes as culturally- specific as they are untranslatable. Settled into my booth at the back of cannot help but turn around. down my headphones. I slip out of the the room, I diligently repeat every The speech ends, and a lively ques- booth and an enormous sense of word, every idea, in my own language. tion-and-answer session ensues, forcing freedom washes over me. Still some- I simply cannot stop moving my me to interpret the audience’s quest- what dazed and without a clear recol- mouth. My head is adorned with a pair ions into a foreign language and lection of the past 30 minutes, I weave of headphones and a microphone that the speaker’s answers back into my way through the crowd that has make me look like a pop star. Isolated Portuguese. Fifteen minutes later, the inundated the lobby. By the buffet from the audience by a glass partition, linguistic shootout is suspended for a table, a woman approaches me. She I am often the target of the occasional merciful coffee break. has a headset in her hands and prob- fleeting glance from spectators who I breathe a sigh of relief as I set ably a still vivid memory of my voice

12 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 in her ears. I anticipate a complaint and scan her face for any sign of dis- Always in a race against time, interpreters live under satisfaction. But to my surprise she congratulates me on the clarity of my pressure and cannot always afford the luxury of interpreting and then follows up with a question that has been nagging her collecting large amounts of information. since the beginning of the conference: “How do you do that?!” interpreting. We do not know for sure and forgo lengthy word-choice The Storytelling Problem which neurological phenomena make processes. They have to be econom- In his thought-provoking book, it possible for the brain to coordinate ical and objective. They have to be Blink, Malcolm Gladwell talks about so many processes at once. It is as if frugal. The adaptive unconscious what he calls the storytelling problem. the brain splits but at the same time allows them to do just that. He says human beings “are a bit too remains more connected than ever. Matters that involve what we quick to come up with explanations And if it does actually split, it cer- would call insight follow a different for things we really don’t have an tainly does not just split in two, but set of rules. In these cases, thinking— explanation for.”1 We are uncomfort- rather into multiple parallel brains that is, conscious thinking in a tradi- able with not being able to find that work on thousands of concurrent tional sense—usually bogs us down. rational explanations for what we do tasks that we are hardly conscious of A classical guitarist is capable of exe- or feel. We are left with a disturbing or not conscious of at all. cuting from memory complex pieces sense of uselessness, the impression Gladwell sheds new light on this learned through systematic practice. that things happen by chance, that our phenomenon, exposing an adaptive Yet, after a long period of inactivity performance is the result of random unconscious that reasons at high speed he will have a difficult time remem- variables beyond our control. Unable while relying on minimum informa- bering a solo in its entirety. The first to deduce logical conclusions from tion. The adaptive unconscious is what chords will come with ease, but at any evidence, we feel frustrated. And to allows us to make these snap decisions. moment his fingers may get lost, and escape that frustration, we tell a story. It operates according to a mechanism the rest of the piece just will not be We devise our own hypothesis and of its own, invisible to that part of our there. When that happens, repro- arbitrarily accept it as fact, soon brain that wants explanations for ducing the melody in one’s head or clinging to that “fact” as a way of everything. But it works behind a analytically studying the fretboard giving meaning to what we do. We are locked door. It is fickle and reserved. It does little to bring back the lost notes. not trying to conceal anything, nor are does not take kindly to invasions of its The solution musicians have discov- we pathological liars. It is simply part privacy, nor does it offer up its secrets ered is to repeat the section they can of being human. freely. It works best when left alone. It remember over and over while delib- For years, Andre Agassi, one of the cannot be drowned out by rational erately trying to ignore the music. greatest tennis players of all time, analysis, and it does not like being When they stop consciously trying to credited the success of his forehand asked “why?” remember, as they relax and focus technique to an almost imperceptible Interpreting is about making deci- their attention elsewhere without turn of his wrist when hitting the ball. sions, and good decision-making thinking or wondering why, the music Precise digitized imaging, however, depends not on the volume of data returns. The hand comes alive and it is shows something else entirely. His available, but rather on our ability to the fingers that do the remembering. wrist only begins to turn long after he extract the most meaning from the But in order for that to happen, the hits the ball. Despite the evidence, it thinnest slices of reality. Always in a rational mind must be turned off. The would be hard to convince him other- race against time, interpreters live door has to be shut. The brain must be wise. He feels that way. Yet, he is under pressure and cannot always locked out. wrong. The wrist rotation is simply afford the luxury of collecting large Even so, a word of caution is in the story he tells himself. amounts of information. They have to order. Our unconscious mind may be Like tennis, much remains to be do more with less. They must edit, autonomous and have a life of its explained concerning simultaneous limit the number of options available, own, but it does not always get it ·

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 13 How Do You Do That? Continued right. It requires the cognitive envi- tions and texts, in a hodgepodge of We have this ability to read body lan- ronment previously created by our random elements that surprisingly come guage, to derive solid inferences out of conscious effort. It relies on together during the ensuing conference. thin air, to discern intuitively the inten- previously directed effort, systematic tion behind a speech, to finish a sentence training, specific preparation, and The Answer based more on the feeling it inspires than accumulated experience. Left to its As it turns out, our intuitive mind on the words used to phrase it. We just own devices, without the counterpoint extends beyond our brain and at times have to think without thinking, bal- of reason and traditional knowledge, even does without it. Our unconscious ancing between the rational mind and our unconscious tends toward more perceives and processes many signals that mysterious part of us that can make immediate stereotypes. It opens the that our rational mind cannot. It the impossible seem surprisingly trivial. door to our preconceptions, which reaches under the surface and breaks We have the ability. We can do it. But quietly begin to dictate our decisions down a complex picture into min- what can we say about how it is done? and preferences based on false prem- imum units of meaning, the thinnest According to Joshua Aronson, one of ises, leading us to decisions that we slices of the whole, getting as close as the researchers quoted in Blink, “people ourselves do not understand. Left possible to the basics, to the DNA, if are ignorant of the things that affect their alone, our intuition also fails us. you will, of a situation. And it brings actions, yet they rarely feel ignorant.” I Interpreters often receive information us information coded in almost could not agree more. Ultimately, how is from sources they are unable to identify. instinctive impulses to act. it that we interpreters are able to do what There are things they remember through In the interpreting booth, this we do? Over the years I have gathered conscious memorization and analogy. process can take various forms: an many clues, some of which I tried to hint Other pieces of information come from unusual sense of comfort with a speech at here. But perhaps all I have done a different kind of memory, where the or a speaker, an almost telepathic rap- amounts to little more than storytelling. mere sound of a word in a foreign lan- port with your colleague in the booth, In an effort to answer the question guage seems to unleash inferences that that wonderful feeling of being able to posed by that kind woman during the automatically lead to its equivalent in read the mind of another person, at coffee break we shared so long ago, I the other language. Sometimes a nod of times even guessing what she has to have tried a number of keys to unlock their booth mate’s head or an almost say. This is when we are able to shake the door. Despite my best efforts, it is imperceptible expression of the eye is all off the literalness of a speech and still closed. All that is left is for me to it takes to save them and bring just the reconstruct ideas with our own vocabu- accept Aronson’s counsel and admit that right phrase to the fore. A casual reading lary, expressing them as we normally the most honest answer I have to her of the program of a professional confer- would. This is when we are really inter- question still is simply “I don’t know.” ence, minutes before it begins, or a care- preting, spontaneously and accurately, less stroll through the exhibit hall, can be thanks to our surprisingly complete— Notes the perfect complement to hours of and again inexplicable—understanding 1. Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The preparation the night before. In a sense, of a subject previously inaccessible to Power of Thinking Without Thinking by need as well as intention, interpreters the uninitiated. (New York: Back Bay Books/Little, learn partly by osmosis, extracting as Brown and Company, 2005). much as they can from broken conversa-

From the Executive Director Continued from p. 9 run your freelance business. ATA’s than translators and interpreters. Save please see the submission information at Member-Provider Program allows ATA some money by checking out these spe- www.atanet.org/member_provider/over members to offer their colleagues dis- cial deals on page 11 and online at view.php counts on programs and services as well www.atanet.org/member_provider. If Thank you for being an ATA as enhanced terms. Who knows better you have a program or service that you member. what translators and interpreters need would like to offer your colleagues,

14 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Translating Informed Consent: Methodological and Ethical Issues By Eric S. Bullington

sent is the agreement granted by a • Confidentiality The concept of informed con- patient or subject to undergo a medical • Cost of study sent has played an important role in or surgical treatment or to participate • Emergency treatment and compen- the modern world of research and in an experiment after the individual sation for injury medical care ever since the horrors of fully understands the risks and benefits • Compensation Nazi experiments on captive involved. Informed consent differs • New findings “patients” during World War II and from simple consent, which occurs • Withdrawal the Tuskegee syphilis study con- when a patient agrees, verbally or by • Questions ducted by the U.S. Public Health action, to undergo a procedure or treat- • Consent Service from the 1930s until 1972.1 In ment. Researchers secure and docu- the intervening years, most medical ment informed consent with the These sections are typically and public health bodies have made a informed consent form (ICF). included to comply with the Code of concerted effort to avoid these types Although the content of ICFs can vary Federal Regulations, Title 45, Part of ethical violations by creating laws considerably, most consent forms used 46.116, which governs the protection and regulatory bodies to shield in biomedical research follow a stan- of human research subjects, including research subjects from abuse. From dard format that features the following the mechanism of informed consent.2 the outset, informed consent has been elements: The website of the National Institutes a fundamental component of this of Health Office of Human Subjects movement to protect human subjects. • Title Research features comprehensive • Purpose and background guidelines on writing informed con- What is Informed Consent? • Procedures sent documents.3 While the definitions for this con- • Risks and discomforts The translation of ICFs may seem cept can run paragraphs, even pages, a • Benefits like a straightforward activity to non- succinct description of informed con- • Alternatives to participation translators. However, even if we ·

