High Quality is the core value of Monterey Language Services.  We invite everyone to think quality and share their stories.  This blog is part 1 of our think quality story series.  You are most welcome to share your story by sending it to mei-ling@montereylanguages.com.  If your story is chosen to publish, you will receive a surprise.

What the word “quality” means to one person can mean something else to another. Why do people have vastly different measurements for quality? 

Some people strive to attain and maintain high quality; meanwhile, others only give medium or low quality. I, myself, shoot for high quality. I once had a history professor who told me, “your writing doesn’t always have the quantity I expect, but it always has the quality I want.” Therefore, I always got an A.

Today, we must perform at high standards and do high quality work to compete in our global society. Unfortunately, people often tend to turn in work with low or medium quality.

How can we bring the focus back to high quality? First, people need to slow down, put time and effort into their project or assignment, give their best, and be proud of their work. Also, I believe another aspect to this issue is that many bosses or professors don’t give enough praise for a job well done. Not only does praise make an employee feel good about their performance, but it also gives them a better indicator of what the boss really wants. Without praise, people tend to just put in the least amount of effort to get the job done.

Quality can be achieved through practice, pride in your work, and reward for your work. Each person has the ability to give a 100%, yet some try to slide through life giving 50% or less. In today’s global business world, we need to set our standards high. We need to compete and achieve high quality work by giving 100% on each and every project or assignment. The competition is high; therefore, we need to set ourselves apart from the rest. Next time your project is due, give it a second or third revision. This way you can raise your quality level and succeed. Good luck.

This think quality story brought to you by our friend Melissa P. Coyne.

How do we ensure our children and our children’s children will still have clean air to breath, the beauty of the Great Lakes, and the breathtaking ocean views from our Monterey Peninsula? How does the way we conduct business affect our air quality? Where does wastewater end up? Are we depleting all of our potable water resources? Are companies properly handling hazardous waste? Where will we put our solid waste in 50 years? Are civil engineers properly considering environmental issues in tribal lands? These questions and many more are being studied by professionals in environmental science, chemistry, and environmental justice.

Today, we all must think about our impact on earth. Increasing climate change and accumulating waste threaten our survival. We must find more sustainable methods. We need to support laws that help protect our environmental health, which will, in turn, help our public health.

Whether you feel like helping save Mother Earth, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, or fight for our sea friends, even the sharks, you need to get your message out in more than one language. We at Monterey Languages Services can help carry your environmental message in different languages with our conference translation and interpretation services.  Please feel free to contact us for more information. 

By Melissa P. Coyne

The idea of being able to pinpoint the origin, migration, and evolution of modern day language has kept scientists fascinated ever since there has been technology which allows them do so. The latest of this research was conducted by New Zealand scientists and suggests that the Indo-European language family is descended from a language that emerged in Turkey up to 9,500 years ago!

The Indo-European language family includes languages such as German, French, Spanish, Russian, and of course, English. Although there are slight similarities between certain cognates (words with common origin) such as the English ‘mother,’ the German ‘mutter,’ and the Spanish ‘Madre,’ these researchers went above and beyond by modeling how hundreds of words evolved through time. After following the “migration” of the languages back to the source, the scientists discovered all of these languages descend from Anatolia, the westernmost part of Asia and the western two-thirds of arguably one of the most historical and cultural countries in the world; Turkey.

Although the research is still underway, this discovery is a big one in terms of what scientists can undertake next. This opens up new doors and opportunities to dive even deeper into the history of modern day languages.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2192729/English-language-descended-ancient-Turkey-experts-claim.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

“Top of the mornin to ya!” means a heartfelt “Good morning!” in idiomatic Irish/American. Yet none of the following word for word translations convey the true meaning of the phrase.

French: “Top des Mornin à Ya!”
German: “Spitze der Mornin zu Ya!”
Simplified Chinese: “顶部以遐的早晨！

When most people think of translation, they may think of someone flipping through a dictionary and finding a direct substitute. However, a translator who literally translates a document word for word does not necessarily create a readable document.

