An open letter condemning today’s Russian invasion of Ukraine has been started by translator Anne O. Fisher and can be found here. If you are a translator or interpreter working with Russian or Ukrainian and would like to add your name, please email your name and affiliation/title to Shelley Fairweather-Vega at translation@fairvega.com.
Upcoming November ATA webinars
The ATA is offering another round of webinars over the next few weeks that should prove to be fun and informative!
Introduction to Mobile App Localization
There’s an app for everything these days, and there’s now an ATA webinar on mobile app localization, too! 🙂
Presenter Dorota Pawlak will give us an introduction to mobile app localization and the role of translators working in this field. Drawing on years of experience in this field, the speaker will explain what skills, tools, and qualities are needed to localize mobile apps; what are some of the most common issues in mobile app localization projects; and how to solve them.
Join us on November 9 or sign up to get the recording and 1 ATA CEP
https://www.atanet.org/event/introduction-to-mobile-app-localization/
Registration closes: November 9, 10:00 am EST
memoQ for Intermediate and Advanced Users
Join this webinar to take your knowledge of memoQ to the next level: in this session, you will learn useful tips and tricks that can make your work as a translator a lot easier.
You will also learn how to search your preferred websites directly from the translation grid and how to connect to a machine translation provider to be able to use MT in your work. The trainer will also show you how to automate your processes using templates in memoQ and how to fine-tune the import of your documents with the help of powerful import filters.
Register at https://www.atanet.org/event/memoq-for-intermediate-and-advanced-users/
Remember that ATA members can save 35% on new licenses for memoQ translator pro.
Join us on November 12 at 12 pm EST (recording will be available) / 1 ATA CEP
Registration Closes: November 12, 10:00 am EST
Intermediate Tips and Tricks for Trados Studio
This hands-on webinar will explore useful features that will take you a step closer to becoming a power user of the most powerful and popular CAT tool in the market.
This webinar was organized in collaboration with RWS.
You will learn how to:
- Identify and modify file type options
- Work with a translation memory’s language resources
- Use apps to extend Trados Studio’s functionality
- Use machine translation for pre-translation and interactive translation
- Set up verification option
Register at https://www.atanet.org/event/intermediate-tips-and-tricks-for-trados-studio/
Remember that ATA members can save 35% on Trados Studio 2021 Freelance and Trados Studio 2021 Freelance Plus.
Join us on November 17 at 12 pm EST (recording will be available) / 1 ATA CEP
Registration Closes: November 17, 10:00 am EST
Upcoming ATA webinars this week
We have two fun and interactive ATA webinars coming up this week!
November 2 at 6 pm EDT: Ethics in Conference Interpreting with Katty Kauffman
https://www.atanet.
Duration: 120 minutes
ATA CEPs: 2.0
What will you learn?
- Working definition of ethics in interpreting
- Core concepts and values of conference interpreters
- Best practices for onsite events
- Best practices for remote events
- Where ethics in onsite and remote events converge and diverge
Registration Closes: November 2, 4:00 pm EDT
November 4 at 7 pm EDT: The Power of Social Media: Key Strategies for Marketing Your Interpreting and Translation Services (free for ATA members!) with Mireya Pérez, MS
What will you learn?
- What types of social media posts you can use as a marketing tool
- What is visual storytelling and how you can use it on social media
- How to identify your target audience
- How to create identity on social media
- What social media resources are available
Registration Closes: November 4, 10:00 am EDT
Translation by Interpreters and Interpreting by Translators
There is an ongoing debate in the language industry whether translation and interpreting services can be rendered by the same person. Needless to say, while these two services are related, the primary responsibilities and skills that a person needs to provide translation or interpreting services differ.
Meanwhile, many people who are not too familiar with linguistic services think that translation and interpreting are the same trade. Linguistically, this is well illustrated in Russian-speaking countries, where “переводчик” means both translator and interpreter. From the customer perspective, “переводчик” deals with different languages, either working on the written text or providing an oral rendition. In this aspect, the two trades are the same.
