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International Conference
The World in Crisis – And the Language Industry?
Geneva, 13 & 14 November, 2009
Conférence internationale
Le monde en crise – et les industries de la langue?
Genève, 13 et 14 novembre 2009
Internationale Konferenz
Die Welt in der Krise - und die Sprachenindustrie?
Genf, 13.-14. November 2009
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International Association Language and Business
International Vereinigung Sprache und Wirtschaft Association internationale Langues et Économie
© ASTTI – IALB/IVSW/AILE, 2010
Association suisse de traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes Schweizerischer Übersetzer-, Terminologen- und Dolmetscherverbands Associazione Svizzera dei Traduttori, Terminologi e Interpreti
Compiled and edited by JM Vande Walle
Editions Tradulex, Genève
PDF version distributed on CD
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The World in Crisis – And the Language Industry?
Geneva, 13 & 14 November, 2009
Proceedings
Le monde en crise – et les industries de la langue?
Genève, 13 et 14 novembre 2009
Actes
Die Welt in der Krise - und die Sprachenindustrie?
Genf, 13.-14. November 2009
Akten
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Committee
Prof. dr. Jean Klein, President IALB
Nicole Carnal, President ASTTI
Dr. Catherine Greensmith
João Esteves-Ferreira
Manfred Schmitz
Catherine Gachies
Jean-Marie Vande Walle
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Contents – Sommaire – Inhalt
Deborah Fry 1
Crisis, What Crisis? Industry, What Industry?
Nancy A. Locke 23
Translation: From Art to Industry
Kristiina Abdallah 32
The Language Industry in Crisis?
Translators’ Agency in Production Networks
Luigi Muzii 41
Community, collaborative, social. Will the language industry
survive crowdsourcing?
Manfred Schmitz 52
Normung für Übersetzungsdienstleister: Qualität ist schon
längst messbar
David J. Kosh 65
Navigating the Economic Downturn
Áurea Fernández Rodríguez - Iolanda Galanes Santos 93
La traduction de textes économiques et financiers :
les métaphores et la dernière crise mondiale
Marie-Evelyne Le Poder 110
Le langage de la crise à l´étude
Viviane Grisez 122
Crise économique, crise linguistique:
la petite histoire belge…
Sofia Moreno de Cayeux 131
How language professionals can cope with the new situation :
From the Standpoint of a Freelancer
Siôn Aled Owen & Eleri Llewelyn Morris 138
Challenges and Opportunities for Minority Languages
Teaching in a Time of Recession
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Ralf Lemster 153
Internationale Netzwerke – gemeinsam den
Herausforderungen begegnen
Wie Sprachdienstleister aktiv Nutzen aus der Globalisierung
ziehen können
Anne van Wylick 168
Freelance Translators and Interpreters : An Integral Part of
the IMF’s Language Services Team
Anne Aboh-Dauvergne 189
La terminologie comme une piste de réflexion linguistique
pour répondre à la crise ?
Dagmar Dichtl 201
Gefragt in der Krise: Der ÖNB-Sprachendienst
Herausforderungen und Kooperationen
Helen J. L. Campbell 207
How International Organisations and Universities cooperate
in training ventures – an example: Universities Contact Group
of the IAMLADP Working Group on Training
Anne Rosnoblet 209
Le traducteur économique et la crise : situation et perspectives
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Crisis, What Crisis? Industry, What Industry?
Deborah Fry
Fry & Bonthrone Partnerschaft
Abstract
The financial crisis of the past two years has impacted the top and bottom
lines of many language service providers, from individual freelances to
global corporations. Nevertheless, the current recession does not in itself
represent a new quality, even though it is undoubtedly a catalyst for further
change. More interesting - and more profound in their implications - are
the underlying business and technology trends that continue to dominate
what can now clearly be called the language industry. In the past twenty
years, there has been an unprecedented change in the way we work. Speed
and integration, differentiation/specialization and sophistication have
increased dramatically, as has the size of some of the players. In the
aggregate, these processes are set to continue, thanks to ongoing
globalization, the unfolding digital revolution, and far-reaching structural
and content-driven changes in our own and our clients' sectors. This
presentation positions language services providers in this complex
environment and examines key factors driving the development of the
language industry and its submarkets. Leading on from this, it identifies
and analyzes critical success factors for language service providers in a
world in which multilinguality - of whatever level of complexity - can
increasingly be seen as a component of other, often highly standardized
processes.
Goals of this Presentation
My goal today is to promote thought and debate. In the past few months,
both I and my partner and husband Robin Bonthrone have talked with
many other colleagues. These people are in various functions, sub-
segments of the market and locations around the world. What we all have
in common is a widespread feeling that translation is about to change
radically.
This presentation attempts to examine why this should be, with a focus on
the broader trends that are driving developments. I would like to stress at
the outset that I am neither an economist nor a banker, nor am I a tools
specialist. I lay absolutely no claim to infallibility in these areas. Equally, my
views are subjective, anecdotal and impressionistic rather than the result
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of rigorous academic research. Nevertheless, they represent a systematic
attempt to make deeper sense of the signals we are now receiving, and I
look forward to hearing your take on them.
The situation we are now facing is a new one. Riding the globalisation wave
for the past fifteen years or so has been an exciting and dynamic
experience, but a linear one. Visibility has been clear, growth more or less
continuous, and the human-centric process of translation unchanged
despite certain technological advances. In my opinion, this model is now
under threat. In the longer term, economic dynamics, technological
innovation and of course wider environmental and social issues will
profoundly change the way in which we do business.
Theses (Slide 1)
Before I go any further, let me set out my main theses.
The first point to be made is that we are all still standing. This may sound
obvious, but it was not a given. Last autumn, Armageddon was averted
with about 48 hours to spare. What is more, many eminent economists are
cautioning that we are still not out of the woods, having built up massive
debt with no clear way of paying for it. Nevertheless, for most of the
translation professionals I have spoken to, things could have been worse.
Despite this, I maintain that a new paradigm is emerging for translation:
that of an industry, rather than a profession. Of course, industries are not
necessarily bad things. They produce the cheap, generally reliable goods on
which all our lives are based. And, at least in theory, large companies may
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offer advantages such as career paths, fringe benefits and pensions that
small, undercapitalised ones may not. However, industries are definitely
characterised by highvolume, largely automated throughput and largely
interchangeable, commoditised output.
One consequence of this is that the role of humans, and particularly of
human translators, is being redefined. Translators already need to do less
and less of the work associated with standard jobs, and this process will
continue. Equally, the new translation and project management systems,
coupled with client-side developments, will change the role and position of
project managers in the next few years. And the larger the client and
supply-side companies concerned, the more far-reaching and rapid this
process is likely to be.
The implications for translation are significant. In certain defined
environments, machines can already offer time and cost benefits that
humans (including crowdsourced ones) cannot. Moreover, even on the
quality front – the high ground where human translators regularly stake
their colours – the gap between a good system and a poor translator is
closing. We therefore need to think seriously about what makes us unique
in this brave new world. There is, in my opinion, no one single answer, and
flexibility in this changing environment is important. But passivity – let
alone denial – is not an option.
© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
The Financial Crisis
• Credit “superbubble” emerges, fuelled by securitisation, derivatives, ratings, low interest rates…
• Severe lack of transparency
• Market turns, first bankruptcies, widespread uncertainty
• Interbank market stalls, central banks pump liquidity into the system
• Fully-fledged panic breaks out, major bank failures
• Governments bail out/nationalise systemically relevant institutions
• Global financial crisis, global recession
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The Financial Crisis (Slide 2)
So, what actually happened? In an extremely small nutshell,1 cheap debt
over several years fuelled a superbubble in a number of different areas,
including subprime mortgages and credit card debt. This process was made
possible, among other things, by what is known as securitisation.
Securitisation pools non-tradable assets and repackages the pools as
securities, which are backed by the cash flows from the underlying assets.
Once created, the securities (enhanced by ratings) can be sold on to
investors, who share in the underlying profit or loss. Since the debt – and
hence the risk – is no longer on their books, banks are free to lend all over
again to other people, while also earning fees for performing the
securitisation itself. Investors benefit by gaining exposure to asset classes
that they cannot easily invest in directly. And, at least in theory, the
securities’ high credit ratings satisfy investment criteria while offering a
superior yield.
This process quickly became a self-perpetuating machine. Assets of
dubious provenance were vacuumed up, repackaged and sold on to
investors. In addition, a number of other types of derivatives became
established in other areas. What all these instruments have in common is
that they are highly complex financial products, and that they were black
boxes to many investors. In some cases, they were also not recorded on
banks’ books but issued and managed via off-balance sheet special purpose
vehicles.
Then, in 2004-2006, US interest rates rose by over 4%, subprime teaser
mortgage periods ran out and defaults on housing loans started
ballooning.2 In 2007, the first specialist US mortgage lender filed for
insolvency, and banks and hedge funds were hit by the debt it had sold on.
As the crisis spread, banks ceased doing business with each other, as there
was a lack of transparency as to who was holding what securities and what
these were worth. The interbank market – where banks lend to each other
– dried up. Institutions refinancing themselves via this route rather than via
more long-term funding found themselves in trouble.
1 For those wishing to delve further into this issue, the best single account of the origins of
the financial crisis that I have read is: Fool's Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe by Gillian Tett, 2009, Little, Brown, ISBN: 9781408701645 2 The information in this paragraph is taken from: “Timeline: Credit Crunch to Downturn”,
available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7521250.stm
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At the same time, insurance companies such as AIG and monolines
(specialist bond insurers) found that securitisation had not diversified risk
as they had thought, but had in fact aggregated it – with them, since they
insured the securities against default. They, and a number of banks, had to
be rescued or went under, and the shock and uncertainty that this caused
sent the markets into free fall. The central banks stepped in, shoring up the
money markets and – with the help of governments around the globe –
avoiding meltdown.Nevertheless, the crisis spread from Wall Street to
Main Street and around the world.
The size of the rescue operation mounted by the national governments is
spectacular. To quote the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King3:
―The sheer scale of support to the banking sector is breathtaking. In the
UK, in the form of direct or guaranteed loans and equity investment, it is
not far short of a trillion (that is, one thousand billion) pounds, close to
two-thirds of the annual output of the entire economy. To paraphrase a
great wartime leader, never in the field of financial endeavour has so much
money been owed by so few to so many.‖
And that was just one country, and just one sector.
Even despite this level of support, losses have been and will continue to be
horrendous. The IMF estimates that global write-downs by banks will
amount to US$2.8 trillion between 2007 and 2010, of which $1.5 trillion
still have to be charged. And although forecasts have improved in the
course of the year, the IMF is still predicting that global output in the real
economy will fall by 1.1 percent in 2009.4 The stimulus measures taken will
cause G20 debt to hit an average of 118% of GDP in 2014.56 We – and I
mean all of us – will be paying for all of this for a long time to come.
In other words, the next decade or so will be dominated by economic and
financial rebuilding and recovery, plus other minor issues such as global
warming, resource shortages, and demographic change. Even in the best-
case scenario, we are entering a much more sober and constrained age.
This will inevitably take its toll on our business environment.
3 The full speech is available at: “Speech by Mervyn King, Governor” 20 October 2009
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/speeches/speaker.htm#king 4 In: IMF World Economic Outlook 2009, available at:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/02/pdf/text.pdf 5 Quoted in: “Ten years of cuts and tax rises lies ahead, IMF says”, Financial Times, 4
November 2009
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© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
The Effect on Translation
• General growth trend unbroken, fuelled by
ongoing globalisation
• “Pinpricks rather than sledgehammer blows”
• Operational management is more difficult
• Price pressure (but not just for this reason)
• Longer-term developments are much more
important
The Effect on Translation (Slide 3)
Let me now turn to translation.
The first thing that can be said is that, at the high end of the industry, the
healthy levels of business seen over the past decade do not generally seem
to have gone into reverse. As one colleague said, the effect has been more
one of “pinpricks than sledgehammer blows”. Another pointed out that the
collapse of Communism twenty years ago had much more of an effect on
peoples’ lives. These impressions would seem to be borne out by research
firm Common Sense Advisory. In his speech to the BDÜ conference in
Berlin in September, its president Don De Palma indicated that initial
soundings for 2009 suggested a slight slowdown for the crisis period but
nothing dramatic.6
That having been said there are, of course, variations within this general
picture.
6 Oral aside by Don De Palma in his speech to the BDÜ conference in September 2009:
“The role of language and translation services in a global economy.” In Übersetzen in die Zukunft: Herausforderungen der Globalisierung für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer: Tagungsband der Internationalen Fachkonferenz des Bundesverbandes der Dolmetscher und Übersetzer e.V. (BDÜ): Berlin, 11.-13. September 2009. Eds: Wolfram Baur et al. Berlin: BDÜ, 2009, 42-49. ISBN: 978-3-938430-24-8
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The first is due to the quality of management. As Warren Buffet famously
said: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”7
Risk management, long-term business relationships, solid funding and
client diversification suddenly took on a new urgency for translators in the
course of the crisis. Of course, sheer luck – or the lack of it – also played a
role. Unsurprisingly, pain also tended to be greater in those areas most
affected by the crisis, although some saw a short-term increase, due to all
the words being written on the subject. What is more, translation in
sectors such as the extractive industries has been seeing buoyant growth
regardless of the turbulence on the financial markets.
Additionally, for “business as normal” projects, operational management
became more difficult. Clients in large organisations were often
overworked, making interaction and project planning more difficult. Some
projects suffered additional rewrites, while for others recycling of existing
texts reduced the load. Another common issue was more pronounced
peaks and valleys in demand and a growing number of on-off-on projects.
This increased the management effort, often without any opportunity to
charge clients for the trouble.
Now that the acute phase of the financial crisis is subsiding, it seems that
cost sensitivity is increasing, both in terms of unit prices and with respect
to total budgets. This will continue as corporate cost-cutting programmes,
which in some cases runs into the billions, gather steam and as the supply-
side trends we shall look at in a moment take effect. While buoyant
demand accompanied by simultaneous cost pressure may seem like a
paradox, it is in fact typical of many expanding sectors and heralds a
fundamental structural shift.
7 Available at: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2001ar/2001letter.html
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© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
Is Translation an Industry?
• Large headcount and capital?
• Manufacturing paradigm?
• Similar technological infrastructure of
production?
• Technically substitutable goods?
Is Translation an Industry? (Slide 4)
This brings me to the second part of my presentation. Is translation an
industry, and if so, what does this actually mean?
A couple of years ago I was talking to a client at a major bank and
mentioned the term “translation industry”. His reaction was one of
genuine surprise. He had not thought that there was such a thing – unless
prefixed by the word “cottage”. Equally, when I worked for LISA, the
Localisation Industry Standards Association, in the 1990s a venture
capitalist told me that he and his peers were not interested in translation,
as the human factor meant that it was nonscalable. In other words, at that
point translation for him was not an industrialised, automated process.
Nevertheless, a quick linguistic test suggests that we may be onto
something. Can you talk about the accounting industry? No. The legal
industry – definitely not! But what about the translation industry? Does the
phrase sound right? I think so, and so does Google. Typing in the relevant
words reveals 147,000 hits for “translation industry”, but only 28,100 for
“translation profession”8. However, since the Internet can be used every
day to prove that 100,000 lemmings can’t be wrong, it is worth taking a
deeper look at what an industry actually is.
8 Results as of 8 December 2009, 16.30.
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According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary9, an industry is
“a division of productive or profit-making labour; esp: one that employs a
large personnel and capital, esp. in manufacturing”. It is also “a group of
productive or profit-making enterprises or organisations that have a similar
technological structure of production and that produce or supply
technically substitutable goods, services, or sources of income.”
In other words, there are four tests that we can apply to discuss whether
translation is in fact, or is becoming, an industry:
• Does it have a large headcount (to someone from the United Kingdom,
the phrase “a personnel” sounds horrible) and capital?
• Does it produce according to a manufacturing paradigm?
• Do its enterprises have a similar technological infrastructure of
production?
• And are its products technically substitutable?
© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
Large Headcount and Capital?
Yes!
– Large companies with triple-digit million revenues
– Thousands of smaller companies
– Hundreds of thousands of freelance translators
– US$ 14.25bn revenues for translation in 2008 (CSA)
But...
– Still minnows compared with other industries
– Consolidation has some way to go
9 Merriam-Webster, 1993, ISBN: 0-87779-201-1
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Does Translation Have a Large Headcount and Capital? (Slide 5)
As you will know, it is very difficult to obtain reliable data on translation. So
when I started asking people recently about the size of the market, I was
not really surprised that I did not get any precise figures. Everyone is
agreed, however, that the number is pretty large.
Of course, the fact that a large number of people are involved in doing
something does not make it an industry. Nevertheless, a look at the
corporate end of translation reveals that a “group of productive or profit-
making enterprises” does now in fact exist. According to research firm
Common Sense Advisory, there are now six companies with revenues in
excess of US$200m p.a., and seven with revenues in excess of US$106-
166m p.a.10 What is more, a generation ago almost all translation
companies were small entities financed from cash flow, but the top tier
today shows a much more sophisticated mix of funding sources, including
listed enterprises and private equity-backed organisations.
Equally, Common Sense Advisory says that language services as a whole
have also grown rapidly to the point where revenues are in the double-
digit billions worldwide. Of course, we should not get carried away here –
after all, the figure of US$14.25bn11 is less than one quarter of what US
insurer AIG lost in the fourth quarter of 2008.12 And our sector is still
dwarfed by the telecommunications industry, for example, where annual
revenues are forecast to grow from “under $1.7 trillion in 2008 to over
$2.7 trillion in 2013.”13
Similarly, despite this new tier of large players, translation is still
fragmented. According to Common Sense Advisory, the 30 largest players
only account for somewhat more than 26% of the market.14 This goes
against the “Rule of Three” outlined by management consultants Jagdish
Sheth and Rajendra Sisodia, whereby the top three full-line companies in
an industry hold between 70 and 90 percent of the market.15 So there is
still some way to go on the consolidation front. Moreover, the many
10
In: De Palma, Donald A., op. cit. 11
In: De Palma, Donald A., op. cit. 12
“US takes another crack at AIG rescue. Wracked by turmoil in the credit markets, the insurance giant posts $62 billion quarterly loss.” Quoted in: http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/02/news/companies/aig/index.htm 13
Available at: http://www.insight-corp.com/reports/review08.asp 14
In: De Palma, Donald A. op. cit. 15
Quoted in “Caution: Rough Road Ahead”, available at: http://www.atkearney.com/index.php/Publications/caution-rough-road-ahead-eaxii-1.html
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variables involved in translation mean that there are natural limits to the
economies of scale that can be produced. Nevertheless, a trend is clearly
discernible.
© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
Manufacturing Paradigm?
Increasingly:
• Taylorisation of translation process; role differentiation
• Cost-driven: as volumes rise, series production is the only
way to cut (unit) costs
• Time-driven: market pressures require large capacity
• Complexity-driven: allows secured production, variations
on a theme
• Intermediation (aggregation/sourcing/management)
• Translation integrated into other, taylorised workflows
• Combination of humans and technology
Does Translation Comply With a Manufacturing Paradigm?
(Slide 6)
The second test of an industry is whether production uses a manufacturing
paradigm. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary16 defines the verb
“to manufacture” as “to produce according to an organised plan and with
division of labour.” Here, too, this is increasingly the case. The corporate
translation process is becoming taylorised, or split into simpler component
parts. Even an extremely small company like ours differentiates between
the translation, administration, technology, terminology and resources,
project management, quality assurance and corporate management
functions, and larger companies are much more complex.
This organisational approach is necessary to meet client needs and
preserve our own sanity. As we all know, translation volumes have
increased dramatically over recent years, while turnaround times have
been slashed. The need to seriously manage large projects, and hence in
many cases large numbers of translators, has grown.
16
op.cit.
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At the same time, clients rightly do not see this as their core business. For
them, translation is a means to an end. It is a complex ancillary process
that requires a large number of non-core skills, entails a large number of
variables and is often time-critical. This is precisely why they want to
delegate it. In return, they need to be sure that they will get the right
translations in the right place at the right time and at the right price.
This leads on a point that is often overlooked. For us as translators,
globalisation has meant a ten-year period of buoyant demand. For
companies, it has meant rapidly increasing costs and, if things go wrong, a
threat to their business goals. This combination of cost and strategic
importance necessarily attracts management attention. The pressure to
increase efficiency – and therefore cut unit costs if not absolute costs – is
therefore on. And the only way to do this is to adopt an increasingly
manufacturing-based approach.
These developments explain the emergence of the larger supply-side
companies. These act as intermediaries, sourcing, aggregating and
managing the translation process. But they often go beyond this, delivering
a range of additional services and/or a finished product of which
translation is only an embedded and subordinate component. Good
examples include film subtitling, the delivery of localised and fully tested
software, and the multilingual translation, printing and fulfilment of
documents such as IPO prospectuses. Here, too, these flexible and
sophisticated workflows depend on organised structures and differentiated
functions, both within and across enterprise boundaries. This is light years
away from the envelope-changers of a generation ago with their “all
languages, all subject areas” model.
These large organisations also make heavy use of technology, enabling the
blending of human- and machine-based offerings. Although we have all
shifted to a computer-based production and delivery model, they are
taking automation further, linking systems and putting the machine at the
centre of the workflow. To this extent, they are increasingly offering a
service that also looks more like a manufacturing process in the narrower
sense of the word.
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© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
Technological Infrastructure?
Yes, and rising!
– Basic infrastructure (IT/Internet, retrieval, security…)
– Source text management (controlled language, reuse…)
– Target production (TMs, MT ...)
– Workflow and process management
– Format/delivery technology (CMSs, DTP...)
Issues:
– Expensive automation is for large organisations
– Growing gap between proprietary and generic tools
– When does the competitive advantage become critical?
– How far down the chain will this stretch?
Does Translation Have a Technological Infrastructure? (Slide 7)
The issue of automation naturally leads on to the next test – whether there
is a similar technological infrastructure of production. Here, too the answer
is an increasing yes.
The dominant infrastructure for translation is now computerised, whatever
the size of provider concerned. This applies throughout the entire
production chain: to the general infrastructure, to the management of the
translation workflow and, increasingly, to the narrower linguistic process
itself. The pace of change is incredibly fast. Within my own working life we
have gone from much-loathed daisy wheel typewriters, dictating machines
and telexes to paperbased faxes and word processors, which were
followed by standalone and then networked computers and now the Web.
These new resources have been a great help to human translators
producing high-quality work. Nevertheless, technology also has a disruptive
potential that is becoming increasingly evident.
Many conventional tools, such as translation memories, aim at redefining
rather than replacing the role of humans in the translation process. These
can be categorised as computerassisted human translation. At the highly
industrialised end of the market, however, humanassisted machine
translation – the reverse paradigm – is gaining ground. In addition to
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process automation, the old, comfortable idea that machine translation
(MT) is for gisting and “hacking wood”, while humans are a prerequisite for
accuracy and style is breaking down. Machines are getting better with the
ability to feed them large corpora. Of course, this does not mean in the
slightest that they are perfect. It will take a long time, and quite probably
cost much more than the one billion dollars currently on offer, before
President Obama gets his “automatic, highly accurate and real time
translation between the major languages of the world”1718. Nevertheless,
there is a growing feeling that technology is coming to dominate
translation and that MT, in defined areas, is about to go mainstream.
What is more, in the real world there are also limits to the humans. In the
ATA press release “American Translators Association Cautions White House
on Future Language Policy”, Association president Jiri Stejksal replied to
the Obama initiative by saying that “only an experienced human translator
has the skill and cultural awareness to convey every nuance when you
absolutely have to get it right.”1819 In practice, a great deal depends on
the word “experienced”, and on having access to such people. With all due
respect to the eminent colleagues with whom I am privileged to work, on a
bad day sourcing specialist human translators can remind one of the old
Woody Allen joke: “The food here is terrible, and the portions are too
small”.19
Moreover, in a seamless and highly automated process the distinction
between humans and machines is increasingly meaningless anyway. All
that clients care about are effective – and cost-effective – solutions. Talking
about the big players, a recent BusinessWeek article stated that:
“Companies have combined the power of humans and computers to
simultaneously double the speed of translation and nearly halve its costs.
Where each translator once converted 2,500 words a day at a cost of some
25c per word, they can now offer 5,000 words per day at around 12-15c a
word”.20 The article also gave concrete examples showing that MT is alive
and well in a large company near you. The reason is obvious: no client in
17
Available at: https://www.atanet.org/pressroom/news_release_obama.pdf 18
In: “A Strategy for American Innovation: Driving Towards Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs”, available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/SEPT_20__Innovation_Whitepaper_FINAL.pdf 19
Quoted (among other places) in: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_Quotations_of_Woody_Allen 20
In: “White House Challenges Translation Industry to Innovate” BusinessWeek, 1 October 2009, available at http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/oct2009/id2009101_196515.htm
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the multiverse is going to turn down a business proposition like that, if
companies can indeed deliver on it.
This means that conventional translators now have a growing structural
problem. Since it costs large amounts of money, heavy automation is the
preserve of the big battalions. For around two decades, large technology
and translation companies have been pouring big dollars into tools
development. The BusinessWeek article suggests that this is paying off.
Conversely, progress for the rest of us has been relatively slow. One of the
frustrating things over this period has been how little non-proprietary
technology has made it into the public domain for the long term.
Consequently, the rewards of automation will not be evenly spread. Does
this mean we shall reach a tipping point at which the advantages of the
new business model blow away the old one? Of course, economies of scale
work in reverse to protect niche players. At present, for example, real gains
can only be obtained in machine translation with high-volume,
homogeneous client environments, but this may not always be the case.
© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
Technically Substitutable Goods?
Yes!
• Technological substitution:
– Reuse (TMs, CMSs)
– MT
– Crowdsourcing, etc.
• Inter-translator substitutability through standards (reproducibility and repeatability)
• Client/translator and vendor substitutability (improved knowledge of English, supplier triage, FYI MT)
Does Translation Offer Technically Substitutable Goods? (Slide 8)
This brings me to my last test, technically substitutable goods. For any self-
respecting translator, the knee-jerk answer is clear: I produce high-quality
translations and clients come to me because they get a service they can’t
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find anywhere else. For any fan of Garrison Keillor, this sounds in the
aggregate a bit like Lake Wobegone, where “all the women are strong, all
the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average”.21 In
practice, many translations – and hence translators – are already more
substitutable than we would like to think, and this trend will increase in
future.
Firstly, increased text reusability is already serving to reduce volumes over
time. This applies both to translation memories and to source-based
technologies such as multilingual content management systems.
Secondly, to the extent that MT can indeed replace human translators,
these translations are substitutable as well. Of course, technology also
expands the overall market, by allowing material that would never
otherwise be translated to be made available. Nevertheless, the
boundaries are often muddied in practice.
Thirdly, the use of technologies such as crowdsourcing, which aggregate
translators, also entails a risk of substitutability at the translator level. On
the one hand they make large translation projects possible, but on the
other they increase the pool of translators and therefore allow their
translations to be substituted by those from other suppliers.
In addition, there are also at least two sources of human-human
substitutability, despite the increasing automation of the translation
process.
Firstly, translators can be defined as being substitutable. At the logical
level, standards – with both a small and a large “s” – by their very nature
permit and accelerate individual translator substitution by increasing
reproducibility and repeatability. These are the characteristics needed for
an industrial approach to translation. It is therefore no coincidence that the
large translation agencies are so interested in this area.
This obviously has implications for pricing models. If translator quality is
perceived to be interchangeable, it inevitably becomes less of a driver:
price, timing and value-added features become more important. Access to
a large number of alternative suppliers always increases client choice and
drives prices down over time. Incidentally, this, and the related ability (at
least in part) to dictate supplier rates, is probably another reason why large
21 Quoted at: http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/about/podcast/
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translation enterprises can charge such competitive prices. What is more,
clients are increasingly triaging their quality requirements, with single or
multiple providers offering different levels of defined quality to cater to
this.
Lastly, it should be borne in mind that other humans can also be
substituted for translators. The need for translations is not constant,
especially during recessions. Although we are profiting from an age of
globalisation, we are also seeing the supremacy of English as a global
business lingua franca. For example, many business professionals now
receive part of their training in English. This means that non-native clients
increasingly understand documents in this language. In consequence, the
volume of “for your information” translations outside the MT area is
declining, and their average complexity is increasing.
© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
What Does All This Mean?
• The industrial, automated paradigm will increasingly dominate the industry
• Heavy IT use/standard workflows mean success
• A lot of translation is (or will become) a subordinated, commodity business…
• “Two legs good, no legs bad” no longer works
• The future of translation is not just with translators
• More and less qualifications are required
• Translators, associations and trainers need to see the big picture
What Does All This Mean? (Slide 9)
So, if we pull all this together, what do we come up with?
Firstly, we are looking at an increasingly automated industry. To recap: this
means a process that generates economies of scale from high throughput,
standardised workflows and increasingly heavy use of information
technology.
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What this means is structural change. As more of the process disappears
into the machine, the role of humans will adapt. Firstly, translators in the
narrower sense of the word will occupy less of the value chain, and
therefore have less of a stake and a say in the process. Linked to this, we
will see a deskilling in some areas. To give just one example, most people
are seeing a rise in what we at F&B call “fill-in-the-gaps translation”.
Moreover, where knowledge and technological barriers are low,
commodity status exists or is fast approaching. Conversely, though, job
requirements at the high end are likely to be even more complex and
require more intellectual input and judgement.
In such a situation, the role of associations and trainers becomes
increasingly crucial, as forums for debate and facilitators. Much progress
has been made in recent years, but there are still issues to be solved.
Universities in particular are faced with an almost impossible task. It was
absolutely necessary for them to broaden their curricula so as to capture
the increasing diversity of the translation chain. However, it has led to an
ever-larger gap between university graduates’ skills and what employers
providing translation in the narrower sense of the word need. Especially
when coupled with the introduction of B.A. courses, this has become
painful for all concerned. Naturally, M.A. courses are designed to provide
more of these in-depth skills. Nevertheless, our experience is that, in
practice, the chasm is widening.
Above and beyond that, the past few years have seen a fragmentation of
industry bodies. While perhaps inevitable, this is not beneficial. In addition
to a certain tradition of internecine warfare within translation associations,
translation has split along sub-segment lines. Localisation became a
separate industry in the early 1990s and has since fragmented in its own
right. Equally, in both Europe and the United States translation companies
have their own organisations. And, last but not least, relations between
translators and computer linguists have long been characterised by mutual
incomprehension and/or suspicion. This is not helpful. What we need now
is a clear view of the bigger translation picture.
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© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
So You Want to Be a Translator?
• Offer quality:
– Stylistic specialisation
– *Real* subject area specialisation
• Offer related skills:
– Linguistic (post-editing, terminology)
– Technological
• Aggregate, integrate, consolidate
• Define and manage your space professionally
• Build a brand
• Adapt to reality *all the time*
So You Want to Be a Translator? (Slide 10)
Of course, this also applies at the personal level, too. Increasingly, mass-
market translation no longer generates enough for single translators to live
off comfortably, and this will be even truer in future. This slide outlines a
number of potential solutions to the problem, which are naturally not
mutually exclusive.
The most crucial thing is, obviously, to have something to sell – i.e.
something that is not easily substitutable. And first up here is to offer
quality.
In practice, there are two main axes of quality for translation in the
narrower sense of the word: stylistic quality and content quality. The
former is becoming an increasingly popular topic at the moment, as high-
end translators seek to maintain their margins. However, while absolutely
agreeing with its necessity, I have my doubts about its viability as a general
strategy. Firstly, despite not being easy to achieve in practice, it is the niche
that everyone is trying to pile into. The reason is simple: it frequently has
the lowest barriers to entry. In principle, good style spans all text types and
subject areas, even though registers will, of course, vary. However, this
also means that it may be threatened by commoditisation in the longer
term. Secondly, as we have seen, clients are sometimes surprisingly
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insensitive to quality, and this trend is set to increase in price-driven
market segments. With so many words being produced every day, the
question of what quality is needed for what texts is a real and thorny one.
