The series consists of three engaging parts:

1. Educational Video: An introduction to the key terms and concepts in the song, providing valuable insight into its cultural and historical references.
2. English Translation: A clear and thoughtful translation of the lyrics, making the poetic beauty of the song accessible to a broader audience.
3. ASMR Lyrics Reading: A soothing experience featuring an ASMR reading of the lyrics, allowing you to enjoy the lyrics in a unique and calming way.

Click to watch all three parts combined in one video on YouTube.

Feedback Received

It is delightful to be able to engage our clients in a dialogue about culture, poetry and translation!

A client of Monterey Language Services shared a wonderful interpretation of Blue and White Porcelain of her own with us after reading our translation. She thought the song described the beloved landscape scenery of China as captured in blue and white porcelain pottery.

How did this story happen? Let us share how Monterey Language Services turned this beautiful piece into a fascinating project!

Spreading the Joy of Translation

The song “Blue and White Porcelain” by Taiwanese artist Jay Chou was released in 2007, so why did we choose it for our 2024 summer project? The idea didn’t come after a lot of planning or brainstorming, but as a sudden enlightenment.

At the start of the summer, Mei-Ling kept hearing “Blue and White Porcelain” in different places, so she decided to learn it. The more she sang the song, the more the beauty of the Chinese culture embedded in the lyrics resonated with her. Appreciating the poetry of the lyrics, Monterey Language Services decided to share the song with a broader audience by translating the Chinese lyrics into English.

Even non-Chinese speakers were able to join in this effort. In this video, Layla, a Spanish interpreter whose native language is English, read the translation as a poem. We then developed the reading further using ASMR techniques.

This story is an inspiring example of the power of translation to facilitate communication between people of different languages and cultures.

Collaborative Teamwork

This project is the product of collaboration between many colleagues and professionals. The end result surpasses what one person is capable of doing alone.

We started the project with Christoph, whose Chinese-to-English translation follows the syllable-count and meter of the original song and provided the foundation for what was to come. See our previous blog post for more information.

After the English translation video was complete, Shreya joined in. She suggested adding an educational video with eye-catching images to explain the key terms in the lyrics.

Layla thought the English translation was poetic, so she performed a reading in her clear and gentle voice. Her soothing tone inspired Shreya to suggest creating an ASMR version.

Finally, we wanted to create a complete sensory experience. Gary edited the background music and added sound effects such as rain falling on leaves, fire crackling, and pottery wheel clicking. These effects enhanced the video and made it atmospheric.

We are proud to mention that the younger generation also played a part. The background image of the ASMR video was drawn by De-Yi Lee, a junior high school student.

For this project, we have many people to thank, including the song’s original composer and singer Jay Chou and lyricist Vincent Fang. The song inspired a lot of creativity, which has made this project very enjoyable.

Through the collaborative efforts of many talented individuals, we were able to produce a video with a clear vision.

Video Editing

The combined video has three parts, and we created it in three different phases. As the videos consist of many different elements, video editing was required to combine and synchronize them. Smoothing the audio and creating seamless transitions between different segments were also fun to handle.

In the introduction to Parts One and Two, we used a stunning animated image of falling flower petals, while a blue and white bowl rotates in the background. On its own, the animation is beautiful, but when put it into our video, we felt that the speed was a little too fast.

The video is aimed to relax rather than energize, so we decided to slow the animation down, reducing the speed by half. The effect was immediate and magical. The animation was seamlessly integrated into the rest of the video.

From start to finish, we made sure that there are smooth transitions throughout the video. Our aim was to find a balance between joy and serenity as well as between majesty and simplicity, while maintaining a relaxing mood on the whole.

Translation Journey

Before translating the lyrics, we took the time to decide on our approach. We weren’t merely trying to produce a mechanical, one-to-one translation of the words. Instead, we aimed to create a singable English version that mirrored the rhythm and flow of the original song.

At the same time, we also wanted to faithfully convey the story told by the original lyrics. Therefore, every word went through a great deal of consideration and scrutiny.

To keep the translation accessible and easy for a non-Chinese audience to understand, some proper nouns had to be dropped. These included references to a Song dynasty style potter’s mark on a vase, and a town in Jiangnan, a region in China known for its romantic river scenery.

