META
- June
14, 2000
The Spiritual
Translator Newsletter
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IN META TODAY
1. ABOUT THE
TRANSLATION MARKET
2. TRANSLATION, INDEPENDENCE AND... ENGINEER'S JOKE
3. TRANSLATION PROBLEM
4. QUOTES XXV
5. LET US
PLAY WITH WORDS
6. ...OPEN OUR HEART
7. AND END WITH A SMILE
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1. ABOUT THE
TRANSLATION MARKET
First of all,
I would like to share with you the message I got from Martin Robinshaw who is
commenting what I wrote in the last English META:
Hey Christian,
I just read the most recent issue of Meta and found the below one of the most arbitrary and one-sided summaries of the translation (freelance and agency) market I have ever read. In my view it serves merely to intimidate the freelancer and make translation agencies appear as gangsters working in a grey market.
"The translation market right now is a jungle and everybody is trying to step on the heads of the others in order to get his/her piece of meat. Today those who make money in the translation business are not the
translators... they are businessmen with little computer knowledge (mostly they know how to talk nicely to people and to add and subtract numbers). I know translation agencies with managers who know nothing about translation but they are making millions."
As a translator and agency owner I can only disagree with you on all points:
The globalization of markets is increasing the demand for high-quality, professional language services by some 30% a year. The fact that the education is not serving to provide enough qualified language
professionals is placing those who are professionals in a highly powerful servicing, and as such, bargaining position, as well as in a position of responsibility as leaders. The fact that those who "...speak(s) and write(s) 2 languages are (is) trying to get a portion of it..." can, IMHO, only be good for us. These people will negatively price themselves out of the market on a long-term basis, because individual client needs for language services are multiple: this meaning that at some point in their "language service purchasing" experience, clients will realize that "cheap" do really mean "shoddy" due to the negative effects it will have on their business. We, as professional providers of language services (and increasingly technology services), have a very meaningful and important internal and external role to play here: externally we must lead our clients by the hand and show them why dumping-prices and the prevailance of dumping-market nature is dangerous to their business success. Internally we have to support our professional community by demonstrating why this dumping-market vendor mentality is dangerous for the market due to failing quality and by lending confidence to those who may be suffering under it as university leavers or even bilingual non-qualified translators who want to use their industry experience to start out in the language service market.
"...businessmen with little computer knowledge" imho will not survive long in this industry, for the simple reason that "technology" is the driving force of all that we do. As you say yourself, the days of typewriters and index-cards are long gone. The role that CAT technologies and localization skills for translators in their widest sense play is in its genesis. This will be the mark of professionalism in future and not the fat-wallet
sitting behind his mahogany desk.
Hey Christian, why not spread the word! or perhaps, and like me, all you need is a vacation;-) (I TOOK YOUR ADVICE MARTIN, SEE MY NEXT ARTICLE)
A note on my recent market experience:
I, for one, am increasing my freelance and agency income by over 100% per annum at prices that lie well above the dumping prices that you suggest in your article. There is no suggestion of a "jungle" as you describe it in my experience. Quite the opposite, in fact. The courage as a professional to say no on a long term basis to a client dumping-market stance which can only push the quality of the services that we provide down is a "collective" must to benefit the industry as a whole.
MediaLengua
Martin Robinshaw BTec BDUe VDUe
martin@medialengua.de
2. TRANSLATION AND INDEPENDENCE
A month ago I sent a META in Spanish from Xalapa,
capital of the State of Veracruz. My wife and I are spending 3 months in
Mexico... visiting and (in my case) learning about the culture. Do no think
that we are rich because we can afford to take 3 months holidays. No. As a
translator working on Internet, I have the same possibility that you all have.
I am "geographically" independent. I can go wherever I want in the
world as long as I have a connection with Internet and as long as I can take my
main computer with me (no laptop for 3 months please!). We have a choice
between taking a week holidays (wondering how many contracts we have lost) OR one,
two or three months in a rented apartment or house where we have established a
connection by phone or by cable with Internet (get your domain name!). If your
spouse does not work or also work on Internet, this is the perfect solution to
get away from it all! If you have children, you can do it during their summer
holidays. I have not lost a day's work or a single contract. But every week-end
we were leaving on Friday and coming back on Monday, exploring different parts
of Mexico. Working from Monday to Friday BUT enjoying the beach and the palm
trees or exploring ancient ruins or visiting new cities every week-end. You can
also do it. What was not thinkable yesterday is reality to-day.
Next Friday, we are going back to Toronto (which is also
a nice place to be).
One day, we will be able to take a long cruise around
the world on a ship and get connected by satellite... when it is less
expensive!
TALKING ABOUT
MEXICO, YOU KNOW THIS ENGINEER'S JOKE?
These three
guys go down to Mexico one night and get drunk and wake up in jail. They found out that they are to be executed
for their crimes but none of them can remember what they have done.
The first one
is strapped in the electric chair and is asked if he has any last words. He says, "I am from Baylor University
and I believe in the almighty power of God to intervene on behalf of the
innocent."
They throw
the switch and nothing happens, so they figure God must not want this guy to
die, so they let him go.
The second
one is strapped in and gives his last words.
"I am from the University of Texas School of Law and I believe in
the eternal power of Justice to intervene on the part of the innocent."
The switch is
thrown and again nothing happens. They
figure that the law is on this guy's side, so they let him go.
The last one
is strapped in and say's "Well, I'm a Texas A & M Aggie Electrical
Engineer, and I'll tell you right now you'll never electrocute anybody if you
don't connect those two wires."