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 15 Translating Informed Consent: Methodological and Ethical Issues Continued confine our discussion to the translation of consent forms used in clinical research, we still encounter many different situations that require informed Very little information is available concerning the consent, each one calling for a dif- specific methodologies, approaches, or processes ferent methodological approach to the translation of the accompanying ICF. followed by translators as they carry informed consent Since a description of all these scenarios is beyond the scope of this information across linguistic and cultural boundaries. article, we will focus on the ethical issues and methodological challenges encountered during a forward translation of ICFs for domestic use. Prior to • There is often significant overlap is not sufficient for a valid translation of delving into specific examples, it between the concepts contained in informed consent. The problem with would be helpful to review certain research instruments and ICFs, linguistic equivalence in isolation is that general translation methodologies that since whatever topic is under study even if the words in the source and are applicable to any type of ICF. will be described and/or discussed target ICFs are the same, certain differ- in both documents. ences between the texts may lie hidden, Methodology which could result in the research sub- Although some research has been • The World Health Organization ject reaching a different interpretation conducted on the translation of ICFs, Ethics Review Committee uses the of their consent than the one intended very little information is available con- same guidelines to evaluate both by the study investigators. Accordingly, cerning the specific methodologies, study instruments and informed as when translating any other research approaches, or processes followed by consent forms.4 instrument, functional equivalence and translators as they carry informed con- cultural equivalence should also be sent information across linguistic and As a result of these similarities, one considered when translating informed cultural boundaries. However, a large possible methodological approach to consent information into other body of peer-reviewed research does the translation of informed consent languages.5 exist on the linguistic validation of draws heavily upon research done in the Functional equivalence refers to health-related questionnaires and other field of linguistic validation of health- the translation method whereby a instruments, much of which deals with related questionnaires. Frequently translator attempts to convey the the translation of questionnaires for described in this research is a translation intent of the writer in the source lan- cross-cultural research. There is reason methodology that emphasizes multiple guage, rather than strictly expressing to believe that the research done on these types of equivalences between the the form of the target language. This study instruments and its accompanying source and target texts: linguistic, func- meaning-based approach is particu- methodologies can be applied to the tional, and cultural. larly important in the translation of translation of ICFs, namely: First and foremost, a translator’s ICFs into languages that have no most obvious task when translating exact equivalents for commonly used • In both cases, the population in ques- ICFs is to establish linguistic equiva- research concepts, such as “consent,” tion is composed of research subjects. lence between the source document and “confidentiality,” or even “research” the translation they are creating. itself. For example, in their article on • It is critical for subjects to under- Linguistic equivalence is something all cross-cultural informed consent in a stand everything written in both translators deal with on a daily basis study involving the Navajo, Melvina research instruments and consent when ensuring that the words of the McCabe and her colleagues describe forms, although the reasons for this target language match those in the how the most direct way to translate differ (research validity in the source language, that the syntax in the “research” in Navajo carried the former versus legality and ethics in target text equals that of the source text, implicit understanding that “investi- the latter). and so forth. However, it is important to gators could take information for their realize that linguistic equivalence alone own personal or professional gain,

16 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Avoid Rejection: Tips to Follow When Preparing a Translation for Internal Review Boards

Many internal review boards (IRBs) have their own guidelines concerning translations, but here are some common pitfalls to watch for that could lead to an IRB rejecting the translation:

• Many IRBs require that there be no affiliation between the individual performing the back translation and the research team. Therefore, a translation agency must ensure that the back translator has no existing affiliation with the research team (unless this has been cleared by the client).

• Many informed consent forms (ICFs) feature lists of items where the order is significant. Be sure to retain the order of the items listed in the translation.

• Translators must make sure to have an updated CV or résumé to submit to the client or agency. The client or agency is usually required to submit this information to the IRB along with the translation. Agencies need to be sure that they have all their translators’ qualifications on file, including CVs and résumés.

• Translators should reflect carefully before agreeing to translate ICFs for studies outside their area(s) of expertise. Even though most of the text in ICFs is standard and repetitive, the “purpose and background” and “procedures” sections will describe the therapy under research in detail, so translators need to be comfortable with the terminology and concepts used in that therapeutic area.

• Be sure to duplicate the approximate reading level of the original consent form in the translation. The general rule of thumb followed by the National Institutes of Health calls for consent documents to be written so that they are “understandable to people who have not graduated from high school,” even though some IRBs specify reading grade levels ranging from sixth to eighth grade.

• Finally, take care to maintain the register of the source text in the translation. Be aware that cognate words between languages may not share the same register. For example, many words of Latin origin may sound like “medicalese” to English-speakers, while their cognates in the Romance languages may have a much lower register.

with nothing shared with or returned come the lack of cultural equivalence boards (IRBs) prohibit the exclusion of to the people studied.”6 As a result, implicit between the two concepts of non-English-speaking subjects from their translators decided to translate confidentiality by using words that research studies, except in those rare research as simply “a work or project convey the appropriate emotions. cases when there is a valid scientific that will take place.” reason for doing so.7 This makes sense Cultural equivalence deals with Scenario: Translating ICFs for from an ethical perspective, since how the members of a given linguistic Domestic Research failing to offer access to a potentially or cultural group view or interpret the Conducting a clinical trial in a mul- therapeutic intervention to a specific implicit meaning of a concept. For tiethnic and multilingual society is fre- population is clearly discriminatory. example, if one population views the quently a challenge, and research car- Such an approach is also a poor execu- concept of confidentiality as being a ried out in the U.S. is no exception. Per tion of scientific method, since the positive attribute, and another popula- U.S. Department of Health and Human exclusion of a given population could tion interprets confidentiality as being Services regulations and U.S. Food pose a threat to the study’s external something shameful or bad, then the and Drug Administration codes, most validity (generalizability). Unfortunately translator must find a way to over- hospital and industry internal review for researchers, enrolling non- ·

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 17 Translating Informed Consent: Methodological and Ethical Issues Continued

English-speaking (NES) and limited- Consent versus Assent lator’s work can only be evaluated English speaking (LES) subjects in a Another important factor to keep in through what is called a back transla- study can be problematic, especially mind is that in order for an individual tion. In this process, a forward trans- since federal regulations also require to give consent, he or she must have lation is passed on to a second that informed consent information be the legal capacity to do so (i.e., must translator, who translates the form presented “in language understandable be a competent adult; the legal into the other direction, resulting in a to the subject” and documented in writing.8 Accordingly, large-scale clinical research in the U.S. frequently requires the translation of any ICFs associated with that research into one or A translator’s most obvious task when translating more languages, although there are cer- informed consent forms is to establish linguistic tain cases when a shortcut called the short form ICF may be used, as dis- equivalence between the source document and the cussed in the next section. translation they are creating. Short Form Consent Documents If an occasional need exists to enroll subjects who speak less- common languages and whose lin- guardian or representative of an back translation. A back translation is guistic requirements cannot be incompetent adult; an emancipated, essentially done so that individuals anticipated, most IRBs allow a written married, or mature minor; a parent or who do not speak the target language, short form version of the informed legal guardian of a child; or an indi- such as members of an IRB, can consent form to be used to obtain con- vidual obligated by the courts). assess the validity of the translation. sent in combination with the written Individuals who have the cognitive If you are responsible for the back IRB-approved English version of the capacity to provide informed consent translation from another language into ICF. In this case, the short form ICF, but are not legally old enough to do so English, an IRB will evaluate your which includes the basic elements of are said to be able to provide “assent.” work directly. However, if you are the full ICF, is translated into the lan- IRBs may require researchers to responsible for the forward translation guage in question. Whenever a LES obtain assent from children ages 5-15 to be used among NES and LES study or NES subject fluent in that language years old (or older, depending on the subjects directly, the IRB can only is recruited into the study, the study state) before enrolling them in a evaluate your translation indirectly, interpreter must orally translate the research study. When translating such through the back translation. entire IRB-approved English version assent forms into another language, If you are the forward translator, of the consent form to the subject “in the translator should be particularly this means that you are effectively a language understandable to aware of the register and reading level translating for two audiences, the first him/her.” The subject must then be of the source document and strive to and most important being the study given a copy of the previously trans- replicate them in the translation. subjects who will use the ICF. But lated short form consent document to you are also creating a translation that read. Many of the larger university What Does All This will be read and translated back into IRBs have drafted short form consent Mean for the Translator? English by a second translator. A good templates and translated them into First, it means that the translation translator will want to produce a multiple languages. These excellent must be approved by an IRB at some translation that will be understood resources can be found by entering point, either directly or indirectly. properly by the subject, but also one “short form,” “informed consent,” Since English is invariably the lan- that can be rendered back into English and the name of the target language guage used by IRBs in the U.S., and in such a way that the IRB will into an Internet search engine. since most members of IRBs can only approve the translation. Translating directly evaluate ICFs submitted to for these two different target audi- them in English, the forward trans- ences can sometimes result in signifi-

18 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Find Out More about Informed Consent cant tension in the translation process, since the literal translation is not always the one that best captures the National Institutes of Health meaning of the source text, as dis- Office of Human Subject Research cussed earlier in the methodologies http://ohsr.od.nih.gov section. (See also “Avoid Rejection: Tips to Follow When Preparing a U.S. Centers for Disease Control Translation for Internal Review Human Participant Protection Boards” in the box on page 17.) www.cdc.gov/od/science/regs/hrpp Additionally, keep in mind that before any translator lays eyes on an U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ICF, the English-language document www.hhs.gov/ohrp/informconsfaq.html has already been meticulously exam- ined and approved by an IRB. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Accordingly, the work of both for- Information Sheet Guidance for Institutional Review Boards, ward and back translators is sur- Clinical Investigators, and Sponsors rounded by ethics committees on www.fda.gov/ScienceResearch/SpecialTopics/ either side of the translation process, RunningClinicalTrials/GuidancesInformation which means that there is a very lim- SheetsandNotices/ucm113709.htm ited role for creativity from either translator. As a result of both of these World Health Organization Ethics Review Committee issues, most translation agencies and www.who.int/ethics/research/en direct clients will request a more literal back translation whenever there is any doubt.

mark on the research, whether this is acknowledged or not….”9 As in most Functional equivalence and cultural equivalence should human endeavors, the quality of a translated ICF depends on the back- also be considered when translating informed consent ground and skill of the individual performing the task. Accordingly, this is information into other languages. an excellent opportunity for a careful, well-prepared professional translator to shine.

Because of this and other issues dictum applies to other informed con- Notes requiring a high degree of profes- sent scenarios not reviewed here, such 1a. “Why Informed Consent is so sional judgment, it is critical for as the translation of ICFs for use in Important” (Children’s Mercy research teams to use experienced overseas research as well as the back Hospital and Clinic, 2003), professional translators and transla- translation of ICFs used overseas. www.childrens-mercy.org/stats/ tion agencies, preferably ones with Regardless of the scenario, it is crit- plan/consent.asp. expertise in the subject under study. ical to recognize the influence of These translators and agencies will be translation upon the informed consent 1b. “U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis able to call upon their skill and expe- process, and to choose translation Study at Tuskegee” (U.S. Centers rience in order to find the appropriate suppliers accordingly. As Temple and for Disease Control, 2009), middle ground between a literal trans- Young write in regard to the validity www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline. lation and one that is readily under- of the final outcomes of research: htm. stood by research subjects. This same “The translator always makes her ·

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 19 Translating Informed Consent: Methodological and Ethical Issues Continued

1c. Annas, George J., and Michael A. Research.” Child Development 21, Parts 50.25 and 50.27, 2009 Grodin (editors). The Nazi Doctors (Volume 78, Issue 4, July-August edition (U.S. Food and Drug and the Nuremberg Code. Human 2007), 1255-1264. Admin istration, 2009), Rights in Human Experimentation www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ (Oxford Univer-sity Press, 1995). 6. McCabe, Melvina, Frank Morgan, et cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cf al. “The Informed Consent Process m?fr=50.27. 2. “Public Welfare: Protection of in a Cross-Cultural Setting: Is the Human Subjects.” Code of Fed eral Process Achieving the Intended 8. “Protection of Human Subjects.” Regulations Title 45, Parts 46.116 Result?” Ethnicity & Disease (Vol- Code of Federal Regulations Title and 46.117, 2009 edition (U.S. ume 15, Spring 2005), 301. 21, Parts 50.25 and 50.27, 2009 Department of Health and Human edition (Food and Drug Admin - Services, 2009), www.hhs.gov/ohrp/ 7a. “Public Welfare: Protection of istration, 2009), humansubjects/guidance/ Human Subjects.” Code of Federal www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ 45cfr46.htm. Regulations Title 45, Parts 46.116 cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cf and 46.117, 2009 edition (U.S. m?fr=50.27. 3. “Information Sheet 6: Guidelines Department of Health and Human for Writing Informed Consent Services, 2009), 9. Temple, B., and A. Young. “Qual- Documents.” NIH OHSR Infor- www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/ itative Research and Trans lation mation Sheets/Forms (National guidance/45cfr46.htm. Dilemmas.” Qualitative Research Institutes of Health, 2006), (Volume 4, 2004), 178. http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/info/sheet6. 7b. “Protection of Human Subjects.” html. Code of Federal Regulations Title

4. “Guidance to Principle Investigators for Submissions of Documents” (World Health Organization Ethics Review Committee, 2010), www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/ guidance/en/index1.html.