The International Standard ISO 17100 “Translation services — Requirements for translation services” does not restrict whether a translator can also handle interpreting assignments. It only mentions that a professional translator shall have competencies, including linguistic and textual, in both the source and target languages.[i]
Someone who professionally translates from one language into another accepts an ethical and professional duty to represent their qualifications, capabilities and responsibilities honestly and always work within them. Being truthful in advertising applies to professional translators and interpreters: our resumes, websites, brochures, business cards, manner, and non-verbal emotional tone all must accurately reflect who we are and what we can actually do, both practically and professionally.[ii]
Following that logic, a translator must decline, say, a request to help their client with over-the-phone interpreting of a conversation with a draft contract’s other party. Likewise, an interpreter has to decline a proposal to translate pitch decks used at a conference where this interpreter is engaged, despite being immersed in the event’s context and thus knowing these particular pitch decks’ content well.
To a certain extent, I agree with that. As a freelance translator, I have to decline an assignment that I cannot properly perform when it is beyond my qualifications. And what about those assignments that are within the scope of my abilities, even though I was never professionally trained and qualified in that area? Is it still a good idea to miss out on a lucrative interpreting or translation assignment then?
At this point, I have to quote Corinne McKay, an ATA-certified French-to-English translator and former ATA president: “When you work full-time for an employer, you have one job title. When you work for yourself, you’re not only the translator but also the department head for sales and marketing, technical support, customer relations, accounting and facilities maintenance. Unless you’re willing and able to pay someone to do these tasks for you, you’ll be doing them yourself, in addition to your regular job.”[iii]
To run a successful business, freelancers therefore do not have to miss a business opportunity if they feel up to the task. And if we look at it that way, why not try out both translating and interpreting even if you are not yet qualified in the twin trades?
In this regard, I believe that besides developing a specialization in a particular field, it is essential to find a niche in which offering a specific service really makes a freelance translator or interpreter stand out.
In his recent article “Does the jack of all trades still get the short end of the stick?”, the current editor of The NAJIT Observer, Jules Lapprand, stated, “Translators and interpreters have a superficial knowledge of almost any topic, and unless they have extensive experience in another profession, deep knowledge of only one: language. This reality was difficult for me to accept initially.” This quote resonated with me as I think translators and interpreters need not be afraid of gaining the “jack of all trades (and master of none)” moniker if they are trying out a new area of specialization. As a matter of fact, we have to be interested in new topics, master new areas, and find niches to stand out in. Otherwise, our overall marketing and messaging will more likely speak to no one. Courtroom interpreting with its “structured legalese and its own language that does not change as quickly as the latest fads do in other areas”[iv] is an excellent example of interpreter’s specialization. In other words, offering legal translation and court interpreting services at any time can be a niche.
Since we have a profound knowledge of language, we should be using that to its full extent, not limiting ourselves to one of the twin trades of translation or interpretation.
Today, however, it is rare for a freelancer to be both a translator and an interpreter.
In a truly inspiring Troublesome Terps podcast episode #63,[v] high-profile conference interpreters Louise Jarvis, Monika Ott and Sybelle van Hal-Bok, three members of three very different networks admitted that they often do translations as well when the existing clients ask for it. It should be noted, however, that translation is only a small part of their businesses; they still focus primarily on conference interpreting.
In this context, I would suggest that not only are different skills required to render translation or interpreting services, but our psychological make-up is also important. The existing stereotype is that translators are usually introverts with a tendency toward being quiet and reserved. Interpreters, however, are more often extroverted in nature. In addition, we are all human. Like everyone else, translators and interpreters tend to fear failure in an area where they feel less confident. For this reason, when it comes to deciding between staying in your comfort zone or handling a twin trade assignment, language professionals would rather remain in their comfort zone (i.e., decline a twin trade assignment), no matter how lucrative it is.
