TranslationMaven

China Visa Service by Oasis International Travel: Cheap, Fast, Reliable

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:25:49 -0700

If you or someone you know is planning to travel to China, you may need a China visa. Oasis International Travel offers a fast, cheap, dependable visa-to-China service to help you make the most of your time in China.

China is a country with an incredibly rich history and culture. For thousands of years, its technology, people and landscapes have embodied some of the best this world has to offer. Student, tourists and business travelers alike enjoy going to China for work, study or relaxation. Some of your China visa options include:

China Tourist Visa - For sightseeing, visiting family or other personal reasons; usually valid for 180 days. In your visa application, you'll need to include a current, valid passport with at least six months remaining before its expiration date and at least one blank page left. You will also need to submit a passport photo and a complete visa application form.
China Business Visa - Same requirements as above. This visa applies to you if you have been invited to China for a business-related reason and is usually valid for up to 180 days.
China Work Visa - Again, same requirements. Typically valid for 90 days. This applies to you if you need to go to China for work. You can take along your family members.
China Study Visa - Can be valid for more than 6 months. This visa is for students or researchers coming to China to pursue their studies.
Other China Visas - There are a few other China visa types - you can learn about them at the Oasis website.

Dan from tdaxp.com has used the Oasis China Visa service for two years in a row now and enjoys its speed, affordable rates and reliability.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. recommends OasisChinaVisa.com on its official website. If you need to apply for a Chinese visa, the US Chinese embassy says that you can trust an Oasis International Travel agent to submit your China visa application at its Visa Office. This can help your application process go smoothly and be successful.

At the Oasis China Visa website, you can easily check your visa application status. There is also a simple contact form if you'd like to learn more about the services Oasis China Visa offers.

Please visit OasisChinaVisa.com today - you'll be glad you did.

TranslationMaven on 'Leave'

Fri, 12 May 2006 16:35:30 -0700

Sorry, but TranslationMaven is currently on leave. However, please enjoy the existing valuable articles about the translation industry.

Why You Get Professionals to Do the WHOLE Site

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 10:23:42 -0700

Daido Steel is a large Japanese manufacturer of specialty steel products, like parts for power tools. Their main English language site is translated well, for the most part, and they have been careful to keep text to a mimimum. Technical terms are translated well, and their is evidence of professional work throughout the site... but somebody slipped up on the Contact Us page. The inquiry form is simple enough that you can't mess it up, but the instructions include this gem:

"If you can specify our sections, please write the name of them in the cell of Questions/Comments."

Which is followed by the clincher:

"You can't miss filling in * marked cells." (Translation: "* = mandatory items")

Well, I certainly hope not!

Bad Translation: Tourism in Argentina

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 07:50:23 -0700

Today's Bad Translation comes to us courtesy of Region, a publisher in the Pampa region of Argentina. The English version of the website is cute. The translation is good and fluid for the most part, but there are some real zingers and groaners in there. For example, follow the link to "Touristic Activities" and you'll come to the description of "fishing game"--obviously meaning "fish and game". There are too many fun mis-translations to include here. I invite you to browse the site for yourself. Visit all the pages.

OK, here's one fun example: "The tourist who arrive at La Pampa will notice other features which are not precisely the ones of a plain."

Technically, it appears that some of the pages are the result of machine translation without human editing. Others appear to have been editied. And some seem to be the products of a poorly prepared translator. All in all, the site achieves its purpose of presenting the place and its attractions, and it does it in a very humble and approachable way, thanks to some bad translation. Hmmm. I wonder if there's a sociolinguistic ploy at work here.

Where is Translation Headed?

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 22:05:01 -0700

For no particular reason I'm sitting here thinking about translation's ultimate destination. Maybe these ponderings can serve as the catalyst for fruitful--or at least creative--conversation.

Machine translation should eventually go the way of Big Blue, the chess-playing computer, and end up out-performing human translators. It may be many years away, but things are heading that way. On another track, I have to believe that the Internet will open the way to a new Mother Tongue--some common language (probably an invented language, though some think that English will take over) to fit the capacity of instantaneous, inexpensive, global communication. Both tracks lead to a common end: no need for translators between modern languages.

Or am I dreaming?