5. Peña, Elizabeth D. “Lost in Translation: Methodological Con- FOLLOW ATA ON sider ations in Cross-Cultural

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20 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 A Closer Look at the Cosmetics Industry and the Role of Marketing Translation By Agnes Meilhac

The three most significant factors defining the cosmetics What can be said about translating marketing copy for cosmetics industry are its level of globalization and the companies? Anyone will agree that the cosmetics industry has generated an importance of exports, dependence on research important sub-field of technical trans- and development and innovation, lation with a language all its own. It would not be an understatement to say and heavy use of advertising. that this is a very interesting field, though some might not consider it as challenging as, say, financial or legal translation. Even so, translators ven- turing into this field will face a variety the end of the 1800s. The industry cosmetic products across international of challenges sure to make their work became truly established in the 20th boundaries and cultural barriers. To an intellectually stimulating and century, and has experienced an translate creative marketing docu- rewarding experience. impressive upsurge in growth within ments that convey finely honed scien- the past two decades. tific messages, the translator From Past to Present Today, the three most significant continually wears two hats, com- Cosmetics have been around for a factors defining the cosmetics bining leading-edge research and long time, the notion of beauty industry are its level of globalization marketing tools to recreate a specific enhancement having taken shape with and the importance of exports, parlance. The language of cosmetics the earliest civilizations. In the dependence on research and develop- is the industry-specific jargon used to Western world, the advent of cos- ment and innovation, and heavy use define and sell products to consumers. metics came about in the Middle of advertising. Each of these charac- It is shaped by the very elements that Ages, but the scientific manufacturing teristics has a significant impact on characterize this booming multi-bil- of perfumes and beauty aids did not translators specializing in this area. lion dollar market, one of the few sec- begin until the Industrial Age, toward It is the translator’s job to help sell tors in the global industry ·

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 21 A Closer Look at the Cosmetics Industry and the Role of Marketing Translation Continued landscape with steady growth rates, at least until the current downturn. Like many consumer products, cosmetics have undergone an important The combination of science and advertising in the phase of globalization, transitioning from a market in which many small marketing mix to sell beauty products results in an businesses sold products domestically to one consisting of “global brands” interesting linguistic phenomenon that places dual marketed worldwide by a small number demands on the translator. of large international corporations. Geared toward exports, the industry’s marketing strategies are hence heavily dependent on multicultural communication, and translation is an inherent part purpose or multi-functional cosmetics guage becomes an inherent part of its of the process. with multiple benefits that address essence and outer package. It must be consumers’ need for convenience with precisely worded to appeal to a prede- From Competition to Innovation faster acting formulations (moistur- fined target population of consumers The cosmetics industry exists in a izing cleansers, anti-wrinkle sun care, and also represent accurately the fiercely competitive environment, in anti-aging shampoos). brand’s image. Ultimately, product lan- which the top 10 multinationals con- While science is utilized to make guage breaks down and simplifies sci- trolling over half of the market are cosmetic products unique and dis- entific data in order to make it not only continually challenged by smaller tinct, advertising adds the element of attractive but also comprehensible. companies sprouting all over the glamour and sophistication that helps globe. Large and small companies drive the scientific message home. The “Gimmicks” alike spare no effort to roll out new The cosmetics industry is notoriously Loanwords products consistently based on new ranked as one of the highest ad The most striking aspect of cos- expertise and new science. Research spenders. Perfume and cosmetics metic copy is the large number of and development and technological companies spend an average of 19.2% loanwords from science. Twenty-five innovation are the driving forces of their net sales on advertising. By years ago, the average consumer had behind sales.1 comparison, the ad/sales ratios for never heard of exfoliation, dehydra- Innovation in the field of beauty pharmaceutical companies and wire- tion, or keratinization, at least not in has delivered such products as water- less communications providers are the context of beauty. But cosmetics proof mascara, anti-dandruff sham- 4.2% and 3.1%, respectively.2 manufacturers have sought the poos, light-reflecting pigments that endorsement of the medical profes- conceal under-eye shadows, and sun Innovation in Language sion for decades. Medically inspired care creams that protect skin against The combination of science and products appear more “serious” and harmful ultraviolet rays. But most advertising in the marketing mix to sell “safe” to a certain category of con- markets are now saturated, especially beauty products results in an interesting sumers. Today, techno talk— in North America and Europe, where linguistic phenomenon that places dual including cell regeneration, immune consumers are inundated with a demands on the translator. The language protection, collagen depletion, stem plethora of products based on very of cosmetics is a blend of technology cells, growth factor, free radicals, similar concepts. So the marketers’ and creativity. It is replete with lin- anti-oxidants, DNA, and coenzymes— ultimate goal today is to make prod- guistic structures that include borrow- is readily accepted by savvy, well- ucts that stand out and catch the con- ings from science as well as the use of versed cosmetics buyers used to being sumer’s attention and purse strings. neologisms, creative compounds, buzz- exposed to increasingly more sophis- Over the years, this has resulted in an words, and catchphrases that are typi- ticated claims. increasingly more complex and more cally found in advertising and glamour Medical-sounding affixes like bio-, precisely targeted product offer. industries. Used to outline carefully the micro-, and pro- also abound (as in Recent advancements include multi- product’s defining “universe,” the lan- biological, microscopic, and probi-

22 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Industry Resources The following industry websites are excellent sources of wide-ranging background information:

Comparison of FDA and EU Regulations Japan Cosmetic Industry Association from the Consumer’s Point of View www.jcia.org www.pgbeautyscience.com/u.s.-and-eu-cosmetic-regulation- similarities.html La Fédération des Industries de la Parfumerie www.industrie-gfifrance.com CosmeticsDesign (This site contains links to other related French organizations.) www.cosmeticsdesign.com (This is a source for business news on cosmetics formulation and pack- Personal Care Products Council aging in North America.) www.personalcarecouncil.org (Formerly the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association) Cosmetic Ingredient Review www.cir-safety.org Cosmetics News www.cosmeticnews.com Cosmetics & Toiletries www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com Soap and Detergent Association www.cleaning101.com European Cosmetics Association www.colipa.com Society of Cosmetic Chemists www.scconline.org U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition SpecialChem Cosmetics www.cfsan.fda.gov www.specialchem4cosmetics.com (This site contains information on formulation HBA Global Expo and ingredients.) Annual Health and Beauty America Trade Fair www.hbaexpo.com (This is the place to go to find information on the largest product development event and education conference for the personal care, fragrance, wellness, and cosmetics industry.)

otics) in terms such as biomolecular now to MP3s. aging, genetic aging, and even myo- eye serum, microtechnology bio active One former cosmetic neologism we aging (a customized term invented by foundation, pro-collagen cream, may not recognize given its widespread L’Oreal for the launch of its Myokine microsmoothing face serum, and a use is moisturizer. More recent line of skin care). bio-stimulating night cream with coinages include crepiness, Botox-like, microlift.3 cosmeceuticals, nanoparticulate, and Creative Compounding skin restorer. And how about crow’s feet Creative compounding is another Coining New Terminology wrinkles, worry lines, laugh lines, mar- form of new word formation that is New word formations are a natural ionette lines, and oral commissures? highly prevalent in the language of consequence of innovation. Scientific These are all terms formed specifically cosmetics, particularly in the form of discoveries require the coining of new to denote types of lines and wrinkles for adjectives. Examples of compounded terms to describe them just as techno- use in cosmetic surgery and beauty care words forming new meanings include logical breakthroughs in all other indus- lingo. As cosmetic science explored the skin-tensing, body-enhancing, figure- tries spawn new vocabulary in a similar mechanism of skin aging in greater slimming, lipids-replenishing, radi- way. In many ways, exploring the world detail, the language of cosmetics was ance-boosting, pore-clarifying, and of cosmetics is not any different from similarly enriched with extrinsic/ acne-prone. Most of these adjectives making the journey from phonograph intrinsic aging, photoaging, premature turn out to be verbal adjectives. In fact, records to cassette tapes, to CDs, and aging, chronological aging, biological as a general rule, verbs and verbal ·

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 23 A Closer Look at the Cosmetics Industry and the Role of Marketing Translation Continued adjectives are extensively used in cos- because they refer to making improve- guage that can be understood by an metic copy to help underline product ments, and that is exactly what cosmetic average consumer (this could be activity and results. Consumers do not products are selling. referred to as intralingual translation). buy so much the product as the benefits Later, in a second phase, the translator and results it can provide, and verbs are Catchphrases and Buzzwords steps in to perform an interlingual act all about action. Consequently, all types Catchphrases and buzzwords are of translation aimed at a culturally of written and oral communication also used to construct sales pitches separate population. This two-tiered about cosmetic products are packed carefully. They follow market trends translation process, however, implies with verbs. and reflect continually changing con- quite clearly that the translator be knowledgeable about scientific rami- fications and nuances at each level of communication. In addition, translators in this field must call on creative The language of cosmetics is the industry-specific resources to comply with the purpose jargon used to define and sell products to consumers. of the message they are translating. This will ultimately sell the product.