Both terms are richly evocative to a Chinese listener, but their dense cultural meanings could not be explained within the limitations of the syllable count.

For the Song dynasty reference, we simplified the phrase to “old potter’s mark”. Although “antique” may have been better at capturing the intended meaning, “old” was a better fit for the syllable count.

On the other hand, we omitted the reference to the Jiangnan region altogether. As Jiangnan’s literal meaning is “south of the river,” we gave up geographic specificity but kept its romantic associations by using the word “enchanted” in the same line.

After a process of painstaking deliberation, we are happy with the translation. It is both faithful to the original lyrics and singable to the original meter.

Interpretations of the Song

Song lyrics can be considered a form of poetry and can have many different interpretations. During the translation of the song, we had a debate about whether the speaker in the lyrics is addressing a blue and white porcelain vase or a human love interest.

One interpretation was that the speaker is an art lover recalling his encounter with a beautiful blue and white porcelain vase in Jiangnan. The art lover’s treasure hunt led him to discover the porcelain vase hidden behind a splashed-ink landscape painting among other works of Chinese art.

The other interpretation is that this is a love song that uses metaphors from Chinese art to describe his longing and the beauty of his lover.

Creative translation, also known as transcreation, of works such as “Blue and White Porcelain” can spark lively discussion, as there can be many different interpretations of the same text.

Community events foster a sense of togetherness and responsibility, spurring community members to keep the community safe, inclusive, and welcoming. This is especially important when the community is made up of people from all walks of life, from younger to older, different genders, different cultures, and across languages.

California especially is home to people from many different countries and backgrounds, including first- and second-generation immigrants, and others whose preferred language isn’t English. Diverse backgrounds bring fresh perspectives to community events and planning, which is why we were so excited to provide interpretation services to the recent Hilby Avenue Traffic Calming Project on May 17^th.

The interpreter we provided has a great many years of experience, even in other traffic-related projects. We prepared our interpretation equipment, made up of portable receivers and headsets that have an incredible range of use. Our client let us know that the portable equipment was a “great approach” for their walking tour around Hilby Avenue, and was quite happy with our mobility and flexibility in helping.

The event was a great success. We helped to welcome incoming community members, letting them know that interpretation services were available. The headsets allowed for the Spanish participants to understand the presentation, Q&A, and breakout session in order to provide feedback. Our interpreter assisted the Spanish speaking participants to write their comments in English on the provided maps of Hilby Avenue, as well as interpreted for the event employees so they could directly communicate with the Spanish participants and ask for their ideas.

This type of community safety event is very important, and therefore, we worked as community members as well to help generate more feedback from participants who were able to offer different perspectives. We look forward to future continuous endeavors with the traffic safety project.

Check out our Facebook page to see photos from the event.

We need someone who is living or willing to relocate to Antioch in California for in-person interpretation. Part time, full time, or contract employment are available for six months with possible extension.

If you are available and meet the below requirements, could you share with us your experience, rate, and how far you are from CA 94509, so we can follow up with you? You will find our contact information at the end of this post.

If you are looking to relocate, please also let us know. Please also feel welcome to refer colleagues by sharing this post.

Requirements:

1. Have completed 100 hours of CCHI approved interpreter training
2. Experienced with patients who typically have below sixth grade literacy and may also have limited vocabularies
3. Enjoy working with young children and pregnant women/mothers
4. Female interpreters preferred
5. Reliable and committed
6. Work well with others and in a team
7. Professional in conduct and appearance
8. Entry-level is welcome
9. Authorized to work in the US
10. Willing to undergo livescan background check
11. Willing to undergo some training to ensure that all guidelines will be followed
12. Willing to follow hospital immunization and safety procedures

If you are interested, please go to our website and answer the questions about your medical interpreting experience and rate, so we can follow up with you.

https://www.montereylanguages.com/send-a-resume.html

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

We need someone who is living or willing to relocate to either Richmond or Antioch (2 locations) in California for in-person interpretation. Part time, full time, or contract employment are available for six months with possible extension.

If you are available and meet the below requirements, could you share with us your experience, rate, and how far you are from both CA 94804 and CA 94509, so we can follow up with you? You will find our contact information at the end of this post.

If you are looking to relocate, please also let us know. Please also feel welcome to refer colleagues by sharing this post.

