Horvath the Modern Translator

8/17/2019 Horvath the Modern Translator

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M D E R N

A N D

TRANSLATOR

I N T E R P R E T E R

ILDIKÓ HORVÁTH (ed.)

T H E


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Ildikó Horváth (ed.)

HE MODERN RANSLAOR AND INERPREER


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Ildikó Horváth (ed.)

HE MODERNRANSLAOR

AND INERPREER

Budapest,


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Supported by the Higher Education Restructuring Fundallocated to ELE by the Hungarian Government.

Reviewed by Ágota FórisIldikó HorváthMiklós Urbán

Prooread by Paul Morgan

© Editor, Authors,

ISBN

www.eotvoskiado.hu

Executive Publisher: the Dean o the Faculty o Humanities oEötvös Loránd University

Project Manager: Júlia SándorEditor-in-Chie: Dániel-Levente PálPublishing Editor: Ádám Gaborják ypography, layout: ElektroPress StúdióCover: Ildikó Csele Kmotrik


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5

CONENS

FOREWORD ...................................................................................................................

PAR : HE MODERN RANSLAOR’S PROFILE ............................................. What Makes a Proessional ranslator? he Proile o the Modernranslator ................................................................................................................ Réka Eszenyi

. Introduction .............................................................................................. . he EM translator proile ....................................................................

.. ranslation service provision ....................................................... .. Language competence ..................................................................... Intercultural competence ............................................................... Inormation mining competence ................................................ .. echnological competence/handiness with tools ....................

.. Tematic competence ..................................................................... Conclusion ............................................................................................... Reerences ..........................................................................................................

Freelance ranslators as Service Providers ........................................................ Melinda Szondy

. Roles o a translator .................................................................................. Quality and service ................................................................................... Project management ................................................................................ . Pricing ........................................................................................................

. he translation project .............................................................................. Initiating ......................................................................................... .. Planning .......................................................................................... .. Preparation ....................................................................................... ranslation ........................................................................................ Closing .............................................................................................


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. Quality ....................................................................................................... .. Objective and subjective criteria o quality .................................. LQA (Language Quality Assurance) as quality control

method ............................................................................................. Communication ........................................................................................ he client: translation agency or direct client .................................... . Planning and time management ............................................................. Conclusion ............................................................................................... Reerences ..........................................................................................................

he ranslator as Reviser ......................................................................................Edina Robin

. Introduction ............................................................................................... What makes a reviser? ............................................................................ . Revision competence .............................................................................. . he undamental principles o revision ............................................... . Revision parameters ................................................................................ . Revision procedures .................................................................................. he laws o the reviser ............................................................................ Conclusion ................................................................................................ Reerences ..........................................................................................................

he ranslator as erminologist ..........................................................................Dóra Mária amás – Eszter Papp – András Petz

. Introduction .............................................................................................. . Deinition o modern terminology, its beginnings and main

organisations.............................................................................................. he terminologist .................................................................................... . he beneit o the terminological point o view .................................. . he terminological approach ................................................................ . Government and cabinet: are they equivalents? .................................

. he term ..................................................................................................... erminology databases ........................................................................... . erminology work done by the translator ............................................. Conclusion ................................................................................................Reerences ..........................................................................................................

Project Management .............................................................................................. Annamária Földes

. Introduction ..............................................................................................


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. Roles o the project manager on the translation market ................... .. Salesperson .................................................................................... .. Finance proessional ......................................................................

.. Linguist ........................................................................................... .. Language engineer ........................................................................... Publication editor ............................................................................ Vendor manager ............................................................................... I specialist ....................................................................................... eacher ........................................................................................... .. Quality checker ............................................................................. .. Client contact manager ................................................................... Administration ................................................................................ Psychologist ...................................................................................

. Conclusion ............................................................................................... Reerences .........................................................................................................

Vendor Management..............................................................................................Veronika Wagner

. Introduction .............................................................................................. . asks related to vendor management ....................................................

.. Selecting translators, hiring talent .............................................

. Following up on the perormance o active translators, organisingquality control ..........................................................................................

. Conclusion ............................................................................................... Reerences ..........................................................................................................

echnical Preparation o Documents beore and ater ranslation ...............Katalin Varga

. Introduction ............................................................................................... Basic principles ........................................................................................ . Preparatory tasks ...................................................................................

.. Non-editable source files .............................................................. Desktop publishing soware ormats ....................................... .. What should be translated? ........................................................ .. Fonts ................................................................................................ ext direction, bi-directional texts .............................................. Limitation to text length ............................................................. .. Preparation o terminology and reerences ............................. .. Preparing markup languages or translation ...........................


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. Post-translation tasks .............................................................................. Quality Assurance ....................................................................... .. Checking the ormat ....................................................................

.. Te typesetting o publications .................................................... Checking the unctionality ........................................................ .. Te management o text length ................................................. .. File ormat or delivery................................................................ .. Implementing eedback in the document .................................

. Useul sotware ........................................................................................ . Conclusion ............................................................................................... Reerences .........................................................................................................

Localisation ............................................................................................................ Márta Snopek

. Introduction .............................................................................................. Localisation: a deinition ....................................................................... . Internationalisation ............................................................................... . echnical aspects o localisation ..........................................................

.. Linguistic aspects........................................................................... Localisation vs. translation ..................................................................... he proile o a good localisation translator .......................................

. Localisation and community translation ............................................ Localisation project management ........................................................ . Conclusion ...............................................................................................Reerences ........................................................................................................

ranslation Quality Assessment at the Industrial Level: Methods orProessional ranslation Quality Assessment ................................................. István Lengyel

. Introduction ............................................................................................ . ranslation quality assessment: an overview .....................................

. ranslation error .................................................................................... . ranslation quality assessment in practice, QA models ...................

.. Te SAE J model .................................................................. .. Te LISA QA model..................................................................... .. Te MQM model .......................................................................... .. Te AUS DQF model ................................................................

. Conclusion ...............................................................................................Reerences ........................................................................................................


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Volunteer ranslation and Interpreting ............................................................ Ildikó Horváth

. Introduction ............................................................................................

. Volunteer translation and interpreting ................................................. Fansubbing ................................................................................... .. Crowdsourcing ............................................................................... Church interpreting .................................................................... .. Medical interpreting...................................................................... Volunteer translation and interpreting in disaster

situations ........................................................................................ Motivations ............................................................................................. . Conclusion ..............................................................................................Reerences ........................................................................................................

PAR : INFORMAION AND COMMUNICAION ECHNOLOGIESIN RANSLAION AND INERPREING ..........................................................

Machine ranslation ............................................................................................ Ágnes Varga

. What is machine translation? ................................................................. ypes o machine translation ...............................................................

.. Direct machine translation systems .......................................... .. Indirect machine translation systems .......................................... Knowledge-based machine translation systems ..................... .. Te MetaMorpho translation system........................................

