Tips 'n' Tools for Translators - interpreting

Ein neues Nachschlagewerk für Übersetzer und Dolmetscher

nospam@example.com (Carl) — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 19:08:00 +0100

"Best Practices – Übersetzen und Dolmetschen. Ein Nachschlagewerk aus der Praxis für Sprachmittler und Auftraggeber", (Hg.) Angelika Ottman

Dieses vielversprechende Buch erscheint demnächst beim BDÜ Fachverlag. Hier eine kurze Beschreibung dazu:

"Best Practices sind bewährte Verfahrensweisen, d. h. Methoden, Prozesse, Arbeitsweisen und Modelle, die sich in der Praxis bewährt haben und von einem Großteil der Praktiker angewendet und unterstützt werden. Das Werk wendet sich an alle, die mit den Dienstleistungen Übersetzen und Dolmetschen befasst sind, sei es als Ausführende (Übersetzer, Dolmetscher), als Vermittler (Agenturen) oder als Auftraggeber (Unternehmen, Behörden, Institutionen). Die Best Practices legen die Standards der Branche zu Vorgehensweisen beim Übersetzen und Dolmetschen dar. Mehr als 40 Autoren aus der Praxis geben ihr Expertenwissen weiter.

Bis 31.12.2016 gibt es das Werk zum günstigen Subskriptionspreis.

Für BDÜ-Mitglieder gilt bis Jahresende ein einmaliger Sonderpreis."

(Diese Angaben zum Buch sind zuerst am 21.12.2016 auf XING erschienen. Ich gebe sie hier nur wieder. Das Werk klingt, als würde es eine sehr nützliche Informationsquelle für Übersetzer und Dolmetscher sein. Auf der Bestellseite vom BDÜ Fachverlag findet man eine PDF des Inhaltsverzeichnisses als "Leseprobe" zum Reinschnuppern ...)

Frohe Feiertage! Carl

P.S.: Mehr über die Inhalte des Buches erfahren Sie in der Februar-Ausgabe der Fachzeitschrift MDÜ. Einige Aspekte werden darin einen Themenschwerpunkt bilden.

BDÜ links for refugees and helpers in Germany

nospam@example.com (Carl) — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 21:26:00 +0100

The Bundesverband der Dolmetscher und Übersetzer, or BDÜ for short, is a relatively large professional association for translators and interpreters in Germany and currently has well over 7,000 members. Over the last few months, a number of these members, including the staff who run the body at a regional and national level, have been asking themselves and one another how the BDÜ can help refugees who are now coming to Germany or have already been registered by the authorities and are now living in temporary homes, awaiting a decision on their official status.

In the latest e-mail newsletter sent out to members, one of the points mentioned is what the BDÜ has actually started doing for these needy people now, many of whom are from Syria and other war-torn countries like Eritrea and are applying for long-term residence permits without being able to speak a word of German: it has set up a special page on its national website listing numerous links to language resources of potential use to refugees and their helpers in Germany. Some of these resources are also intended for government authorities to help them interact with refugees and obtain the information they require to deal with applications, for example. So in short, the BDÜ sees its main role as acting as a linguistic and cultural consultant for these three groups of people.

The list of links has been arranged in appropriate categories such as 'General information about life in Germany', 'Learning German', 'Teaching German as a second language' and 'Help for refugees'. The last category includes areas such as interpreters' training on asylum issues and news for refugees in their own languages, as you can see below:

Some of the material listed is available in other languages than German, fortunately. Klett Verlag has produced a refugee guide on living in Germany, which is in English, Arabic and French as well as German, which is a good start in my opinion.

Apart from publishing this list of useful information for the various groups concerned, the BDÜ is also calling on its members to contribute to the Refugee Phrasebook, which is an ongoing project in which a practical phrasebook to help users with basic phrases and terms in German is being compiled with translations in various languages. Words associated with seeing a doctor or being in hospital in Germany are listed here with equivalents in 28 languages, apparently. A juridical phrasebook has just been started on this website as well, which lawyers are contributing to on a voluntary basis.

I wonder what supportive action is being taken by translators' and interpreters' associations in other EU countries affected by the current wave of immigration. What is happening in Greece, Italy and Sweden, for example? What does the umbrella organisation known as FIT have in mind, if anything? If you know of any similar projects outside Germany, please let me know about them.

Regards,

Carl

Related topics

Volunteering with the British Red Cross to work as an interpreter to help refugees

An article from August on ways of helping in the German capital: '10 ways you can help refugees in Berlin'

Volunteering to translate for a good cause, e.g. with Translators Without Borders

Images: logo © BDÜ, screen shot taken from the BDÜ's resources page, 'Hilfe für Flüchtlinge'.

Kinofilm über Dolmetscher in Afghanistan

nospam@example.com (Carl) — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 17:04:00 +0100

Seit dem 27. März läuft ein neuer Film über den Einsatz der Bundeswehr in Afghanistan in den deutschen Kinos. Besonders interessant für uns Übersetzer und Dolmetscher ist, dass er die Beziehung eines deutschen Soldaten zu seinem afghanischen Dolmetscher in den Mittelpunkt stellt.