Thirdly, for individuals this approach is limited by throughput constraints –
even with the intelligent use of technology, single human translators
simply cannot handle some of the larger jobs on the market. Since many
clients demand a single point of contact, splitting up such jobs may not be
an option if you want to retain control of the client relationship.
The next line of defence is subject area specialisation in the meaningful
sense of word. Industrial processes require a certain scale, meaning they
focus primarily on mass or semispecialised content. Niche expertise offers
a good defence. Equally, understanding the texts (in the sense of
understanding what the words are about) is something that machines can’t
yet do properly. However, true expertise is rare. Of course, a lot of
translators offer “commercial, technical and legal translation”, but this is
not what we are talking about. Specialisation goes much further and is not
easily reproducible. It is hard to build up and hard to maintain. At the high
end, understanding your clients’ business and subject areas means
reproducing knowledge systems in multiple languages that clients
themselves spend years to acquire, and that are also changing rapidly. This
is a lonely business. Indeed, it has to be so in order to be effective as a
strategy. And a further word of warning: even here, the process of
commoditisation is surprisingly rapid.
Another tack is to provide complementary skills in other areas, be they
linguistic or technological. In other words, you are aiming to change your
position on the human-machine continuum. This strategy can be
interesting, although there is also competition in these areas. In some
cases, it may also come from non-translators (such as MT post-editors) and
may also be locale-independent. People frequently tend to forget that
diversifying away from one’s own core business generally means
diversifying into someone else’s, and that this may conceivably entail more
rather than less competition.
All these approaches depend on deepening and/or broadening translators’
offerings. As such, they are open to the justified criticism that they require
translators to assume a greater and greater burden. There are a lot of very
tired people in this industry, even or possibly especially among the
successful ones. Since individuals cannot hope to cover the entire
spectrum, increased integration and aggregation, in the form of networks,
crowds, or whatever will be needed. Judging by a number of presentations
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at this conference, this idea is alive and well. Alternatively, translators can
consider stopping being freelancers and pool their activities, or can join an
existing enterprise. Such consolidation is a common feature of maturing
industries.
Whatever approach is adopted, though, it is important that it is chosen and
implemented professionally, and that translators promote themselves. A
strong brand image is an important way of convincing clients that you are
non-substitutable, and also helps reduce your marketing effort.
Above all, though, we must recognise that we shall need to adapt to
change on an ongoing basis. The developments I have attempted to set out
today are long-term trends that will not materialise overnight. There are
also many variables involved in the process. As the Arab proverb says,
“Anyone who pretends they can foresee the future is lying – even when
they are right”. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we should not try.
© Deborah Fry, Fry & Bonthrone 2009
A Closing Thought
“Trend is not destiny. The future based on a
logical extrapolation of existing trends is
not inevitable, and neither is doomsday. ”René Dubos
A Closing Thought (Slide 11)
Allow me to leave you, therefore, with a comforting thought. One of the
great advantages of researching this presentation has been that it has
taught me about people I had previously never heard of.
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René Dubos is one of them. This French-American microbiologist and
environmentalist is credited as being the author of the phrase “think
globally, act locally”.22 This makes him a particularly appropriate choice for
a conference of people involved in globalisation.
In the context of our looming and serious environmental problems, Dubos
said, “Trend is not destiny. The future based on a logical extrapolation of
existing trends is not inevitable, and neither is doomsday.”23
I hope for the planet and for translation that we can prove him right.
About the author
Deborah Fry has been involved in the language business on a professional basis since 1982. She is a managing partner of Fry & Bonthrone Partnerschaft, a specialist financial translation company based in Mainz-Kastel, Germany. She has tertiary and professional qualifications in law and translation and has worked as an encyclopaedia compiler, technical writer and press officer, among other things. She also set up and ran the language services department for a major German software manufacturer before co-founding her present company in 1995 with her partner and husband Robin Bonthrone. In the course of this work she developed a keen interest in terminology, serving on a number of industry association boards. She also edited the LISA (Localisation Industry Standards Association) newsletter for several years. In addition to her day job as a company manager, reviser, specialist translator and trainer, she lectures nationally and internationally on topics such as translation quality and style, and developments in the translation profession.
Deborah Fry can be contacted at
Fry & Bonthrone Partnerschaft • Language Consultancy and Services In der Witz 29 55252 Mainz-Kastel Germany info@fb-partners.com
22
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_Dubos 23
Quoted in http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC24/Brown.htm
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Translation: From Art to Industry1
Nancy A. Locke
Writer, translator
Abstract
At the beginning of the 19th century, weavers in the English Midlands
militated against new technology. They blamed new-fangled looms for the
downward pressure on wages, and decried abuses in the organization of
production and the shoddy quality of the final product. United under the
banner of the mythic leader Ludd, the militants came to be known as the
Luddites. The story of the Luddites figures prominently in the history of the
Industrial Revolution.
Now, almost exactly two hundred years later, another revolution of
breathtaking scope and magnitude, and intimately tied to economic
globalization, is underway: the Information Technology (IT) Revolution.
Translators, like many knowledge and creative workers, find themselves
buffeted by a rapid evolution of their professionals lives engendered by
technological innovation in a context of a quickly shifting political and
economic landscape.
Some translators readily embrace information technology. Others see the
evolution of their working lives as inevitable and the nature of the changes
immutable. Many, however, fear that new tools may taylorize, automate,
commoditize and banalize their work so thoroughly that the creative
essence may simply disappear. Like the Luddites, translators worry about
producing work ―inferior in quality, not marketable at home and merely
hurried over with a view to exportation.‖ Not surprisingly then, the term
―luddite‖ has regained currency to describe those who do not embrace
new tools or, according to Canadian scholar John Ralston Saul, ―anyone
who wants to work out a non-exclusionary approach to technical
progress.‖
The working hypothesis of the proposed paper is that the current crisis is
one episode that threatens to accelerate and deepen a more far-reaching
economic/political transformation comparable to the Industrial Revolution.
The IT Revolution will inevitably and irreversibly alter the professional
lives of translators. As such, if translation and translators still form its
core, the language industry is, indeed, in crisis, (defined by the Merriam-
Webster dictionary as ―a radical change‖ or a ―paroxysmal attack of pain,
distress, or disordered function‖). The paper poses a fundamental
question: Are translators destined to go the way of the weavers?
1 This paper distils the concepts and arguments developed in a book-length work in
progress.
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By the adoption of one species of frame in particular, one man performed
the work of many and the superfluous labourers were thrown out of
employment. Yet it is to be observed, that the work thus executed was
inferior in quality, not marketable at home and merely hurried over with a
view to exportation.2
In 1811, in his maiden speech to Parliament, the Romantic poet Lord
George Gordon Byron took up the cause of weavers whose violent
militancy against the adoption of new technology had the English Midlands
in an uproar. The weavers blamed new-fangled looms for the downward
pressure on wages, decried abuses in the organization of production and
the shoddy quality of the final product. United under the banner of the
mythic leader Ludd, the militants came to be known as the Luddites. The
story of the Luddites figures prominently in the history of the
Industrial Revolution.
Now, almost exactly two hundred years later, another revolution of
breathtaking scope and magnitude is underway: the Information
Technology (IT) Revolution. This time, translators, like many knowledge
and creative workers, find themselves buffeted by a rapid evolution of
their professional lives engendered by technological innovation in the
context of a quickly shifting political and economic landscape.
Some translators readily embrace information technology. Others see the
evolution of their working lives as inevitable and the nature of the changes
immutable. Many, however, fear that new tools may taylorize, automate,
commoditize and banalize their work so thoroughly that the creative
essence may simply disappear. Like the Luddites, translators worry about
producing work “inferior in quality, not marketable at home and merely
hurried over with a view to exportation.” Not surprisingly then, the term
“luddite” has regained currency to describe those who do not embrace
new tools or, according to Canadian scholar John Ralston Saul, “anyone
who wants to work out a non-exclusionary approach to technical
progress.”3
The working hypothesis of this paper is that the current crisis is one
episode that threatens to accelerate and deepen a more far-reaching
economic/political transformation comparable to the Industrial Revolution.
2 From Lord Byron’s maiden speech to Parliament in 1811 cited in Bailey, Brian, The
Luddite Rebellion (©1998, New York University Press), page 161. 3 Saul, John Ralston, The Collapse of Globalism (©2005, Towards Equilibrium Inc., Viking
Canada), page 94.
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The IT Revolution will inevitably and irreversibly alter the professional lives
of translators. As such, if translation and translators still form its core, the
language industry is, indeed, in crisis. This paper poses a fundamental
question: Are translators destined to go the way of the weavers?
Craft Becomes Art
Translation, to repeat an old chestnut popular with word nerds, is the
second oldest profession in the world. In fact, and at the risk of offending,
if by profession we mean exacting payment for an activity that, in other
circumstances, might be offered naturally, for centuries translation was no
more a profession than the infamous first. If, however, we use a more
modern notion of profession, i.e., the practice of an activity that requires
formal training or apprenticeship and vetting, and adheres to a set of
established recognized processes and best practices, translation is in its
infancy. Indeed, initially and for centuries, translation happened quite
naturally as needed and was performed by those best suited, but not
specifically trained, to undertake the task.
What skills suited a translator to the task of translation? Typically, mastery
of the subject relevant to the task came in handy as did a firm grasp of two
or more languages one being, of course, the mother tongue. Educated
bilinguals or polyglots usually fit the bill and they frequently provided
translation as a sideline not a fulltime occupation.
As for tools, traditionally translators relied on those used by writers. They
used dictionaries, grammars, subject-specific references, lexicons and style
guides, and, to transcribe their work, stylus and clay, pen and ink, papyrus
then paper, manual then machine stenography, typewriters. Later,
electricity and audio technology would make recording and transcription
tools available. These tools increased efficiency and volume, and no doubt
lowered costs. They also had a significant impact on what languages could
be translated.
What training a translator received came in the form of apprenticeship,
informal at first, then more formally within the framework of guilds and
association. Indeed, the very fact that translators first sought formal
training within guilds suggests that translation, at least initially, shared a
stronger kinship with traditional crafts than with the arts or sciences
faculties of the universities.
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Translation finally did make the leap, albeit a slow and gradual leap, from a
craft to an art when universities began teaching translation-specific
curriculum. By the 1970s, universities taught translation as a sort of
auxiliary discipline within established academic departments such as
modern languages, comparative literature and linguistics. As a result, the
study of translation became conflated with the study of literature, i.e.,
texts used to teach translation tended to be literary despite the fact that
the vast majority of texts have always been and will continue to be of a
technical nature.
As translation curriculum matured, questions of prerequisites, course
content and competency evaluation were debated. In addition, academic
discussions focused on whether translation studies should be a full-blown
undergraduate degree requiring four or five years of study, whether the
discipline should continue to be taught as a specialization embedded
within more traditional disciplines like comparative literature or modern
languages, or whether it should be a light-weight one- or two-year degree
that would complement practically any discipline. Today translation studies
have gained hard-won respectability as a distinct discipline still firmly
rooted in arts faculties. No global consensus about the length or content of
translation programs, however, has emerged.
The translator’s toolbox didn’t really evolve much until the advent of the
PC and low-cost, high-speed Internet. Except for integrating transcription
and recording technology, and despite well-funded and vigorous research
projects devoted to developing the elusive “translation machine” we find
translators functioning much as they had for centuries until almost the end
of the 20th century. In the 90s, however, as more and more translation
companies began adopting CAT tools, these tools became a hot topic in
debates about course content.
Another topic, again related to market realities, also emerged: the
translator’s role in production models that integrated translation into
increasingly complex, increasingly industrialized processes the most talked-
about being localization. As the world prepared for the new millennium, a
globalized scramble commenced to re-think translator curricula as well as
to re-position graduates for the brave new world of translation. Thus began
what I call the “one brief shining moment” moment for translators and
translation.
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One Brief Shining Moment
As the millennium dawned, globalization was in full swing. Multinationals
flourished; a new international non-governmental organization “without
borders” was born daily. Both multinationals and INGOs advanced their
objectives through multilingual web sites and that was only the tip of the
communications iceberg.
Globalization took a hit when the tech bubble burst in 2000 and yet
another on September 11, 2001. After 2001, national governments began
taking a serious look at, then acting on cultural and linguistic diversity.
Diversity caught on in the private sector, too, as companies who never
envisioned straying far from home discovered the wonders of cultural-
linguistic market segmentation. In the book The World is Flat, author
Thomas Friedman fairly vibrates with wonder as he writes,
A computer tracks how many pallets each employee is plucking every hour
to put onto trucks for different stores, and a computerized voice tells each
of them whether he is ahead of schedule or behind schedule. ―You can
choose whether you want your computer voice to be a man or a woman,
and you can choose English or Spanish,‖ explained Rollin Ford, Wal-
Mart’s executive vice president, who oversees the supply chain and was
giving me a tour.4
Never before had there been such a demand for translation and
predictions were that demand would continue to rise at a phenomenal rate
for the foreseeable future. Pundits appeared. Specialized journals, surveys
and reports flourished, and confabs were organized in chic hotels in world-
class destinations. Norms and standards were hammered out and
globalized. Worries about the critical lack of qualified translators surfaced.
Orthodox economic theory would predict that there was gold in them thar
hills.
Heady times for translators and translation. A debate over the role for
translators in the modern workplace ensued. Some architects of translation
curriculum hewed to a conservative position. Translators are professionals;
professional translators translate. Teaching translators the use of
computer-assisted translation tools is a waste of precious time akin to
teaching architects the finer points of hammers. And, lest we forget,
architects don’t actually use hammers.
4 Friedman, Thomas L., The World is Flat (©2005, Farrar, Straus, Giroux), pages 133-134
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Others imagined an expanded role for translators in what were, after all
and despite the integration of CAT tools, translation-centric processes. This
school of thought produced the profile of the über-translator:
[A] profile emerges for that particular species of translators: that of the
―ultimate translator‖ in terms of domain specialisation, writing and
rewriting skills, control of ergonomics, quality management abilities,
project management skills, project team management know-how, and
naturally enough, mastery of anything that has to do with computer
science, computer technologies and computer assisted whatnots.5
A third opinion weighed in unofficially, perceived variously as a deafening
silence or a smug indifference evidenced by the unpronounceable
encodings assigned to the new processes (l10n, i18n, g11n), since it came
from the ranks of the computer geeks. Had they been aware of the debate
raging among translators, the IT contingent might have found it amusing
given the obvious, obvious to them anyway, IT-centricity of localization,
internationalization and enterprise-level globalization.
A fourth and ultimately more realistic point of view might be described as
PMs LOL (translation: project managers laughing out loud).
Life Is What Happens ...
... while you’re busy making plans.” – John Lennon
In the wake of all this fomentation, new-fangled programs in translation
studies have come; some have come and gone. New tools content has
found its way into translation course curricula. Labs have been built; some
have been built and then neglected or even abandoned. And the debate
about the new and improved future for translators has quietened to a dull
roar as university translation schools settle down to the business of
producing (ideally instantly) productive graduates for the still growing
language industry.
With a significant boost from globalized markets, together industrialization
and commoditization of translation and other knowledge fields have
turned orthodox economic theory on its head. Lower supply and high
demand has not meant higher wages and more respect for translators and
translation.
5 Gouadec, Daniel, “Le baggage spécifique du localiseur/localisateur : Le vrai « nouveau
profil » requis,” (META, vol. 48, no. 4, © 2003 Les presses universitaires de l’Université de Montréal), page 526.
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Armed with new IT tools, processes and standards, translators—the vast
majority freelance, unschooled and unaffiliated with any professional
organization—and translation have become another link in a complex
production chain with a global shop floor. Hundreds of thousands of
translators (if you can believe the brag) regularly haggle for contracts in on-
line reverse auctions, contracts awarded on the basis of cost and speed-of-
work, contracts that must pay for all the social benefits—insurance,
training, vacations, sick days—traditionally assumed by employers.
Professional translators, the minority with diplomas and sterling
credentials, might scoff at those reduced to such strategies. They do so at
their peril for the sheer numbers of translators working under disturbingly
sweatshop-like conditions cannot but have a depressive effect on all
translators.
The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from
age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different. —
Aldous Huxley
Historical parallels, as seductive as they are, have their limits. Indeed, the
Luddites of the 19th century and translators in the 21st century are
completely different in some very important ways.
First, the original Luddites enjoyed an advantage that their contemporary
translators do not: geographical proximity that promoted a sense of
community impossible in the virtual world. Translators and many other
knowledge workers, telecommute or work freelance from home offices.
What on the face of it might seem like independence can, in reality, be
experienced as profound isolation as they battle an inchoate but
oppressive sense of helplessness in the face of faceless forces. The
“inevitability of technological progress”6 coupled with daily news and
rumors of aggressive outsourcing and off-shoring only exacerbates an
increasingly profound sense of insecurity.
In the 19th century, as weavers and other artisans left their cottages to
work in the mills, guilds and associations evolved to become powerful
unions built on Marxist notions of class struggle. While it’s hard to dismiss
the importance of unions to workers as a counterbalance to the profit-
driven power of the employers, traditional unions rooted in the concerns
of the manufacturing sector have lost much of their power and many see
them as a soon-to-be-extinct relic of the 20th century, an institution that
6 Saul, op. cit.
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has lost all relevance. Without the counterbalance of unions, however,
profit-driven power continues to grow. Unlike the mill workers, translators
and other knowledge workers, once lumped into the “white collar”
category (a designation that has become almost meaningless), don’t
benefit from powerful unions with their interests at heart, interests that
might not always be the same as their employers and clients.
Taking into consideration history and its limits, the “crisis” as I see it is the
on-going race between professionalism and industrialization. And, in my
opinion, it’s a dead heat.
While the growth of professional associations, the re-thinking of
professional orders and standards’ initiatives are a step in the right
direction, larger, more inclusive, more active and more vocal professional
organizations—so that they are heard above the deadening din of the
bean-counters and technocrats—might give professionalism an edge. If
industrialization wins out, translators will indeed go the way of the
weavers. A tiny number might survive providing services to haut couture
boutiques. The rest will be confined to long hours, lousy conditions and
poverty wages on a virtual assembly line without borders that is until the
demand for quality dips so low that machine translation becomes an
attractive, translator-free alternative.
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About the author
A freelance writer and public speaker specializing in language matters, Nancy A. Locke draws on twelve years experience in the language industry as a desktop publisher, translator and reviser. An instructor at Université de Montréal, and director of the localization certificate program (2003 to 2004), she teaches courses on language and globalization, and the professional environment to translators. A regular contributor to Multilingual, her work has also appeared in The Globe and Mail (a national Canadian daily), The Chronicle (ATA), Intercom (STC), Localisation Focus and tcworld. Ms. Locke has also been invited to speak as an expert on language matters at a wide range of conferences in Canada, the United States and Argentina including Localization World, American Translators Association (general conference and translation company division), Society for Technical Communications, Usability Professionals Association, UAWriters, Association de l’industrie de la langue/Language Industry Association (Canada), IMTT (Argentina).
Contact nancy_locke@sympatico.ca
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The Language Industry in Crisis?
Translators’ Agency in Production Networks
Kristiina Abdallah
University of Tampere
Abstract
Economic globalisation with its ensuing crises, including the degradation
of work, has not spared the translation industry, where production
networks have been identified as the prevailing working environment.
Production networks consist of inter-firm relationships that bind a group
of firms of different sizes, including micro entrepreneurs, into larger
economic units. A typical, although simplified, case in the translation
industry consists of a client company needing translation services, a
translation company providing such services, and a translator, either
inhouse, freelancer or subcontractor, doing the actual translating.
(Abdallah and Koskinen 2007: 674-675.)
This paper approaches translators' agency through their own experiences
in production networks. I want to find out how translators are able to
perform their work in this economic configuration, and more importantly,
what is translators' ability to act for the primary principal, the end-user of
translations. In looking for answers to these questions, I will draw from my
interview data that includes in-depth interviews conducted during 2005-
2009 with eight Finnish translators, who, at the start of the interview
process, worked for various translation companies, either as
subcontractors (3), freelancers (1), or in-house translators (4). Purposeful
sampling method has been used to select interviewees for this in-depth
study (see Patton 2001).
The theoretical framework relied on in the analysis of the translator
experiences is agency theory. Agency theory deals with cooperation in
principal-agent relationships, which can be detected anywhere where
someone works or acts on someone else's behalf. (Eisenhardt 1989: 58).
When the interview data is analysed within the framework of agency
theory, goal-conflicts, including moral hazard and asymmetry of
commitment, are revealed between principals and agents in translation
production networks.
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This paper is based on an article that is in press at the moment. It is also
part of my forthcoming PhD thesis Translation Quality in Production
Networks. From Conflict to Cooperation. Translators are a typical muted
group. By focusing on translators’ experiences, the aim of this research is
to give voice to the otherwise “silent and invisible” translators (Simeoni
1998: 12) and to find out what factors their agency and power depend on.
By telling you about this ongoing research, I also hope to answer the
question whether the translation industry is in crisis or not.
I will first define some of the most important concepts that I use here.
Concepts
Agency = the ability to act for oneself, the
ability to act as an agent for the Primary
Principal, i.e. the end-user of translations
Production network = inter-firm relationships
that bind a group of firms of different sizes,
including micro entrepreneurs, into larger
economic units
Moral hazard opportunism= purposeful self-
interested behaviour
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Example of a translation production
network
Production networks have been identified as the prevailing working
environment in present-day translation industry. The salient point is that
these vertically organised and therefore highly hierarchical and
undemocratic production networks consist of multiple actors whose roles
and performances are defined in interaction. In this economic
configuration, subcontracting translators are at the outskirts of the
network and its central hubs.
Research data and research question
In-depth translator interviews with 8 Finnish
translators 2005-2009 (3 subcontractors, 1
freelancer, 4 in-house translators in translation
companies)
How do the translators perceive their agency in
production networks? How are they able to act
for the end-user of translations, the Primary
Principal?
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I have used agency theory in analysing the translator interviews. Agency
theory originates from information economics and it deals with principal-
agent relationships, which can be discovered anywhere where someone
works or acts on someone else’s behalf (Eisenhardt 1989: 58; Kivistö 2007:
11).
Agency theory
focus: economic cooperation in principal-agent (P-A)
relationships which can be discovered anywhere where
someone works or acts on someone else’s behalf
consider: the roles of incentives, interests and
information
assume: self-interest, opportunism and goal conflicts
explain: the consequences of delegating authority
beware: moral hazard/hidden action
(Eisenhardt 1989; Kivistö 2007)
Agency theory explains the consequences of delegating authority and it can
be used to analyse cooperation from an economic point of view in
principal-agent relationships. It forces us to consider the role of incentives,
interests and information in organisational thinking, as it assumes that
much of organisational life is, at least to some extent, based on people’s
self-interest, opportunism and goal conflicts. It has been said that agency
theory arises from mistrust, control, and compliance, as it assumes that
once principals delegate authority to agents, they cannot simply trust the
latter but need not only economic incentives but also certain instruments
to monitor their agents’ actions. Korten discusses the importance of
complete information in market theory, emphasising that information
should be freely available to all. This would require, then, that when buyers
and sellers, or principals and agents, enter into business relationships and
sign contracts, they should be fully aware of the attributes and the quality
of the goods or services in question. Agency theory, however, takes a
different baseline from market theory by admitting that there is
asymmetric information and uncertainty in most business relationships.
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This being the case, opportunistic action tends to occur, leading to moral
hazard. Moral hazard may arise in situations where the principal cannot
monitor the agent’s actions and where the self-interested agent pursues
his private goals at the expense of the principal’s goals. Furthermore,
agency theory assumes that when it is difficult for the principal to observe
the agent’s actions, the agent tends to produce poor quality or exercise too
little effort in the work required.
The four principal-agent dyads in
Production Networks
Abdallah (in press): Translators’ Agency in Production Networks
The translation production network can be seen to consist of at least four
different dyads as depicted in the figure underneath. Dyad 1: the
relationship of the primary principal (PP) - the end user of the translation-
and the client company as the agent (A). Dyad 2: the relationship of the
client company as the intermediary principal (IP) and the translation
company as the agent (A). Dyad 3: the relationship of the translation
company as the intermediary principal (IP) and the translator as the agent
(A). Dyad 4: the relationship of the primary principal (PP) and the translator
as the agent (A). Translators do not only feel responsibility towards the
party paying for their work, but by way of their professional ethics, they
also feel that the Primary Principal has delegated authority to them to
represent their interests in production networks. In this model the end
user of translations, always holds the role of a principal: he/she is the
primary principal (PP) for all the other actors. This is the case even though
there is no explicit contract to that effect. Here, it is useful to note that
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although contracts are a central element in agency theory, they do not
need to be written and signed but can be metaphoric as well. In other
words, even if the contract is implicit, it is, nevertheless, ethically binding
and ties all parties to it. No economic actor can deny the fact that
consumers and buyers do have their rights in the marketplace, and these
rights include the right to have true information about the products and
services. The end-user always has the role of a principal, the translator
always holds the role of an agent; the translator is agent to two principals,
the reader and the translation company. The client company and the
translation company, however, have dual roles; they either have the role of
an intermediary principal or an agent, depending from whose point of view
we are approaching their role in the production network. Dual roles, as we
know, can lead to conflicts of interest between the two roles, i. e.
opportunism.
Agency as perceived by the translators
8/8 networks -> asymmetric
information (”The translator
does not know whether the
gadget in question is room-
size or palm-size.”)
6/8 no contact with the
major client, 2/8 sometimes
have contact
5/8 conflicts of quality
(”Quality has gone down the
tube”) -> ethical stress
4/8 powerlessness at work
(”No one listens to the
translators.”)
7/8 salaries and fees are low
5/8 translator status is low
Second round of interviews:
4/8 had left the translation
industry!
Information does not flow freely in production networks. As we saw from
the previous figure, the translator enters the economic configuration only
in the third dyad as the agent, and, as to the accessibility of information,
this position is by definition structurally unfavourable because of the
general principles of scale-free, and therefore highly undemocratic,
networks. But it is not only the structure of such economic networks that
impedes the flow of information but also the fact that the translator has to
serve two masters, which makes their work difficult, particularly if these
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masters, or principals, have conflicting interests. The salient question here
is whether the translator is able to perform his/her work properly in this
economic configuration. As agency theory gloomily points out,
opportunistic, i.e. self-interested and unscrupulous, behaviour is not
uncommon in principal-agent relationships, and ethical dilemmas and an
agent’s opportunism leads to moral hazard. Putnam has pointed out that in
vertical patron-client, such as in principal-agent, relationships opportunism
manifests itself on the part of the patron, or principal, as exploitation and
on the part of the client, or agent, as shirking. Conflicts of quality arise in
this data when the translator as the agent tries to satisfy the unaligned
demands of the two principals, the reader and the translation company.
Being in between a rock and a hard place causes translators much
consternation, in some cases even ethical stress. This stress is due to the
fact that the translators would like to do their work well, i.e. to act in the
best interests of the primary principal by fulfilling the requirements of their
professional ethics, but they do not receive support from the intermediary
principals in this task.
Conclusion: there is a crisis
Asymmetric information -> restricted agency
Opportunistic, self-interested behaviour -> ethical
dilemmas, moral hazard -> double moral hazard
Lowering of the quality of the products/services
produced in the network (market for lemons!)
Principals and agents in the various dyads define quality
using different criteria -> their goals regarding quality
are in conflict with each other
Based on my interview data, there are delegation failures between
principals and agents in translation production networks, such as
informational asymmetries and goal-conflicts, and these conditions, in
some cases, give rise to moral hazard and asymmetry of commitment. As
long as the translator compensates for the inadequate working conditions
provided by the intermediary principals by putting in extra effort into
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his/her task, there is a case of moral hazard in the production network.
However, if and when the translator succumbs to the demands of the
intermediary principals (faster, cheaper), moral hazard turns into double,
even triple, moral hazard, resulting in the client company, the translation
company, and the translator collaborating to cheat the primary principal by
producing poor quality services/products. The conclusion of the analysis is
that translators’ agency and ability to act in the interests of the primary
principal is presently highly restricted in translation production networks. It
is therefore important to start looking for ways to solve moral hazard
problems by creating incentives that prevent quality cheating. And this
concerns all the three agents.
Thank you! kristiina.abdallah@uta.fi
© Tähdenlennon siilit
www.tahdenlennon.com/index_yleistietoa
.htm
© Careers at Sea org:
http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/images/merchant-
navy2.jpg&imgrefurl
One solution could be the development of a quality classification system
that coordinates the unaligned definitions of quality in the various
principal-agent dyads. Creating such an information system can be
considered an investment in trust formation in translation production
networks, where lack of trust is currently widespread. Promoting
translators’ ability to participate as legitimate experts in translation
production networks is an integral part of sustainable development in the
translation industry and this should be in the interests of all the parties in
these dyads. So, lets solve the crisis in the industry and work together.
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About the author
Kristiina Abdallah, MA, is a graduate from the School of Modern Languages
and Translation Studies at the University of Tampere, Finland. She works as
Assistant at the Department of Translation Studies, and is currently
pursuing her post-graduate studies, specialising in translation quality and
translators' agency in production networks.
Kristiina has worked as a freelance translator and subtitler as well as a
technical writer. She has held several posts at the Department of
Translation Studies, including those of a researcher, coordinator, and
lecturer at the Technical Communications Programme.
Contact
kristiina.abdallah@uta.fi
References
Abdallah, Kristiina and Koskinen, Kaisa (2007): “Managing Trust: Translating and the Network Economy.” In Héléne Buzelin and Debbie Folaron (eds) Meta: Translation and Network Studies, 52(4), 673-687.
Abdallah, Kristiina (in press): ”Translators’ Agency in Production Networks.” In Koskinen, Kaisa and Kinnunen, Tuija (eds.) Translators’ Agency. Tampere Studies in Language, Translation and Culture, Sarja B. URL: http://tampub.uta.fi/sarja.php?Sarja_Id=9
Eisenhardt, Kathleen (1989): “Agency theory: An assessment and review.” Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 57-74.
Kivistö, Jussi (2007): Agency Theory as a Framework for the Government-University Relationship. Academic dissertation. Faculty of Economics and Administration, Department of Management Studies, Tampere: University of Tampere.
Korten, David C. (1999): The Post-Corporate World : Life after Capitalism. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Putnam, Robert D. (1994): Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, Princeton University Press.
Sturgeon, Timothy J. (2001): “How Do We Define Value Chains and Production Networks?” IDS Bulletin, 32( 3), 1–10. URL: www.ids.ac.uk/ids/global/pdfs/vcdefine.pdf. Accessed 1.3.2005.
The World in Crisis – And the Language Industry?
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Community, collaborative, social.
Will the language industry survive crowdsourcing?
Luigi Muzii
Università degli Studi "S. Pio V"
Abstract
In a report of December 2007, Renato Beninatto and Don DePalma of
Common Sense Advisory envisaged "The End of Localization Taylorism
and the Beginning of Postmodern Translation".
The economic crisis and the consequent turmoil affected the language
service industry too. Translation has traditionally been viewed as a craft,
now it's time to shift to a different approach where highly skilled
individuals are no longer enough to perform increasingly composite jobs.
Translation is a business and should finally be considered as such.
Translators must speak money and tune their business on their clients'
business.
Translation is increasingly bound to money, time, and accuracy.
Contents increase in volume, volatility and complexity, and many a
company invest in machine translation to meet this growth.
To keep pace with the changing situation, the translation process must be
rearranged. Agile should become the new buzzword of the industry.