. How can machine translation be useul? ............................................. Conclusion .............................................................................................. Reerences ........................................................................................................

ranslation Environment ools ......................................................................... Henrietta Ábrányi

. Introduction ............................................................................................ . What is a translation environment tool? ............................................ . Main components o translation environment tools ........................ . When should we use translation environment tools? .......................

.. erminology ................................................................................. .. Alignment ..................................................................................... .. Sub-segment matching.................................................................

. Disadvantages o translation environment tools ...............................


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. Examples o translation environment tools ....................................... .. SDL rados Studio / ..................................................... .. memoQ .................................................................................

.. Omega ......................................................................................... .. Wordast ........................................................................................ .. Déjà Vu .......................................................................................... .. across .............................................................................................

. Cloud-based translation tools .............................................................. . Conclusion .............................................................................................. Reerences .........................................................................................................

Inormation and Communication echnologies in Interpreting andMachine Interpretation ....................................................................................... Ildikó Horváth

. Introduction ............................................................................................ . he use o new inormation and communication technologies in

interpretation ........................................................................................... Computer-assisted interpreting ........................................................... . Machine interpretation .........................................................................

.. Machine interpretation devices ................................................. . Conclusion ..............................................................................................

Reerences ........................................................................................................

PAR : MODERN RANSLAOR AND INERPREER RAINING.......... he Modern ranslator rainer’s Proile – Lielong LearningGuaranteed ........................................................................................................... Réka Eszenyi

. Introduction ............................................................................................ . he modern translator trainer’s proile ..............................................

.. Field competence .........................................................................

.. Interpersonal competence .......................................................... .. Organisational competence ...................................................... .. Instructional competence ............................................................ Assessment competence ..............................................................

. Conclusion ............................................................................................. Reerences .......................................................................................................


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New Courses in the Curriculum: Language echnology, Supervisedranslation Project Work .................................................................................... Máté Kovács

. Introduction ............................................................................................. Elements o a translator’s competence ...............................................

.. Proposals o the European Master’s in ranslation (EM) .... .. Requirements o the Standard EN : ........................

. Growing requirements – changing needs – new courses ................. .. Introduction to language technology .......................................... Supervised translation project work .........................................

. Challenges and perspectives ................................................................. . Conclusion .............................................................................................. Reerences ........................................................................................................

New Paths in Interpreter raining: Virtual Classes ....................................... Márta Seresi

. Introduction ............................................................................................ . he evolution o the language service provider ................................

.. Te role o inormation and communication technologiesin language services....................................................................

.. Videoconerence and remote interpreting ...............................

. Changes in education ........................................................................... .. Changes in interpreter training ................................................ .. Incorporating virtual classes into interpreter training .........

. Conclusion ..............................................................................................Reerences ........................................................................................................

he Role o Cooperative Learning in ranslator and Interpreterraining ................................................................................................................. Ildikó Horváth

. Introduction ............................................................................................

. Cooperative learning ............................................................................. .. Negotiation ..................................................................................... Positive interdependence ............................................................

. Cooperative learning in translator and interpreter training ............ Conclusion ..............................................................................................Reerences .......................................................................................................


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FOREWORD

Choosing the title Te Modern ranslator and Interpreter is a risky business inour ast-moving world, given how a ew years rom now we may chuckle at thesight o the word ‘modern’ being used to describe the topics discussed in this book.Still, it is worth mentioning some o the new aspects, expectations and changestaking shape in the field o language services which modern-day translatorsand interpreters must come to terms with. he spread o inormation andcommunications technology and the rise o social media have had a significantimpact on the way translators and interpreters do their jobs. Tey are no longer

just expected to mediate between languages in written or spoken orm. oday,translators and interpreters must offer a complex set o services.

Tis book explores developments in the field o language services across three

chapters. Te first, Hungarian version o this book was originally published in

March . In its initial orm it was specifically aimed at the Hungarian reader,

the proessional language service provider, the trainer and the trainee. Te bookattempted to place developments in Hungary in an international setting. Tis new

English version retains all the contributions ound in the first edition but, at the same

time, it was edited with the international readership in mind. o this end, Hungary-

specific examples have been omitted, but we have kept those cases related to Hungary

which we consider to be o general interest or use to an international audience.

Part presents a detailed account o what is expected o modern day translatorsand interpreters. It discusses new roles which translators today are expected toplay, such as the role o reviser or terminologist. It also discusses new proessions

pertaining to language services which we encounter on a daily basis but may not beentirely sure what they involve, such as project management, vendor management or localisation. Following this, we cover two very interesting topics. One is the roleo the various standards applied to translation quality assurance and assessment,while the other is the increasingly popular concepts o volunteer translation andinterpreting.

Part is centred on the role o inormation technology in translation andinterpreting. One o the key topics o this area is machine translation. We examine


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the existing types o machine translation and present a critical analysis o itsadvantages and limitations. Another change regarding the role o I in languageservices is the emergence and expansion o translation environment tools.

Part also gives a detailed presentation on the main components o translationenvironment tools, as well as a balanced and objective analysis o the advantagesand disadvantages o using such tools, together with the characteristics o textsthat they can be used to translate. Te last part o this chapter discusses the roleo I in interpreting. Although these new technologies may not be used as oenin the field o interpreting as they are in translation, they have influenced the wayinterpreters do their jobs, and the topic o machine interpreting is also one thatcomes up increasingly oen.

Part ocuses on the various challenges aced by translator and interpretertraining. Te training o translators and interpreters has seen numerous changesover the past ew years. Another reason why we must mention training is that theshi in proessional expectations or translators and interpreters has also broughtabout changes in what is demanded o training courses. Tis part touches on theprofile o the modern-day translation instructor as well as new subjects in thefield, such as language technology or translation projects. We will discuss therole o virtual classes in interpreter training and that o cooperative learning intranslator and interpreter training.

Tis book is the product o a unique collaborative effort, as the authors whocontributed to it are all in some way or another connected to the Department oranslation and Interpreting at ELE University, Budapest, Hungary. Some o themteach at the department while others acquired their qualifications as translatorsor interpreters here. Tey come rom different areas o the field o translation andinterpreting: they are instructors at our department and are language service providersthemselves, working either at translation agencies or translation environmentcompanies. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all o the authors andreviewers who contributed to this book or their help, their precise efforts and high

level o proessionalism. I thoroughly enjoyed editing this book and I hope that readerswill enjoy and benefit rom the results o our proessional and academic collaboration.

Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to PaulMorgan, or his precise prooreading and reviewing o the book. Troughout ourcooperation on the English version, he never once lost his sense o humour oroptimism, which made this otherwise laborious task a constant source o un.

