Hot deal welcomes 2010 - 10% Discount on any translation order.
Use the coupon code "Tomedes10" !
Babylon is getting into professional translation and looking for translators.
Have a look at their application email :
Dear Translators,
Babylon is a world leading provider of software solutions to the translation and dictionary industry, with more than 65 million unique visitors a year and a user base exceeding 50 million desktop installations. Babylon is expanding its service suite by fostering HUMAN TRANSLATION SERVICES on its LingoZ website
These days we are building a database of translators that are willing to accept translation jobs from the Babylon-LingoZ network.
In case you are interested to join our translators community, please fill in the following form.
As soon as we review your application, we will get back to you providing you with further details such as service and payment terms.
Be assured that the data collected in this form will not be used for any other purpose than building our team of freelancers and will in no way be shared with third parties.
With best regards,
Dr. Ursula Ron
Translators Team Manager
Babylon Ltd. / LingoZ
Hot deal welcomes 2010 - 10% Discount on any translation order.
Use the coupon code "Tomedes10" !
Let me begin by telling you that I am not a Chinese translator and I don’t intend to become one in future. The Chinese language is simply not my cup of tea! It is probably for folks residing in the higher rungs of the translation ladder. But one of the advantages of being in the language translation industry is that one gets to know so many interesting aspects of various languages.
The other day I was sitting in the neighborhood café with a friend who specializes in English to Chinese translations. We were exchanging notes about various clients when he told me about a certain client who wanted documents translated into Cantonese and Mandarin. I was like, “did you say Cantonese and Mandarin, I thought they were the same!” “That’s what most people think.” He smiled “but they are a little far from the truth.”
He told me that most non-Chinese speakers think that Chinese is a single language; this is because they are not aware of the local variations. In fact it is not unusual to find confused language translation customers. There are times when customers who are looking for Chinese translations are stumped when asked whether they want it in Traditional Chinese or Simplified Chinese.
In fact both of them - Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese are considerably different from each other, and translation between them also requires fine skills. This is because Simplified Chinese was developed much after Traditional Chinese in order to encourage people to learn writing. The complex characters of Traditional Chinese were modified to make them simpler; moreover some of the characters used in Traditional Chinese were altogether removed from Simple Chinese as they were deemed to be very complex. In this way, over a period of many years the two systems of writing became significantly different from each other. Thus complicating the life of Chinese language translation experts ;-)
Hot deal welcomes 2010 - 10% Discount on any translation order.
Use the coupon code "Tomedes10" !
Those who came late do read up my earlier post “Why website translation is vital?” it would help you get a better perspective on this matter. This post does not in any way discourage website translation - that continues to remain vital. What I would like to stress on today is the quality of the translated web content.
The translated version of your website needs to be managed differently than the one in the original language. You would need new people who are highly skilled in the target language for keeping the website updated. Don’t rely on automatic online translation unless you want your translated website to shut down within a short time after starting operations. You would also need to modify the content of your original website to suit the taste of the target language speakers. I mean you cannot expect the French people to laugh at American humor then what’s the point in simply translating every bit of content present in your website to the target language.
You would need to modify your original content, probably add some extra materials to tailor your website translation for the target audience. And of the course the importance of content cannot be overemphasized. People do read it, and it plays a significant role in converting a potential customer into an actual one.
Hot deal welcomes 2010 - 10% Discount on any translation order.
Use the coupon code "Tomedes10" !
I have frequently felt that people who are not a part of the language translation industry do not view language translation as a real job. It pained and annoyed me in the beginning to no avail, since people after all don’t really change. After a few months of discussions and debates which were anything between informal and friendly to argumentative, I gave up trying to convince anyone that I held a ‘real job’. But that doesn’t mean that I am going to keep shut on the topic throughout my life. You guessed it right! Today I am itching to launch on this well worn out subject and what better place for that than this blog.
Those who believe that language translation is not real work like say, teaching grammar or selling soaps are also frequently guilty of thinking that all language translation requires is learning a couple of languages well, and then reading the original document and translating it word by word. If translation had been a religion, then such a belief would have been akin to blasphemy!
The reality is that there are probably millions of people who know more than one language. A large number of them must have also studied a couple of languages deeply. But, this is not enough to turn them into good language translators.
In order to ensure even an adequate translation, a translator has to go beyond being conversant in the language pairs he or she works with. A language is not simply an assembly of letters, words and grammatical conventions. It reflects the culture and lifestyle of a people. Even if you get the grammar right you would not be able to ensure accurate translation. As a very small example, take any regularly used idiom of the English language… say “kick the bucket”, and try translating it literally in English. You would come nowhere near the intended meaning. When such a thing can happen in translation within the same language, just imagine the complications that can arise in translations involving two different languages.
