Translation is the product of a series of processes; it’s not just a matter of converting something written in one language into another.

In this post, we’re going to provide you with some practical steps which will allow you to translate any document in a more methodical and professional manner.

In order to produce a high-quality translation that reads well in your target language, you have to be organised. That’s why it’s extremely useful to follow a well-structured methodology.

Before translating

The translation process is not just focussed around the actual translating part, but much more broadly includes crucial preparation and post-processing stages. In order to keep an overview of the task ahead, it may be useful to make a check-list. Such a check-list can be used for every single translation task that you assume, no matter what kind of text you have to translate or how long it is.

Here is an example check-list:

• Accept that there is usually no such thing as a “perfect” translation
• How much time do you have to complete the translation?
• What is the text about?
• Who is the translation for?

Accepting that there is no “perfect” translation

Many translators are artistic-minded people who live in pursuit of perfection, and although perfectionism is an admirable trait to have, it’s inevitably one which can never be wholly satisfied. In fact, perfectionism can actually be a very negative work ethic in translation, as the “perfect” translation is, more often than not, completely inexistent. Once the translator has come to terms with this, he’ll be able to translate a lot more quickly and with a lot more fluidity.

Time constraints of a translation assignment

Just like all other professionals, translators have to work within time constraints, and every translation assignment naturally has a deadline. Your ability to deliver the translation within this deadline will depend on a variety of factors:

• Other assignments

All translators should consistently keep a detailed record of all their current assignments, along with their respective deadlines. You can find examples of how to get organised with a diary and other techniques here. Although the author of the blog doesn’t actually work in translation, the concept of organisation is exactly the same. One Hour Translation has also published a helpful article for those for whom organisation just doesn’t come naturally.

• Other commitments

Translators are, of course, humans with family commitments and other responsibilities; make sure you plan your work around your other commitments, or vice versa. Corinne McKay explains how a work-life balance is crucial to being a successful freelancer.

• Your translation speed

As a translator, it’s important to get to know yourself and your limitations; experienced translators may translate between 2500 and 3000 words per day, but everyone works at their own rate, and inexperienced translators might only manage 300 words per hour. Speed is not the ultimate goal of translation, but it is extremely helpful when it comes to working out how long it will take you to complete an assignment, and whether the assignment itself is feasible.

• Familiarity and specialisation

It goes without saying that your familiarity with and specialisation in a certain field will have a huge impact on your translation speed. Specialise in specific specialist fields, such as medicine or law, so as to better understand technical texts and increase your speed. There are countless sources of information on how to become a specialised translator, and here are just three of them: #1: How to become specialised; #2: Taking advantage of free online courses; #3: How to choose a specialisation.

• The tools at your disposal

Create and use glossaries with specialist terms. In the past, dedicated translators had to struggle to compile their own lists of words alongside their technical translation terms. Nowadays, however, the Internet has enabled us to share our own glossaries and download those shared by others! Here is just one example. Glossaries are the perfect complement to computer-aided translation (CAT) tools, such as Trados or Across. When starting out, however, the two examples of translation memory software mentioned above could be a little too expensive. It may be worth getting used to other simpler (and free) systems at first, such as Wordfast or OmegaT. Creating glossaries may seem challenging at first, but it will certainly improve your translation speed if you often translate similar texts in a certain field, and there are luckily some helpful instructions on how to do so.

For many translators, Google Translate is considered public enemy number one (in fact, it arguably shares this prestigious position on the translator’s blacklist with shoddy pay, translation agencies, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors). It is a tool which you might help you to translate more quickly, and if you don’t understand the language in which something is written, it might provide you with the basic gist of what is being said.

Nevertheless, if you don’t understand the text that you have to translate, you should NEVER trust Google Translate. In other words, Google Translate will only help you when you don’t need it, as it will give you some ideas about how to translate something. However, it might also slow down the translation process and lead to mistakes in your work. We would generally warn inexperienced translators against using this automatic translation tool, while for more experienced translators it depends on how well you are able to work with it.

What is the text about and who is it for?

Before getting to work on your translation, it’s crucial that you read the source text at least once to get a general overview of what it’s about. This way, you can establish what you’ll need to look up online or in print material and you can start thinking about some of the specialist vocabulary that you’ll have to employ.