Ildikó Horváth


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PAR 1:he Modern ranslator’s Proile


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What Makes a Proessional ranslator?

he Proile o the Modern ranslatorRéka Eszenyi

E-mail: [email protected]

. Introduction

I you talk to experienced translators, in Hungary or example, who have beenin the proession or decades you oen hear them saying they only got their firstassignments because they were the lucky ones who could speak oreign languagesat the time. Beore the political changes in Hungary in –, and even in thedecade ollowing the changes there were very ew o them. Te majority o peopleentered the proession without any ormal training, and they learnt it on the jobrom more experienced colleagues. Tey could learn about the cultures behindthe oreign languages rom books, the luckier ones rom their occasional journeys

to other countries. Te background and terminology o the topics involved inthe source language text could come rom the translator’s previous studies, romlibraries, or rom experts in the subject. Furthermore, the most advanced technicaltool used was the typewriter.

In the s, the translation market has seen a complete transormation.Foreign language teaching has improved considerably and the knowledge ooreign languages is a basic requirement nowadays. Te expectations towards thetranslator have become more complex and new competences need to be acquiredin order to have a stable position in the translation market, especially in the areas

o inormation mining and handiness with computer-assisted translation tools.Te changes have brought about the expansion and development o translatortraining, so it is worthwhile making an inventory o the competences o themodern translator. Te EM (European Masters in ranslation) Expert Groupo the Directorate-General or ranslation o the European Commission workedout a model (Gambier ) which includes the six main areas a proessionaltranslator should master. Te model is meant first and oremost or institutionsthat train translators in tertiary education. Te definition o the translator’s


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competences is comparable to the Common European Framework o Reerenceor Languages in its unction o ensuring the standardisation o training andassessment.

. he EM translator proile

Te Expert Group lists a number o actors motivating the necessity or defininga new translator’s profile. Te first one is the development o markets, whichhas been accompanied by the globalisation o world trade. As a result o thisdevelopment the need or translation services increased. Te second actor isthe EU enlargement in , the largest in history, which made EU officialsrealise how hard it is to find proessional translators and interpreters in the ninenew languages. It was high time to define the requirements and competencesor translators and training institutions. Te third actor was the obvious lacko proessional requirements as the translation proession was hardly regulatedeither by the EU or the member states. Tis leads us to the ourth actor: theauthors o the study think it is time “to upgrade the working conditions and

remuneration o translators, who are essential players in acilitating all ormso exchange and integration and promoting linguistic diversity” (Gambier etal. : ). Te fih and final actor ocuses on translator training institutions.Aer the introduction o the two-tier Bologna system numerous universitiesadded translation and interpreting courses to their language programmes, sothe number o such courses quickly increased, yet we could not say the sameabout the number o qualified translation trainers.

Te model described lists the expectations towards a translator. As mosttranslators enhance their proessional skills within the ramework o various

translator training courses, a similar model has been worked out or thecompetences o translation trainers (EM Expert Group, ). Te descriptivemodel (Figure ) also serves as a recommendation or translator traininginstitutions: their objective should be to train translators who acquire all sixcompetences.


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Figure

Te translator’s competences (Competences or proessional

translators, EM Expert Group, )

Te expert group defined the ollowing six competences:. translator service provision competence,. language competence,

. intercultural competence,. inormation mining competence,. technological competence/mastery o tools,. thematic competence.

Te six main competences make up a ull circle, as we can see in Figure . Te coreo a translator’s activity is translation service provision. Te quality o the service isguaranteed by the presence o the other five competences. In the ollowing section,the contents o the six main competences are described, with comments related

to translator training and the translation market, with particular reerence to thesituation in Hungary.

.. ranslation service provision

As the very name o the competence suggests, the translator is a service provider andan entrepreneur all in one. Tey should be able to handle a wide array o tasks ar


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removed rom translating a text, ranging rom advertising their services to invoicing.Te translator as an entrepreneur should be amiliar with the requirements o andtrends in the market; know how to secure assignments; know how to negotiate with

the clients, be it directly or through translation agencies. Te translator should knowwhat the client expects o them: deadlines, invoicing, prices, textual requirements(concerning orm, content and terminology), the contents o the contract and otherrights and responsibilities a translator has. For practical tips on the above issues, seeSamuelsson-Brown’s A Practical Guide or ranslators ().

Many translators work reelance (Pym et al. ), this means they receiveassignments rom several clients. Te actors listed above differ rom one client tothe other and require great flexibility on the part o the translator. I the assignmentcomes rom a translation agency, the remuneration is usually lower than in thecase o direct clients (mostly companies). ranslation agencies oen approachthe translators with a price offer along with the assignment. Te price can be incharacters, keystrokes or words - which is more likely in the EU market. Whentranslating or a company the translator is more oen than not in the ortunateposition o being able to set their own prices.

Beginners oen ponder at length beore giving a price offer to their clients andask more experienced colleagues what the minimum price should be. Te pricedepends on several actors: the languages involved, the direction (into the mother

tongue or a oreign language), the deadline, the type o text, the unit o settlement(word, keystrokes or characters), and whether it is based on the source or target text.Some other criteria might also come with the assignment: ormatting, terminologyor the use o soware and/or translation memories. Te basic price proposed couldbe between USD . per word (these figures were taken rom proz.com). Teeveryday reality o the market, however, can be different, as those willing to takeon the assignment or the lowest price get the job. So when giving a price offer,the translator should consider what is more important: to secure assignments andbecome part o the market, or air remuneration as a proessional translator.

A translation assignment can only be considered an official order afer the

translator has seen the text, and agreed on the deadline, price and other details with

the client, in writing. Tis written agreement should be concluded with translation

agencies and direct clients as well, thereby preventing unortunate situations, such as

the client not paying, or paying less, disagreements about the number o words, etc.

or the deadline.

Te clients might have certain requirements concerning the translations, e.g.the target text should have exactly the same ormat as the source text, or only some


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parts o the original text should be translated. Te client might give terminologylists, glossaries or translation memories or the translator to use. In this case itmight be easier to work with a translation agency because they usually have an

established proessional background and take the burden o ormatting off thetranslator’s shoulders, providing them with glossaries and translation memories.

Although translators usually take on their assignments based on a writtenagreement, translation agencies also conclude ramework agreements with them.Tis takes place beore the first assignment. In this document, the translatorpledges to keep to the deadlines, perorm the translation work careully, to the besto their ability, and treat the inormation as confidential. Some agencies includethe condition that the translator should use CA tools, i.e. soware or computer-assisted translation (e.g. memoQ, SDL rados) and hand over the translationmemory to the agency. In the case o direct assignments, such agreements are rare,however confidentiality is still an expectation.

Having taken all these actors into consideration, i the translator managedto secure the assignment, inally the real translation part can begin. imemanagement is a crucial part o a translator’s job: delivering work o high qualityor a deadline entails a lot o effort and stress. Te stereotypical image o thetranslator is somebody working rom dawn till dusk (and sometimes even atnight) in a windowless room, or at least with the curtains drawn. However, in the

modern world, the translator no longer needs to cut a lonely figure. ranslatorsoen work in teams on longer texts. CA tools like SDL Studio GroupShare maketeam translation easier and more efficient. In the course o individual translationwork the translator might need help or advice rom a more experienced colleague.When a reelance translator has managed to find their clientele, there may beassignments they do not have time to do. In this case, recommending a reliablecolleague or the job might be beneficial in two ways. A colleague having a similarprofile (languages, specialities) does not necessarily constitute a competitor or thetranslator. Te one the translator recommends might return the avour sometime.

