English to French translation

Translating "vous" and "tu" in English

May 10, 2012

I think I can trace back my love of translation to one particular passage, discovered while studying a French text and its translation in English side by side. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which novel it was, or the exact phrasing, but I do remember that during a conversation, one of the characters moved from using "vous" to using "tu" to address a troubled young man in need of comforting. As there is no lexical equivalent in English, the translator used a technique called compensation, where something that can’t be translated in one part of the text is expressed somewhere else, in a different way. It went something like this:

"Mais êtes-vous certain de vouloir nous quitter?"
"J’ai bien peur de ne pas avoir le choix."
"Tu vas me manquer."

The switch from "vous" to "tu" indicated a shift in the relationship from formal to something more intimate and personal. This is how the English translator dealt with it:

"But are you sure you want to leave us?"
"I’m afraid I have no choice."
"I’m going to miss you," she said, taking his hand in hers.

The increasing closeness, which was expressed through language in the French text, was thus translated by a physical gesture in English. I remember thinking that this was just wonderful, and being quite taken by the cleverness of it all.

Last night, I saw Monsieur Lazhar, a Canadian film (in French) which I cannot recommend highly enough, and which contained another great example of how to translate “vous” and “tu”. I actually was glad of the subtitles due to the occasional québecois quirk, which is how I spotted this particularly good translation. It happens when Mr Lazhar arrives at one of his colleague’s for dinner, and he says (roughly remembered - my memory isn’t what it used to be):

"Bonsoir Marie, c’est très gentil à vous de m’avoir invité."

To which Marie replies:

"Je t'en prie, on se tutoie."

The subtitles were:

"Good evening Ms. Dupont, thank you for inviting me."
"Please, call me Marie."

Clever, no?

Website maintenance tools

May 8, 2012

Trying to keep your online house in order is important, and I’ve recently discovered two great tools to help me do this. The first one is Copyscape, which looks for duplicate content and can alert you to plagiarism or theft, which can affect your Google ranking and is just not very nice.

The second is Brokenlinkcheck, which does exactly what its name suggests. Again, bad links can affect your rankings, but they also provide a bad user experience for your visitors, so it’s best to fix them. After 11,5 years of bloggage, this site has 324 broken links. When I started deleting them, I realised that most of them are in the 4,431 comments and, sadly, lead to a host of now defunct blogs. As I wait for a project to arrive, I know what I’ll be doing this afternoon…

Photo by much0

Translators: is Twitter bad for your business?

April 4, 2012

I love Twitter. It brings me information, distraction and an opportunity to be in direct contact with a lot of colleagues. I follow lots of translators, and we regularly exchange useful information on everything and anything linked to translation. That is why, when I received a query for work from an unknown agency in the States, I sent the following tweet:

Followed by these two:

Indeed and surprisingly, negotiations were going well. I say “surprisingly”, because the original email immediately aroused my suspicions. You see, the name of the company rang a few alarm bells, for reasons that I couldn't put my finger on at that point. Besides, there are a lot of shady agencies out there whose business models seems based on not paying their translators, and when they’re based abroad, you stand next to no chance to ever receive payment for your work. So I had every reason to be extra careful, and to ask for feedback.

Then I received the following email:

We have read your message:

**************
Céline Graciet‏@NTceline
Hello translators, has anyone heard of a US agency called ****? Got a query, but something doesn't feel quite right #xl8
**************
This is quite disappointing, to tell you the truth. If you have any doubts -- ask us. If you go public with your suspicious thoughts ("something doesn't feel quite right"), try to substantiate them in some way. We are one of the most reputable US translation companies, and your message does not send us good vibes.

