Interpreting | The Global Connect

Translation services: China’s latest money spinner

There was once a time in China when translation errors were a common sight in the country. Rather than being helpful, translated sign boards and advertisements were a source of amusement for visitors and speakers of different languages. However this trend too is fading away as China continues to develop rapidly. This change is due to a boom in language service start-ups looking to fill the rise in demand of translation and localization services. This has resulted in higher quality translation work and China is better off as a result.

China’s rapid growth and development in the last few decades has led to quick development of all industries and now it’s the language industries turn. According to Translators Association of China (TAC) in 2010, there are more than 15,000 companies who offer translation and/or localization services that generate a total of 1.9 billion dollars’ (12 billion Yuan) worth of revenue. This conservative estimate accounts for 7 percent of the global language service market and this number is only expected to increase in the coming years.

The surge in the market was expected as a result of globalization and China’s growing role in the global economy. The upward trend is also being encouraged by education institutes. More and more universities in China now offer translation and interpreting courses. This has resulted in the creation of skilled translators and interpreters who hail from China. Just recently at the International Federation of Translators (FIT) world congress, Chinese translators had the third largest presence behind Americans and Norwegians.

Businesses understand the importance of translation and localization in this interconnected world. The high number of companies offering translation and localization services differ greatly in the quality of their output. Increased competition has resulted in varied prices and service being offered. The TAC understands the challenges and future prospects of this flourishing industry and it aims to help keep it in a good position.

As with any new industry, regulatory and accreditation authorities are sparse. China only has one national accreditation test for translators and interpreters. A More robust and efficient system needs to be created in order to produce better translators and interpreters. TAC’s long term aim is to develop an industry that can compete on a global level and they are making an all-out effort to achieve this as soon as they can.

Export Connections

As one of only 33 economies to grow during the recent GFC, Australia is a real success story–thanks in large part to its exporters. As a frequent attendee of export sector events, I am continually impressed by the government assistance offered to Australia’s dynamic export sector. But at times the sheer number of organizations, consultancies and programs available to Australian Exporters is overwhelming. Thankfully at the recent Import/Export On the Road Seminar Series, participants were provided with a (completed) jigsaw to show how all the government organizations slotted together—phew at last I was able to make sense of it all!

Although I have attended some fantastically informative seminars and shows, I am always a bit surprised that the issue of language is seldom addressed. Our prime Asian markets are tantalizing to be sure, but they are populated by immense numbers of non-Anglophones. China for example, now our largest export market, is an extremely diverse society linguistically and culturally. The large number of dialects alone, is likely to cause confusion to the novice, and is best addressed by contacting an experienced language provider like Language Connect. We are happy to advise on every step of the translation process. Often, however, Exporters will only realize their need for language services at the last minute, which can result in undue stress and very tight deadlines. Contacting a language service provider in advance can ease your path to global success.

How does a new (or seasoned Exporter) navigate the often treacherous waters of translation (the written word) or interpreting (the spoken word)? There are many routes to take. I was alarmed recently when a client said he was going to hire his neighbour’s bilingual son for Korean interpreting. Thankfully he called Language Connect instead and avoided the potential dangers of miscommunication. Those first few meetings are not the time for ambiguities, and are the perfect time to show the correct level of respect and professionalism by ensuring you have a trained Interpreter at your side.

Many Australian businesses employ the language skills of their existing staff. Although, asking a bilingual colleague to conduct a translation or interpreting project is common practice, it really is far from ideal. The level of responsibility placed on someone without the appropriate training and expertise is a risky one, and it is always safest to source a professional. It is easy to assume that translating is just the swapping of words and phrases from one language to another. If it was only that simple! Professional Translators and Interpreters study for years (often to post-graduate level) and may then hone their skills with research into a number of specialities including: healthcare, legal, mining, manufacturing and more. By contacting an ISO Accredited language provider like Language Connect, you can ensure multilingual requirements are handled by professionals.

So what are the documents that you may need translated? Well they could include export certificates, food labels, emails, websites, promotional materials, contracts and incoterms (International Commercial Terms). You may require certification for legal reasons, formatting, desktop publishing and other auxiliary services. All things to consider, before you embark on your international venture.