So being part o a community is essential or translators.As a last aspect in the description o translation services provision the issue o

the translator’s sel-assessment and sel-criticism should be touched upon. Aercompleting each assignment, the translator should evaluate their perormance onthe job, make an inventory o what they have learnt about their own translationcompetences and which areas need development in the uture. Are you handy withCA tools or is it time to undergo training? Could you understand all the detailsand find the target language equivalents or should you find an expert who can


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help? Could you do the translation at an acceptable pace? I it takes too long it maynot be worthwhile doing it at all. Tese are points to consider aer each assignment.I you work or an agency and know that your text will be prooread, insist on

receiving the prooread version. Reviewing the corrected text can contribute toyour reflective, sel-assessing working methods.

Te paragraphs above have described what makes up translation serviceprovision. Te ollowing sections will address the remaining five translationcompetences (skills, knowledge, behaviour patterns and know-how) that guaranteethe quality o the service.

.. Language competencehe description o the model contains a detailed description o languagecompetence: a sound and excellent command o the mother tongue (A language)and command o the oreign language at least at level C in the Common EuropeanFramework o Reerence. Tis means the translator understands the “grammatical,lexical and idiomatic structures as well as the graphic and typographic conventions”o the source and target language (Gambier et al. : ). Te translator has to beable to produce all this in the target language. Tis requires accuracy, the skill to

create readable texts and creativity rom the translator. In the European Union,official translators work into their A language. However, in national markets suchas in Hungary because Hungarian is not widely spoken beyond the country’sborders and rather difficult to learn, there is considerable demand or translationinto B languages. Beside an excellent command o languages, the translators haveto keep their working languages up-to-date and devote time to observing theirdevelopment and changes.

Within language competence, excellent knowledge o the mother tongue is o particular importance, surpassing the everyday language user’s language

competence, and in no way can be considered sel-evident. When translatinginto the mother tongue this competence has to go beyond good writing skills,though translation is also a creative process (Kussmaul ; Pagnoulle ).Te communicative aim o the source text determines the target text, and it isindeed a fine line between ingenious solutions and mistranslations. In translatortraining, beside the development o B language competence the conscious,accurate and refined use o the mother tongue should also be given specialattention.


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.. Intercultural competence

Te intercultural element o the model consists o a sociolinguistic and textual

dimension. Te ormer entails the recognition o the unction and meaning olanguage variations, the knowledge o the interaction rules in different communitiesincluding non-verbal elements, and choosing the appropriate register whenproducing the target language text. Te textual competences include the ollowing:recognising structure and coherence, implicit meaning, reerences, stereotypesand intertextuality in various document types, awareness o the translator’s limitsand shortcomings in text comprehension, implementing strategies to tackle these(e.g. asking or help rom more experienced colleagues, finding the appropriatesources on the internet, in books and parallel texts), the ability to summarise thetext and quick and accurate editing, re-editing and correction skills.

In order to acquire the skills outlined above translators should be able toobserve and become aware o the differences between their working cultures andlearn how to transorm linguistic and cultural elements. An interesting sourceo such inormation, entitled How to Write Clearly , has been published by theEuropean Commission in o the official languages. Te target audience, theend users o the translation, should always be at the oreront o the translator’sthoughts. Te target language text should be written in a way that can ulfil its

aim with the target audience. Some terms and expressions in the source text mayneed explanation or extra inormation or, in some cases, some parts o the text areomitted.

.. Inormation mining competence

It may sound surprising, but in spite o the wealth o inormation available onthe internet, finding the right inormation has not become much easier. First the

translator identifies the genre o the document, this guides them in finding theappropriate terms. Te elements that need to be looked up should be identifiedin the source text and a glossary can be compiled. I the translator has donetranslations in the topic area beore, relevant texts and glossaries can be used. Oneo the prerequisites o using ormer translations is that the translator stores themin a systematic way and the archives are easily searchable. For more inormationon the benefits o mastering the use o computers in translation see Austermühl’sbook entitled Electronic ools or ranslators ().


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Te glossary is likely to become longer in the course o the translation process.Te translator can look or inormation and expressions on the internet, or withthe help o terminology soware, electronic corpora and dictionaries, libraries or

ask an expert on the topic. It is crucial to find the right balance when searchingor inormation. I the translator relies overwhelmingly on their own knowledgeo the subject matter, the quality o the text might suffer. I they spend long hourslooking or terminology, the translation will take very long and the remunerationper hour decreases sharply.

A crucial part o the inormation mining process is assessing the search results.By way o example, i the translator has a hypothesis about the expression in thetarget language, and they search on the internet to test it, it is essential to checkhow many hits there are and what kind o websites use it, as you can find almostanything on the internet. What matters is where and how oen it is used. So alwaystake your search results with a pinch o salt, and only use them i your hypothesisis sufficiently justified. Another hurdle to overcome in the course o ino mining iswhen an expression seems correct, the translator can even find it on a prestigiouswebsite or in a database (or instance in the terminology base o the European Union,iate.europa.eu), but the expression does not fit the context o the translation. Tebottom line is that several actors should be taken into consideration when searchinginormation, and the first step in the process is understanding the source text.

.. echnological competence/handiness with tools

We have witnessed the greatest changes (and challenges) in a translator’s work in thearea o technology over the past ew decades. Te first development was the widespreaduse o personal computers and word processors, however, nowadays translating donewith a word processor is oen seen as past its sell by date, indeed obsolete.

With the extensive application o CA tools translation has become aster and

easier to review, but o course only or those who are ready to learn how to use thesoware. Aided by such soware translators can see the source and target text onthe screen at the same time, can build their own term base and translation memoryand can easily find and use their previous translations. Once the translator hastranslated a sentence, or even a term, the translation memory will automatically offerthe solution (with the appropriate setting o course), thus they can save a lot o timeand energy just by inserting these in the translation. In the case o longer texts thiscan mean a considerable amount o time.


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Using these tools demands an investment o time and money by the translator.Ideally, students in translator training courses learn how to use these tools, soonly money need be invested later on, but through the increased efficiency o

translation, the investment soon pays dividends. Te above considerations reer towritten translations in the first place, but the development o soware goes beyondthis, and the need or translation in other media, like audio and audio-visualmaterials, is also growing. Learning how to use this kind o soware is o coursea way o specialising.

he topic o machine translation (M) also belongs to technologicalcompetence. One o the most widespread machine translation tools is the reelyaccessible Google ranslator that acilitates translation o texts between numerouslanguage pairs. Te texts translated with this tool are usually on the border ocomprehensibility and have a low level o accuracy, yet they can provide substantialhelp in defining the topic o a text in a language we do not know at all. Tere are,o course, more refined M tools tailored to make translation in certain genres,between certain language pairs. An example o such a genre is the description osoware updates, as these do not differ much rom previous translations.