The intensity and thoroughness of your first read-through will naturally depend on the amount of time you have for the translation and the length of the text.

The first source of reliable information should always be reference books, online media and other parallel texts. The advent of the Internet has brought an unprecedented amount of books and articles into one place, most of which is available free of charge and 24 hours a day.

Although it may seem somewhat of a cliché, Wikipedia is an invaluable source of information when reading into the topic. By consulting pages in both the source and target language, you can also find out the translation of certain specialist terminology, such as the financial example from the previous two links.

Other helpful sources of information can be translator forms, such as those offered by ProZ and, more generally, by WordReference. Here, you can post your questions and have them answered by fellow translators. Moreover, you can answer other translators’ questions, in order to increase your visibility in the forums.

The preliminary reading of the source text should provide answers to the following questions, all of which are of great importance to every translator and for every text:

• What is the style and register of the text?

The style and register of the source text also need to be translated to produce an authentic translation. This is especially important when translating marketing texts, as the commercial style of the writing is key to attracting the customers to buy the product. If your translation loses its commercial essence, your end customer could lose a lot of money.

Informality/formality is also important when translating from, say Spanish to German; whereas the familiar ‘tú’ form tends to be used more frequently than the “polite” ‘usted’, in German it is much more common to use the “polite” ‘Sie’ form when addressing adults you’ve never met, as opposed to the familiar ‘du’. Nevertheless, there may be exceptions in commercial German texts, where the seller wants to “get closer” to the buyer.

• What vocabulary is used?

It’s very important that specialist vocabulary is translated correctly. As already mentioned, specialist dictionaries and references can help here. However, vocabulary is also an issue when translating texts which aren’t so much technical as they are cultural; certain things referred to in a source text, such as foreign food or festivals, might have to be explained to the audience of your translation. Nevertheless, it’s important that we only translate what’s in front of us and that we don’t explain our own doubts or misconceptions. Certain parts of the text may not be translatable in a literal manner, and so we have to find ways of overcoming this hurdle in translation. It’s generally of greatest importance to convey the message that the author wants to get across and not just translate the exact words and idioms he may have used into another language. The translation of cultural references is often so complicated that it has even become the subject of scholarly attention.

While it is often useful to provide cultural explanations when translating – after all, a translator should work under the assumption that his readership has no knowledge of the source language, or even the existence of the source text – certain documents do contain words and concepts which cannot be translated, for example:

– Brand names (Apple → Manzana)

– People’s names and proper nouns (George Michael → Jorge Miguel)

– Names of associations or organisations (Real Madrid → Royal Madrid)

– Laws (a translation can be given, but the original must also be retained)

– Types of companies (GmbH → Ltd.)

• Who is the target audience?

The audience of the translation overlaps a little with its style and register. When you understand who is supposed to read the original text and who is going to then read your translation, you can then adapt your register and style to suit the target audience.

Doubts and problems when translating

After having read the text and considering all the above points on the check-list, you’ll then be in a much better position to translate the document in front of you. However, there are hardly any translations which are completely straightforward and which do not make any problems for the translator.

When questions arise during a translation, and these doubts cannot be resolved through the above-mentioned dictionaries or reference material, the most helpful thing can be to ask fellow translators. It is highly recommendable that every translator networks well on forums and in person and has a lot of friends to turn to when such situations arise. The best case scenario would be to have lots of translator friends who are native speakers of your working languages. The above-mentioned forums on ProZ and WordReference can be perfect for this.

However, it is very important that we don’t get caught up on problematic parts of the text. If necessary, make notes as you go along so that you can discuss any difficult parts of the source text with the respective person. This could be a project manager, the author of the source text or the client himself.

Proofreading of your own translation

As translators, whether voluntary or professional, it’s essential that we take pride in our work. In terms of the final quality of our work, this means thoroughly proofreading our own translation. A solid start would be to run one final spell-check on Word or in whichever computer programme that you may be using. This helps to avoid any mistakes caused by a slip of the fingertips or just by thinking about too many things at once, such as incorrectly agreed verbs or repeated words.

Nevertheless, a more thorough proofreading is also necessary to make sure that the meaning and terminology is conveyed correctly. At first, it may be helpful to take a step back from the translation and leave it a few days before revisiting what you’ve written. This way, glaring errors that you might have missed may suddenly jump out at you. You can find lots of advice online about how to become a better proofreader.