When the language service is provided by a company, it is usually never asked whether translation and interpreting can both be offered, but when it comes to a freelancer working with end clients, it can oftentimes be that the end client likewise expects the contracted translator to interpret.
For example, I was recently interpreting for a client, a law firm partner, who had a phone conversation with the Legal 500 Rankings researcher to find out how to send a law firm submission. As soon as the client found out that he had to fill out the multi-page submission templates, he asked me to translate the templates into his language. Did I decline that offer? Of course not! This is just one scenario where an interpreter can and, I think, should also perform as a translator. Let’s take a closer look at other scenarios.
In my legal translation practice, I have often been asked to render interpreting services when the end client needs to expeditiously negotiate contract details or urgently talk to a counterparty who does not have access to the Internet and therefore is unable to quickly respond to an e-mail. Notably, the client rightly assumes that I am already immersed in the upcoming deal’s details as I have been drafting or translating the contract for some time now. In that scenario, I provide interpreting services.
Vice versa, clients may forward me audio messages asking me to let them know the messages’ content in writing in a meeting, which is why they can’t talk. With such requests, I translate, even though the source content is in audio form.
Another classic example of assignments at the juncture of the two twin trades is on-the-spot translation, which occurs when I am asked to orally render a written legal paper’s content. This is quite specific to business meetings and court sessions where the client has not had a chance to quickly find a translator and instead asks the interpreter for a sight translation. In that scenario, I translate. There is all the more reason for this as the Russian law does not yet provide for sworn interpreter status, so the Russian courts do not require a separate certification for court interpreting. In short, by primarily focusing on legal translation, I do not need to sub-contract court interpreting assignments. This strategy has proven beneficial by allowing me to retain existing clients and catch new business opportunities.
To summarize, provided that both the client and freelancer are happy, I think freelancers offering both translation and interpreting services, even those who were never professionally trained and qualified in the twin trades, are still legitimate.
Notes
[i] ISO 17100:2015(E), paragraph 3.3.
[ii] American Translators Association Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, 3rd tenet: https://www.atanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/code_of_ethics_commentary.pdf
[iii] Introduction to the book “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator” by Corinne McKay. First Edition. 2006
[iv] “Does the jack of all trades still get the short end of the stick?” by Jules Lapprand. July 30, 2021
[v] Troublesome Terps, a roundtable-style podcast covering topics from the interpreting space and the wider world of languages; episode # 63 of July 21, 2021: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/troublesome-terps/63-interpreters-assemble-8TwuQZeFCaR/
Author bio
Dmitry Beschetny is an English>Russian translator and interpreter specializing in legal translation and court interpreting, based in Moscow. He holds a master’s degree in law and a master’s degree in humanities and social sciences, also having an academic qualification in translation studies.
Dmitry has extensive experience in criminal investigation and public prosecution. He has also worked as an in-house lawyer, and a legal counsel with law firms before turning his previous career into his area of specialization in the T&I industry. He has been translating and interpreting for academia, law firms and private clients. Dmitry can be reached at db@legalxlator.com.
We would love to feature other guest authors who are translators and interpreters working with Slavic languages in future SLD Blog posts! If you have recommendations or would like to share expertise, please email the SLD Blog co-editors: Veronika Demichelis and Marisa Irwin.
Upcoming ATA webinar August 25: Transcreation in Video Game Localization
https://www.atanet.org/event/
Presenters: Lucio Alcaide, Marina Ilari
August 25, 2021, at 12 noon U.S. EDT
CE Points: 1 ATA-approved
Localizing video games sounds like fun, and it is. But any game localization expert will tell you it’s also one of the most challenging jobs in the industry. Luckily there is a way to make the process a bit easier!
Join this webinar to learn how transcreation can be used to create an immersive experience for players—from story to characters to culture. Real examples, tips, and tricks included!
What will you learn?
