Articles for Translators and Translation Companies

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Translator Education

Fast-tracking Foreign Languages: How to Meet the Linguistic Challenges of Working Abroad
Native English-speakers are increasingly exhorted to learn foreign languages to play a more effective role in globalisation. However, we tend not to learn foreign languages for three very valid reasons.
1. Many other peoples in the world are not just exhorted to learn English, they are required to do so. Thus, you can find English virtually everywhere you go…
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To be or Not to be Certified - That is the Question
Most of us, if not all, are familiar with the famous words uttered by William Shakespeare’s character Hamlet – “to be or not to be – that is the question.” These much quoted words serve as the foundation for examining the topic of certification, or “to be or not to be certified – that is the question”…
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10 Secrets to Learning Spanish Like Crazy
If you want to learn a language quickly and inexpensively, you have picked the right language. With the exception of English, Spanish is spoken more than any other language in the U.S. You will have plenty of opportunities to practice your Spanish with native speakers of Spanish and even Americans that learned Spanish as their first language…
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Book Review: Thinking German Translation
The new, extensively revised edition of Thinking German Translation is a carefully constructed school book that can make us working translators, at least the older ones, wish that such a book had been available at the start of our education or our careers. The operative idea that inspires this book and makes it so attractive is the "Thinking" of the title…
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Language Acquisition Process
Exposure - It is the first basic requirement for language acquisition. If we take a child born of Moroccan parents and put him in another social environment, such as Italy, he will speak the language spoken there (i.e. Italian) not Moroccan Arabic. This is called cultural transmission, not genetic transmission. If the child were not exposed to a human language, “the language faculty” (that is the ability to acquire language) with which he is born, can not be activated…
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Certification Programs in China
Certification programs for translators and interpreters in China were started a few years ago and are now still at the formulating stage. They were introduced to satisfy demands brought about by the fast-paced commercial and economic boom in the country. This article attempts to describe the current state of these programs…
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English Speaking Practice Through Presentations
If you're anything like most teachers, you're probably constantly looking for new ways to encourage your students to practise their oral English and speak spontaneously. This month, we're going to consider the value of the 'presentation' in achieving this…
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Distance and Online Courses for Translators
The purpose of this paper is to provide information about distance and online courses for translators around the world. Translators seem to be ideal candidates for online and distance courses as they are often already working as translators or in another profession when they decide to enroll for a translation course. Also, as continuing education is extremely important in our profession, distance and online courses can be an interesting alternative to traditional education for those who cannot attend a classroom…
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Criterios para las selecciones textuales en la formación de traductores especializados
Despite its crucial importance for the adequate training of specialized translators, selecting texts according to didactic criteria and their progression have been and continue to be the weak points in the field of Translation Didactics. After showing some proposals for text selection used as a pedagogical tool (Delfour,1994; Göpferich, 1996; Sevilla y Sevilla, 2003; Cámara, 2003), we discuss what factors hinder determining text selections suitable for the training of translators. Finally, we provide a methodological proposal and a set of criteria essential, in our opinion, to any text selection…
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Research in the language classroom: State of the Art
New trends in language teaching have resulted in a move towards research in the language classroom. A brief overview of classroom research reveals three distinct but inter-related research paradigms: classroom-centered research, classroom process research, and qualitative research, respectively…
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Learn The Korean Language
The Korean language is spoken by more than 70 million people, primarily in North and South Korea. There are a number of native Korean language speakers in several countries, including the United States Australia, Canada, and Japan…
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Immerse Yourself In The Japanese Language
Japanese is a language spoken by more than 120 million people worldwide in countries including Japan, Brazil, Guam, Taiwan, and on the American island of Hawaii. Japanese is a language comprised of characters completely different from the western alphabet…
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Learning Styles And Their Effect On Language Learning
This article makes special reference to the effect of learning syles in the learning of Spanish but the principles are valid for all language learning…
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How To Find The Meaning Of Words As You Read
The meaning of unknown words which you come across in your reading sometimes can be known by their surroundings, that is, their contexts. The context of the sentence can tell us the part of speech of the unknown word …
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Study The Italian Language Abroad
The Italian language is one of ancient and historic roots. Today, it is spoken by approximately 70 million people, and is the official language of several nations, including Italy, Slovenia, and Vatican City. If you are interested in learning to speak, read, and write another language, consider the romantic Italian language…
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Learn English Laughing
