I was on a flight from New York to Dakar, Senegal, working on translating a pitch for a German TV series, when it hit me that translation project management and air travel share a lot of striking similarities. (more…)
Another week, another company that embarrasses itself with poor translation and localization: Taco Bell, the American fast food franchise, just re-entered the Japanese market — and seems to have bet on machine translation for its social media outreach and website. (more…)
Politicians have a reputation for, shall we say, bending their words a little according the situation. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise then that they would also have a fairly loose approach to the question of what makes a good translation. Last week brought an interesting example from American politics.
Like every year, President Obama gave his State of the Union Address before the U.S. House of Representatives. Guests this year included a prisoner of Cuba, an astronaut, Ebola activists, veterans and others. Like every year, the opposition Republican Party gave its official response after the President’s speech. Joni Ernst, the Republican senator from Iowa, delivered the English-language response while Carlos Curbelo, a representative from Florida, gave a “translation” of Ernst’s speech in Spanish. (more…)
We’ve been following Skype Translator since the summer, when the company revealed a demo video of the real-time translation software. It seemed like science-fiction then, but now a beta version has been rolled out and the first reviews are coming in. (more…)
If you’ve ever had to deal with a bad translation in an important situation, you will sympathize with the Quebec nursing students whose petition is getting a lot of press in the Canadian media.
The students claim that the English-language version of the licensing exam of the Quebec Order of Nurses was so poor that a significant number of them failed because of it. (more…)
The governments of Japan, China and the UK recently announced investment funds upwards of a combined 2.5 million euros for the translation of significant literature. Is this an attempt to increase global literacy, promote cross-cultural understanding or finagle political ties? It’s unclear, but here’s the breakdown of the money, the plans, and the excitement of hopeful anime fans. (more…)
Freestyle Freelancing – Professionals Without Borders
The value of good communication skills in business
419 languages: The most translated document in the world
A freelance translator doesn’t have to speak 19 languages to be a pro
Top 5 M&A translation tips for your business
7 top freelance websites to further your business
Translation Tools
Interview with an English to French Translator: Mike