Notes A lot of these verbs follow an “up” sumer demands. For example, peace 1. “A Study of the European Cos- and “down” movement, whereby one and relaxation are at the forefront of metics Industry.” (Global Insight group is intended to express the idea of consumer concerns today, paving the Inc., October 2007), final report reducing the damage to the skin (e.g., way for buzzwords such as renewal, prepared for European Commis- wrinkles, sagging, puffiness, or more refreshing, nourishing, invigorating, sion, Directorate General for underlying collagen depletion) and the effortless, rejuvenating, youth-enhan- Enterprise and Industry, http://ec. other the notion of improving the skin’s cing, and replenishing. Buzzwords europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/ natural capital (e.g., youthfulness, elas- used to present products as glamorous document.cfm?action=display&do ticity, firmness). So, on the one hand, high-end status items include pre- c_id=4561&userservice_id=1. we will see such terms as eliminate, mium, prestige, luxury, chic, opulent, reduce, diminish, minimize, remove, premiere, and exclusive. Products 2. Maddox, Kate. “Many Sectors to reverse, correct, soften, relax, and, on backed by science will be described Boost Ad Spending.” B to B online the other, we will see boost, enhance, with such terms as revolutionary, (July 14, 2008), www.btobonline. stimulate, invigorate, optimize, ener- innovative, breakthrough, high-per- com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2 gize, and brighten. In short, a product is formance, technologically advanced, 0080714/FREE/148874127/1150/I defined by how it can eliminate the neg- potent, patented, and dramatic/spec- SSUENEWS. ative and enhance the positive. tacular results.4 In English, verbs with the prefix re-, 3. Singer, Natasha. “Buying Face meaning repetition or modification with In Conclusion: Cream? Grab a Glossary.” The intention to produce a better result, are A Two-Step Approach New York Times (October 2, 2008), one of the sub-groups of verbs often Of course, none of the terms dis- www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/fas used in cosmetics: rebuild the cutaneous cussed here are used randomly. They hion/02skin.html?pagewanted=all. barrier; restore elasticity; restructure are part of a carefully constructed, cellular cement; replenish moisture finely-tuned message intended to 4. “Buzzwords That Sell.” GCI Mag- reserves; renew the skin’s youthfulness; “translate” technological expertise to azine (Pierce Matty Publi cations, rejuvenate, reactivate the night-time make it more consumer friendly. And May 27, 2008), www.gci maga- repair process; retexturize, refinish, and herein lies one of the interesting zine.com/business/marketing/ refine the skin’s surface; regenerate aspects of translating cosmetic copy. 19293699.html. damaged cells; rebalance the skin’s The process of translation takes place deep hydration; and redesign facial con- on two levels. First, the core science tours. These verbs are important is reworded by marketers into a lan-

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Sometimes it is a small world, and that is the point of LinkedIn.

E-Networking with ATA The ATA group on LinkedIn provides an ideal starting point for online networking. It also offers you contacts for individuals outside ATA who are connected to your fellow ATA members. Joining the ATA group on LinkedIn is a fast track to building your e-network. What is LinkedIn? LinkedIn is a free e-networking service that helps you create an online community of links to new contacts, prospective clients, and great jobs. Through a LinkedIn network you can discover inside connections and reach the clients you need to meet through referrals from people you already know and trust. Your professional relationships are key to building your business. How Does It Work? Begin by inviting colleagues and clients to join LinkedIn and connect to your network. Next, add to your community by searching LinkedIn for professional contacts you already know and inviting them to connect to you. Then, post a profile summarizing your professional accomplishments, associations to which you belong, schools you have attended, and places you have worked so that former business associates, co-workers, and class- mates can find you and connect. Each connection expands your network. The result? Your network now consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals. Jump Start Your Networking with ATA Take advantage of your ATA membership. Joining LinkedIn through ATA gives you an instant community with opportunities to grow your network quickly. Don’t wait—get your online networking underway! To join, just visit www.atanet.org/linkedin.php.

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 25 A translation project’s life begins when it is assigned to a project manager. A project manager is much like an orchestra conductor. Just as a conductor must communicate the notes, music, and tempo of any given musical piece effectively to orchestra members, project managers must do the same with their team members. And just as an orchestra will not perform at its best if its conductor lacks the competence and ability to express passion and enthusiasm for a piece, a translation project team will fail without a competent project manager to guide the process. Project managers run the show. They must interact with clients, linguists, vendors, sales staff, and an Project assortment of consultants—the professionals they retain to create a great project. The desired result is a first- Manager: rate product. Taking the conductor analogy one step further, there are many ways to play a Beethoven sym- phony. The conductor must be able to The Maestro express to the musicians the desired outcome, or the concert patrons (in our case, translation clients) will of Every leave disappointed. What Makes a Good Translation Project Manager? Ideally, project managers should be college-educated with degrees in lan- Project guages, linguistics, or project management. Project managers should be By George Rimalower bilingual because multilingual individuals typically possess sensitivity to language issues that others may not. Excellent written and oral skills and flexibility are crucial. Even so-called “easy” projects inevitably take 90- degree turns, so successful project managers cannot crack under the pressure of unrealistic expectations and ultra-tight deadlines. They should be team players, willing to work with the

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 client, staff, and colleagues. They also It is up to the project manager to know the capabilities need to be up to date on the latest translation trends, software packages, and and capacity of each potential member, and to make programs. Finally, top-notch program selections based on what is best for the project. managers are typically perfectionists who expect perfection from others.

The Big Picture The project manager’s ability to pick translation. The following provides an must prepare an accurate price quote. the right team members, understand overview of some of the key responsi- This includes analyzing the source client needs, create realistic deadlines, bilities a project manager can expect to document for content, volume, and and price a job correctly is imperative to undertake, along with some of the skills the intended target audience. End the success of a project. Often, the necessary for success. product and deadline requirements are project manager has tools available to also taken into consideration. A prop- help standardize both the process and Creating a Cost Estimate erly prepared estimate means costs the interactions of team members. Project managers prepare for a are commensurate with billings. It is However, a clear and complete under- project by talking to the client, assem- crucial that the analysis of the project standing of the underlying course of bling the proper team members, and be accurate. Therefore, it is not action is essential to the success of the creating a budget. First, however, they unusual for a project manager to ·

Points to Remember for Project Managers

Project managers have to have excellent written and oral skills.

Project managers must be flexible.

Project managers need to be team players, willing to work with the client, staff, and colleagues.

Project managers need to be up to date on the latest translation trends, software packages, and programs.

Project managers need to know the capabilities and capacity of each potential member of a translation project team, and to make selections based on what is best for the project.

Project managers must communicate regularly to provide excellent client service.

Project managers have to respond with conviction when a client makes requests that may compromise the integrity of the translated document.

Project managers should conduct an internal post-project analysis to find out what went right and wrong in order to improve internal processes and prepare for future requests.

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 27 Project Manager: The Maestro of Every Translation Project Continued spend days working on a proposal and estimate. Many translation companies, especially in their early years, have underestimated a project’s scope With languages, clients put their trust in the project and paid the financial price, so manager to deliver a product that conveys the allowing sufficient time to review all the elements of a project is essential. messages needed in a manner the end user Building the Project Team understands. Once a client agrees to the terms of a project, the project manager selects members for the project team. Whatever subjects a project involves, product to suffer. A project manager’s the success of a project can be attrib- a skilled project manager builds a task is to identify the best translators, uted to the project manager’s sound team that meets the unique needs of editors, consultants, terminologists, coordination efforts, regardless of the the specific project. designers, and proofreaders for each project’s size. On a recent translation project for project, so it is imperative for poten- Focus groups and project testing the financial industry, for example, a tial team members to be up front are often required to make sure that translation provider was tasked to about their turnaround abilities, tech- the register, terminology, and cultural translate documents containing a mul- nology expertise, and current and content of the translated material is titude of technical terms and concepts future workloads. appropriate for the target audience. related to finance. It was critical for Translations need to preserve the For example, a translation geared to a the concepts to be communicated integrity of date representations, group of doctors at a medical confer- clearly so the client would not be measurements, acronyms, currency, ence will be different than one tar- exposed to potential litigation. and file naming conventions. While geting a prison population. While the However, the source document team members are accountable for subject matter may be similar for both (English) was not only being used to these kinds of project elements, ulti- groups, the translation will differ. educate consumers, but to attract new mately, final responsibility falls on the clients. Thus, the translation company shoulders of the project manager. Communicating with Clients used two sets of linguists. The first Project managers must grasp the big Ongoing communication is key to team of translators was experienced in picture while attending to the tiniest providing excellent client service. marketing, while the second team had detail, simultaneously keeping clients Clients who have positive experiences expertise in finance. After the first happy and the personalities of team with a project manager will request team completed its translation, the members in sync. the same manager when a new project second team reviewed it to ensure that arises. With languages, clients put the document represented the finan- Managing the Project their trust in the project manager to cial ideas presented by the client Well organized project managers deliver a product that conveys the clearly and accurately. are able literally to switch gears and messages needed in a manner the end It is up to the project manager to languages at the drop of a hat. user understands. know the capabilities and capacity of Translations into just one target lan- each potential team member, and to guage can easily require the coordina- Educating Clients make selections based on what is best tion of five or six team members for Client types run the gamut from for the project. In-demand translators shorter projects, and many more those who are thoroughly familiar and linguists often carry full work- players for lengthier ones. When proj- with how the translation process loads. Therefore, the project manager ects require translation into multiple works to complete novices to the must determine if the demands of languages, the team could mushroom translation world. This is why the other projects a translator is working into 50 or more members. Add in project manager must gauge the level on could mean that the individual coordinating a focus group, and the of client knowledge and communicate could miss deadlines or cause the end numbers swell even more. Much of project status based on the client’s

28 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Related Links

International Journal of Project Management www.elsevier.com familiarity with translation. The Localization Industry Standards Association project manager is the single point of www.lisa.org contact for the client, although occasionally the project manager will ask Localization World team members to participate in client www.localizationworld.com meetings to share their expertise. Clients appreciate project managers Project Management Institute who have the expertise to anticipate www.pmi.org potential challenges and the ability to Project Management Source solve problems immediately as they www.projectmanagementsource.com arise before the client points them out. These actions go a long way toward Society for Technical Communication winning a client’s long-term trust. www.stc.org It is also up to project managers to address questions about the accuracy of the finished product when issues are raised at the client’s end. Project managers have to respond with con- project managers remain on top of feedback is important, not only from viction when a client makes requests their game, as well as the latest the client but also from team mem- that may compromise the integrity of industry trends. The language services bers. For example, an internal post- the translated document. While it is provider should standardize processes project analysis to find out what went always important to keep the client as much as possible to maximize the right and wrong is essential in order to happy, it is equally important to keep time a project manager spends man- improve internal processes and pre- the client “safe.” It requires the skills aging the project. The standardization pare for future requests. of an articulate project manager to of tasks aids in quality control. explain to a client why certain terms, A project manager must work in a The Unsung Hero expressions, or styles will not work on supportive environment and always A project well done, just as an a specific project. be encouraged to ask for guidance or orchestra piece well played, will deserve the accolades it receives. Moreover, the project manager should be in the forefront to take a well- earned bow. While it is always important to keep the client happy, it is equally important to keep the client “safe.”

Working With Upper Management assistance when an issue arises. www.star-group.net Upper management must provide Project managers should feel that the the project manager with the work they do is appreciated. Most resources to complete the project suc- importantly, upper management cessfully, including support staff and should empower project managers to technology. Positive reinforcement is get the job completed and not also important, which comes in many undercut their authority. Management forms. Formal and informal training should give recognition for good on management techniques, new tech- work and troubleshoot with a project Targeted communication nology, and regulations affecting manager if a job can be performed using corporate language translation should be offered so better. After a project is finished, TermStar

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 29 Judy Jenner is a Spanish and German translator in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she runs Twin Translations with her twin sister. She is also the The Entrepreneurial Linguist Judy Jenner vice-president of the Nevada Interpreters and judy.jenner@ Translators Association. She hosts the popular entrepreneurial translation blog, Translation Times (www.transla linguist.com tiontimes.blogspot.com). You can also find her at Photo by Ulf Buchholz Game, Set, Match: Tennis Meets Translation www.entrepreneuriallinguist.com.