Good Translations: Concha y Toro Wines

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 08:53:27 -0700

I turn today to one of my favorite countries--Chile--to praise a truly admirable bilingual website: that of the Concha y Toro Wineries. The content of the site is available in Spanish and in English and, while I've tried, I can't tell which came first. One would think that the site was originally in Spanish, but there are features about it that suggest it caters to the English-speaking audience.

There's no dodging difficult translations. Even industry-specific terminology and legal background are given fluidly in both languages. And it's not just the static text that gets the royal treatment. News items appear in both languages.

The only glitches are that attention is given to the text but not to the website structural elements, with "Hot News" and "Wine-e" appearing in English even on the Spanish version. If the visitor reads only Spanish, he/she should find "Las últimas nuevas" or "Novedades" or some such title. And as for Wine-e, a suitable translation is required.
And I don't even drink wine.

How to Translate the "GO" Button in Spanish

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 16:43:00 -0700

I got a recent comment from Art to an earlier entry about translations of the "GO" button from English to Spanish on the Internet. Specifically, he asks for "something short and direct" for "Go". I wish it were a simple answer, but it isn't. Still, I'll offer a solution that makes sense to me, Then I'll muddy things up a bit.

"MARCHA" What do you think? Wouldn't "MARCHA" be a good translation? I haven't seen it anywhere on the Web, but that's because, as I explained in the previous entry, it seems early Web translators were too tightly bound to the source language.

Now for the muddy part: "go" can be used in many, many senses in English. The closest sense to the "GO" button is probably that conveyed in the race-starting sequence: ready-set-go! On the little button, it usually means "begin". In truth, "BEGIN" would make better sense than "GO" and would yield more easily to several variations on the Web, including "SEARCH" and "FIND" and "CONTINUE" and "START". What the Web is aching for is an artistic weaning from the earliest vernacular, which was created by techies. What we want is a few buttons that say "SEEK" and "FETCH" and "RETRIEVE", or maybe "MORE" and "EXPLORE" and "DISCOVER". The Spanish equivalents, in spirit if not in sense, might be "DALE" and "RECOJA" and "MANDE".

Bad Translations? Not in Norway

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 07:16:24 -0700

I have been browsing Norwegian web sites looking for bad translations into English. Bo-ring! They do it too well. Better get back to the happy hunting ground for bad translations, further south. The worst I could find was on the intriguing site of the Norwegian Aviation Museum in Bods, Norway. Here and there you can find a misplaced apostrophe or an odd bit of phrasing, but it's hard to tell if it was written by a native speaker of English or not. So it's hard to know if it was through ignorance--or just a typo--that you see a description of "bush flights in the desserts and jungles of West Africa". West African desserts? In a Norwegian museum?

My congratulations to the translators and web authors of Norway. Your English gets an A.

Translating Out of Your Mother Tongue

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 07:05:44 -0700

A recent comment prompts me to write about the advisability of offering to translate out of your native language. Carmen wrote: "I am interested in becoming a certified translator. Spanish to English and English into Spanish." Short answer: don't do it. Professional services are careful to only employ translators who work into their native tongue. Unless you are truly bilingual, unsure of which is your dominant language, it's a bad and dangerous idea to think that you can translate equally well in both directions.

Now to the other point in Carmen's comment. I have already dealt with how to become a translator, and I guess I'll have to say more about opportunities for training and preparation. I have also written about the false ideas surrounding the title "certified translator". But I'll repeat a bit, to stay current. Few organizations actually provide certification for translations via an examination or other test of qualifications. There are some, and translators would do well to take their exams, when they feel ready. But for the most part, "certified" translations are performed by non-certified translators who then prepare a statement that the work is correct to the best of their ability and get it notarized. This "certifies" the translation for most official purposes.

Bad Translations - VisitChile

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 06:39:31 -0700

This one was too easy to find, and too bad to ignore. It's a wonder that translations can be so bad. Any bilingual college student could have done better than the fractured English at www.VisitChile.cl, the website of a tour operator in Chile. The rest of you take note; when crossing the cultural divide, enlist a guide from the target culture. VisitChile has done themselves a disservice by publishing, for the world to see, evidence that they aren't prepared to deal well with English-speaking tourists. Here are a few pieces of that evidence.

"Who we are?"
"We invite to visit with our packages."
Santiago is "the economic and cultural hearth of the nation." (A hearth is a fireplace. I think they meant 'heart'.)
The Best of Chilean and Argentian Patagonia (Argentinians, how do you say 'Argentian"?)

