fit for purpose? - localisation research centre · fit for purpose? opera singers and ... what...
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Isabelle Weiss
Limerick, September 2013
Fit for purpose?Opera singers and Karaoke performers
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Fit for purpose? Many employers say there is a gap between the skills of university leavers and what we need in the translation & localization industry. It is felt that translation graduates are not„fit for purpose“.
In my opinion it is not so much that we as employers have a right that they should be (since a university is not a vocationalcollege), but it would be of great benefit if they knew what is expected of them, and what their perspectives are.
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What I‘d like to share with you here …
Our attempt to see where these gaps really areImpressions gathered from some of our new recruitsConcerns expressed by our senior translatorsSome insights into how the role of the translator is changing and intowhat‘s new on the horizon
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ALPHA CRC is probably unique:
„In‐house“ model, currently 350 full‐timeinhouse staff, of whom about 75% aretranslators with 19 different mother tongues. Specialization: IT
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• Linguistic skills• Understanding of language structure
• Awareness of culture and literature
• Theory & history of translation
• Research skills• Curiosity, intelligence, willingness to learn
• Often: subtitling, dubbing• IT skills and rudiments of CAT
New recruits –What they offer:
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What theydon‘t have
Routine; down‐to‐earth workingdiscipline
Awareness of the „real world“ (pricing, turnaround,
competition, clientpriorities …)
Realistic assessment of theirown productivity
Awareness of the omnipresence of tools
Awareness of text types and
different qualityrequirements
Clear idea of the available
roles
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So these are the gaps as we see them. Butthat‘s not all that counts.ALPHA‘s questionnaire asks new recruits fortheir impressions, whether they felt they werewell prepared by what they were taught at university, and what surprised them most. (Note that some of this is specific to localization and the IT industry)
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That SPEED is such an important factor That daily OUTPUT is actually measured (productivity) That QUANTITY seems to be more important than quality
That TM tools are used for all translations That we use a whole range of different tools That adherence to client GLOSSARIES is extremely important That accuracy & consistency is more important than creativity That each client has their own style guide and glossary
That translations are often done OUT OF CONTEXT That source texts are often VERY POOR (perhaps written by non‐native
speakers, quick drafts …)
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What were your biggest surprises?
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• Achieving the number of words I was expected to do every day
• Delivering good quality while producing quantity
• Working with and learning different translation memory tools
• Respecting style guides • Adhering to glossaries • Following client instructions• Understanding the context of
certain translations• Post‐editing machine‐
generated translations
• Accepting feedback/corrections from seniors and colleagues
• Following instructions by line managers or project managers
• Researching different topics, clients, products …
• Finding someone to explain things and give guidance
• Interaction with the team• Interaction with PMs & other
personnel
What did you find …
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How many wordsper day? And how to keep up quality as well as quantity.
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A:“The aspect related to word rate per day was something totally unfamiliar to me from university.”B:“My main concern is connected to my productivity.”C:“I’m worried about the quality when I consider how many words I am expected to do every day.”
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“Translations in real life are usually not as enjoyable as at university, where we could take as much time as we needed until we were happy with the result. Now we mostly have to ‘rush’ translations – so it feels a like an assembly line at times.”
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“I was surprised that the quality of a translation is measured by the extent to which the translator has adhered to the style guide and to client terminology, rather than creativity and style”.
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“I was shocked to find that we are often expected to translate without being provided with all the context or reference materials. At university we used to deal with ‘perfect’ texts – we were not prepared for incoherent and faulty source texts, where the meaning is obscure.” “At uni you don‘t prepare for incoherent texts, or texts that are totally taken out of context.”
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“I’m surprised at how much reviewing we are having to do, proofreading colleagues’ work, or external translators’ texts – and even post‐editing raw machine output. It is very difficult to judge how much re‐writing to do, how much to leave unchanged, because it is not clear what the quality expectations are.”
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Quantity & Quality
TMs & glossaries
Accuracy & Consistency
No context, bad source
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Suggestions to universities (1)
• Encourage practical exercises or – much better –internships in companies
• Raise awareness about speed and productivity• Make students aware of time/budget constraints• Simulate the entire process of a translation project• Put students in situations that are not “perfect”, but more “real”; present them with different scenarios and text types (incl. poor source texts)
• Set tight deadlines to increase awareness of “rush” conditions
• Discuss the definition of quality (pragmatic vs. ideal)
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Suggestions to universities (2)
• Practice technical & creative writing• Get them to review other people‘s translations• Practice giving feedback in a constructive and non‐combative way (an essential skill)
• Post‐editing of MT output• Encourage students to read as much as possible(and everything from technical instructions to literature in their TL). Emphasize the importanceof writing skills in their own language!