Not only are highly skilled individuals no longer enough, technology is no
longer enough. A combination of the two with a new process model could
be one answer.
The new process model will be based on real-time collaboration: the whole
cast concurrently work on a project. The model is inspired to the scrum
iterative incremental framework, a holistic approach to increase speed and
flexibility in software development. Scrum enables the creation of self-
organizing teams by encouraging co-location of all team members, and
verbal communication across all team members and disciplines that are
involved in the project.
In the collaborative translation model, projects revolve around
communities that come together for each project. It is a distributed model
based on the concept of "participation" as the defining feature. Wikinomics
will eventually change also the language service industry, and the problem
is in transition: crowdsourcing will prevail; is it convenient to hamper the
power of the crowds?
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We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when
we created them.
Albert Einstein
Despite the unchanged and even increasing demand for translation, the
economic crisis and the consequent turmoil have spread their effects on
the language service industry too with lower and lower pays and worse
conditions, and a deep change is approaching.
The approach to crises is usually of two kinds, conservative or innovative.
The conservative approach is typical of the language services industry,
where any change is seen as a major change. Companies resorting to the
conservative approach to face crises usually go for cutting costs. Since
reducing staff is impractical in an industry almost entirely based on
outsourcing and freelancing, cutting costs is pursued through lowering pays
and using but not investing in technology. Unfortunately, as a recent
Common Sense Advisory report showed, the translation industry is
generally a low-tech industry where do more with less is an imperative that
very few can follow.
The innovative approach to crises relies on products. However, since very
small product innovation is possible in a century-old activity, this could
happen only with the so-called value-added services. This could explain in
part why many still look at translation as a cost, and the consequent
competition on prices. Therefore, only process innovation can be effective,
but for process innovation standards and interchange are needed to build
productive solutions. Developing standards, however, is not enough per se;
standards should be used, and industry fragmentation retards or even
impedes the adoption of standards.
Again, technology is used to make process simpler, lean, and parallel, while
being open, easy, lean, agile is the only way to face the new translation
industry mantra of “cheaper, faster, and better”. Doing more with less
costs more, and technology is not enough; technology can help increase
volume and speed, but it is almost useless to streamline processes.
Processes pivot on people, and there are not enough good people in
translation.
The demand for translation is increasing; content is doubling every year,
while the number of translators can’t follow the same growth rate: it takes
many years to create a professional translator. The only way to approach
this growth in content is by increasing translators’ productivity, but
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education and training play different roles in building a translator’s profile,
and language skills and domain-specific knowledge should be kept separate
from productivity skills.
In fact, technology alone can produce only poor quality increase or no
increase at all, and customer satisfaction decreases, together with industry
reputation.
Translation has traditionally been viewed as a craft, now it’s time to shift to
a different approach where highly skilled individuals are no longer enough
to perform increasingly composite jobs.
Translation is a business and should finally be considered as such.
Translators must speak money and tune their business on their clients’
business.
Translation is increasingly bound to money and time, while quality has also
definitely lost the meaning it has had for long in translation studies.
Quality is doing it right the first time. This means having efficient processes
in place and first-class people at work, as everyone could translate but few
can do it right.
To keep pace with the changing situation, the translation process must be
rearranged. As it was for the software industry a few years ago, “agile”
should become the new buzzword of the translation industry.
On the contrary, the translation industry is still tied to the axioms of quality
and assets.
Quality is the unique selling proposition of the whole industry, making
offers indistinguishable, whereas, to customers, quality is a prerequisite, a
condition of existence, and is hence totally irrelevant from a sales
perspective, especially the way it is postulated and talked about in the
translation industry, because it is based on the premise that customers can
assess and appreciate it. For quality to be make sense it must be backed up
by proof. No quality exists until it cannot be defined and measured.
The quality axiom goes together with the corollary that fewer translators
produce more consistent output, as if a reader could distinguish some ten
thousand words in a million.
This is used to justify the asset axiom, where assets are glossaries and
translation memories. Assets are supposed to carry some value, but
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glossaries and translation memories not necessarily carry and intrinsic
value, since in this case value comes from their exploitation, and this
depends on the translator’s ability.
Hence, not only are highly skilled individuals no longer enough, technology
too is no longer enough. A close combination of the two with a new
process model could be an answer.
Nevertheless, the main concerns of LSP’s are for the ongoing
commoditization and the demand for more free translation. In the ATA
Chronicle issue of June 2009, ATA President Jiri Stejskal reported the
globalization threats identified by the ATA Board in global outsourcing,
crowdsourcing, the economic downturn, certification by other entities,
machine translation, the increased competition for revenue streams, the
international expansion, and licensure.
Vendor management is the largest cost budget item, and could be huge for
companies with hundreds or thousands vendors. Vendor management
requires dedicated technology and staff, and involves delicate tasks like
quality assessment. To keep healthy relationships with vendors, several
vendor managers could be necessary to rotate.
Few concepts in business have been as popular and appealing in recent
years as the emerging discipline of “open innovation.” It is variously
described as crowdsourcing, the wisdom of crowds, collective intelligence
and peer production.
Low cost electronic communication enabled by the Internet now makes it
feasible for crowds to do many more things than ever before. Peer
production models leverage the connected-but-distributed nature of the
internet to bring broad human resources to bear on specific tasks or
problems. Wikipedia stands as the flagship example of this.
Collective intelligence can be defined very broadly as groups of individuals
doing things collectively that seem intelligent. By this definition, collective
intelligence has existed for a very long time, even in the translation
industry.
However, recent cases and research of the Center for Collective
Intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggest that
open-innovation models succeed only when carefully designed for a
particular task, and when incentives are tailored to attract the most
effective collaborators.
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The reasons for crowdsourcing are reaching totally new markets, better
serving markets that are currently under-served, and increasing the value
of global brands by further engaging users as a competitive strategy, as for
the Facebook translation model.
This compelling engagement strategy requires the entire user experience
to be in the user’s language. This is the reason for translation
crowdsourcing, and the reason for Facebook, for example, to be available
in almost 100 languages. Yet, its help is available in less than 10: according
to Facebook itself, if chunks to be translated by the crowd are bigger than
two lines there are no takers.
The typical practice in translation has been the same for centuries. The
appearance of commercial translation approximately a hundred years ago
gave birth to the industry as we now know it.
The translation industry has always been almost entirely based on
outsourcing and freelancing, and vendors are the necessary link between
customers and translators.
Similarly, fragmentation has always been a typical trait, with vendors
duplicating the same tasks at each stage before reaching the last link in the
production chain, in a top-down serial process, going backwards when the
translation is ready.
Consequently, the TEP (Translation, Editing, and Proofreading) model has
been central to the translation workflow: a translator does the job,
somebody else (possibly another translator) reviews the job, and then a
final check must be performed to have quality.
In a post of 16 October 2007 for Common Sense Advisory’s blog Global
Watchtower, Renato Beninatto and Don DePalma envisaged “The End of
Localization Taylorism”.
TEP is connected to the standard, axiomatic, view of quality.
The translation industry developed the concept with the idea that every
translation is worked on and looked at by three different sets of eyes, even
though smaller translation teams might not have or afford such a plenty of
resources.
As a matter of fact, the traditional translation process does not work well
for every type of project, and yet, even in the translation industry, fordism
has prevailed: any effort is committed to make everybody do the same, not
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necessarily the best job. The best job is meeting the client’s expectations —
which include timely delivery and fair price — while making a profit.
The TEP philosophy is based on the idea that quality comes from catching
errors. The reviewer’s job is to catch errors that the translator (supposedly)
made, and the proofreader’s job is to catch errors that the editor didn’t
see. The problem with this process is consecutiveness; it is a chain/serial
process, while in a parallel process quality can be improved by adding
actions.
Excellent translators know how to prevent errors using a style guide and a
glossary rather than just catch them once asked to review a translation.
Excellent translators need no reviewers, they need knowledgeable support.
Translation crowdsourcing is simply a different way of selecting, collecting,
and connecting the people to perform the roles in the various stages of the
workflow.
Crowdsourcing is “the new black” these days, but, despite the trend,
companies should be very careful before embracing the model. Few of
them are translation worthy, and there is always the risk of translator
backlash or burnout. It is an unexplored territory, and as more companies
pursue this model, more and more efforts will backfire.
Translation crowdsourcing is not about saving money. In a collaborative
translation project following a typical crowdsourcing approach only the
best translators in the project subject field are engaged, to work on their
most productive side. Translation crowdsourcing is simply faster. Whoever
has worked with contracting services for a specific business knows how
long and painful the process can be. Translation crowdsourcing can bring
results in a fraction of the standard time. Yet, a translation crowdsourcing
platform costs money to put in place. In most cases, the initial investment
is likely to be higher than the cost of one-off professional translation
services, and the ROI needs to be there for the long-term to justify it.
There is possibly a problem with translators when a profitable company
goes for building a community and paying engineers to set up a complex
software infrastructure rather than hiring a translation company for a
cheaper one-off translation project. Maybe translators’ skills are simply not
worth spending, or, once it is up and running, the translation platform can
be expanded to help developers localize their applications, leased, or
opened up to “partner” sites, etc.
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Twitter, for example, has only a thousand or so text strings requiring
translation. In the time the company devoted to building its translation
platform, it could probably have had the site localized in fifty or more
languages. Over time there probably will be cost savings, but they should
not be and probably were not the motivator for Twitter.
The top-down localization model is giving way to the bottom-up model,
and this is a profound change, even if it is limited to a handful of
companies, maybe with a few hundred million users.
The collaborative model makes reviewers no longer necessary. We learned
from translation studies that there could be several “correct” translations.
Why should experienced and skilled translators, possibly assisted by
qualified subject matter experts not be capable of delivering high-quality
translations without the necessity of further improvements by a reviewer?
The typical collaborative translation team is made up of a pool of subject
matter experts and translators led by a project manager to manage the
flow of information among team members.
One of the more time-consuming and unnecessary problems in
communicating with clients is for disagreements on supposedly wrong —
maybe better imperfect — translations. Typically these disagreements
come once the project is finished and often require a lot of effort on both
sides to fix. They do not concern errors, but simply stylistics or other
preferences.
In the collaborative model the whole cast concurrently work on a project.
The model is inspired to the scrum iterative incremental framework, a
holistic approach to increase speed and flexibility in software development.
Scrum enables the creation of self-organizing teams by encouraging co-
location of all team members, and communication across all team
members and disciplines that are involved in the project.
In the collaborative translation model, projects revolve around
communities that come together for each project. It is a distributed model
based on the concept of “participation” as the defining feature.
In a collaborative translation project, the project manager is actually a
“facilitator” whose job is to create a “community” with the translators, a
subject matter expert to answer questions about the topic, all the tools to
run the project, and to assure support to translators where they need help.
A few consultants will also be hired to handle the shared translation
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memories, the term base, develop the style guides, and tune the machine
translation engine.
In a collaborative translation project there is no need for reviewers and
editors that could be disruptive for harmony and confidence in the project
team, while the project “facilitator” and the consultant will do their best to
have translators strictly follow the style guide and glossary.
The collaborative model challenges the traditional, aged TEP approach to
translation and translation quality.
On its website, the U.S. company Mojofiti offers a comparison of
crowdsourcing and machine translation through their pros and cons.
Crowdsourcing is free, with abundance of knowledgeable human
translators, 100% accuracy, and demonstrates openness to the public,
while security measures must be in place, content accuracy reviews are
needed (especially from a cultural perspective), and no full-time recruits
can be staffed. Machine Translation allows for fast time to market, servers
can be used for a variety of applications, and content can be changed ad
lib. On the other hand, it is generally very costly (based on the number of
language pairs and sometimes overall use), and often leaves out cultural
references; in addition, no machine translation service has been able to
promise 100% accurate translations, yet.
Nothing precludes inherently quality, at least as it is conceived in the
translation industry, in a translation crowdsourcing platform, as long as
crowdsourcees are professional translators. The wisdom of the crowd
comes from the cross check of each other’s work.
In fact, crowdsourcing initiatives can be dangerous when cost is volume
based, and since money matters compensation is a critical issue. Bad
money would drive out good. If translators are paid low hiring qualified
professionals will be harder and harder.
Anyway, not only does a collaborative translation platform require
resources, even the management of the platform and the management of
the team members require resources. Any savings should be used to pay
the team members, not only to make profits, and retain professional,
knowledgeable, skilled, and experienced translators.
In general, LSP’s share the same pool of resources, and testing freelancers
is expensive and not reliable. Then, the solution to reduce overhead is
shortening the production chain.
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The next step in translation technology will be collaborative
(crowdsourcing) platforms combining workflow and computer-aided
translation capabilities into one application. Humans can translate text of
any kind, rank the translation for accuracy and provide final edits, all via a
browser from anywhere in the world. Machine translation will capture
translated text and then suggest the translated text when the words or
phrases appear again, reducing the overall time and effort required for
translation. No overhead for administrative activities, no duplication of
work.
Therefore, a new scenario could dawn soon: translators organized in large
pools with a certain amount of work and income guaranteed every month
provided that they check in on a regular basis.
Technology is running fast, even translation technology, although no
winning translation technology has come from the translation industry so
far: all disruptive innovations in translation have come from the outside.
Social networking sites were not the first to resort to crowdsourcing, the
software industry has been crowdsourcing for years.
When translation tools first hit the market, the majority of translators
received them as a threat, crying hysterically at the very poor quality these
tools would surely produce. Almost twenty years later, the scene has not
changed.
As a matter of fact, the hostility of translators led translation tools to meet
the requirements of paying corporate customers, not those of translators.
Should they have embraced the technology from the very beginning, the
landscape would be different now.
In a May 2009 survey, Common Sense Advisory estimates over 20,000
translation service providers, and more than 300,000 individuals earning all
or part of their living in translation business. The survey also showed that
many translation professionals employ less automation than they could
and should. Translators are conservative, so they will be slow to accept
cloud-based computing and the collaborative approach.
Crowdsourcing will greatly depend on the nature of the business. Pro bono
work is usually done for a cause. The “free” translation crowdsourcing
caused an uprising against LinkedIn with most insurgent convincingly
arguing that they would not donate their time and expertise to a business
which will generate revenue out of their free contribution, and that the
LinkedIn call was not fair.
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This does not mean, however, that crowdsourcing is an unethical practice.
The negative international media coverage made LinkedIn cancel the
project altogether more than ATA’s official stance against LinkedIn’s
translation crowdsourcing project — “misguided, troubling, and clearly
incompatible with the operation of a for-profit enterprise.”
Freeconomics is the new frontier in translation industry, at least for having
introduced freemium (a portmanteau of “free” and “premium”) a long time
ago. In fact, test translations are a kind of freemium, like shareware.
Translation is gradually shifting to online economy, and the costs
associated with online economy are trending toward zero at an incredible
rate. The translation industry, and translators first, should rapidly adapt to
freemium, offering basic services for free, while charging a premium for
advanced or special features.
Translation crowdsourcing is here to stay. It will combine rather than
compete with machine translation and professional human translation and
will find its niche.
The collaborative translation model will eventually change also the
language service industry, and the problem is in transition: crowdsourcing
will prevail; is it convenient to hamper the power of the crowds?
In 2006, in suggesting the Edge annual question for the Edge Foundation,
paraphrasing Oscar Wilde7, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker wrote: «the
history of science is replete with discoveries that were considered socially,
morally, or emotionally dangerous in their time».
What is your dangerous idea?
7 An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.
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About the author
Luigi Muzii has been working in the language industry for 27 years as a translator, localizer, technical writer and consultant. He spent 12 years in several departments of a major Italian telecommunications company, and two in a broadcasting service company, then started a consulting firm on his own to act as an information design and delivery consultant. He is visiting professor of terminology and localization at Libera Università degli Studi "S. Pio V" in Rome, the author of a book on technical writing, and of many papers and articles. He has been one of the founders of the Italian association for terminology and of Gruppo L10N.
Contact
muzii@id2.it
References
Beninatto R. & DePalma D., Collaborative Translation, Common Sense Advisory, 2007, ISBN 978-1-933555-48-5 (Pending)
Anderson C., Free: The Future of a Radical Price, Hyperion, 2009, ISBN 978-1401322908
Brockman J., What Is Your Dangerous Idea?: Today's Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable, Harper Perennial, 2007, ISBN 978-0061214950
DePalma D. A. & Sargent B. B., The State of Freelance Translation, Common Sense Advisory, 2009, ISBN 978-1-933555-66-9
Howe J., Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business, Crown Business, 2008, ISBN 0307396207
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Normung für Übersetzungsdienstleister: Qualität ist
schon längst messbar
Manfred Schmitz
Intertext Fremdsprachendienst e.G.
Abstract
Der Autor stellt mehrere Normen für Übersetzungsdienstleister vor und
geht auf die derzeitigen Normungsvorhaben auf internationaler Ebene ein,
die einen deutlichen Trend zur konkreten Messbarkeit der Qualität von
Übersetzungen erkennen lassen. Ferner werden einige Überlegungen zum
Stand der Arbeit mit der europäischen Norm EN 15038, auch unter dem
Aspekt der Überwindung der (vermeintlichen) Auswirkungen der
gegenwärtigen wirtschaftlichen Krise auf die Übersetzungsbranche,
angestellt.
Vorgestern hörte ich auf Klassik-Radio ein Sibelius-Zitat, über das ich sehr
schmunzeln musste: „Über Musik kann man gut mit Bankdirektoren
sprechen, während Künstler nur über Geld reden.“ Wenn ich an
Stammtischen mit Übersetzern konversiere, dann geht es tatsächlich meist
über Honorare, das Unverständnis der Kunden und über die schlechten
Übersetzungen von Konkurrenten. Und wenn wir dann auf
Qualitätskriterien zu sprechen kommen, winken die meisten ab mit der
Bemerkung, Qualität sei weitgehend subjektiv. In der Tat habe ich mich als
Revisor/Kontrolleur von Übersetzungen oft gefragt, ob meine Änderung
objektiv begründbar ist oder ob ich dem Übersetzer nur mein persönliches
Sprachempfinden aufdrücken will.
Ja, die Qualität von übersetzten Texten basiert sowohl auf objektiven als
auch auf subjektiven Kriterien. Objektiv messbar ist etwa, ob Syntax,
Grammatik, Interpunktion und Orthografie korrekt sind. Auch die
branchenadäquate oder firmenspezifische fachliche Richtigkeit und die
Wahl der Terminologie fallen darunter. Diese objektiven Kriterien müssen
von einem Übersetzungsdienstleister garantiert werden und sind auch
wissenschaftlich belegbar.
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Anders bei der subjektiven Komponente, die gemeinhin als Stil bezeichnet
wird. Jeder Text wird in dieser Hinsicht von den einzelnen Lesern anders
beurteilt. In der Übersetzungspraxis bedeutet dies, dass dem Übersetzer
ein relativ großer Handlungsspielraum offen steht, auf der anderen Seite
aber für den Auftraggeber eine genauso große Spanne bei der qualitativen
Beurteilung eines übertragenen Textes.
Uns soll es hier um Normen für Übersetzungsdienstleister gehen, und zur
qualitativ hochwertigen Übersetzungsdienstleistung noch andere objektive
Kriterien als die oben Genannten. Hier – und bei unserer neuesten Norm –
geht es auch und vor allem um Servicequalität, um messbare
Servicequalität. Ob eine Arbeit termingerecht ausgeführt wurde, kann
zweifelsfrei festgestellt werden; ob die Daten so beim Kunden eintreffen,
wie es vereinbart worden war, ebenso. Wird technologische Unterstützung
(z. B. Translation Memory Systeme) angeboten, so ist dies ebenso ein
Qualitätsfaktor wie einfache, klar strukturierte, nachvollziehbare Abläufe,
ein effizientes Projektmanagement, ein Feedback und eine (messbare)
Kundenzufriedenheit.
Wenn im Titel meines Vortrags von Normen für Übersetzungsdienstleister
die Rede ist, dann will ich zunächst mehrere Normen, die ebenfalls unsere
Berufsausübung betreffen, ausschließen:
Terminologie und Terminologiearbeit (zu den jüngsten zählen ISO
1951 „Darstellung/Repräsentation von Einträgen in Wörterbüchern“
Austauschformate. Dazu gehört beispielsweise das OASIS XML
Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF)
Umschrift und Transliteration (ISO 15924 Information und
Dokumentation – Codes für Schriftennamen)
Uns soll es hier vielmehr um Übersetzungsqualität und Messverfahren für
die Übersetzungsqualität gehen. Einschlägig sind hier:
Aus dem Jahr 2004 der ATA Framework for standard error marking
Aus dem Jahr 2005 das LISA Quality Assurance Model
Aus demselben Jahr die amerikanische Norm SAE J2450 Translation
Quality Metric
Aus dem Jahr 2007 der ASTM-Standard F2575-06 Standard Guide
for Quality Assurance in Translation
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Und natürlich aus dem Jahr 2006 unsere eigene, europäische Norm
DIN EN 15038 Übersetzungsdienstleistungen –
Dienstleistungsanforderungen
Drei dieser Normen bieten eine Metrik (die Zeiten, da Übersetzer
behaupteten, Übersetzungsqualität sei nicht messbar, dürften sich dem
Ende zuneigen):
Der ATA Framework wird zur Beurteilung der Qualität von Übersetzungen
im Rahmen des Akkreditierungsverfahrens der ATA sowie vor allem auch
an Übersetzer ausbildenden Universitäten der USA zur Bewertung
studentischer Übersetzungen angewendet; zu den aufgeführten
Fehlerkategorien gehören: Auslassungen, Unverständlichkeit, falsches
Verstehen des Ausgangstextes, Terminologie, Register, zu frei – zu wörtlich,
Grammatik, Syntax, Rechtschreibung und Interpunktion, Idiomatik, Stil und
andere.
Das LISA QA Model misst die Qualität von Lokalisierungsprojekten; aus dem
Screenshot geht hervor, welche Fehlerkategorien aufgenommen wurden
und welche Wichtung die festgestellten Fehler besitzen:
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Die von einer Taskforce, bestehend aus Vertretern von General Motors,
Ford, Chrysler und Zulieferern, entwickelte amerikanische Norm SAE J2450
schränkt den Anwendungsbereich ein, nämlich auf Übersetzungen von
Service-Informationen auf dem Gebiet der Automobilindustrie: Translation
Quality Metric for Language Translation of Service Information.
Sie geht von 8 Haupt-Fehlerkategorien aus, die definiert und gewichtet
werden, und nach der Feststellung eines Fehlers wird dieser entweder als
serious oder als minor bewertet (im Zweifelsfall als serious) und mit einem
Punktwert versehen. Die addierte Punktzahl wird durch die Anzahl der
Wörter des Ausgangstextes geteilt, und bei einem Wert von 99 % und
höher gilt die Übersetzung als angenommen.
Hier eine Zusammenfassung der Qualitätsmetrik:
SAE J2450 TRANSLATION QUALITY METRIC SUMMARY
BACKGROUND Originally designed for the automotive/aerospace industry, SAE J2450 is a metric for measuring translation quality. It provides a system for classifying and weighing translation errors and thus calculates a score for translation quality.
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PRIMARY ERROR CATEGORIES The metric provides the following eight primary error categories:
Wrong Term (WT) weight: 5/2.5
A term is defined as any single word or multi-word phrase used as a single lexical unit, incl. abbreviations, acronyms, numbers, numerals, and proper names.
A term is wrong when it:
a) violates a glossary
b) violates standard language or industry usage
c) is inconsistent with other translations of the same source term
d) denotes a concept different from the concept denoted by the source term
Syntactic Error (SE) weight: 3/1.5
Cases of syntactic errors:
a) mis-assigned part of speech
b) incorrect phrase structure
c) incorrect word order
Omission (OM) Addition (AD) weight: 3/1.5
An Omission occurs when text or a graphic in the source has no counterpart in the translation, or vice-versa (Addition).
Word Structure & Agreement Error (SA) weight: 3/1.5
A Word Structure Error occurs when an otherwise correct target word or term is expressed in an incorrect morphological form (case, gender, number, tense, prefix, suffix, infix, etc.). An Agreement Error occurs when two or more target words disagree in any form of inflection.
Misspelling (SP)
weight: 1.5/.75
Punctuation Error (PE)
weight: 1.5/.75
Miscellaneous Error (ME) weight: 1.5/.75
ME’s are linguistic error related to the target language which are not clearly attributable to one of the above seven categories.
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SECONDARY CATEGORIES Once an error has been placed in one of the primary categories, it is assigned a secondary category: Serious or Minor. An error must be classified as serious if it can directly or indirectly result in any of the following:
harm to the user, operator, patient, or consumer
damage to the product or to the equipment used in
conjunction with the product
serious misrepresentation of the author’s intentions
or the client’s products or services
damage to the client’s reputation
NOTE: If in doubt, always choose ‘Serious’ over
‘Minor’.
NUMERIC WEIGHT Once primary and secondary categories are assigned, a numeric weight is assigned to the error according to the values indicated above (serious/minor).
SCORING Quality score is obtained by adding up all numeric weights and dividing by the number of source words. A score of 99% or higher is considered passing.
Den ASTM-Standard F2575-06 hat Terry Oliver bereits erwähnt. Er ist keine
Norm im eigentlichen Sinne, sondern eher so etwas wie eine
Rahmenrichtlinie, die Übersetzern und Agenturen als Referenzdokument
beim Abschluss von Vereinbarungen mit Kunden sowie zwischen
Agenturen und Übersetzern über ein Übersetzungsprojekt dienen soll. Sie
beschreibt die notwendigen Verfahren zur Erreichung der gewünschten
Qualität. Nur zur Illustrierung, hier eine überblickshafte Grafik, die dem
Standard entnommen ist und die seinen Umfang und Inhalt beschreibt:
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Der Standard enthält auch eine Liste von Parametern, die zu beachten sind,
bevor mit der Übersetzung begonnen wird.
Er enthält im Unterschied zu den vorgenannten Normen keine Metrik.
Dem ASTM Standard Guide und die Norm EN 15038 ergänzen einander in
gewisser Weise. Während EN 15038 das Qualitätssicherungssystem
beschreibt und einen Rahmen für das Übersetzungsmanagement vorgibt
und ein Referenzwerk für Übersetzungsdienstleister und Kunden
gleichermaßen darstellt, bietet der ASTM Standard Guide eher praktische
Ratschläge und anwendungsorientierte Anleitungen für Übersetzer,
insbesondere auch für Berufseinsteiger.
Die Norm EN 15038 ist seit 2006 in Kraft. Sie setzt sich allmählich durch,
trotz hier und da anzutreffender Anfeindungen vor allem seitens derer, die
eine Kontrolle durch einen zweiten Übersetzer – eine wesentliche
Forderung der Norm – für überflüssig halten und ablehnen und trotz
andauernder Verwirrung über den Status der Norm. Die Zertifizierung nach
der Norm schreitet voran, nicht nur in Europa, sondern auch in Übersee, in
den beiden Amerikas und in Asien. Es setzt sich allmählich durch, was
François Massion, Geschäftsführer von D.O.G., kürzlich so beschrieb:
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„Etwa 100 % der Übersetzungsdienstleister unterscheiden sich von
den anderen 100 % der Dienstleister dadurch, dass sie Qualität
versprechen, weil jeder weiß, wie wichtig dies ist. Entscheidend ist
jedoch, dass man ein Qualitätssicherungssystem nachweisen kann
und die entsprechenden Mittel und Verfahren hat, um Qualität auch
zu garantieren. Nach dem Motto ‚Vertrauen ist gut, Zertifizierung ist
besser’, wollten wir die bereits seit Jahren gelebte Praxis jetzt auch
zertifizieren lassen.“
Des Status von EN 15038 als Service Standard, als Dienstleistungsnorm, ist
man sich oft noch nicht bewusst. Die eigentliche Übersetzung bildet nur
einen Teil der gesamten Dienstleistung, zu der vor allem auch
administrative Vorgänge gehören, wie Bearbeitung der Kundenanfrage,
Abgabe des Angebots, Vereinbarungen und Koordination mit dem Kunden,
Projektmanagement, Vorbereitung und Nachbereitung des
Übersetzungsprojekts, Feedback und Feststellung der Kundenzufriedenheit
gehören. Die dabei von der Norm geforderten Verfahren müssen
dokumentiert und für den Kunden transparent und nachvollziehbar sein, so
dass dieser Vertrauen in eine solide Dienstleistung gewinnen und eine
informierte Entscheidung über die Wahl des Dienstleisters treffen kann.
Bewusst sind sich einige Agenturen auch nicht über den Status von Normen
überhaupt. So wird dem unbedarften Kunden oft die Anwendung von
Normen lediglich suggeriert.
Ich finde auf Webseiten von Agenturen solche Aussagen:
Marconex ag Zürich
Wir bieten Ihnen höchste Qualität nach den gängigen DIN und ISO Übersetzungsnormen. Wichtig ist uns, dass Stil und Tonalität vom Ursprungstext orginalgetreu (!) übernommen werden.
Oder
Rois translations Unsere Partner haben die notwendige Ausbildung und Erfahrung. Alle sind Muttersprachler in der Zielsprache und halten die strengsten Übersetzungsnormen dieser Branche ein.
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Oder
eurolingua Wir sind als vereidigte und ermächtigte Übersetzer anerkannt und zugelassen. Und wir halten die gesetzlich vorgeschriebenen Übersetzungsnormen ein.
(Nicht wissend, dass die Anwendung von Normen eine freiwillige
Angelegenheit und nicht gesetzlich vorgeschrieben ist.)
Oder man liest einfach nur:
„Wir arbeiten im Einklang mit …“ „Wir orientieren uns an der Norm…“
„Wir übersetzen Ihre Texte aus den Gebieten: Wirtschaft, Kultur, Politik, Medien, günstig und den Übersetzungsnormen entsprechend in die folgeden (!) Sprachen
Einige Verwirrung hat auch die Möglichkeit der so genannten Registrierung
nach EN 15038 bei DIN CERTCO gestiftet. Dass sich der BDÜ nach all der
vorangegangenen, sehr lobenswerten Debatte um Inhalt und Wert der
Norm um eine kostengünstige Lösung für seine Mitglieder bemüht hat, ist
verständlich und völlig in Ordnung. Beabsichtigt war von den Erarbeitern
der Norm eine solche Lösung jedoch nicht. Sie hatten eine Zertifizierung im
Sinn, und zwar eine durchaus kostengünstige. DIN CERTCO muss nach wie
vor der Vorwurf gemacht werden, aus Gründen der Erzielung eines
schnellen Gewinns diesen Service angeboten zu haben. Und so schreibt
Gérard de Angeli im Translation Journal vom Januar 2009 etwas ironisch:
“If you think your services comply with EN 15038 requirements, you
may consider registering with DIN-CERCO. It will cost you €57,
which is a cheap price to pay to have a nice flag on the home page
of your website! Of course, this does not attest to your compliance
with EN 15038 requirements. At most, it attests to your ... €57
payment to DIN-CERTCO and ... to the great marketing skills of
Germans! To the best of my knowledge, none of the other large
standardization bodies in Europe (BSI and AFNOR) offer this
service.”
(Bei der Gebühr irrt de Angeli. DIN CERTCO berechnet die Leistungen nach Gebühreneinheiten (GE);
eine Einheit kostet zurzeit 43 Euro. Für die Nutzung des Verbandszeichens werden 10 GE, für die
Ausstellung des Registrierbescheids 2 GE und als jährliche Nutzungsgebühr 5 GE berechnet.)