Perhaps even more important than your own proofreading is a second revision carried out by a second person. The reasons for this are obvious: The second person is not as attached to the translation and therefore not as biased and short-sighted when it comes to noticing mistakes or pointing out areas for improvement. The second reader doesn’t have to have knowledge of the source language. In fact, if the second reader only speaks your language, this will help you to find out whether or not your work “reads like a translation”. When receiving advice from other people, it is very important that all translators can handle criticism.

Another fundamental part of any revision is formatting. Although it is more practical to concentrate on the formatting of the original text as you carry out the translation, sometimes this isn’t possible when using CAT tools. However, it is important to respect the formatting of the original text, so that your translation can be used or published without the need for additional editing. Formatting acquires special importance when translating websites or texts with images and diagrams. More than simply adding an aesthetic dimension to your translation, by respecting the original formatting, you can also help your client. If we assume that the client has no knowledge of the target or source language, with accurate formatting he’ll be able to see how the various parts of the translation match up the sections of the original document.

Saving your work

Before explaining how to save your work in an intelligent manner, it is important to stress that you should save your translation as you go along, and not just at the end! When translating a document, it’s important that you change its name slightly from the original document, in order to retain the original so that you can relocate it amongst your files and use it again if you have a problem or accident. The same applies when proofreading a translation with your comments and highlights or when handing in the final translation: change the name!

This way, if the original was called “translating a document.docx”, its German translation should be called “translating a document_DE.docx” or, if it’s the second version of the work, “translating a document_DE_v2.docx”.

If you’re at the proofreading stage of the process, the translation that you’ve proofread could then be saved as “translating a document_DE_rev.docx”; the document with comments from the client of another translator could be called “translating a document_DE_rev_com.docx”, your second proofreading “translating a document_DE_rev2.docx” and the final version “translating a document_DE_fin.docx”.

Conclusions

As translators, it’s important that we follow a well-structured methodology when working, in order to not lose the overview of the task ahead. If we take a broad-brush approach to translating, we could say that there are three main stages in the translation process – initial reading, translating and proofreading – but, as we have seen throughout this article, each of these stages can be separated into countless more intricate processes.

We hope that by providing this methodology, you’ll be able to go about your work in a more organised and structured manner, because translating isn’t just a matter of converting one language into another!

Today, we have an interview with Paula Pinto Ribeiro on how to expand your business within the Portuguese market:

Interviewer: Hi Paula, let’s get started with the questions for those who want to start a business in Portugal.

In your opinion, and from an economic point of view, where is the most interesting area to base your business? Does it vary depending on the type of business (factories, tourism, retail, offices…)?

Paula Pinto: Hi. The most interesting areas are, of course, the big cities like Porto and Lisbon. For factories, I think northern Portugal would be best, and, depending on the factory, I think there are some state grants available (you’d have to look for information from the city councils).

Tourism is a very interesting sector – the Algarve is famous for its beaches, Lisbon for being the capital and a generally really pretty city and Porto, which has been a World Heritage Site for years, is known for its wines, hospitality and because I’m from there!

Interviewer: What do Portuguese clients generally value? What do you need to do to gain their trust and sell successfully in Portugal?

Paula Pinto: We value customer service, care and quality when we buy things. Sincerity and trust in the company or person selling something is also really important.

Interviewer: Is there something you should never do when you meet a Portuguese person?

Paula Pinto: Don’t talk about football, politics or religion – that’s really important.

Interviewer: Is there anything you can do to win over the Portuguese?

Paula Pinto: Honesty and sincerity are a must.

Interviewer: How do Portuguese people see foreigners, and specifically, Spanish people?

Paula Pinto: Portuguese people are known for their hospitality. We see foreigners just as we see Portuguese people – as people!

Interviewer: In Portugal, is it better for a company to show that it’s foreign or try to appear local? (What are the pros and cons of each?)

Paula Pinto: The best thing to do is show what kind of company you really are!

Interviewer: And now for some practical questions:

Can a foreign company really sell in Portugal? What do you have to have in place, legally, administratively and in terms of tax infrastructure in order to sell there?

Paula Pinto: The best thing to do is check with a consultant or lawyer. There are lots of legal issues it’s important to bear in mind and it’s best to get advice from a specialist to make sure everything goes to plan.