The good news is that you’re not alone. Australian Exporters have the following organizations to assist:

www.diird.vic.gov.au Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional Development: www.dfat.gov.au Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; www.aiex.com.au Australian Institute of Export; http://aiex.com.au/programs/flex/flex FLex Future Leaders in Export; http://export.business.vic.gov.au/ Business Victoria Export Connections; www.business.nsw.gov.au/business/exporterassistance/ NSW Department of State and Regional Development; www.importexportshow.com.au Import Export Show: www.tradeaustralia.com.au Trade Australia; www.chinablueprint.com.au China Blueprint; www.thinkglobal.com.au Think Global; http://www.dsbn.com.au/articles/exporting/art_exp_AssistanceforNSWExporters.asp The NSW Exporters Network; www.australianexporters.net Australian Exporter; www.efic.gov.au Export Finance & Insurance Corp; www.exporters.sbdc.com.au Small Business Exporters Network; www.austrade.gov.au Austrade; www.efic.gov.au Export Finance & Finance & Insurance Corp & www.languageconnect.com.au Language Connect

Chinese linguist impresses audience with eloquent renditions

Wen Jiabao, the current Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China has played a prominent role in advancing China’s foreign policy positions and has become increasingly visible on the world stage as China’s economic power greatly expands.

Although at a recent media conference following the closing ceremony of the annual National People’s Congress, Premier Wen lost his renowned stage presence to a female linguist who flawlessly interpreted a line of ancient Chinese poetry quoted by the Premier.

Known for referencing to the revered third-century BC statesman Qu Yuan, regarded by many as the father of Chinese poetry, in many of his speeches, Wen cited the line ”Yì yú xin zhi suo shàn xi, sui jiu si qí yóu wèi hui” from Qu Yuan’s Li Sao, or Words of Departure.

Transcribed as “My heart will always belong to my noble hopes, and for this I would have no regrets even if I died nine times over” by some foreign press, those well versed in ancient Chinese literature would note that the number nine is more often referenced in a non-specific way, translating to “quite a lot.”

Wen’s female linguist, Zhang Lu, became the focus of the media when she offered a more eloquent rendition of the ancient poetry quote: “For the ideal that I hold dear to my heart, I’d not regret a thousand times to die.”

Following the annual NPC conference last week, the terms “Zhang Lu” and “Beautiful Interpreter Zhang Lu” are now popular keywords among search engines, like Google and Baidu.

This is Language Connect – reporting from the front line for Business Language Champions

Language Connect recently took part in their first Business Language Champions workshop at the Convent for Jesus and Mary Language College in Willesden and I’m happy to report that it was a raging success. So much so, that now the panic I and my colleagues experienced at having to talk to a group of teenage girls has abated, I thought it would be good to let you know how it went and what we did.

Our task? To engage with sixteen native Polish speaking girls in Years 10 and 11 and demonstrate how their natural linguistic aptitude could put them on the career ladder after they finish school. Easy right?

Providing the facts about what Language Connect does was the easy part – it was the engaging with 16 teenagers that posed the most immediate problem. What if they thought we were boring and rubbish? What if they didn’t say anything? What if they didn’t want to join in?

We had a double lesson in which to perform – that’s 1 hour and 40 minutes for those whose school years are a nothing but a distant memory. We divided our time into three sections – a brief Language Connect presentation on interpreting and translation, a talk by real life interpreter Aleksandra and finally role plays (as written by the students themselves) that would be judged on content, fluency and creativity.

The first two thirds of the session were eerily quiet and my colleague Amy and I soon experienced what it’s like to die on stage at your first stand up gig. But then came the role plays and what a show! All of a sudden, the students who had previously been silent participants in the workshop became actresses and performers all. Following a brilliant example acted out by Amy, Iwona and Aleksandra (I was the director, natch) we handed the floor over to the students who had 15 minutes to write their own versions of situations either in the doctor’s surgery or a court of law.