Do we really need more sports and who finds it valuable, and I am reach your goals. Whatever your goal analogies? Enough with hitting it out constantly learning from others is—and this is a very individual deci- of the ballpark, throwing a Hail Mary (teamwork!). After I reflected on this, sion—realize that it most likely will pass, being out in left field, getting a I realized that just like in competitive not come easily, but that just like in hole-in-one, and moving on to the sports, there are no secrets to being sports, (almost) anything is possible. major leagues. I am a bit tired of the successful in our business or any busi- Luckily for those of us who want tendency to pepper business speech ness. No secrets: just hard work. to grow our businesses and acquire with sports analogies, but I could not If I had a magic recipe for being more direct clients, the talent element resist writing about tennis and transla- successful in both sports and the that is necessary to succeed in sports tion. translation business, I would gladly is negligible. While talent is important The idea for this column came to share it with my colleagues, as I want in tennis, think about the great me after one of the interviews I gave all of us to be successful. However, Austrian tennis players, the late Horst earlier this year. It included a question while there are plenty of tips, tricks, Skoff and Thomas Muster. Skoff, who that I had not thought about for some and best practices to share, there are was a very likeable guy, arguably had time. The interviewer made a connec- no secrets. After 20 years of playing more talent than Muster. On the other tion between my brief background in tennis and 12 years in the translation hand, Muster, who was not known for competitive tennis and my translation world, I have discovered quite a few making friends, worked infinitely career, and asked me what I had similarities. We all need to work hard harder and rose to be number one in learned from my life in sports and to achieve our goals, whatever they the tennis world. While certain char- how I applied that to my business. I might be. For me, that is working acter traits come in handy in the busi- was a top-ranked junior player while with direct clients who pay my rates, ness world, most of us already have growing up in Mexico City, and dab- appreciate my work, and with whom those: perseverance and profession- bled in professional tour tournaments I have long-term collaborative alism. Hence, it really is a mostly while in high school. I quickly real- working relationships. Putting in the equal playing field for all of us. ized I was not nearly good enough to work to get there is tough, and not Let’s look at the tennis-translation make a decent living playing profes- everyone with the same goal is similarities in—you guessed it— sional tennis, and took a full scholar- willing to do it. Did I enjoy spending tennis terms: ship to play NCAA Division I tennis. five hours, six days a week, working The interviewer then asked me if I out in sweaty clothes for the better Serve: Analogous to finding new was afraid of giving away all my part of 10 years? I did not enjoy it all clients. It is the first step; the way to “secrets” by writing columns, writing the time, but I knew I had to do it to start business or to get new business. a book, and giving advice on a blog. have a shot at achieving my goals. You know where to find it: by mar- That is something I had never thought Analogous to that: is it always keting yourself, by networking, by about. I am delighted to share what I rewarding to spend hundreds of hours getting out in the community, by know with anyone who is interested on new client acquisition, marketing having a good online presence, by strategy, and networking? It is time- integrating work into your life and life consuming and sometimes frus- into your work. You never know trating. More than anything, it is a where your next customer might come Yahoo! Business challenge that comes with no guaran- from. It is painful, and it is hard, and Discussion Group teed rewards. Just like tennis, simply you might have to change your grip, because you want it and put in the your swing, or the way your feet are hard work does not mean you will positioned. You might even have to ATA members can discuss business issues online at the following Yahoo! group: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/ You will group/ata_business_practices. This column is not intended to constitute legal, financial, or other business advice. Each need to register with Yahoo! (at no charge) if individual or company should make its own independent business decisions and consult you have not already done so, and provide your full name and ATA member number in its own legal, financial, or other advisors as appropriate. The views expressed here are order to join the group. not necessarily those of ATA or its Board of Directors. Ideas and questions should be directed to [email protected].

30 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 learn how to do a better ball toss. You harder, you should also work smarter. I translator and interpreting associations, might have to get out of your comfort do not have to run 500 lines (an infa- which all need volunteers and board zone and do some ridiculous-looking mous tennis drill) if I run 50 lines at members. Think of the conferences and serving drills against the fence. The maximum effort. Getting better at run- workshops that your professional devel- serve is the one shot you have total ning a business more efficiently and opment depends on, which take place on control over, so make the most of it. effectively requires innovation, open- the regional, national, and international mindedness, research, adopting new level. Without volunteers, there would Backhand: If you are like the majority technologies, repetition, and a lot of dis- be no conferences. Could you imagine a of players, this might be your weaker cipline. I did not wake up one day doing translation world without ATA confer- shot, analogous to your translation or 400-meter sprints in less time than it ences? Neither can I. Or could you business Achilles heel. For me, that is takes me to log into my wireless imagine our profession without local negotiation, which is something I need Internet. It takes hard work and is a con- associations of any kind? You get the to work on continuously. Not surpris- tinuous process, and we can all do it. In idea: being a volunteer is a lot of hard ingly, I have gotten better. The “secret”: your translation practice, consider work (and infinitely more pleasant than You will need to hit thousands upon making investments in your efficiency, being a volunteer at a junior tennis tour- thousands of backhands to get better. including translation memory tools, nament), but we need them. Consider There are no shortcuts, no magic new software tools, upgrading your making a substantial investment in our potions, and no supplements that will computer, and moving from paper dic- profession by doing volunteer work. make you significantly better, and you tionaries to CD-ROMs. will not need those gadgets to stabilize The grip: Einstein is not the only one your wrist that they sell on the Tennis Your opponent: Here tennis differs a who knew that you cannot do the same Channel (I just saved you $20). You will bit from business, because you can thing over and over and expect dif- not be able to avoid hitting those thou- indeed control your opponent to a cer- ferent results. Tennis players know sands of balls. tain degree. After all, he or she that, too. Changing things is difficult, responds to the balls you hit and vice but if the status quo is not working, Forehand: If you are a baseline versa (savvy tennis player readers: we you need to make an adjustment. player, which most of us are, this will exclude serves from this). In Unfortunately, things will get worse will be the basis of your game. You business, there is relatively little you before they get better. For instance, will cover a lot of ground, you will can do to influence what your oppo- you cannot have a great serve with a run a lot, and it is the bread and nent, or your competition, does. I forehand grip because you cannot get butter of your game. If all else fails, prefer to think of them as my col- any spin on the ball. If you want to I can still hit cross-court forehands leagues. What you can do is form improve your serve, you will have to somewhat close to the baseline all great relationships, create wonderful move to another grip, which will be afternoon. In your business, this is teams, ask for honest feedback, and painful, but will pay off in the long run analogous to your default area of spe- enter into synergistic relationships if you persevere. cialization; something you are really with fellow professionals in your good at, that you do frequently, and industry. We are all stronger together, Love: In tennis, we use “love” when that you really enjoy. You keep it and there is enough work for all of us. we could just say “zero” in scoring. fresh, interesting, consistent, and At the end of the day, I would rather However, let’s think of love as the good by fine-tuning it. How about win the sportswoman award than the original noun that comes to mind, not shortening your swing or strength- under 35 trophy. At all times, be sure the tennis term. Love, or respect, or ening your legs in the gym to make you can look your opponent in the eye esteem, is something we should all your forehand more explosive? and shake her hand. have for the game (the business) and for each other. With that, dear Footwork and speed: This is analo- The tournament: Unless you play esteemed colleagues, happy playing, gous to, well, the speed with which you sports at the professional level, tourna- working, and improving! Game, set, can translate or run your business in ments are organized mainly by nonprofit and match for entrepreneurial general. Let’s think about it as general organizations and volunteers. Yes, I am linguists. efficiency. You should not just work making an analogy to the invaluable

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 31 Internet blogs are rich sources of information for translators and interpreters. They allow users to post questions, exchange ideas, network, and read news and commentary Blog Trekker The Pursuit of on a specific subject. The topics featured in this column are actual blog postings concerning issues pertinent to your col- Creating Value leagues in the field today. For more blog listings, visit www.atanet.org/careers/blog_trekker.php.

(Posted on Marcela Jenney’s Blog, Make a list of your credibility fea- You will not stand out if you hide http://latitudescoach.wordpress.com) tures. What you offer in terms of an behind your shyness or keep your added advantage in your positioning areas of specialization to yourself. A few years ago, I was in the marketplace has to do with your exhibiting at a trade show where there credibility features. Perhaps you cre- Focus on the benefits, not so much were other translation companies ated a program or a system that on the process. We love what we do, exhibiting their businesses. A gen- nobody else has. Perhaps you have right? But the fact that we love our tleman came to my booth to ask me received special awards or mentions offering does not mean everybody has what I was selling. I started my selling related to your offering. Perhaps you to know all the different steps we conversation by sharing with him my use a piece of technology that is revo- follow to produce our wonderful well-prepared elevator speech and lutionary in your industry. Maybe you product or deliver our service. Clients telling him of the excellent quality and are a member of a board of directors of want to know what we are going to do state-of-the art technology we offered some organization. Think about all for them. They have pains and our job that would allow him to get cost-effec- those things that not everybody in is to provide the “cure.” We are their tive translations. When I was about to your industry has the privilege of problem solver. Tell the world how ask him how my company could meet bragging about. These are what make they will benefit from working with us. his company’s needs, he abruptly you unique. stopped me and asked, “What do you You are the problem solver. do differently from other translation Learn your unique way of doing Confidence creates trust. When you companies?” That question took me by business. As human beings, we are all walk around the world sharing with surprise, and I stumbled with my words different. Not even a set of identical everybody your unique selling proposi- while giving him an answer. twins is the same. There are lots of tion, it is important for you to be totally I did not get that gentleman as a people out there doing the same thing convinced that you can help your client, but what a good lesson I that you do, so dig into identifying clients with your services. Otherwise, learned that day. It was definitely a your unique way, your own person- they will not see you as a problem wake-up call for me. I came back ality, your style, those extra touches solver. Your clients are going to pay from that trade show thinking, what you add to your offering, and those you to fix their problems. You need to do I really do differently from my different ideas you created on how to be 100% sure that you have the capa- competitors? How could I compete provide your services to increase your bilities, knowledge, experience, and with all those other providers that clients’ benefits. that special touch that will make a offer the same old “quality” transla- client a client for life. tion services? How could I stand out Communicate your uniqueness from the crowd? What was my unique clearly. Create a clear statement about Remember, developing your unique selling proposition? your unique features that you can use selling proposition will help you to dif- A unique selling proposition is key everywhere and all the time, and use it ferentiate your business from your in your business. If you do not know consistently throughout your mar- competitors. Your current and potential what makes you unique, you will be keting material. Become an expert on clients will notice the difference and be competing primarily on price. If you communicating to the world what you willing to establish a long-term busi- work so hard, why should price be the do so differently from your competi- ness relationship with you. In addition, only decision factor? We all want to tors. That statement does not have to when you are clear on what your be compensated for our work. So, if be long. The more precise it is, the unique selling proposition is, your you do not want to compete on price, better. team will have a clear understanding it is critical that you unearth that very on how they need to deliver your busi- special characteristic that will make Do not be shy when someone asks ness services. Last but not least, your your clients decide to work with you you what makes you so different unique selling proposition is not about as opposed to your competitors. from those that do the same thing. It you. It is how your unique features will Here are some tips that will help is perfectly fine to brag about your help solve your clients’ problems. you to define what sets you apart. specialty. Remember, what is important is to stand out from the crowd.