Translation is more than using a dictionary; it’s also a form of writing. In order to write a clearly understandable document, you must fully understand the nuances of the meaning and the culture into which you’re translating. Then, instead of just looking at one word at a time, you must find a way to convey that same meaning into the second language. This may mean adapting idiomatic expressions, as we saw in “Top of the mornin to ya!”

A different way of seeing the problem is with machine translation programs. A friend of mine used a machine translator and the result often came out laughable. A prime example is her nickname, “Moonshine”. The machine translator communicated it as “Alcool de contrebande”. Yes, this does mean Moonshine in French, but it means the illegal hooch created during Prohibition. We found it much funnier than her usual nickname, which refers to the moonlight.

Another important point is to think of your audience. You may be translating for high-level technical people, in which case a more direct approach might work. However, you may be translating for people who don’t have a great understanding of the subject. In this case, you may need to find a clearer way of stating the subject.

Monterey Language Service specializes in clear and meaningful translation/interpretation.   We can assist you in all your translation and interpretation needs in every language.

By Heidi Ripplinger

Large international conferences require interpretation in many different languages. It takes a great deal of preparation, equipment and teamwork to make the conferences successful. Can you imagine the complicated logistics involved?

It may involve a dozen sound engineers to make preparations ahead of time.  First, several booths must be set up for the interpreters. Each will represent one language and contain interpreters all working at the same time. The location of the booths should allow all interpreters to see the speaker and the activities on stage while the booths should blend in with the conference setting.

Before the conference starts, the interpretation system has to be connected and tested to ensure each booth’s interpretation can be clearly heard from the headsets that will be provided to the audience.

When the audience gets there, each member is provided a headset connected to a radio-like device that receives the channels of interpretation in different languages (English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, etc.). Using all of this high-tech equipment makes you feel like you’re in the U.N.

The interpreters should arrive early and get as much information beforehand as possible.  Simultaneous interpretation is a very difficult and energy-consuming task. Therefore, there are usually two to three interpreters in each booth. They are like a relay race team, taking turns to interpret, 20 minutes each turn. While one interpreter is interpreting, the others must also listen to the speaker so that the next interpreter knows when it is his or her turn to interpret. The three interpreters also depend on each other for help. For example, they may need their partners to write down big numbers or look up the terms in the glossary. Teamwork is crucial to the success of the interpretation.

At the end of the communication relay race, every audience member has understood the conference. The team feels mission accomplished. Monterey Language Services is getting ready for one such conference as we speak. We look forward to helping the panel communicate to the audience.

Only three percent of the books published in the United States are translated works originally written in another language. This is compared to France, where 14 percent of their books sold from a translated source and eight percent in Germany. In these countries, two-thirds of translated books are from English.

The Illinois-based Dalkey Archive Press has been publishing international literature in English for 25 years and says the lack of literature in translation is a cultural crisis that is growing worse. This company only publishes three novellas a year, all less than 200 pages, by famous European authors who are barely known outside of their countries.

Some of these novels have received the highest honor in their country just to get translated into English, and most rarely make it that far. Danish poet and author Pia Juul said it was “a miracle” when her award-winning novel was published into English because “hardly any Danish authors are.” Because of this “cultural crisis,” there are many books that English-readers miss out on because there is no reliable market for books from another language.

Info from: http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/07/books-translation

First picture from: http://bokstugan.blogspot.com/2010/09/mordet-pa-halland-av-pia-juul.html

Second picture from: http://andrewblackman.net/2012/06/the-murder-of-halland-by-pia-juul/

One of the most difficult tasks for translators all around the world isn’t translating documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, and other items of that sort; it’s actually translating books, novels, and other forms of literature. The reason a lot of translators consider this type of work to be harder is due to the addition of feelings, tones, or emotions that you won’t find in a business type document.

Antonina W. Bouis is one of the best in this business, a renowned translator of around 50 books from Russian into English. She says many readers don’t fully appreciate the art of translation; “When you translate a book, you basically “write” a book. Of course, there’s an outline you’re supposed to stick to – to be forced to remain within the confines of the given project. Also, every author has to sound different; they can’t all sound like Boius.”

