September 28, 2010 in Blog by admin

are considering a career in translation? The disadvantages of being a translator

If you have fluent language skills and want to use them in your career, then considering a career in translation could be perfect for you. If you find the right niche, you could be onto a lucrative way of earning money and it could often you lots of freedom and independence. However, translation is not for everyone, because there are a number of disadvantages to being a translator.

*Hard work

Being a translator isn’t just a matter of sitting down and turning one language into another. No matter how good your language skills, you will almost certainly come across words you don’t need to understand and will have to research. There may even be words that you can’t translate just by looking them up in a dictionary – you need to really understand them and this could require much more involved research. If this isn’t factored into your fee, you could find yourself not being paid for your time.

*Need more than just language skills

Even when you’ve done your research, it still isn’t just a matter of translating one language to the other. You need to really have a feel for both languages, so that you know when something can be translated literally, and when you need to change things around to make it flow better. You will need to develop your writing skills more than you ever considered which, if you are not particularly creative, could be a very difficult task.

*Low earnings

Depending on the languages you are using and the niche that you find yourself working in, you could find that your earnings do not reflect the amount of time you need to spend on your work to get it up to the right standard. In these times of recession, clients will probably be looking for ways to cut costs and will not be prepared to pay as much as they should; you will find that there is often someone prepared to undercut you, even if their work isn’t as good as yours.

*Time-consuming and stressful

On a full-time basis, translation can be very time-consuming and stressful. You will nearly always be working up against a deadline, especially if your client is pushing for it as soon as possible, and you may find it hard to maintain the quality you want from your work. There probably won’t be set working hours, so when you have a project on, you will just have to keep working on it until it’s finished. Over time, you may find that it is just too much for you.

*Lots of competition

There are a few languages for which there are very few good translators; in which case, you could charge a very good fee for your work. However, in the case of most languages, you will find that there is a lot of competition. They may not all be as proficient and fluent as you are, but if they undercut you, you could lose out. These days, many translators work via the Internet, so someone in a country with a lower cost of living could well be more cost-effective for the client.

Source:http://www.helium.com/items/1966176-translation-work-disadvantages-of-being-a-translator-working-as-a-translator

BY Sun Meilan.

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September 25, 2010 in Blog by admin

French and Indian poets to translate each other’s works

For poetry lovers in the city, this weekend will be a rare, multi-lingual treat — three poets from Mumbai, coming together with three from France, reading some of each others’ best contemporary verse in English, French and even Marathi. The French poets Caroline Sagot-Duvaroux,

Franck Andre Jamme, have been in the city for the past five days, having their work translated into English and Marathi by three Mumbai bards in intense workshops at the Alliance Francaise.

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September 24, 2010 in Blog, Twitter by admin

Use use Google Android Mobile platform as a translator

It is a delightful experience to discover applications that meet so many needs when we have an Android phone. The better part of the Android marketplace is the competition that goes on. There is usually no need to put up with an app that has less than 4 of 5 stars in the user’s ratings. The system is further refined with the user’s comments. The comments will not fail to let the potential app user know if there are bugs, problems with a particular model of Android phone, and whether the app has any other flaws and faults.

One of the biggest flaws of all of the translator apps is that someone always comes along to claim that the translation is not exactly up to par. But who cares about one or two person’s need to have regional minutiae or today’s latest language fad covered to the last detail? Not a person who needs a quick and general translation or understanding of a word or phrase without a lot of argument, that is for sure!

There are plenty of language translator apps in the Android marketplace. All of the ones that are mentioned here have both written word and spoken examples.

Google Translator is one of the most popular in the Android market. With over 53 languages to work with, the translator should cover the main communications that are needed in the world. This translator allows voice to text and has some translations that are spoken. An added feature is the rich dictionary that, like the new Google search, will give more phrases that relate to the word and that might help.

Google Goggles is an Android app that allows you to search for text results based on a photo of an object. There is now a translation feature for Goggles! Simply take a picture of an object and a text translation is supposed to happen. The languages are French, Italian, English, Spanish and German, with more developments to come.

Voice Dictionary covers 31 languages and it has similar basic features as Google Translator, including text to voice and dictionary definitions of the word that is being translated.

Trippo Mondo has good reviews for the quality of its voice feature, as it does not sound robotic. There are over 30 supported languages, an easy interface and one of the better text to voice technologies.

For improving overall language skills, there are flashcard apps that have mixed reviews. But most of them work as promised, giving a good way to practice and to refine pronunciation over time.

If Latin is of interest, there is an extensive set of latin phrases in alphabetical order in the “Latin Phrases” app.

In summary, the features that should be included in a good translator app for Android include voice to text  ability, extended dictionary features and easy user interfaces. Photo to text is an added benefit.

Source: http://www.helium.com/items/1961789-how-to-use-android-as-a-pocket-translator

BY: Elizabeth M. Young.

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