Interviewer: In terms of financial services, what would you advise people to do when it comes to banking? Do you know of any banks that specialise in foreign companies and that can help with the first steps? How do people usually pay here? Is it common to pay by card? Do you use PayPal and other similar services?

Paula Pinto: There are lots of foreign banks operating in Portugal. Most people pay by card here. PayPal and other similar services aren’t so common… People don’t use them that much and only some services offer them (TAP, for example, is one of the first big companies to use PayPal here)

Interviewer: Do you need to have a Portuguese contact/partner in order to be able to sell there?

Paula Pinto: I don’t think so, but the best thing would be to get help from a consultant or lawyer.

Interviewer: And finally, do you have any other advice for someone wanting to set up a branch office or start a business in Portugal?

Paula Pinto: To make sure that they are committed to quality and that they understand our customs before starting out. Portugal is a small country, but we have a great variety of customs.

Interviewer: Thanks for the interview, Paula!

Paula Pinto: Thank you too, and good luck to everyone!

Paula Ribeiro owns a translation agency in Portugal (Crossing Words) which has offered translation services both in Portugal and throughout Europe since X.

Try our English Portuguese translation service

Wikimedia Commons; By: Eugen Nosko, Deutsche Fotothek

Sabrina: What exactly does your company do and what is your role within the business?

Paco: Rolled Steel has a general involvement in the trading of steel and, of course, with the raw materials necessary to produce it. Our job consists of contacting producers and consumers with the aim of helping them to reach an agreement and make a sale.

We normally work with importing steel into Spain and exporting it elsewhere, too.

In terms of my job, I’m the company administrator. However, the business is based on trading, and my job essentially involves making contact with customers and producers to make sure they’re reliable and fast, and closing deals.

Sabrina: How long have you been with Rolled Steel and what is your favourite part of the job?

Paco: I started at Rolled Steel when it was founded 15 years ago, and we’ve always worked in the same sector.

My favourite part of the job is that I get the opportunity to meet people from loads of different countries and markets, which is always really interesting.

Sabrina: As you obviously work with international customers from so many different cultures, I wanted to ask you if you could tell us an anecdote about one time you’ve come up against a language barrier at work.

Paco: Well, working with people from all over the world means that we face these barriers every day. You meet people that speak all kinds of languages.

We generally use English with the clients, but obviously, people from Asia, like Vietnam or China, for example, have a strong accent and sometimes it can be really, really difficult to understand.

There have been times when people have asked me questions, and once I’ve understood what they’re saying, I can answer them, no problem. But they were repeating the question and I still didn’t get it and it turned out to be something so simple, like the price of a certain product in Spain.

The stuff that is actually pretty simple in English was so hard to understand in their accent because they were Thai.

I suppose the same thing must happen to them when they’re speaking to a Spanish guy in English.

Sabrina: Do you have any other anecdotes about cultural differences?

Paco: I’ve got loads! We notice it most with Arabic countries because, obviously, they treat people a bit differently to us – women, for example – and sometimes it can get a bit awkward.

For example, we have two women working here at Rolled Steel, and one of them would be writing to this Arabic guy and signing her name as normal, and he would always reply, addressing someone else who works with us here, usually a man.

That’s kind of a negative example. There are funny ones too, but anyway. That’s one which, in terms of cultural differences, definitely gets your attention.

Sabrina: OK, perfect. And what do you think has been your company’s greatest success?

Paco: Well, since Rolled Steel was founded, we have always made sure not just to focus on selling, but also on giving customers the technical and logistical support they need.

In other words, we anticipate potential problems, which is not very common in the brokerage sector. Brokers just want to reach a deal, full stop.

We realised that if deals aren’t closed properly, and customers aren’t satisfied… Even if it’s not your fault, it affects you too. Working in this way has proven successful for us in the end, though we have had some problems.

Sabrina: Of course. And what would you say has been your biggest mistake?

Paco: Well, there have been lots of mistakes – it’s been 15 years! I almost don’t want to talk about them, ha ha ha!

But yeah, mistakes? Well, for example, sometimes we’ve lost suppliers due to a lack of trust on our side, which on the one hand is a mistake, but on the other, it’s been in the interest of the customers who buy through Rolled Steel – we wanted to try and protect them.

