Posts tagged ‘terminology’
Translation (and terminology) in the African languages
by Anja Drame
New study highlights the state of the art for translation and language industry in the African languages
Common Sense Advisory has published its study about the need for translation in Africa. The study was conducted in 2011 in cooperation with Translators without Borders, and received quite an impressive feedback of more than 300 translators in the African languages. Almost 77% of the responses came from people living in Africa, the rest from the various regions in which Africans form a large Diaspora. However, as Common Sense Advisory stresses, the regional distribution is somewhat heavy on South Africa, followed by Kenya, Cameroon and Nigeria.
The results are interesting. One of the major findings is the high level of training and education received. More than half of the respondents are university graduates and one Third have a Bachelor degree. But with the large Diaspora and the various possibilities of language related studies one can conduct in South Africa this is perhaps less surprising. What I find most surprising is the fact that 46.3% claim that African language translation is their prime source of income. On the other hand, the lack of organization and trade union representation is felt as severe as payment morale appears to be low and political repression an issue.
Most translators work also as interpreters which makes a lot of sense if one considers the high place of oral communication and the relatively low literacy rates in the continent.
There was also a result that is interesting, although hardly a surprise for terminologists. A majority claims the lack of equivalents for terms in the major languages is an immense problem. Common Sense Advisory uses the terms cancer and clinical depression as examples from the heath sector, where translation and interpreting has such a strong and directly influencing place.
Of course we are aware of many projects addressing exactly this lack, both from governmental and public side and private initiatives. This is the case especially in South Africa with its elaborate language policy, but not only there. However, it still seems that the lack of access to and information about available sources is a major problem, especially for those translators with limited access to the Internet (although the study suggests that more than 80% are online while translating). And these are just responses from professional and educated translators and do not count the numerous translators who do the job while actually being employed as administrators, logisticians, nurses, etc. These people will hardly know where to find and how to access online resources. I can tell because I have worked with them in the field with an International NGO. And they do an impressive and tremendous job!
As for their future, African translators expect an upward trend with South Africa joining the economic bloc of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), making it BRICS. The expectation is an economic rise and the new trade partners creating additional demand. Generally, research shows that the translation market in Africa has been growing steadily. But it comes along with the fear that this demand will create a blooming of unqualified service providers which ultimately damage the reputation and industry. There are experiences all over the world with this problem and surely some action needs to be taken. Be it through organization and representation, quality assurance measures and partnerships. Any other ideas?
Africa is home to 2000 – 3000 languages (depending on who has counted them), belonging to only a few large language families. The major European languages of the former colonizing powers, such as English, French, Portuguese and to lesser extends German, Afrikaans and others, as well as Arabic dominate education, business and politics today. New languages such as Chinese were introduced with this country’s growing influence on Africa. Regional linguas francas such as Swahili or Hausa fight a battle against these languages. Sometimes with more success, sometimes with less.
I am curious to hear about your experiences!
Cheers, Anja
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Common Sense Advisory, Inc. is an independent research firm committed to objective research and analysis of the business practices, services, and technology for translation, localization, and interpreting. With its research for both Global Leaders and Industry Providers, Common Sense Advisory endeavors to improve the quality and practice of international business, and the efficiency of the online and offline operations that support it.
Download the full study: http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/AbstractView.aspx?ArticleID=2869
ECQA Certified Terminology Manager explanier in Webinar hosted by SDL
Join us in a SDL webinar about the ECQA Certified Terminology Manager training program!
30.04.2012
TermNet member SDL is hosting a webinar about the training and certification program “ECQA Certified Terminology Manager”.
Join us for this webinar and learn more about this innovative and successful program!
Language: German
Date: 10. May 2012
10:00 – 11:00 CETS (Central European Summer Time – Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna)
You can register for this webinar at: http://www.translationzone.com/de/events/translation-agency/may2012/2012-05-10-terminologiemanager-zertifizierung.asp
About ECQA Certified Terminology Manager – Basic
In the globalised knowledge and information societies, specialised language has become a prerequisite of any kind of efficient and effective communication, management and interoperability of technical systems and methodologies. Terminology and terminology management build an integral, high quality and quality-assuring part of the end products, services and tools in the fields of
- INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION,
- CLASSIFICATION & CATEGORISATION,
- TRANSLATION & LOCALISATION.
The new job profile Certified Terminology Manager – Basic combines and bundles the various competences of professionals active in these areas.