* The difference between translation, localization, and transcreation
* The evolution of video game localization
* Where transcreation might be needed in video games
* Examples of transcreation in a variety of video game content
* Strategies to use when working on projects that require transcreation
Register Now!
ATA Member $45 https://web.atanet.org/
Non-Member $60 https://web.atanet.org/
Join Us in Minneapolis for ATA62!
ATA62 Conference Registration is Open!
No other industry event provides the same comprehensive professional development as ATA’s Annual Conference. Whether you attend virtually or in person, you’ll find the best education from world-class presenters to enhance your skills and grow your business. ATA62 takes place October 27–30, 2021, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Early registration discounts are too good to miss!
Don’t wait! Register by October 1 for the lowest rates. The hotel block for the conference is now open, and discounted rates are available at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis until October 1 or as space allows.
The conference program is online!
ATA62 offers a variety of networking events—in person and virtually—throughout the conference. You’ll find opportunities to promote yourself and your services, connect with friends, get involved with your association, or just have fun!
LEARN MORE
Event Schedule (See the division info under “Welcome Celebration” on Wednesday.)
ATA Compensation Survey: Deadline Extended to July 30, 2021
Dear SLD members,
Please remember to take the ATA Compensation Survey: the deadline was extended to July 30, 2021.
ATA is working with Dynamic Benchmarking, LLC, an independent firm specializing in association-related research, to conduct an industry-wide survey of compensation for translation and interpreting services. Dynamic Benchmarking is collecting the survey responses, thus ensuring your anonymity.
There is a need for a comprehensive picture of the market for translation and interpreting services. Your participation is essential to collecting sufficient data.
The survey results will be an invaluable resource for individuals as well as the industry itself. Not only will you be able to see how your earnings compare to colleagues working in your language pair and specialty, but ATA will also have the data necessary to lobby the U.S. Department of Labor to correct its T&I compensation statistics which currently do not adequately represent independent contractors.
Survey-takers who complete the survey will receive a copy of the results formatted to allow filtering by language and specialty. You will be able to easily compare your compensation for the years 2019 and 2020 to that of your colleagues.
Learn more: https://www.atanet.org/business-strategies/ata-compensation-survey/
Localizing digital products into Russian: what is it like?
Photo by Christopher Gower on Unsplash
What is localization?
There are a few definitions out there. The course on Internationalization and Localization offered by the University of Washington (UWashingtonX) defines localization as “adaptation of digital content for a specific foreign market.” According to Nataly Kelly, who leads localization at HubSpot and has a great blog on this topic, “localization means adapting a digital experience for users who speak other languages or live in other countries.”
Localization is required when software products, websites, e-commerce and e-learning platforms, or mobile apps are made available to new markets.
In very basic terms, the localized digital product needs to:
- cater to market needs
- target a specific group of users
- connect with users emotionally
- be culturally appropriate
- be easy to navigate
What do localization projects involve?
Localizability work often comes before localization to ensure that the process is as smooth as can be. This involves, among other things, transferring strings that need translation into a standalone file, separating text from images, making provisions for text expansion, and using placeholders.
Then comes the time for localizing both the content and the user interface (UI), making it accessible to users in the new market. Translation is usually sufficient for the more straightforward content, whereas UI, taglines, headings, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, and images might require a more creative approach to ensure that the product resonates with users.
What to look out for when localizing into Russian?
1. Level of formality. When starting a localization project from scratch, it’s important to determine how to address users, formally or informally, using «вы» or «ты». This is often decided by the client or together with the client. In fact, the same product might have different levels of formality between different languages: it might address users as “vous” in French, “du” in German, and «вы» in Russian.
A word of caution: it is often easier to start off with «вы» and use it throughout the project. This would cover the app content and all the system messages, as well as the inevitable privacy or cookie policies. An informal tone of voice is definitely justified for some products, but there will come a time to localize messages like “Forgotten password?” or “Are you sure you want to delete your account?” and these look much better when phrased formally.