Donning a judge’s wig or a doctor’s coat for authenticity and to help them get into character, the students acted out their scripts in groups of three with one person as the interpreter. The scripts were imaginative to say the least and we were regaled with tales of stolen one legged chickens and feisty old women going to the doctor just to put their feet up and have a chat. Whilst the drama was unfolding, the class teacher told me that she couldn’t believe what she was seeing – previously quiet and withdrawn students were literally coming out of their shells before her very eyes and she was thrilled.

It was decided that there were two clear winning groups and so duly presented with official Language Connect certificates it was almost time to go, but not before a quick fire Q and A session. Whereas before, you couldn’t squeeze a word out of the students, the questions were practically pouring forth – the most common being whether they could come and do work experience for us! An amazing result and such a worthwhile workshop – Business Language Champions is a fantastic scheme and one that Language Connect will continue to enjoy taking part in.

Tips on organising a conference

At Language Connect we are extremely well-versed in all the oddities that can arise when organising a multi-lingual conference.

And let’s face it, to clients who are unused to hiring interpreters, it’s all a bit daunting and becomes ever more confusing the more information we seem to ask them for.

We have compiled some handy hints for you, so when you source your conference interpreters, you’ll know what is entails.

The floor language: this means the language used by those people speaking at the conference. This is sometimes referred to as the active language. If there is more than one language being used by the speakers at the conference, then there will be more than one active language.
Active & passive Languages: the active language is the one, as stated above, that is used by the speakers at the conference. It is not necessarily the “main” language. However all other audience languages are known as passive languages. Still confused? Active: speakers, Passive: audience members. You will need to discern how many active languages you will need as this will determine the number of interpreters you will require.
Interpreters and ABC languages: now, to confuse you even further, the interpreters will come along and say: “Ah, but Swahili is my active language and English my passive….!”
This means that interpreters classify their abilities according to their mother tongue, so for instance someone who is a Swahili mother tongue speaker will be called a Swahili Active as they interpret from and into Swahili. Their passive language will be whatever other language they don’t speak to mother tongue standard (say German). If they are bilingual, Swahili/English then they will have 2 active languages: Swahili and English.

They will classify themselves as A (Swahili), B (German) or for bilingual interpreters; A (Swahili), B (English) & C (German) and so on.
Logistics and the right interpreters: Well, we all know how difficult organising more than 4 people to catch a train on time can be, so imagine that it’s 20 interpreters speaking 5 different languages….. Don’t panic, it’s not too difficult. If a conference is being held in London, but the floor language is Turkish, and the passive languages are English, Ukrainian, Polish, Chinese, Russian & Spanish, what do you do?
Simple: you can organise things so that the interpreters can all work out of 2 common languages as it’s pretty unlikely that they will all be Turkish active Ukrainian, Polish or Spanish passive. But they all might have English and Spanish as passive languages so it’s not the nightmare it initially seems.
Layout: it’s always advisable to give your interpreting agency as much information as possible, and this will include room plans, so that it’s feasible to organise how you’re going to fit the 20 tables, 4 soundproof booths, technician’s bench, microphones, data projector, cables and plasma screen you’d planned on squeezing in to that lovely cosy Georgian panelled conference room on the top floor of that members club in Soho…
3 Standard layouts for conference interpreting: these really are the ones which work best and which will make everyone, including you, happier in the long run.
1. Theatre: speakers at the front (on dais or at table) with delegates in rows of chairs facing them
2. Classroom: speakers at a front table with delegates in rows of chairs with their own tables facing the top table
3. Boardroom: everyone seated around a table
Booth planning: positioning of interpreting booths is vital to the smooth running of the whole process. Wherever possible you should try to match all of the following:
1. Allow interpreters direct eye contact with the speakers
2. A discrete means of leaving their booths and the venue
3. If you have more than one booth, group them together
4. Don’t forget the technician and leave him room next to the booths for his bench
Communication & Information: conference interpreters can only do the job you expect from them if they have all the relevant information beforehand. They will need time to prepare and assimilate the information so don’t hand them 40 pages of briefing notes 30 minutes before they are due to begin interpreting.
The standard information all interpreters should have beforehand would be:
- The agenda
- The list of delegates
- The list of participating organisations
- Any industry specific acronyms, abbreviations or preferred terminology
- Any marketing or press related materials/handouts
- Previous notes from any similar conference or minutes if it’s an AGM
- The most important: the speaker’s presentation or notes
Finally: on the day, meet and greet your interpreter(s), along with the technician, and make sure everything is working OK, assign one or 2 members of staff to look after the interpreters, hand out and collect any equipment (make sure they understand how it works if they have to demonstrate it to a delegate), keep people fed, watered and happy. You see, easy!