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So kann die bei DIN CERTCO registrierte Agentur technotrans auf seiner
Website auch den Wert von Normen und einer Zertifizierung
herunterspielen, indem es dort heißt:
Übersetzungsnormen und Zertifizierungen können bei Beachtung einiger Besonderheiten zur (!) einer Steigerung der Qualität des Produkts Übersetzungen beitragen. Hier sind insbesondere die DIN 2345 als produktorientierte und die DIN EN 15038 als mehr prozessorientierte Norm zu erwähnen. Bezüglich der Normenreihe ISO 9000 hat sich in der Branche mittlerweile die Erkenntnis durchgesetzt, dass eine entsprechende Zertifizierung nicht unbedingt ein Garant für gute Übersetzungsqualität ist. In der Tat haben wir schon Übersetzungen nach ISO 9000 gesehen, bei denen von Qualität nicht unbedingt die Rede sein konnte. Es gilt halt nach wie vor die Erkenntnis von Qualitätssicherungsexperten, derzufolge (!) es nicht möglich ist, Qualität in ein Produkt hineinzuprüfen, die vorher nicht hineingearbeitet worden ist.
Als bei DIN Certco registrierter Dienstleister (Reg.-Nr. 7U070) können wir unseren Kunden normkonforme Übersetzungs-dienstleistungen gemäß DIN-EN 15038 anbieten. Auf Wunsch arbeiten wir ebenfalls noch auf der Grundlage der alten DIN 2345.
Gérard de Angeli hat die Zahl von Hits für EN 15038 im Internet festgestellt
und ist bei Google France auf 161 Seiten, bei Google UK auf 100 Seiten und
bei Google Deutschland auf 10 800 Seiten gestoßen. Die hohe Zahl der
deutschen Hits führt er vor allem auf die DIN-CERTCO-Registrierung zurück.
Sie verdeutlicht aber auch das übergroße Interesse, das die Norm auf dem
deutschen Markt findet. So sollte man auch einen hohen Bekanntheitsgrad
der Norm unterstellen, weshalb es wenig verständlich ist, dass viele
„registrierte“ Übersetzungsdienstleister auf ihren Webseiten annoncieren,
sie seien zertifiziert. Das muss man schlicht als Etikettenschwindel
bezeichnen, und es wurden auch bereits in mehreren Fällen Abmahnungen
erteilt. Hier hat der BDÜ sehr positiv reagiert.
Alle diese Fälle sollen jedoch nicht die Fortschritte, die mit der EN 15038
erzielt worden sind, schmälern. Ich bin davon überzeugt, dass die Norm
einen positiven Einfluss auf die Beziehungen zwischen
Übersetzungsdienstleistern und Kunden sowie zwischen
Übersetzungsdienstleistern und Übersetzern haben wird. In
Ausschreibungen der EU wird bereits die Anwendung der Norm
vorausgesetzt, und die Übersetzungsdienstleister werden durch die Norm
verpflichtet, bei Untervergabe von Projekten von Zulieferern die
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Anwendung gleichgearteter Qualitätssicherungssysteme zu verlangen. So
stärkt die Anwendung der Norm die Marktposition von
Übersetzungsdienstleistern, und sie stärkt die Effizienz der internen
Organisation. Jährliche Wiederholungsprüfungen bei zertifizierten
Dienstleistern sorgen für kontinuierliche Verbesserungen ihrer Prozesse,
und die vorgeschriebene regelmäßige Auswertung von Feedbacks
veranlasst zu korrigierenden und vorbeugenden Maßnahmen, was mittel-
und langfristig eine Effizienz- und Qualitätserhöhung bedeutet.
Zurück zur Messung von Qualität und zur Normung auf ISO-Ebene. Ich
hatte Gelegenheit, an den vergangenen 4 Sitzungen der Arbeitsgruppe 6 im
Unterausschuss 2 des TK 37 der ISO (Übersetzen und Dolmetschen)
teilzunehmen. Wir Europäer hatten vor 4 Jahren in Beijing gehofft, die EN
15038 als Grundlage für eine entsprechende ISO-Norm einbringen zu
können. Diese Hoffnung wurde zunächst enttäuscht, da auch andere
Normen existierten, die einen ähnlichen Anspruch erhoben, sodass man
sich zunächst auf eine vergleichende Darstellung bestehender Normen
einigte, und auf der Grundlage eines solchen Vergleichs sollte über eine
eventuelle völlig neue ISO-Norm beraten werden. Die Anfertigung der
vergleichenden Darstellung zog sich hin, und es ist den österreichischen
und spanischen Vertretern zu danken, dass sie im August dieses Jahres in
Bogotá die entstandene Stagnation mit einem neuen Vorschlag
überwinden konnten. Die Diskussion in Bogotá war sehr konstruktiv. Zu
den wichtigsten Ergebnissen gehören die Annahme des Projekts ISO/TS
11669 Translation Projects – General Guidance, basierend auf dem seit
mehreren Jahren vorliegenden amerikanischen Vorschlag, ein Dokument
über Parameter, die vor der Anfertigung einer Übersetzung zu beachten
sind, weiterzuentwickeln. Das Projekt dürfte ein so genannter Guidance
Standard werden, der Übersetzungsprojekte beschreibt und die Nutzer zu
einem besseren Verständnis solcher Projekte und entsprechender
Spezifikationen und Normen verhelfen soll. Interessant soll ein solches
erläuterndes Dokument sein für Kunden, Übersetzungsdienstleister,
Endnutzer, Entwickler von Übersetzungstechnologie und Ausbilder von
Übersetzern. Es ist geplant, das Projekt im Oktober 2011 zu
veröffentlichen.
Der neue Vorschlag der österreichischen und spanischen Vertreter betrifft
ein Projekt für eine ISO-Norm zur Bewertung der Qualität von
Übersetzungen (Assessment of Translations). Während bisher eine
metrische Norm nur für ausgewählte Bereiche und Texte entwickelt wurde,
soll dieses Projekt für alle Arten von Übersetzungen gelten. Die Arbeit mit
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dem LISA QA Model und der SAE-Norm sowie auch die Erfahrungen der
ATA mit dem Standardized Error Marking System haben gezeigt, dass eine
solche metrische Auswertung machbar und auch sinnvoll ist, und das hat
den Einreichern, neben einer in Bogotá geführten sehr konstruktiven
Debatte ganz gewiss Auftrieb verliehen und Sicherheit gegeben.
Der Entwurf sieht unter anderen folgende Bewertungskriterien
(Fehlerkategorien) vor, das heißt, Fehler, die einen messbaren
(wesentlichen oder weniger gravierenden) Einfluss auf das Endprodukt
haben können und die zum Gesamtumfang des Textes in Beziehung gesetzt
werden:
Lack of accuracy Omissions Additions Misunderstandings of the source text Mistranslation Titles, references and numbering Terminology errors Glossary adherence Context errors Terminology consistency Language errors Grammar errors Syntax errors Punctuation errors Spelling and typographic orthography Style errors General style errors Register errors Text coherence and consistency Locale Formatting errors Deadlines Completeness Inadequate adherence to specifications Overall evaluation and rating
Die Ergebnisse sollen in einem Assessment Sheet, das der Revisor ausfüllt,
zusammengefasst werden. Ein solches Assessment Sheet ist durchaus
nichts Neues. Die Europäischen Institutionen verwenden seit langem
ähnliche Formulare, nach denen Übersetzungen bewertet werden und
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externe Übersetzer (allmählich haben uns daran gewöhnt) in eine flexible
Rangfolge eingeordnet werden.
In Arbeit ist ferner ein Projekt zum Community Interpreting, das ganz am
Anfang steht und zu dem ein erster Arbeitsentwurf Ende dieses Jahres
vorliegen soll.
Ganz zum Schluss: Wie weiter mit EN 15038. Nach den CEN-Bestimmungen
sind alle geltenden Normen nach 5 Jahren zu überprüfen. Das wird im Fall
von EN 15038 im Jahr 2011 geschehen. Bei dieser Überprüfung wird
festzustellen sein, ob sich die Norm bewährt hat (und ich bin sicher, das
wird positiv beantwortet werden), und es werden gegebenenfalls
Änderungen an ihr vorgenommen.
Alles in allem, viel Stoff für ausgiebige Diskussionen in der Branche und in den Verbänden.
Biografie
Geboren 1943; Diplom-Dolmetscher und –Übersetzer, seit 1990
Vorstandsmitglied Intertext Fremdsprachendienst e.G., Berlin;
Geschäftsführer der Internationalen Vereinigung Sprache und Wirtschaft;
Mitglied des Beirats des Langenscheidt Fachverlags; Lehraufträge an der
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Sprachdatenverarbeitung für Übersetzer);
bis 2006 Mitglied des Spiegelkomitees des Deutschen Instituts für
Normung (DIN) zur Begleitung der Erarbeitung der Qualitätsnorm EN
15038; Mitglied der Delegation des österreichischen Normungsinstituts in
ISO/TC37/SC2WG6 (Übersetzen und Dolmetschen); Artikel in
Fachzeitschriften sowie literarische Übersetzungen englisch- und
spanischsprachiger Autoren.
Contact
Intertext
Greifswalder Straße 5
D-10405 Berlin
manfred.schmitz@intertext.de
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Navigating the Economic Downturn
David J. Kosh
Translator/Terminologist, ASTTI
Abstract
After 40 years as a language services provider, the speaker reflects on the
difficulties faced by a new generation of translators hoping to establish
themselves as part-time or full-time freelance translators in a modern
business environment that is currently dominated by the global economic
crisis. Drawing specifically on his own experience and that of the small
team of language service providers within which he operates, the speaker
addresses everyday issues such as professional attitudes towards
customers and their demands, practical responses to price and deadline
pressures, and pragmatic use of time between assignments. Having initially
worked in industry as an in-house translator, interpreter and terminologist,
the speaker then spent several years as an engineer and manager selling
capital goods throughout Asia and Latin America before finally returning
full-time to the language services business he established some years ago
with his wife and selected partners. Against that backdrop, he feels able to
appreciate the difficulties facing today's translators and their customers.
1
Navigating the Economic Downturn
David J. Kosh Translator/Terminologist
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Slide 1: Navigating the Economic Downturn
Many smaller language services providers – particularly recent entrants to the
freelance market – continue to find life in our sector challenging. Those
challenges are having an impact on the practical, financial and indeed
psychological aspects of their professional and private lives.
Obviously, there are no clear-cut answers. But, under the current market
conditions there are some basic concepts that all language services providers
might want to consider, irrespective of whether they are just entering the
market, or already struggling to keep their businesses alive today, or indeed,
reflecting on how to survive in the longer term.
Reviewing those fundamentals is the purpose of this presentation, which is
aimed specifically at newcomers and smaller operators.
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 2Slide 1
Consequences for language services providers?
Fewer assignments
Price pressures
Tight deadlines
Slow payments
Unreasonable terms
Slide 2: Consequences for language services providers
For many language professionals, the consequences of the recession and the
rapidly changing business landscape have become all too evident:
Fewer assignments Price pressures Tight deadlines Slow payments Unreasonable terms
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So, let’s examine those aspects individually:
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 3Slide 1
Fewer assignments
Less work – maybe!
Profile of work has changed
Distribution of work has changed
Customer loyalty has diminished
Growing strength of agencies
Slide 3: Lack of assignments
Less work – maybe! Even though the global recession has massively reduced the total value of
goods and services being purchased by trade and industry, the effective
volume of material that will need language processing is expected to grow for
several years to come – this has to be encouraging news for freelancers!
Profile of work has changed This is an inevitable process of evolution. As new technologies develop and
new consumer demands are generated, it is only natural that the profile of
language related assignments will also change. As language services providers
we must adapt in parallel: in the equipment we use, the subjects we
understand, the customers we serve and how we serve them. More on this
issue of “how we serve them” later.
Distribution of work has changed The Internet has created almost total mobility and transparency. As a result,
competition is even more intense than many people actually realise. Today’s
freelancer not only faces competition from within his/her own skills level, but
is also confronted with “upstream” competitors such as local or even
international agencies, and “downstream” price cutters from around the
world. In the Swiss context, French target language work can migrate to
France, Belgium, Canada or even parts of Africa. Germany and Austria can pick
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up work that traditionally would be handled by domestic own German
language specialists. Our colleagues in the Ticino are under pressure from the
immorally low rates paid in Italy. English language assignments are transferred
to the UK and USA, or even to Hong Kong and India - while Australia can
complete urgent jobs overnight while Switzerland is still asleep because of
time shifts!
Customer loyalty has diminished (virtually to the point of non-existence) There are admirable exceptions. But, just as you and I change the brand of our
computers, mobile phones, cars or shop where we perceive we are getting the
best deal, our customers feel free to do the same. Consequently, for service
providers, the key aspects to survival are a) building strong customer
relationships and b) achieving some level of leverage with customers. We will
review these vital issues shortly.
Strength of agencies has grown Agencies can pool greater acquisition resources than most freelancers.
Administratively, they are better equipped and organised to negotiate with
larger corporations. Only agencies can afford the cost of insurance against
consequential damages that some corporations demand nowadays.
The Achilles heel of agencies is that they absolutely need qualified personnel
to process the assignments they are able to acquire. Consequently, linking up
with an agency can be a solution for potential freelancers who feel the need
to gain more practical experience, want a degree of job security, or avoid the
sometimes disagreeable business of acquisition. I remain convinced that
freelancers and agencies can co-exist.
In the face of this sometimes contradictory constellation, it is obvious that any
dedicated freelancer will need to generate a sustainable strategy for surviving
the economic realities of the 21st century.
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 4Slide 1
To survive, you must...
Establish your brand: sell yourself, your skills profile, customer‘s first choice must always be you
Unique selling proposition USP: quality, promptness, reliability
Create leverage: strive to meet customers‘ specific needs
Slide 4: To survive, you must…
Consider these numbers: if you hope to invoice an average of 100’000 Swiss
francs a year over a career lasting 40 years, it means that you will have to
generate a total turnover of 4 million francs over that period. Extracting that
volume of money from the reluctant pockets of customers clearly means that
you need to adopt an absolutely professional approach towards your business
and your customers.
In marketing terms, there are three things that must be achieved for a
business model to be viable:
1) First, you have to: Establish your brand – which is essentially selling yourself and your skills
profile. Customers must instinctively think of you first when handing out assignments.
2) Next, you have to generate your own: Unique selling proposition. Your USP is made up of the quality, reliability,
promptness and ultimately, the price of your work. 3) Finally, you need to: Create leverage with customers, i.e. to minimise their incentives to switch
to an alternative, i.e. cheaper, language services provider. That leverage depends largely on convincing customers that you are striving to meet their specific needs.
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Now, how on earth are you expected to achieve all these good things when
you are a small operation with limited financial resources?
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 5Slide 1
Getting your share...
Depends on attitude
Depends on response
Depends on flexibility
Depends on adaptability
Depends on acquisition
Depends on business style
Slide 5: Getting your share…
If you are not getting a reasonable share of your local language services
market, today may well be the moment to begin reassessing a number of
closely related aspects that cannot be ignored in any business – big or small.
Apart from that elusive element called luck, getting, retaining and growing
your market share invariably:
Depends on attitude Depends on response Depends on flexibility Depends on adaptability Depends on acquisition Depends on business style
Let’s take a look at those aspects one by one.
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 6Slide 1
AttitudeTime for a review?
You are a services provider
You are available 24/7 x 365
Cultivate your customers
Follow your contacts
Willing to adapt business style
Slide 6: Attitude: Time for a review?
Always remember:
You are a professional language services provider – that is your brand! To support your brand, your customers must be aware that:
You are available 24/7 x 365 days a year That is a key element of your unique selling proposition, your USP).
This recommendation is not really as ridiculous as its sounds – a few
practical tips:
The costs of a Blackberry or smartphone that alerts to you incoming emails from customers when you are hiking or skiing in the mountains are tax deductible.
Ensure that customers have all your coordinates. I honestly know freelancers who resist giving customers or colleagues their mobile phone numbers. I honestly know others who do not switch on their mobile phones for days on end. If you feel that a mobile phone is strictly for your convenience and not for the convenience of your customers – then it probably is time for a review.
Whenever you travel, carry a WirelessLAN enabled laptop to receive, process and return assignments (exploit dead time at airports, on trains, in hotels).
If your laptop is your 2nd computer, be sure your glossaries are on its hard disk.
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Always carry a USB stick with your glossaries/reference texts as a backup.
Inform customers of your travel/vacation plans, but confirm your 24/7 availability.
Maintain a backup Internet account in case your main provider is down.
Be sure to carry chargers/adapters for all your electronic devices.
Cultivate your customers All too often, I hear my colleagues speaking of customers as if they were the
enemy. Establishing relationships with contacts within companies (remember:
generating leverage?) is the most effective way for freelancers to influence
customers and win your their fair share of their assignments. A few well-
established suggestions in this regard:
Visit your best customer contacts at least once a year
Try to remember their personal details (children, hobbies, sports)
Enquire about the potentials of their business and future plans
Start emails with small personal comments (…glad to hear from you, I just came back from trip to Germany…)
Remember: if contacts are pressuring you on prices and deadlines it is because they are under exactly the same pressures from their own customers and bosses.
Emphasise benefits of win-win business relationships (priority, consistency etc.)
When you submit completed translation jobs, say “thank you” for the assignment
Follow your customer contacts – when they change jobs, offer them your services in their new positions, offer to learn their new technologies and terminologies!
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 7Slide 1
Response...Acting on enquiries
Respond to enquiries promptly
Ballpark price better than full quote without follow-up
Mention terms and conditions
Keep a copy for reference
Slide 7: Response: Acting on enquiries
Always respond to enquiries immediately.
A promptly emailed ballpark price is cheaper and has more chance of success than a late, detailed quotation which is not followed up vigorously.
No matter how simple the email quotation is, always state your terms and conditions.
Always keep a copy for later reference.
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 8Slide 1
Flexibility...Exploit your skills profile
Translation
Editing
Proofreading
Teaching
Coaching students
Consecutive interpreting
Slide 8: Flexibility: Exploit your skills profile
When offering your services to potential customers, don’t forget to mention
your other language related skills such as:
Editing (increasingly companies are using English as corporate language)
Proofreading (ditto) In-company teaching (e.g. business English for executives, technical
English for sales and service engineers) “Technical” writing
When work is scarce, don’t forget that you are probably also qualified to:
Teach (e.g. stand-in for language school teachers on vacation) Coach school or college students Consecutive interpreting Editing MBA or other post-graduate dissertations Act as a tourist guide
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 9Slide 1
Adaptability...Go with the flow
Construction machinery to Milpol
Metallurgy to packaging machinery
Fineblanking to cold forging
Corporate communications
Financial reporting
Websites and newsletter
Slide 9: Adaptability: Go with the flow
This slide shows the sectors where we used to generate our turnover and
where we earn our living today.
Service providers are subject to the law of supply and demand. Your
customers will invariably adopt new technologies, develop alternative
applications and enter new markets. To retain those customers you must
adapt with them. Ask them what new technologies they are employing and
get them to explain the benefits. For example, most modern machine tools
use CNC controls made by Siemens or Fanuc. Search the websites of those
makers – they are often multilingual and contain a lot of essential terminology
– free of charge!
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 10Slide 1
Acquisition...Have you really contacted?
All existing/former customers
Every company in your area
Competitors of your customers
Local social services/churches
Local language schools
Investigated „start-ups“
Slide 10: Acquisition: Have you really contacted?
All existing/former customers Every company in your area Competitors of your customers Local social services/churches Local language schools Investigated „start-ups“
Before chasing new business in new sectors, first review all your old invoices,
business cards and copies of earlier translations – they are a potential
goldmine! Former customers are the easiest to talk to canvass because you
already have a valid reason for contacting them. Those short follow-up phone
calls will also give you a feel for what is happening in any given sector. Don’t
assume anything! Recently, I contacted a former customer thinking: mmm…
management consultants - “not much hope here”. Quite on the contrary –
those consultants have become specialised in a growing technology and that
sector is surprisingly strong! Investments in that new specialty offer
companies real and quick cost saving potentials. Even better, that technology
is in a sector where European companies are really competitive.
Scan local newspapers for articles on “start-up” companies in your area. They
are often involved in hi-tech and are usually export oriented. Try to visit them
personally on a non-committal basis. Offer them reasonable introductory
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rates - they have to control their costs carefully - and suggest generating a
simple glossary of terms in their sector. Establish a personal relationship and
grow with them (remember: leverage).
A word of warning: Before you accept assignments from the social services,
agree to invoice them and NOT their clients – otherwise you will never see
your money.
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 11Slide 1
Business style...Learn from the Asians
Always carry business cards
Seamless transition from work to leisure
Don‘t volunteer information
Be careful who you trust
Confirm agreements in writing
Slide 11: Business style: Learn from the Asians
In Asia, if you don’t have a business card, you are a nobody! So be somebody:
Always carry your business cards and give them to people you meet Seamless transition from work to leisure Be happy if a customer phones you when you are in the bath, having
dinner, or on holiday (remember the 24/7 x 365 thing?). Or, having a pizza
with a customer really is often a great opportunity to discuss business
(remember leverage!)
Don’t volunteer information: By all means discuss your business activities in general terms, but do
not divulge key information such as customers, contacts, turnover, pricing
agreements or payment terms.
Be careful whom you trust Knowledge is power and you need to retain that power for yourself.
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Confirm agreements in writing If you agree prices or terms over a pizza, confirm them later by email.
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 12Slide 1
Networking...The most wasted asset
Can bring in assignments
Can reduce deadline pressures
Can keep your finger on the pulse
Can extend your skills profile
Can compete against agencies
Can strengthen ASTTI
Slide 12: Networking: The most wasted asset
In the past, the “ivory tower syndrome” was a real problem for freelancers.
But, professional isolation has been eliminated forever by the Internet.
Yes, the Internet has created pricing problems for freelancers, but using the
Internet to network is hugely cost-effective. Linking up through the Internet
can help you to:
Bring in more assignments Reduce deadline pressures Keep your finger on the pulse of the market Extend your skills profile Compete against agencies Strengthen your own professional association (ASTTI)
Networking is as invaluable as word of mouth advertising and as cheap as the
click of a key or a short phone call.
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 13Slide 1
Meeting customers
Be prepared for meetings
Short PowerPoint presentation
Know your MSP
Never criticise competitors
Get the order and GET OUT!
Slide 13: Meeting customers
Be prepared for meetings Never go to a meeting unprepared - mentally visualise the meeting
beforehand!
Think about how you are going to greet the customer (thank you for your
time…), how you are going to respond to difficult questions (your age,
experience, prices, deadlines…) etc.
If the customer offers you a cup of coffee, respond by offering small
chocolates, this helps create what Asians call “atmosphere language”.
Schedule the meeting for a time that is best for you. If you are night owl,
try to set the meeting for the afternoon. If you are an early bird, arrange for
morning appointments.
Short PowerPoint presentation If you have tools such as a simple PowerPoint presentation on your laptop,
try to sit next to the customer, or among them if there are two or three
present. This helps to make the appointment into a meeting and less of a
negotiation. Don’t let your laptop create a barrier between you and the
customer. At the end of the meeting, move back to your original position –
this is a signal to the customer that a decision is called for.
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Know your MSP Your MSP is your Maximum Settlement Point and your Minimum
Settlement Point. The maximum is the price you are reasonably hoping to
obtain, the minimum is where the negotiation ends, i.e. the lowest price
at which you are willing to accept the assignment and/or the deadline.
Get the order and get out This may sound strange, but if you do succeed in getting the order – GET
OUT! Staying on unnecessarily once a meeting is over is simply creating
time for the customer to ask for more concessions, or obtain too much
information from you.
Finally, remember: no meeting is ever wasted – even if you fail in your
objective of getting the order, learn from that meeting: analyse your own
mistakes and the customer’s behaviour and tactics.
If you are unable to accept an assignment or deadline for any reason, suggest
an ASTTI colleague who can – remember the need for networking!
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 14Slide 1
Price pressures...It‘s the Internet stupid!
Email 1st July 2009
Dear Mr. Kosh,… looking for a translator for our book on Twentieth Century Art to translate one section from German to English. The rate we usually pay is $0.07 per word, and the word count of this project is 33.567 words, bringing the total payment to $2349, approximately. We would need the translation completed in about a month.Please let me know if you are available and interested… and I will send you a sample to translate.
Arielle DatzParkstone International
Slide 14: Price pressures: It’s the Internet stupid!
This slide shows a real life enquiry. It would have been a fascinating and
challenging assignment – but not for the equivalent of around 0.73 Swiss
francs per line!
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The harsh reality is that freelance language service providers cannot make a
viable living in Switzerland by dropping their prices to the ridiculous levels
that are being offered on the Internet, or by these newcomers.
The equally harsh question is therefore: what can freelancers do to compete?
In today’s price driven consumer market, the hard truth is that the
freelancers’ options in price negotiations are limited, but worth reviewing
nonetheless.
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 15Slide 1
Dealing with price pressures
Try to negotiate face-to-face
Never volunteer lower prices
Downgrade assignment rather than giving a percentage discount
Drop charge for urgent jobs
Accept assignment or lose it
Slide 15: Dealing with price pressures
Try to negotiate face-to-face Even the most price conscious customers are likely to feel more confident
with placing orders after personally meeting their potential language services
provider, rather than trusting the promises made by a mail order flyer.
Never volunteer lower prices Obvious, but worth repeating: don’t offer a lower price until the customer
specifically requests a reduction. Even today, many Swiss feel uneasy at asking
for a discount!
Downgrade assignment rather than offer discount If you must lower your price, tell the customer you are downgrading the
assignment to a lower difficulty level, rather than agreeing to a permanent
discount. The short-term result is the same, but your higher price level for
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difficult work remains intact! Offer an end-of-year discount if customer will
guarantee a specified volume of work.
Drop surcharge for urgent jobs Offer your express service at the same prices as standard assignments
This is also the opportunity to highlight the benefits of your overall package:
geographic proximity, readiness to visit customer at any time to understand
the product, 24/7 x 365 availability, ASTTI quality and ethical standards,
security of customer know-how, willingness to generate a dedicated glossary
of terms, hence, the consistency of future assignments. (Remember: your
unique selling proposition USP)
Accept assignment or lose it This is the point where your MSP is important. It is only human to make
concessions under pressure – and regret them later. If your MINIMUM
settlement point is firmly established in your mind, you are less likely to make
unreasonable concessions. If you don’t feel comfortable with the terms being
offered, don’t accept them. If possible, let the customer make the negative
decision rather than you saying NO! If the decision goes against you, thank the
customer and ask to be considered for the next assignment. Propose offering
the job to an ASTTI colleague (remember: networking).
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 16Slide 1
Working under deadline pressures
Accept deadline to secure order
Try to negotiate extensions
Request draft manuscript to research terminology
Share assignments
Ask for 24/7 contact
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Slide 16: Deadline pressures
Accept deadline to secure order For most translators nowadays, accepting tight deadlines to secure an order is
standard procedure. Don’t feel victimised – you are in good company with
other service providers such as graphic artists, printers, IT specialists,
forwarding agents, express delivery services etc.
Negotiate extensions Always try to obtain an emergency extension (say to the customer: I will do
my utmost to meet your deadline, but if there is any unexpected emergency,
what is the very latest deadline you can accept?).
Request draft manuscript to research terminology If the final manuscript has not been released, try to obtain a draft version. Use
it to research terminology and work on difficult text passages.
Share assignments Your objective as a freelancer is obviously to do as much of the work yourself
and to invoice it yourself. However, if you are under extreme deadline
pressure, share the assignment with a trusted colleague – preferably an ASTTI
member (networking!).
Ask for 24/7 contact
Ask the customer for a 24/7 contact who can help if you encounter difficulties.
There is no disgrace in asking for help – knowing where to ask is a real
advantage!
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 17Slide 1
Minimising deadline pressures
Clear your desk & your mind
Know your personal rythm formula 60% + 20% + 20%
Sign up with online IT service
Learn from the experience
Slide 17: Working under deadline pressures
Clear your desk – clear your mind The first thing I do when I am under deadline pressure is to clear my desk.
Somehow, it also helps to clear my head and focus on the challenge ahead.
Know your personal rhythm Over the years, I have found that a simple formula of 60% + 20% + 20% is the
most productive procedure for me. This means working:
60% at top speed and concentration to generate a draft 20% revision and double-checking terminology 20% final editing, polishing, last-minute customer changes
Sign up with online IT service Save time, nerves and money by signing up with a local online computer
repair service. Signing on itself should be free of charge and you will receive a
desktop icon from the provider. Click on that icon when things go wrong –
invariably at the worst moment – to obtain prompt assistance. Remember:
the costs of work related IT services are tax deductible, so get receipts from
the provider and keep them for your tax declaration.
Learn from the experience Are you really able to work under pressure, or does the quality of your work
suffer?
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Who are the ASTTI colleagues you can rely on in a time pressure situation?
Draw your own honest conclusions! (Remember: Networking!).
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 18Slide 1
Work ethics
Even if you accept a low price, you must still do your best
Honour deadlines even if tight
You are responsible for shared assignments
When you submit translation, say thank you for assignment
Slide 18: (deleted)
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 19Slide 1
Invoicing
Submit invoices promptly
Always mention IBAN number
Only show necessary information
Mention who issued assignment
State your payment terms
Keep a copy of all invoices
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Slide 19: Invoicing
Submit invoices promptly You, as a language services provider, are frequently subjected to short
deadlines. Many of your customers, however, have surreptitiously increased
their payment terms from 30 to 60 days or more, e.g. from date of receipt of
invoice, or 60 days from the end of the month in which the invoice was
submitted or received. Therefore, prompt invoicing is essential to keep your
cash flow moving.
Always mention IBAN number Nowadays, it is essential to mention the IBAN number of your bank account
on invoices. For some customers, a missing IBAN number is an excuse for not
paying promptly.
Only show essential information Too much information on an invoice can encourage customers to query
certain details.
There is no joy in arguing with a customer whether you translated 99.8 or 100
lines.
Mention who issued the assignment Also mention the date of the assignment, e.g. email dated 12.10.2009.
Don’t give accountants the satisfaction or opportunity to withhold payment.
State your payment terms The customer will pay at his own terms anyway, but in the event of a dispute,
you can always refer to your own payment terms.
Keep a copy Obvious procedure for tax return reasons, but also as useful reference as a
simple customer database when you are short of work and chasing
assignments.
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 20Slide 1
Slow payments
Know customer‘s payment habits
Accept reasonable payment terms
Follow up overdue payments
Chase customer‘s accountant first
Then chase your customer
Slide 20: Slow payments
Assess reasons behind customer‘s slow payments If customers start to extend their payment terms, try to establish why. Is this
general policy, or is there a danger that your invoice will not be paid?
Accept reasonable payment terms Unfortunately, any payment terms between 30 and 60 days are „reasonable”.
Follow up overdue payments You have provided the service – probably under time pressure – you are fully
entitled to full and prompt payment. You must follow up overdue payments!
Chase customer‘s accountant first This is important! Have your copy of the invoice in front of you to confirm the
date of invoice, the sum involved and the person who issued the assignment.
If the accountant does not have your invoice, it is time to:
Chase your customer Slow payers usually claim they have signed off the invoice and passed it to the
accounts department. This is the moment to state that you have already been
in touch with accounts and to request prompt settlement – it usually works.
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 21Slide 1
Positive use of spare time
Update customer database
Expand glossaries/termbases
Consider further education
Balance your accounts
Research Internet for terms
Slide 21: (deleted)
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 22Slide 1
Business plan
Analyse your costs
Budget for a profit
Assess customer potential
Know your MSP
Commercial register
Website Yes/No?
Slide 22: Business plan
Budget for a profit If your figures show that you are regularly losing money, then it is obviously
time to reassess your situation as a freelance services provider. Whenever you
are investing in your business be sure that there is a profit at the end of the
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day. A recent study in Zurich showed that people – women in particular - who
work part-time out of the home ultimately lose money because of the added
cost of transport, food, childcare and higher taxes. So let’s borrow a phrase
from a popular CNN financial programme - “Whatever you do, let it be
profitable!”.
