Doc Byrne’s Translation Miscellany
Translators readying themselves for a revolution
Posted by Jody in Doc Byrne’s Translation Miscellany on April 20th, 2010
One of my articles on rates of pay for translators was recently republished in the ITIA Bulletin – the monthly electronic magazine of the Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association – and almost immediately afterwards I noticed a large jump in the number of people visiting my site. Naturally I was pretty pleased by this, after all you kind of hope that someone will read your articles. Two days later, however, the numbers went through the roof with hundreds of hits in just one day. What was even more unusual, I thought, was that they were all coming from various towns and cities throughout Italy. Ever the pessimist, I wracked my brains to see if there was anything in the article that could possibly have insulted an entire nation. But no, that wasn’t it. Had they found out that I love their food, their music and their culture and they were rushing to tell me that yes, they loved me too? Maybe, but that wouldn’t make so many of them visit my humble little website. Would it?
Translators rise up against the tyranny of agencies and job forums
No. It turns out that the Italian translation community is in the midst of a proper fight against scurrilous agencies who try to impose outrageously low rates on translators and generally treat translators like glorified typists aided and abetted by race-to-the-bottom job auction sites. Now translators aren’t known for their fighting spirit. Normally we might sit and give a muffled grumble or start to write a strongly worded email but before long we turn back to our computers and get on with translating (Those 7000 words of medical reports aren’t going to translate themselves you know!). There’s no fight in us at all. In fairness, with most of us working as self-employed contractors, it does feel that there’s not much we can do. Or so you would think. Cue the Italian translators who, like modern day Gladiators under the banner of their translators association, have said “Enough is enough. The abuse of translators has to stop!”
It just so happened that my article was republished around the same time they were mobilising their troops. One of the leading figures in this push against unfair and unethical business practices is Wendell Ricketts and he emailed me shortly after the ITIA Bulletin issue to fill me in on the story.
Apparently this has been simmering for some time but what brought it all to a head was a job advertisement on none other than Proz.com, where a translation agency called Trust Traduzioni was looking for translators to work on a project on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Tourism. The rate supposedly imposed by the Ministry was €9 per 2600 characters with payment after 90 days. According to Wendell’s site, a rate of €9 per 1500 characters would be considered as he puts it “starvation” rates so basing this amount on 2600 is downright offensive. Now the Ministry of Tourism subsequently denied all knowledge of these rates and said it was filing a complaint with the relevant authorities so you have to wonder who is responsible for the rates. It couldn’t be the agency? But they’re translators just like us. Aren’t they?
It’s times like this that you actually feel proud to be a translator. The Italian translators are doing what most of us secretly wished we could do but never really thought was possible – organising a geographically disparate group of people who have no employment protection and who often work alone and get them to mobilise against what everyone knows is a massive problem for our profession. Perhaps it is because translators do not have the protection afforded to other professions that they feel as if they have nothing to lose. What is absolutely clear to me from all this is that just because translation isn’t a protected or highly unionised profession and just because most of us are self-employed, it doesn’t mean we cannot stand up for ourselves and do something about the appalling conditions many of our fellow translators have to endure. Farmers and fishermen are all self-employed but whenever a supermarket cuts their prices or the government imposes higher taxes, they won’t waste a second in taking to the streets and manning the barricades or dumping a truck load of cow dung in front of the supermarket’s headquarters if necessary. So why don’t we take our lead from the Italian translators. It might work, it might not work but at least the other side will know they were in a fight if nothing else.
You can read more about this story here, here and here.
The Wanderer Returns
Posted by Jody in Doc Byrne’s Translation Miscellany on January 18th, 2010
All it takes is a sabre and dodgy hair to turn an academic into something a bit more heroic and dashing (via maskworld.com)
Last week we had our annual graduation ceremony here in Sheffield where we get to see our students off, wish them well and wear ridiculous robes inspired by medieval priests. I’m almost ashamed to say it but I love the pomp and pageantry of a good graduation ceremony: the robes, the processions, the trumpets. Okay so in England I have to sit – I mean stand – through the English national anthem, something that doesn’t really sit right with an Irish person but I’m a guest in their country so I’ll respect their ways. As long as they don’t expect me to sing it. My mother once told me of various Irish patriots who, when required to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown in order to take up their seats as MPs in the British parliament, would cross their fingers so that they could avoid any crises of conscience or general feelings of dirtiness afterwards. Childish? Perhaps, but the rebel in me likes it.
I also like the peacock-like strutting and suspicious sideways glances you get from some academics as they eye up your robes, trying to figure out where you got your PhD and whether your robes are nicer than theirs. Big-headed as it is, I know my DCU robes were nicer than most of the other doctoral robes there although one colleague invariably greets me as d’Artagnan when he sees me. I suppose the fact that I’ve been experimenting with a musketeer-style beard doesn’t help matters. The only robes I have seen that could be regarded as nicer or at least as nice as DCU robes are the Sorbonne (think medieval judge with an octagonal hat) and possibly Berkeley (think P-Diddy in black and purple velour). Cambridge’s robes wouldn’t look out of place in an old-fashioned vampire film but I’m not sure whether that’s a good or a bad thing.