So which books on your bookshelf have been translated from another language into English and vice versa?

Some examples are the epic-fantasy novels in which the popular Game of Thrones TV series was inspired by; A Song of Ice and Fire, which have been published into over 20 languages, including Japanese, German and Swedish.

Article: http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/07/23/telling_russian_stories_in_english_16573.html

In a previous blog, we explained various means of delivering Whisper Interpretation. In fact, all simultaneous interpretation involves whispering in order to not disturb others. A booth offers the benefit of further reducing disruptions to the audience and the interpreter.

When interpreting inside the booth, the interpreter listens to the speaker through a headset and simultaneously interprets into a microphone. The audience can only hear the interpretation through the headsets provided at their seats.

A typical interpretation booth has a huge clear glass screen in the front, which is important, as it allows the interpreter to see the speaker and have a better picture of what is going on outside of the booth.

Inside the booth, there is an interpretation system equipped with a microphone, a headset, a control console, and sometimes, a monitor which allows the interpreter to have a closer look at the speaker. The interpretation system usually has a mute button that enables the interpreter to block noises made when he or she needs to talk to other interpreters.

Interpretation inside the booth can minimize disturbance for both the interpreter and the audience. Technology and booths are a nice amenity, yet an experienced interpreter is prepared for any situation.  Monterey Language Services offers a full range of interpretation services, including simultaneous interpretation in a booth. Our mission is to assist communication, whether you prefer simultaneous using a booth, through a whisper, or consecutive interpretation.

A lot of people don’t necessarily understand how many services a language company like Monterey Language Services provides. Aside from interpretation, business translation, personal translation, and localization services, we also may be able to help out when it comes to your academic needs.`

We offer a whole branch of services which we call Academic Services. This usually encompasses grammar checking, editing, formatting and translation services for journal and conference articles, doctoral and master’s theses, and research papers and proposals. The convenience of the internet means you don’t know who may be looking to use the research from your thesis; or what languages they may speak!

One of the most popular portions of our academic services is formatting. A lot of people such as the person mentioned in this excerpt from one of our colleagues may have a hard time adapting to new paper formats. However, Monterey Language Services is here to help! They state:

“When I found out that Monterey Language Services offers Academic Services, I immediately thought of a friend of mine. She recently transferred to a new business school that insists on APA formatting for everything, even forum posts. A former History student, she had always used Chicago Style citation. Her first class was a Psychology class. Oh my, did she struggle! Her writing style and content were consistently A-B quality, but the stringent new citation format was very difficult to master. Unfortunately, her professor was a stickler for detail. Consequently, her worthwhile papers were severely graded down. She never earned above a C in that class. All of this could have been avoided if she had known about Monterey Language Services. She assures me that if she encounters another such professor; she will hire them right away. She insists that she will contract Monterey Language Services for her thesis formatting.”

If you would like more information and a larger list of the academic services we provide please visit our Academic Language Services brochure by clicking here: http://www.montereylanguages.com/docs/mls_academic_brochure.pdf

Last week we shared a blog about the JAWS computer software for the blind. This program is a type of localization software that essentially transforms seeing people’s communication into something the blind or hard-of-sight can also take part in. This idea of changing parts of the web from one form of language to another is not uncommon; rather it is a very useful and popular tool.

To put this into perspective we can look at a hypothetical situation. Let’s say a business established in the United States is opening a branch in German. In order to sell their product they will need to transform their whole website from English to German. Instead of making a whole new website for the German branch the smart thing to do would be to invest in a website localization service. Technical and translating experts work hand in hand to ensure that the web pages, hyperlinks, navigation bars, animations, and audio/video are all at a perfect translation from the original English version.

At Monterey Language Services we can help you with all of your localization needs, as it is one of our specialties. In fact, we are currently working on an interesting project which involves localizing 14 very different languages including German, Chinese, Tagalog, Finnish, Canadian French, Turkish, and Indonesian.