Humor is important in learning a language. Not only does it enable the student to learn new vocabulary in context but it also is a motivating force. When a student understands a joke she begins to feel like she is in the world of the new language…
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Immerse Yourself In The Greek Language And Culture
The Greek language is over 3,500 years old, though it has evolved through the years. Over 15 million people worldwide speak Greek. It is the official language of Greece and Cyprus, and is spoken natively by immigrants living in many countries around the world…
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Speed Read Faster Than Ever - 4 Brilliant Tips
Many people, particularly students, would love to be able to absorb information faster. But before retaining information, they have to go through the first stage of learning, which is reading. For many individuals who are pressed for time, speed reading has become a necessity. However, it's not just the reading part that is important…
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The Fun Of Learning The Hawaiian Language
The Hawaiian language is an Austronesian (or Polynesian) language that is the ancestral tongue of the Hawaiian Islands, which lie in the Pacific Ocean. The Hawaiian language is the official language of the State of Hawaii. It is an endangered language, meaning that it is no longer spoken officially on any of the populated Hawaiian Islands…
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Cognitive Style As A Source Of Systematic Variance In Iranian EFL Learners' Performance On Communicative Language Tests
Recent language testing research investigates factors other than language proficiency that may be responsible for systematic variance in language test performance. One such factor is the test takers' cognitive styles. The present study was carried out with the aim of finding the probable effects of Iranian EFL learners' cognitive styles on their performance on communicative tests…
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Learn The French Language
The French language is spoken by 130 million people around the world. The language is the native tongue in countries like France, Switzerland, Haiti, and parts of Canada. And many Americans in the states of Louisiana and Maine are native French speakers…
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The Effect Of Text Cohesion On Reading Comprehension
The present study is an attempt at examining the effect of cohesive ties on language comprehension. Language comprehension is an interactive process consisting of background knowledge, cognitive tasks and conceptual abilities. These three factors contribute most to an individual's comprehension…
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Learn To Speak The German Language
German is one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide. It is the official language of several countries including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. After the English language, it is the most commonly known language in the European Union, of which it is one of the official languages…
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Why is learning Spanish so important?
Learning a foreign language, like Spanish, is becoming much more of a necessity in today’s society. Learning Spanish is easier and more enjoyable than ever with audio courses, online courses, study abroad, and intensive language courses. Following are just some of the many reasons learning Spanish will benefit you and enrich your life…
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The Contact Between Text, Mind, and One's Own Word in a Translation Workshop
We translators work in the field of communication by way of the word. "Communication" and "word" are linked to the very essence of what is human.
In the past few years, a productivist pragmatism which presents itself as an unquestionable and universally valid doctrine seems to be subjecting human exchanges to the empire of its economical laws. All pursuits are reduced to their lucrative and income-producing aspects…
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Learn A Foreign Language Online
Knowing more than one language in today’s world is not so unusual. With cultural barriers coming down, and many people living in and visiting non-native countries, it makes sense to have at least a basic knowledge of one or more languages other than your native tongue. It has never been easier than it is today to learn a foreign language. Taking a foreign language course online is a convenient and even speedy way to learn another tongue for work, for travel, or for your own personal enrichment…
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A Competent Translator And Effective Knowledge Transfer
In this world of science and technology there is knowledge explosion every day. This knowledge which is generally written in the English language needs to be transmitted in various languages so that people who do not know how to speak and write the original langauge can get the knowledge necessary for industrial development and technological innovation to keep up with the rest of the world. To transmit this knowledge effectively, there is a need for competent translators in various languages…
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English As A Second Language
The English language is the most commonly spoken language on Earth, either by native speakers or by people who have learned it in addition to their first language. More and more people everyday have the desire to learn English as a second language…
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Learning The Arabic Language
The Arabic language is an ancient tongue that dates back to earlier than the 6th century. It is a language steeped in history, and shrouded in mystery. Today, the Arabic language is the 5th most spoken language on the planet, and it is the official language in many Middle Eastern countries, such as Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia…
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The Challenge Of Learning The Chinese Language
Chinese is a language, or a group of languages, spoken by 1.3 billion people worldwide. If you believe Chinese to be one language, rather than a grouping, it is the single most commonly spoken language on the planet. It is spoken in countries like China, Taiwan Singapore, and Malaysia. If you are interested in learning Chinese, it can be intimidating and challenging. But learning Chinese can also be rewarding, and knowing it can have benefits for your career, and help to improve your travels to Asia…
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What is Language Immersion?