But what struck me about this graduation was the number of people who didn’t turn up to collect their parchment at the ceremony. I’ve noticed this more so in England than in Ireland and it has become much more noticeable of late. In some departments, I noticed that around a third of the graduands were conferred in absentia. Even more baffling was the number of PhDs who didn’t bother turning up. I know that, particularly in the case of overseas students, the expense of travelling across the world to collect a piece of paper which would cost a fiver to post is prohibitive, but people based at least within a two-hour flight of Sheffield could turn up, surely.
Although it seems nearly everyone has a degree or two these days, I still think getting a degree is something to be proud of and it’s definitely something to celebrate. I wonder whether a person who doesn’t recognise this really appreciates the opportunity afforded them and whether they really appreciate the value of university study. It’s not just about the bit of paper that lets you put BA, MA or MSc after your name so that you can get a pay-rise. It’s about doing something worthwhile, something that challenges you and ultimately something that, win, lose or draw, improves you in some way.
Even though education sometimes seems to be all about the money these days, an education is still a privilege, one that not everyone gets. Deep down, I find it hard not to think of people who couldn’t be bothered turning up (as opposed to those who genuinely can’t make it) as being ever so slightly disrespectful.
Another thing that struck me about graduations here in Sheffield is that the speeches made by the chancellor, or whoever happens to be representing him at a particular ceremony, are always nice, safe and uncontroversial. He talks about the university and how great it is, the value of an education, the tremendous achievement and hard work put in by students. Ceremonies always finish off with a set-piece where graduates are asked to stand up, turn around and applaud their friends and families in the audience to thank them for their support. Nothing wrong with that at all you say but my in own alma mater, under two different presidents – Danny O’Hare and Ferdinand von Prondzynski – graduation speeches usually contain political commentary and, where appropriate, criticism of government policy as it affects education or employment.
During his tenure it seemed that pretty much every one of Ferdinand von Prondzynski’s graduation speeches was reported in the Irish press. Some people might think that this is an abuse of power and that a graduation ceremony should be a happy time and that nobody should rock the boat, but having heard and read several of these speeches, I think it’s highly appropriate. I like the idea of the head of a university addressing the next generation of professionals, leaders, parents, politicians, tax payers etc. one last time and sending them on their way with the embers of a fire in their bellies which will hopefully preserve the spirit of questioning, challenging and thinking which a university education tries to instill in students. Instead of bland congratulations and not-so-subtle hints at donations when they make their fortunes, students are made to realise that the end of their studies doesn’t mark the end of thinking. Then again, maybe I just like trouble-makers who rock the boat.
Oh, and before you ask, I don’t have any pictures of me in my robes!
Counteracting government language policy
Posted by Jody in Doc Byrne’s Translation Miscellany on December 1st, 2009
Inexplicable and ill-advised changes in the English education system and National Curriculum as a result of the Education Act (2002) have meant that fewer and fewer school students are learning languages at GSCE level and beyond. Where once languages were a compulsory part of the curriculum at second level, they are now an optional subject. Given that learning languages isn’t always the easiest thing in the world and given the pressure on students to achieve top grades, it’s not really surprising that there has been a fall-off in the numbers of students picking up a “hard” subject like a language. This situation hasn’t been helped by bleating from British industry who decry the lack of literacy and numeracy skills among school leavers while forgetting to recognise the importance of language. Now if you compare this to Ireland where a recent article said that one third of Irish employers wanted Chinese taught in schools, you can see the different attitudes to core skills. The fact is that speaking a foreign language is vital in this day and age and literacy shouldn’t simply be restricted to our own mother tongue.
This, of course, has had a knock-on effect on university admissions. With fewer people leaving school with languages and possibly being conditioned into thinking that they are too hard to learn, university courses are seeing fewer applications, particularly in certain languages. In the case of translation, I’ve heard people talk about a shortage of qualified translators, particularly with “difficult” languages like German or Dutch.
There seems to be a strange mindset which sees some people think that speaking English is enough to get you by, but the thought that languages could be an optional part of the curriculum is both blinkered and worrying. Britain, which has been known to assert that it’s rightful place is at the heart of Europe and the wider international community really should know better.
Thankfully, various organisations are doing their bit to try and counteract the worrying decline in students studying languages. Channel 4 recently relaunched their “Try Life in Another Language” ad campaign on television. Featuring a series of slick music videos with catchy foreign language songs, the campaign aims to relate languages to various areas of life that actually matter to people: music, fashion, careers, sport, travel, celebrity. None of your woolly intercultural awareness, world peace and language for language’s sake here. Okay so it might be a little patronising but it’s certainly something that catches the attention and paints languages in a useful and positive light. They even mention some of the festivals in France, Germany and Spain that you can go to. I’d like to think that they got the idea for this from me but they probably didn’t. Still, it’s good to see languages being promoted, nonetheless.
