jueves, 25 de diciembre de 2014

Proofreading: how to win the “lottery”

The revision and correction are two steps that we mustn't forget after translating. Sometimes we have just enough time to give a fairly accurate translation (especially in examinations). But if we consider the revision time and keep us a few minutes to review a text, we can improve it a lot.

However, if we think a lot about a phrase, a word or a whole text, finally we see that everything is all right. Our brain gets used to read always the same information and that is why we don't realize some errors and typos. Therefore, as far as possible, it is recommended that another person revise our text. Someone who hasn't read it before and possibly will detect the mistakes easily.

On the occasion of Christmas, I leave here an image about the commercial of this year spanish Lottery Christmas. In the window of the coffee shop there is a little mistake, which although is camouflaged, some people have detected it.



*Elejir in spanish has a spelling mistake. The correct word is elegir, with g. Elegir means choose in english.

With this, I want you to remember the importance of the review not only after translation, but also to any writing. In many cases, a letter, an e-mail or message can be our cover letter and it can say a lot about us. Maybe we won't be rich with the revision of texts, but we can win trust and importance with another person (a client, someone who could give us work, someone we admire or just a stranger who treat cordially). Regardless of how a person expresses himself, there is always a degree of correction that is important to maintain.

Merry Christmas!


viernes, 19 de diciembre de 2014

Reform of the Spanish Criminal Procedure Law: without the right to a fair trial

The spanish government has recently proposed the reform of the Criminal Procedure Law, which provides, in relation to translation, that if a foreign person is brought before a court or has to give evidence in a police station may need the services of an interpreter. However, the interpreter doesn't have to be a person with special academic training in this type of process or in both languages that are required.

Different associations of translators and interpreters in Spain have mobilized to stop this damaging reform, which affects not only the interpreters and translators who have received special academic training and have the knowledge to work in this type of process in the most appropriate way and professionally as possible, but also to foreigners who require these services to resolve his trial fairly.

Here you have some links where you can read more about this issue, and if you want, you can also participate to try to stop this reform.






This example is another one that demonstrate that the translators and interpreters aren't as valued as they should.

domingo, 9 de noviembre de 2014

Advertising translation

The advertising translation is one of the types of translation that requires more creativity from the translator. During the translation of these texts there are many factors to consider, for example the culture of the country that created the advertisement and the country that will receive it, the audience who it is directed, the media (radio, television, posters...) and if the text comes with an image that is essential to advertise the product.

Many advertisement campaigns are translated into different languages. However many others remain in their original language, maybe because they are clear enough for the audience or the translation eliminates the effect or the aspect that makes attractive the advertisement.

Now I show you the example of two brands that haven't translated his slogans:

                              


In the following videos of the cosmetics brand L'ORÉAL, they have translated his famous slogan “Because you're worth”, in this case into spanish Porque tú lo vales.








The next picture is curious from the perspective of translation (it is possible too, that this text had something to do with the first sentence of the famous Queen song, Bohemian Rhapsody):



At first, the text should not suppose any translation problem, because we could translate it into spanish ¿Esto es la vida real o es una fantasía? This phrase would work well, because the word "fantasy" contains the word “fanta”, the name of the brand. But, what about the picture? In English it is played with the word "fantasy" and image of the "sea".

Into spanish, we can translate it literally ¿Esto es la vida real o un mar de fanta? But with this option, we lost the original connection between real life and fantasy that gives the message and the advertising wouldn't produce the effect that initially had.

What do you say? Can you think of any solution for this translation problem?




martes, 30 de septiembre de 2014

International Translation Day

Hello!

Today is an important day for the translators and that's why in this post I wanted to share with you a little bit of story.

30 September is the International Translation Day because it is commemorated the death of Saint Jerome, the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. This version of the Bible is known as the Vulgate (vulgar Latin) and it was characterized by being simpler to understand than another previous versions. Therefore, St. Jerome is considered the patron of the translators.

As you can see, the task of the translation has always been done, because the humans need to communicate. In this case, the translation of the Bible have been able to transmit beliefs that have influenced millions of people.


sábado, 6 de septiembre de 2014

Linux Mint: Simple Scan

Hello!