Die Handlung:

"Bundeswehrsoldat Jesper (Ronald Zehrfeld) meldet sich erneut zum Dienst in das krisengeschüttelte Afghanistan und erhält mit seiner Truppe den Auftrag, einen Außenposten in einem kleinen Dorf vor dem wachsenden Einfluss der Taliban zu schützen. Dabei wird der junge Afghane Tarik (Mohsin Ahmady) als Dolmetscher zur Seite gestellt.

Jesper versucht mit Tariks Hilfe, das Vertrauen der Dorfgemeinschaft und der verbündeten afghanischen Milizen zu gewinnen – doch die Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Welten sind groß.

Er steht immer wieder im Konflikt zwischen seinem Gewissen und den Befehlen seiner Vorgesetzten. Als Tarik, der von den Taliban bedroht wird, weil er für die Deutschen arbeitet, seine Schwester in Sicherheit bringen will, geraten die Dinge außer Kontrolle."

Die Regisseurin Feo Aladag realisierte den Film an Originalschauplätzen in Afghanistan.

Der Film ist von aktuellem Interesse, da die deutschen Schutztruppen dieses Jahr – nach mehr als 10 Jahren vor Ort – aus Afghanistan abziehen. Sie hinterlassen ein unbefriedetes Land und zahllose lokale Mitarbeiter, die von den Taliban als Kollaborateure der Besatzungsmächte gesehen werden. Auch lokale Dolmetscher, die für die Bundeswehr gearbeitet haben, stehen jetzt in Gefahr. Manche von ihnen versuchen mit Mühe, nach Deutschland zu kommen, um wieder ein sicheres Leben führen zu können.

Weitere Infos dazu gibt es vielerorts im Internet, u.a. auf der Website der tagesschau und bei arte. Auch Übersetzer- und Dolmetscherverbände wie der BDÜ haben dazu Stellung genommen und gefordert, Dolmetscher aus Afghanistan aus dringenden humanitären Gründen aufzunehmen.

Der Film ist sehr sehenswert. Einen Trailer finden Sie hier.

Carl

Bilder: © Wolfgang Ennenbach / Majestic Filmverleih. Textabschnitte: Pressemappe von Majestic Filmverleih.

In the news: a bogus interpreter

nospam@example.com (Carl) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 19:26:41 +0100

I wonder how this happened. It's true, but almost seems too outlandish to be real...

At a memorial service for late South African President Nelson Mandela held in Johannesburg just a few days ago (on 10 December), a 34-year-old man who claimed to be a sign-language interpreter stood on the podium next to high-ranking international speakers and proceeded to "interpret" what they were saying so that the deaf community could follow the events. The thing is, it turned out afterwards that what he had expressed with his hands was utter nonsense!

Photo: On the right, the sign-language interpreter "punches the air" beside India's President Pranab Mukherjee as he speaks to a full stadium of mourners during a memorial service for President Nelson Mandela (caption and photo credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach)

There was quite an uproar among South African viewers and the media reported on the matter as a result. Paul Mashatile, Minister of Arts and Culture, has apologised publicly for the mishap:

"Without passing judgement, nobody should be allowed to undermine our languages. We sincerely apologise to the deaf community and to all South Africans for any offense that may have been suffered."

Fortunately, something good seems to have come of this awful farce. In his statement, Mr Mashatile went on to declare the following:

"We have long recognised the need for the language profession to be reformed and improved. We hope to speedily begin regulating the profession in early 2014 through the South African Language Practitioners' Council Bill, so that this kind of incident doesn't ever happen again."

The South African Language Practitioners' Council Bill was presented to Parliament earlier this year, according to the government announcement, which also explains what it intends to achieve:

"The Bill provides for the regulation of the language profession, it also seeks to regulate the training of language practitioners and provide for control of the accreditation and registration of language practitioners [...] We are confident that the measures in the Bill will go a long way towards elevating the status of the language profession, ensuring that it is properly regulated and that it contributes meaningfully to language preservation and development."

That's certainly good news for professional language practitioners in South Africa. If such people want to be taken seriously and receive adequate pay and recognition for the services they render, they need to obtain adequate professional training that is also reflected in the formal qualifications they acquire. What's more, they need constant practice and ought to keep on acquiring more knowledge in their subject areas throughout their careers ("lifelong learning"/"CPD").

Professional associations can be a big help in this respect, providing they are well organised and focus on meeting international standards among similar groups of professionals, be they language teachers, copy writers, translators or interpreters. Judging by the profile of a South African language practitioner I found on a careers page on the Web, which also provides details of a training institute for translators and a potential government employer, the usual requirements are already in place.

In view of this, it would be particularly interesting to learn how our bogus interpreter actually came to participate in an event of this calibre. Was his engagement intentional? Was he really an experienced interpreter who was simply overwhelmed by the event, as he claims? I doubt it; I don't believe you can keep on getting sign language (or, indeed, any other language) wrong if you really do master it. Perhaps contacts in high places played a role in getting him the assignment, or money did. SA Interpreters, the language company the man apparently worked for, had vanished from the face of the earth when Reuters attempted to get an interview, they say. Well, whatever happened, I'm confident the South African government will vet the language companies it contracts quite carefully from now on, meaning standards will improve.