The fact is that language translation is a highly specialized work and is not everybody’s cup of tea. Far more people can successfully sell soaps and teach grammar, than ensure high quality translations.
Hot deal welcomes 2010 - 10% Discount on any translation order.
Use the coupon code "Tomedes10" !
So here we are again, discussing a freelancer translator’s life. In my last post I had talked about the blissful parts, but this is the real world friend and nothing is perfect here. So please bear with my rants today.
Being my own Boss – Those who read the previous post would most probably raise their eyebrows and say what the heck? This is supposed to be a plus point going by my own words in the last post. You are right, but there’s more to the story. In my previous post I showed you the brighter side of ‘being my own boss’, today I will show you the other side. As I have already mentioned, it is blissful to have the power to schedule my work according to my convenience/ whims. But this power turns back on me when friends and/or relatives come in during work hours or someone needs any help from me. It is more difficult to say no and go about my work. This plays havoc on my work and delivery schedules and… it keeps happening all the time!
Loneliness – This might not apply to everyone, but I am a person who likes spending considerable amounts of time alone, yet I get frustrated by the loneliness associated with my job. For most part of the day/week/year it’s sitting alone and furiously typing away on my machine. There are times when I really miss those water-cooler conversations, general camaraderie and energetic atmosphere of a regular office. Life’s hard this way or that.
Always On – When your home is your office, you never really switch-off. You never get to experience the relief of getting back home after a hard day’s work and commute. The flexible schedule means anytime can be work time, and so it is. While working at home I don’t worry about the clock ticking over my head, and so most days I find myself working much later than regular office hours (sometimes after dinner as well!)
The above are just a part of a long list of grouses which my fellow freelance language translators can identify with very well. But all said and done I don’t have any plans of going back to a regular job anytime soon. I guess that says something!
Hot deal welcomes 2010 - 10% Discount on any translation order.
Use the coupon code "Tomedes10" !
So you are a freelance translator, welcome to the club! You are not? No problem, we freelancers are generous enough to tell the world about the blessings of working from home –
Being my own Boss - That’s how it starts in most cases. A majority of freelancers travel this path because they abhor someone sitting on top of their heading, barking orders. Agreed, as a freelance language translator you do have your fair share of bothersome clients. But who said it’s a perfect world anyway! I am happy with the fact that I can work in my pajamas, lying down on the bed or on the couch, (I do follow the prim and proper “working on my desk” routine as well… but only sometimes. What else? I can start working before dawn, or at noon, and I can take my afternoon siesta and no one dare snarl at me. What a life!
My family before my eyes – A daily job meant that when I woke up, my kids had already left for school and the wife was rushing off to work. By the time I was back, the kids were off to bed, and both me and my wife were too tired to even have a little conversation. But as a freelance language translation expert, I can have my meals with my kids, play with them, watch them grow-up and all. I can welcome my wife back from work with hot coffee. Talk about quality time!
No more commuting – I don’t know about you, but I hated to go through that long drive to office and back every day. That drained me off more than anything else. As a freelance translator, the amount of time I save from commuting is wisely invested in loads of other better stuff. A small sample - getting more work done in a day, relaxing, spending quality time with family, and I don’t have to spend my weekly-offs on all those annoying household repair jobs, I take care of them as they arise.
That’s not all. But even a whole book might not be enough, so well move on to the next part, as I mentioned that nothing’s perfect in this world. We explore the dark side of freelance language translation in my next post.
Hot deal welcomes 2010 - 10% Discount on any translation order.
Use the coupon code "Tomedes10" !
So you are a language translator who would like to improve his/her translation skills. No? Then what are you doing, reading a language translation blog post that carries “Bettering your langauge translation skills” as its title. 
Now let’s get to the serious stuff. I would try to give you the most effective tips that would help you improve your language translation skills taking the least possible space and time. This would help you digest all facts right away and you can refer to them frequently as well.
Many, or most of them might seem to be quite obvious but then there are only so many ways to success, most of which are quite obvious, but are never followed. So here we go –
Take language classes – You might believe that your language translation skills are adequate. But friend, there’s always room for improvement, and there’s always something more to learn. So take some time out of your schedule for language classes, preferably on your target language. And if you want to go a step further and shine, add writing and editing classes to your mission as well.
Survey the Masters – The best people to learn from are the ones who are already doing a great job. And unless you are god there is bound to be someone (probably many more) who is better at your job than you are. So what are you waiting for? Get your hands on their work and go through them! Study their translations to find out what makes them tick.
Monitor the Translation Industry – You are working in the language translation industry and you would be oblivious of your industry only when you have given up on your cause, or dead. Know Thy Industry! Read translation industry publications, join translators’ organization, attend conferences, go the whole hog to be aware of the pulse of the translation industry.
Just three tips you say? Try following them religiously and then we will talk!