Tere are agencies in Europe that employ machine translation and havehuman proo-readers correct their texts. Tis is called human assisted translation (Skadina ). However it should be noted here that machine translation is just

a raction o the translation market. A market where human translators havehardly any work because o M is an unlikely scenario, at least according to theauthor o this article. Different types o soware will not be able to translate textsin an inormed, creative manner, select in a critical way rom different solutions, oranalyse the context in a way a proessional translator would.

.. Tematic competence

Students participating in translator training courses are oen advised to specialise:choose a field in legal, technical or medical translation or instance and learn itthoroughly. Most o the students have a bachelor o arts when starting the courseand experience with texts in linguistics, literature or newspapers, while in thetranslation market there is mostly demand or translations o legal, economic,financial, medical and other texts. For those wishing to translate it may be a betteridea to see what texts they have access to on the market, specialise in them, thenchoose a topic and try to gain access to that segment o the translation market.


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Many reelance translators are active in several subject areas but do not havea degree in medicine, law or economics. Te point o thematic competence is thatthe translator learns the basics (and later on possibly the subtleties) o several

fields, gets to know the typical text types, concepts and terminology. A translatorcan obviously not be a master o all trades. Many o them rather exclude areas (likelegal, technical texts) instead o giving a conclusive list o what they can translate.Tematic competence can be developed endlessly, and it requires an open, curiousattitude on the part o the translator and willingness or continuous learning.

. Conclusion

Te description o the six competences emphasizes the act that a good commando languages is just one o the competences a translator needs in order to be able tooperate successully. Te translator is an entrepreneur who knows their place in themarket, the opportunities and how to run their business. Smooth communication,networking, negotiating and bargaining skills are crucial. Business contactsshould be cultivated, and the translator should maintain a good reputation and

continuously promote their services. Te translator should be aware o the rightsand obligations connected to the proession.

Te translator is a linguist who is not content to have just a C level in theiroreign language(s) but rather goes on reading, collecting inormation and learningnew things with passion in order to gain more knowledge and understand thedifferences between the cultures o their mother tongue and oreign language(s). Iquestions arise, the translator undertakes research, and uses their acquaintances’knowledge, too, in order to find the answer.

Te translator is an expert whose linguistic and thematic knowledge in several

languages and subjects goes beyond the average. Tey make inormed decisionswhen creating the target language text, collect knowledge and inormation andare able to store and retrieve it in a systematic way. Te translator belongs toa proessional community whose members help one another’s work and learnrom one another. Teir competences are dynamic, they ollow the changesin the translation proession, languages and the world and are open to tryingsomething new. Te translator is willing to invest time and money in trainingsand conerences.


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Te translator is a technician although many translators consider this roleto be the one they can identiy with least. Tey should devote time and energyto acquiring the use o CA tools and be able to manage different editing and

search programmes, online databases and dictionaries. Te translator’s variousroles might suggest that the modern translator should have extraordinary abilities,but this is certainly not the case. One o the peculiarities o the proession is thatthe translator should show confidence in a number o different areas, but all othe skills listed above can be learnt. So the translator is a versatile rather thanextraordinary being. In this versatility, some acets may be stronger than others,but still the translator can keep their balance in a ast moving, unpredictable world.

Reerences

Austermühl, F. . Electronic ools or ranslators. ranslation PracticesExplained. London and New York: Routledge.

Average rates charged or translations. http://search.proz.com/?sp=pe/rates, lastaccessed on November .

Common European Framework o Reerence or Languages: Learning, eaching, Assessment. . Council o Europe. http://www.coe.int/t/dg/linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pd, last accessed on July .

Gambier, Y. (EM Expert Group). . Competences or proessional translators,experts in multilingual and multimedia communication. http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/programmes/emt/key_documents/emt_competences_translators_en.pd, last accessed on May .

How to Write Clearly. . European Commission, http://ec.europa.eu/translation/writing/clear_writing/how_to_write_clearly_en.pd+&cd=&hl=hu&ct=clnk

&gl=hu, last accessed on May .(EM Expert Group), . Te EM ranslator rainer Profile. Competences o the

trainer in translation. http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/programmes/emt/key_documents/translator_trainer_profile_en.pd, last accessed on May .

Kussmaul, P. . raining the ranslator . Amsterdam/Philadelphia: JohnBenjamins Publishing Company.

Pagnoulle, C. . Creativity in Non-Literary ranslation. Perspectives: Studies inranslatology : –.


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Freelance ranslators as Service Providers

Melinda Szondy E-mail: [email protected]

. Roles o a translator

ranslators usually aim at working as in-house translators at a large company,organisation or very oen at a translation agency. Tey envisage a stable and saeworkplace where they can make good use o their knowledge and specialisationacquired during their years o learning and where they can count on valuablesupport and guaranteed salaries. However, it is oen the case that aer a shortperiod o great hopes they turn towards the idea o reelancing as a translator.Nowadays corporate organisation strategies and expectations regarding highefficiency orce companies to solve translation tasks through outsourcing. Tenumber o companies and organisations where it is economically easible to have

their own translation department is quite limited.Even translation agencies tend to work less and less with in-house translators

and only or their major language combinations. It is critical to be able toguarantee a high level o efficiency during working hours. A job as a translator inone o the various EU institutions can result in a very challenging and interestingproessional career, too.

However, in this article, I ocus on reelance translators, their careeropportunities being equally interesting and challenging. All the experience andknowledge gained as a reelance translator most certainly add to an in-house

career, as well. For the sake o simplicity I use the term translators hereinaer.Let me stress that I am not going to write about any aspects o literal translationas that requires a different attitude, key aspects being very different rom those otechnical translations.

Beore going into detail first o all I need to point out that nowadays translatorsneed to have good general knowledge and sometimes even expertise in variousareas, not just the strictly speaking linguistic process o conveying a message romone language to another. Besides being masters o the translation cra reelance


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translators juggle the roles o accountants, I proessionals, debt collectors andproject managers and very oen even lawyers, doctors or electrical engineers inone person. As their years o experience increase, their resistance to perorming

these roles decreases, as it becomes clear that these help reelancers cope withthe challenges. Tese additional activities help them develop a good serviceoriented attitude that enables them to gain new clients and maintain a lasting andprosperous business relationship with them.

. Quality and service

Language proessionals choose this proession because they are keen on languages.In order to become successul as reelance translators, in addition to being ondo languages, they also need to develop a service oriented attitude, quality beingthe most important indicator and expectation o this activity. When speakingabout translation, quality is rather complex and difficult to define (House, ) as it is hard to get a clear definition o what we call a good or badtranslation. Criteria may depend largely on different clients’ expectations, even

or the very same product. It can be very helpul or the translators to assessdifferent expectations and work on finding the best solution to provide theexpected quality o service.