Assess customer potential If you have customers who are agreeable to work with, who pay their invoices
regularly and are helpful with translation questions, cultivate them carefully
and take time to increase your knowledge of their specialties and expand your
terminology accordingly. At the same time consider whether there is medium
to long-term potential in their field, i.e. whether they are likely to provide you
with greater volumes of work in the future. If they have obvious competitors,
consider approaching them with language services.
Commercial register Even if you are operating as a one-man show, it is worthwhile having your
name and/or company entered in the local Commercial Register where you
live or work. Registration not only gives your business a certain “legitimacy”,
but it also supports your case when making deductions from earnings in your
tax declaration. Costs are modest and should be tax deductable.
Website Yes/No? Frankly, we have had plenty of compliments on our website, but have
received very little identifiable business from it. However, it is certainly a
useful reference when we are approached by new potential customers.
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November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 23Slide 1
ASTTI membership
Absolutely!
Recommended tariffs
Contacts
Networking
International recognition
Code of conduct/ethics
Slide 23: ASTTI membership
Absolutely! Unlike our own homepage, we definitely do receive regular enquiries via the
ASTTI website. That in itself is a valid reason for gaining admission to this
rather exclusive club. But, there are others:
Recommended tariffs Tariffs that are published by a professional association tend to carry more
authority and justification than those quoted arbitrarily by freelance
operators.
Contacts Customers looking for a competent language services provider will often surf
the Internet to look for a translators’ association and, in Switzerland, will
invariably hit the ASTTI site. Although the ASTTI homepage still needs
refinement from a graphics point of view, it is evidently quite user-friendly.
Networking Our personal experience is that ASTTI members do not network nearly
enough. Nevertheless, the members’ database is readily available as a starting
point. I really hope that the younger and more Internet savvy generation will
make greater use of its networking potential.
International recognition
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Becoming a member of ASTTI is not simply a question of “joining a club” but
rather one of gaining admission to a professional association that appreciates
your credentials and will help defend them through arbitration if necessary.
Code of conduct/ethics In this Internet era with its instant reporting, many companies are justifiably
worried about confidential data being leaked, stolen or otherwise abused.
Therefore, being a member of an association with a published code of
conduct and ethics is a useful argument when negotiating with potential
customers and convincing them to entrust their translation assignments to
locally based professionals.
November 2009 Surviving the Economic Downturn 24Slide 1
Conclusions
Regularly review business attitude
Present yourself as 24/7 package
Tolerate price/deadline pressures
Network to counter those pressures!!!
Tightly control invoicing and costs
Make optimal use of spare time
Good luck and successful networking!
Slide 24: Conclusions
To survive as a freelance language services professional in today’s competitive
and challenging business environment you must be willing and able to:
Regularly review your business attitudes Present yourself as a 24/7 x 365 package Tolerate price and deadline pressures Network with colleagues to counter those pressures Tightly control your invoicing and costs Make optimal use of spare time
Good luck and successful networking!
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About the author
HNC Mechanical Engineering, Coventry Polytechnic, England. Cambridge CTEFLA Certificate in Teaching of English as a Foreign Language to Adults. Certificate of Advanced Studies in Terminology Science, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur.
Seven years as Head of Language Services with leading Swiss industrial group. First-hand sales and marketing experience as Export Sales Manager with international trading house and specialist machine tool manufacturer. Teaching experience at Kaufmännische Berufsschule Aarau, Dolmetscherschule Zurich, and company in-house courses.
Contact
Kramenweg 12
CH-8645 Jona
polyvox@bluewin.ch
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La traduction de textes économiques et financiers : les
métaphores et la dernière crise mondiale
Áurea Fernández Rodríguez
Iolanda Galanes Santos
Universidade de Vigo
Résumé
Les recherches concernant les expressions imagées dans le langage
économique et financier constituent un domaine relativement récent. Par
ailleurs, dans la plupart des cas, l’analyse de la métaphore est abordée par
des équipes d’étude et de recherche sur l’anglais de spécialité : les autres
langues dont la traduction français-espagnol et portugais ou encore
portugais espagnol français sont beaucoup moins étudiées.
C’est dans les années 70 que le phénomène des expressions imagées a
commencé à susciter la curiosité des théoriciens hors du domaine
linguistique et littéraire. Les années 80-90 ont vu le jour d’autres
recherches: Klamer, McCloskey et Slow (1988) ; Dudley-Evans et
Henderson (1990), etc.
En période d’embellie ou de crise, les exemples de métaphores sont encore
plus nombreux dans les textes de la presse économique et financière.
Charteris-Black (2001), par exemple, relèvent les métaphores dans des
rapports financiers anglais et espagnol publiés pendant la crise des
marchés de valeurs de l’année 1997 pour comparer le genre de métaphore
utilisé et le domaine auquel est associé l’expression. White (1997 : 2004)
centre ses recherches sur le recours systématique et généralisé des médias
à la métaphore pour traiter une crise monétaire. Dans le domaine
hispanophone, le linguiste et critique littéraire Victor Gustavo Zonana a
fait une analyse linguistique des tribunes médiatiques argentines lors de la
crise de 2001 pour s’attarder sur la créativité et sur les liens entre la
métaphore et l’argumentation.
Dans la mondialisation actuelle où l’économie des États-Unis est encore la
référence mondiale, le discours sur la crise des subprime a également pris
une ampleur universelle. Les métaphores abondent : hipotecas basura,
activos tóxicos, - banco bueno (banco bom, banco bo), banco malo (banco
malo, banco mau/ruim), burbuja del ladrillo, los brotes verdes;
l’éclatement de la bulle de l’immobilier, les actifs pourris, etc. Quelle est
la capacité de création de chaque langue ? Les langues se limitent-elles à
calquer l’anglais des États-Unis ou bien chaque culture créée en fonction
de son expérience ou de sa conception du monde. Voilà quelques questions
auxquelles nous essaierons de répondre dans ce travail dont le point de
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départ est un corpus composé par des textes tirés de la presse économique
espagnole, française, italienne et portugaise depuis le mois d’août 2007
jusqu’à 2010.
Pendant longtemps, les métaphores ont fait l'objet de recherches qui les
considéraient un phénomène exclusif du domaine littéraire. Ce n'est qu'à
partir des années 1980-1990 que la métaphore commence a suscité la
curiosité de certains théoriciens qui les abordent en tant que phénomène
intralinguistique suivant des approches différentes dans la langue courante
ou la langue des spécialités dont l'économique et la financière. Selon Lakoff
et Johnson (1980, 1985) la langue générale fait appel aux métaphores
conceptuelles. Henderson (1982) et McCloskey (1983) considèrent que les
métaphores sont des moyens pour construire un monde. Dès la fin des
années 1980 voient le jour d’autres études sous la plume de Klamer, de
McCloskey et de Slow (1988) ; Dudley-Evans et Henderson (1990) ; Samuels
(1990), Henderson, Dudley-Evans et Backhouse (1993) ; Davis, Wade Hands
et Mäki (1998).
La linguistique appliquée a manifesté son intérêt pour l’usage de la
métaphore non seulement dans la langue générale, dans l'énonciation
scientifique et technique mais aussi dans les textes économiques. Suivant
une approche lexicographique, Knowles (1996) analyse les expressions
métaphoriques associées à la santé dans les textes financiers. White (1997,
2004) travaille sur le recours systématique et généralisé des médias à la
métaphore pour traiter une crise monétaire. Dans ses recherches il met en
relief l’apport de l’image à la cohésion et à la cohérence du texte et par
conséquent à la dimension communicative. Plus tard nous trouvons encore
des analyses de corpus bilingues qui cherchent à comparer le texte source
et le texte cible pour évaluer le résultat (Serón, 2005). En fait, ces groupes
d’étude et de recherche, au-delà de la métaphore, ont tous un autre point
commun : leur intérêt sur l’anglais de spécialité.
Du point de vue interlinguistique, la métaphore n’a pas fait l’objet de très
nombreux débats. Néanmoins, les théoriciens de la traduction se
réclamant de différents courants ― Nida et Taber (1969), Dagut (1976),
Vazquez Ayora (1977), Van de Broeck (1981), Toury (1981), Newmark
(1981 ; 1988), Larson (1989), Dobrynska (1995) et Kurth (1999) —
consacrent des analyses sur l'usage, la fonction et la traduction de la
métaphore. Van de Broeck (1981), Van Besien et Pelsmaekers (1988), Snell
Hornby (1988), Rabadán (1991), Newmark (1981 et 1988) suivent la
méthode communicative. Selon Reiss (1971) et Mason (1982) une théorie
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de la traduction de la métaphore ne serait même pas nécessaire car elle ne
pose pas plus de problème que n’importe quel autre terme à traduire.
Cependant, d’autres théoriciens comme Van de Broeck ou Peter Newmark
pensent que la métaphore est un obstacle, souvent bien difficile à
surmonter. En réponse aux théories de Dagut, Van de Broeck écrit un
article sur le phénomène où il propose une classification des métaphores.
Peter Newmark signale qu’il y a des métaphores universelles, culturelles et
originales. Puis il offre différents paramètres à tenir compte lors de la
traduction de ces éléments : leur longévité (il établit cinq groupes), leur
composition (« simplex, one-word metaphors » et « complex, two or more
words », 1998 : 85), le type de texte où elles sont employées (informatif,
vocatif, etc.), la méthode de traduction adoptée (soit la traduction
sémantique soit la traduction communicative) et la métaphore elle-même,
c’est-à-dire l’objet auquel elle fait référence (l’image et le sens). Les
éléments culturels, universels et personnels ont également une influence
sur le processus de traduction.
Notre expérience personnelle dans l'enseignement universitaire et dans la
préparation de futurs traducteurs et traductrices nous montre que la
métaphore est l'un des plus difficiles problèmes à expliquer aux étudiants
et à résoudre avec succès. En effet, malgré la quantité de ressources
terminographiques et documentaires disponibles sur Internet, nos
étudiants se voient débordés et déconcertés parce qu’ils investissent trop
de temps dans leurs recherches et ne trouvent pas toujours une solution
satisfaisante à leurs problèmes de traduction. Les difficultés augmentent
encore lorsqu’il s’agit de traduire des unités terminologiques nouvelles ou
des variantes qui ne sont pas encore relevées dans les glossaires ou dans
les lexiques. En effet, nous n'avons repéré aucun résultat pour “mauvaise
banque” ni dans le Grand Dictionnaire Terminologique du Québec (GDT) ni
dans la base de données terminologique de l’Union européenne, l’IATE
(Inter Active Terminoly for Europe). Le terme “banque poubelle” est
incorporé dans l’IATE mais absent, à ce jour, dans le GDT où l’on peut, par
contre, trouver “structure de défaisance” et “structure de
cantonnement”. Il en va de même pour “actif à risque”. En ce qui concerne
green shoot (EN.), l’unité terminologique en espagnol, français, italien ou
portugais n’apparaît que sous la forme “brote” (ES), “pousse” (FR)
pampino (IT), lançamento (PT) dans l'univers de l’agriculture. Or, les
images métaphoriques incorporées au domaine des finances que
proposent les médias ne se trouvent pas encore sur la base de données de
l'IATE. Par contre, la presse en espagnol, français, italien ou portugais offre
différentes images et variantes : une image prise au domaine de
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l'agriculture « brotes verdes » (ES), « pousses vertes » (FR), « rebentos
verdes »/ « brotos verdes » (PT) ; l'image de la reprise économique dans
« signes de la reprise économique » (FR) ; « germogli della ripresa » et
celle de `l´espoir´ dans « germogli di speranza » (IT). Dans notre recherche,
la liste des expressions imagées tirées des textes publiés entre 2007 et
2010 sur la crise que traverse le système économique et financier
international nous offre souvent des compositions complexes avec
différentes variantes ce qui complique davantage le choix lors du processus
de traduction pour chaque type de lexie à traduire.
Par ailleurs, certains termes prennent des nuances de sens différentes à
leur forme initiale ou changent de champ sémantique. Tel est le cas de
bonus, stock-options ou swaps. Le terme1 anglo-saxon Swap, où to swap
signifie « échanger », est un contrat d’échange de flux financiers qui existe
depuis le XIXe siècle mais est revenu sur le devant de la scène économique
dans le cadre de cette première dépression du XXIe siècle. Les swaps,
notamment les CDS (Credit Default Swaps)2, censés protéger les détenteurs
de créances contre le risque de non paiement sont devenus des produits
risqués ou produits toxiques3. En effet, ces assurances, une fois
transformées en produits dérivés non régulés, augmentent le risque de
multiplier les pertes en cas de non paiement.
Notre but dans ce travail est double : il s'agit, d’une part, de repérer, de
décrire et de maîtriser toutes les variantes des métaphores dans le cadre
de la dernière crise économique et financière et leur comportement dans
les langues et cultures romanes cible dont l’espagnol (ES), le français (FR),
l'italien(IT) et le portugais (PT). D’autre part, notre réflexion, comme nous
avons déjà indiqué, vise la formation de futurs traducteurs et traductrices
et aspire, de ce fait, à les préparer à faire le bon choix lors du processus de
traduction. Pour ce faire, nous avons eu recours à des textes spécialisés,
1 Un swap de taux d’intérêt est un contrat entre deux parties, généralement des
banques ou entités financières, qui conviennent de s’échanger des flux d’intérêt sur une période et un montant donnés ; une partie payant un taux fixe, l’autre un taux variable. Au début c’était un contrat de couverture contre certains risques, un instrument financier d’assurance mais il est devenu un produit hautement spéculatif à frais implicites abusifs. 2 À ne pas confondre avec le swap de change.
3 Les quatre contrats les plus connus sont : le CDS (Crédit Default Swaps), le swap
de devises (Cross Currency Swap ou Currency Interest Rate Swap,CIRS), le swap de taux d’intérêt (en anglais : Plain Vanilla Interest Rate Swap) et le swap sur matière première. D’autres termes comme les swaptions sont rapidement apparus à côté d’autres nouveaux produits financiers dont la valeur reposait sur des crédits immobiliers risqués et qui ont contribué à diffuser la crise bancaire mondiale.
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rédigés en espagnol, en français, en italien et en portugais (non traduits)
pour repérer — dans le cadre de la crise économique et financière qui a
frappé la planète depuis 2007 — les images et les variantes de chaque
métaphore. Le repérage des termes est accompagné d'une analyse des
nombreuses variantes terminologiques auxquelles les langues romanes ont
fait appel pour rendre transparentes les unités terminologiques de la
langue cible.
Pendant l’histoire du capitalisme, le monde a assisté à plusieurs crises
internationales de la dette. On peut en signaler trois au XIXe siècle et deux
au XXe siècle, dont la plus importante est sans doute celle de 1929 aux
États-Unis, nommée la Grande Dépression4. Chaque crise a fait appel à des
concepts de différents domaines pour expliquer le phénomène, les effets
ou les produits qui en sont à l’origine. Chaque crise a entraîné la naissance
ou la renaissance de métaphores associées à différents domaines comme
l'agriculture, la mécanique, la guerre, la météo, le corps, etc. Tel est le cas
de termes comme corralito, banque zombie5 (banque « pont »), krach,
injecter, bulle immobilière, séisme, tsunami financier6, turbulence,
tempête (La tempête des « subprime » (crédits immobiliers à forts taux et
à haut rendement), etc. Toutefois, nous n'avons retenu que les
métaphores nouvelles introduites dans les langues romanes d’arrivée,
héritées d’un état ancien ou d’un emprunt d’une autre langue.
Or, les néologismes de forme et les néologismes de sens repérés dans les
nombreux textes sur la crise mondiale qui a éclaté en 2007 comme
conséquence de la crise ninja et crise des subprime sont presque tous
issus de l’anglais. Comme l’affirme Sylvie Vandaele:
La néologie scientifique actuelle fait appel aux métaphores et non plus à la
création morphologique à partir de racines grecques ou latines (Raad,
1989). De plus, elle se fait en premier lieu en anglais. Souvent, dans les
autres langues, le terme anglais est conservé tel quel, même par les
spécialistes. Il est relativement aisé de comprendre pourquoi : les
publications sont en majorité rédigées en anglais ; les préoccupations des
chercheurs se situent ailleurs qu'au plan linguistique et, de plus, les
mécanismes de transfert linguistique, qui pourraient les aider à élaborer
4 La dépression toucha d'abord les États-Unis, puis gagna le reste de l'Amérique,
l'Europe et le monde. 5 L'origine du terme se trouve au Japon, dans la décennie perdue des années 90,
après la bulle immobilière des années 80. 6 Le mot tsunami, d’origine japonaise, est composé des racines « tsu » (port) et «
nami » (vagues).
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une terminologie pertinente dans leur propre langue, leur sont
généralement inconnus. (Vandaele, 2002: 229)
Dans le cas de la néologie sur la crise qui nous concerne, il y a encore
d'autres facteurs non moins importants qu'il ne faut pas négliger : cette
première récession du XXIe siècle, liée à une crise bancaire et immobilière,
désormais la plus longue, a été déclenchée aux États-Unis. L'économie des
États-Unis est encore l'économie de référence mondiale et pour l'instant la
plus puissante. La faillite de Lehman Brothers, — la banque américaine,
acteur majeur du marché des emprunts d’État américains, avait traversé la
crise de 1929 mais n'a pas résisté à celle des «subprime»— a marqué
l'économie mondiale car elle avait différents bureaux à travers le monde.
C’est aux États-Unis que les premières mesures contre la crise ont été
prises. C'est également aux États-Unis que fut annoncée la floraison des
premières « pousses vertes », pour indiquer le commencement de la
normalisation de l’économie. En somme sous l’impulsion de tous ces
phénomènes, l'économie, la culture et la langue anglaises règnent
volontiers sur tous les autres cultures.
Pour une bonne traduction de tous ces termes il faut les repérer, les
décrire et maîtriser toutes les variantes pour être en mesure de faire le bon
choix lors du processus de traduction. Des différentes unités
terminologiques repérées dans le discours de la crise de 2007 à 2010 nous
avons retenu les exemples suivants :
Bad Bank Good Bank; Green Shoots; Stock-Options (Bonus); Subprime loan, subprime mortgage; Subprime mortgage crisis; Toxic assets, Troubled assets, Impaired assets Good assets.
Pour la constitution de notre corpus nous avons dépouillé trois quotidiens
à grand tirage français (FR), espagnols (ES), italiens (IT) et portugais (PT)
dont l’un appartient au domaine spécialisé et les deux autres sont
généralistes. Dans l’encadré suivant nous présentons les sources utilisées
pour chacune des langues :
Espagnol (ES) Français (FR) Italien (IT) Portugais (PT)
Presse générale EM: El Mundo EP: El País
LF: Le Figaro LM: Le Monde
ICS: Il Corriere della sera LR: La República
DN: Diário de Noticias P: Público
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Presse spécialisée
Ex: Expansión LE: Les Échos IS024O: Il Sole 24 ore
JN: Jornal de Negócios
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Notre classification suit les critères de recherche suivants :
la période de temps : entre le 1/01/2007 et le 1/02/2010
le terme exact, toujours que possible
Or, les médias des langues romanes analysées ― l’espagnol (ES), le français
(FR), l'italien (IT) et le portugais (PT), ainsi que les variantes du portugais du
Brésil et du français du Québec ou de la Suisse — présentent de
nombreuses variantes, parfois fort complexes, pour le même concept.
Dans le schéma suivant nous illustrons le terme bad bank et ses variantes
dans les langues romanes analysées :
Variantes terminologiques de bad bank dans les langues romanes
analysées
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La variation, fortement conditionnée par des facteurs linguistiques,
sociolinguistiques et idéologiques, a fait l’objet d’études des disciplines
correspondantes. Cependant, pour notre propos nous nous attarderons sur
les approches traductologique et terminologique. L'analyse des concepts
économiques et financiers vus sous l'angle de la métaphore conceptuelle
et du modèle de la Socioterminologie7 —notamment de la théorie sur la
variation d’Enilde Faulstich (2002) — nous semble un modèle fonctionnel
pour notre propos. Nous en résumons les idées principales dans le schéma
suivant :
VARIATION
↓
variable
↓
_______________________
↓
variante
__________________
___
↓
________________
↓
concurrente
↓
co-occurrente
↓
compétitive
↓
variante formelle
_________________________
↓ ↓
synonyme emprunt
__________________
↓ ↓
v. term. lingüístiques v. term. de registre
↓ ↓
v.term. phonologique v. term.
géographique
v. term.morphologique v. term. du
discours
v. term.syntaxique v. term.
temporelle
v.term. lexicale
v.term.(typo)graphique
étrangérisme emprunt adapté
Variation de la dénomination (Faulstich, 2002)
7 C’est-à-dire la discipline qui s'intéresse au mouvement du terme dans les
langages de spécialité (Faulstich, 1998/1999).
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Ce modèle théorique nous permet de classifier les variantes à partir de
trois critères d'intérêt pour le traducteur qui doit bien savoir quelle est la
raison de la variation et l'usage avant de faire son choix et se prononcer
pour la variante pertinente dans la langue d’arrivée. Faulstich distingue
trois types de variantes :
- des variantes formelles dont la variation peut être d’ordre
linguistique (variantes terminologiques linguistiques) ou
extralinguistique mais reliée au texte, c´est-à dire, à la terminologie
en contexte, comme c’est le cas des variantes de registre, variantes
géographiques, variantes du discours ou variantes chronologiques.
- des variantes synonymiques ou variantes co-occurrentes
- des variantes compétitives, c´est-à-dire, concurrentes dans le
système linguistique comme il est le cas des emprunts linguistiques.
Dans le processus de décision terminologique le traducteur sait qu'il peut
admettre les variantes terminologiques synonymiques si le texte cible le lui
permet, notamment pour la vulgarisation. Par contre, le traducteur a le
choix parmi d’autres variantes formelles linguistiques présentes, non pas
forcément dans le même texte, mais dans les différentes sources de
documentation. Par exemple, dans les premières nouvelles de la crise
économique on trouvait dans la presse européenne des graphies
différentes pour le même terme anglais : l'anglicisme entre guillemets,
« subprime » ou en italique, subprime. Ce sont des variantes graphiques
qui mettent en relief l'unité terminologique8. À ce moment là, le traducteur
est confronté à prendre une décision et faire le bon choix avant d'adopter
l'une ou l'autre graphie.
Le processus de décision s'élargie de façon considérable si le même
traducteur décide que la forme étrangère n'est pas suffisamment
transparente et doit chercher une solution autochtone pour le même
référent dans la langue cible. Dans ce cas, il doit choisir entre, par exemple,
crédits subprime, crédits à risque, crédits à haut risque, crédits
hypothécaires à haut risque ou encore prêts hypothécaires à risque ou
prêts risqués. À ce moment là, le traducteur se trouve face à différentes
variantes compétitives. Il est obligé de choisir celle qui est capable de
fonctionner comme référence dans le texte. Nous avons remarqué que les
8 Même les calques ou les formes nationales de nouvelle création adoptent différentes
graphies ‘bancos malos’, bancos malos (ES) ; « banques poubelles », ‘banques poubelles’ (FR), etc.
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textes dépouillés de 2007 à 2010 montrent plusieurs scénarios
dénominatifs du nouveau concept :
- maintien de l'emprunt : subprime ou « subprime loans » et/ou de la
formation néologique nationale : crédits immobiliers à risque,
prêts hypothécaires à risque (FR).
- création de composés ou de dérivés hybrides : crédits subprime
(FR), crisi dei mutui subprime (IT),
- création d'unités terminologiques complexes hybrides dans les
langues cible : crédits hypothécaires à risque américains (subprime)
(FR), créditos hipotecarios subprime (ES).
- création d'un calque par simple transfert de la métaphore
originale : pousses vertes ou mauvaise banque (FR), bancos malos,
bancos buenos (ES) et
- maintien du terme étranger : stock-options.
Par ailleurs, le choix du traducteur sur les variantes compétitives doit
veiller à respecter également le génie de la langue, ainsi que la fréquence
d'usage de chaque variante et le type de discours à traduire. Sachant qu'il
est impossible de mener à bout dans cette analyse le fonctionnement de
toutes les unités terminologiques recensées et de leurs variantes dans les
langues romanes indiquées, nous nous limitons à l’étude détaillée de 3
unités terminologiques : bad bank, good bank et subprime
bad bank/ good bank (EN)
Les bads banks sont des banques ou sociétés constituées pour débarrasser
les établissements financiers et les bilans d’actifs illiquides — dits aussi
actifs toxiques, actifs ou crédits pourris et actifs suspects — dont on a déjà
parlé pendant les années 90. En français, l'expression la plus utilisée dans
la presse pour désigner ce concept est le néologisme national : structure
de défaisance9, construit, sans doute, à partir de defeasance (EN),
désendettement en français. En deuxième position (selon la fréquence
d'emploi) se trouve structure de cantonnement10. Ce dernier est un
élargissement sémantique du terme déjà existant auparavant.
Le qualificatif ‘mauvais’ qui figure dans le terme d´origine anglaise, bad
bank, est conservé dans toutes les langues soit avec l’emploi de
l´anglicisme lui-même soit avec des calques comme mauvaises banques
9 Le terme n'est documenté que très récemment dans le Grand Dictionnaire
Terminologique (GDT) et introduit seulement en 2009 dans l'IATE. 10
Qui figure dans le glossaire multilingue IATE depuis 2003 ou comme synonyme de structure de défaisance dans le GDT.
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(FR), bancos malos (ES), banca cattiva (IT), banco mau, mau banco, banco
ruim (PT). Néanmoins, en français, les variantes avec l'euphémisme
structure sont beaucoup plus employées que les variantes descriptives avec
le terme banque. En espagnol, par contre, le calque est le terme le plus
fréquent et la presse a réussi à imposer son usage face à l´anglicisme. Par
ailleurs, en espagnol, l'idée négative que traduit l'adjectif « mauvaise » est
plus marquée avec le calque (bancos malos, ES) qu'en français. Néanmoins,
en espagnol économique (par exemple dans le journal spécialisé Expansion,
désigné par EX), l'image de toxicité (bancos tóxicos), calquée des “activos
tóxicos (toxic assets)”, est la plus répandue. Cette image de toxicité est
inconnue dans la culture française pour qualifier la banque de sauvetage
qui a aussi recours à la forme banque poubelle, mais de façon
minoritaire11. Il faut conclure que le français a mobilisé les mécanismes de
la néologie de façon différente à la langue espagnole : il a réussi à créer un
terme ex novo purement descriptif là où l'espagnol a pris l'image de
toxicité. Nous constatons que la présence des images n'est pas uniforme
dans toutes les langues ni dans tous les termes. Par ailleurs, il existe une
forte concurrence, entre l´emprunt anglais et les termes descriptifs ; il y a
même des images qui ont réussi à bannir le terme étranger : hipotecas
basura, où l’image de la saleté s’impose en espagnol dès le début de la
crise.
À côté des variantes lexicales bancos malos ou bancos tóxicos associées à
l’image de la ‘toxicité’ou de la ‘mauvaise qualité’, il y a des termes qui
désignent les établissements qui devraient permettre l’assainissement des
autres banques. De là les images qui font référence à la ‘bonté’ ou à la
‘santé’ dans bonne banque, banque assainie, banque en bonne santé ou
banque dépouillée des actifs toxiques (FR) ; bancos buenos (good bank),
bancos sanos ou bancos saneados (ES). En effet, dans cette profusion de
termes il faut faire la différence entre les images positives et les images
négatives. Il va s’en dire que, dû au caractère négatif du phénomène de la
crise, la plus grande créativité lexicale se penche sur le côté des
expressions négatives.
Subprime
Bien qu'il n'existe pas de définition normalisée, nous pouvons affirmer que
les subprime, prêts subprime ou crédits à haut risque aux États-Unis est
un instrument financier visant des personnes à faibles revenus et une
11
Cependant, le français a retenu les expressions actifs toxiques, emprunts toxiques ou produits toxiques.
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solvabilité douteuse. Grâce à des taux plus élevés et à des clausules plus
exigeantes de nombreuses personnes ont pu obtenir un emprunt ou un
crédit dans ces conditions. L’expression prêts subprime englobe une variété
de types de crédit, y compris les hypothécaires, les prêts-auto, et les cartes
de crédit.
L’expression prêts subprime, a été popularisée par les médias au cours de
la « crise financière » de 2007. Cependant l’anglicisme n’est retenu ni dans
le Grand dictionnaire terminologique d’Office québécois de la langue ni
dans France Terme. Le terme n’est pas admis par la norme de la langue
française. Par contre, le Grand dictionnaire terminologique d’Office
québécois de la langue offre la forme anglo-saxonne employée en anglais
dans le domaine du commerce (subprime borrower (EN) / « emprunteur à
haut risque » (FR) n. m.) et dans les finances: subprime lender (prêteur à
haut risque (FR), n. m.); subprime loan (prêt à haut risque (FR) n. m.) avec
la définition suivante: "A loan that has a higher risk of default than a loan
to a prime borrower." En fait il s’agit d’une expression du marché
hypothécaire aux États-Unis qui au moment de son introduction, en 2007,
n’avait pas de forme équivalente officielle ni en français ni dans les autres
langues en question. Au sujet de l’emploi de subprime dans les médias
francophones, écrivent Élisabeth Lavault-Olléon et Véronique Sauron :
On voit la difficulté de rendre compte de cette réalité en français en
essayant de « faire court », subprime étant un raccourci de subprime loan
(prêt à haut risque) ou subprime mortgage (prêt hypothécaire à haut
risque) ou subprime product (produit à risques)
http://ilcea.revues.org/index210.html
Dans le tableau suivant nous présentons, par ordre de fréquence, les
différentes variantes terminologiques repérées dans les médias des
langues romanes du terme subprime :
ANGLAIS (EN) FRANÇAIS (FR) ESPAGNOL (ES) ITALIEN (IT) PORTUGAIS(PT)
LE, LF, LM
Subprime
Crédits à risque/risqués
Prêts à risque/risqués
Crédits immobiliers à risque
Crédits subprime
Hipoteca basura
Hipoteca subprime
Crédito subprime
Hipoteca de alto
Mutui subprime
Titoli spazzatura
Prestito subprime
Crédito a rischio
Crédito
hipotecário de
alto risco
Crédito de alto(-
)risco
Hipotecas de alto
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Crédits hypothécaires à
risque
Prêts subprime
Crédits hypothécaires à
risque aux États-Unis
Crédits hypothécaires à
risque américain
Prêts immobilier à risque
« Subprime loans »
Crédits hypothécaires à haut
risque
Prêts à haut risque
Prêts hypothécaire à haut
risque
Crédits à haut risque
Suprime mortgage
Crédits à risque (subprime)
Prêts hypothécaires à risque
aux États-Unis
Prêts ninja
riesgo
Hipoteca de mala
calidad
Créditos subprime
préstamos subprime
Préstamos de alto
riesgo
Créditos de alto
riesgo
Créditos
hipotecarios de alto
riesgo
Préstamos
hipotecarios de alto
riesgo
Créditos
hipotecarios
(subprime)
hipotecas de mala
calidad
Préstamos
hipotecarios
(subprime)
Mutuo ad alto rischio
Creditio dubbi
Mutuo a rischio
Mutuo spazzatura
Prestito a rischio
Credito non
performing
Prestito ad alto rischio
Credito ad alto rischio
Credito cattivi
Strumento finanziario
ad alto riscio
Credito subprime
Mutuo ipotecario de
qualità non primaria
Prestito di qualitá non
primaria
Mutui rischiosi
Mutuo di qualitá non
primaria
risco
Crédito subprime
Hipoteca
subprime
Empréstimo de
má qualidade
Crédito
inmobiliário de
má cualidade
Crédito ninja
Hipoteca(-)lixo
Subprime loan,
subprime
mortgage)
Crise du subprime/crise
subprime ou crise des
subprime
Crise immobilière
Crise hypothécaire à haut
risque (subprime)
Crise de liquidité/de
liquidités/ des liquidités
Crise immobilière américaine
Crise crédits hypothécaires à
Crisis del subprime Crisis hipotecaria Crisis ninja
Crisi dei mutui Crisi dei mutui subprime Crisi dei subprime Crisi subprime Crisi dei mutui a rischio Crisi dei mutui ad alto rischio Crisi dei subprime americani
Crise do subprime Crise do crédito de alto risco Crise hipotecária Crise subprime Crise do crédito subprime Crise das hipotecas de alto risco
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haut risque subprime
Crise des prêts hypothécaires
à risque
Crise crédits à risque
Crise crédits à risque
subprime
Crise crédits hypothécaires à
haut risque
Nous constatons que les termes employés présentent de nombreuses
variantes, des variantes linguistiques (typographiques, morphologiques,
lexicales) et des variantes compétitives : subprime, « subprimes » (FR);
subPrime (IT) ; la crise du « subprime » ; la crise de la subprime (FR);
hipotecas basura, hipoteca de alto riesgo, créditos hipotecarios de alto
riesgo (ES); empréstimo de má qualidade, hipotecas de alto risco (PT);
mutui rischiosi, prestito ad alto rischio (IT); subprime ou crédits à haut
risque ; crédits immobiliers à risque, « subprimes » (FR); etc. Dans ces
deux derniers cas, l’anglicisme est accompagné de la formation nationale.