32 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Now Open 2009-2010 ATA School Outreach Contest

Make a School Outreach presentation this year, and you could win free registration to ATA’s 51st Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, October 27-30, 2010. Here’s how to enter.

1. Visit ATA’s School Outreach Resource Center at www.atanet.org/careers/school_outreach.php and click on Presentation Resource Materials.

Choose the age level you like the best and download a presentation, or use the resources on the School Outreach page to round out 2. your own material.

Speak on translation and/or interpreting careers at a school or university anywhere in the world between August 1, 2009 and 3. July 19, 2010. 4. Get someone to take a picture of you in the classroom. For tips on getting a winning shot, visit the School Outreach Photo Gallery on ATA’s website at www.atanet.org/ata_school/photo_gallery.php and click on Photo Guidelines.

E-mail your photo to ATA’s Public Relations Committee ([email protected]) with the subject line “School Outreach Contest,” or mail your 5. entry to 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314. Please include: your name and contact information; the date of your presentation; the school’s name and location; and a brief description of the class. You may submit multiple entries.

The deadline for submissions is midnight on July 19, 2010. The winner will be contacted no later than August 16, 2010. You must be a member of ATA or an ATA-affiliated organization to enter.

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 33 The GeekSpeak column has two goals: to inform the community GeekSpeak Jost Zetzsche about technological advances and at the same time encourage [email protected] the use and appreciation of technology among translation professionals. Jost also publishes a free technical newsletter for translators (www.internationalwriters.com/toolkit). Schereschewsky and the Cloud

Oh, it was such a pleasure recently to reconnect with my good old friend Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky. Now, he was not a friend because he was a particularly pleasant man; in fact, he wasn’t. Nor were we friends because he was particularly good with people; he also really wasn’t. In fact, he was so notoriously bad with people that in his 40-plus years as a missionary in 19th-century China, he “converted” only “one family and a lad,” at the same time suffering a continual turnover of co-workers who typically could not stand to be with the man for more than a few weeks. (Ironically, his general inability to con- Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky (1831-1906) completed two translations of the Bible using only one finger on a nect with people did not prevent him manual typewriter. from setting out to walk (!) the 1,500 miles from Beijing to Shanghai when he heard that an unmarried female mis- remove him from direct ministry, he how bad he really would have been!), sionary was to arrive on a boat from the was promoted to the Episcopal bish- so I revived my friendship with U.S. Apparently, no other transporta- opric. However, this new post proved Schereschewsky to introduce him to tion was available to him because of the too stressful for him, and four years my Israeli colleagues. severe winter weather. Though they later he suffered a breakdown (some “Translation hero?” I have used had never met before, he welcomed her say it was a stroke, while others claim this column previously to warn boat in Shanghai, and in no time they it was Parkinson’s) that left him para- repeatedly against getting stuck in the were married.) lyzed for the rest of his life. And thus past and failing to recognize that Clearly, given our life spans in dif- began the most remarkable chapter of today’s translation requirements are ferent centuries, we never met person- his remarkable life. He spent the very, very different from those of St. ally. So how did we become friends? remainder of his life pecking with his Jerome and, yes, of Schereschewsky Here are some snippets from his life one remaining moveable finger on a as well. But as I was working for a that might help to explain my fond- manual typewriter to finish two com- client this week whose translators ness for him. plete translations of the Bible, one work on an online-based system with Schereschewsky was born in a into Mandarin and one into a lower a strong machine translation compo- Jewish community in Lithuania in form of classical Chinese. (If you are nent and rather rudimentary termi- 1831 and, as a gifted student, enrolled wondering, he typed on an English nology management and translation in a rabbinical school early on to typewriter and had his Romanized memory components, my mind kept become a rabbi. As a young man, version rendered into characters by a returning to Schereschewsky and his however, he converted to Christianity, Chinese co-worker.) plight and passion. And I wished which he pursued in formal studies in I first “met” Schereschewsky when myself back with both feet on the Germany and later in the U.S. He left I wrote a thesis on Chinese Bible ground—or, in his case, in a wheel- the U.S. for China in 1859, and translation 15 years ago, and I recon- chair—rather than with my head in shortly afterward started what he nected with him on a recent trip to the digital cloud. would continue in some way or Israel to speak to the Israeli If I were not a proponent of transla- another to the day he died in 1906: the Translators Association. I had a tion technology, I would not be writing translation of the Bible into various feeling before my trip that St. Jerome this column. But I also think that we forms of Chinese. In 1877, in an would not be a good “translation need to be cautious about how fast we apparent effort by his denomination to hero” in Israel (I learned only later rush into adopting new technologies.

34 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Yes, it sounds great to work in systems not be a backup. (At least when we are whether the energy invested in pro- that are completely online-based. But working on our own system and do not viding these capabilities would not be is our infrastructure quite ready for it have a backup, we can blame it on our better invested in improving proven yet? (Note that I am writing this from own stupidity!). technologies, such as translation the Oregon coast, where I have a very And then there is the aspect of memory and terminology management. limited choice of Internet service machine translation. The majority of Aren’t you glad you do not have to providers, with one or the other being translation environment tools (TEnTs) work like Schereschewsky? I am, but down fairly regularly.) And while it is now offer direct integration with I also admire his passion, his persist- true that all too often we are not mas- Google Translate and/or other generic ence, and his reminder that tools are ters of our own personal computers, machine translation engines, including good only if they actually allow us to the frustration of having an online tools like OmegaT, an open-source tool keep our feet on the ground without server go down that contains the trans- built for and by its users. How helpful our heads stuck in the (digital) clouds lation asset and all other materials are these machine translation tools for just because they are there. would be so much greater. In this case, our work? Could they possibly be more we really would not be able to do any- distracting than helpful? They admit- thing about it, and there really would tedly are always optional, but I wonder

First North Reserve June 17, 2010 your American Washington, DC Spot Summit on http:// interpretamerica.net Today Interpreting Increase your Don’t miss this unique chance to network and explore greater company’s collaboration and resource sharing with your peers from visibility across the interpreting industry. by placing Sessions an ad in The ATA • The Interpreting Marketplace Chronicle. • Legislation and Lobbying Issues • Standards, Education, and Certification Contact: • Next Steps for Interpreting: Moderated Open Forum Jeanene Harris [email protected] For more information, contact: Phone: [email protected] +1-703-683-6100, www.interpretamerica.net EXT. 3003

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 35 Send your news to Jeff Sanfacon at [email protected] or American Translators Association, 225 Member News Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314.

• CETRA, Inc., of Elkins Park, and Future of Fossil Fuels and trade union, Wałęsa received the Pennsylvania, was one of 75 U.S. Their Alternatives has been pub- Nobel Peace Prize in 1983. Cecilia businesses to receive the 2010 lished by Praeger Publishers. interpreted from Polish into English Blue Ribbon Small Business and Spanish during interviews Award. This is the second time in a • Judy Jenner was named one of 17 Wałęsa granted to the Hispanic row the company has won the “Women to Watch 2010” by In press in Miami, including Radio award. For more information: Business Las Vegas. In addition to Marti and Channel 41. www.uschambersummit.com/award. running Twin Translations with her twin sister, Judy is the vice-presi- • Sandro Tomasi’s An English-Spanish • Eurasia Translations, Inc., of dent of the Nevada Interpreters and Dictionary of Criminal Law and Encino, California, has been Translators Association. Procedure (BilingualLaw Dictionary. awarded ISO 9001:2008 Certifi - com) was featured as the March 2010 cation by Global Certification-USA, • Cecilia Lawinski served as the offi- “Book of the Month” by InTrans LLC. cial interpreter for Lech Wałęsa, Book Service. Poland’s president from 1990-1995. • Jonathan Hine’s translation of A trade union and human rights Leonardo Maugeri’s Beyond the activist and co-founder of Solidarity, Age of Oil: The Myths, Realities the Soviet bloc’s first independent

In Memoriam

Laurel Ann Wagers, managing editor of MultiLingual, died February 13, 2010, at Life Care of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She was 61. Laurel was born September 12, 1948, in Spokane, Washington, the daughter of Joseph and Margery Pratt. As a child, she lived in Alaska and Sandpoint, Idaho, where she graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1964. She received a degree in journalism from Michigan State University, where she also studied French. Laurel returned to Sandpoint in the mid-1970s, where she worked for the Bonner County Daily Bee and the Sandpoint Library. She joined the staff of MultiLingual Computing, Inc. in 1998. Laurel was one of three women who spearheaded the drive to restore the historic Panida Theater in downtown Sandpoint, and later served on the theater’s board of directors. She also served on the board of the East Bonner County Library. Laurel was a published author and accomplished actress, appearing in many productions at the Unicorn Theatre. In addition, she was a musical accompanist for several area churches. She also loved drawing and painting. She is survived by her son, Lee (Stephanie) Wagers, of Eugene, Oregon; three grandchildren, Aidan, Morgan, and Paige; her mother, Margery Pratt; and by two brothers, Greg (Kim) Pratt, of Spokane, Washington, and Mark (Sherri) Pratt, of Anchorage, Alaska. She was preceded in death by her father, Joseph Pratt. Memorial contributions can be made to the Panida Theater (www.panida.org); Friends of East Bonner County Library (www.ebcl.lib.id.us/ebcl/FOL_Newsletter.htm); or Angels Over Sandpoint (angelsover sandpoint.org).

36 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 All candidates applying for ATA certification must provide proof that they meet the certification program eligibility requirements. Please direct all inquiries regarding general certification information to ATA Headquarters at +1-703-683-6100. Registration for all certification exams should be made ATA Certification Exam Information through ATA Headquarters. All sittings have a maximum capacity and admission is based on the order in which registrations are received. Upcoming Exams Forms are available from ATA’s website or from Headquarters.

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Active and Corresponding New Certified Members Membership Review Congratulations! The following people have successfully Congratulations! The Active Membership Review Committee is pleased to passed ATA’s certification exam: grant active or corresponding status to:

Arabic into English English into Japanese Judith Goeppert Delavar G. Shenas Kirchberg, Germany Bellevue, WA Christina M. Schoeb Noriko Endriga Arlington, VA Providence, RI Seung-won Goh Robert Tamez Rockville, MD San Antonio, TX English into German English into Spanish Judy A. Jenner Terese M. Whitty Gunda Ohlrogge Mabel Lima Las Vegas, NV Park City, UT Hamburg, Germany Laurel, MD Eugenia Persov Peggy F. Wright Elgin, TX Linda C. Schmidt Brooklyn, NY Bethesda, MD Rashid S. Hasan Dwarka, New Delhi, India

Rebecca L. Rubenstein Ventura, CA

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 37 Success by Association Colorado Association of Professional Interpreters

Established in 2001, the Colorado Association of Professional Interpreters • Established: 2001 • Address: (CAPI) is a nonprofit organization ded- Quick • Website: Colorado Association of Professional www.coloradointerpreters.org Interpreters icated to supporting the professional PO Box 40664 needs of interpreters and to promoting • E-mail: Denver, CO 80204 the recognition of all facets of inter- Facts [email protected] preting in the community. Membership is open to anyone.

