Sounding It Out

How To Best Prepare For Foreign Sound Recordings/Voiceovers

There are many different situations that require the recording of voice tracks in or translated from foreign languages. Whether you are directly or indirectly involved in the process—if you are familiar with the various solutions and well prepared for every scenario, you can ensure efficiency and high quality results.

Let’s first take a look at one of the most common examples in the field of life sciences. In clinical trials and similar research studies, patient as well as physician interviews play a critical role. More insight is gained by expanding the geographic territory of these studies, but in order to proceed with the evaluations, foreign interview recordings must be translated. Creating a transcript and translating the resulting document is time consuming and costly. Another option is to record the English translation as it is simultaneously interpreted by a professional interpreter in the respective language pair. But what does this solution exactly look like and how do you set it up?

The right format

The initial step is similar to what you would do if you were to get a written transcript of the interview(s): you need to make the audio files available to your language support provider of choice. Most likely, the interviews were recorded with a Dictaphone or similar device. Many Dictaphones have proprietary or obscure file formats, so if you can first convert the files to .mp3 or .wav before forwarding them, you will save the time and cost that would be involved if the language company or interpreter were to perform the conversion.

The right linguist

Your project is then to be assigned to a simultaneous interpreter who can record his or her own voice to create an English audio file, which should also be .mp3 or .wav, so you can play it back on your audio player without problems. An interpreter, as opposed to a translator, translates the spoken word, and a simultaneous interpreter does this—you guessed it—at the same time that the original text is spoken. In the world of language translation, this is a highly specialized field, only mastered by linguists with corresponding training and experience. To create the English track for your interviews, he or she will listen to the original, translate what is said verbally while listening and record it in the process. Since this approach leaves no time for research, make any supporting documents you may have (summary, questionnaire, product list, names) available to the interpreter.

The right budget

When budgeting time and cost for the recording, the sound quality of the original makes a difference, as does the clarity of interviewer and interviewee. The interpreter will have to go back to listen to the original track if he cannot understand what is being said, thus adding additional time to the real time of the recording. Regardless of quality and clarity, your budget needs to allow for breaks since simultaneous interpreting is commonly performed in 20-30 minutes blocks—it requires such a high level of concentration that it can only be effectively produced for this amount of time, which is why in any ‘live’ situation (e.g. at conferences), simultaneous interpreters work in pairs.

The right script

But what do you do if you need promotional materials in foreign languages? Radio ads, or voiceovers for web or TV? Interpreters are not the right choice, since you need a carefully adapted copy in the respective language(s) that matches the original but takes into consideration linguistic and cultural differences. While you most likely will have an ad agency or production company assist you with your international promotions, knowing what it entails to create successful versions for each target market can guide you in your interactions with advertising and producing partners.

The right voice

In this scenario, translators specializing in the adaptation of advertising and other creative materials are best suited to create the foreign language copy from your final original before it is recorded by native voiceover talent in the respective language(s). For the recording process, which should take place in a professional recording studio owned or booked by the ad agency or production company, it is extremely helpful to bring in a dialect coach/co-director in the foreign language to ensure the right tone as well as perfect fluency of the recording. To play it safe, it may even be advisable to run the casting tapes by a trusted translator in the respective language, and to make sure that the language variant matches the target market (e.g. Castilian for Spain, Canadian French for Canada). Asking the dialect coach/co-director to stay while editing or running the final copy by him or her will eliminate mistakes that could result when cutting the ad—if the editor does not speak the language, he may accidentally cut out a word or get the order mixed up.

The right choice

Last but not least, you may be considering foreign language versions of your instructional, training or corporate videos. If you are opting against subtitles and prefer voiceovers, you still have the choice of the two options outlined above. For straightforward material, the more cost-effective possibility of recording the simultaneous interpretation could be right for you. If exact phrasing and wording is critical, it may be better to invest in creating written foreign language versions to then be recorded as voiceovers. Since the sound will be set to video, it would be best in both cases to do the recordings at a professional studio.

Apart from knowing the different approaches to foreign sound recording, which will enable you to make an informed decision and give effective instructions to other entities involved, your best bet to be well-prepared in any foreign language recording situation is to:

- Provide as much supporting information as possible.

- Ensure that original audio material is in the right format and of the best possible quality and all material to be translated in its final version.

The result will be sonically and linguistically sound.

N. Gobel for aiaTranslations

Rodolfo Speaks Spanish, right??

If you needed to have your appendix removed, would you ask the EMT that lives next door to take it out? Since she is your neighbor and already knows how to save lives, certainly she could handle the job. You could lay down on the kitchen table and let her take it out with a steak knife. It would certainly be cheaper than seeing a doctor and going to a hospital.

Would it be worth the money you save? No.

As a company in need of translating company communications into another language, why would you consider letting Rodolfo from the IT department translate your new Spanish brochure simply because he was born in Costa Rica?

Will in-house translation save you money? Sure.

Will it be worth it? No!