Cette solution permet le maintien de l’effet émotif et culturel du terme
originaire renforcé par l’explication pour un lecteur-destinataire qui
méconnaît le concept ou n’est pas familiarisé avec le sens et l’instrument
financier. Dans les textes plus récents apparaissent encore d’autres
variantes où, suivant le principe d'économie, les unités terminologiques
sont de moins en moins complexes : crédit à risque ou crédit risqué (FR),
crisi dei mutui (IT).
Les variantes partent en général de l’unité terminologique anglaise,
introduite dans toutes les langues dans un premier temps, mais la
recherche d’un langage ordinaire, susceptible de se substituer au langage
technique, sans doute plus précis mais moins transparent pour le non
spécialiste, appelle en quelque sorte la mise sur pied de paires de termes
synonymiques, c'est-à-dire des termes qui servent à désigner la même
entité. Le fondement de la relation synonymique ainsi conçue c’est, en fait,
la coexistence des termes.
Toutefois, les langues romanes ne réagissent pas de la même manière face
au néologisme : alors que le français et l’espagnol accordent une
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préférence pour l'explication autochtone qui devient la plus utilisée,
l’italien présente la plupart de ses variantes majoritaires sous la forme
d’emprunts ou de termes hybrides. Par ailleurs, les images à plus grand
succès dans les langues romanes pendant cette crise mondiale (2007-2010)
sont des images en rapport avec le ‘haut risque’ et la ‘toxicité’. Néanmoins,
la distribution des images diffère d’une langue à l’autre et elle ne se
manifeste pas dans toutes les unités terminologiques de la même façon.
Par exemple : le succès de l´image de la ‘saleté’ pour les crédits à risque en
espagnol (hipotecas basura) marque sa différence par rapport à l’italien,
au portugais ou au français qui n'a pas créé un terme du type *crédit
poubelle, en parallèle à banque poubelle, par exemple. De même, c'est
uniquement la langue espagnole qui a retenu l´image de ‘toxicité’ à la fois
pour les actifs et pour les banques (activos tóxicos, bancos tóxicos). En
somme, nous avons remarqué que les langues romanes font preuve d’une
grande vitalité face à l’introduction de nouvelles images, mais pour faire le
bon choix lors du processus de traduction il faut savoir que l´association
d´une image à une unité, et non pas à une autre, dépend des variables
sémantiques, communicatives et situationnelles.
Biographie
Áurea Fernández Rodríguez est maître de Conférences à la Faculté de Philologie et de Traduction de l'Université de Vigo (Espagne) où elle enseigne la traduction de textes économiques et financiers.
Elle a fait partie de deux équipes de recherches sur la traduction en Espagne, financées par le ministère espagnol des Science et des Technologie et le FEDER, en partenariat avec l'Université de Vigo et de l'Université de Barcelone. Elle a également contribué à plusieurs colloques internationaux et publications sur la traduction en Europe (Suisse, Roumanie, Allemagne, France et Espagne) et en Amérique (Québec, Brésil et Cuba).
Son ouvrage intitulé La Bolsa y su entorno en España y Francia / Le monde de la Bourse en Espagne et en France (sous presse) paraîtra aux PUM (Presses Universitaires du Mirail) à Toulouse, France.
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Contact
Áurea Fernández Rodríguez & Iolanda Galanes Santos
Departamento de Tradución e Lingüística
Facultade de Tradución e Lingüística
Universidade de Vigo
Campus Lagoas Marcosende
36310 Vigo- Espagne
aurea@uvigo.es
iolag@uvigo.es
Références biblographiques
CABRÉ CASTELLVÍ, M. T., (2006), «La clasificación de neologismos: una tarea compleja», Alfa, 50 (2), Saõ Paulo, pp. 229-250.
CABRÉ CASTELLVÍ, M. T., (1999), La terminología. Representación y comunicación. Elementos para una teoría de base comunicativa y otros artículos. (Sèrie Monografies 3). Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra / Institut Universitari de Lingüística Aplicada.
FAULSTICH, Enilde, (1998-1999), « Principes formels et fonctionnels de la variation en terminologie », dans Terminology, Vol. 5 (1), pp. 93-106.
FAULSTICHT, E., (2002), « Variação em terminologia. Aspectos de Socioterminologia”. En GUERRERO RAMOS, G. E PÉREZ LAGOS, M.F.(COORDS.). Panorama actual de la terminología. Granada: Comares, pp. 65-91.
LAKOFF, George & JOHNSON, Mark, (1985), Les Métaphores dans la vie quotidienne, Paris : Éditions de Minuit.
NEWMARK, Peter, (1982), Approaches to Translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
SAMANIEGO FERNÁNDEZ, E., (2002), «Prescripción y descripción: la metáfora en los estudios de traducción». En Trans, n.º 6, p. 47-61.
SANTIBANEZ, Cristián. (2009), “Metáforas y argumentación: Lugar y función de las metáforas conceptuales en la actividad argumentativa”. Rev. signos [En ligne]. vol. 42, n. 70, pp. 245-269, http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-09342009000200005&script=sci_arttext [Consulté le 28 octobre 2009].
STAMBUK, A., (1998), « Metaphor in Scientific Communication ». Meta, vol. 43, n° 3, pp. 373-379.
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SERÓN ORDÓÑEZ, Inmaculada, (2005), “La traducción de la metáfora en los textos financieros: estudio de caso”, en María Gracia Torres (coord.), Traducción y cultura: el referente cultural en la comunicación especializada, Encasa Ediciones y Publicaciones, 205-250
STAMBUK, A. (1998), «Metaphor in Scientific Communication », Meta, vol. 43, nº 3, pp. 373-379
VANDAELE, Sylvie, (2002), Métaphores conceptuelles en traduction biomédicale et cohérence, TTR : traduction, terminologie, rédaction, Volume 15, numéro 1, 1er semestre, p. 223-239, [En ligne], http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/006807ar
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Le langage de la crise à l´étude
Marie-Evelyne Le Poder
Université de Grenade
Résumé
Selon Joaquín Almunia, commissaire européen chargé des affaires
économiques et monétaires, la crise financière et économique s´est
amorcée au premier semestre de 2007, et la presse européenne a
commencé à en faire écho au cours de l´été de la même année. Notre
communication porte sur une analyse du vocabulaire de la crise en langue
espagnole, et s´appuie sur la construction d´un corpus de textes provenant
du quotidien national espagnol El País à caractère divulgatif. Certes, nous
aurions pu porter notre choix sur des quotidiens ou des mensuels plus
spécialisés tels que Expansión, Cinco Días, la Gaceta de los Negocios ou
Actualidad Económica ; cependant, nous avons délibéremment opté pour
El País, en pensant qu´il s´agissait d´une option qui n´est pas dépourvue
d´intérêt. En effet, l´on y trouve des contributions d´économistes réputés
qui, tout en conservant la rigueur nécessaire à leurs analyses et faisant
usage d´une terminologie spécifique, probablement s´expriment dans un
langage plus intelligible pour les non experts en économie.
Les origines de la crise
À l´orée de 2007, après plus de cinq années de croissance, le monde a été
brusquement frappé par la crise des subprimes, dont on subit aujourd´hui
encore les effets, première étape d´une crise financière et économique
sans précédent depuis la fin de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.
Les subprimes, également connus comme crédits subprimes ou prêts
hypothécaires à risque, furent octroyés à des foyers américains à faible
revenu. Ces crédits, gagés sur le logement de l´emprunteur, furent
concédés à des ménages américains ayant des revenus modestes,
permettant ainsi à de nombreux américains d´accéder à la propriété. Ils se
caractérisaient par des taux d´intérêt variables et de niveau élevé avec, en
contrepartie, des critères d´attribution moins stricts que pour des crédits
classiques.
Au cours des deux premières années, les organismes bancaires
proposèrent des taux bas aux emprunteurs afin de rendre le crédit
alléchant, mais rapidement, le taux s´avéra être plus élevé pour
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l´emprunteur et plus attractif pour le prêteur afin de faire face au risque de
non remboursement. En 2007, près de trois millions de foyers américains
se trouvaient en situation de défaut de paiement. De plus, les taux
d´intérêt de ces crédits étaient indexés sur le taux directeur de la banque
centrale américaine qui, entre 2004 et 2007, passa de 1% à plus de 5%.
Parallèlement, la demande et la valeur des biens immobiliers chutèrent.
Lorsque les ménages furent incapables de rembourser les prêts, la crise se
propagea aux établissements de crédit et au secteur financier, générant
ainsi un manque de liquidité.
En Espagne, comme dans d´autres pays, les banques qui avaient investi en
actifs financiers liés au marché hypothécaire nord-américain, sentirent les
premiers effets de la crise. Afin d´apaiser la tension vécue par les marchés,
la Banque centrale européenne, la Réserve fédérale américaine et la
Banque japonaise se virent dans l´obligation d´injecter de l´argent dans le
système financier. Le manque d´argent pallié, en partie, par les banques
centrales, durcit les conditions d´octroi de crédits et entrepreneurs et
consommateurs, déjà très endettés, se retrouvèrent dans une difficile
situation. La méfiance des banques à se prêter entre elles accéléra
l´escalade de l´Euribor.
Au sein d´une économie chaque fois plus globalisée, un problème en
apparence local comme l´explosion de la bulle immobilière aux États-Unis a
étendu ses effets de par le monde, ayant des répercussions sur la
croissance économique actuelle.
La crise a également une retombée sur la communication financière et
économique, qui se traduit, entre autres, par l´apparition d´un nouveau
vocabulaire qui accompagne et complète le vocabulaire « traditionnel » de
l´économie.
Le cadre théorique
Le cadre théorique de notre recherche s´articule autour de l´approche
terminographique descriptive (Pavel, S. et Nolet, D 2002) (Riggs, F., Mälkiä,
M. et Budin, G 1997 : 184-196), qui part du principe que la connaissance
réelle est biaisée culturellement et que les diverses situations
communicatives brisent le schéma communicatif classique de « spécialiste
à spécialiste » et inclut, entre autres, le discours divulgatif. Ainsi, la notion
de niveau d´abstraction, degré de spécialisation ou densité terminologique
joue un rôle prépondérant et le terme est étudié in vivo, dans des
documents ou des actes communicatifs concrets, et non pas in vitro.
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Le vocabulaire se mouvant dans les textes, nous avons commencé notre
travail par une analyse des typologies textuelles qui a été réalisée à partir
de la typologie multiniveau de conception cogniviste, développée par
Ciaspucio et Kuguel (2002) et Ciaspucio (2003). Le niveau divulgatif est le
centre de notre attention. Ont également été considérés le paramètre de
la connaissance transmise par ces textes, ainsi que leur possible
classification dans les niveaux horizontal (en fonction de la thématique), et
vertical (en fonction du degré de spécialisation) (Cabré 2002).
Objectifs
Il s´agit d´analyser et de décrire le vocabulaire de la crise qui est présent
dans les textes de la presse générale à caractère divulgatif, en tenant
compte du fait que la communication financière et économique n´est plus
limitée au cercle restreint des spécialistes de ce champ de connaissance, et
que sa divulgation dans la presse contribue à ce qu´elle soit accessible à de
très nombreux récepteurs.
Concrètement, les procédés d´analyse et de description portent sur la
nature du vocabulaire. Le type d´analyse pragmatique du lexique a trait aux
processus de création néologique : emprunts ; suffixation ; préfixation ;
composition ; sigles ; acronymes ; phénomènes haplologiques ;
métaphores ; banalisation ; synonymie et variation dénominative.
Au-delà de cette communication, à court terme, notre objectif est
d´agrandir notre corpus afin qu´il soit le plus représentatif possible de la
langue de la crise financière et économique, et d´y inclure une collection
beaucoup plus ample de textes : spécialisés, académiques, didactiques et
professionnels.
Méthodologie
La méthodologie utilisée est celle de la linguistique de corpus et les
résultats de l´analyse sont conduits, guidés par les données ; perspective
data driven (Tognini-Bonelli 2001).
De nos jours, il serait impensable d´observer le comportement d´un
élément linguistique quelconque sans se baser sur un corpus textuel et
compter sur un outil d´analyse qui puisse avaler les résultats obtenus. Le
programme utilisé est WordSmith Tools. Chacun des outils spécifiques du
programme (Concord ; Keywords, et Wordlist), est composé d´une série
d´instruments d´analyse et de fonctions qui permettent, notamment
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d´observer des mots ou groupements de mots spécialisés en contexte et
d´élaborer des listes d´unités lexicales. Le corpus, construit à partir du
supplément économique du dimanche du quotidien El País, sur la période
comprise entre août 2007 et juillet 2009, comprend 533 textes, parmi
lesquels sont représentés les genres journalistiques de la nouvelle ; la
chronique et l´article d´opinion.
Résultats - Discussion
La première constatation est que les procédés de création de néologismes
dans le langage de la crise sont, dans leur immense majorité similaires à
ceux qui ont été utilisés dans l´élaboration des vocabulaires du champ des
sciences humaines et sociales.
Les emprunts
La présence de nombreux emprunts à la langue anglaise, sous la forme
d´anglicismes ou de calques, est l´une des principales caractéristiques du
lexique. Sans aucun doute, des raisons d´ordre historique et à la fois
économique permettent d´expliquer ce phénomène. En effet, n´oublions
pas, comme le souligne Gómez de Enterría (2009 : 22) que l´œuvre de
Adam Smith « The Wealth of Nations » (1776), a marqué la naissance de
l´économie en tant que science.
Parmi les anglicismes qui apparaissent et qui ont été adaptés, accionista
mayoritario/a (“*…+ a la que acudió la familia Del Pino, accionista
mayoritaria de Ferrovial”), qui provient de majority shareholder; arbitraje
(“En caso de conflicto, se establecerán sistemas de arbitraje y un régimen
de sanciones”), qui trouve son origine dans arbitrage; autorregulación del
sistema financiero (“El ex presidente de la Reserva Federal ha reconocido
esta semana haber confiado excesivamente en la capacidad de
autorregulación del sistema financiero”), de financial system self-
regulation; banco de inversión (“Voluntariamente o por obligación, los
bancos de inversión se han convertido en bancos comerciales”), de
investment bank; fondo de inversión (“En Alemania, los activos de un
fondo de inversión del Deutsche Bank han caído un 30% desde el 31 de
julio”), de hedge fund; hipoteca de alto riesgo (“La crisis de las hipotecas de
alto riesgo ha desencadenado una crisis de liquidez que se ha extendido a
gran velocidad por todo el mundo”), de subprime; burbuja inmobiliaria
(“Cada vez son más las voces que vinculan directamente esta crisis con la
explosión de la burbuja inmobiliaria en EEUU *…+”), de property bubble;
deflación (“En última instancia, ese círculo vicioso puede complicarse
sobremanera si finalmente llega la deflación *…+”), de deflation…
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En de rares occasions, l´on y trouve des anglicismos d´origine latine comme
bonus (“El consejo acordó también otorgarle bonus y opciones sobre
acciones por más de 10 millones de dólares”).
Dans d´autres cas, les emprunts sont directs et s´incorporent à la langue
espagnole sans aucun changement, comme c´est le cas de stock (“No hay
cifras oficiales sobre el stock de viviendas sin vender”); subprime (“La gran
mayoría de los expertos coincide en señalar que la banca está a salvo de la
crisis de las subprime”); dumping (“*…+ añade que no hay riesgo de ser
acusados de dumping”).
La suffixation
Certains suffixes se répètent avec une grande fréquence dans notre corpus,
et pour cette raison, font l´objet des exemples suivants. Il s´agit des suffixes
–ción, -idad y –dor.
Le suffixe –ción participe à la formation de termes comme globalización
(“En el fondo, el papel del Estado y la llegada de esas nuevas reglas del
juego suponen reabrir un debate de ideas soterrado antes de la crisis por el
triunfo sin paliativos de la liberalización financiera y la globalización”), ou
d´autres comme nacionalización (“Y muchos de esos gigantes *…+ están al
borde de la nacionalización”); ou cotización (“La Administración de Obama
se resiste a hacerlo a las claras: usa acciones sin derecho a voto y obliga a
buscar accionistas privados para que la cotización bursátil no se diluya”).
Ce sont des termes qui jouissent d´une certaine tradition dans le secteur de
l´économie. Ils sont construits sur la base verbale en –izar.
Quand au suffixe –idad, il contribue à la formation de nominalisations à
bases adjectivales terminées en –ble : rentable donne rentabilidad
(“Además, la rentabilidad de los bonos baja y arrastra los tipos de interés
reales del resto de la economía”). Dans d´autres cas, le suffixe –idad se
combine avec des bases terminées en –l : colegial donne colegialidad (“Una
objeción a la expansión del grupo es que perderá intimidad, colegialidad");
volátil, volatilidad (“*…+ algunos analistas consideran que todavía se van a
producir algunas turbulencias importantes y un buen ejemplo es la
volatilidad de los mercados de bonos”).
Enfin, le suffixe –dor, joue un rôle non négligeable dans le corpus. Par
exemple, de suministrar, suministrador (“Por su parte, *…+, el mayor
suministrador de hipotecas del país, pretende que se le conceda una
financiación de hasta 10.000 millones de libras”), ou de prestar, prestador
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(“Alemania, uno de nuestros principales compradores, es un país
netamente prestador de dinero *…+").
La préfixation
Le préfixe –des, qui permet de définir une action contraire à celle du mot
de base, est fréquemment associé à des verbes terminés en –ar comme par
exemple, desacelerar et desaceleración (“La intensidad en la
desaceleración del mercado inmobiliario será una de las claves en la
evolución de 2008”); descapitalizar, descapitalización (El temor a la
descapitalización e incluso a la quiebra está fundado, como ya han
demostrado los casos de Fortis (Bélgica) *…+”).
Le préfixe –des intervient aussi avec des bases nominales:
desabastecimiento (“El temor al desabastecimiento que se vivió estos días
hace mella en el maltrecho ánimo del consumidor”); desaclopamiento
(“*…+ en la actualidad parece que podría haber al menos un
desacoplamiento parcial"); desempleo (“El desempleo, que afecta ya a 3,4
millones de personas en España, *…+”); desajuste (“Cuanto mayor es el
desajuste, más se tarda en resolver el desaguisado").
Le préfixe –inter, qui fait référence à des relations entre divers objets ou
entités, s´emploie souvent avec des adjectifs, comme interanual (“Fuentes
de la Asociación Española de Banca (AEB) argumentan que el sector ha
elevado el crédito cerca de un 10% interanual”); interbancario (“A pesar de
que la contracción del crédito interbancario se ha empezado a mitigar tras
el rescate de los sistemas financieros en los países avanzados *…+”).
Le préfixe –super, exprime une grande importance, une nette supériorité,
ou une valeur intense : superagencia (“Para ello, no habrá superagencia
estatal al estilo de la que se creó tras la Gran Depresión”) ; superejecutivo
(“Casi todos los analistas consideran que no es pronto para atribuir la
catástrofe a una excesiva permisividad en los mercados aderezado por el
exceso de liquidez y la avaricia de unos cuantos superejecutivos de
entidades financieras”); superpotencia (“La UE es una superpotencia
económica pero no actúa como tal").
Le préfixe –sobre, marque un certain excès, un degré extrême :
sobrecapacidad (“*…+ pero los problemas de Frigo no van ligados a la
demanda, sino a la sobrecapacidad de su planta catalana”);
sobreproducción (“Los importadores cifran en un 30% la sobreproducción
de automóviles”); sobrerregulación (“¿Estamos ante el fin de la innovación
financiera? ¿Existe riesgo de sobrerregulación?”).
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Enfin, le préfixe –re, exprime la répétition, le recommencement, et sert à
former les substantifs, les verbes...:Par exemple: reinversión (“*…+ su
organización se basa en el capital colectivo, la toma de decisiones
colegiada y la reinversión de beneficios”); reequilibrio ("Hay un reequilibrio
del patrón del crecimiento”); reajustar (“*…+ recuperar las economías de
escala y reajustar las plantillas”).
La composition
La plupart des procédés de composition utilisés trouvent leur origine dans
la composition syntagmatique. Les composés sont, généralement,
endocentriques.
La structure la plus fréquente des composés endocentriques est substantif
+ adjectif : crisis financiera (“El miedo a que la crisis financiera salpique al
conjunto de la economía en Estados Unidos”); banco hipotecario (“La crisis
afecta al quinto banco hipotecario británico y vuelve a sacudir las Bolsas”) ;
crédito corporativo (“La entidad cuenta con "un perfil de riesgo medio-bajo
y predecible", y señaló que el 62% de su balance corresponde a créditos a
clientes, mientras que, de este total, un 83% es en financiación a
particulares y pymes (banca comercial) y un 17% a crédito corporativo”);
mercado inmobiliario (“"Las entidades de tamaño pequeño y mediano
tienen una gran concentración de negocio en el mercado inmobiliario y en
las constructoras”); mayor crecimiento (“La institución financiera
holandesa -presente también en España como banco por Internet- es una
de las de mayor crecimiento en Estados Unidos”).
La majeure partie des composés syntagmatiques sont nominaux et
présentent des structures syntactiques caractéristiques, comme, par
exemple, la structure substantif + de + substantif : suspensión de pagos
(“Los precios de los seguros contra la suspensión de pagos de la deuda *…+
se han disparado para aquellos países europeos que sufren una fuerte
desaceleración económica”); depreciación de activos ("Los bancos deben
revelar rápida y completamente su exposición al riesgo, la depreciación de
activos y sus estimaciones de pérdidas"); mercado de deuda (“Y por si no
fuera suficiente con los problemas financieros vinculados al mercado de
deuda”).
D´autres structures sont importantes comme substantif + de + substantif +
adjectif: crisis de liquidez internacional (“España es muy vulnerable a la
crisis de liquidez internacional *…+”); mercado de combustibles
tradicionales (“Ha supuesto también un fuerte frenazo a las inversiones en
energías renovables que, con el petróleo en el entorno de los 150 dólares,
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parecían la única alternativa posible al mercado de combustibles
tradicionales”); plan de estímulo fiscal (“Pese a que ha sido mucho más
tibio con los bancos que con el plan de estímulo fiscal *…+”); fondos de
inversión especulativos (“*…+ si la lógica financiera sigue ignorando las
señales que envía el resto de la economía, será el debate sobre el
funcionamiento de los mercados de futuros y de los fondos de inversión
especulativos lo que cotizará al alza”).
Substantif + adjectif + adjectif: sistema financiero internacional (“el
Eurogrupo ha solicitado un informe al Comité Económico y Financiero para
mejorar la transparencia del sistema financiero internacional”); mercado
laboral estadounidense (“El mercado laboral estadounidense fue el
epicentro del nuevo temblor que se propagó ayer por todas las plazas
occidentales”).
Substantif + adjectif + de + substantif: plan francés de ayuda (“Bruselas da
el visto bueno al plan francés de ayuda al automóvil”).
Il est également courant de trouver des composés qui s´emploient avec des
prépositions différentes. Substantif + en + substantif : empleo en empresas
(“*…+ los expedientes de regulación de empleo en empresas importantes ya
están dejando a trabajadores del ramo en paro”); inversión en vivienda (“El
BBVA prevé un estancamiento de la inversión en vivienda en 2008”).
Substantif + por + substantif: pagos por el petróleo (“*…+ el fortalecimiento
del dólar encarece los pagos por el petróleo”); hipoteca por la vivienda
(“Además, la subida del Euríbor no sólo afecta a la hipoteca por la vivienda
*…+”).
Les sigles
Procédé très utilisé en économie, le sigle donne lieu à diverses formations
parmi lesquelles certaines sont déjà traditionnelles comme, FED : Sistema
de Reserva Federal (Reserve System Federal Reserve System, en anglais);
BCE : Banco Central Europeo (ECB: European Central Bank, en anglais) ; FMI
: Fondo Monetario Internacional (IMF : International Monetary Fund).
D´autres plus récents, comme RSE: Responsabilidad Social de la Empresa
(“*…+, el eje troncal es la responsabilidad social de la empresa (RSE), que se
manifiesta a través de una nueva empresa responsable y sostenible”); ECF:
Establecimientos Financieros de Crédito (“*…+ y eso que no recoge la
morosidad de los establecimientos financieros de crédito (ECF), con tasa de
impagos muy elevada”).; ICO: Instituto de Crédito Oficial (“Y ese desarrollo
implica que el Estado, a través del Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO),
adelantará este dinero a las entidades que, voluntariamente, colaboren
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con la medida”); BAI: Beneficio Antes de Impuestos (“El beneficio antes de
impuestos (BAI) del último semestre, *…+, ha sido positivo para siete de
cada diez empresas encuestadas”); AFI: Analistas Financieros
Internacionales (“"La caída del segundo trimestre será menor", corrobora
Carlos Maravall, de Analistas Financieros Internacionales (AFI)”); FDIC:
Corporación Federal de Aseguradora de Depósitos, Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, en anglais (“Últimamente, la Corporación Federal
de Seguros de Depósitos (FDIC) ha estado incautándose de bancos que
considera insolventes a razón de aproximadamente uno por semana”).
Par ailleurs, on trouve dans le lexique des sigles alphanumériques “Otros
sugieren que haya grupos distintos para cada cuestión; por ejemplo, (“un
C-15 para el cambio climático, un D-23 para el desarrollo, un E-19 para la
seguridad energética y así sucesivamente, hasta llegar al Z-99 para la
diversidad zoológica”).
Les acronymes
Quand aux acronymes, l´Euribor en est un bon exemple. Il s´agit de
l´acronyme de European Interbank Offered Bank, c´est-à-dire taux
interbancaire offert entre banques (“El Euribor a un mes subió ayer hasta
el 4,82%, y a tres meses hasta el 4,81% *…+”).
Les phénomènes haplologiques
Il s´agit d´un phénomène qui consiste en l´amuïssement d´un ou de
plusieurs phonèmes répétés ou proches comme dans l´exemple suivant :
“Vivimos una estanflación *inflación y estancamiento al mismo tiempo+ en
miniatura y necesitamos una política monetaria neutra”).
Les métaphores
Le lexique abonde en métonymies, définies comme le changement lexical
produit par la fusion de formes contiguës. Dans de nombreux syntagmes
terminologiques, l´on observe la présence de la métonymie : banca privada
(“Dubai y Singapur, *…+, se están transformando en centros de banca
privada regionales que ofrecen una gran competencia a refugios
tradicionales como Suiza”); economía real (“La crisis actual encierra un
grave peligro, porque puede extenderse de los mercados financieros a la
economía real”). Pour leur part, les métaphores prennent également la
forme de syntagmes terminologiques: burbuja financiera (“La caída supera
a la de 1883, cuando se salía de otra burbuja financiera”) ; burbuja
inmobiliaria (“Cada vez son más las voces que vinculan directamente esta
crisis con la explosión de la burbuja inmobiliaria en EEUU *…+”); hipoteca
basura (“La economía está a punto de incorporar una nueva palabra a su
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vocabulario: subprime, una endiablada modalidad hipotecaria
estadounidense traducida como hipoteca basura, tóxica o incluso loca”).
Sont également fréquentes les métaphores qui proviennent d´unités
monolexicales : metástasis (“La metástasis de las subprime *…+ se ha ido
extendiendo sin dramatismos, sin viernes negros bursátiles, pero en un
crescendo doloroso”); paro (Así que de la mano del paro galopante y de la
lejana convergencia con el continente *…+”); turbulencia (“Los mandatarios
han reconocido que la turbulencia en los mercados financieros mundiales
es un desafío y algo más prolongado que lo que habían anticipado”);
distorsión (“*…+ es improbable que exista una severa distorsión en los
precios del sector inmobiliario").
La banalisation des termes
Le lexique analysé permet de constater un phénomène de banalisation des
termes, de généralisation, un processus selon lequel des termes
spécifiques provenant de champs spécialisés se retrouvent dans le lexique
commun de la langue. Par exemple ; apalancamiento, activos hipotecarios,
activos inmobiliarios, desplome, tipos de los depósitos, tipos nominales…Il
existe certes des degrés de banalisation en fonction du type de relation
qui, à un moment donné, s´établit entre le champ spécialisé de départ et la
vie quotidienne. La banalisation d´un terme est sujette à la divulgation que
le concept désigné est susceptible d´acquérir au sein de la société.
La fluctuation des mots. La variation.
Le lexique se caractérise également par la présence de synonymes pour
faire référence à une même notion : expansión del crédito / expansión
crediticia (“*…+ los bancos centrales promovieron una gran expansión del
crédito con la brusca bajada de los tipos de interés”) / (“Gracias a los bajos
tipos de interés, a la liquidez mundial y a la liberalización hemos tenido una
burbuja de expansión crediticia que se ha ido reforzando a sí misma a lo
largo de 25 años,”); desempleo / paro (“El 8,1% de tasa de desempleo
previsto para 2007 subirá al 8,5% en 2008 camino del 9,1% de 2009”) / (“El
repunte del paro aviva el miedo a una recesión en Estados Unidos”);
iliquidez / falta de liquidez (“Estas situaciones de iliquidez de múltiples
suelos llevarán a muchos procesos de suspensión de pagos entre las
empresas *…+”) / (“*…+, la falta de liquidez y endurecimiento de las
condiciones de los préstamos avalan las posiciones de quienes defienden
bajar el precio del dinero para no estrangular el crecimiento económico
*…+”).
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Conclusion
Notre recherche, basée sur l´approche terminographique descriptive, nous
a permis de mener à bien une analyse et une description du vocabulaire de
la crise qui se meut dans les textes divulgatifs de la presse générale en
langue espagnole. La méthodologie de la linguistique de corpus et les
résultats de l´analyse, guidés par la perspective data driven, ont contribué
à vérifier que les procédés de création de néologismes dans le langage de
la crise sont, généralement, les mêmes que ceux qui sont utilisés dans
l´élaboration des vocabulaires du champ des sciences humaines et sociales.
Force est de constater la présence de nombreux emprunts à la langue
anglaise ; l´importance de procédés de formation comme la suffixation, la
composition et la préfixation. Les phénomènes d´haplologie, de
banalisation de termes, de variation discursive sont également notables,
sans oublier l´une des principales caractéristiques des textes économiques
de divulgation journalistique : le recours à la métaphore.
L’auteure
Docteur en Lettres et Sciences Humaines par l´Université de Provence (France). Professeur du département de Traduction et d´Interprétation de l´Université de Vigo (Espagne) de 1995 à 1998.