Language Connect

Language Incompetence Gets in Diplomacy’s Way — Again

Just a few months ago, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced the aftermath of a cringe-worthy linguistic faux pas, when she unknowingly presented a gift with a translation error to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia. Yesterday, she suffered humiliation again, this time apparently due to a mistake by her interpreter.

When a French-speaking Congolese student asked Hillary what the president thought about a foreign policy issue, the interpreter rendered, “What does Mr. Clinton think, through the mouth of Mrs. Clinton?” Without knowing which president (Clinton or Obama) the student was referring to, the interpreter apparently took it upon herself to specify the Secretary of State’s husband instead of the current president.

The unfortunately misinterpreted question provoked a strong reaction from the normally calm and collected Secretary of State. As a result, Clinton’s response to the student has been the focus of headlines across the world — quite a shame, since this detracted attention from the real issue she hoped to highlight — the plight of children and women who are victims of sexual violence in Congo.

We’ve written before about the problems that can ensue when a single word is rendered incorrectly from one language to another, not just when nations come together to discuss important issues, but in business dealings as well.

What is the potential cost of linguistic gaffes such as these? Opportunities to shed light on an important human rights issue are priceless, rare, and fleeting. Until organizations can truly grasp the importance of having high-quality translation and interpreting resources available, situations like these — as unfortunate as they may be — will continue.

Common Sense Advisory

Health Care Consumers Go Global with Medical Tourism

This week, a 66-year-old British woman made international headlines for her role as the oldest mother-to-be on record. When her wish for a bundle of joy went unfulfilled in the United Kingdom due to her age, she turned to health care providers in Ukraine, where the message of her desire for a baby was received loud and clear.

Medical tourism is big business in an array of countries:

Thailand. As the top destination for medical tourism, Thailand treated 1.2 million patients who traveled from other countries for health care services in 2006.
Brazil. This nation has become a hotspot for medical treatment, especially cosmetic surgeries – its market for plastic surgery is one of the largest in the world.
Malaysia. Medical tourists seek a wide variety of medical procedures in Malaysia, including cardiac, dental and plastic surgeries. The Association of Private Hospitals in Malaysia reports US$59 million in revenue from foreigners seeking healthcare services in 2006.
India. Looking for lower-cost cardiac and orthopedic procedures, half a million foreign patients visited India in 2005 to obtain health care services. The country is predicted to rake in US$2.2 billion in annual revenue from medical tourism by 2012.
Panama. Per the National Center for Policy Analysis, costs of surgeries in Panama are 40 to 70 percent lower than in the United States.
Poland. The country is one of the world’s most popular destinations for “dental holidays,” especially for patients from the UK, since the cost of dental work there can be as little as 40 percent of the prices in Britain.

More and more nations are getting in on the medical tourism game, competing largely for British pounds and American dollars– these two nations produce the largest numbers of medical-procedure-seeking globetrotters. But what’s all this got to do with language?

Quite a lot, actually. Medical jargon in one’s native tongue can be confusing enough for the average person. Traveling to another country — one where both the culture and local language are unfamiliar — can present communication challenges for many patients. Here are some of the ways in which the booming medical tourism industry may affect the language services market:

Language testing. Patients will want assurance that providers can speak with them in their native languages. Facilities that can prove their staff are highly skilled in other languages — for example, holding a “superior” level rating on a language proficiency test — will have an edge over competitors.
Interpreting services. Health care staff that do not share a common language with patients may rely on interpreting services — in person, via video, and over the phone. Companies such as CallUma and Language Line already offer telephone interpreting services specifically for consumers. Meanwhile, video interpreting is becoming more common at health care facilities in places like Thailand.
Written translations. Patients and clinicians will need translated copies of medical records, results from diagnostic tests, lab results, discharge instructions, and other documents — both for purposes of preventing complications for the overseas procedures, and for relaying this critical information to primary care providers back home.