Another benefit of using a formal pronoun is that it eliminates the need for feminine/masculine endings. It also makes the product more inclusive. This was the case with a parenting app I helped localize: initially the client wanted to go with the informal «ты», but that would’ve meant addressing only the mothers and excluding dads, while the content was trying to achieve the exact opposite—making sure that the new moms received much-needed support and involved dads as early as possible, even before their child was born.
2. Character restrictions in the user interface. If the app is content-heavy and contains articles or blog posts, character restrictions aren’t usually an issue there. However, when it comes to the user interface, space is at a premium, especially as Russian tends to be 15% longer than English. Even though adaptive design allows for these changes, it’s a good idea to keep this limitation in mind and try to be as concise as possible to avoid the back-and-forth with developers later on, after the product is tested on different devices.
3. Variables and placeholders. Variables and placeholders replace numbers (%d), characters (%c), or strings (%s). One of the most problematic situations in Russian localization is when a variable replaces a number and is followed by a word, for example, %d results. This poses a problem in Russian, which has complex rules governing the endings of the words following numbers. Some localization platforms like Crowdin allow for this variation and have different tabs for entering word forms for “one,” “several,” and “many” with the groups of numbers already predefined, which makes the translator’s job so much easier. However, that’s not always the case.
When there isn’t a way to specify different word forms on the localization platform, the easiest way around this is to flip the phrase so that it displays «Результаты: 5» (Results: 5). This isn’t always the most elegant solution, but I have had to resort to it quite often, especially when working on localization projects via an agency, as you don’t usually have a direct line to the developers.
4. Strings reused in different locations. In both website and mobile app localization projects, strings are often reused on the assumption that the words can be moved around without it affecting their form or meaning. With Russian being an inflected language, this approach simply doesn’t work. It results in phrases like «Нашим отелям» (“To our hotels”) or «Райских направлений» (“Of paradise destinations”) in menus, which I recently spotted on a hotel’s website. This can easily ruin the first impression for the users, especially if a brand is targeting customers in the luxury segment.
It is also possible to have strings that are used in two locations and require different translations or even different approaches to translation. This was the case when I was localizing a website for a jewelry brand, which had a “Store finder” page. I had to translate city names for the drop-down menu, but when the same city name appeared in the store address, I wanted to keep it in English because a transliterated address in Cyrillic will not get you anywhere if you’re trying to locate a jewelry boutique in London or St. Tropez!
5. Ambiguous verb forms. This is not unique to Russian, but app interfaces can have buttons like “Enter” or “Submit.” These can be translated using an infinitive, «Ввести», or as an imperative, «Введите». This depends on the context, but what makes it even trickier is that this string can also be referenced in other strings, and it’s essential to be consistent.
6. Culturally relevant content. When localizing an app, it makes sense to minimize references to source-language culture that aren’t going to resonate with the target audience or might be distracting. An example I like to give is a blog article on pool safety for children in the same parenting app. Most Russians don’t have the luxury of owning a house with a backyard and a pool, so the original reference to the private pool wouldn’t have gone down very well. However, I rephrased the sentence to include inflatable pools that you can have on your dacha, this scenario being much more likely.
7. Context is important. Translation is unimaginable without context, and it is especially important for localizing app UI and creating a positive, intuitive and memorable user experience. When working on localization platforms, there usually is a string description, like “invalid_email_error,” which gives you an idea where and when the string appears. There’s also an option for developers to include a screenshot or for translators to request one if it’s not there.
This list of potential issues that can come up when working on localization projects into Russian is not exhaustive, of course, and there are other things to be aware of to ensure successful localization, some of which only surface at or after the testing stage.
What I’ve found is that localization is very much a team effort, and it’s essential to keep talking to everyone involved in the process—producers, developers, content managers, and translators working into other languages—as they often have excellent creative ideas and suggest great workarounds.