Professeur du département de Traduction et d´Interprétation de l´Université de Grenade (Espagne) depuis 1999.
Entre autres, enseigne la matière de traduction économique dans la combinaison linguistique espagnol/français.
Contact
lepoder@ugr.es
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Bibliographie
Articles
Cabré, M.T. “Textos especializados y unidades de conocimiento:
metodologización y tipologización”. En GARCÍA PALACIOS, J.; FUENTES
MORÁN, M. T. (eds.) (2002): Texto, terminología y traducción. Salamanca:
Ediciones Almar.
Ciaspuscio, G.E,; Kuguel, I. : “Hacia una tipología del discurso especializado:
aspectos teóricos y aplicados”. En GARCÍA PALACIOS, J.; FUENTES MORÁN,
M. T. (eds.) (2002): Texto, terminología y traducción. Salamanca: Ediciones
Almar, págs.37-74.
Gómez de Enterría, J. “El vocabulario de la economía actual (1998-2008)”.
En GALLARDO SAN SALVADOR, N.; GÓMEZ DE ENTERRÍA. J. (eds.) (2009):
Estudios de léxico especializado. Granada: Atrio.
Pavel, S. y Nolet, D. Manual de Terminología. Québec: Bureau de la
traduction. (2002)
Riggs, F., Mälkiä, M.; y Budin, G. “Descriptive Terminology Work”. En
WRIGHT, S.E.:, BUDIN, G., (eds.) (1997): Handbook of Terminology
Management. Ámsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 184-196.
Livres
Ciapuscio, G.E. (2003) Textos especializados y Terminología. Barcelona:
Universidad Pompeu Fabra.
Smith, A. (1776) The Wealth of Nations. London: Methuen & Co., Ltd.
Tognini-Bonelli, E. (2001) Corpus Linguistics at work.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Quotidien
El País: www.elpais.com
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Crise économique, crise linguistique:
la petite histoire belge…
Viviane Grisez
Université de Mons – Faculté Polytechnique
Résumé
Dans le monde interconnecté actuel, il n'est pas sage de parler de crise
économique et financière dans un contexte national. Toutefois, dans un
pays aussi complexe que la Belgique, répertorié comme 'bilingue et
multiculturel', le jeu en vaut la chandelle.
La crise nous lance de nouveaux défis, et en Belgique, plus que jamais.
En effet, l'histoire d'un petit pays situé au carrefour des cultures romanes
et germaniques a démontré, à maintes reprises, à quel point les crises
économiques récurrentes ont eu un impact direct et immédiat sur les
politiques linguistiques de l'État. Ces dernières, à leur tour, modifient,
réforment et redéfinissent les plans éducatifs du système scolaire.
Curieusement, les réformes varient en fonction des régions flamande,
wallonne et de Bruxelles-capitale, car l'enseignement est matière régionale
et qui dit 'politique linguistique', touche inévitablement au monstre du
'communautaire'.
Que ce soit en terme de bilinguisme précoce, d'expériences en immersion,
d'échanges scolaires culturels et linguistiques ou de formations tout au
long de la vie, l'école et l'université restent les moteurs du rapprochement
des langues et de leurs cultures respectives dans une société multiculturelle
politiquement instable.
Interaction entre l'économique et le communautaire
Si des statistiques existaient sur la fréquence de l'emploi du terme 'crise', la
Belgique, petit pays réputé pour ses problèmes communautaires, viendrait
sans doute en tête du peloton.
Car, chers collègues allemands, suisses et venus d'ailleurs, tous, vous avez
eu écho des conflits politiques entre les communautés flamandes et
francophones. Le 13 décembre 2006, la Radio et Télévision francophone
belge lançait un canular en diffusant une émission qui annonçait
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l'indépendance de la Flandre, en mettant au service de la fiction les
apparences (certes grossières) de la réalité En 2007, lorsque la Belgique a
connu une période d'instabilité politique grave, en restant des mois sans
gouvernement, un certain nombre de partenaires commerciaux américains
croyaient que la Belgique était à feu et à sang et qu'elle était condamnée à
disparaître dans les mois qui suivraient.
Lorsque l'année suivante, la crise économique et financière a surgi
brutalement avec les graves difficultés de deux des plus grandes banques
de Belgique -Fortis et Dexia, toutes les armes communautaires ont été
rangées, le cessez-le-feu a été immédiat, et le gouvernement fédéral s'est
empressé de contrôler la situation pour éviter une catastrophe sans
précédent.
Nous avons tous assisté à un scénario typiquement belge: l'économique et
le communautaire en jeu; l'un et l'autre dominant, tour à tour, les agendas
politiques. Et tout cela dans un pays fédéralisé, avec trois régions,
auxquelles se superposent trois communautés, avec une capitale qui est
région à la fois, six gouvernements au total, 60 cabinets ministériels, et
cela pour 10 millions et demi d'habitants sur 30 000 km2. … Quelle
situation kafkaïenne !
Force est de constater qu'une récession économique fait oublier les
querelles communautaires, qui se réveillent dès que le pouvoir d'achat se
rétablit. Et entretemps, les gouvernements se suivent et ne se ressemblent
pas, les ministres de l'éducation des trois communautés suivent chacun
leur voie, en mettant des accents différents, sans trop se soucier de leur
voisin.
L'histoire des conflits communautaires
Remontons dans l'histoire afin de mieux situer l'origine des tensions
culturelles et linguistiques. La Belgique est née en 1830, de l’action
convergente de forces internes (économiques, sociales et religieuses) et
externes (les grandes puissances européennes). Dès la création de l'État, Le
sentiment national n’y est pas aussi fort que dans d’autres pays européens.
Dans leur version initiale, les conflits communautaires étaient des conflits
sur l'usage des langues. L'histoire de Belgique au XIXème siècle est
marquée par une volonté centralisatrice d'imposer le français dans tout le
pays alors que dès 1830, l'écrasante majorité de la population ne parle pas
cette langue. Au sortir de l'occupation française en 1814, les corporations
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bruxelloises protestent (en français parce que c’est la langue des
dominants) contre le maintien des règles linguistiques françaises :
« La proscription de la langue nationale flamande doit cesser. L'idiome, les
lois et les institutions des peuples de la Belgique doivent renaître avec le
bonheur de ce pays».1
À la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Bruxelles ne compte que 15 % de francophones.
Mais en 1830, la ville n'est encore peuplée que par 100.000 habitants. La
croissance de la population de la capitale et sa francisation vont de pair,
même si cette dernière s'est accélérée à la fin du XXème siècle. Apprendre
le français est souvent un moyen de promotion sociale. Il s’agit de franchir
la « sociale taalgrens », la frontière linguistique sociale qui segmente la
société. Inversement, avec le temps, la frontière linguistique se transforme
de plus en plus en une frontière culturelle et communautaire qui sépare
deux espaces publics. Tout comme la langue flamande, la langue wallonne
subira de plein fouet la domination politique et sociale du français. Mais
cela ne génèrera pas de mouvement de défense de même ampleur, peut-
être du fait de la proximité du wallon avec le français.
Mais progressivement émerge un nationalisme flamand, notamment en
réaction aux réticences des autorités belges à reconnaître la langue
flamande.
C’est en 1962 que fut définitivement fixée la frontière linguistique. La loi
consacra alors l’unilinguisme en matière administrative en Flandre et en
Wallonie et le bilinguisme dans la Région bruxelloise. Mais
malheureusement, tout n'est pas aussi simple.
Dans un certain nombre de communes de ces Régions unilingues, existe un
régime dit de facilités qui permet de disposer de services administratifs
dans la langue de la minorité. L’intangibilité de la frontière linguistique,
comme une frontière d’État, était une revendication flamande dictée par la
crainte de voir le nombre de communes à statut bilingue augmenter (c’est
la crainte de la « tâche d’huile » dans la périphérie bruxelloise). Le nombre
de communes bruxelloises bilingues est ainsi passé en 1954 de 16 à 19
suite au recensement linguistique de 1947. Les partis flamands ont
toujours craint que ce mouvement ne se poursuive et ont obtenu l’arrêt
des recensements et la fixation de la frontière linguistique. Au contraire,
les partis francophones menacent de demander l’élargissement de la
Région bruxelloise aux six communes à facilité dans lesquelles les
1 http://www.etopia.be/spip.php?article716
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francophones sont d’ores et déjà majoritaires. La revendication flamande
de scission de l’arrondissement de Bruxelles-Halle-Vilvorde (BHV) vise
également à garantir l’homogénéité linguistique de la Flandre.
Fig. zones linguistiques en Belgique2
Langue et culture: matières régionales
Depuis la fédéralisation de la Belgique qui s'est opérée en cinq réformes
entre 1970 et 1993, les trois communautés sont représentées par des
collectivités politiques fédérées ayant des compétences dans quatre grands
domaines: l'enseignement, la culture, les matières dites personnalisables
ainsi que l'emploi des langues dans l'enseignement, dans l'administration et
dans les relations sociales entre les employeurs et leur personnel (sauf pour
la communauté germanophone à l'égard de laquelle l'emploi des langues
en matières administrative et dans les relations sociales demeure une
compétence fédérale). Ces institutions ont leur propre parlement et leur
propre gouvernement.3
La transformation de cet État unitaire en un État fédéral trouve son origine
dans la rencontre des revendications d’autonomie culturelle par les
Flamands et des revendications d'autonomie économique wallonnes. À
2 http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fronti%C3%A8re_linguistique_en_Belgique
3 http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syst%C3%A8me_%C3%A9ducatif_belge
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nouveau, nous constatons une confrontation des intérêts linguistiques et
économiques.
Comme tous les processus historiques, les relations entre Régions et
Communautés belges, l'évolution de l'État et des nationalismes, forment
une succession de phases de flux et de reflux, de tensions plus ou moins
grandes, de crises graves et d'apaisements, très souvent en fonction du
baromètre économique.
Au niveau législatif, ce sont les Communautés qui organisent
l'enseignement en Belgique dans le respect du Pacte Scolaire. Les
Communautés subventionnent les établissements scolaires
indépendamment du réseau et fixent un certain nombre de mesures
(socles de compétences, inscriptions, ...).
Emploi: matière fédérale et …communautaire
Si l'emploi reste une matière fédérale, il est vrai qu'elle dépend fortement
de la politique européenne. Dans le contexte de la crise qui nous touche, le
sommet européen de Prague en mai dernier a permis de définir dix actions
visant à lutter contre le chômage et à créer de nouveaux emplois.
1. aider autant de personnes que possible à conserver leur emploi par le biais d’un ajustement temporaire des horaires de travail combiné à des formations de reconversion, les pouvoirs publics (y compris le Fonds social européen) participant au financement des actions menées;
2. encourager l’esprit d’entreprise et la création d’emploi, par exemple par une diminution des coûts salariaux indirects et par la flexisécurité;
3. améliorer l’efficacité des administrations nationales du travail par un renforcement de leur offre de services de conseil, de formation et de recherche d’emploi lors des premières semaines de la période de chômage, en particulier pour les jeunes chômeurs;
4. accroître de manière significative le nombre d’apprentissages et de formations de haute qualité d’ici à la fin de 2009;
5. promouvoir des marchés du travail favorisant davantage l’inclusion en garantissant des incitations au travail, des politiques actives et efficaces du marché de l’emploi et une modernisation des systèmes de protection sociale, démarche qui se traduira également par une meilleure intégration des catégories défavorisées, y compris les handicapés, les personnes peu qualifiées ou les migrants;
6. améliorer les compétences à tous les niveaux par l’apprentissage tout au long de la vie, en veillant en particulier à ce que tous les jeunes sortis du système scolaire possèdent les compétences nécessaires pour trouver un emploi;
7. avoir recours à la mobilité de la main-d’œuvre pour garantir du mieux possible l’adéquation entre l’offre et la demande de main-d’œuvre;
8. identifier les perspectives d’emploi et les compétences requises, et anticiper les compétences qui deviendront nécessaires afin d’ajuster les offres de formation;
9. aider les chômeurs et les jeunes à créer leur entreprise, en leur proposant des formations de soutien et un capital de départ, ou en réduisant ou supprimant les impôts pour les start-ups;
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10. anticiper et gérer les restructurations par l’intermédiaire d’activités d’apprentissage mutuel et d’échanges de bonnes pratiques.
Le point 6 et 7 retiennent tout particulièrement notre attention, car ils
concernent les compétences nécessaires pour trouver un emploi, et
indispensables au maintien de ce dernier par un apprentissage tout au long
de la vie. La promotion de la mobilité est également importante.
Mobilité
Qui dit mobilité, dit connaissance d'autres cultures et langues.
En Belgique, diverses initiatives ont été lancées pour stimuler la mobilité
des étudiants et des travailleurs, slogan important dans ce qui a été baptisé
le Plan Marshall du côté wallon.
Un article paru dans Trends au mois de juillet 20084 - alors qu'au niveau fédéral, la démission du premier ministre, M. Yves Leterme faisait les choux gras des médias, les trois Régions avançaient de leur côté et notamment sur le problème de l'emploi. "Et c'est tant mieux (…)', citait le magazine. Situation plus qu'inhabituelle, mais appréciée par tous pour une fois. Voici le ton optimiste de l'article.
« Vous vous souvenez sans doute qu'en octobre 2007, le ministre-Président de la Région flamande, Kris Peeters, avait déclaré qu'il avait 50.000 emplois à proposer et que malheureusement, il ne trouvait pas preneur. L'équation est donc simple: d'un côté, la Flandre souffre d'une pénurie de main d'œuvre et ne peut pas la trouver dans sa Région car c'est quasi le plein emploi, et de l'autre, on constate un taux de chômage de 17% à Bruxelles et de 10% en Wallonie. Pourquoi ne pas faciliter la mobilité des travailleurs du Sud vers le Nord et rendre ainsi tout le monde heureux? Certes, sur le papier, cette solution est simple, mais la réalité est bien plus compliquée. D'abord en raison de la méconnaissance du néerlandais des francophones, ensuite parce que l'offre de transports publics entre Régions est encore déficiente. Ce sont les obstacles qui sont les plus souvent cités pour expliquer l'absence de volonté pour aller travailler en Flandre. Alors, concrètement, qu'est-ce qui a été décidé entre les trois Régions? Primo, sur le plan du transport. Les Tec et De Lijn exploitent déjà 65 lignes interrégionales. Mais ce n'est pas assez, et c'est pourquoi les ministres wallons et flamands de la Mobilité prévoient des lignes supplémentaires de bus sur dix points sensibles proches de la frontière linguistique. Quant aux Bruxellois, des taxis collectifs vont leur permettre de se rendre à Zaventem à des heures très tardives ou très matinales, le surcoût étant assumé
4 http://trends.rnews.be/fr/chronique-economique/12-1285-45903/comment-booster-la-mobilite-
des-travailleurs-entre-wallonie-et-flandre.html
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par la Région de Bruxelles. Secundo, sur le plan de l'emploi. Une réserve mobile de 9000 demandeurs d'emplois francophones va être mise en place. Ceux-ci vont bénéficier d'un suivi très poussé ainsi que de cours intensifs en néerlandais. »
Une ministre wallonne a même voulu accorder des primes de mobilité aux
travailleurs wallons qui trouveraient du travail en Flandre. Inutile de dire
que sa proposition a été rejetée sans pardon, car le problème est
complexe: que faudrait-il accorder comme prime aux 140 000 navetteurs
néerlandophones qui se rendent à Bruxelles tous les jours? Inutile de vous
dire que le problème ne se pose plus, vu l'accroissement de la crise. Ici
encore, nous avons raté une belle occasion de promouvoir l'enseignement
du néerlandais en Wallonie par une motivation professionnelle.
Apprentissage tout au long de la vie
/ "Si tu veux une année de prospérité, cultive du riz.
Si tu veux dix années de prospérité, cultive des arbres.
Si tu veux cent ans de prospérité, éduque des hommes."/5
Une étude a été menée par la Direction générale Statistique et Information afin d'examiner la participation de la population adulte âgée de 25 à 64 ans à divers types d'activités d'éducation et de formation au cours du premier semestre 2008.
Il ressort entre autres de cette enquête que plus de quatre habitants sur dix prennent part à des activités de formation formelle ou non formelle et que les formations sur l'utilisation des logiciels, les cours de langues étrangères et de management sont les formations les plus populaires.
Nous pouvons proposer deux conclusions importantes:
1. Les formations linguistiques sont utiles tout au long de la vie.
2. Il est crucial de proposer l'apprentissage d'autres langues et
cultures le plus tôt possible, que ce soit en maternelle ou pré-
maternelle ou au niveau secondaire pour augmenter ses chances de
trouver un emploi.
Dans le domaine des langues étrangères, la CE soutient un grand nombre
de projets LLP- Life Long Programmes- et incite les écoles et les universités
à investir dans le développement de méthodes d'apprentissage des langues
en ligne (e-learning).
5 http://www.belgium.be/fr/actualites/2009/news_formation_long_vie.jsp
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C'est le cas d'une recherche menée de front par cinq universités
européennes, dont la Faculté Polytechnique de Mons, qui aboutira sous
peu à la production de modules d'apprentissage en ligne, pour une série de
combinaisons linguistiques, à savoir le turc, le slovaque, le roumain, le
français et le néerlandais, regroupés sous le nom commercial de
Lingu@com.6
Ce projet est coordonné par l'Université de Hasselt (Flandre) et a pris en
compte les besoins linguistiques des populations immigrées en Belgique.
En effet, la Belgique compte trois langues officielles, mais également une
dizaine d'autres, parlées tout particulièrement en Campine (Nord de la
Flandre), dans la région d'Anvers, et surtout à Bruxelles, où la
multiculturalité est de mise. Si l'intégration linguistique de la population
immigrée des pays du Maghreb et d'Afrique centrale ne pose pas de
problème à Bruxelles- la langue française étant la seconde langue-, il n'en
est pas de même pour les migrants turcs ou arabes qui s'installent en
Flandre. Comme ces derniers habitent souvent dans des HLM au statut
d'habitation sociale, l'intégration est fortement freinée à cause des ghettos
formés. L'intégration sociale, linguistique et culturelle s'avère très difficile.
Certaines agences immobilières imposent même la connaissance du
néerlandais comme critère de sélection dans les demandes de logement.
Inutile de dire que cette mesure a été la proie du monde politique
francophone.
Malgré toutes les prises de bec entre les flamands et les wallons, des
initiatives originales et louables ont été prises pour encourager le
bilinguisme minimal. Ainsi, soulignons les expériences en immersion dans
l'enseignement transversal (du fondamental à l'enseignement supérieur)
en Wallonie. Mais il faudra sans doute attendre encore deux générations
avant d'en cueillir les fruits. Car l'appropriation d'une langue et de sa
culture demande beaucoup de temps et d'énergie et commence par le
respect mutuel des personnes et de leur histoire.
L’auteure
Viviane Grisez est diplômée de l'Ecole de traducteurs et d'interprètes internationaux de Mons (Belgique), langue anglaise, allemande et néerlandaise. Passionnée par la pédagogie des langues, elle a suivi de nombreux stages de spécialisation en méthodologie du français, de
6 http://www.commart.eu
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l'anglais et du néerlandais. Durant ses études à la Faculté de Sciences Psycho-pédagogiques de l'Université de Mons-Hainaut, elle s'est spécialisée dans la didactique des langues (Master en Didactique des langues). Elle est responsable du Service de Langues à la Faculté Polytechnique depuis 1986 où elle coordonne les programmes d'enseignement des langues dans le cadre des études d'ingénieur civil (Master of Science in Engineering). Elle s'investit également dans de nombreux programmes européens et contribue ainsi au développement de modules d'enseignement utilisant les technologies vocales les plus avancées (TTS- web 2.0).
Contact
Université de Mons- Faculté Polytechnique 56 rue de l'Epargne B-7000 Mons
viviane.grisez@umons.ac.be
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How language professionals can cope with the new
situation : From the Standpoint of a Freelancer
Sofia Moreno de Cayeux
Freelance translator
Abstract
This communication focuses on the fourth topic mentioned by the
organisation : how language professionals can cope with the new
situation, in a context of economic turmoil and crisis. The approach is from
the standpoint of a freelancer, stressing on the importance of extreme
financial stringency (savings) and imaginative portfolio building (clients),
through networking. This requires an unusual combination of both very
strict method and wild imagination. There have been other crisis before,
and the author recalls how she dealt with the financial crisis in 1992, and
which useful lessons she learnt then. The same lessons that are being put to
use today, with good results. Efficiency is then examined as the final
bottom line for success.
Finally, the author gives a few hints about a subtopic also mentioned by
the organisation : economy in turmoil = linguistic turmoil ? More than
ever, there is an acute need for clarity and definition in our daily work,
especially so in uncertain circumstances. The author reminds us that we
should not loose sight of perspective, and that tradition is not to be
overlooked. Every new step in our profession needs the security of past
achievements to really build a solid future.
I still remember the financial crisis of 1992. For months on end, I did not
have a single order from any client at all. When I watched television at that
time, I heard a renowned Spanish actress explain : "The toughest part in
my job is waiting for the phone to ring."
Well, that's exactly what our plight is when we are freelancers, such as I
am. I have no idea what the future will bring me and my small one-woman
business. But as of today, this new crisis has meant not less work, but
actually more.
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Why ?
Both crises are undoutedbly different, because the crisis in 1992 was more
financial and less pervasive, whether today's situation (at least in Spain) is
more severe and widespread, reaching almost all fields of overall global
economic activity. If I may venture numbers, I could estimate that crisis-
related difficulties in Spain reach between 67% and 78 percent of all
sectors and companies. Very few can boast about keeping their production
levelled, and fewer still about any growth at all.
Why, then, am I working more than before the crisis ?
It turns out that the relative inactivity that was forced upon me during the
year of 1994 was actually quite fruitful. It is true that I did not make much
money, rather very little, and that my self-esteem was badly shaken at
times. After all, I tend to think that if no one calls, then it means I am no
good. But that is not exactly true, since other factors may explain the silent
phone in my office.
I had moved to a new home in a new town, quite a small town, with very
scarce services. For more than 6 months, I had no phone. It took the phone
company this extremely long time to install our line. No wonder the phone
did not ring !
In the fall of 1994, mobile phones were a rare and expensive commodity in
my country. After 5 months with no phone, a very nice chap - one of my in-
laws - lent me a primitive version of the portable phone. It was very heavy
and cumbersome, and extremely expensive. Thanks to the device, I did not
have to cycle all the way to the village square to slide a coin into the phone
booth, sometimes under the snow, at minus 3 degree conditions in winter.
It was too late. I had lost touch with my clients and my whole portfolio was
gone for ever.
But that did not mean I had quit translating altogether. Rather, I had
changed my perspective. I was translating at anyone's request, from a few
pages of the Hola Magazine to a tourism brochure. The common trait in
these orders ? They were not paid at all, and I accepted to do them despite
knowing this perfectly well. Those were requests coming basically from
family members, and all of them came with the usual refrain : "Don't
worry, if you don't have time to do it, it does not matter. Do it only if you
want, and if you don't do it, it's still alright."
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That is not at all a professional approach !
So I translated these informal requests and then, before I knew it, I was
receiving more formal requests, and deadlines to be kept, and money was
coming in again. The lesson I learnt from the way things happened, was
this : NETWORKING.
1. NETWORKING
And this is the first reason why I am doing better in this crisis than back in
1994. I take extremely good care of my relations, whether they are friends,
family members, professional contacts, or mere acquaintances. It is not
always easy because I am quite shy, but after I explain what I do, I listen.
Most people want to be heard, and that's exactly what I do. A few
questions here and there, and you can find interesting leads that might
take you to a possible new client.
Networking is key in staying alive through tumultuous times. It means
canvassing and spending time refreshing old phone books. I call and I say :
"Hi, remember me ? How are you ? What are you doing now ? Remember
last time we met/talked/worked together ? I hope I'm not disturbing, I'm
just updating my phone directory to cross out and delete outdated phone
numbers. And how is your child/husband/partner/mother/pet doing ?"
We are all people, after all, whether there is an economic crisis or a
fantastic activity boom. Most of us like to talk and explain what we are up
to nowadays. If you learn to listen well, this canvassing effort will bear its
fruit. And if this activity gets you less translation orders than you expected,
then it is time to start inviting some old friends for a nice dinner at your
home. You might get an interesting tip or two about which companies are
searching for translators, and besides, you will have the nice feeling of
sharing tough times with good company, and there is no better way to go
through any hardship in life.
Sometimes, people called me and explained they needed a translation but
had no money to pay for it. I remember one instance in particular. I knew
this person. She was serious and very committed. She was definitely not a
swindler. I did the translation for free. I told her : "You'll pay whenever you
can". And she did pay, indeed. It was a few months later, but oh yes, she
did. Some time later, she called to order another translation, and this time
she was paying upfront, even before the job was done, at her own will. This
is very rare in my line of business as a freelancer. Most of my workload is
made up of short translations of under 80 pages. She decided to pay in that
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way, in advance. Over the last ten years, I have done quite a bit of work for
her, and I must say I am quite happy I accepted to work for her for free, at
first.
Of course, working for free CANNOT be a strategy in a successful business.
But it can be a tactic, to be used only with due caution and exclusively with
trusted contacts.
As for a strategy, then, I would advise to invest a lot of time and a little
money in canvassing, networking and renewing old business
acquaintances, professional contacts, friendships and family ties. Why not
old schoolmates, old chums from university days ? There are associations
to be tapped and exploited, such as neighbourhood meetings, school PTAs
(parent-teacher associations), local churches or business associations,
charities and non-profit organisations, and the like. The list is long. Do not
hesitate to mingle and talk. After all, communication is our business, and
the computer is not the only tool we should use to build a solid client
portfolio. Voice communication is warmer than the printed word.
Canvassing in Spain is the way people get a job, the way they learn about
opportunities to grab, and the way to get in. But of course, once you do
have a chance to prove yourself to others - in my case, to a client - then
you have to be good, or rather more than good, you have to make
absolutely sure they get exactly what they expected, or rather, I should say,
more than they expected. You have to deliver. And that means EFFICIENCY.
2. EFFICIENCY
Again, I ask myself : Why am I working more today than before the crisis
broke out in late 2008 ?
The answer lies in financial stringency and improved efficiency. When I
compare myself with some of my colleagues, I find that :
1. only the best survive (survival of the fittest, Darwin's Law) and 2. only those who know how to save actually do survive.
About efficiency :
Image has been very important in the nineties, and some companies have
spent enormous resources in communication strategies and building the
proper image for the clients to choose their brand. This effort might be
worth it in other sectors, but in ours, image is only as good as true quality
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and reliable and trusted efficiency. It does not matter if you have the best
webpage in the world, because if you cannot keep your business
commitments to your clients - that is basically two : deadline and price -
then, you will not succeed.
Image is only as good as what it purports to advertise. Today's crisis is
acting as if a veil was being lifted, and behind the nice beautifully painted
veil of corporate image, the crisis is unveiling not so beautiful business
realities. And here is where financial streamlining and solid saving
foundations come in. By saving I mean being able to do your job with the
least possible production expenses. Do more with less.
It is not a bad idea to streamline your business and keep only what you are
truly good at. This is the right time to stick to basics and find out what you
do really well. This is no time for adventures and "how about trying this
slightly different thing here...", unless it is what you always wanted to do,
but were too afraid to try. Experiments should not be made in times of
need, at least if you want to keep your business going. It is the right time to
assess your professional abilities with a cold and dispassionate stance.
I believe that sticking to what we are good at is the best way to face this
crisis. We have to excel at it and learn the latest developments. Many
courses are offered for free at community centres. In keeping with my line
of work, I train at what I am worst at, until I master it. The idea is to make a
clear diagnosis of your weak points and work on getting better results, until
you feel more comfortable with your own performance. Training is key.
Learning to use the latest tools in the trade has proved vital for the survival
and success of my one-woman translation micro-business.
In my case, it meant learning to take better advantage of my computer,
learning to use that tool with a better result. Hence, learning to be more
efficient. All my learning efforts brought about more confidence in my own
ability, and this had a direct impact on the quality of my work. Building
your own confidence is the best and cheapest way to generate trust in the
way your clients see you as a service provider.
About savings :
Streamlining is again an appropriate word here. Discard unneeded costs.
Stick to basics. It is true that the internet is a great source for terminology
research and many dictionaries are available online, of course. But do not
squander all the experience you have accumulated in the past. My career
started back in the twentieth century, at a time and place when computers
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were only used in universities and in the military. Later, some powerful
companies, mostly transnational companies, came into the digital picture.
It took almost thirty years of development to arrive at what we have today
: many home computers, students using computers to write their school
assignments, computers in shops and supermarkets, computers
everywhere. I am not denying the extreme usefulness of that modern tool.
But I feel that my generation should not forget all that we learnt before
computers took over the typewriter. This is all about enriching our
resources, not about restricting them. And this means using all the tools we
can afford to achieve the quality our clients expect from us. This
encompasses the internet, of course, but also the old paper supported
dictionaries and grammar books, catalogues and encyclopaedias, even our
old university notes, if we have not lost them after so many years,
removals and relocations.
To conclude, just a few reflections about a Subtopic mentioned in the
programme:
Economy in turmoil = linguistic turmoil ?
In Spain, many respected academics announced years ago the coming of a
new language, namely "Spanglish". Well, that is exactly what we hear
nowadays, in the spoken language. Language is reflecting new social
divisions and barriers among classes, and reflecting culture. As many of you
already know, a lot of people in Spain tend to call the language they use
"Castilian" rather than "Spanish". This is a clumsy way to say : "Now look
here, we do not speak the same language as the people of South America,
is that clear ?" On the other hand, the reason some Spaniards prefer the
term "Castilian" over the term "Spanish" is also to be found in political and
nationalistic preferences. General Francisco Franco dictatorship (1939-
1975) disapproved of local languages, inasmuch as it meant less control for
his regime over the population. Therefore many Catalan, Basque and
Galician speakers, to name only the main non-Spanish languages existing in
today's Spain, do not like to say they are speaking Spanish, because it still
evokes times of cultural and ideological domination, and even repression.
For those two reasons (inside Spain and in our rapport with South-
America), too many people, in my opinion, say they speak Castilian
Spanish, rather than just plain Spanish.
I am convinced this is a tremendous mistake in our industry. Business
cannot thrive in a closed environment, and in that respect, the language
industry is not different from any other economic sector. From a global
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perspective, Castilian Spanish is merely a nice little variety of a much larger
language spoken by over 500 hundred million people : Spanish. This being
clearly stated, it is true that many Spanish speakers have embraced a lot of
English into their speech. But curiously enough, I am not speaking about
words alone coming from the English language into the Spanish language.
Actually, it is the grammar and language structural basis that is changing
and being influenced by the more flexible English modern usage. The
internet, but also music and audiovisual culture are certainly at the root of
this development.
About the author
Sofía Moreno holds a Political Science Degree (Licenciatura) from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid (Spain). She was a Spanish Translator and Précis-writer for four years at the United Nations (New York). She now practices translation as a freelancer since 1993. Most of her clients are small companies and private individuals.
Contact
Sofía Moreno de Cayeux Member of ATIJC Calle Pintor Miguel Ángel 34, p. 3 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada (Madrid) Spain smdecayeux@gmail.com
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Challenges and Opportunities for Minority Languages
Teaching in a Time of Recession
Siôn Aled Owen & Eleri Llewelyn Morris
University of Wales
Abstract
This presentation will consider firstly what challenges a period of
economic recession presents for minority language teaching, using the
example of the teaching of the Welsh language in two contrasting areas of
North Wales. It will then consider what opportunities might arise from that
period of recession.
The presentation will consist of:
A brief overview of the present situation of the Welsh language
and Welsh language teaching and learning.
Challenges
Limitation of personal, corporate and government funding for
language courses.