ECQA Certified Terminology Manager – Basic is especially suited for professionals who work as
- INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONALS:
ICT experts, information and knowledge managers, etc.
- EXPERTS IN CLASSIFICATION & CATEGORIZATION:
e-Business, Semantic Web, libraries and archives, etc.
- LANGUAGE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS:
Translators, interpreters, localisers, technical writers, etc.
This certification can be regarded as specialized professional qualification.
For more information about the ECQA Certified Terminology Manager please visit:
http://www.termnet.org/english/products_service/ecqa_ctm-basic/index.php
or contact us termnet@termnet.org
Diversity and Global Understanding in Vienna
Working in the context of the United Nations means experiencing cultural diversity and multilingualism. The workshops seek to promote greater awareness of the importance of efficient communication tools and “a common language” spoken when people from diverse backgrounds work together.
We will look into the realities of diversity in the UN system, as they manifest in the field. We will seek to explore the full range of what diversity means for the UN’s working procedure and explore the modes of diversity in real-life situations of working together on
the ground.
Hence, since deficits in effective internal and external communication, intercultural competence and diversity management have been identified as problematic the question must be asked as to how specially targeted initiatives, tools and policies in this field have
the potential to improve such communication and therefore the performance of the United Nations System and civil society in its support.
Our objective is to deepen the international debate on questions relating to cultural diversity, particularly (but not exclusively) its effects to the working environment of the UN organizations and its peace operations.
Existing infrastructure, ongoing activities and common practise are discussed by the workshop participants and new research proposed in a series of presentations by scholars and practitioners. Thematically the focus is on the benefits of diversity
management, terminology, education and shared communication tools.
An update:
The programme for the Diversity and Global Understanding workshops (31 May – 2 June, in Vienna) has been all but finalized. Have a look below and come join us at the UN Vienna! Participation is free of charge but registration is an absolute must. Places are limited, so it’s strictly first come first serve!
Monday, May 31, 2010
4 pm – 6 pm Registration
6 pm – 8 pm Reception by the go4diversity Project
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
9 am – 9.45 am Keynote speech: Gerhard Budin, UNESCO Chair for “Multilingual, Transcultural Communication in the
Digital Age”; University of Vienna
10 am -12.30 p.m. WORKSHOP I: Diversity and Diversity Management
(Moderator: Gabriele Sauberer)
Gabriele Sauberer: “Diversity, social responsibility and diversity management in the context of peace”
Esra Killaf (MA17)
René Hudribusch (Ministry of Defense and Sport): „The effects of masculine & power cultures on worksplace bullying in the Austrian Armed Forces (and their relation to UN Resol. 1325)“
Lakshmi Kumar (The Orchid School): „Connecting worlds: raising intercultural insights for global-centric leaderships“
1.30 – 3 pm WORKSHOP II: Go4Diversity: Global Education, Migration, Inclusion and Science
3.30-5.45 pm WORKSHOP III: Terminology – its role in UN peace policy
(Moderators: Anja Drame, Julia Harfensteller)
Anja Drame: Introduction – terminology policies and communication
Klaus Mak (LVAG, Austria): „ProTerm“ and process-oriented knowledge management
Valens Bimenyimana (PIH, Senior Translator/Interpreter) „Rwanda’s terminology and language policy needs“
Mekki El Badri (UNOV, translator for Arabic) „Translators and terminologists at the UN Vienna“
Julia Hafensteller: „Potential and Role of Concepts in Organizational Policy“
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
9 am – 9.30 am Keynote Speech: tentatively: Gabriele Eschig, Austrian Commission for Austria (about UNESCO and Diversity)
9.30 am – 12.30 WORKSHOP IV: Global Education
(Moderators: Reinhard Mitschke)
Reinhard Mitschke: Report about the COMSIC project (Collaboration Competencies for Media Supported Intercultural Groups)
1.30 pm – 3 pm WORKSHOP V, continued:
Kent Kille (College of Wooster): “Interactive Global Education: Active Learning and the Center of Diversity and Global Engagement.”
Jamie Arbuckle (former Canadian UN Peacekeeper): „Intercultural communication among agencies: intra-agency relationships, agencies as cultures“
3.30 pm – 5.45 pm WORKSHOP VI and Practical Training: Fostering global understanding through new ICT tools and ways of communication
(Moderators: Henrike Paepcke)
this one is all about wikis, social networks, blogs, Twitter, etc.