Carl

News links

Reuters' own report on 12 Dec. 2013

Announcement by South Africa's Minister of Arts and Culture

Related blog posts

Professional associations for translators

nospam@example.com (Carl) — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 21:32:42 +0200

Why should a translator want to join a professional association for linguists? What are the advantages of being a member? Is it really worth all the time and money?

Well, having been a member of a German association for translators and interpreters for a number of years now, I'd say it can definitely help a professionally minded translator in several ways. It's an opportunity to

become part of an organised and officially recognised body that represents its members' interests at various levels, both nationally and internationally

network with other translators who have joined the organisation and interact with them via a range of channels (e.g. at national AGMs, regional meetings, regular informal get-togethers of local interest groups, training events and online forums for all members)

attend formal training events arranged by the association especially for its members, which are held by experts and count towards your continuous professional development ("CPD")

obtain professional advice about your own work situation such as legal advice or advice on accounting and tax issues

benefit from special group discounts on insurance policies (e.g. indemnity insurance) and software that many members are likely to want to use (e.g. CAT tools), which the association may have negotiated

make yourself known to many more potential customers by allowing the association to publish your contact details in its public list of members and to include the details in its searchable online database, which customers can access for free

benefit from additional marketing opportunities for members such as brochures for the public, which list members who have specialised in certain fields (e.g. engineering, law or economics) and which get sent to business associations, for example.

Other services may be available to members in addition to these. My own association, the Bundesverband der Dolmetscher und Übersetzer (BDÜ), for example, has arranged for a dictionary publisher (Langenscheidt) to make some of its most popular bilingual dictionaries accessible to members online.

An annual fee is charged for membership, which varies in size among associations, but ought to cover many of the services mentioned above. If you wish to take advantage of any supplementary offerings above and beyond the standard ones in your association, you will have to sign up for them and pay an extra charge to offset the extra costs the association incurs.

One significant aspect of membership is that it entitles you to participate in the association's annual general meeting and vote on issues that affect the organisation and its members. You are also entitled to propose changes to current organisational policy or suggest new points that ought to be adopted in your opinion, which everyone present at the AGM will vote on if they are accepted as legitimate points on the agenda. So as a member, you have the opportunity to shape the association to a degree. (You can, of course, even stand for office if you feel you would like to play a direct role.)

Why not contact a translators' association in your own country or a country where your source language is spoken and find out how it could help you further your career as a translator? You'll find some links to websites and some more background information below.

Regards

Carl

image: S. Hofschlaeger / pixelio.de

Some useful links

There are several associations in Germany specifically for translators and interpreters. Here are three of the better-known ones:

BDÜ e.V.

ADÜ Nord e.V.

ATICOM e.V.

Many other associations are also listed on the Web. See Kevin Lossner's blog post on Translation Tribulations for a relatively up-to-date list of their websites. Other lists are available at Lexicool and Proz.com.

For a more critical view of translators' associations, see Kevin's post "Are professional organizations worth the bother?". (The quality of professional associations varies considerably, depending on how they are run and what funds they have at their disposal.)

Book review: "Marketing für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer"

nospam@example.com (Carl) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 14:31:28 +0200

As the German title says, this practical little book is a basic guide on marketing and is specifically tailored to the needs of translators and interpreters. Although it's written for speakers of German, I expect much of what it has to say is equally applicable to other cultures as well, although marketing styles no doubt vary internationally.

Author Birgit Golms is an expert on the subject of marketing and holds workshops on it as well as writing articles and books on related issues (partly for the German Association of Interpreters and Translators (BDÜ), which I happen to belong to). You can tell she's familiar with the way in which translators and interpreters work and think as she provides lots of practical examples that ring a bell.

The book is a handy size – approx. 150 pages long and A5 size, so it can just about fit into your coat pocket. It's divided into four practical sections: (1) how to position yourself, (2) the basic marketing material you need, (3) how to win customers and (4) developing your own marketing strategies and putting them into practice.

One of the things that make it a bit different from many "Ratgeber" is that it's meant to be used, not just read – it includes various checklists and plenty of practical tips and links to resources on the Web. Since the guide was published in 2011, it's also fairly up to date (so most of the links will still be active) and it puts a lot of emphasis on self-marketing via the internet, e.g. by means of your own website or blog or by using social media. What I particularly liked here was the author's open-minded approach to tapping social media as a marketing resource – it's not everybody's cup of tea, and how much (and how successfully) you use it will depend on your own personality.

In my opinion, "Marketing für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer" is well worth the read for any self-employed person interested in boosting their turnover and winning new customers. At 20 euros, it's reasonably priced as non-fiction goes and the investment is quite likely to help you move your business in the direction you want it to go (and make your income flow more steadily as well thanks to the extra custom you get).

You can order the book from BDÜ Fachverlag in Berlin or from any good bookseller.

(German) ISBN: 978-3-938430-34-7

Carl

image: courtesy of BDÜ Weiterbildungs- und Fachverlagsgesellschaft mbH