Yes, sometimes I think we have made mistakes in giving up on or not encouraging companies that could have potentially brought us good results.

Sabrina: If you could go back and start again now, what would you do differently?

Paco: Very little, to be honest. Maybe just what I mentioned about the suppliers. I’d be a bit less visceral when it comes to them. A lot of the ones with a really good reputation often produce results when it counts. And I’m sure that some of the ones that we lost along the way could have produced better results.

Sabrina: Perfect. And finally, I have heard that you like music and diving. Could you tell us a bit about your hobbies?

Paco: Diving is something that… I grew up diving and I’m on my way to die diving. For me, it’s not just something I enjoy, but I think it’s also given me a lot of things in other areas of life, including my job.

Sabrina: How’s that?

Paco: Well, in the sense that, with diving, you have to overcome a lot of fear and anxiety in order to do it well and be as safe as you possibly can be, and I’ve been able to apply that to life. Nothing scares me when I’m at work and that has brought me a lot of security in my personal life.

Sabrina: So what age did you start diving at, then?

Paco: Umm… I think I started in France when I was about 12.

Sabrina: Wow!

Paco: How time flies…

Sabrina: Ok, we won’t mention age, then! Is music something you’ve been into all your life or is that a recent thing?

Paco: It’s actually more recent. I have always liked music, and I was in some rock bands when I was younger but that… I took a massive break from it… But now I’ve totally fallen back in love with it.

I currently both manage and get involved on stage at some rock concerts, which have been going really well.

Within a really short space of time, we’ve reached milestones and secured some important gigs with really well-known artists, like Barón Rojo and Santelmo.

We’ve managed a lot in such a short space of time. “Ñu”, who’s another Spanish rock legend, is also probably going to come along too, and they’ll probably invite us to perform with them as a group.

Sabrina: Wow, great! Anyway, that’s all for today, thanks a lot Paco!

CC BY-SA 3.0; By Alessio Damato

As promised in our last entry, here is the interview with Irena:

Hi Irena, thanks for giving us the opportunity to ask you some questions for those who are thinking of expanding their business in Russia.

So, in general, what do Russian customers value the most? What do you need to do to gain people’s trust and sell in Russia?

Russian consumers tend to go for the international brands that people know and recognise, because they trust them. If you want to sell in Russia, you have to have a strong brand, otherwise you’ll find the market pretty complicated.

While it’s true that there is a Russian client profile for luxury products and high purchasing power, that isn’t the most common.

If you had to choose 4 or 5, what would you say are the most important cultural differences between Russian clients and those of other nationalities?

Broadly speaking, the main differences are related to the Russian language and alphabet, its weather, geographical location, lifestyle, religion, etc. Where customers are concerned, I’d say that Russians tend to focus a lot on a product’s brand (much more than customers of other nationalities) and also really consider the price before buying – they’re very demanding.

Is there something you should never do when you meet a Russian?

Turn up late to an appointment, not keep your distance or not seem serious or responsible. Russians really value punctuality and sincerity. When it comes to selling a product or service to a Russian client, I would say to act very formally, be punctual and give all the information you have on your product (both the good and the bad), in order to gain their trust. Russians like to compare and contrast every piece of information. They also really take other Russians’ comments and advice into consideration.

Is there anything you can do to win over a Russian?

I wouldn’t say that there are any huge differences between Russians and other Europeans. You have to gain their trust, like with anyone, and be friendly, straight-forward and sincere. If you do that and treat them to a good meal with some nice wine, even better!

What do they think of foreigners?

Foreigners are generally viewed quite positively, especially tourists.

CC BY-SA 3.0; By Dmitry97ken

In Russia, is it better for a company to show that it’s foreign or try to seem local?

I would say that Russians tend to trust foreign companies more than local ones. For example, they would rather put their money in a foreign bank than one based in Russia, or buy Italian shoes or a good Spanish wine. I think it’s better to show that you’re a foreign company and, if you have a well-known brand, then even better.

And now for some practical questions:

Can a foreign company really sell in Russia? What do you have to have in place, legally, administratively and in terms of tax infrastructure in order to sell there?

Russia’s legal, administrative and tax requirements are very different and vary according to the type of product or service on offer. The products that Russia imports must be certified, and in order to export to Russia, you have to have signed a contract; Russian customs are usually very bureaucratic, etc.