During the past ew decades, reelance translation was regarded as an activitythat can be perormed rom the comort o the translator’s home, translators beingable to decide about their own working hours and schedule, about accepting orrejecting certain assignments, being ree rom strict conditions and not needing totolerate annoying co-workers or supervisors. Teir sole activity was conveying themeaning o a certain text rom one language to another.

However, recent global changes have resulted in reelancers not beingcompletely ‘ree’ anymore. As a general tendency turnaround times are becomingshorter. In the not so distant past a longer translation task was managed by a singletranslator as turnaround time allowed or a relaxed workload. Nowadays clients’expectations can only be met by translator teams cooperating in a specialised Ienvironment, ensuring quality and deadlines are met according to clients’ needs,the teams being coordinated by project managers. Tus, besides translationcompetences translators need to master technical and other skills as well.


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Within a ew years their attitude towards inormation technology haschanged significantly, rom typing skills to computer literacy and daily use o

various computer assisted translation tools. We can hardly imagine someone

being successul in this proession without having affinity towards inormationtechnology . Tere is no longer any doubt that translation memories and CA toolssupport translators’ work, constituting a real gain. ranslators have mastered theuse o such tools and are aware o the ever evolving file ormats.

Nowadays it is extremely rare that translators can work in isolation withoutco-workers and ‘supervisors’. ranslation tasks no longer involve the process olinguistic translational operation alone. Virtual communication solutions ullyallow or teamwork and continuous interaction even between proessionalsworking on different continents. Complex translation tasks are managed by projectmanagers o a language service provider. Project managers are proessionals whoensure the links between team members and clients, organising and managing

various tasks in different phases o the process.Depending on whether the client is a direct client or a translation agency,

translators’ work consists o different steps. Each translation task is unique withstandalone outputs and goals. Tey have however a special eature, that is, theyneed to be perormed within a certain time rame. In this regard they can beconsidered projects (based on http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projektmenedzsment).

Freelance translators are their own project managers. A successul translator needsto be able to properly coordinate their own time and resources, as well as designand carry out the work process (Kenneth et al. ).

. Project management

Te Project Management Institute defines a standard ramework or handlingevery project type. According to PMI “a project can be defined as a temporaryendeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service” (see http://www.pmi.org/). Based on experience, it is a cliché and a act, too, that customers will alwayswant the highest quality translation within the shortest possible turnaround time and at the lowest possible price. It would be almost impossible to target achievingall three at the same time (see Figure ). It is important to be conscious o the actthat no matter how ast and cheaply a translator could provide a translation, it is


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quality that is crucial in the end, determining how satisfied a customer is andleading to long term cooperation.

Figure

Expectations

So, cheap, ast, perect. But what is the scope o the project? Te key to each projectis to identiy exactly the client’s objectives and requirements. ranslators must

understand the scope o the translation project. It is obvious that quality level,time required and translation ees depend on the actual scope. Beore ocusing onthe last item, it is important to clariy a couple o issues. How and where would thetranslation be used? Who is the target audience? We need to be able to ask the rightquestions that aim at identiying the client’s needs and objectives rom a project.However simple a certain translation may look, once it turns out that it is going tobe published on a website or in print it is worth holding discussions about the styleto be used, going through examples to clariy some issues, involving an expertin the subject matter or inorming the client about the recommendation or the

translation to be reviewed and edited.Identiying and ormalising the scope o the project with the client plays an

important role in being able to provide the correct outcome, including quality o theproduct. Te scope defined in the planning phase might be modified later duringthe project due to changes in resources, changes in the initial needs, amendmentsintroduced by the client or due to other unoreseen events. Tis will oen havetime and cost implications. Certainly there might also be changes where sometasks will be included and others excluded rom the scope o the project but this


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would not result in any change regarding the overall turnaround time and cost tothe customer.

Cost, turnaround time and scope will, to a large extent, determine quality. In

addition to these, proessional knowledge, experience and translation competenceso the translator are also key actors in terms o quality. In the case o turnaroundtime o the translation project being very limited or some reason, it might resultin risking quality since hastiness can oen lead to errors and aulty solutions.Te reverse statement will however remain true. Extending the deadline will notautomatically eliminate quality concerns.

Low translation ees represent a risk because it definitely leads to decreasingthe translator’s motivation and might result in superficial work. When paid well,translators are naturally ready to put more effort in and thus perorm thoroughand careul work. It is not true, however, that in the case o lower ees we cannotexpect good quality translations. A good proessional will always strive to provideeach assignment at a reliable level in line with the quality expectations.

Ideally the ee is agreed with the client calculated on the basis o translationunit rates, that is the unit price (e.g. word rate) will be multiplied by the number ounits (word count). As opposed to this reelancers in general, like many others, areused to calculating their wages per hour.

We need to make a distinction between the time duration or turnaround time

o a task and the amount o time consumed or the task to be accomplished, whichcan impact pricing. Let’s think it over: the translator knows they can translate, words per day, that is, words per hour on average. It can be misleading,however, calculating only with this time as there are many other additional tasks,besides actual translation that can add hours more to the task to be accomplished.ime spent on a terminology search or file preparation or translation can be onesuch additional activity that needs to be taken into consideration.

. Pricing

We need to consider the question o pricing. Debates about the ideal units on whichto base invoicing and how much to charge per unit (word, character, line, page etc.)have been around or a long time. I we want to find out how to set the price first,let’s figure out how much we need to earn within a certain period o time (e.g. per


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month), and what the business expenses and tax implications are. Ten determinehow many hours we want to work. We can convert it into an hourly rate, work outhow ast we usually translate, and that will yield our targeted per-word rate. Tis is

a major oversimplification, but will serve us well in getting the idea.While we need to be aware that there are numerous pricing units in use around

the world, the tried and tested per-word or per-character ees are the most usualones. When working or an international client it is best to use one o these. Evenwhen working or a domestic language service provider agency the end client isoen either a major international MLV or company.

Hourly-based rates are also quite common in the case o assignments whereword counts are not applicable. Such tasks include, or example, terminologydevelopment or PDF prooreading beore printing i the client so requires. In thiscase again, we can use the above method to help set our hourly rate. Here pricingis usually based on the estimated duration o the activity, and is more or lessa matter o trust and experience. It is important to assess the time needs correctlyin advance and inorm the client accordingly so that they would be aware o theactual costs. It may certainly happen that in the end the final number o hoursneed to be modified to some extent.

Due to the need to cope with the challenges o globalization one o the keycriteria is to adapt to global expectations in terms o pricing unit. Te other

main criterion is that expectations in terms o client orientation - and serviceorientation - are met i the client knows in advance how much the translation willcost, down to the last penny. Tis is the actor that, in my opinion, puts an end tothe debate about the advantages o charging based on source or target words.