The future of (terminology) standards is here
The ISO Concept Database (ISO CDB) is now publicly available: http://cdb.iso.org, click “log in as guest” (for the time being). In the CDB you can search for terms and definitions in a large number of (most?) ISO Standards. Under “Codes” you can also search for language identifiers from ISO 639, parts 1, 2, 3, and 5.
It took ISO (and a handful of external database experts) years to conceptualize, plan and implement a database that will include not only terms from all its standards, but also graphic representations, codes, etc.
All the careful planning was done for a good reason: The ISO Concept Database (or short CDB for the initiated 
) is a major step towards a revolution in the standardization business. Despite the deveopments in the information and communication sector, standards continue to be produced en mass – and more or less in the same old-fashioned analogous way as they have been ever since the foundation of ISO. With an ever increasing number of Technical Committees and domains that require standardization and the diversification of experts who work on these standards this means primarily one thing: reduplication and overlapping of efforts, and what’s worst – contradicting standards due to a lack of harmonization, collaboration and information about what already exists and may even have been standardized by some other committee years ago.
This is an in-efficiency that nobody can afford – and that ISO is going to tackle by introducing “Standards as databases”. Unlike the traditional, paper- (or at least file-)based standards, the future will coordinate the complex universe of international standards development by introducing a work method and environment that is more up-to-date with the possibilities that are offered by the technical development. However, to develop this for an organization like ISO, that has such a huge number of standards, documents and others to handle, a workforce of largely volunteering experts from companies, institutes and organizations worldwide who do the actual standard development PLUS all the legal implications that brings along means that it is no easy task. But once completed it will be a revolution that will affect us all, because it will make standards easier to be implemented and more streamlined. Another quantum leap towards a globalized world in which really all small components can work together. Or maybe I am a bit over-enthusiastic here. However, I hope you follow me about the immense potential this brings along.
But coming back to ISO CDB: This database is just one piece in the larger picture, but a very important one. Somebody once wrote somewhere: “you can not standardize if you do not all talk about the same and have the same understanding about the issue at hand”, if not first of all the meaning is agreed upon by all stakeholders. And this narrows it down again to terminology – our favourite subject.
ISO/CDB is now public and online. Everybody can log-in as a guest and test it on its Website http://cdb.iso.org, search for terms and definitions of nearly all ISO standards published. Of course, as with all innovations, there will be things that need improvement. But the most important step has been done. It is finally there.
Language Portal of Canada launched
Canada has been regarded by most of us as the linguistist’s and terminologist’s paradise for many years. And derservedly so. Hardly any other country puts so much real effort into preservation and promotion of linguistic diversity. And above all, these efforts are crowned with professionalism, efficiency and success!
Canada now finally has her one-stop-shop for anything related to her linguistic heritage. The country’s rich linguistic resources are now accessible at the newly launched Language Portal of Canada.
“Through this portal, anybody can finally obtain access free of charge to TERMIUM®, the Government of Canada’s linguistic and terminology data bank. With TERMIUM® finding the right words has just become easier with more than 3,900,000 terms of which some 200 000 are in Spanish” says Gabriel Huard, Director of the Translation Bureau.
He further notes that “the portal also contains a vast array of language tools, a magazine, exercises dealing with problem words in French and English, and a directory of useful links to resources and organizations active in the language field.”
In June 2008, the Government of Canada published the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future. Within the framework of this initiative, Public Works and Government Services Canada mandated the Translation Bureau of the Government of Canada to design and put online the language portal.
Go to www.ourlanguages.gc.ca
Terminology Summer School 2010 in Vienna – Registration open
As from now on you can register for the upcoming International Terminology Summer School. The training week will take place in Vienna in the last week of May (24-28 May 2010).
Here’s the link: http://www.termnet.org/english/events/tss2010
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- TSS 2010
India on its way to a modern, multilingual knowledge society
The Indian government has initiated something that could turn out to be one of the most pioneering projects towards the establishing of the famed knowledge society. Highly multilingual and diverse societies like India have long relied on English as the medium of choice to disseminate knowledge to her people. At the same time it has recognized the fact that a large part of the people do not have sufficient proficiency in that language to make the best possible use of the information transmitted to them in that language. India’s Prime Minister therefore set the stake by demanding to make knowledge, especially in critical areas, available to every citizen – for the sake of nothing less than an educated and informed multilingual society through all levels.