Mission • To provide and promote training Activities Additional Information for interpreters. • Searchable online membership For complete information, please directory. visit www.coloradointerpreters.org. • To support standards of professional ethics, practices, and • Discounted educational competence. workshops.

• To promote communication with • Captions (quarterly online ATA’s chapters and its affiliates, along with interpreters about professional newsletter). other groups, serve translators and inter- issues. preters, providing them with industry infor- • E-mail notifications of mation, networking opportunities, and • To act as a resource on inter- announcements. support services. This column is designed to preting for persons in allied pro- serve as a quick resource highlighting the fessions and related organizations. • Two general meetings and valuable contributions these organizations social events per year. are making to the profession. • To promote collegial relations among its members.

Don’t New England Translators Association • May 22, 2010 14th Annual Conference • Boston, Massachusetts Miss www.netaweb.org

2010 Honors and Awards Now Open www.star-group.net

ATA presents annual and biennial awards to encourage, reward, and publicize outstanding work done by both seasoned professionals and students of our craft. For complete entry information and deadlines, www.atanet.org/membership/honorsandawards.php. Process automation in

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38 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 Visit the ATA Calendar Online www.atanet.org/calendar/ Upcoming Events for a more comprehensive look at upcoming events.

May 10-12, 2010 June 16-20, 2010 September 11, 2010 Globalization & Localization Association Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Midwest Association of Translators GALA 2010: The Global Community, Region V Conference and Interpreters Capturing Customers Worldwide Salt Lake City, Utah 7th Annual Conference Prague, Czech Republic www.utrid.org/regionv Milwaukee, Wisconsin www.gala-global.org/conference www.matiata.org June 17, 2010 May 14-16, 2010 First North American September 25, 2010 National Association of Judiciary Summit on Interpreting Upper Midwest Translators and Interpreters and Translators Washington, DC Interpreters Association 31st Annual Conference http://interpretamerica.net Annual Conference Orlando, Florida St. Paul, Minnesota www.najit.org August 5-7, 2010 www.umtia.org Nebraska Association of Translators May 19-22, 2010 and Interpreters October 20-24, 2010 Association of Language Companies 11th Annual Regional Conference American Literary Translators Annual Conference Lincoln, Nebraska Association Miami, Florida www.natihq.org Annual Conference www.alcus.org/education/conference.cfm Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 13-14, 2010 www.utdallas.edu/alta May 21-22, 2010 Texas Association of Healthcare Mid-America Chapter of ATA Interpreters and Translators October 27-30, 2010 MICATA Symposium 4th Annual TAHIT Symposium on ATA 51st Annual Conference Overland Park, Kansas Language Access Denver, Colorado www.ata-micata.org/MICATA%20- Houston, Texas www.atanet.org/conf/2010 %20Symposium.htm www.tahit.us November 6-8, 2010 May 22, 2010 September 3-5, 2010 Sixth FIT Asian Translators' Forum New England Translators Association International Medical “Translation and Intercultural 14th Annual Conference Interpreters Association Communication” Boston, Massachusetts Annual Conference Macau, China www.netaweb.org Boston, Massachusetts www.umac.mo/fsh/de/atf www.imiaweb.org June 11-12, 2010 November 11-13, 2010 Medical Interpreter Network of Georgia September 10-13, 2010 American Medical Writers Association 3rd Annual Southeast Regional Medical Tennessee Association of Professional 70th Annual Conference Interpreters Conference Interpreters and Translators Milwaukee, Wisconsin Charleston, South Carolina Annual Conference www.amwa.org www.mingweb.org Nashville, Tennessee www.tapit.org

The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 39 Compiled by Dictionary Review Peter A. Gergay [email protected]

Macquarie Australian The fourth edition of the aries like the Macquarie Australian Encyclopedic Dictionary, Macquarie Australian Encyclopedic Encyclopedic Dictionary are making Fourth Edition Dictionary is an impressive book. It is Australians feel like they have their a robustly bound, hardcover volume, own standard of English that is not Publisher: and the paper quality is quite good. It governed by U.K. or U.S. usage. The Macquarie Library Pty, Ltd. contains 1,472 pages, with over Australians are now more relaxed 55,000 headwords and 12,000 defini- about their own particular style of Publication date: tions covering English as it is used in English, and this dictionary presents a 2006 Australia. Weighing in at more than wonderful account of just what that five pounds, it is also a brick on any style of English is. ISBN: translator’s desk, and thus not easily The dictionary’s appendices are 978-187-642-9447 transportable. However, in an age filled with guidelines on grammar and where we all probably spend too punctuation, foreign words and Price: much time looking at a computer phrases, signs and symbols, weights AUD 79.95 ($72.00) screen and searching through online and measures. Also included at the dictionaries, having an old-fashioned back are the somewhat doubtfully Available from: paper dictionary in hand feels nice. It useful pages listing past prime minis- www.panmacmillan.com.au also allows you to read some of the ters of Australia and the mottos for very interesting articles and sections Australian states, territories, and cap- Type of work: of the dictionary, which you would ital cities. I found out that the motto Encyclopedic dictionary of Australian English probably not read if you were just for my hometown of Sydney is “I take looking up a term online. but I surrender,” and the motto for Reviewed by: New South Wales is Orta recens quam Charlotte Brasler General Content pura nites (“Newly risen, how The dictionary contains a wonder- brightly you shine.”). I am not sure fully written foreword by Jana Wendt, how these two mottos relate to who was a well-known television Sydney and New South Wales, but journalist in Australia. This is fol- they are interesting. lowed by an interesting article on the development of Australian English, Convenience of Look-up covering its origins as the language of The dictionary’s introductory sec- British sailors, marines, and convicts, tion contains the explanatory notes, characterized by a style of English abbreviations, and structure of entries, similar to that spoken in the south- all of which can be referenced quickly eastern region of England. However, when looking up a term. All entries as with any language, Australian are organized conveniently, with English evolves continually, with bolded headwords followed by infor- words like “kangaroo,” “boomerang,” mation about spelling, pronunciation, and “dingo” being added through meanings, and etymologies. There are the influence of the indigenous also bolded run-on headwords, that is, Aboriginal people, words like latte, derivatives of the headword, at the falafel, and sushi through various end of each entry. Everything is pre- waves of immigrants, and “cookies,” sented in a two-column format with “fries,” and the collective “guys” illustrative phrases in italics and ety- coming from the U.S. From being a mology in brackets. language that was looked down upon even by the Australian media in the Grammatical Information and 1940s and 1950s, Australian English Pronunciation has come into its own, and diction- The 24-page grammar guide in the

40 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 appendices is organized alphabeti- Contextual and Encyclopedic to appreciate a dictionary like the cally with concise definitions and Information Macquarie Australian Encyclopedic many illustrative phrases. Since In addition to the headwords, the Dictionary. It is a truly excellent formal written English shows very dictionary contains a wide range of account of the style of English spoken little variation around the world, it international and Australian encyclo- on the biggest and most sparsely popu- could be argued that the grammatical pedic notes giving summaries about lated desert island in the world. In the rules represented in the Macquarie such things as people, places, and past, the inhabitants have been made to Australian Encyclopedic Dictionary events. What I found most interesting feel that their English was second-class apply to the vast majority of English- here is the information on the lan- to that of the mother country, England. speaking countries. For a native guages and cultures of the Aboriginal However, this dictionary is tangible English speaker, the grammatical people. For example, entries like the proof of the opposite, and Australians guide is excellent as a quick refer- one about the Wiradjuri, the largest today can feel very proud of their lan- ence, and provides the student of Aboriginal group in inland New guage. Jana Wendt puts it eloquently: English with a nice compact list of South Wales, provide fascinating “In the case of the Macquarie rules to remember. information about the meaning and Australian Encyclopedic Dictionary, a Another helpful feature is the origin of Australian English words bridge is built between our need for a usage notes at the end of some words. like billabong and woomera. There record of the constantly expanding The dictionary is not intended to be a are also entries about more contempo- scope of modern communication and style guide, but does provide guidance rary and famous Australians like Paul the essential knowledge required as on the use of some words. Since Hogan and Nicole Kidman, famous we, who continue to forge a culture in Australian English generally follows places like Uluru, or curiously the Antipodes, forage through the the U.K. English spelling conven- sounding places like Ulladulla or Woy information forest of the twenty-first tions, such as theatre, honour, and Woy. century.” Overall, I would say that this colour, one would naturally assume Another amusing and interesting is an excellent dictionary. that a word like “program” would be feature of this dictionary is the many spelled “programme.” The usage note examples of regionalisms and slang for this particular term tells you that from around Australia. Terms like Charlotte Brasler is an ATA-certified until recently, the U.K. spelling was rego (car registration) and garbo Danish→English translator. She is also used for everything except when (garbage collector) are very useful to certified by the National Accreditation referring to computers. However, the know about when talking to your Authority for Translators and Interpreters U.S. spelling is now accepted as the mechanic or your neighbor, and refer- Ltd (English→Danish). She lives and correct form in all cases. This is ring to outback Australia as “out in works in Sydney, Australia. Contact: handy information to know. Woop Woop” definitely makes you [email protected]. Also, at the bottom of each page is sound like you are from Down Under. a small list with examples of how a particular sound is pronounced in Overall Evaluation Australian English. So, if you are Even though the relevance of a

looking up the word “warm,” tran- behemoth of a book like this is ques- scribed as “wc m” in Australian tionable in an age where we all

English, you can quickly look at the increasingly use the Internet, the dic- www.star-group.net bottom of the page to see that the “ ”c tionary does have its merits. If you take should sound like the “o” in “port,” your time to appreciate the interesting which is very handy information extra information provided in the arti- indeed. cles at the beginning and the appendices at the back, you will really begin Computer assisted Miss last year’s ATA Annual Conference? Order the DVD-ROM! translation

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The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 41 The Translation Inquirer John Decker [email protected]