Today I'm going to explain a very easy way to scan documents in Linux Mint. If you are a translator, maybe you have receive a paper document that you have to translate. It will be easier and faster to translate it in your computer. If you don't have installed the program Simple Scan yet, you can go to the Software Manager and install it like I taught you a posts ago (here). And to remember how to work with documents in JPG, you can read this post about the OCR process.
 

Once you have installed the program, you have to connect your scan with your computer. If you haven't done it, the program will remind it to you! You will see a white sheet where it will appear the scanned document. Once you have put the document on the scan, you only have to press the option “scan” and in a few seconds you will have the scanned document. Of course, don't forget to save it!


jueves, 28 de agosto de 2014

Translation of movie titles

Hello!

Have you ever thought about the translation of movie titles of a foreign film? Often, the translation matches the title of the original language, many others aren't similar, or even it wasn't translate.

This happens because it must not only translate the title from one language to another, but also it has to take into account the marketing and advertising. Therefore, translators don't use to translate the movie titles. Maybe they suggest a title, but they don't make the decision.

Perhaps the title will not attract the target audience in the same way it does in its home country, and he has to adapt it. Maybe, there are titles more successful than others, but don't just think that the translation is wrong or that a random decision is taken.

According to the film or the public, it will opt for one or another solution. It can also be used as title, something relevant that happen in the film. Now I show you some examples, with the original movie poster and the Spanish translation (I speak only of the titles that have been translated into Spanish, because in other countries may have taken other translation decisions).



Equivalence between title and translation: 















Adaptation:



Conservation of the original title:









sábado, 23 de agosto de 2014

Translator's notes

I have always heard that a good translation is one that doesn't seem that is a translation. However, sometimes the translator subtly appears when he believes that the reader will need more information than that the original gives. I speak of the translator's notes.

Some people think that translators should not use footnotes because they interrupt the reading. Or even that the translator who use it, hasn't done his job well because he hasn't been able to translate something and so he resorted to this note. Obviously, not all footnotes are necessary, but in some cases I think they are very useful, for the fact that the reader can ignore some concepts (usually by cultural differences). And if we have a curious reader, he may also interrupt the reading to understand and discover about the idea. Or in the worst case, the reader simply won't understand it.

It is also not good the abuse of footnotes, at least in the case of literary translation. In this case, we have a pleasure reading in which the reader is introduced to the world created by the author and a footnote would take him away from this world. However, in other texts (educational, scientific...), it is more common to use footnotes, which you can refer, for example, to reference sources.

As readers, what do you think about translator's notes? Do you think they are useful or are a nuisance?

And as translators, do you use it if you think they are necessary or do you believe that they are a sign of incompetence?

sábado, 16 de agosto de 2014

Literary translation: what should we translate?

Hello everybody!

Today I want you to think about a very common issue in the translation of texts, specifically applied to literary translation. What should we translate and what not? The following image belongs to a fragment from the book Celia lo que dice, a serie of children's books that tell the story of Celia, a seven years old girl, written by Elena Fortún. 



This text was proposed in class to be translated from spanish into german. I have scanned this particular part because appears a racist phrase said by Celia to a black man («Qué no es nada, Dalila. Es un pobrecito negro que está esperando a su amo» > “It's nothing, Dalila. It is a black poor fellow who is waiting for his master”). In class it was suggested not to translate that sentence, that is, remove it in the target text, because the book is aimed primarily at children and we should not transmit them this type of negative values. I personally think that we should translate it for several reasons:

1. This book was published in 1928. In writing, the author was reflecting a reality of the time, perhaps by way of information about the society or as a critique of racism, because the commentary it is made by a little girl, possibly influenced by what is happening around her and what think the people around her.

2. Us as translators, should not care what it is said in a text, that is, it should care how it is said (in this case, the language of a seven years old girl), because our task is to write it in another language, but not to change the content based on our personal opinions and values. The author wrote her book as she wanted. Who are we to decide what we transmit to the target reader? (By this I don't mean not to improve the text, clarify ideas that may be confusing or make explanations about things that our readers might not understand in their culture. I mean this kind of moral issues that may influence or to go against our values).