Someone who is multilingual and a professional translator are two entirely different animals. Translating is more than simply trading one word for another word in a different language. Translation involves the communication of equivalent meanings, contexts and intents from one language or culture to another.

Translating also involves communicating these meanings in a clear and concise manner. Rodolfo may be a native Spanish speaker but can he write well whether its in Spanish or English? A fifth grader may speak English well but would you hire one to write your next marketing brochure? Writing well is a learned and practiced skill.

Good professional translators have years of education in linguistics followed by years of experience translating. Translating source text about a subject with which you are unfamiliar is difficult at best and typically translators have advanced degrees in the field with which they work (healthcare, law, technology, etc.)

Even within a particular field, verbiage can vary widely and be highly unique. Building a relationship with a translation agency means they understand your business. Using up to date software they build glossaries around your business terminology so current and future materials for your business are consistent and correct. Over time these glossaries save you money on future translations.

Can Rodolfo guarantee you the same efficiency and quality? How about confidentiality?

Professional translators are worth the money. They save you time, frustration and communication blunders in the long run. Professional translators are highly qualified and trained to provide you with ethical, accurate and confidential translated materials your business requires.

(Sherry Dineen)

Bad News a Good Way?

A recent study reported in Archives of Surgery looked at 44 general surgery residents who had received "communications training." Yup, this training was designed to help them improve the way they deliver bad news to their patients.

In the study, the doctors were assessed on how they delivered bad news, and on their communication skills in general. Then, they took the class and were subsequently reassessed. Turns out certain aspects of their delivery improved, but their general communication skills did not.

We suppose that doctors are supposed to know how to communicate. Apparently, this is not something that everyone can do. Now imagine if they are charged with communicating across culture and language? How low would they score?

(MARN)

The Times They Are A-Changin’

by Bob Dylan

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

As a nation we are in the middle of a cultural revolution. Can you feel it? The latest census figures are out and times really are changing.

According to the most recent census reports, women are becoming more educated (they now outnumber men in the number of doctoral degrees conferred), populations are shifting from rural and urban areas to the suburbs, and household size is increasing (mostly due to immigrant populations who are more likely to live in multi-generational homes.)

America is also aging and diversifying at a faster rate than anyone predicted.

According to the reports, the number of people age 85 and older (5.5 million) has doubled since 1990. While the older population increases, the younger population is dramatically diversifying.

According to a recent article on the front cover of USA Today, “One of the most significant demographic trends of the past 20 years is the explosive growth of Hispanics.” Half of the population growth in the United States over the past 20 years is from the 30 million person increase in the Hispanic population. One in six Americans is Hispanic.

“An entire Venezuela’s worth of Hispanics was added in just those two decades.” said Robert Lang, urban sociologist, University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the article.

This growth is not just found in traditionally considered high Hispanic population states like California and Florida. In 1990, North Carolina’s population contained only 1% Hispanics, in 2010, the census showed almost 7%. The Hispanic population in Illinois has doubled in the past 20 years going from 7.9% to 15.8%.

While black and white racial relations saturate our nation’s history, 2003 marked the first year Hispanics surpassed African American in population numbers.

After the census figures release in 2000 it was predicted 2050 would be the year our population shifted to less than half non-Hispanic White. That timeline has now shifted to 2042.

Part of this dramatic diversification rate is due to a higher than average birthrate for Hispanic women (2.9 versus the national average of 2.1). Another significant reason is the increased number of people claiming more than one race.

The 2000 census marked the first year people were allowed to select two or more races on their form. Nine million people reported more than one race. Of marriages today, one in seven contains a spouse of a different race or ethnicity. Their bi-racial children will check more than one box on their next census form.

These latest census numbers represent changing times in our nation’s cultural, racial and ethnic history. In the USA Today article, William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organization in Washington, DC, was quoted as saying, “The future is people of all races and ethnicities.”

Change is a beautiful thing.

(Sherry Dineen)

Les Merveilles de l’Oreille

The appeal of not understanding what is said and how to make good use of it

A few weeks ago I had the chance to interpret press interviews for German rock band Rammstein at the Forum in Los Angeles and witnessed their large-scale, fire-wielding show as well as the frenzy of their American fans. It was quite incredible to see (and hear) the audience sing along in a language they don’t actually speak. The language barrier seemed to enhance the appeal of the band much rather than diminish it. Granted, death metal is just the kind of music that lends itself to German interpretation, but the fascination that comes with foreign sounds and what they are communicating on a different level than the words we know goes far beyond the boundaries of musical styles and music itself.

Basic instinct

We tend to have a reaction to what we sense characterizes a specific language—French appears sophisticated and at the same time very sensual not only to English ears, Italian is perceived as passionate while the use of English comes across as trendy in many countries, largely because it is the leading language in popular culture but also in science and technology. Advertisers have been using this tool increasingly since the onset of globalization, but not without roadblocks. A study in Germany a few years back showed that although people responded well to ads and commercials fully or partially in English, they actually understood way less of the content than expected. In order to bring your message to market, it is crucial to know where you rely on the sheer effect of the language itself and where you need specific information to be conveyed.