Lower prioritisation of minority language activities.
Increased emphasis on the acquisition of technical/vocational
skills at the expense of minority language skills.
Opportunities
Perception of acquisition of minority language skills as
enhancing employability.
Greater time availability for language learning.
Increased significance of the Welsh language as a marker of
local/national identity.
Greater emphasis on economic potential of cultural tourism.
Opportunities for retraining as Welsh for Adults tutors.
All of the above will be explored in relation to the two contrasting
areas of North Wales where the presenters live and work.
Biographies
Dr Siôn Aled Owen was born and brought up in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales and has taught Welsh for Adults and Welsh cultural history in Melbourne, Australia and in North Wales. He holds an University of Wales BA in Welsh Language and Literature and an University of London BD. He was awarded a PhD by the University of Birmingham for a study of orality during the Religious Revival in Wales in 1905-06. Since 2004 he has been a freelance
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translator, presenter and tutor based in Wrexham, North East Wales. His particular interests in the field of language teaching are learner autonomy and informal learning. He is an accomplished poet in the Welsh Language and has won the National Eisteddfod Crown for poetry. Eleri Llewelyn Morris was brought up on the Llyn Peninsula in North West Wales where the majority of the population speak Welsh as their first language. She graduated with Honours in Psychology at the University of Wales, Cardiff and has worked as a journalist and writer. She has had several books published, including two collections of short stories, children's books and educational books. Since 1998 she has been a freelance interpreter and Welsh for Adults tutor, working both at the Welsh Language and Heritage Centre Nant Gwrtheyrn and in the community. She feels passionately about cultural tourism and has founded a group on the Llyn Peninsula to introduce the Welsh language and culture to tourists.
Challenges and Opportunities for Minority Language Teaching in a Time of
Recession
A Perspective from Wales
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Yr Iaith GymraegThe Welsh Language
• Insular Celtic Language most closely related to Breton and Cornish
• Emerged as a distinct language C6
• Rich literary tradition in Middle Ages
• Suppressed in ‘official’ circles under Henry VIII
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The Act of Unionof England and Wales 1536
“… that from henceforth no person orpersons that use the Welsh speech orlanguage shall have or enjoy any manneroffice or fees within this realm ofEngland, Wales or other the King’sDominion upon pain of forfeiting thesame offices or fees, unless he or theyuse and exercise the English speech ortongue.”
Augusta Hall, Lady Llanover(1802-1896)
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Percentage speaking
Welsh, 1961
1971
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1981
1991
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2001
Some significant statistics
• Percentage speaking Welsh aged 3+: 18.7 (1991), atleast 20.5 (2001)
• Percentage speaking Welsh aged 3-15: 24.3 (1991), atleast 37.7 (2001)
• Two areas, Gwynedd and Meirionnydd, both in thetraditional heartlands, showed small declines, 1991 –2001
• Very few local authority wards now have figuresbelow 10% or above 80%
• Welsh-speaking is becoming an increasingly urbanphenomenon
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What did we expect and what actually seems to be
happening?
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CymruWales
Challenges
• Limitation of personal, corporate and government funding for language courses.
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CymruWales
+14.7%
+86.8%
Challenges
• Limitation of personal, corporate and government funding for language courses.
• Lower prioritisation of minority language activities.
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Challenges
• Limitation of personal, corporate and government funding for language courses.
• Lower prioritisation of minority language activities.
• Increased emphasis on the acquisition of technical/vocational skills at the expense of minority language skills.
Opportunities
• Perception of acquisition of minority language skills as enhancing employability.
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Techniquest Glyndwr (TQG) is the hands-on Science Discovery Centre
located on the Glyndwr University Campus Wrexham, North Wales. Its
mission is to engage people with Science, Technology, Engineering and
Maths (STEM) and to motivate them in to life long learning.
TQG is seeking presenters who are willing to work on a flexible basis to
deliver presentations, workshops and other activities in Wrexham and at
venues throughout North-East Wales and North West England. This is paid
work, and full training will be provided.
These opportunities would be ideal for someone who is able to respond at
short notice and would like to be part of a rewarding and friendly organisation
without having to commit to regular or long hours. Teachers with an
enthusiasm for science who have recently left the profession or who work
part-time may be interested in applying. The ability to speak Welsh would
be an advantage.
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Opportunities
• Perception of acquisition of minority language skills as enhancing employability.
• Greater time availability for language learning.
• Increased significance of the Welsh language as a marker of local/national identity.
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Opportunities
• Perception of acquisition of minority language skills as enhancing employability.
• Greater time availability for language learning.
• Increased significance of the Welsh language as a marker of local/national identity.
• Greater emphasis on economic potential of cultural tourism.
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Opportunities
• Perception of acquisition of minority language skills as enhancing employability.
• Greater time availability for language learning.
• Increased significance of the Welsh language as a marker of local/national identity.
• Greater emphasis on economic potential of cultural tourism.
• Opportunities for retraining as Welsh for Adults tutors.
Diolch yn fawr!
Siôn Aled Owen
geirda@yahoo.co.uk
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Internationale Netzwerke –
gemeinsam den Herausforderungen begegnen
Wie Sprachdienstleister aktiv Nutzen aus der Globalisierung
ziehen können
Ralf Lemster
Lemster Financial Translations
Seit Jahren spüren Sprachdienstleister die Auswirkungen der
Globalisierung. Zahlreiche unter ihnen haben diesen Trend dazu genutzt,
erfolgreiche grenzüberschreitende Geschäftsmodelle aufzubauen.
Zahlreiche freiberufliche Übersetzer empfinden die Globalisierung jedoch
vorwiegend als Bedrohung, die sie gnadenloser Konkurrenz aussetzt –
insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund der viel diskutierten Finanz- und
Wirtschaftskrise.
Ziel der Präsentation ist es, Möglichkeiten aufzuzeigen, wie
Sprachdienstleister aktiv die Chancen der globalen Zusammenarbeit
nutzen können. Dabei liegt das Augenmerk nicht primär auf der
Krisenbewältigung, sondern auf einer Geschäftsstrategie, die auch in
einem herausfordernden Umfeld nachhaltig erfolgreich bleiben kann.
Ausgehend von einer kurzen Analyse der Beweggründe für die
Zusammenarbeit in einem grenzüberschreitenden Netzwerk betrachtet der
Vortrag die Chancen, ein nationales und internationales
Sprachdienstleister-Netzwerk aufzubauen. Dabei beziehen wir auch die
Alternativen zur Strukturierung einer solchen Plattform mit ein und
diskutieren die wichtigsten Einflussfaktoren für den Aufbau und die Pflege
von Teams, wie zum Beispiel Organisation und Infrastruktur, Sicherheit
und operative Prozessabläufe.
Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt der Präsentation liegt auf der Steuerung der
beim „Networking― auftretenden Risiken sowie auf allgemeinen Risiken
virtueller Geschäftsprozesse.
Der Vortrag basiert in wesentlichen Teilen auf meiner persönlichen
Erfahrung – ich freue mich besonders auf die aktive Beteiligung der
Zuhörer!
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Biografie
Ralf Lemster : Aus Interdisziplinarität wird Profession
Zehn Jahre berufliche Erfahrung im Investment Banking einer deutschen Großbank haben den soliden Grundstein meiner Erfahrung in den Finanzmärkten gelegt. Die Schwerpunkte lagen im Handel und Vertrieb einer breiten Palette von Zins-, Devisen- und Aktienprodukten und -derivaten.
Aus vier Jahren Arbeitsaufenthalt in London ergab sich die Gelegenheit für eine interessante und höchst spannende berufliche Neuorientierung: 1994 begann ich, Fachübersetzungen für Texte mit Finanzmarkt-Bezug anzufertigen. Das Kundeninteresse daran wuchs beständig, und mit wachsender Kundenbasis fiel die Entscheidung zunehmend leicht: Die Tätigkeit als Übersetzer sollte Profession werden.
Als staatlich geprüfter und ermächtigter (vereidigter) Übersetzer für die englische Sprache arbeite ich seit 1997 vollumfänglich selbstständig. Die Ralf Lemster Financial Translations GmbH nutzt die Chancen von Globalisierung und moderner Kommunikationstechnologie – wir arbeiten in einem weltweiten Netzwerk erfahrener Fachübersetzer, von denen viele selbst in den Finanzmärkten aktiv waren.
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Freelance Translators and Interpreters : An Integral Part
of the IMF’s Language Services Team
Anne van Wylick
International Monetary Fund
Abstract
The IMF's Language Services has been affected by significant staffing cuts
in the recent past.
As a result, our business model has had to shift to include a much larger
outsourcing component, not only for translation but also for proofreading,
editing and typesetting. For such a model to be viable in the long-run, we
are aware that fundamental changes need to be introduced in the way we
collaborate with freelancers. We also realize that, if we are to expect more
of our external translators and interpreters, we must provide them with
enhanced support.
This presentation will explore the various aspects of the "strategy" that the
IMF's Language Services has put in place to achieve these objectives.
About the author
Licenciée-Interprète (ISTI, Brussels), Economics (The George Washington University, Washington). Former freelance interpreter/translator, Staff Interpreter/Translator, then French translation manager, then Advisor for Language Services. Since 2001 Head of Language Services, International Monetary Fund, Washington.
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Language Services
1
Freelance Translators and Interpreters: An Integral Part of the
IMF’s Language Services Team
Anne van Wylick
IALB/ASTTI
XXXIV ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The World in Crisis – And the Language Industry?
13-14 November 2009
Geneva, Switzerland
Language Services
2
Background/context
New business model: focus on centralization,
consolidation and efficiency
Redefining the relationship with freelancers
Presentation Overview
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ASTTI - IALB 173
Language Services
3
Background/context
New business model: focus on centralization,
consolidation and efficiency
Redefining the relationship with freelancers
Presentation Overview
Language Services
4
Within the IMF, the Technology & General Services Department (TGS) provides a range of services, including translation and interpretation
IMF
Organization
Security
IT Services
Administrative Services
Language Services
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Language Services
Arabic
Chinese
French
RussianSpanish
Other LOE
English
Target Languages
5
Key facts about the IMF’s Language Services operation
Highly technical materials
Fully-customized request and processing systems
Rapid responsiveness and turnaround
Interpretation• 7,000-9,000 days (incl. HQ
and in the field)
• 450-550 requests
• About 90% outsourced
Translation• 20-23 million words (incl. 3-5 million
words of print and web publication)
• 7,500-8,500 requests
• About 50% outsourced
(and growing)
7%
13%
19%
14%11%
5%
31%
Translation Staffing
1234
150+
Management &
Administrative
In-house
Translation staff
Freelance base
Language Services
6
Memoranda, letters,
country reports,
policy papers, and
flagship print and
web publications
Material for translation includes a wide range of document types
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Language Services
7
Implementation(May - …)
Our transformation began with an internal audit in 2006 and is nearing completion today…
Internal Audit(May 2006-March 2007)
Implementation(Jul-Dec)
Modeling(Jan-Apr)
Modeling(Apr-Jun)
May
2007
May
2006
May
2008
May
2009
May
2010
Today
Focus on Efficiency
Increased Outsourcing
New Directive
Language Services
8
Quality Dimensions Current ModelFocus on Efficiency
Focus on Efficiency &
Demand Reduction
Increased Outsourcing
FullOutsourcing
Accuracy
Reliability
Style(reads like an original)
Turn-around times
Confidentiality
Consistency
Concurrent handling of interpretation requests
The key challenge for the group has been to mitigate the expected impact of downsizing on various service quality dimensions
Current service
level preserved
Complete service
level loss
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Language Services
9
Implementation(May - …)
We are getting close to a steady state following changes that began in 2006
Internal Audit(May 2006-March 2007)
Implementation(Jul-Dec)
May
2007
May
2006
May
2008
May
2009
May
2010
Today
Focus on Efficiency
Increased Outsourcing
New Directive
Modeling(Apr-Jun)
Modeling(Jan-Apr)
Language Services
10
Implementation(May - …)
Internal Audit(May 2006-March 2007)
Implementation(Jul-Dec)
May
2007
May
2006
May
2008
May
2009
May
2010
TodayNew Directive
88 Staff 70
Staff
-1846
Staff-24
Declining in-house staffing levels
-18
Focus on Efficiency
Increased Outsourcing
The number of in-house staff is now close to half of what it was in 2006
Modeling(Apr-Jun)
Modeling(Jan-Apr)
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Language Services
11
Background/context
New business model: focus on centralization,
consolidation and efficiency
Redefining the relationship with freelancers
Presentation Overview
Language Services
12
Background/context
New business model: focus on centralization,
consolidation and efficiency
Redefining the relationship with freelancers
Presentation Overview
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Language Services
Our new business model was based on a series of assumptions in key categories
13
Workload management
Demand reduction and demand management
Restructuring initiatives
Efficiency improvements
Language Services
14
The new business model involved restructuring and consolidation on three levels
Reference &
Terminology
Documents
Control
Office
Arabic & Russian
Division
Arabic
Section
Chinese, English, &
Portuguese Division
Chinese
Section
Portuguese
Section
French Division Spanish Division
Clients
<------------------------------TRANSLATION STAFF----------------------------->
and editorial staff
Freelance contract
administration
Head of LS
Freelance translators
Interpretation
Services
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Language Services
15
Translation
Processing
Center
(TPC)
Reference &
Terminology
Documents
Control
Office
Arabic & Russian
Division
Arabic
Section
Chinese, English, &
Portuguese Division
Chinese
Section
Portuguese
Section
French Division Spanish Division
Clients
<------------------------------TRANSLATION STAFF----------------------------->
and editorial staff
Freelance contract
administration
Head of LS
The new business model involved restructuring and consolidation on three levels
Freelance translators
Interpretation
Services
Language Services
16
The new business model involved restructuring and consolidation on three levels
Arabic & Russian
Division
Arabic
Section
Chinese, English, &
Portuguese Division
Chinese
Section
Portuguese
Section
French Division Spanish Division
Clients
<------------------------------TRANSLATION STAFF----------------------------->
and editorial staff
Head of LS
Translation
Processing
Center
(TPC)#1. Establishment
of the TPC
Freelance translators
Interpretation
Services
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Language Services
17
The new business model involved restructuring and consolidation on three levels
TRANSLATION DIVISION
Chinese
Section
Arabic
Section
Clients
<------------------------TRANSLATION STAFF----------------------------->
and editorial staff
English
Section
French
Section
Russian
Section
Spanish &
Portug.
Section
Translation
Processing
Center
(TPC)
Freelance translators
Head of LS
#2. Consolidation of
the translation units
#3. Expansion of the
freelance roster
Interpretation
Services
#1. Establishment
of the TPC
Freelance translators
Language Services
18
Beyond restructuring, other initiatives were also key to the new business model
Expected effect:Streamline the process
and align services to
actual requirements
Measuring resource
consumption by
individual requests,
coupled with new
reporting tools
Introduction of service
descriptions and
request policies
Corresponding
introduction of tiered,
notional pricing
structure
Expected effects:Eliminate inefficiencies
Improve service productivity
Re-engineer
processes
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Language Services
19
Background/context
New business model: focus on centralization,
consolidation and efficiency
Redefining the relationship with freelancers
Presentation Overview
Language Services
20
Background/context
New business model: focus on centralization,
consolidation and efficiency
Redefining the relationship with freelancers
Presentation Overview
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Language Services
21
The new Freelance Initiative aims to make our staff and external translators a virtual team comprise of three connected groups
The ―Core‖ group—staff
translators, revisers, editors, and
typesetters
―Tier 1‖ freelancer
group—freelancers on
high-volume retainers
―Tier 2‖ freelancer
group—freelancers
on umbrella or
assignment-specific
contractsMovement as needed
Tier 1
Staff
Tier 2
Language Services
Training and certification
programs
New contract terms and
strengthened associations
Leveraging technology
to create virtual presence
We considered the reasons why better translation services had traditionally been available from staff—and what might bridge the gaps
22
KNOWLEDGE OF THE
SUBJECT MATTER
CONTINUITY
PROXIMITY
STAFF FREELANCERS
BETTER SUPPORT AT ALL LEVELS
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Language Services
23
Covering an agreed volume
of assignments
during a one-year period
Covering a single
assignment
Covering any number
of assignments
during a one-year period
(no specific volume
guaranteed) (word count quota;
remuneration paid
in monthly installments)
Open RetainerJob-specific
Translation work handled by freelance translators has been covered by three main types of contracts
Language Services
24
• Ongoing assignments, mentoring, coaching and feedback
• Background and reference material, terminology
• Short-term in-house contracts
• Formal training and IMF ―certification‖
• Economics for Linguists course
• Onsite seminars/classes on Fund-specific topics
The IMF wants to help freelance translators achieve the same expertise in the subject matter as staff translators
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Language Services
25
The final challenge was to create a virtual environment where freelancers’ access to tools and information emulated that of staff
FALCON
Fire
Wa
ll
MultiTrans(CAT)
PeopleSoft Financials
PeopleSoft HR
PeopleSoft Financials
PeopleSoft HR
PeopleSoft Financials
PeopleSoft HR
Fire
Wa
ll
Extranet SharePoint
MultiTrans(CAT)
Intranet ExtranetLanguage Services Staff
Language Services Staff Freelancers
Document Management
System
Textbases shared
Assignment data
Project data
PhoenixClient & Web
PhoenixClient & Web
Project Data
Documents exchanged
Extranet Self-Registration
Module
Registered Freelancers
Internet
Freelancers
Falcon authentication will
leverage self-registration
model for interested, potential
candidates
Only registered Fund staff
and Freelancers will have
access to Falcon
SharePoint work
environment and Multitrans
application Freelancers
Payment by FIN
Language Services
Return to presentation
Translator availability search
FALCON Home Page
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Language Services
1
Log into the Extranet
Language Services
28
Falcon Home Page
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Language Services
29
My Workspace
• My Assignments
• My Availability
Language Services
30
My Assignments
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Language Services
31
My Availability
Language Services
32
Unavailability
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Language Services
33
Assignment Details
Language Services
34
Assignment Accepted
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Language Services
35
Assignment Accepted (Assignment date spans across calendar)
Language Services
36
Assignment Completed (Freelancer uploads final translation)
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Language Services
37
Assignment Completed
Language Services
38
All translators working for the IMF, whether resident
employees or external freelancers, should be part of a
single, fully integrated team
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Language Services
Where are we today?
CompletedDownsizing
CompletedRestructuring
New policies and pricing in place;
possible factor in demand reduction
Relationships
with clients
In progress
Freelance
roster
expansion
New contract terms in place; training program in
development; FALCON in pilot phase
New framework
for freelancers
Workflow streamlined considerably;
other opportunities have been identified
Internal
efficiencies
freelancetranslator@imf.org
Language Services
Thank you
41
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La terminologie comme une piste de réflexion
linguistique pour répondre à la crise ?
Anne Aboh-Dauvergne
Cour pénale internationale
Résumé
Par essence la terminologie est une discipline économe en cela qu'elle
mise sur la rigueur, la précision et les économies d'échelle. Appliquée à la
traduction et à l'interprétation elle permet de rationaliser les méthodes de
travail. Utilisée comme un instrument en amont de la traduction et de
l'interprétation, elle rend les services plus efficaces, plus rapides tout en
augmentant la qualité.
Partant de ce constat, il est possible d'organiser un service linguistique en
se servant de la terminologie comme d'un pivot qui va se transformer en
valeur ajoutée pour les services de traduction et d'interprétation. Anne
Aboh-Dauvergne, chef de l'Unité de la terminologie et des références de la
Section de traduction et d'interprétation de la Cour pénale internationale,
se propose d'illustrer son propos à l'aide de l'exemple des méthodes
appliquées dans son service et de la chaîne de production englobant la
terminologie comme maillon indispensable.
Il appartient aux terminologues travaillant dans les services linguistiques
d'organisations internationales et de sociétés privées de montrer, par leur
travail quotidien et grâce à l'application de méthodes rigoureuses, que le
service linguistique tout entier a beaucoup à gagner en acceptant leur
aide. Les terminologues travaillent aussi à améliorer la communication au
sein de l'entreprise et à redorer l'image de l'entreprise en augmentant la
cohérence et le degré d'harmonisation du discours.
L’auteure
Diplômée de l'Université de Genève (Ecole de traduction et d'interprétation de Genève pour la traduction et la terminologie et Institut européen pour un DEA en études européennes), Anne Aboh-Dauvergne a travaillé pendant plus de dix ans en Suisse en qualité de traductrice et de terminologue avant de partir aux Pays-Bas. Depuis 2003, elle est terminologue à la Cour pénale internationale, où elle est responsable de l'Unité de la terminologie et des références depuis 2004. S'intéressant tout particulièrement à la terminologie appliquée aux langues rares, elle a développé au fil des années une méthodologie pour répondre au besoin de création terminologique dans lesdites langues.
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Gefragt in der Krise: Der ÖNB-Sprachendienst
Herausforderungen und Kooperationen
Dagmar Dichtl
Österreichische Nationalbank
Abstract
Als interner Dienstleiter der Österreichischen Nationalbank (ÖNB) gehört
der ÖNB-Sprachendienst zu jenen, die sich seit rund zwei Jahren intensiv
in ihrer täglichen Arbeit mit der Krise und ihren Auswirkungen
auseinandersetzen. Während andere Branchen vielerorts unter
nachlassender Nachfrage leiden, sind angesichts des globalen Ausmaßes
der Krise und der Rolle der ÖNB als österreichische Notenbank und
integraler Bestandteil des Europäischen Systems der Zentralbanken bei
den internen Kunden Sprachdienstleistungen gefragter denn je. Mit dieser
wachsenden Nachfrage einher geht ein Anstieg der Zahl der
Übersetzungen, die vom ÖNB Sprachendienst ausgelagert werden.
In meinem Beitrag stelle ich zunächst kurz den Sprachendienst der ÖNB -
Struktur, Aufgabenverteilung, Prozesse - vor. Anschließend gehe ich auf
jene Aspekte näher ein, die sich mit dem Ausbruch und der Eskalation der
Krise in unserer Arbeit verändert haben; hier reicht die Palette von
Auftragsvolumina bis zu Textsorten, Adressatenkreisen oder Fragen der
Vertraulichkeit oder des Wording.
Der zweite Teil der Präsentation ist der Kooperation mit freiberuflichen
Kolleginnen und Kollegen gewidmet, die angesichts des steigenden
Arbeitsvolumens immer mehr an Bedeutung gewinnt. Nach einer
Beschreibung der Abläufe bei der externen Vergabe von
Übersetzungaufträgen soll dargestellt werden, was aus der Erfahrung des
ÖNB-Sprachendiensts die Grundlage für eine erfolgreiche langfristige
Zusammenarbeit zwischen internen und externen Dienstleistern ist.
Biografie
Dagmar Dichtl arbeitet als Übersetzerin und Lektorin bei der Österreichischen Nationalbank (ÖNB) in Wien. Nach Abschluß ihres Übersetzerstudiums (Deutsch/English/Russisch) an der Universität Wien war sie zunächts selbständig tätig und anschließend bei der Austria Presse Agentur beschäftigt. Im Jahr 2000 wechselte sie in den Sprachendienst der ÖNB.
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www.oenb.at sprachendienst@oenb.at- 2 -
Der OeNB-Sprachendienst – ein interner Dienstleister
• Team & Organisation
• Leistungen– Übersetzung DE<->EN, Lektorat, Redaktion, Terminologiearbeit …
• Tools:– SDL Multi Term, Translator‘s Workbench– Auftragsverwaltungssystem auf MS Access-Basis
• Der europäische Kontext– Abstimmung und Zusammenarbeit mit Deutscher Bundesbank und EZB
www.oenb.at sprachendienst@oenb.at- 3 -
Die Krise und ihre Auswirkungen auf…
• Auftragsvolumen
• Aktualität
• Vertraulichkeit
• Textsorten
• Zielpublikum
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www.oenb.at sprachendienst@oenb.at- 4 -
www.oenb.at sprachendienst@oenb.at- 5 -
Die Krise und ihre Auswirkungen auf…
• Auftragsvolumen
• Aktualität
• Vertraulichkeit
• Textsorten
• Zielpublikum
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The downturn in trade is largely explained by a sudden stop in orders and
dropping global industrial production, exacerbated by increased difficulties
to obtain trade credit.
a renewed deterioration of financial market conditions
US consumers - stretched by high debt, declining wealth and tighter lending
conditions - will have to repair their balance sheets.
Global economic activity contracted in the fourth quarter of 2008
the economic situation remains dire
credit conditions for short-term trade financing deteriorated. The financial
turmoil impaired access to trade finance, via cutting trade credit (letters of
credit in particular) and led to a sharp increase in the cost of trade
financing
a downturn which is unprecedented for the speed of the deterioration
external financing constraints (wenn wirtschaften sich schwer tun ihren
finanzierungsbedarf abzudecken)
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Die Krise und ihre Auswirkungen auf…
• Auftragsvolumen
• Aktualität
• Vertraulichkeit
• Textsorten
• Zielpublikum
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Die Krise und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Sprache
• „Die Sprache der Krise ist Englisch.―
• Von der Experten- zur Allgemeinsprache?– Deleveraging, Tier-1 Ratio, Stresstests – alles klar?
• Denglisch– Von Stimulusprogrammen und toxischen Vermögenswerten
• Wahl der Termini– Von Turbulenzen über Verwerfungen zur Krise– Hilfe oder Rettung?
www.oenb.at sprachendienst@oenb.at- 9 -
Zusammenarbeit mit externen Partnern
Warum?
Was?
An wen?
Wenn interne Kapazitäten nicht ausreichen
Übersetzung „isolierter“ Texte,
Qualitätssicherung interner Übersetzungen
Kleinen Kreis bewährter Freelancer
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www.oenb.at sprachendienst@oenb.at- 10 -
Schlüsselfaktoren einer erfolgreichen Zusammenarbeit mit
externen Partnern
• Kompetenz
• Verlässlichkeit
• Genauigkeit
• Information
• Kommunikation
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Danke für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit!
dagmar.dichtl@oenb.at
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How International Organisations and Universities
cooperate in training ventures – an example: Universities
Contact Group of the IAMLADP Working Group on
Training
Helen J. L. Campbell
DG Interpretation, European Commission
Abstract
"The Universities Contact Group" is part of the International Annual
Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications
(IAMLADP) under its Working Group on Training (WGT). IAMLADP was
originally set up by the UN some 30 years ago and represents all major
international organisations (IOs). Its secretariat is in the United Nations
Headquarters in New York. It is the forum in which Heads of all Language
and Conference Services meet once a year to discuss common issues, such
as the status of the language professions, quality management, new
technologies, shortages of skills, training initiatives and many other
subjects of concern and interest.
Between Annual Meetings, three Working Groups and their Task Forces
undertake specific activities according to their mandates. In 2001,
IAMLADP invited the DG for Interpretation of the European Commission
to set up and chair a Working Group on Training (WGT). In 2003 the WGT
decided to involve universities and in 2006 set up the Universities Contact
Group, a unique combination of representatives of IO employers and
training providers.
The timing was no accident. IOs had begun to realise with alarm that
many senior staff (who had acquired both more languages and skills over
the years) were approaching retirement age, and replacing them was
proving a major problem, indeed, well nigh impossible. At the same time,
training for existing staff was becoming a more pressing need. The
shortage of linguists - especially with English as mother tongue - and of
skills has become acute and is likely to become more so in the next decade,
hence the need for closer and more systematic ties with universities.
Recently the UCG - which currently counts 16 members from 14
Universities plus 21 members from 19 international organisations in
Europe, America, China and Africa – spearheaded a new format of joint
training: thematic seminars for language staff offered free of charge by a
university, in return for master classes for students given by the
participating professionals. The format has proved a big success. The aim
is now to pool IO in-house expertise and to promote and organise training
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initiatives at the lowest possible cost, both among IOs – as "Joint Training
Ventures" and in cooperation with universities, in the UCG.
The other new initiative taken under the banner of IAMLADP by its WGT,
involves harnessing in-house expertise in one IO for the benefit of staff in
others, through ―Joint Training Ventures‖ (JTV), coordinated by the JTV
Task Force, established in 2004 and chaired by Tony Pitt of ITU. Training
seminars on a range of subjects – such as, among others, managing
translation quality, revision, selection of interpreters, editing and
technology tools - are given by IO staff who have particular expertise,
often hosted by another IO, and attended by staff from many more, thus
multiplying the value as well as fostering productive exchanges between
professional linguists – at minimal cost.
This presentation will give an overview of the main achievements of such
cooperation in the last five years and will discuss future plans.
About the author
Helen J. L. Campbell is a staff member of the Directorate-General for Interpretation of the European Commission in Brussels. She studied German and French at Southampton University, trained as a conference interpreter with the European Commission and, as a staff member, interpreted full-time from 1973 until 1996. She was seconded to Geneva to represent her DG from 1991-1993 and to London from 1999 to 2001. As a qualified interpreter trainer she trains and acts as test panel member at university courses, as well as organising study visits for student interpreters to the European Institutions and speaking at careers and other events such as the London Language Show. Since 2001 she has been active in IAMLADP, the International Annual Meeting for Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications, the UN-run forum of Heads of Language and Conference Services. Under its Working Group on Training she set up the Universities Contact Group which she co-chairs with Svetlana Carsten of Leeds University. She is an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists and the Irish Translators' and Interpreters' Association and an external consultant for Metropolitan University London.
With Jesus Baigorri of the University of Salamanca, she recently co-edited a publication "Reflections on Legal Translation" published by Interlingua, Granada.
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Le traducteur économique et la crise : situation et
perspectives
Anne Rosnoblet
Traductrice libérale
Résumé
1. Comment le traducteur économique francophone est touché par la
crise?
- Ses clients sont les banques en difficulté
Les analystes écrivent moins (peur du licenciement, situation incertaine
des entreprises suivies)
Les banques font traduire les textes indispensables (communication de
crise) à moindre coût par des agences ou en interne
Elles sortent moins de nouveaux produits (pas de fonds disponibles, ou
elles sont dans l'attente d'un renflouement/ d'une fusion éventuels), donc
moins de prospectus/documentation financière à traduire
- Plus généralement, pour la communication d'entreprises, l'analyse
macroéconomique, etc., mêmes raisons, mêmes incertitudes
-> En conséquence, moins de travail
2. Quelles perspectives à court-moyen terme ?
En cas de crise durable (après janvier 2010), va-ton voir la part du
français baisser dans la communication financière internationale ?
Ou bien assistera-t-on à une sorte de " normalisation de crise " ?
- Conséquences : moins bonne information de la clientèle
francophone et dérogation à la loi (Toubon en France, loi fédérale
sur les langues en Suisse)
En cas de crise résorbée avant la fin de l'année (ce qui fera tout de
même deux ans et demi), le traducteur a intérêt à mettre en avant
son excellence pour reconquérir les parts de marché perdues.
La baisse des tarifs est-elle une solution ?
- Ce n'est pas une tactique valable (stratégie opportuniste et
décrédibilisation)
- Le traducteur peut compenser par une diversification sectorielle
(spécialités moins chères) à partir des compétences qu'il possède
déjà.
3. Conclusions
Points positifs : la protection de la loi, l'impossibilité de sous-
traiter un travail de traduction correct dans les pays en
développement (contrairement aux pays anglophones, notamment
avec l'Inde)
Les défis du traducteur : qualité, sérieux et fiabilité sont plus
importants encore que d'habitude
La diversification comme stratégie d'adaptation
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L’auteure
Traductrice indépendante, travaillant à partir de l'anglais et de l'allemand, spécialisée dans le domaine financier, économique et boursier. Installée depuis juin 2002, après deux années comme traductrice salariée chez UBS à Paris. Organisation de formations à la traduction des états financiers à partir de l'anglais, conférences aux élèves de l'ESIT sur la constitution en SARL.