Language immersion is a program where a foreign language is used as the language of instruction in school. In partial language immersion, only 50-80% of a given school day is in a foreign language. In full language immersion programs and international study abroad programs, students eat, sleep, and breathe the language they are attempting to learn, and so the language is picked up much more quickly…
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7 Tips Prepping For A Language Program Abroad
Whether you know zero vocabulary or you are an advanced speaker in a foreign language, a little preparation can help you get the most out of your immersion language program abroad. Here are some tips from study abroad veterans. Whether you plan to study Spanish, learn Italian, or even become fluent in Japanese, this is advice worth paying attention to…
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The Process of Translation & Translator Training Courses
The practical part of the translation practice, practically begins when a text is read/heard by the translator/interpreter. He/she, then, starts comprehending it, during which each translator/interpreter takes it in his/her own more or less unique way, i.e. there is a mysterious "black box" in him/her which determines which aspect of the text is more prominent, which part plays a more important role in the overall conveyance of the message involved, which word(s) carry a stronger sense etc…
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Parallelism between Language Learning and Translating
The researcher's informal observation as an English language teacher of the strategies that second-language learners employ in the classroom, the researcher's own informal analysis of the translation process of a scientific text by a colleague, the researcher's own experience of translating and discussions with translators have led the researcher to believe that there are similarities in approach and features between language learning and the translation process…
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Knowing Before Learning: Ten Concepts Students Should Understand Prior to Enrolling in a University Translation or Interpretation Class
This paper aims to assist instructors in informing students of various aspects involved with learning translation and interpretation in a university setting. Because such courses rarely last beyond one or two semesters, many students enroll in such classes with erroneous assumptions about course content and unrealistic expectations about what they can accomplish. The author presents ten concepts that ideally should be presented to and understood by students prior to their enrolling in a university translation or interpretation class so that they may be both realistic and productive in their learning goals …
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Language Learning in Translation Classrooms
Although practicing translators and interpreters are not in the classroom to learn, one of the major benefits to teaching is definitely how much teachers do learn about the complexity of the learning process by supporting student efforts to become competent professionals. One of the common errors that new instructors at university make however is to assume that their students are already expert learners …
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eContent Localization Resources for Translator Training - eCoLoRe
A new EU-funded project under the Leonardo da Vinci II program promises to create a freely accessible repository of data for training translators in the use of translation tools. Alan Wheatley reports below on the results of a recent Translation Memory Survey conducted as part of eCoLoRe’s mandate …
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Winning the War of Words
“Don’t submit interrogatories about how your political unit may provide goods and services to your person, but submit an interrogatory on how you may offer goods and services to your political unit.” What’s this? It’s a beyond stilted rendering of John F. Kennedy’s famous exhortation, “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” …
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La evaluación en los estudios de traducción
Mejorar las posibilidades de evaluación en el campo de la traducción supone uno de los retos más importantes, ya que la evaluación del rendimiento académico es imprescindible, tanto por su imposición institucional como por la misma naturaleza de la actividad académica. Los problemas que habitualmente se le plantean al docente son diversos. Uno de los mayores es el de la subjetividad y la percepción personal tanto del evaluador como del evaluado a la hora de valorar el resultado de un proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, para el que en el campo de la traducción aún no hay suficientes criterios sistematizados…
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Suggested Minimal Requirements For the Advanced Study of Linguistics
The following document is entitled "Minimal Requirements for the Advanced Study of Linguistics" and deals with certain problems that may yet turn out to play an important role in all areas of "Language Studies." Your direct and personal reactions to these ideas are respectfully requested in a friendly, collegial manner, so by all means let me know how you feel. Your criticisms may well play a role in revising this piece …
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The Sixties Book: How "Correct" Is British English?