Yulia Tsybysheva is a Russian marketing translator based in the UK. She works with clients in the fashion, beauty, jewelry, and travel industries and specializes in web & app localization, as well as transcreation. Having worked on four large-scale app localization projects, she’s planning to transition into localization and has recently received a Professional Certificate in Internationalization and Localization from UWashingtonX.
Website – https://choiceofwords.co.uk/
LinkedIn – https://uk.linkedin.com/in/yuliatsybysheva
Twitter – @ruchoiceofwords
We would love to feature other guest authors who are translators and interpreters working with Slavic languages in future SLD Blog posts! If you have recommendations or would like to share expertise, please email the SLD Blog co-editors: Veronika Demichelis and Marisa Irwin.
Upcoming ATA Events: June 2021
ATA’s events schedule is as busy as ever. Here are a few upcoming events not to miss!
“Introduction to Localization” by Alaina Brandt
June 15, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT / ATA CEP: 1.0
ATA members: $45; non-members: $60. Click to register.
Localization is the act of customizing language services and products to audiences who speak different languages. The strategies employed in localization are highly dependent on cultural, subject field, and textual/product expectations. Localization strategy is tailored to business goals in areas like sales, expansion, and growth. Localization work is performed in a dynamic environment of rapid technological advancements, ever-shifting regulations, and looming and unforeseen risks.
Join us to learn about opportunities in this exciting field and the skills needed to be a successful localizer. You will leave this session understanding that localization is anything but a one-size-fits-all approach.
Virtual Brainstorm Networking
June 29, 5:00 – 6:00 pm EDT
FREE and limited to ATA members! Click to register.
Join your colleagues for this fun, fast-paced hour of solving common business challenges in small teams. Attend this virtual event to meet new people, learn new skills, and expand your support network, while sharing your own experiences. Don’t miss it!
“Practical Strategies to Capture Notes Virtually When Providing Remote Interpreting” by Armando Ezquerra Hasbun
June 30 / 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT / ATA CEP: 1.0
ATA members: $45; non-members: $60. Click to register.
The pandemic has forced us to adapt to interpreting from home. In this webinar we will review basic and advanced pointers on how to use low-cost or free programs and applications you may already have to capture information, bypassing the traditional approach of handwritten note-taking strategies.
“Interpreting Insults from Spanish into Your Target Language” by Darinka Mangino
June 30 / 1:00 pm – 2:30 pmEDT / ATA CEP: 1.5
ATA members: $65; non-members: $90. Click to register.
Even seasoned interpreters have a hard time making the right choice when dealing with big words and colloquial expressions when content is more emotional than technical. In some cultures, expletives might be used as a form of flattery and expressions of closeness, even if authoritative dictionaries list those big words as taboo.
When you do not know how to interpret insults, you may use a different register than the speaker used originally. A colloquial expression could become a formal one or—even worse—a word that is key to the message could be omitted.
Having a strategy to delve into the cultural meaning will help you detach from the awful feeling of uttering insults you don’t mean but have to say in the first person. You will make confident choices and be assured that you did not compromise the speaker’s agency or your client’s trust.
In this webinar, you will learn how to not take words at face value, how to perform a comprehensive analysis of the message, and how to convey the speaker’s message accurately.
Register for both “Practical Strategies to Capture Notes Virtually When Providing Remote Interpreting” and “Interpreting Insults from Spanish into Your Target Language” and save $15!
SLD Member Spotlight: An interview with Shelley Fairweather-Vega
In this column of the SLD Blog, we feature members of ATA’s Slavic Languages Division: translators and interpreters working in Slavic languages. Their stories, experience, and career highlights will inspire both beginners and experienced professionals. Today’s post is an interview with a long-time SLD member, ATA-certified Russian to English translator, Shelley Fairweather-Vega.
- What is your story of getting started as a translator?
