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Many of you know Mox’s Blog and his acerbic take on the translation profession (if you don’t, stop whatever you are doing and head on over there). Mox is always looking for subject matter on which to base his hilarious cartoons. This is my contribution to the sometimes-absurd exchanges professional translators have with (monolingual) clients.
Some time last year, a client – we’ll name him Monsieur M. to protect his good name – asked me to translate a press release from French into US English. This communiqué announced a major event for his young company and was written in a very ‘markety’, trendy and catchy style.
As is often the case, a close-to-the-source-text translation would fall flat. Also, and readers, you know this: a press release for the US market is structured quite differently from a French communiqué.
So I revamped the document to make it fit-for-purpose. Adapted the style and mode of communication (French is a high context language and culture, American a low context one). Rreplaced French popular culture references with American ones. Polished up the text and sent it off to Monsieur M.
An hour later, the phone rings.
Monsieur M.: Patricia, you’ve sent me the wrong file. This is not the translation I asked for.
Me: Pardon? [panic attack sets in] Hang on; let me look into this …. [Double-check sent email and attached file]. Si, si! It’s the right file [provide file name], are you sure you opened the right document?
Monsieur M.: I am sure you sent me the wrong file. My communiqué had 4 paragraphs and 24 lines. This file has 5 paragraphs, but only 17 lines. And everyone knows a good translation respects the source file’s layout and appearance. This thing does not look anything like my communiqué.
Posted 2 days, 14 hours ago. 2 comments
J’annonce la couleur : habituellement, les tests gratuits et moi, ça fait mille, ce n’est pas la meilleure utilisation de mon temps.
Mais….de temps en temps… le projet annoncé titille…. surtout quand cela touche à du rédactionnel créatif qui nécessite des connaissances interculturelles solides pour choisir les valeurs de la culture cible capables de vendre le produit tout en restant fidèle aux valeurs (étrangères) de la marque.
A ce sujet, je vous conseille, inter alia, l’excellent livre de Marieke de Mooij’s
Global Marketing & Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes”.
J’ai été contactée pour un projet de longue haleine d’adaptation marketing et publicitaire fort intéressant.
Plutôt que de répondre par écrit au courriel qui me fut envoyé, j’ai pris mon téléphone pour en savoir plus. Conversation sympathique, professionnelle, intéressante… Où l’ultime sujet fut : « on exige un test ». Gratuit, bien sûr.
Pause.
J’explique ma position (un plombier accepterait-il de réparer mon robinet qui fuit à l’oeil pour me démontrer ses aptitudes ? Un avocat rédigerait-il un court avenant à mon testament pour illustrer ses compétences ?) et propose à mon interlocuteur de m’envoyer le test, j’aviserai. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago. 24 comments
Nearly a year ago, on LinkedIn, Michael Seidle of Problog Service asked “Why is it so hard to find good writers?” All answers, including mine, looked at the question from the writer’s angle. You can learn how to write properly, but the ability to write compellingly is a gift that still takes work to perfect.
As I work my way through 30 Days to Better Business Writing, Matthew Stibbe’s recently published e-book for wordsmiths, several chapters swirl in my head, calling for a client-oriented version.
Maybe even client-oriented versions in other languages. Take Day 7, “Analyse bad writing”, and Day 16, “Manage your writing”, for example. Continue Reading…
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago. 2 comments
It’s Saturday. I’ve just finished polishing an adaptive translation. I had promised myself that, this week-end, I would – finally! – sort through my closet to make some (much needed) space.
So what can writing and a wardrobe have in common?
Clutter.
Excess.
Useless elements.
Weightiness.
Disorganization.
Lack of style.
Incoherence.
Sloppiness.
Stains.
Redundancy.
And by the way, no this is not my closet 
.
You can apply techniques used to polish copy to sort out your wardrobe.
- Why use three words when one will do? (Just *how many* black pants do you own?)
- How can you avoid using the passive voice? (You bought that sweater in Amsterdam in 1981, it’s had a good life.)
- Are some sentences too long? Can they be cut? (You keep up this shoe fetish, we’ll start calling you Imelda.)
- Do your ideas flow in a coherent order? (No wonder it takes forever to find something, the spaghetti strap dresses are next to the ski pants.)
- Are you using punctuation wisely, enhancing readability? (Give it up: you’ve tried for 5 years, the stain on your favorite silk blouse is never going to come out.)
- Is there any jargon left you should dispense with? (Miniskirts are not coming back, or, when they do, you shouldn’t be caught dead in one. Pitch.)
Getting the idea?
P.S. Remember: you may no longer need or want these clothes, but they can help others. There are Freecycle groups all over the world and local non-profit groups you can contact.
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
As Weber Shandwick underscores in Safeguarding Reputation: “Business success and sustainability [have] become increasingly dependent on reputation.”
Digimind’s 56-page study examines in detail how new media have changed the landscape.
Web 2.0 tools have generated a new paradigm that allows customers, consumers, patients, politicians, citizens, business companies, leaders, executives, employees and trades-unionists to express themselves freely on the net. They can unite into communities, talk amongst themselves, and exert pressure on other groups. All this sharing and working together happens in real time, independently from the daily publication of newspapers or the ritual of television newscasts.