3. To our target reader, in this case children, we don't want that they learn this kind of negative values, such as racism, but the opposite: tolerance. However, we don't have influence in the child who decides to read this book or parents who decide to buy it. I think that if a child reads this sentence and asks his parents why that behavior towards black men, they should explain it. I think the best way to educate is not hiding things, but explaining it. It is essential to know what racism is to fight it.

What do you think?


sábado, 9 de agosto de 2014

Setting subtitles: Any Video Converter

Hi!

Today I'm going to explain you how to set subtitles on a video. Once you have subtitled a video, you can set the subtitles, that way, every time you reproduce the video, the subtitles will always appear on it. If you don't set it, you will able to open the video with or without the subtitles. The program we are going to use is Any Video Converter. You can download it here and don't forget to install Wine if you use Linux.


Setting subtitles with Any Video Converter is very easy. You have to click on “add video” and select it. I'm going to use the same example as in the post of subtitling. 


In the image above, it will appear the selected video. In purple, you can see that, by the moment, the video has any subtitles. You must click on it, then in “add subtitles” and select the file that the program will set.



And now, in the blue square above the selected video, on the right side, you only have to click and convert!

If you want to choose an specific file in which the video with the set subtitles will be saved, for example mp4, you only have to open the pull-down menu right next to the blue square.

sábado, 2 de agosto de 2014

Video edition: VirtualDub

Hi!

As I told you days ago in my post about subtitling, I’m going to explain you how to edit videos with the program VirtualDub. Specially, I’ll show you how to use the program to cut a fragment of a video. First of all, you can download the program here, and if you use Linux as I do, don’t forget to install Wine, because VirtualDub is a Windows program. And to use it, you will need too the video and audio codecs, that you can install here.



Once you have installed everything, you will open the video you want to edit, in AVI format, clicking on “file” and “open video file”. It will appear two windows with an image of the video, and below there is a grey bar, which is the duration of the video, and the buttons that we will use to select the scene we want to cut. The scene that I have chosen is the first minutes of the spanish film 8 apellidos vascos. I take advantage of this video to show you their peculiarity: the scene is recorded with an audio-description for blind people, that mean that between the dialogs and the breaks, a narrator describes the scene. That way, the blind people can imagine where the scene is and which the context is.



With the buttons below, in the following picture are marked in red and blue, you will select the beginning and the end of the chosen scene. With the square over the grey bar you can move the video quickly, and with the buttons below you will move frame by frame. Once you have selected the fragment, marked in blue over the grey bar, you must save the file in “file” and “save as AVI”. The program will start to cut the video. Finished the process, the edited video will be saved in the folder you have selected before.





And here I show you the result of the video edition:




domingo, 27 de julio de 2014

Subtitling: Gnome Subtitles

Hi!

Translators can do also subtitle work for series, films or documentaries. The translator makes the transcription of the source language and then makes the translation in the target language having in mind the subtitles. Today I'm going to show you how to use a subtitling program made for Linux: Gnome Subtitles. Obviously, there are too programms for Windows, for example Subtitle Workshop, but I'm going to explain only the first one, because both are similar.

First of all, you have to open the program and open the file with the video that you want to subtitle (maybe not translate, according to the recipient of the video, for example deaf people or students from the original language). Click on “video”, “new” and select the video. I'm going to show you the example of a subtitle that I did for the university (fragment of the episode of a spanish serie named Los misterios de Laura. Translation spanish-german).



Now, you have to make a spotting list. The spotting list is the list of the intervention of every person or character in the video. You have to mark when the person starts to speak and when it stops. In every line is where you will have to write the subtitle. You will have to select “file” and “new” to start the spotting list. Then you will have to be concentrating in every intervention, because you will have to mark the beginnig and the end on the time indicator (below the spotting list). In the white box on the right side of the time indicator, is where you will write the subtitle. 


Here I show you the spotting list that I did, with the subtitles in german. Don't forget that it is possible that the subtitles are shorter that what the person in the video says, because the limit of characters in a subtitles it is 37 (including spaces and typographic signs. Roman alphabet). You will have to summarize the information, because the person who reads the subtitle must have time enough to read it calmly.