Oddly, the same site includes some polished translations of a nearly poetic level.

"Patagonia is the scene of the world's great adventures. Even if we know little of the place, the name itself inhabits our subconscious, whispering of an unknown finger of the earth."

Who did that part? Get him back and ask him to re-do the rest.

Going Global: When and How?

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 10:06:19 -0700

To clients of translation services. Why did you decide to go multi-lingual in your product literature or in your outreach to clients? Why did you do it? How did you select translators? What was your experience with the translators or translation service? How was your multi-language effort received by the target audience? In summary, how big a hassle was it, and was it worth the price?

The answers to these and similar questions will help to begin to rate the services and will provide some guidance for others following in your wake. Companies do go global, and it will be interesting to see if any report warning signs from their experience.

Obscure Dictionaries for Translators

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 07:27:27 -0700

I have several unusual dictionaries that I rarely use but can't get rid of. Garage sales have come and gone, and I can't bring myself to part with them because "you never know" when they might be useful. This brings up several questions:

(In a lighter vein) Is this a common affliction among translators, or is it the linguist in me?
(On a more serious note) What is the length of the copyright claim? Maybe we could be scanning and sharing these oddball dictionaries with each other. Is there a place for sharing such things?
What is your oddest dictionary or glossary?

I have the "Engineers' Dictionary: Spanish-English and English-Spanish", by Louis A. Robb, 2nd edition, 2nd printing, 1953, Chapman and Hall. I've seen it available for sale at various prices, but that still leaves it available to only one person at a time. I also have the "Glossary of Transportation Terms: Glosario de Términos Transportes, 1994" from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Getting Started as a Translator

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 07:30:24 -0700

A reader recently asked: "What is a way to get into translation without becoming certified? Do translators have apprentices? I would love to get into the business without having to get another degree or take classes, if possible... Any tips on where to begin a venture in freelance translation?" I'll give answers and leave the rest to other readers.

A simple, short answer is that any person with the necessary skills--wherever or however acquired--can call themselves a translator and start charging clients for their work. Their success will depend largely on the quality of their work, though also to some degree on their responsiveness, business sense, price, tools, and other factors. That said, I want to stress the necessary part of "necessary skills". Too many people (witness my entries on bad translations) think they are capable of quality work when they simply and obviously are not. Study and preparation are always good ideas.

Do translators have apprentices? Well, some would be happy to talk to you about the business, but few are so overloaded with work that they are looking for a helper. An apprentice is a competing freelancer.

For a relatively small fee you can list yourself with ProZ.com, TranslatorsBase.com, and other freelance sites and begin bidding on jobs.

I welcome more advice for this novice.

Translation for Genealogists

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 16:58:09 -0700

A personal interest in genealogy and family history causes me to wonder, is there a translation firm with specific experience in the translation of genealogical records? I've done extraction of data from (Church) Latin parish records into English, and I've translated plenty of modern birth and marriage records for clients. But it could be pretty cool to offer translation of parish records as a part of your service.

Here's an example of why it's a good idea to use a translator, even when you think you've learned enough Latin to get the info you seek for family history purposes. A friend has compiled a database of ancestral names from Polish parish records. Wherever the line ends, the men's names end with the letter 'i'. Why? Because the parish record said something like "Joannes, filius Simoni", meaning "Joannes, son of Simonus", or, in Polish, "Jan, son of Simon". In Latin, male names convert the '-us' to '-i' after a preposition. Few men's names in Polish or Latin actually end in '-i'.

SDL International Leads in the Google Search

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 15:45:57 -0700

A Google search for the single word "translation" gives the Number One spot to www.FreeTranslation.com, a portal for SDL International. Congratulations! It's a very "busy" site, with many links and buttons, but it also places its credentials front and center, leads smoothly to simple buttons to satisfy the needs of the visitor, and throws in some freebies like instant machine translation and downloadable translation applications. (Readers know I don't like machine translation, but it can be helpful.)

Several of the top ten Google results offer free translation boxes, some as their sole purpose and some, like SDL, as a leader for potential clients. I'm not saying it's an indispensable feature for high search engine placement, but it seems to help. Personally, I prefer a site that says, in essence, "We are professional translators with lots of experience, and we want to translate for you."