. he translation project

We can see that owing to numerous actors translation can be viewed as a complexprocess. Te Project Management Institute (PMI) offers PM rameworks thatcan be used in any industry, the language industry included. According to theaorementioned PMI, the processes o a project can be grouped into projectgroups: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing(Figure ). Te processes o a translation project partly resemble this categorisation,but in the majority o cases these are simple processes o a linear nature.


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Figure

Te translation project

Each translation project consists o unique activities. Let’s see what activities eachstep can involve.

.. Initiating

Includes activities like responding to the request; understanding the RFQ;collecting inormation about the client; client briefing; assessing the expectationsset orth by the client and the inormation received; compiling reerence material;translation memory; terminology development; agreeing about the deliverables;determining the volume with or without a CA tool; defining additional tasks thatmay apply (e.g. OCR, that is, optical character recognition, ormatting, reviewingthe final ormats, terminology development); cost planning (translation cost, cost

or outsourcing certain tasks, reserves or unoreseen risks); assessing potentialdiscounts to be offered and preparing a quote.

.. Planning

Tis step includes analysing CA tool requirements; veriying the version o therequired soware; analysing clients’ files; setting up the required older structure


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or the project; assessing resource needs, such as dictionaries to be purchased. Inaddition, source material, translation memory, reerences received and a terminologylist will be placed in the correct olders and their traceability should be ensured in

line with the project needs. All the project inormation should be careully recorded,a schedule should be set up and the process should be planned, paying specialattention to quality control steps (in order to meet criteria set orth in the previousstep). Te project needs to be set up in the CA tool.

.. Preparation

Project preparation is a crucial step as it has a major impact on how smoothlytranslation will go in the next step. Tis is the time or file preparation, obtainingeditable file ormats in the event this was not provided by the client. ranslationmemory and a terminology list will also have to be prepared and settings o theCA tool checked, too.

.. ranslation

ranslation is the backbone o the project and even this phase can consist o severalactivities. Besides translation itsel, the terminology database and translationmemory need to be edited. Where required a sample or partial delivery needs to beprovided or the client or quality control purposes. We must also pay attention toback up files regularly. Beyond that it is also advisable to keep the client inormedabout the project’s progress or discuss questions that may come up in the courseo the translation.

Sel-assessment or sel-editing should also be part o this phase. Tis can meana scan through or read through or it can involve use o a QA soware or even

proper revision.

.. Closing

Te closing phase includes final ormatting. Deliverables, comments, notes shouldalso be compiled and sent to the client in accordance with their requirements andwe need to get confirmation on receipt o the deliverables, too.


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Additionally, it is time or a ollow-up with the client. It is necessary to geteedback rom the client and other stakeholders in the translation project. Wemight also need to properly respond to complaints and process the eedback

received. It is advisable to keep in touch with the client to receive inormationin time about the next possible project and to be prepared or a potentialcontinuation.

Freelance translators usually ollow the project phases set out in a well-definedlinear sequence. It is quite rare that translators need to work on several stepsparallel. It may occur however that in some cases it is advisable to go back toa previous step in order to solve an issue. It may be the case that we only noticeduring the translation phase that a non-editable image ailed to convert and wasnot noticed in time or we need to consult the client regarding a list o hyperlinks.Te assessment might also draw attention to a couple o segments that stayeduntranslated. In such cases translators should identiy which step they should goback to, correct and then continue the process. An instance like this might lead toa reassessment o the project and stepping back to the planning phase. Tis is whatthe semi-circle arrows indicate in Figure .

Consecutive steps in a translation project are accompanied by two activitygroups that span the entire project: quality control and communication. Teseactivities have a key role in each step, quality control and communication being

the most important tools that allow us to keep track o the whole project.

. Quality

According to Norman Shapiro translation is “an attempt to produce a text sotransparent that it does not seem translated. A good translation is like a pane o

glass. You notice that it’s there only when there are little imperections—scratches,bubbles. Ideally, there shouldn’t be any. It should never call attention to itsel”(Venuti : ). Tese thoughts provide a good guide to help define quality relatedto translations. In the case o technical translations we need to consider the stepsthat lead to the client’s sensing the translation is o good quality.

Defining and assessing quality has always been a hot topic in the translationindustry. Different descriptions, compilations provide a good guide. echnicaltranslators might find it very useul to become aware o these.


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.. Objective and subjective criteria o quality

When talking about the quality o a translation, the first and most important

thing that we should bear in mind is that a source text can have varioustranslations. his is why using only one possible translation solution as

a benchmark will not give a good result in assessing quality. Quality is rather

subjective and depends on preerences, that is, what the client considers to be

a good translation depending on whether the translation meets expectations

and gives the impression o a good translation. Besides these it is also important

to consider that quality has several dimensions. For example, a translation

that sounds good might not be o good quality i there are linguistic errors in

it. Subjective translation errors are rather difficult to define as these relate to

adequacy and whether the translation reads well. In addition, it is also difficult

to assess what actors and filters influence the reader’s opinion. First impressions

can be o great importance and it is usually impossible to define what these

impressions depend on.

Naturally there are objective, well defined errors, too. Tese all into theollowing categories: spelling, accuracy, terminology and linguistic preerences,such as names and months, and consistency . Tere are other objective, well-defined categories that relate to the service level, such as observing deadlines, I

skills and communication which influence the impression o quality.We need to be able to define criteria as much as possible in order to be able to

meet the client’s expectations to the greatest possible extent. A good solution maybe to utilise glossaries and reerence material approved by the client in order toensure use o the expected terminology.

A service, a translation may vary to a large extent depending on the translatorand the task, thus it is very heterogeneous. Because o the subjectivity andheterogeneity described above, the efforts made to improve quality start withthe need to define the problem and as a result the solution is not straightorward,

either. Even areas that need improvement are difficult to identiy. Tis uncertaintyand changeability prompts translators to take intuitive decisions. Tese intuitivedecisions might oen lead them in the wrong direction. In particular, a aultyproblem definition will result in solutions that would not work. A company’sinternal communication paper can stir negative emotions and can be consideredbad quality depending on how reely the translator can translate. Using differentnames instead o the ones used in the source text sometimes can solve the problemi these names sound better in the target language. For example, it is better to


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use Bálint instead o Liam in Hungary as Liam is unknown in domestic use. Tissolution can be considered a minor localisation step.

Finally, it is important to note that the issue o quality is urther complicated

by the act that modern translators oen work in teams o translators. Tis mightresult in a translator’s work being assessed several times during the various phaseso the translation project by peer translators, the reviser, the project manager orthe layout editor. Tey all carry out the assessment rom their own points o view,and oen these are very different.

.. LQA (Language Quality Assurance) as quality control method

It is common practice to ask the translator to send a sample rom the translated textin the course o the work. Tis sample is then assessed by the client and eedbackis provided in relation to the client’s expectations. Tis is a good solution thathelps clariy client’s stylistic expectations, or example. It is worth being careul toprovide a sample that is representative in terms o volume and terminology. Tis iscalled LQA, a term widely used in the translation industry.