Every email I send has a link to my Twitter page at the bottom, so I wasn't surprised or embarrassed that they had seen my tweet. I replied:

I regularly use Twitter to openly exchange information about translation agencies with my colleagues. As you must know, there are a lot of disreputable outfits out there, and your name reminded me of one of them - I couldn't really ask you "Are you that agency that conned one of my colleagues a couple of months back?" :)

To me, this ability to help each other out is one of the best things about social media. I hope you saw that I did say that my fears were based on nothing and that my instincts are completely unreliable, and that I confirmed that my suspicions were wrong. So all my followers now know that I was just being a bit over-cautious and that you are completely legit.

I'll be happy to put a message on Twitter confirming that you are a professional company if you wish me to do so, and I'm very sorry if I upset you.

To which they replied:

Céline: 1. You could have asked us for professional references, and I would have provided you with plenty of those. 2. You did not upset me since we deal with lots of people/companies around the world and we take things professionally, not emotionally. 3. Your apology is accepted, yet our business relationship with you ends up at this point.

Aouch. I sent this final message:

I like using my network of respected colleagues for professional information, and I see nothing wrong with it. I never said a word against your company, I just asked for information because of very vague doubts, and I would have happily confirmed that they were unfounded. To me, this is all part of protecting my business against possible complications. I'm surprised you see it as a problem, but I respect that.

So I lost a potential client, which no freelancer wants. If I could turn the clock back, I would probably not put "Something doesn't feel quite right" in the tweet, as it can be taken as a veiled accusation, which it wasn't. But I think I would still ask my colleagues for their feedback. Just because some organisations are clearly a bit cagey about social media (which I think is betrayed by the "going public" comment), it doesn’t mean that I will stop making the most of what Twitter is best at, which is obtaining clear, transparent information from trusted sources to protect my business.

What about you, dear reader? Are you careful with your professional use of Twitter? Do you censor yourself, to a certain extent?

Twitter buttons

The court interpreting fiasco – the facts and the friction

March 15, 2012

The contract to supply court interpreters to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is facing its toughest test yet today, as hundreds take to the streets of London to protest. Meanwhile, the story has finally received the attention of the national press, and discussions in parliament are underway to address the issues.
Members of the Professional Interpreters Alliance (PIA) and many others are angry that the MoJ chose to outsource all interpreting assignments to one firm, the Manchester based translation agency Applied Language Solutions (ALS). They believe that ALS is mismanaging the contract, cutting interpreter pay and hiring unqualified staff. But is this true? And if so, is the outsourcing model inherently flawed? Let’s look at the facts.

ALS problems

Last year, the MoJ agreed a deal with ALS to provide all court interpreters through one firm. The contract was thought to be worth around £300m, but the MoJ claimed that savings were estimated to be up to £18m a year. As part of the contract, all interpreters were forced to sign up with a new national database on a website called Linguist Lounge, scrapping the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI). The new system was initially trialled in Manchester, and despite significant problems resulting in Greater Manchester Police ripping up the contract, the system remained on course to be rolled out nationwide.

Before the five year contract had even officially begun on 1 February, thousands of professional interpreters had decided that they would not work for ALS under the current conditions. This is because the new pay model stipulates that the highest fee an interpreter can earn is £22 per hour, with some being paid as little as £16 per hour. In addition, travel expenses would no longer be covered. When compared with previous earnings, a flat rate fee of £85 plus a quarterly rate after three hours with expenses included, it resulted in a 60-80 per cent pay cut for nearly all qualified interpreters.

Around 60% of the 2,300 people on the NRPSI boycotted the contract, and two weeks in, ALS admitted that it was struggling to meet requirements. They confessed that, in some cases, tribunal hearings had to be cancelled or postponed because they were unable to find interpreters. On rare occasions, foreign suspects had to be released without questioning as interpreters were not available. A spokesperson for ALS said: “Unfortunately that has been true in some cases which is something that we are working extremely hard to resolve.”