A study published on the American blog 97th Floor showed that 29 of the Fortune 100 companies were the subject of “negative” content, as shown on the first page of results found on Google, when you enter their name as a query on the search engine.
(DIGIMIND-WP_ONLINE_REPUTATION.US.2008.pdf, p.20 and 7)
***
How is the role of CCO changing and how are these new responsibilities triggering opportunities for language professionals to support their clients’ needs and objectives?
Corporate communications departments are adding new media and reputation management to their basket of responsibilities at a rapid pace.
Between September and December 2008, Weber Shandwick and SpencerStuart, with KRC Research, conducted their second annual survey on the Rising CCO, polling 159 senior corporate communications professionals (101 from North America, 46 from Europe, and 12 from Asia).
According to the results, for 38% of North American respondents and 46% of European ones, corporate reputation management is now the third most time-consuming part of a CCO’s responsibilities, after media relations and internal communications. One in five European CCOs added a Reputation Management function to their department in 2008 and European CCOs expected it to be their leading priority in 2009.
This shift leads to a reshuffling of the weight of various communications tools used in corporate communications. Media Relations remain the most relied upon resource for 84% and 74% of North American and European CCOs respectively in 2008. However, 18% of North American CCOs, but only 7% of European ones, responded social media/blogging were among the top three tools their department relied on most.
Looking forward, roughly 25% of global CCOs claim the blogosphere will be a significant challenge for their departments, with 30% and 26% of North American and European CCOs respectively expecting social media/blogging to grow most in importance in 2009. As a result, 41% of North American CCOs, but only 22% of European ones, added a social media/blogging function to their departments. It seems some corporate communications departments are going to have to play catch-up in 2010. Continue Reading…
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago. 1 comment
Most often, discussions about translators’ business models center around the type of clients – direct or agency – and inevitably about rates.
When translators gripe about lousy or falling per word rates, the first advice others give is look for direct clients. That is not the right reason to prefer them and there is no guarantee net income is higher as a result.
Please note that I am referring to professional rates: if a zero follows the comma or period (depending on your country), it is not a professional rate. Also, I am addressing that part of the translation markets (sic) centered on translation as adaptive copywriting (or transcreation, as it is sometimes called), my bailiwick.
A couple of my colleagues posit there should be no difference in the rates charged to direct or agency clients as long as the expertise and service provided are the same. To an extent, I agree with them: why should there be a difference based on who writes your check? But the service is rarely the same: for example, at minima, professional translators pay a proofreader to do a final check before returning work to direct clients while agencies take on that task (do they always?).
Focusing on unit rates for translating instead of the hourly income earned with all aspects of running a business included can distort reality. I’ve not found any statistics on this: based on my experience, I estimate the net income earned by an experienced translator working for agency clients is similar to that earned by a translator working only for direct clients. If anyone has statistics, let me know.
Why, then, would one prefer working for direct clients rather than agencies, given the time it takes to find them, land them, keep them and secure a credible marketing backlog?
It depends on how one is wired up. In companies, some staff prefer to carry out and some prefer to spearhead. The same is true with translators: some draw satisfaction from the security of cruise control — work comes in, you translate it, you send it back, sometimes you receive feedback, you invoice and get paid (ok, I’m simplifying slightly). Even those who prefer that matrix will complain sometimes about “the black hole”: the frustration of not knowing what the end-client thought of their translation or where it ended up.
Others need the buzz that comes from seeking opportunities that allow moving beyond *production* (for lack of a better word) to partner as consultants in a client’s project.
Continue Reading…
Posted 6 months, 4 weeks ago. 1 comment
La variable interculturelle est souvent décisive dans la réussite d’une campagne de pub.
Sachant que je suis toujours à l’affut d’exemples pour illustrer ce parti pris, voici la dernière perle reçue d’un confrère traducteur qui lui fut transmise par un de ses clients. Nous ne savons pas si cette histoire, en l’occurrence, est vraie, mais elle demeure caractéristique de ce qui peut se produire lorsqu’une entreprise, ou son agence de pub’, néglige de valider son concept auprès d’un professionnel en communication interculturelle.
Un commercial de Coca-Cola qui revient du Moyen-Orient très remonté. Il était parti pour y développer la marque.
Son ami lui demande alors : “pourquoi n’as-tu pas réussi avec les Arabes ?”
Il lui répond : « quand j’ai été envoyé au Moyen-Orient, j’étais très confiant de pouvoir faire de bonnes ventes car Coca-Cola n’est pas très connu là-bas. Mais le problème était que je ne parlais pas arabe. J’ai donc fait passer le message à travers 3 images…
La 1ère image représentait un homme allongé dans le sable chaud du désert, totalement faible et épuisé…
La 2ème représentait un homme buvant du Coca…
La 3ème photo montrait notre homme totalement rafraichi…
Ces panneaux furent publiés dans toute la ville…
“Ben ça aurait dû bien marcher !?!.. ” lui répond son ami…
“Aurait dû, comme tu dis.” lui répond le commercial… “Si j’avais su que les arabes lisaient de droite à gauche…”
Posted 6 months, 4 weeks ago. Add a comment
