yndigo

The Seach Engine Giant enters the World of Human Translation
Google can barely blink without making headlines, and its recent launch of Google Translation Center is no exception. The Center aims to match translation customers with professional and volunteer translators in 40 languages.
Why would Google, a company not know for its human-powered solutions, want to take [...]

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I just wanted to pass along a photo from a Flickr member of a restaurant sign in China as an example of why humans should still be involved in the translation process:

This gem has already made its way around the internet, often noting how blind reliance on an internet translation tool led to the biggest [...]

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When one language dominates the terminology

“Kiss your Julys goodbye,” someone told me a few years ago when I started watching professional cycling. He was right. The Tour de France is upon us and now, along with WordPress, my e-mail, and a translation I’m reviewing, I have two browser tabs dedicated to today’s 4th stage, a [...]

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Fisher Tool Co., Inc. v. Gillet Outillage
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion the other day in a case that involved, among other things, an apparent mistranslation. Mécanisme à cliquet was translated into English as “ratchet mechanism,” a mistranslation the opinion claims “certainly isn’t clear on its face, since French-to-English dictionaries support [...]

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When a translator just has to be right
We can all point to instances where a translator or interpreter can’t afford to be wrong: instructions for a medical device; tolerance tests on an airplane wing; planning of a terrorist plot. An article from today’s Boston Globe illustrates one of those times.
It reports on a New [...]

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A couple recent news items illustrate the role translators and interpreters play in politics and international security.
The Taipei Times reported that China’s President Ma Ying-jeou gave a speech last week in Tokyo to a Japanese delegation where an interpreter error soured the President’s otherwise fraternal message. Blamed on poor sound volume, a portion of [...]

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Pricing remains stable in translation industry

Business globalization research and consulting firm Common Sense Advisory just put out this press release, claiming that our $12 billion industry is not suffering from the sluggish economy. According to the press release, as globalization increases there is a growing demand for translation, so translators and translation services have not [...]

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