The seductive power of foreign languages is beautifully demonstrated in Atom Egoyan’s 1993 film “Calendar”. The Armenian-Canadian filmmaker’s protagonist (played by Egoyan himself) invites an attractive woman of a different background for dinner each month, and invariably she gets up half way through the meal to make a personal phone call in her native language, while he listens on. Neither he nor the audience understands what is being said, but the effect is the same every time. It’s the mystery itself that creates the allure of the call.

Forms of seduction

The words need not to be spoken to unfold their alluring effect. As we know from product names, jewelry, T-shirts and even tattoos, the visuals of a foreign language can create an impression that is just as catching. Asian characters have a particular strong impact in the West, although people have become somewhat wary of the fact that slightly different designs can result in entirely different meanings and that mistranslations are common. You wouldn’t want your latest perfume to be called “Strange” when you were going for “Mysterious”. And while deliberate rephrasing or adding of accents to foreign words in the Latin alphabet can create a unique brand or product name, you want to make sure it comes across as an intentional creation and not as bad spelling and/or grammar (singer Rihanna recently took a lot of heat for a supposedly “wrong” French tattoo, but her slightly re-named fragrance escaped criticism).

Cultural affairs

Speaking of the French, it is well known that they are very protective of their culture and language and enacted their latest language protection law in the early nineties, which sets forth that the use of “Anglicism’s” in advertisements and packaging will be fined. That is definitely something to keep in mind when planning a European marketing campaign. Reversely but not less interestingly, the Germans have gone as far as making up their own English words as the popularity of the English language continues to grow. The cell phone is known as “Handy”, bullying as “Mobbing”, and “Oldtimers” is the German term for vintage cars (the classics can be found in the Mercedes museum…).

As always, know thy audience is the open sesame to any market. Tuning into the more subtle delights of a different kind of subtext as only our (actual and virtual) ears can provide, an exploration of the sounds of the unknown might yield just as many surprises as a dive into Rammstein’s dark lyrics.

Nanette Gobel, MA

Health Disparities CAN Be Reduced

Prominent physicians suggest that health disparities of Latino children with ADHD could be correlated to cultural factors as reported at the annual conference of the National Hispanic Medical Association. According to Dr. Andres J. Pumariega, chairman of the psychiatry department at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., and an expert in cultural diversity and mental health, ADHD is typically diagnosed through parental reporting. Cultural misconceptions might prevent parents from recognizing or acknowledging the illness in their children. Parents often believe ADHD is misdiagnosed in Latino children, but they often think that it is being over-diagnosed, and data from more objective studies actually point to it being under-diagnosed. The reported rate of ADHD among Latino youth being low is misleading.

During the same conference, Dr. Eugenio M. Rothe, professor of psychiatry and public health at Florida International University, Miami, suggests that disparities in treatment between Latino youth and their white counterparts might be tied to several factors, including language barriers and a lack of parental understanding. Dr. Rothe also cited a national survey conducted by Harris Interactive that found that Latinos were less likely to be familiar with ADHD and nearly 10% less likely to know where to obtain treatment. He also suggested that ADHD can contribute to some of the psychosocial problems of Latino youth, including school dropout rates, teen pregnancy rates and substance abuse.

How can health disparities be reduced? Leading physicians recommend bridging the gap by offering patient education materials in Spanish and increasing the number of Spanish-speaking health care professionals. The materials would also have to be culturally relevant to make an impact. It could be years before Spanish-speaking health care professionals accommodate the sheer number of Latino patients. In the meantime, it would behoove the health care industry to be culturally competent. If health care providers can comprehend the importance of values in the Latino culture, this can be significant. Recognizing strong family ties and acknowledging respect and trust as inherent to a high quality relationship will make a difference. It can certainly be a step toward reducing health disparities.

MUR

Dear Technology - Part 2

Dear Technology,

Well, you’ve done it again.

Now you’ve gone and messed with our language. Will your madness never end?

The current generation of learners uses you to learn to speak, read and write.

You’ve infiltrated our diction as well. Your fancy lingo has permeated our daily verbiage. “Texting”, “sexting” and “facebooking” are not terms someone having survived the Great Depression would necessarily understand nor want to know.

Of course, you giveth and you taketh away.

Adding to our vocabulary is one thing but making us grammatically dumb is another altogether. Your texting and smartphone technology has modified how we express ourselves in written form. When you limit us to 140 words: punctuation & grammar r 1st 2go.

No one uses commas anymore. I must admit, sometimes that’s a good thing.

Small children exist in this world that have never actually held a book in their hands. They hold a Kindle or an iPad and touch a screen to turn pages in their Cat In The Hat.

Knowing nothing but high tech, they will expect high tech in return. Next they will expect their devices to talk back to them. Knowing you, you’ll do it too.

Or will you?

To talk back to us, first you have to understand us.

Sure, you can use your analytical skills to analyze our frequency of word use and derive patterns that intimate what we are trying to say. But do you truly understand?