Once you have made all the subtitles, you have to click on “file” and “save as”. The format of the subtitles must be SRT or SSA. Then you will able to open the video with the subtitles in a video player.

And that's the result of my work.



Here you have another example, now from the subtitles of a direct translation german-spanish of an episode of the german serie Tatort



In following posts, I will show you how to edit videos and how to set the subtitles on the video.

See you soon!
 

viernes, 18 de julio de 2014

Microsoft Word: track changes


Hi!

I usually talk about programs for Linux or programs with open source. However, the track changes is an option of Microsoft Word in order to the text correction. I have already written about the corrections in Libreoffice, but with Word we have a lot of options to show our corrections (if we work in a group or for our client) .I’m going to show you a text with mistakes, and then I will explain how to correct it.


First of all, we have to select “Review” in the word processor, to select the complete text (with the mouse or Ctrl + Mayús + E), and then to activate the track changes. We have to select the name of the author/corrector in “change the user name” and then, the changes we want to show, and the different colors of every one, in the “change tracking options”. It will appear a table, in which you will have to select the type of correction and the color that the program will show. For example, I choose the red color for the words that I erase, and blue for the words that I write.



Of course, if in your text appear more things you have to correct, you can choose the colors in the menu; it will appear everything on the text. In addition, you, your colleagues or your client will see clearly every modification in the margins or under the text, if you click on “review panel“.



With the option “final” you will able to see how is the final version of the document without the track changes. With “final: show revisions” you will see again the text with the corrections, if you need to make more changes.


I hope you find it useful to make your corrections.


miércoles, 16 de julio de 2014

Translation mistakes (I): tourist brochure

Hi!

Today I'm going to show you, with an example, the importance of the translator's job. I'm going to show you only the introduction of a touristic guide of the Brocéliande forest, in France. I suppose that the source text was in french and this translation into spanish it wasn't made by a translator. I don't speak french, but I don't need it to know that this translation have no sense in spanish. Maybe some of you don't speak spanish, but I think that if some of you have some knowledges of my language, I'm sure that you will find the mistakes.




What do you think about it?

In this translation there are bad spelling (*ayuden nos, *respectar, *gravar en los árboles),
grammatical errors (*prohibido de fumar, *ser en vía de extinción),
morphosyntactic errors (*...no herir sus ocupantes),
and meaningless phrases (*el dominio privado del masivo está abierto a los peatones...)

A person who speak spanish wouldn't write this translation, and neither a person, because I think that is an automatic translation. And when I read this text I think too, that someone has accepted it and has printed it. And that's only the introduction, how many mistakes will be on the complete brochure?

When we faced with such a text, and we know what we are talking about, at first we laugh, because we understand it and we know that is misspelled, but it's really not funny. I, as a translator, what I see is one of the problems of the translation: is not always valued.

If you want to see my proposed translation into spanish, or rather, a correction, click here.

domingo, 13 de julio de 2014

Libreoffice Writer: Self correction and comments

Hi!

Today I'm going to write about the function in Libreoffice Writer to correct the texts. On the one hand we have the self correction option, and on the other hand we have the add comments option.

I'm sure that all of you know the self correction option, because when we make some mistakes when we write, the word processor automatically show us the words that we have misspelled.


You can change these options and select the mistakes and corrections that you want the program to show. You have only to click on the “format” menu, the option “self correction” and then “self correction options”. 



It will appear a menu where you can select what the program will correct. For example, if I type two consecutive capital letters, when I press the spacebar, the word processor will correct it and write only the first one.



Another example is when we write an URL and the word processor recognize it and it is marked in blue to create a shortcut.


The self correction is something that is made by the program automatically. However, you can show another corrections or simply comments about a text in margins. That can be useful, for example, if you work in a group and you want to explain or talk with a colleague of something that he has written. You can add the comments in “insert” and “comments”, or pressing Ctrl + Alt + C.



As you can see in the image above, it appears a yellow margin note with the author and the date of the comment. That way, you can make questions and answer it with your colleagues to improve your texts.