I read in today’s edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette an article about John Kerry’s wife with the title “The Americanization of Teresa Heinz Kerry.” It describes her way from childhood in what was then Laurenço Marques to where she is today. One of the stages along the way was the position of “translator-interpreter and consultant for the United Nations” and, according to the paper, she speaks five languages.

This reminded me of an entry in Language Log not too long ago with the title “No French please, people are watching.” The subject was John Kerry and his knowledge of foreign languages:

In private settings he has chatted in excellent French at length with Alain de Chalvron, Washington bureau chief for the French radio service France 2; but when asked a question in French at an open press conference, Kerry pretended not to be able to understand it, and didn’t give an answer at all. The last thing you want in American politics, apparently, is to be captured on camera understanding French, let alone speaking it. Rush Limbaugh would start portraying you as hardly American at all (he already does this with Kerry, in fact, having heard about these suspicious francophone abilities on the grapevine).

Indeed, it seems that foreign-language teaching was against the law, at least in some states, until those laws were overturned in 1923, in Meyer v. Nebraska.

As I blogged in an entry on March 26, my daughter is seriously looking at NYU. I took one look at the “Total Budget” for on-campus students and fainted …

The May issue of Intercom, the magazine of the Society for Technical Communications (STC), has an article by Louis M. Cardillo of MultiTech Communications, Inc. with the title “Technical Translation: Craft, Not Commodity.” It echoes some of the points of Chris Durban’s brochure “Getting It Right” and should help freelance translators who find themselves under pressure to reduce prices because of CAT tools or high-volume jobs. Here the article’s conclusion, aimed at translation buyers:

Purchasing translation services is not an easy task, even when you’re familiar with the languages involved. Because of the range and the complexity of translation services and the diversity of buyer needs, no simple formula exists for selecting and managing providers.

Two rules of thumb, however, offer the best general guidance for buyers:

• Treat your translation provider as a partner in your international communication strategy.
• Recognize that you’re purchasing a specialized, highly complex service – not a commodity.

Adopting these rules of thumb will go a long way toward helping you obtain the best product for your translation dollar.

I bet this will persuade my clients….

Gerade vom Übersetzungssymposium in Manhattan, Kansas, zurück, las ich bei Mario Sixtus eine Meldung über die Löschung der Marke „Explorer“. Offensichtlich hat das Bundespatentgericht (BPatG) per Beschluß den jahrelangen Streitigkeiten um die deutsche Marke „Explorer“ der Symicron GmbH aus Ratingen ein Ende gesetzt und damit die Löschung der Marke durch das Deutsche Patent- und Markenamt (DPMA) bestätigt. Im Artikel hieß es auch: „Zum Beleg verwiesen die Richter unter anderem auf einen Eintrag in der Online-Enzyklopädie Wikipedia.“

Als ich daraufhin bei Wikipedia nachschaute, fiel mir auf, daß es die Enzyklopädie in zahlreichen Sprachen, darunter auch in den Versionen „Plattdüütsch“ und „Elsässisch“ gibt. Kostprobe auf Elsässisch: „Wilkumme uf em elsässische Wikipedia, e frei un allgmeini enzyklopädie … Wenn er proviere welle, wie s’geht, genn do anne.“ Auf Plattdüütsch: „Wikipedia is een friee Nokieksel, wo jedereen an mitwerken kann. Man to! Schriew rin, wenn du wat weest.“

Das große Problem mit den Mundarten ist die Schreibweise. Als ich vor vielen Jahren den Band „Em Asterix sei groosi Tuur“ zur Hand nahm, fand ich es äußerst schwierig, das Saarländische zu lesen – und nicht nur, weil moselfränkisch und rheinfränkisch gemischt waren. Der berühmte Asterix-Prolog sieht „uff Saarlännisch“ folgerndermaßen aus:

“Schdellder vòòr, mer wääre im Jòhr 50 v. Chr. Gans Galje iss vun de Reemer beseddsd. Beinäggschd. Weil in soome glääne Därfsche am Golleschdään dòò lääwe noch e paar schdolse Galjer, denne wo nidd beisekumme iss. Die reemische Leschjonnääre, wo in ihre Kaschdelle vun Bliskastellum unn Hunnorincum unn Pepicum unn Graesaubacchum hugge, hann em Deiwel sei Huddel mid denne gallische Gluddskäbb.”

Aus diesem Schriftbild das entsprechende Lautbild aufzubauen, ist nicht einfach.