You are akin to a good machine translation. You recognize a pattern and repeat it, but do you really get the nuances behinds the words?

Culture is not something you know because in your clinical mainframe world, it doesn’t exist. Your point of reference is purely analytical and language is so much more than that.

Language is backed by hundreds of thousands of years of history. It’s an organic, ever-changing entity that cannot be replicated.

Good luck with that.

Sincerely,
aiaTranslations

Fear Is Not An Option

If half the time you asked for directions, they were wrong and you got lost, you would be upset, right? What if half the time, it resulted in you bleeding in a ditch on the wrong side of town? Upset would no longer describe what you are feeling. Fear might.

Most people take prescription medication hoping to feel better, yet for non-English speakers, mistakenly translated prescription labels can make taking their meds a fearful experience.

According to a 2010 study of Bronx pharmacies conducted by Iman Sharif while at Montefiore Medical Center, the computer programs used to translate prescription labels had an overall error rate of 50%.

If “once a day” gets translated to “eleven times a day”, that’s close enough, right? What can it hurt if its not right? I’m sure eleven doses of an anti-seizure medication would be fine.

The software helps them comply with legal requirements to provide translation services but is it true compliance if half the time it’s incorrect and potentially lethal?

If you end up in a hospital or clinic, most states require non-English speakers receive translation services. Pharmacies, however, do not fall under this domain. Only one state, California, legislates translation services be provided in pharmacies.

In New York City, the Language Access in Pharmacies Act requires pharmacies with four or more locations provide non-English speakers with free and accurately translated labels, warnings, ingredients and brochures. They also must post signs in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Polish, Italian and French stating they provide such services.

The advocacy groups that implemented this Act, Make the Road New York and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest are currently pushing to expand this legislation to the rest of the state. To check their efficacy, the groups surveyed seven national chain pharmacies with 250 branches in New York State and found in locations outside NYC, about 50% of the pharmacies did not supply translated drug labels and 30% did not provide interpretation services.

Taking prescription medicines should not involve fear. "It's easy to be seriously injured or killed by your medication," said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhatten) who recently reintroduced the bill to expand the legislation.

“Folks are not getting the language services that they need,” said Theo Oshiro of Director of Health Advocacy and Support Services for Make the Road New York. “They are not able to take their medicines or are hurting themselves because they don’t understand the language that is used. If you are not providing language services to these folks, you are not counseling them appropriately."

Caring for the Health of Latino Patients

According the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos are the fastest growing minority population in the U. S. Already approaching 17%, it is projected that by the year 2050, the figure will be 24% with Latinos comprising the largest minority group in 20 of the 50 states. Another interesting statistic is that this population is young in comparison to the general U.S. population, which means more child-bearing age groups. The rising population numbers are indicative of increasing health issues across the board. This means that the health care industry should be prepared to address a population with unique cultural factors and various degrees of biculturalism.

Some illnesses are more prevalent in the Latino population. For example, there are higher rates of diabetes, tuberculosis, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, alcoholism and cirrhosis. For a variety of reasons, many Hispanic patients may delay medical care until their condition worsens and necessitates immediate attention. Some factors that delay or prevent health care include poverty, lack of health insurance and limited access to health care. Along with serious illness, crisis and emotional stress, the complexity of navigating the medical system becomes even more complicated.

The language barrier is another cultural factor that prevents Latino patients from experiencing effective communication with their health care provider. Medical terminology is not always easily understood by mainstream and even less so for Spanish-speakers. Health care professionals who speak Spanish are few in number even though a total of 35 million speak Spanish at home. Cultural factors may also be correlated to delay or lack of doctor visits such as a belief system that some health issues are natural and therefore, do not necessitate medical attention. For example, folk medicine and traditional healers are common practices in some Latino sub-cultures. The culture is broad and unique posing many challenges. Health care providers need to be careful not to allow any characterizations of values, customs or beliefs dominate the way they deliver health care services to such a diverse group. It is noteworthy for health care professionals to keep in mind that each person is unique.

Maria Ugarte-Ramos

Dear Technology: A Letter

Dear Technology… you precocious little Minsk.

What are we going to do with you?

You replicate, expand and improve faster than we can keep up. In a few days time, 4G will be so yesterday. We use you for our own advancement and entertainment with the always underlying thought that someday you very well may trump us all a la some crazy real world version of Terminator.

In the world of medicine you have become quite useful and adept. You provide physicians and patients with valuable information about diseases and the means to treat them. Pharmaceutical companies can now globally reach millions of consumers in the language of their choice.

In parts of the world where the number of patients far exceeds the number of doctors available to treat them, a physician’s time is precious and limited. Again, technology, you come to our rescue, allowing for CME and new product information exchanges to happen quickly and electronically. No appointment necessary.

Patients benefit as well with the ability to access disease awareness and education sites across the globe. Armed with more information than many may actually need, they march into their doctor’s office with many, many questions. Oh so many questions!

Ah, but again you are wily and not easily bound to regulations and conventions of protocol. DTC is illegal in most countries. You know it and we know it, yet you refuse to adhere.