Mirela Watson, an interpreter with 15 years experience, witnessed this with her own eyes. She told The Guardian: "ALS is supplying a lot of unqualified, unvetted interpreters - myself and my colleagues have been visiting the courts randomly to monitor ALS's work and the standard is absolutely unacceptable, it could lead to a serious miscarriage of justice." Many others observed that ALS were hiring unqualified interpreters, and the process by which interpreters are vetted was shown to be fundamentally flawed after an interpreter registered her pet rabbit on the Linguist Lounge website.

MoJ reaction

At this point, the private contract was put on hiatus, and as a temporary measure, the MoJ instructed all courts and tribunals to find interpreters from other sources in “urgent” cases. An internal email seen by The Guardian said: “We have decided that Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service [HMCTS] must take urgent action to mitigate the number of hearings that are failing as a result of the contractor’s difficulties with sourcing interpreters at short notice.

“With immediate effect HMCTS will revert to the previous arrangements for all bookings due within 24 hours at the magistrates’ courts … we will revert to previous arrangements for urgent bookings required for bail applications, deports and fast track applications in the first tier tribunal immigration and asylum and urgent bookings in the asylum support tribunal.”

The email went on to say: “We understand that some staff and judiciary have sympathy with existing interpreters. We must however do all we can to encourage sign-up to the new arrangements – the new contract has the potential to bring significant benefits to both interpreters and the justice system as a whole.”

MPs concern

A number of MPs began to express their concerns with the contract. Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, reiterated initial worries about the consequences of hiring all court interpreters through one firm when he wrote to the justice minister Kenneth Clarke in February. He said: “Ensuring value for money in delivery of translation and interpretation services is clearly important,” he said, “but this must not be to the detriment of the quality of the service in such a critical area of justice.”

Labour’s justice spokesman Andy Slaughter agreed, and slammed the MoJ for awarding the contract “in the face of clear warnings and opposition from the interpreter community” and that “hard-pressed taxpayers will have to foot the bill not only of delayed and abandoned court hearings, but of unnecessary remands into custody, appeals and judicial reviews”.

He added: “There is a genuine risk of miscarriages of justice because of inadequate or unsuitable interpreting and translation services, and breaches of the right to a fair hearing under the Human Rights Act.”

In the past week, problems have worsened for ALS after they were landed with several wasted costs orders from Sharma Law Solicitors in London, who have experienced a number of instances where hearings have been repeatedly adjourned due to absent interpreters. One order has already been granted by the Magistrates Courts, and another is currently pending approval. Each adjourned hearing costs around £300, and solicitors like Sharma do not receive any payment or compensation.

Finding solutions

When confronted about the issues, the MoJ would only acknowledge that they were working with ALS to resolve the problems: “The Ministry of Justice is working with Applied Language Solutions to closely monitor the operation of the new contract.

“The government is determined to ensure that taxpayers get value for money across the whole of the justice system. This new contract will save at least £18m a year on the cost of interpretation and translation, a reduction of almost a third, but will ensure that high quality interpreters and translators are still available to those in need.”

Recently, ALS has sought to rectify some of the problems by offering a cash incentive to interpreters who recommend a friend, and CEO Gavin Wheeldon came out to declare that interpreters would be paid for court waiting time and that the allowance for mileage had been doubled, from 20p per mile to 40p for any travel over 10 miles each way. He also confirmed that ALS does offer interpreters £10 an hour for commuting after the first hour of travel each way. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Justice minister Crispin Blunt agreed that the contract had suffered problems, but accused the old system as “so inefficient and so decrepit” that the MoJ was forced to find a better solution. He reaffirmed his faith in ALS and holding company Capita, and expressed his belief that they were “rapidly improving the delivery of the new arrangements”.

Outsourcing

As a language services provider, Transcription Global understands the benefits and the challenges of the outsourcing model. We work with plenty of large clients that outsource interpreting or translation services to us on a regular basis, and although it’s a difficult balancing act, it is possible to reduce costs and improve service provision. But ALS has not gone about things in the right way. They made their first mistake when they failed to maintain communication with the NRPSI, and even after things had started to go downhill, they should have come out and addressed the PIA’s issues sooner. Rule number one: always value your staff. We have spoken to many interpreters throughout this whole fiasco, and by listening to them, we have managed to gather a more objective view of the situation. ALS should have done the same.

