Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann „Freelance and QualityIt is well known that Asian countries such as India and China today are developing fast and that their economies are growing stronger year after year. On a trip to China in 2005 Gordon Brown, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, observed that in two decades China's English speake rs will outnumber all the native English speakers in the world. A good deal of products made in China already come with manuals unmistakably written in English at the vocabulary, inconsistency and misspellings reveal a non-native authorship. In ex treme cases, such writing is utterly incomprehensible. Not the ideal state of affairs conducive to accurate translation work and, to add insult to injury, in the end ality of the work. It took me quite a while to realise, for example, that a “cash recycling system” w as not an illegal procedure but an ATM. It goes without saying that I (or anyone else) cannot prevent people from writing in their mother tongue (also because I do it myself) and/or from wanting their texts to be translated into other languages. Be that as it may, such documents could be at least revised by a native speaker A freelance translator is, by definition, not engaged by a single employer but he or she is each time assigned a job from a different client (or intermediary agency) and no contract of any sort binds either party. In such a scenario quality is consequently not the source text or the The ITIA welcomes the following new Ordinary Members RIGITTE ARDEIL Beechgrove Coolree Co Wexford Tel: 053 914 71 35 Fax: 053 914 71 29 email: intofrench(a)gmail.com ENGLISH into French – business, technical, arts. NGELA ENNY 136 Torcaill Portmarnock Co Dublin Mobile: 086 3230851 OHANNES AAN Coolmore Knocktopher Co Kilkenny Tel: 056 7766 805 DUTCH to and from English Legal and financial matters, property and commercial law ILLIAN AVANAGH 30 Hawthorn Lodge Castleknock Dublin 15 Tel: 01 8217592 Mobile: 086 8844369 email: killiankavanagh(a)gmail.com ENGLISH from Irish and German Finance, business, tourism, general Dear Readers, This month's issue reflects th e multiplicity of roles that translators and interpreters fulfil all over the world. To some of us, technological advances are vi tally important to efficiency and continuing viabilit y. To others, techno logy is a threat. Others still have little concern fo r these issues as freedom of speech is not a given in their countries and censorship threatens their livelihoods. In this publication, I strive to speak to all translators and more importantly to keep us all informed about how others are making their way within T/I the world over. With this in mind, read on for interesting articles on such diverse topics as immigration, technology and censorship as they relate to T/I. Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann WENN ARD Drimnagh Dublin 12 Mobile: 086 8929335 email: gwennward(a)yahoo.co.uk ENGLISH from French, German, Spanish – human rights LISON 11 Sherlock Terrace Skerries Co Dublin Mobile: 086 3235082 Irish Sign Language to and from English Biology, gardening, art, literature. IRGINIA ENIERI 52 the Rise Inse Bay Laytown Co Meath Tel: 041 9888927 Mobile: 086 8036476 email: virgi_sasha(a)yahoo.com ITALIAN from English Corporate Member EDIA 162 Briarwood Close Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 Tel/fax: 01 8211363 Mobile: 085 7306357 email: info(a)mediaros.com or vasiletina(a)yahoo.com Website: www.mediaros.com Contact: Mr Vasile Ros, M.D. ROMANIAN to and from English Joining the ITIA Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association is always delighted to welcome new members to the Association. There are five categories of membership: ŠOrdinaryŠProfessional Corporate Concession (undergraduate & senior citizen) Ordinary membership is open to anyone with an interest RANSLATION 2007 - D HOOT ESSENGER It always pays to hire professional translators and Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann ...it is a time-honoured tradition for political gaffes to be put down to the language professions is present in every part of the globe, in every walk of lif e. Everyone, everywhere, is increasingly dependent on the services of those who make language their business. And the savviest leaders are already aware that the messenger is no fall guy, simply there to take the fl ak when things go wrong. They know that the language professional is to be celebrated, to be welcomed for insightful comments and questions that lead to messages – text and speech – whose clarity and impact do credit to their organisation’s image. The International Federation of Translators’ choice of Don’t Shoot the Messenger! as the theme for International Translation Day 2007 is intended to draw attention to the hazards faced by translators, and also by those who believe that professional language services are an unnecessary option. Using a professional means you can be sure of putting ac ross your message in full, no matter what language you use. „Video messages via mobile for sign language users While text messaging has helped give deaf people access to mobile communic ations, those who rely primarily on sign language have been left behind by cell phone technology. That could change, thanks to the MobileASL project at the University of Washington. The MobileASL project seeks to use video compression to allow sign language co mmunications over wireless phones. PDA phones with larger screens and built-in video capture capabilities have helped the effort toward its goal, but university r esearchers still face bandwidth In the U.K., the Commission on Integration and Cohesion launched its interim report which states that language is the single largest barrier to community relations. The Commission on Cohesion was set up last summer amid pressure over multiculturalism and claims that not enough had been done to tackle issues raised by the July 2005 London bombings. The commission was asked to come up with policies to Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann Commission chairman Darra Singh said: “Learning English is clearly the responsibility of the individual, but local authorities, central government and employers have a key role in supportin g migrants to improve their language skills.” „ Call for end to censorship in IranPEN (Worldwide Association of Writers), IPA (International Publishers' A ssociation) and Article 19 (Global campaigners for free expression) call for an end to censorship in Iran. The three organisations which support freedom of speech worldwide, have written an Next Issue of th Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann As a result, the Departme nt of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights and Office of ndated that any entities receiving federal funds, including healthcare organizations, “must offer and provide language assistance services, including bilingual staff and interpreter services, at no cost to each patient/consumer with limited English proficiency, at all points of contact, in a timely manner during all hours of operation.” The 6,003 hospitals (2003 www.USNews.com) and 836,156 physicians in the United States (2001 www.ama.com) are expected to absorb hundreds of millions of dollars to comply. This month's product is called 'Converser' and the following is what they claim to be offering... Converser is a system for two-way translated Two Requests for Tender (RFT) are to be issued by the tive Committee on Racism and Interculturalism) in th Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann tendering for the work have no t been invited to join the Advisory Group to avoid a conflict of interest. RFT 1. Background Research: It is expected that the tenderers will carry out research in the area of provision „Microsoft releases VistaThe 'Wow' starts now. That's according to Microsoft who released their new opera with all the media hype on e would expect. After all, Vista was originally meant to early 2004. According to a recent report, the new features in Vista are “evolutionary rather than earth- shattering”. The look and feel of the new operating system is certainly different. One of th e first things you notice is the ability to literally thumb through open windows via Flip and Flip 3D. Also, Micr osoft has finally delivered a workable desktop search f reduce the amount of information we lose. Vista is a This large release c ould be the last of This large release could be the last of its kind for Microsoft as incremental Operating System updates are becoming the norm through increased use of Windows Is it worth going out to buy an upgrade to Vista? Not Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann Certificate in Collaborative Tran University Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain ( www.url.edu Dates: 16 - 20 July 2007 Organised by the Department of Foreign Languages of the University Ramon Llull, the Faculty of Translation of the University of Vic and the interu niversity research group “Collaborative Translation and Foreign Language Teaching” (GRACTLE). An intensive certificate course designed for transla tion and foreign language teac hers who are seeking to enhance their course development and de livery skills in the field of transl ation; graduates of translation and Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann Concordia University (Montréal, Québec, Canada), March 8-10, 2007 The program comprises an exciting cross-sectio n of academics and prof Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann ofessional Translation Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 31 August – 1 September 2007 The eCoLoTrain project, funded by the European Union in the framework of the Leonardoda-Vinci programme, aims at de veloping and testing innovativ e training opportunities for tr ainers and teachers in the s main objective is to contribute to closing the gap Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann Dissemination workshop on translation technologies and e-learning development Paris, France. April 14 2007 Following the previous and highly successful MeLLA place in Vienna in May 2006, the MeLLANGE partnership invites you to atte nd the Paris dissemination workshop on translation technologies and e-learning e hands-on sessions, repo rts of work in progress, nt new resources for e-learning developm ent. Please find more information on http://www.mellange.jussieu.fr/ omouc, Czech Republic, the workshop is now taking place in Paris, France and it is being organised by the University of Paris Diderot. The official language of the workshop is English. ŠPresenting the MeLLANGE framework for the Europ ean Masters in Translation Technologies (EMTT) developed within the project, as well as th e criteria for potential pa rtners to take part in sities partners best practices for the collaborative creation of e- learning teaching contents in translation, la nguage resource management and technology. Presenting the creation process of a Learner Transl ator Corpus (LTC) and its applications in translation training and research. ailable at the following address: http://mellange.eila.jussieu.fr/workshop.en.shtml Registration deadline : 5 March, 2007 For any extra information, please contact the wo rkshop commitee at: mella nge_P7(a)eila.jussieu.fr Manager of the Leonardo European project MeLLANGE, eila.jussieu.fr Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hEireann Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association Cumann Aistritheoirí agus Teangairí na hÉireann Address:19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland Telephone: +353-1-872 1302 Fax: +353-1-872 6282 - 2004/2005 HAIRPERSON Annette Schiller ONORARY ITIA Resources for Translators Irish Translators’ & Interpreters’ Association has compiled a series of usef Translation Services in Ireland Admission Criteria Recommendations on Rates Professional Indemnity Advertising Interpreting The Translation Profession Joining the ITIA Ordinary Membership Application Professional Membe rship Application Database Entry Code of Practice Background Information B u tin