When a patient demands to see your internet content on Lipitor, you are uncontrollable. You always give up the goods. You provide branded programs and information without discrimination. Not once do you ask, where do you live and who regulates your access to this information?

Someone in India can Google a pharma brand name and pull up sites not controlled in India. These online brand discussions can in fact be undercover DTC. You are a naughty little devil.

Ah, technology, you are slippery as an eel. Your benefits in the field of medicine abound, yet you are uncontrollable.

What are we going to do with you?

Sincerely,
aiaTranslations

(Sherry Dineen)

The Translator as a Bi-Cultural Being

Putting a human face on your language services provider

Translators tend to be at home in more than one culture—be it by birth, circumstance, or the conscious choice of immersing themselves in different cultures. But what sets them apart is that, while assimilating to the culture they live in, they also cultivate their membership to other cultural circles. This gives them a unique perspective, not unlike the vantage point of the artist, who needs to step outside his or her paradigm to get a clearer grasp of what shapes its realities.

The little differences

You might recall the opening dialogue of Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”, when John Travolta’s character shares some surprising discoveries of his stay in Europe—like the re-naming of a burger staple necessitated by the metric system or the unusual way of eating French fries (with mayonnaise). What appears to be completely ordinary to someone who has grown up in a certain culture can be quite astonishing to anyone not accustomed to it. The life of a translator is full of such epiphanies, because no matter how well you know your working languages and cultures, you continue to discover things that would escape you if you did not see them in association with what they are outside of their habitual setting.

Going the distance

By association alone, as a matter of fact, can one small word that may not even be any different in two languages result in an entirely different meaning. After Germany’s liberation from Nazi rule and to clearly distinguish the Allies’ sectors from the Soviet sector, newly or re-founded institutions in Berlin were labeled as “free”: the radio station Sender Freies Berlin for instance, and, as it is still known today, the “Freie Universität Berlin”. 65 years later, it would never occur to Americans that a “Free University” in Europe has anything to do with the “Free world”—free of Nazis, free from communism—instead, they are very likely to mistake it for meaning “free of charge”. Historical and geographical distance creates a new context that can easily be misread, but serves as the road the translator travels when carrying messages across and discovering worlds in between.

Inside out

Immersion is everything, or so we are told, when learning another language and adapting to another culture. And while it is only by way of immersion that we delve deep enough to understand a culture’s treasures and truths, the translator’s work is accomplished by being there and somewhere else at the same time, which tends to characterize how he defines himself otherwise as well. The “other” is never far, because you are trained to keep it present and your identity resides within this continuous duality: You are forever creating the subtitles to your own film. Ironically, this heightened self-consciousness enlightens yet another conceptual and even psychological difference between the English and German languages: While someone who is conscious of his or her self is understood as having (self-) confidence in German (Selbstbewusstsein), self-conscious doubles as insecure in English.

Serving two masters

With the consciousness of complexities, however, comes the mandate of clarity. As Confucius puts it: “If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.” The need to be loyal to what is said is trumped only by the necessity to be clear when rendering it in a different language. Striving to do justice to source and target is the daily bread of the translator, and the answer is different every single time. Decisions are called for consistently, and the knowledge that two things can never be the same runs deep.

A band apart

In a world and time where you are defined by what you do rather than by who you are, we easily become what we do. Over the course of a career, the cultural and linguistic as well as social and intellectual sensitivities required to successfully translate from one language into another will thus rather deepen than disappear, making the translator all the more aware of his status caught in perpetuity between the lines. Living in two worlds is living rich, but it also means living apart. Yet, as in art, expression is the key. Continuing to discover, to learn, and to communicate creates a well of knowledge for everybody—or in Ella Fitzgerald’s words: The only thing better than singing is more singing.

Nanette Gobel

Words Within Borders

Using Creative Design Tools to Assist with the Authoring of Multilingual Documents

If you ever happened to be on the receiving end of a French letter or had to even write one yourself, you might have wondered about the longwinded line in the end reading something like this: “Dans l'attente de vous lire, je vous prie d'agréer, Mesdames et Messieurs, l'expression de mes sentiments distingués.” What does it mean? It’s simply the French way of saying “Best regards”: Two words in English, two lines in French.

Not really a problem, unless you are dealing with the layout of a document—maybe a brochure, datasheet, packaging, or similar—intended for publication in a variety of languages, and your spacing needs to allow for both (and more) versions. The translators of course can be directed to try to keep the word count of the target text as close to the original as possible, but that’s not always feasible. In fact, foreign languages take up on average 30% more space than English text, as it is one of the particularities of the English language that it lends itself to brevity (lauded by some as the highest virtue in language and lamented by others as sheer loss of syntax).

DTP to the Rescue

Be that as it may, desktop publishing has come a long way since its introduction in 1985, and while multilingual DTP addresses the issue outlined above, there is more to learn and always room to improve. And we haven’t even mentioned yet the challenges of different writing systems, different hyphenation rules, right-to-left text, special characters and other typical problems. To this date based on the wonderfully simple principle and complex system of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), multilingual desktop publishing only works if the eyes that see the page know what they are looking at.