The Prime Minister’s speech was starting point for the National Translation Mission (NTM in short): http://www.ntm.org.in
The initiative is located at the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysore from where it operates. NTM experts cooperate with various governmental, non-governmental and academic institutions, media houses, publishers and other companies.
Terminology planning, management and standardization are major aspects for the overall success of the mission.
Who will benefit? Well, according to the initiative’s Website all those who have otherwise little access to the knowledge, liker rural and students of weaker sections, teachers of various subject fields, NGOs, volunteers in non-formal education, government and private agencies, media producers and journalists, translators and interpreters, etc.
And hopefully the international professional community from the expertise, products and services by NTM for the Indian languages.
Long walk to freedom for new terms in France
This great article from Wall Street Journal online describes the way of neologisms through French institutions and expert groups before they become approved new terms.
An excerpt:
PARIS — The word on the table that morning was “cloud computing.”
To translate the English term for computing resources that can be accessed on demand on the Internet, a group of French experts had spent 18 months coming up with “informatique en nuage,” which literally means “computing in cloud.”
France’s General Commission of Terminology and Neology — a 17-member group of professors, linguists, scientists and a former ambassador — was gathered in a building overlooking the Louvre to approve the term.
“What? This means nothing to me. I put a ‘cloud’ of milk in my tea!” exclaimed Jean Saint-Geours, a French writer and member of the Terminology Commission. “Send it back and start again”…
Read the full article on Wall Street Journal online.
Terminology country report: Turkey
If you had asked me about terminology in Turkey one year back, I would probably have answered that there is not much going on in this country. It’s true, we have the occasional (however, I must say, very interested) participants at TSS. But else there was not much information coming out of the country that reached me.
But that was before I encountered TermTurk project (www.termturk.net). This project, sponsored by the EU-Turkey Dialog programme, is an eye-opener for me.
What’s it all about? Actually, it is meant as a beginning. A group of people got together to kick-start what they perceived as long overdue – the development of an elaborate and active terminology infrastructure in Turkey.
Surprisingly, there has not been much institutionalised research on terminology. Nor is there something like an information centre where interested groups or individuals can find what they need to know about it. It is surprising, because there is such a strong patronage: Kemal Mustafa Atatürk himself wrote a brochure to introduce Turkish geometry terminology. Atatürk, as we know was very dedicated to language planning in order to promote and facilitate nation-building processes in the new republic. Terminology is even explicitly mentioned in the country’s famous Anıtkabir – his mausoleum and museum in Ankara (something that my colleagues and I still marvel about because it such a pleasant feeling to see terminology being rewarded such public recognition).
So finally, TermTurk should achieve what is still lacking: an information and research centre at Hacettepe University in Ankara, closer ties with internation organizations and activities (e.g. in standardization and reserach), a national terminology policy, and networking, networking, networking of the many different and often isolated initiatives within Turkey.
And TermTurk is doing well in achieving these goals: Turkish standards institute is now actively participating in ISO/TC 37 standardization projects, a series of well-attended trainings, conferences and workshops foster dialogue and knowledge transfer, quality assurance and service certification (LICS) take root, training material is obtained, translated and produced at high speed.
TermTurk as a project will come to an end in November 2009. But the continuation of the achievements is already planned and prepared.
There is much to be expected from Turkey in the next years. And I, for my part, am quite proud to be at the core of the action from the very beginning.
How the Booby was found
Debora has this terminology story for us:
People thought the Tasman Booby was long extinct – instead he was only going incognito under a different name (*).
Here’s where we found it: http://www.i-to-i.com/campfire/news/extinct-booby-found-living-in-tasmania.html
Tasman booby – a bird thought to have been long extinct – has been found living in Tasmania by scientists.
However, the story is not as straightforward as it seems, reports National Geographic. A ‘masked’ bird which conservationists thought was a different species for years has now been identified as the Tasman booby.
Fossil experts in past decades unwittingly compared the bones of the female Tasman booby to those of a male booby, which is masked. However, they did not take into account the significantly different statures of the birds and assumed they were two different species.
A comparison of their DNA confirmed that the booby is still very much alive.
Tammy Steeves of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand – the leader of the study which made the discovery – told the magazine: “Imagine my surprise when we found that they were identical. It’s a rare treat to uncover such a definitive result.”
The Tasman Booby (if you meet one, you can address him correctly now): http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/30245/masked-booby-223.jpg
(*) yes, names are important in terminology. Therefore, ISO 704 “Terminology work – Principles and methods” – a must-know standard for the language industry – will add a large section on names in its next revision.