Intercultural awareness guide for hospitals
Posted by Jody in Doc Byrne’s Translation Miscellany on November 17th, 2009
The Health Services Executive – the body responsible for managing public healthcare provision in Ireland – has just launched a guide for front-line healthcare staff entitled Health Services Intercultural Guide: Responding to the Needs of Diverse Religious Communities and Cultures in Healthcare Settings. According to the HSE website it is
primarily targeted at in-patient settings including acute, paediatric, maternity, hospices, residential/community units, etc. and will be of interest to a range of staff including chaplains, mortuary staff, nurses/midwives and health care assistants.
The HSE hopes that this guide will provide healthcare staff with the necessary understanding to allow them to deal sensitively with the numerous different, mainly religious, groups who are cared for in Irish hospitals. Having quickly leafed through the guide, which is available on the HSE website here, it certainly looks to be a useful resource. It outlines the basics of what makes the different groups tick and then provides advice on how to care for them sensitively.
The guide deals with a range of religious, spiritual and cultural traditions such as Sikhism, Islam, the various flavours of Christianity, Witchcraft and groups such as the Chinese Community, Irish Travellers and Roma as well as people with no religious beliefs, which is refreshing (although sadly, there’s no section on Flying Spaghetti Monsterism).
I have a colleague who would probably have kittens at what she might regard as an attempt to distill entire cultures into a compact set of “stereotypes” but I’d probably have to disagree with her. Okay it’s impossible to completely and accurately profile 25 different groups in one 228 page document so a certain amount of generalisation is inevitable but I think it is a very useful resource all the same. Like most people, I hardly know, let alone understand, even a fraction of the groups and cultures that make up the world so any document that casts even a little light on matters has to be a good thing.
My only concern would be that having to remember so much intercultural information might get in the way of medical treatment. While the value of holistic care is widely recognised – particularly by nurses who know that you don’t just treat the illness, you treat the person – there is a risk that bureaucratizing cultural sensitivity might force medical aspects of treatment into second place, ultimately compromising patient care. All in all, though, it’s good to see the HSE taking the issue of cultural diversity seriously. Let’s hope they sort out the issue of access to qualified interpreters too!
Related Links:
Tales from Portsmouth
Posted by Jody in Doc Byrne’s Translation Miscellany on November 9th, 2009
Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth (via Wikitravel)
I’ve just come back from a conference in sunny Portsmouth where I gave a keynote on the subject of “the translator as writer“. Of course you can never be completely happy with your performance at conferences but overall I think my presentation went down pretty well. It was quite unnerving though that it was recorded on video so hopefully I won’t find it too painful when I get to watch it back. My topic was “Are technical translators writing themselves out of existence” and at some point over the next few days I’ll write something about it here.
The conference itself was excellent as usual with a good variety of topics presented by practitioners and academics from all over the world. The Portsmouth translation conference is, I have to admit, my favourite not just because of the topics discussed or the friendly, relaxed atmosphere but because it draws practising translators as well as researchers. For me, conferences that are solely for academics can be quite dull so to have presentations from the word-face too is quite refreshing. Sometimes academics can lose sight of what translation is about and focus on obscure issues far removed from the actual process of translation.
There were some hits and one or two misses at this year’s conference. I won’t name and shame the misses because that’s not nice but I will point out some of the highlights for me. First up was Arvi Tavast from Talinn University who gave a really interesting and really useful look at how translators view their roles and whether they should correct errors in the source text. Backed up with empirical research, Tavast showed that there was quite a significant difference in how translators approached, for example, errors in source texts. He also showed that opinion is divided among agencies as regards expectations for translations and translator behaviour. For me, this was one of the most relevant pieces of research I have come across in quite a while.
Quite a useful way of explaining punctuation as it turns out (via Air Guitar Australia)
I also went to a workshop by Janet Fraser which looked at how we teach writing skills to translation students although the activities, she stressed, could be used by professional translators as a “warm-up” exercise. Normally I run a mile whenever someone mentions workshop but this one was actually useful and fun. The activity involved giving participants several trigger words and asking them to write an advertisement aimed at tourists. The upshot of it all was that without exception everyone knew how to write texts like this. We all knew that particular linguistics structures and strategies were expected and we all produced quite similar texts. The challenge, then, is getting students to unlock these skills when translating.
Other highlights were Stephen Crabbe’s talk on the development of controlled language as well as the other keynote, entitled “Inspiration” by director and translator Neil Bartlett. Neil managed to persuade a room full of people to act out some bizarre circular arm movements to illustrate the need to be mindful of punctuation in translation. From the back of the room the result looked like the national air guitar championships. Classic stuff!
One theme which cropped up a lot over the course of the various presentations was that the public doesn’t fully understand what translation involves. Some of the examples of how this manifests itself included vague instructions for translation jobs, unrealistic expectations as regards the type of translation, unreasonable deadlines etc. This is probably true and it might suggest that there is a need to educate the general public and raise awareness among non-translators of what it is we do. But the thought also occurred to me that this might come across as some sort of cheap and desperate attempt to make people respect us, maybe even love us poor misunderstood translators. After all, do we fully understand what it is doctors, architects or pilots do? Nope! But we still respect them and trust their judgement. I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m still exhausted from the drive back from Portsmouth and could really do with a nap.
Discussions