DTP and Translation

Most translation agencies work with desktop publishing experts specializing in the integration of target texts into the source document created by you in your authoring application of choice, such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress. Rather than having your document translated as word file and then importing it in-house into your DTP software, using the agency’s specialists offers you the advantage of working with a team that knows the tricks and pitfalls of the different language layouts inside out. They also cooperate closely with the individual translators and make sure that the latter’s “seeing eyes” review the results before the finals go to the client. If the translation is excellent but doesn’t look good on the page, its effect is greatly diminished.

Apart from the basic checkpoints—is everything on the page and in the right place—there are a number of additional items that need to be verified with regard to the foreign language versions. We already brought up hyphenation: the vocabulary of languages like German or Hungarian is full of compound and similarly long words which may need to be hyphenated, and this has to be done correctly and in a way that does not interfere with the flow and look of the text. Ideally, hyphens should be avoided as much as possible and methods like kerning (adjusting the space between characters) used to keep the text in place.

Long words in headers can be a real headache, and capitalization is another can of worms in the same department. While English language DTP experts like to get creative with UPPERCASE, tOGGLE cASE, Sentence case, and lower case for headlines or taglines, different rules apply in different languages and what looks like fun and attention catching in one language will appear simply wrong in another.

Fonts are a tricky matter altogether. Some may not show the special characters in the foreign language or replace them with something else (Über looks like Uber and ingrédients like ingre&dients). Most of the simpler fonts will be able to handle the characters of the other languages; fancy fonts featuring in the original might have to be replaced. There is no room for error: A word without a specific accent in Spanish will be plain wrong, regardless how attractive the font.

Optimizing your DTP files

One way to optimize multilingual desktop publishing projects from the start thus lies in choosing a relatively basic font as well as a simple yet flexible layout that will accommodate different sets of characters and can easily be adjusted to read from right to left (e.g. for Farsi, Arabic, or Hebrew).

An extremely useful DTP feature is the style sheet, since it creates consistency and makes applying and updating even complicated formatting fast and easy. The principle behind the style sheet is the separation of presentation and text data, which facilitates the creation of different language versions following the same format. Equally helpful is the use of different layers, which will need to be aptly named and made available as source files to the translation agency’s translation and desktop publishing team. All graphs and charts must be editable.

How the text and other elements are connected also has an impact on their rendition in other languages. If inline components (text boxes, graphics) are to remain in a certain position in relation to each other, they need to be grouped using the Group command or Ctrl-G, which will create a dotted outline around the elements. When placing a graphic between paragraphs, it is preferable to place it within the text frame—as an additional paragraph—rather than creating text boxes above and below the graphic, which will have to be reformatted if the text expands in the foreign version.

Last but not least, it is crucial to leave plenty of white space in your document to allow for the expansion of text in the target languages, as well as space between the lines paired with a font that is not too small, since it may have to be reduced further. This way, your translated versions will not only sound but also look just as elegant as the French closing of a letter. Je vous donc prie d’accepter, chers lecteurs, l'assurance de ma considération distinguée.

Nanette Gobel, MA

GLOBAL MESSAGE ACROSS THE GAP

Making sure your marketing strategy safely crosses linguistic and cultural barriers by adequately adapting advertising content to local speak and customs.

No two types of material are the same when it comes to translation, and different approaches need to be taken to ensure that content, tone, and style are accurately rendered. This is especially true when it comes to marketing and advertising—while there may be a certain 1:1 equivalency in technical terminology (cholesterol will stay Cholesterin in German and cholésterol in French), all bets are off as soon as language gets creative. So if you have packaging to translate for worldwide distribution, chances are the list of ingredients is pretty straightforward, but the text portion describing and advertising your product could turn into Pandora’s box.

Your carefully conceived and developed marketing content should never come out of this proverbial box distorted, clumsy, or plain wrong. Every word in the original text was chosen carefully, the syntax built subtly but solid. What you need now are linguists who can do the same in each target language, who do magic with words while staying loyal to yours, and who know how to navigate all potential cultural pitfalls.

Geography

It may seem obvious, but geography should actually be your first concern when assigning the right team of translators. It is crucial to discuss with your language services company of choice what the exact target markets are—a translation “into Spanish”, for instance, will greatly differ if performed for the Latin American market or for Spain. Not only are there linguistic differences, especially in the colloquial language often used for marketing purposes, but cultural sensitivities vary as well. Sometimes two or more translations into Spanish are necessary to reach your target audience, depending on which countries you are distributing your product or services in, and they must be performed by experienced, native linguists.

Philosophy

As noted above, there is a different approach and philosophy to working on creative materials vs. technical texts. Translators who specialize in this kind of material are strong writers, unafraid of letting go of structures and metaphors contained in the original that need to be recreated or replaced in order to accurately convey what is being said, and how. Not every translator masters this paradox. Those who do must know target and source languages inside out and be tuned into subtleties of style and tone. The act of translation becomes an act of reinvention, at the end of which stands a text that mirrors the original in rhythm, imagery, and content but reads as if created from scratch for the intended audience.