. Communication

It is obvious rom the above described that we continuously need to communicatewith the client in order to define and ensure the expected quality during each stepo the process. Adequate communication is as important as quality in terms o thetranslation project.

Each phase o the translation project involves communication needs:

clarification o the task, providing the quote, discussing the deadlines, discussingterminology and ormatting related questions and settings. During translationthere might be the need to discuss lessons rom the LQA or how to handle certainissues or inorm project participants about possible deadline modification requests.In the closing phase we should compile our comments, inorming the client aboutimportant points, or example, terminology choices in some cases. Tese wouldrepresent a help or the client, improving trust and resulting in building a goodworking relationship.


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It is important to stress that good and effective communication between allparticipants o a translation project will add to the quality o the product. Wherethere is a team o linguistic proessionals, translators and reviewers working

on a source text, questions and issues that come up should be discussed duringtranslation. Tis is valid or non-linguistic project participants, too. Tis can besolved on-line, in real time with the help o different CA tools.

. he client: translation agency or direct client

Agencies are responsible or several activities in addition to translation. Teycover different roles, such as selling, marketing, account management, projectmanagement, accountancy, desktop publishing and file engineering. ranslationis but one o these activities. In the case the translator works or a direct client, theyneed to handle all roles, acting as a small agency, there are no separate co-workersor each role. A translator should have a different attitude towards the project andplan accordingly, depending on whether the client is a translation agency or directclient.

In a direct client’s case (Figure ), the translator should be responsible or filepreparation; should carry out a search or reerences and develop a terminologydatabase and prepare and maintain a translation memory; should also takecare o the independent editing and final ormatting o the translated text; andshould adapt to the client’s expectations in terms o financial matters. It is worthconsidering outsourcing tasks that do not belong to our competences to theappropriate proessional.

Figure

Te relationship between the translator and the direct client


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Where a reelance translator works or a translation agency (Figure ), unit eesmight be lower but the above mentioned tasks and risks are expected to be handledpartly by the project manager o the agency. Similarly, payment to the translator

should not depend on the time when the final client settles the invoice.

Figure

Roles in a translation agency

. Planning and time management

For business reasons very oen translators work under serious time pressure. Teyrarely have time to include a ew days’ break ollowing the closing o a project. Evenwith the most careul planning, it can be the case that change requests or finalormatting can be delayed so much they jeopardize the launch o the next project.In such cases, the translator is rarely in a position to reject a change request relatedto the previous project. At the same time, the new project should be launched, too.Te dilemma is that one o them needs to be modified. Here communication and


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negotiation come in as a means o solving the issue. Te worst solution is when thetranslator does not communicate and the client realises that the translator ails tomanage one o the projects properly. It can be o great benefit to ollow precisely

the duration needs o certain activities with the help o a simple baseline schedule(see able ).

able

Baseline schedule

Activity Number of days Duration (hours)

Initiating

Terminology development

Translation

Self-editing

Delivery

Total

Te table illustrates different phases and their duration in the case o a , wordtranslation. Te translator receives and accepts the assignment on day at : am

and accepts a delivery deadline o : AM weeks later. Based on this they cantrack whether an extension o the deadline should be requested i terminologydevelopment takes longer or i it can be compensated or in the translation phaseby working longer than hours per day. Based on this, the launch o the nextproject can be planned better and the translator will be aware o what to expectand what can be modified (Kenneth et al. ).

. Conclusion

At the beginning the development o a project oriented approach will requiresignificant efforts and time rom a translator. Once the translator is aware othe steps and the whole process it all becomes natural and automatic aer somepractice and the translator will become amiliarized with several additionalactivities and roles perormed in the course o the project.


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As a result the translator will become a versatile and flexible proessionalwith up-to date knowledge, being skilled in various fields in addition to theart o translation (e.g. file preparation, editing, terminology development, final

ormatting, I and CA tools, business communication), will cope with differentroles in various positions and their CV will show signiicant experience inleadership, marketing, sales and I, as well.

Reerences

House, J. . Quality o ranslation. In: Baker, M. (ed.) Routledge Enyclopedia oranslation Studies. London and New York: Routledge.

House, J. . ranslation Quality Assessment: Linguistic Description versusSocial Evaluation. Meta (): –.

Kenneth, A., McKethan, K. A., Jr. & White, G. . Project management or thereelance translator. Multilingual (): –.

PMI. . A Guide to the Project Management Body o Knowledge (PMBOK ® Guide) – th edition. http://www.pmi.org/PMBOK-Guide-andStandards/~/

media/PDF/Standards/PMBOK_Guide_th_Errata_ndPrinting.ashx, lastaccessed on January .

Venuti, L. . Te ranslator’s Invisibility: A History o ranslation. London:Routledge.


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he ranslator as Reviser

Edina RobinE-mail: [email protected]

. Introduction

In translation studies, proponents o Venuti’s () ideas oten discuss theinvisibility o the translator. Yet, i there is a truly invisible participant in theprocess o translation, it is surely the reviser. Fortunately, however, revisionattracts ever more attention, and it has started to become an essential tool orquality assurance, not only in Hungary but also internationally. Both proessionalsand translator training institutions stress the importance o revision, and thetraining o revisers has gained in importance. Tis is because revision serves theinterest o all stakeholders in the process: the client receives an accurate, careullyrevised text, the translation agency can be certain that the translation it delivers

is thorough and o high quality, and the agency receives eedback about the worko the translator. ranslators can also be more at ease i they know that theirtranslations will be checked, while the eedback rom the reviser contributes totheir proessional development.

Despite this, in practice, the role o the reviser is very oen ar rom clear,even or the participants in the process. What is the role o the reviser? How cansomeone become a reviser? Does a reviser know more than a ’simple’ translator?What transorms a translator ‘dabbling’ in revision into a proessional reviser?Can revision competence be developed? For translation proessionals, answering

such questions as soon as possible is o vital importance, since the clarificationo roles makes work easier and also encourages cooperation. ranslators mayalso find it useul to learn about revision, since sooner or later they will needto cooperate with revisers in their work, they may be requested to do revision,and they need to perorm sel-revision on a regular basis. Tus, the ollowingsubchapters seek to offer help in resolving the practical questions, and summarisethe basics o revision.


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T M T I

. What makes a reviser?

One o the first questions that arises in connection with revision is how onemay become a reviser. Proessional practice shows that translation agencies andpublishers recruit experienced translators or revision work, i.e. those who haveproved their translation skills and reliability over time. Assuming that in additionto translation competence they possess all the knowledge and skills necessary orcorrecting and evaluating the work o others, the chosen translators start revisingtranslations. However, they oen lack the knowledge that may serve as a basis orrevision work. Tis results in a series o attempts at retranslation and uncomortableconflicts between the translator and the reviser. Inexperienced revisers oen needto ‘pick up’ the basic skills o their work as they perorm revisions.

Te practice described above actually assumes some kind o ‘evolu

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