Like a lot of our colleagues, I became a translator accidentally. My first translation job was for School No. 26 for Blind and Weak-Sighted Children in Ryazan, Russia, where I worked as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English, from 2000 to 2002. The principal wanted a grant from an American organization. So every day for a week, I’d finish up teaching my adorable second- through seventh- graders and then spend an hour or two on the school’s computer, translating handwritten Russian bureaucratese into non-profit-sector English. We won the grant.
After Peace Corps, I had a series of jobs in government and libraries that required the use of Russian and sometimes translation. By the time I started my graduate school program, I was on ProZ and freelancing occasionally. In graduate school, I studied Uzbek as well as more Russian, and began translating from that language, too. A few years later, I quit my day job and became a full-time freelance translator.
- What fields do you specialize in, and how did you build up your expertise in those areas?
I first specialized in legal Russian, especially concerning politics and current events. I had plenty of legal vocabulary at my fingertips from working with lawyers, but I enjoyed translating journalism more because, unlike court rulings and contracts, journalistic writing requires (and allows for!) a dash of creativity. As part of my job buying Russian-language books for the Multnomah County Library system in Portland, Oregon, I wanted to research new Russian fiction to identify the most interesting contemporary authors. I discovered Lizok’s Bookshelf, the blog by Lisa Hayden, a prolific translator of Russian fiction. I began wondering if I could do what Lisa does someday. Years later, when I had started translating books, I met Lisa at a translation conference, and I feel so lucky to consider her a colleague now. Reading Lisa’s translations and work by other literary translators has given me insight into how that sort of translation works (and sometimes doesn’t work), and networking through conferences and social media has taught me a lot about the field.
Literary translation projects aren’t constant, so I continue to take legal jobs and creative translation jobs that aren’t exactly high literature. I really enjoy working on computer games and scripts for Russian animated shows for kids, for instance. The task is not just to translate the plot and dialogue and camera directions well, but also to develop an end product that has a good chance of selling to English-speaking producers and entertaining English-language audiences. My training for that consisted solely of watching lots of cartoons on YouTube with my kids when they were little.
- Can you share an example of the most rewarding project you have ever worked on and why it felt this way?
Probably the most rewarding translation I’ve published is a short essay by an Uzbek author, Mamadali Mahmudov, which he wrote while in prison on trumped-up political charges. It was a pro bono job through Translators Without Borders. Bringing attention to his plight felt like working for a good cause, and anyway, the translation married my two interests – literature and politics. As an extra bonus for me, my translation was noticed by another Uzbek writer, Hamid Ismailov. He contacted me, and since then, I’ve published translations of two novels, one essay, and three short stories of his.
- In your opinion, what are the most important skills of a literary translator?
Literary translation is a specialization like any other, in some respects – you need to master the vocabulary and style of your source material and its equivalents in your target language. That means having a real eye and ear for dialogue in fiction and rhythm, rhyme, and meter in poetry, for example. None of those things works exactly the same in Russian, Uzbek, and English. Having a good background in different styles and genres in your languages helps a lot. And when you translate literature, you almost always work for direct clients, whether publishing houses or authors. That requires the business skills to constantly negotiate terms, seek out new work, answer your clients’ questions, and help them through the process of translation and publishing.
Literary translators also need to be fearless. In this field, your name will be on everything you translate, so you have to be ready for the scrutiny of editors, readers, and critics; and that means you need to be humble, because nothing you translate will ever be perfect, and everyone will know it.
- At ATA’s 61st Annual Conference, you presented a session called “Getting Edited and Getting Ahead in Literary Translation”. What have you learned from the experience of getting your work edited and editing other people’s work?