Fluency

Readability is crucial for the appeal of any marketing and advertising piece. If a text doesn’t flow right, we will easily abandon it or even be turned off by it. This of course will affect our perception of the product or services it relates to. Be it a tagline, slogan, ad, packaging or other promotional material, its purpose is to lure the audience into wanting to know more. If the line or text is no longer catchy or witty in translation, its entire effect is lost. Stylistic tools are of highest order, although the linguist must sometimes carefully weigh if it may not be better to replace a rhyme with an alliteration or the other way around—again, the paradox lies in remaining true to the original while making the adaptation fit into its own linguistic and cultural context. Every language has its own musicality and every audience is tuned into different melodies.

Vocabulary

Whatever the melody or music of a text may be, it is still made up of words, and choosing the right words is crucial not only to sound and fluency but also to content and tone. The way you address your audience, the industry-specific terminology, the common ground you strike or new ground you break with the target customers must ring true in every single translation. And this of course will vary from market to market, and it is the responsibility of the respective linguist to know and research the adequate wording. The challenge is to “package” it in a way that makes it attractive and follows the idea of the original as closely as possible in consideration of the different idiosyncrasies of each culture.

Accuracy

The translations can only be as accurate as they are befitting for their respective market. This means that we cannot simply look at individual words or phrases and determine if they are “right” or “wrong”. You may say translating ‘sugar’ with ‘salt’ will always be wrong—but even that does not necessarily apply, for instance if it involves a metaphor or saying. One of the greatest mistakes that can be made in the adaptation of creative texts is the literal translation of an idiom or figure of speech, which can easily be an oversight. The English “thorn in someone’s side” is a “thorn in someone’s eye” in German, and if a German speaker told an English speaker something is “for the cat”, he or she would not necessarily know that it’s simply a waste of time. If your marketing or advertising piece is rich in imagery and colloquialisms, be prepared that it will need to be adapted to suit the conventions and sensitivities of the target audiences. The notion of accuracy must always take into account the bigger picture.

Sensitivity

Cultural and linguistic sensitivity is ultimately the key to successful adaptations of any kind of promotional materials. In order to bring your global message across to every single target market, the linguists must be familiar with what’s deemed appropriate and what isn’t, what’s funny and what isn’t, what sounds good and what doesn’t and so on. Their in-depth knowledge of target and source culture combined with their skill and expertise of recognizing and choosing the right words, stylistic tools and expressions to render your text in the most adequate and appealing way will ensure nothing gets lost in translation, and gaps will be masterfully bridged.

Nanette Gobel

Pharma Misses the Mark with Hispanics

The Hispanic/Latino population in the U. S. is one of the quickest growing and Spanish is the second most-common language in the U.S after English. According to the 2009 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home by over 35.5 million people aged 5 or older. There are 45 million Hispanics who speak Spanish as a first or second language and there are 6 million Spanish students making it the world's second-largest Spanish-speaking community. The implications are that all major aspects of life are conducted in Spanish. The impact of language is significant in the health care arena where communication is the key to successful outcomes.

A recent national survey of physicians conducted by KCI Partners and the Jeffrey Group revealed that U.S. pharmaceutical companies communicate poorly with Hispanic/Latino audiences. The ratings showed the lowest possible scores with 33% of the physicians stating that only 7% communicate “very well” with Latino/Hispanic patients. On a scale of one to seven – with seven being the highest positive rating – 24% of doctors gave pharma a three for communication ability, and another 24% gave pharma a four. There are clearly some issues that could include lack of cultural knowledge combined with language barriers. By this scale, pharma appears to miss the mark.

The sheer numbers of Hispanic/Latino growth is indicative of health care needs increasing along with rising trends in diabetes and some cancers. Although the health care crisis continues to expand for this group due to lack of access and limited insurance, it remains questionable whether health care reform will impact this population. In the meantime, there are specific actions that can be employed to reduce disparity. First, pharma could invest in how to communicate better with Hispanic/Latino patients as this market will continue to grow. There are ways to communicate better. Culturally relevance and language are crucial. Second, communication between pharma and the Hispanic/Latino patient could make a difference in millions of lives. Pharma can still make the grade.

New Generations More Adept With Technology

Everyone knows that each generation has specific characteristics that involve all aspects of life including how they obtain health information. Generation X grew up with the development of computers and remains constant users of technology. The Internet Generation (also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y finds great ease and comfort in communicating via technology. Instant communication is a way of life and they are online 24/7 either emailing, text-messaging or enjoying online technology. Now here comes Generation Z who has only known technology their entire lives and has even become dependent on it since it is available in their own pocket. They are indeed the ‘immediate need’ generation. What does this say about the future of utilizing mobile apps for global health care needs?