The alleged differences between British and American English have long provided a topic for learned observations, newspaper articles and even folklore. It is not my intention to rehash any of this material from the past but rather to provide a fresh look at these two language formations from the viewpoint of modern linguistics …
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Inside the Sixties: Learning British English as a Foreign Language
I spent much of my time trying to infiltrate the English language and the thought patterns it seemed to impose, both in its written and spoken forms. I had the advantage of a literary background, considerable training in languages and linguistic theory, and, as I have mentioned, I also had several close English relatives …
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Ideology and Translation
For years translations were considered as derivatives, copies, and translators as mechanical devices replacing linguistic codes (equivalents) from one language into another, and the translator's autonomy was always questioned (and is still being questioned) by those who thought of him/her ‘as a monkey, with no choice save to make the same grimaces as his master’…
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What to look for in a T&I program
“T&I” stands for translation and interpretation and is a common abbreviation in such phrases as “She has a T&I degree” or “XYZ has 13 years of experience in T&I”. Many translators and interpreters today are self-taught or learned the necessary skills under the supervision of a mentor. A better way of becoming a translator, I believe, is to enrol in a T&I program. But which one is the right one for you?
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Testing and Evaluation in the Translation Classroom
It is not at all uncommon today for professional translators to be invited to teach a course at a university. Many translators, though flattered at being invited to teach, are hesitant to accept the position due to their lack of pedagogical knowledge. One particular problematic area is that of marking translations and making decisions on student competence. This paper presents the basic information professional translators need to know before they enter the classroom, and outlines possible testing strategies they might use to make their teaching experience enriching and valuable for themselves as well as their students…
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Translators or Instructors or Both
There is no doubt in anyone's mind today that the professional translator/ interpreter is an asset to the university classroom. Professionals "know what's going on" in the business of translation; they have access to state of the art technology. More often than not they are also enthusiastic role models students might emulate…
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The Use of Transition Notes in Learning English & Translation
Transactional language has an important role to play in education and in life in general. Across the curriculum, it is the language of the classroom, the language of textbooks, and the language of examinations. Further, as pointed out by McEldowney (1994: 3), it is the type of language with which the community at large conducts day-to-day business. Therefore, a sound knowledge of such language develops awareness of a norm from which literary text deviates in order to make a special impact…
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To Be a Good Translator
In addition to being a member of our country, we are members of the world community, and this gives us a global identity. Therefore, it is quite natural for us to think about world affairs and cooperate in solving the world's problems. To do so, the first and most important tool is "language," which is socially determined. Our beliefs and ideologies are always reflected in our way of talking, although the connections are hidden and only "critical language study" reveals these hidden connections in discourse…
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Including Technical and Academic Writing in Translation Curricula
Why should we include “writing about a technical subject, intended to convey specific information to a specific audience for a specific purpose” (Markel 1988) in a translation curriculum? The reasons seem to be simple and obvious. Technical Writing and Academic Writing, which in my opinion both correspond to the above definition, widen translation students’ professional horizon…
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Technical and Academic Writing in the Education of Translators
Genre-based writing instruction is part of the technical translation curriculum at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The course called Professional Documentation (PD) fulfills this function.The main genre-related topics covered in the course are instructions, articles, reports, abstracts and proposals. This paper gives a detailed overview of two important genres: the abstract and the proposal...
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Training Translators
Do translators need to be educated in the art and science of translation? Is it possible to train a translator in an academic setting? Is doing so worthwhile, from the translator's perspective or from that of a potential employer? The current state of affairs in the translation industry in the United States would suggest that academic training is valued but hardly considered essential. On the other hand, a translator with academic training often does find entering the market easier and can command higher salaries or rates, as well as possibly advance in a corporate setting more rapidly. Weighed against the time and money involved in getting academic training, however, the untrained translator may actually do better. So let's take a close look at the nature of training translators, consider what might make for a quality academic training environment, and assess the value of such training…
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Developing Guidelines for a New Curriculum for the English Translation BA Program in Iranian Universities
The purpose of this study was to develop some guidelines to modify the present curriculum for a BA in English Translation in Iranian universities. The participants were 30 experts in the fields of ELT, linguistics, and translatology from different universities in Iran…
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