Outsourcing offers most businesses greater flexibility and control, and in the private sector, this allows them to increase profit margins. In the public sector, and on such a large scale, we would never advise the government to outsource all work to one company, as regardless of the company’s size or success, they would never possess the capacity to manage such a large contract. Although the MoJ’s cost-cutting motivations were sincere, it just wasn’t possible to save £18m a year without impacting on quality. Trying to convert a system that allowed courts to hire their own interpreters, working on a freelance basis for a rate that is justified and reflective of their profession, into a system that forces all courts to wait for interpreters to be allocated, unqualified interpreters being paid the same as highly qualified interpreters suffering a 60-80 per cent pay cut, was just never going to work.

Ryan Gibson is the Online Marketing Manager for Transcription Global, who are a leading transcription and translation services provider based in the UK.

How to lose your job as an interpreter

January 16, 2012

The story of a BBC sign language interpreter being sacked for her “creative” approach to interpreting (reporting, amongst other things, that radioactive zombies had been sighted near the nuclear reactor in Japan after the earthquake there) reminded me of an old post where I talk about being tempted to use my all-powerful position as an interpreter to turn a situation to my advantage.

Indeed, it can be really difficult to remain a neutral conversion hub and not get personally involved. During projects that I have worked on for some time, and which I know inside out, I am sometimes tempted just to give answers to questions instead of relaying first the question, then the answer, in order to save everyone time and effort and get the job done. I’m not the only one, as once, I worked with another interpreter at a one-day workshop, during which we had to work with small groups of French and English speakers who had to plan their workload for the afternoon session. To my horror, my colleague started to try and organise the participants, pointing out who was taking on too much and who was best placed to do such and such task. This was obviously inappropriate, but it can be very hard not to contribute when you think that you can see a solution to their dilemmas.

The BBC interpreter cited “personal difficulties – particularly a crushing professional boredom” to explain her actions. I hope she changes career and tries her hand at comedy, as I found her fondness for adding zombies to international events rather hilarious.

Brighton zombie picture by Heather Buckley

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UPDATE

OF COURSE this was a spoof! I knew that *cough*. However, my point remains, and interpreters have been sacked in the past for speaking their mind, in Ukraine, for example.
(Thanks May!)
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P.S.
Also, I've always wanted zombies on my blog.

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MORE!

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C'EST PAS FINI

Le Plus, a Nouvel Obs community site, asked me to elaborate on the issue of interpreters and neutrality (in French).

Translators and business plans

January 10, 2012

Jill made me smile with her post I don't have a plan and that's okay too. I completely understand where she’s coming from, even if I find it useful to take some time to reflect on how my work is going, and how I could improve it. For me, this is a way to focus and ensure that I do whatever I can to succeed in my work, like when I gave myself vague pointers in January 2010, which was useful. Some were good for me in terms of career progression (attending webinars and workshops, getting two more direct clients in the field of international development, keeping up to date with developments in the translation industry), others showed me paths I shouldn’t follow (giving presentations and webinars, which I’m not very good at, and business networking, which just doesn’t work for me).

This year however, I won’t be giving myself any pointers, even vague ones, as I seem to be plodding along quite nicely with the tools and strategies I’ve developed over the years. I have thought of offering other language pairs by outsourcing work to respected colleagues, but this would turn me into a project manager, and what I love is translating, full stop. This doesn’t mean that I’m forever stuck doing the same thing, in the same way: translation tools evolve, and with new clients come new challenges and new subjects to learn.

So what’s the plan for 2012? Carry on doing the best job I can for my existing clients, carry on using this website to market my English to French translation services (see what I’ve done there?) and hopefully make a few new interesting contacts. Happy new year everybody!

Compass photo by Walt Stoneburner.