Requirements:

1. Have completed 100 hours of CCHI approved interpreter training
2. Experienced with patients who typically have below sixth grade literacy and may also have limited vocabularies
3. Enjoy working with young children and pregnant women/mothers
4. Female interpreters preferred
5. Reliable and committed
6. Work well with others and in a team
7. Professional in conduct and appearance
8. Entry-level is welcome
9. Authorized to work in the US
10. Willing to undergo livescan background check
11. Willing to undergo some training to ensure that all guidelines will be followed
12. Willing to follow hospital immunization and safety procedures

If you are interested, please go to our website and answer the questions about your medical interpreting experience and rate, so we can follow up with you.

https://www.montereylanguages.com/send-a-resume.html

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

If you are available and have completed 100 hours of CCHI approved interpreter training, could you briefly let us know your experience, rate, and how far you are from CA 94804, so we can follow up with you?

Please feel welcome to refer colleagues as well. Thank you!

Language: English/Spanish

Hours (two days a week):
Monday (10am – 4:30pm)
Thursday (9am – 3:00pm)

Location: Richmond, CA 94804

Subject: Prenatal and Productive Health Care

Email can be sent to Director of Translation, Mei-Ling Chen at the following address.
mei-ling@montereylanguages.com

In accordance with Assembly Bill (AB) 635 (Atkins, Chapter 600, Statutes of 2016) which was passed with little objection, and Senate Bill (SB) 165 (Atkins, Chapter 365, Statutes of 2019) which passed unanimously:

On August 31, 2021, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced that Medi-Cal beneficiaries will be receiving increased interpreter support in several regions in California, including Contra Costa County. The aim of this was to ensure that all patients, no matter what language they speak, are able to receive the care that they deserve without having to worry about communication.

The project is called Medical Interpretation Pilot Project. Through the legislatively mandated project, medical interpreters in the following languages are needed or will be called upon. This is to cover Medi-Cal assignments in the area either on-site or remotely, either via phone or video conferencing.

Arabic
Armenian
Cambodian
Cantonese
Dari
Farsi
Hindi
Hmong
Japanese
Korean
Laotian
Mam
Mandarin
Mien
Mixteco
Pashto
Punjabi
Russian
Spanish
Tagalog
Thai
Vietnamese

Monterey Language Services is proud to be part of the MIPP team, providing interpretation services in Richmond/Antioch area.

Language List:

Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Farsi, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mien, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese

If you are interested, could you briefly let us know your language, experience, rate, and how far you are from CA 94553, so we can follow up with you. Please also feel welcome to refer colleagues.

Emails can be sent to Director of Translation, Mei-Ling Chen at the following address.
mei-ling@montereylanguages.com

Thank you!

For translation and interpretation projects, why do customers prefer to hire a translation company like Monterey Language Services instead of an individual translator or interpreter?

The short answer is a company like ours has a system and resources in place to guarantee quality and availability.  In other words, we provide professional translation and interpretation services.

We make sure all our customers are confident that their projects are being handled by experts and their requests will be met with the highest possible quality. We are our customers’ external team, helping them move forward to the growth of their core business.

Whether it is a request for a Chinese interpreter for two hour or a couple of Spanish interpreters and Portuguese interpreters for two days; a one-page press release to be translated in eighteen languages, or a thirty page manual to be translated into Spanish, French, German, and Japanese, we take care of them all.  That is our everyday life.

First, we recruit highly skilled translators and interpreters every single day – find the best translators and interpreters with the right language pair and expert background knowledge, and test them. Then, we train them according to the customer’s guidelines. We coordinate them and brief them with all the necessary information, so they become a part of the company we serve.  

We also decide on how many linguists to deploy to assure quality in every aspect and provide backup translators and interpreters if one becomes unavailable. We provide all languages assistance in order to meet our customers’ needs for comprehensive and full line services.  Once a customer finds Monterey Language Services, they don’t need to go anywhere else.  We tailor solutions to our customers’ specific needs.

Last but not least, often times, a translation project, a conference interpretation event, or a voiceover/subtitling project requires a team effort.  Projects are usually supported by a group of professionals rather than a single-handed individual effort.   It could involve so many aspects that only an experienced and professional company like Monterey Language Services can excel in it.

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for a quote.