Rules” on February 19, 2010. As I complete 17 years of being Embedded in his espn.com article were Abbreviations the office manager, cheerleader, scribe, words that stung me personally: “He used with this column and bouncer for this column, I see that [Woods] talked about needing more we as a professional organization still treatment, and about ‘the importance have not completed the work of telling of looking at my spiritual life and A-Arabic F-French the world about our high levels of skill keeping in balance with my profes- Da-Danish G-German in what we do. Bill Sammons of ESPN sional life.’ (This sounded like it was D-Dutch I-Italian made this comment in an article enti- written through one of those Russian- E-English Po-Polish tled “Tiger Still Playing by His Own to-English translators).” Ugh! [E]-English was R-Russian not involved in Sb-Serbian the initial query Sl-Slovenian New Queries casing insulators are manufactured but is acceptable Sp-Spanish (Da-E 4-10.1) It has been a while since from high-density polyethylene. They as an answer Sw-Swedish an acronym problem appeared in this are connected to each other by means venue, but the Danish KOM-møde is of galvanized carbon steel bolts and just that. Here is how it appears: I umid- nuts supplied along with the casing delbart forlængelse af fejlfindingen insulator elements.” Please provide гвоздички, и только потом розы. foretages en vurdering af, om reklama- good Italian for this concept. Тут уж можно было даму tionen igangsætter indkaldelse til поцеловать, сначала в ручку, и не KOM-møde samt tilbagekaldelse af (F-E 4-10.6) In an article about pre- забыть томный взгляд. Вежливое yderligere produkter. What is it? teen cosmetics, adonaissantes was the раскланивание со вздохами и problem word, appearing with “pread- больше нини. Ну и на следующий (D-G [E] 4-10.2) From a petition of olescents” and “tweens.” It will take раз приглашение остаться на appeal in Dutch, the term vertoogt met more than the usual amount of context завтрак ему было обеспечено. eerbied was troublesome. It is the in the following to produce an What would do this justice? introductory formulation of the docu- informed translation: Une catégorie de ment, followed by the names of the préadolescents et surtout de préado- (Sl-E 4-10.8) Hello to Slovenian for (I plaintiff and defendant involved in the lescents particulièrement visée par les think) the first time in this column! In appeal, then the body of the petition. marques est celle des tweens (contrac- the world of telecommunications, What might this be? tion de teenagers et between) ou what is priključni tulec? Here is how encore « adonaissantes » qui carac- the sentence reads: Ožičenje je (E-A 4-10.3) Immunoblot is a medical térise des enfants branches, très sensi- potrebno izvesti z bakrenimi vodniki test procedure, but how can it be bles à la mode, notamment à celle tipa P ali P/F. V kolikor je izbran expressed in Arabic? véhiculée par leurs stars préférées vodnik tipa P/F, morajo biti na koncih Robert Pattinson, Ugly Betty, Christa nameščeni ustrezni priključni tulci. (E-F 4-10.4) Advertising is the con- Theret. Is there a word for adonais- text for this query about translating santes? (Sp-E 4-10.9) Should enriquecimiento “geo-targeted” into French: “Show neto be “net income” or “net profit?” your advertisement to local cus- (R-E 4-10.7) How do you express Here is the context from a tomers…. The geo-targeted ad ухаживать поэтапно in good, but Declaración definitiva de renta from service means that potential customers ironic, English? This very interesting Venezuela: Para determinar el in your area will see your advertise- literary query goes like this: enriquecimiento neto gravable por el ment.” The basic idea is clear enough, Ухаживать за своими избран impuesto sobre la renta, se tomará la but what about the French? ницами он предпочитал поэт- totalidad de los ingresos brutos апно . Считал, что торопиться не percibidos por el contribuyente y se la (E-I 4-10.5) Here is a query that стоит. Начинал с провожания до restará los costos provenientes de los defines itself. The words in bold метро и цветочков. Сначала productos enajenados y de los servi- proved to be the most irritating: “Hex крошечный букетик, затем три cios prestados dentro del país.

42 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 (Sw-E 4-10.10) What kind of sub- data are collected at the beginning of (Sb-G [E] 2-10.9) (ujdurma): This stance is samkross? This construction- the study prior to treatment, at dif- means “dirty trick” (perhaps Betrug?), related translation included this ferent times during the study and at according to Wayles Browne. His context sentence: Spontväggarna its conclusion. Once the study is translation of the whole sentence is: förenas med dragstag och utrymmet completed, the toxicologist will ana- “It wasn’t very important to them fylls med samkross. lyze the data and compare the results whether these new members were sin- obtained in terms of 1) treated versus cere or whether their joining the party Replies to Old Queries control groups, and 2) control and was just a dirty trick by the national (E-D 2-10.1) (Don’t count your treated groups versus data obtained enemy.” Boy, does that have a chickens before they hatch): Dick prior to treatment. Then they talk Darkness at Noon sound to it! Lodge conducted a Google search and about the toxic or beneficial effects found Je moet de huid niet verkopen compared to a) control data and b) Thanks to the quartet of respon- voordat de beer geschoten is (“You pre-test data. ders, but an octet would have been mustn’t sell the hide before the bear The same comparison applies when better. Did any of the new queries has been shot.”) conducting studies with cell cultures. catch your eye? I want to hear—and In the case of the query from the here you can visualize the famous (E-R 2-10.8) (visit flow chart): Vadim February issue, what is measured is bearded Uncle Sam poster with his Khazin prefers Расписание (схема, the decrease in corneal cell growth index finger pointed at the viewer— график) визитов пациентов for this. compared to what is observed in the from YOU! control group. Therefore, unless pre- (F-Po [E] 2-10.5) (valeur témoin): test measurements are mentioned in Address your queries and responses to The Translation Catherine Dorian-Conner explains it the text to be translated, Catherine Inquirer, 112 Ardmoor Avenue, Danville, Pennsylvania this way: when conducting a toxi- would translate valeur témoin as “con- 17821. E-mail address: [email protected]. Please make cology study, there are two groups, trol value.” your submissions by the first of each month to be included the control group and those treated. After that, says the Translation in the next issue. Generous assistance from Per Dohler, The control group is given the vehicle Inquirer, providing the Polish should proofreader, is gratefully acknowledged. and the treated groups receive the be a snap. drug at various doses. For all groups,

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The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 43 Humor and Translation Mark Herman [email protected]

Don Quijote’s Dog Revisited

In the September 2009 column, I and cites as a reference the Gramática practice well documented back to the wrote that, in the very first paragraph de la Lengua Castellana (Nueva edi- times of the Roman empire, so the of the very first chapter of Cervantes’ ción, Madrid: Real Academia Españ - translation of galgo corredor as ‘grey- Don Quijote, the title character is ola, 1909, pages 261-67). hound for racing’ could make sense.” described as un hidalgo de los de Of the six respondents who dis- Sleator states, “In the 1944 edition of lanza en astillero, adarga antigua, agree with Martínez, Muñoz still Don Quijote by Martín de Riquer, [it rocín flaco y galgo corredor, and that believes that Don Quijote does not says that] when Don Quijote was the final phrase is usually translated actually own a dog, and Saari believes idle,…he started reading libros de into English as “a skinny old horse the question to be irrelevant. caballería with so much gusto that he and a racing greyhound,” or other According to Muñoz, without the un neglected the administration of his words to that effect. However, the sentence becomes a “boilerplate” lands and HIS HUNTING. I can’t according to an essay in Spanish by characterization of the knight with a imagine an hidalgo of those days Peruvian writer Gregorio Martínez, dog that Don Quijote wants to be, not going hunting without a hound.” translated into English and submitted of the knight without a dog that the Several other interesting com- to me by Franco Gamero, the lack of Don actually is, and it is necessary to ments were made by the responders. an indefinite article, un before galgo, insert un and recast the sentence with Ballesteros suggests that those who turns galgo corredor into another somewhat different grammar to state wish to read the novel in the original adjective modifying rocín, reducing that the Don indeed owns a dog. Saari Spanish obtain the Edición del IV the number of animals to one. That is, takes a somewhat similar though not centenario published by the Real there is no greyhound, only a horse as identical view, stating that the ques- Academia Española, which includes skinny as a greyhound. tion of the dog is irrelevant because a glossary of words used by I invited comments and eight Cervantes is telling us what Don Cervantes. Ballesteros and other readers responded soon enough to be Quijote could have been, not what he responders also agree with Franco included in this column. One, James is, and so it does not matter whether Gamero that the names of the novel’s Kirchner, did not write about Don there is actually a dog or not. characters have resonances with their Quijote, but pointed out that Of the four respondents who claim physical characteristics, some of Cervantes’ novel is not the only one to that the Don does own a dog, two, which were mentioned in the original suffer from a long-standing mistrans- Hunt and Gardner, point out (as does September 2009 column. Sleator lation. Kirchner states that the cook in Saari) that the un missing before notes “that quijote is the part of [a Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on galgo is also missing before other suit of] armor that covers the thigh.” the Western Front has a Tomatenkopf, nouns. All except Gardner point out Saari also notes that quijote is related a fat florid face and head resembling a that, while dogs are not further men- to “thigh,” and thereby to Catalan tomato, mistranslated as “carroty tioned in the novel, hunting is. Hunt cuixot and the French cuisse, but can head,” indicating red hair. states, “The galgo español is a sepa- also be construed as a slang euphe- The seven respondents who com- rate breed of dog native to the Iberian mism for the rear end. Therefore Don mented on Don Quijote are Efraín peninsula…used in hunting rabbits in Quijote can be translated into modern Rodríguez Ballesteros, Tomás Cano the 16th and 17th centuries. (It was slang as “Butthead.” Binder, Candy Gardner, David Hunt, widely crossbred with English grey- Hunt, in agreement with Saari, Álvaro Muñoz, Patrick Saari, and hounds in the early 20th century.)” explains that “While Hidalgo means Emma Sleator. I am sorry that limited Binder states, “It is clearly mentioned noble, in Spanish literature it has fre- space forces me to summarize their that Don Quijote was a big fan of quently been used to denote nobility sometimes extensive and always hunting…[R]abbits and jackrabbits of limited means—the poor cousins.” interesting comments. are among the most abundant prey in Gardner, whose PhD dissertation Of the seven, only Ballesteros this region [La Mancha] even today, was on Friedrich J. Bertuch’s 1775 agrees with Martínez that the phrase and therefore greyhound[s] were a translation of Don Quijote into galgo corredor is adjectival rather than must if you were into hunting.” German, states that of six early trans- a nominal phrase indicating a separate Binder further states, “It is also pos- lations into German, three directly dog. He states that Cervantes’ sentence sible that Don Quijote took part in from Spanish (including Bertuch’s) uses an elliptical grammatical form, greyhound races with jackrabbits, a and three from earlier French transla-

44 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 tions, all stipulated that the Don in the first place.” the matter of heated…debates for over indeed owned a dog. Finally, both Saari and Binder four centuries.” Muñoz compares the literature that explain why the problematic meanings addled Don Quijote’s wits to the tools of Don Quijote will not be solved any with which translators work: “Don time soon. According to Saari, Quijote…seduces the reader not “Cervantes’ prose juggles with the Herman is a librettist and translator. because of the pitiful equipment with expectations, perspectives, percep- Submit items for future columns via e-mail to [email protected] or via snail which he searches for adventure, but tions, delusions, prejudices, hopes, and mail to Mark Herman, 1409 E Gaylord because what he does have is that disappointments of Cervantes himself, Street, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858-3626. inner strength, that presence of mind his readers, society, leading players, Discussions of the translation of humor and moral rectitude with which every secondary characters, and onlookers. and examples thereof are preferred, but human being is endowed at the begin- Everything is could, would, should, humorous anecdotes about translators, ning, but loses through contact with must, might, or may be, and there’s translations, and mistranslations are also translation memories, partially trans- hardly anything in the book that simply welcome. Include copyright information lated word counts, and endless is.” And Binder simply states, “Each and permission if relevant. updates for systems that do not work and every line of El Quijote has been

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The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 45 DIRECTORY OF LANGUAGE SERVICES ATA’s DirectoryTo place an ad contact of Jeanene Language Harris at 703-683-6100, ext. 3003 orServices [email protected]

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46 The ATA Chronicle n April 2010 The Patent Translator’s Handbook American Translators Association

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