The only problem? Most language services providers are geared more toward the needs of corporate buyers than to the needs of individuals, so it’s doubtful that they will be clamoring to launch business-to-consumer marketing campaigns anytime soon.

Instead, we predict that savvy medical facilities across the globe will seek to differentiate themselves by boosting the diversity and quality of language services they make available to their prospective patients. After all, the potential for confusion even between monolingual medical terms — such as aphagia/aphasia, pleuritis/pruritus, and vesical/vesicle — is one that poses risk. An investment in language services may just be a welcome antidote.

The Global Watch Tower

Video Interpreters Save Lives

Dr. Bruce Hensel reported on a potentially lifesaving video interpretation service for patients in hospitals throughout the country.

“I can tell you from experience, when patients don’t speak the same language as the doctor, life threatening problems can occur, even if you have a phone or staff interpreter around. I’ll show you why; this video service is personal, comforting, reduces liability and can be life saving for some patients,” Dr. Hensel said.

It is called “MARTI.” It is not a person..a computer or a video screen. MARTI is, in a sense, hundreds of people; And one of them is about to make a major difference in Maria Bocanegra’s life.

Maria is among millions of Americans who do not speak the same language as their doctors or nurses. In the past, Dr. Michael Chin would have tried to solve that problem with local staff who are not trained interpreters, or a telephone interpreter; But those methods have two potentially dangerous limitations, according to Dr. Michael Chin of Corona Medical Center: “We cannot know if the medical terminology has been translated correctly and we do not know if the patient really understands your translation so they can trust your care.”

MARTI, which stands for “my accessible real time trusted interpreter” uses two way video to solve both problems while adding the human touch.

Ken Rivers, the CEO of Corona Medical Center, says using a professional medical interpreter in this way makes an impact: “It’s a face with a voice, and when you bring that to the patients and the family members and they can see someone talk to them then they can feel that someone is communicating directly.”

Jeff Paugh from the Language Access Network says that 70% of all human communication is non-verbal, “So it is very important that when you talk to a patient you see the frowns, the sadness, the tears, the smiles, the grins, everything else…the arm movements, the hand movements. So, you can interpret what the patient is actually going through and feeling.”

The system’s interpreters are trained in translation and medical terminology and on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year

“We can do up to 150 different languages including American sign language,” Paugh said.

“Using the MARTI is very simple; push one button and MARTI will connect to Columbus, Ohio where the interpretation center is housed,” Dr. Hensel said.

Maria, who has diabetes, came in for hyperbaric treatment of a wound that wouldn’t heal; the blood tests, exam and therapy are complex.

MARTI helped Maria communicate her feelings and understand everything, according to her Brother-in-Law Fred Diaz, “Its just like talking to a person like someone in person. She feel a lot comfortable talking and she knows that that way she can understand what the doctors or nurses are asking her. Patients are starting to feel that way all around the country. Numerous hospitals have portable MARTI’s now: Community medical centers like Corona Regional, and high end tertiary care facilities like Sloan Kettering and universities like Ohio State.

There are MARTI’s in intensive care units, children’s centers, labor and delivery, and in emergency rooms. In places like that; the video interpretation saves more than just time.

“It can be life saving; if we don’t understand what the patient is saying we can’t treat them,” Ohio State nurse Lisa Kozer said.

“MARTI’s creator came up with the idea when he and his brother were in Mexico. His brother got hurt but nearly died because he couldn’t speak Spanish. He was lucky and survived. His creation is now saving countless others. It’s already in numerous hospitals around the country and will soon be in more,” Dr. Hensel said.

NBC Los Angeles

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