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Problems pointed out by seniors…
• Lack of competence/fluency/vocabin mother tongue (TL)
• Grammar mistakes• Punctuation mistakes• Lack of skills adapting TL to the
intended readership (style, register)• Clumsy formulations (Translatese)• Inconsistencies, too much variation
(undesirable creativity)• Miscomprehension of source (SL)
• Low productivity• No/little experience with tools• Non‐adherence to TMs• Not respecting glossaries• Not following client instructions• Not asking enough questions• Lack of subject area knowledge• Lack of research/too much research• Missing tags, formatting errors• No awareness of time constraints• Difficulties working within a team
Linguistic General
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Lack of writing skills in mother tongue• Grammar mistakes• Punctuation mistakes• Problems with style and register• Clumsy, unnatural formulations• Lack of coherence and logic in TL• Typos (no spellchecking)
A cause for concern: Issues with TL …
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Suggestions to universities (3)
• Put more emphasis on excellent knowledge and writing skills in mother tongue
• Make students aware of employers‘ priorities(producitvity, efficiency, quality, writing skills)
• Teach students how to handle feedback• Encourage them to develop social and leadership
skills• Raise awareness of other jobs in the translation
industry• Encourage them to apply for internships to get a
genuine feel for their chosen profession
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• Have students think about what they are actually interested in. (Specialization is particularly important for major languages).
• Clearly, the more someone knows about their subject, the better their comprehension, their vocabulary … and the fastertheir speed when translating.
• Many translators are self‐taught in their subject‐matterspecialization. After all, there are few surgeons orpsychoanalysts, or politicians, who take up translation …
• Perhaps advise them to sit the well‐respected DipTransorganized by the IoL where the semi‐specialized papers are: Business, Technology, Science, Social Science, Literature and Law.
• http://www.iol.org.uk/qualifications/exams_diptrans.asp
Suggestions to universities (4)
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Opening up perspectives and new horizonsIt is important to make students aware of the different avenues that are open within the field of translation.
Image and status of translator have become verydiffuse. This can lead to job dissatisfaction. Fewrecruits come to us to talk about perspectives.
Graduates should enter the profession with a betteridea of what awaits them, and be aware of growth paths, perspectives and opportunities.
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MT is not the end …
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We have seen a huge rise in the use of CAT and MT. With the proverbial explosion of data, vast amounts of text are churned out by MT engines, and post-edited by humans. Translations can beprocessed ever more cheaply. And that is fine for somethings.
But not for everything. All of a sudden we note an awareness thatcheap translations are not typically good translations, and thatthere are certain areas where the cheapest is simply not good enough.
For the first time we are now seeing a demand for translators thatprovide something more than just information, but can addcreativity, flair and a „human touch“.
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IT Translator Transcreator
High volumes, low‐cost Less volume, higher cost
Recyclable, CAT & MT Hand‐crafted, creative
Fit for purpose Refined, stylish, piece of art
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Transcreator(small volumes)
IT (technical) Marketing Translator (on the rise)
IT Translator(huge volumes)
Post‐editor
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IT translator (karaoke performer)• Main objectives: Accuracy & speed• Respecting TMs and glossaries• Is part of a team, network (or even a „crowd“)• Has to make compromises on quality• Works under pressure, with many constraints• Produces texts that are „fit for purpose“• Relies on CAT• Is more or less anonymous• May work with partly MT‐pretranslated texts
If interested in MT may decide…
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Improves raw MT output
Assesses texts/projects for usewith MT
Analyses output, categorizeserrors
Trains engines
Improves output to increasequality
Works with MT engineers
Advises on which engines to use, makes MT into a useful aid
MT post‐editor/MT expert
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Writes creatively (examples: brochures, mailings, Games …)
Works closely with clients
Receives training by client
Becomes a subject-matterexpert
Is good at listening/adapting to what client wants
Cooperates with client‘s end-users (in-country people)
Might turn into a transcreator
Marketing translator
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One concern is to what extent the use of CAT and MT endangers „good“ translationpractice. Many translators claim that afterworking on „quick and cheap“ IT translationsthey find it difficult/impossible to freethemselves from the segment‐by‐segmentapproach. Equally, clients are reluctant to letgo of their TMs. This is why the definition of quality is so important, as is the decisionwhether CAT or MT makes sense.
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IT translatorsTechnical Marketing translatorsTranscreatorsLinguists with an interest in automationQuality assurance staffTesters (functional and linguistic)Technical (CAT) support staff/trainersProject managers
Lots of opportunities for a new breed of translator …
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A pleasant surpriseThe final Question “Are you happy with your choice of becoming a translator?”
received an emphatic YES
from every single respondent at ALPHA, with one exception, from someone who
had her heart set on being an interpreter
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Translators at ALPHA CRC, Cambridge(photos: Andreas Beck)
150 mio. words translated in 2012
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Robert Cross, Business Development Manager at Alpha CRC and founder and conductor of the Alpha Choir, said, "It's not an easy task to juggle business and fun at your workplace. We are just lucky that Alpha CRC offers plenty of opportunities to be creative - and our management supports that wholeheartedly."
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ALPHA offers internships and on successfulcompletion a permanent job.
Translation can be a very rewarding career.
www.alphacrc.com
ALPHA offers internships and on successfulcompletion a permanent job.
Translation can be a very rewarding career.