I think getting edited has helped to teach me that blend of fearlessness and humility that I mentioned above. I’ve learned so much from being edited, from the simplest things to the most complex psycho-literary tricks imaginable. On the simple side, it took an editor to finally tell me that в частности doesn’t mean “in part” – I hadn’t specifically learned the expression, my solution felt sort of obvious, and it always seemed to fit the context, so I’d never questioned it. I will never make that mistake again. But most editing doesn’t deal with simple translation errors – it’s about writing that could be improved. Most suggested edits I see simply tell me that something I’ve written isn’t clear or is triggering some unintended response in the reader. Then I get to do the hard mental work of figuring out where the fault lies and how to fix it, while still guided by what the original text is trying to say and do. The more often you go through this process, the more confidence you develop in your translation choices. You start to be able to predict what will trip up an editor and what their objections will be, so you self-edit as you translate. You build a store of arguments you can deploy when you need to convince the editor to see things your way. You also develop the insight and confidence you need to propose third solutions that solve the problem the editor identified and convey the meaning and style your translation needs to preserve.
- When we have our work edited by others, it may be easy to perceive it negatively, get discouraged, or get defensive. Do you have any tips, especially for beginner translators, on how to see the positive sides of getting feedback and when to defend their translation choices?
Seeing that sea of red on the screen when you open up a document with tracked changes is always terribly alarming. I’m not sure that initial shock ever gets less painful. When you receive edits, try looking through them once without responding. Scan the whole text, read the comments, and try to just absorb an understanding of what is bothering the editor, what they like and don’t like. Then give yourself a break and do something else. After your heart rate returns to normal, go back to the text and start responding methodically. That will give you the time you need to let your natural defensiveness subside a little and to consider the suggested edits more objectively.
You will always find at least one edit that you’re thankful for. Respond to that one first and let that feeling of gratitude to the editor carry over as you continue. Even when you disagree with an edit, respond respectfully, either defending your choices or proposing new options politely and rationally. You’ll feel much healthier and more professional, more as if you’re in a productive conversation with the editor and less like you’re in a boxing ring, warding off blows.
Always pick your battles. Sometimes edits are purely preferential changes, doing nothing to improve the translation. But as long as the edit also does no harm, try to let the editor have their own way sometimes. The translation won’t suffer, and it will save you the grief of arguing over one more thing.
- What is important to remember when we edit other people’s work?
Remember how the translator will feel when they see all those tracked changes and try not to traumatize them! Less is usually more; try only to suggest changes that objectively improve the translation in terms of accuracy or style or clearly improve the target-language writing. Often, it’s better to ask questions: rather than changing X to Y, ask, “Do you think Y would work here?” And be sure you know exactly what your role is, as editor, in this project. Does the final responsibility rest with you or with the translator? Are you expected to check the translation for accuracy or just polish the target-language text? If you find yourself making extensive edits, offer an explanation: “I’m changing most of the passive voice to active voice,” or “These terms are covered in the glossary,” for instance, so the translator knows what is guiding your editing decisions.
Finally, take the time to offer a compliment or two when the translator has come up with something especially good. Especially if you’re going to be editing this person’s work again, it’s smart – and kind – to establish some rapport.
- What advice would you give to colleagues who are just getting started in translation?
The single most important thing you can do is read. Read the kinds of things you might translate in your source language and read all kinds of writing in your target language. Additionally, to thrive in this business, as solitary as it can be, you need to know people. Attend trainings and conferences, hang out on social media, join those listservs. Your colleagues will be your single best source of knowledge, referrals, advice, and inspiration.
Shelley Fairweather-Vega is an ATA-certified translator from Russian to English and an enthusiastic translator of Uzbek. Her translations of poetry and prose have been published by presses ranging from Routledge to Tilted Axis, and in Translation Review, Words Without Borders, story and poetry anthologies, and more. Shelley is currently President of the Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society (an ATA chapter) and serves on the advisory board of the Translation Studies Hub at the University of Washington.
Website: fairvega.com/translation
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fairvega/
Shelley’s Amazon author page
We would love to feature other translators and interpreters working with Slavic languages in future SLD Blog posts! If you have recommendations or would like to share your own story and expertise, please email the SLD Blog co-editors: Veronika Demichelis and Marisa Irwin.
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