Der Asterix-Band, der im Original „L’odyssée d’Astérix“ heißt, ist übrigens auch noch in anderen Mundarten (und auf Hochdeutsch) erhältlich: „Asterix und Obelix – Die Odyssee (Hochdeutsch), „De törn för nix“ (Plattdeutsch) und „Asterix und Obelix uf Irrwäge“ (Schwyzerdütsch).

Growing up in Germany, we would never have called a wasp “Biene” or a bee “Wespe.” The distinction seemed very clear: “Bienen” were honey bees, “Wespen” yellowjackets. Yet over here, all those winged, stinging insects are called “bees” regardless. Oh yes, and then there are the myths: My mother assured us children that bumble bees (“Hummel”) could not sting – until I tried to catch one and, surprise, got stung. People here say the same about mud daubers, a kind of wasp I do not remember ever seeing in Germany, but I have talked to people who actually got stung by them. I decided not to put it to the test.

With warmer temperatures, insects are getting active, and one of the disadvantage of living in the country in amongst the trees is the abundance of wasps. The University of Missouri has on its website a brief document entitled “Bee and Wasp Pests” by Bruce A. Barrett of the Department of Entomology. At least he makes a distinction between bees and wasps!

Here is how we used to make wasp traps: We took an empty wine bottle, filled it about ⅓ with water and a very small amount of soap, covered the inside of the narrow neck with jam, an put the bottle out into the yard. Especially in late summer it took no time at all for the bottle to fill up with yellowjackets.

The latest issue of “Cities Ranked & Rated” is out. The 820-page book by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander rates more than 400 metro areas in the U.S. and Canada in ten categories from economy to crime rates. The authors give the most weight to the three categories they say most affect daily life: cost of living, climate, and quality of life.

Charlottesville, VA, home to the University of Virginia, was ranked the best place to live in the USA before Santa Fe, NM, and San Luis Obispo, CA. The local magazine The Hook asked why, and here are some answers.

We moved from Charlottesville to Missouri not too long ago. So why did we leave? The city of Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle county is an expensive place to live. I couldn’t charge more for my services in Virginia, and M.’s salary at UVa was shockingly low – our mistake, it turned out, we just looked at the money and forgot to factor in the honor of working at Mr. Jefferson’s university.

But we did not sever all ties. I still spend a good bit of time in Charlottesville, and our daughter goes to school there. One of the big advantages of all the money in and all the tourists to Charlottesville/Albemarle are decent airline connections in and out of the regional airport.

The April issue of Intercom, the magazine of the Society for Technical Communications (STC), has an article by Christopher Juillet looking at professional liability insurance, a subject that comes up over and over at translation conferences. Although the article has the technical writer in mind, many of the points are relevant to translators as well.

Look at the costs. The cost for E&O insurance comes out of the translator’s pocket, not the client’s, which means you may have to charge higher rates or accept a lower profit margin to cover it.

If you are asked to have E&O coverage, why is it important to the client in the first place? Is the client trying to shift liability onto you? Is the client willing to help you absorb the cost of obtaining E&O insurance? Is there some special set of risks inherent in the project?

I attended a session on professional liability insurance at one of the recent ATA conferences. The speaker was solidly in favor of translators carrying this type of coverage – but then the speaker was a lawyer and you would expect nothing else; as the old adage goes, if you are a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. In Review the Exposures and Coverages available for Companies whose Business is giving Advice, Roy C. McCormick makes the point that “the consequences of inaccurate language translation in international business deals are obvious.” In a discussion thread on Translatorscafe.com opinions ranged from E&O insurance being a sign of professionalism to “I don’t think we should have liability insurance. An agency is supposed to get our work reviewed or proofread. I have no control over what they do with my translation. What would happen if, for instance, some reviewer added mistakes to my, otherwise, correct translation?”

For me, the latter point raises a valid concern, having been in similar situations several times over the past thirty years. Living and working in the U.S., I also have to ask myself if the mere fact of carrying E&O insurance would not lower the threshold for lawsuits. It is, after all, only worthwhile going after someone who has the ability to pay up.

ATA offers E&O insurance through Hays Affinity Solutions. On the Web I found http://www.insurepro.net/html/translation_and_interpretation_services_insurance.asp which lists insurance companies offering professional liability insurance as well as a “Coverage Coach” to find out what kind of coverage you would need.

The long story of non-payment of my RWS invoices has come to a conclusion. After waiting more than one year, I finally received a check for the remaining amount – albeit without any of the assessed financing charges. The latest entries can be found on February 25 and January 12.

I have to admit that I did not announce this happy event immediately just in case the check would bounce – which it didn’t. Still, I am sure this is a client you can do without. Don’t forget: RWS as in RWS Group.