A recent study by Euro RSCG tonic demonstrates percentages of common virtual users in the U.S. It seems that the most receptive individuals to online health care are those with chronic illnesses, more affluent and younger generations. About 50% of the respondents use mobile apps to run do it yourself (DIY) tests at home and monitor their own symptoms. These patients have much to gain by way of convenience and low cost. This high number of users will inevitably increase worldwide as more users realize these benefits. This is a win-win for physicians who can be more efficient due to time constraints and patients who will receive personalized care. Although the study focused on 1,000 U. S. online users, it is noteworthy to recall that Eastern cultures often follow Western culture patterns.

This change in health care usage is correlated to generational shifting. Already half of the new generations (X, Y & Z) are comfortable with virtual health visits compared to Baby Boomers at almost 40%. These newer generations from around the globe will drive remote health care even further. Their different mindset will make it more likely that they will increasingly use technology to serve their health care needs. This will transform global health care delivery. After all, this is the Internet Generation.

(MUR)

High Standards Remain Necessary in Language Translation

There is a lot to be said about technology and language. For example, the Chinese language is quickly gaining speed by the number of users in the world (second most spoken language in the world next to English as first and Spanish as third). Technology has come a long way and one can now look up words online in just about any language and you can even communicate albeit in a loose way. You can get the gist of the topic at hand, but not implicit information that makes a difference in one’s life. However, there is one exception in digital communication when it comes to technology translation. Health care communication needs to be precise. It is this accuracy that makes it valuable. It is just too important to have personal information be translated by technology in a verbatim way.

First, technology translation about health is private, individual and unique to the patient. It could be a difference of life vs. death, healthy living vs. poor habits or knowledge vs. ignorance. No one can negate the intimacy of communication between a health care provider and a patient where health care is concerned. Technology translation cannot possibly fulfill patient needs in a personalized way. Preciseness is necessary in this case.

There is no question that technology translation has much to offer all industries around the world. We are not quite there for communication about health care matters. Computers may be experts in word translation, but not effective human communication. It is projected that technology translation will not be perfect, merely adequate. Now these applications are often considered “passable”. This is fine for general information or basic business, but not delicate matters with the potential to impact health. Therefore, we still need to rely on medical translation firms who specialize in high quality language standards. Just ask yourself. If you were in China, would you trust your personal health needs to a technology translation application? How about if the words were passable?

(MUR)

Pharma Can Fill This Order

It is no secret that physicians worldwide have demanding schedules round the clock. They often have limited time since they have to first see their patients who come to their offices, make rounds in hospitals and stay abreast of medical information that makes them competent. Of course, there are many other tasks to accomplish for this complicated role in medicine.

This leaves little room for digital communication with their patients who need to know more about their illness or medication. Not only is this a patient need, it has become a craving for patients throughout the world. A recent study conducted by MedTera revealed that 95% of patients require more comprehensive information to manage their disease, learn about their illness or manage their medication. New studies are underway to determine useful tools to help patients. In the meantime, this is an opportunity for pharma to fill the void by providing valuable information particularly for the global patient who has additional needs related to language and culture.

All patients have unique concerns about their individual health. If they are not managing their disease or learning about an illness, they are working on prevention efforts such as altering their lifestyle and learning how to live a more healthy life. The global patient profile is a patient that speaks another language and requires information in a culturally sensitive manner so that it makes sense, is useful and makes an impact right away. Yes, one has to take time to figure out effective means of communication with the global patient. Pharma already has a strong knowledge base about comprehensive health information to meet the global patients’ needs. Furthermore, they have the resources at their fingertips to translate materials in a culturally appropriate way. If patients are hungry for more, who says that pharma cannot fill this order?

(MUR)

Social Networks for Medicine Require Extra Caution

How do patients determine reliable social networks to help them make good life choices about their health? The answer is complex because there seems to be no warning when it comes to medicine and social networks. Therefore, patients who access social networks for medicine would be well-advised to proceed with extra caution. The endless worldwide web of medical information could be misleading especially for patients who place trust in social networking. More importantly, patients who speak other languages are at greater risk for trusting online information that may be false or misleading. There is more reason to be cautious.

A study underwritten by CVS Caremark and published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine determined that the fifteen (15) largest Facebook communities for diabetes patients and caregivers promoted clinical studies of unapproved products. The reported rate of 25% shows that not all sources are trustworthy. Patients who speak other languages suffering from pain or an illness may fall prey to such sites. In addition, these sites had unconfirmed identities, which raises serious red flags. This may be only somewhat evident for English speakers who navigate social networks frequently. However, non-English speaking patients searching for online social support are even more vulnerable. They are hopeful they will find relief via support systems who share similarities even across language barriers. Online stumbles upon less than reliable sources may expose these patients to potential harm.

It is already a challenge for patients to decipher endless volumes of online information. It is crucial to caution patients who speak other languages to ensure social network medicine sites have validity and can be trusted. We need to spread the word in other languages to raise awareness that all sites may not hold the patients’ best interest in mind nor do they all necessarily provide the best medicinal support. How does a patient know what is safe? Who sets the standards? Where is the warning label?

MUR