3.
TRANSLATION PROBLEM
One of the
senior editors of a Swedish motor magazine quite surprisingly refused to travel
to the U.S. for an international motor magazine convention. He had been
attending the previous year, and blankly stated that he wouldn't go again. He
worked for Fart Magazine, "fart" being the Swedish word for speed.
4. QUOTES XXV
"There's
a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's
called marriage." - James Holt
McGavran
"A
doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill, so he gave
him another six months." -
Henry Youngman
"I took
my uncle to his first Alcohol Anonymous meeting. I went but we ended up at a
Triple A meeting by mistake. We didn't know it. Everyone is sitting there
filling out forms and reading maps. We're looking there going, 'How is this
going to help?' My uncle, the trooper, stood up and said, 'My name is Frank and
I'm an alcoholic.' They all looked up and said, 'You shouldn't be driving' and
went right back to the maps."
- Billiam Coronel
"Sticks
and stones may break my bones, but so would an 80lb carrot." - Paul Rubens
"I'm
really glad the guy who invented the Ray Gun was named Ray. Being shot with a
Fred gun just wouldn't sound as cool."
- Bob Neanover
"So I
got home, and the phone was ringing. I picked it up, and said 'Who's speaking
please?' And a voice said 'You are.'"
- Unknown
"Now,
it's quite simple to defend yourself against a man armed with a banana. First
of all you force him to drop the banana; then, second, you eat the banana, thus
disarming him. You have now rendered him helpless." - Monty Python
"I
cannot overstate the scariness of foreign toilets. Dig out your December 1993
issue of the "Scottish Medical Journal," a copy of which was sent to
me by alert research scientist Ellito Cowan. On page 185, you will find an
article entitled "The Collapse of Toilets in Glasgow." This article, which
I am not making up, describes three cases wherein people were injured
"whilst sitting on toilets which unexpectedly collapsed." All three
patients had to receive hospital treatment for wounds in the buttocks region.
(The buttocks region is located just west of Edinburgh.)" - Dave Barry
"An
intellectual snob is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture and
not think of The Lone Ranger."
- Dan Rather
"Researchers
say they have been able to slow down the speed of light. Know how they do it?
They take a beam of light, and they aim it through a post office." - Jay Leno
"Life is
a biochemical reaction to the stimulus of the surrounding environment in a
stable ecosphere, while a bowl of cherries is a round container filled with
little red fruits on sticks. Therefore,
life is NOT like a bowl of cherries!"
- Author Unknown
"There
was a girl knocking on my hotel room door all night last night. I finally had
to let her out of my room." - Henry Youngman
"He was
an angry man, Uncle Swanny. He had printed on his grave "What are you
lookin' at?" - Margaret Smith
"If God
had wanted us to use the metric system, Jesus would have had 10
apostles." - US Senator Jesse
Helms
"You
know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little
note on the windscreen which said, 'Parking Fine.'" - Tommy Cooper
"If you
put pasta shells to your ear, can you hear the soup?" - Steven Wright
"I was
in a supermarket and I saw Paul Newman's face on salad dressing and spaghetti
sauce ... I thought he was missing."
- Bob Saget
"Ever
wonder about those people who spend two bucks a throw on those little bottles
of Evian water? Trying spelling Evian backward." - Bill Edwards
"Middle
age is having a choice of two temptations and choosing the one that will get
you home earlier." - Author Unknown
"I'd
probably like my doctor a bit more if he wouldn't walk around humming 'Another
One Bites the Dust' all the time."
- Kristy Baxter
"In
Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and
bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the
Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love; they had five hundred
years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cukoo clock."
- Orson
Welles as Harry Lime in "The Third Man"
5. LET US PLAY WITH WORDS
"Groom's Childhood Diseases"
A young couple left the church and arrived at the hotel where they were spending the first night of their honeymoon. They opened the champagne and began undressing. When the bridegroom removed his socks, his new wife asked, "Ewww -- what's wrong with your feet? Your toes look all mangled and weird. Why are your feet so gross?"
"I had tolio as a child," he answered.
"You mean polio?" she asked.
"No, tolio. The disease only affected my toes."
The bride was satisfied with this explanation, and they continued undressing. When the groom took off his pants, his bride once again wrinkled up her nose. "What's wrong with your knees?" she asked. "They're all lumpy and deformed!"
"As a child, I also had kneasles," he explained.
"You mean measles?" she asked.
"No, kneasles. It was a strange illness that only affected my knees."
The new bride had to be satisfied with this answer. As the undressing continued, her husband at last removed his underwear.
"Don't tell me," she said. "Let me guess... Small cox?"
6. ...OPEN OUR HEART
KYLE
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class who was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and saw a tear in his eye.
As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes.
We hung all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Damn boy, you are going to really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.
Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him!
Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach... but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.
He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life for better or for worse.
Contribution: Maria
Eugenia Olivares
7. AND END WITH A SMILE
DID YOU GET YOUR EMAIL?
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So he called one of His best angels and sent the angel to earth for a time. When she returned, she told God "yes it is bad on earth, 95% is bad and 5% is good."
Well he thought for a moment and said maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another point of view. So he called another angel and sent her to earth for a time too. When the angel returned she went to Him and told him "yes, the earth was in decline, 95% was bad and 5% was good."
He said this was not good. So he decided to e-mail the 5% that were good, to encourage them and give them something to help them keep going.
Do you know what that e-mail said??? You didn't receive one either, huh??
Contribution: Maria Eugenia Olivares