Also, these requirements can just change from day to day.

If I’m not mistaken, in terms of financial services, PayPal doesn’t work there, right? What other similar options are there? What would you advise people to do when it comes to sending or receiving money?

PayPal started operating with Rubles in the Russian market in September 2013, though there are other local electronic payment systems which are much more popular, like Yandex Money or WebMoney.

The raised commission that Russian banks usually charge, coupled with people’s lack of trust in electronic payment systems, means that a lot of the time, Russians would rather pay in cash (cash on delivery). In Russia, it is also really common to pay using terminals (like Qiwi, for example), which can be found on the street, in shopping centres, etc.

So, briefly, how do Russian visas work?

Visas are documents which are kept in a person’s passport and serve as authorisation for entry into, stay in or transit through the territory of the Russian Federation for citizens of other nationalities. If you’re from outside of Russia, you’ll need a visa in order to travel there, be it for tourism, business, study, work, etc.

The quickest way of getting a visa is via the Russian Visa Centre, a private entity authorised by the Russian Federation. In order to do this, you’ll need to fill out an application form and bring the necessary documentation, i.e. your passport, proof of health insurance for the duration of your trip, a letter of invitation and proof of payment of the relevant fees.

In any case, a lot of people choose to go directly to their travel agents, so that they manage the whole procedure. It’s more expensive, but the agency does everything.

Do you need to have a Russian contact/partner in order to be able to sell there?

It’s always better to have a local Russian partner, given the huge cultural differences.

And finally, do you have any advice for someone who wants to set up a branch office or business in Russia?

Before deciding on the Russian market, you should know it inside out and, above all, be extremely patient. Results may take time. Also, Russia is very unstable in terms of its economy and politics; you have to think about its ongoing military conflicts. You have to have a lot of stamina in order to succeed in the Russian market.

Thanks for your time, Irena! Until next time!

Irena Domingo, born Russian but Spanish at heart, is an interpreter and translator of Spanish and Russian. She runs a blog in Spanish (rusalia.com/blog), which has loads of useful information for anyone looking for help on the expansion of their business in Russia.

If you need help with Russian translations, Mondo Agit offers both translation and certified translation services.

Before starting a business or opening a branch office in another country, you should bear in mind that what works within your market may not work in others.

As well as the product or service itself, the legal side of things (legislation, bureaucracy, taxes…) is also extremely important, especially if you intend to break into a market in a country with a very different legal and administrative framework to that in place in the European Union.

Therefore, it’s essential to take into account the following:

Eight things to consider before expanding your business abroad

1. Do you like the culture of the place where you’re going to carry out the expansion? If you’re going to have to be in a place and understand its culture, it’s better to feel comfortable. So if you don’t like the cold, maybe it’s best not to venture to Russia, for example…
2. Does the product or service you wish to sell have a place in the target market? Does it need to be adapted to the new environment? I.e. it doesn’t make much sense to sell coats and umbrellas in a place where it’s never cold or rains. However, you could, for example, adapt the product so that, instead of protecting people from the rain, it helped them avoid the sun.
3. Is society ready for your product or service? If people aren’t used to using carwash services, for example, you’ll have to think about whether it’s worthwhile “educating” your potential customers (creating a need) in order to sell your product later. Remember that the first one to break into a market has a big advantage over their competition, but they may also come away with nothing.
4. What is the infrastructure like in the country in question? Do you have everything you need in order for the company to function? (Is the location properly equipped? Have you sorted communications and internet? Do you have a supply of materials? Logistics? Human resources? High or low-skilled workers? Financial services…?)
5. What are the laws like in the new country? Are there regulatory or legal barriers for external capital or businesses? Do you need a local partner in order to be able to start/manage the business?
6. Are you motivated, prepared and, ultimately, do you have the resources to successfully carry out the expansion? Is it really a question of life or death? Do you have to expand so as not to lose your position within the market?
7. What are you aiming to achieve by expanding? Is it realistic? When should you have achieved your goal(s) by? What will happen if you don’t reach your goal(s)? Put together a list of the reasons for taking on all the extra work that will come your way and leave it somewhere you can see it.
8. Who can help you with the expansion? Where can you find advice on any legal or administrative issues? Who can help you with marketing and adapting your product or service to the new market?

As you can see, aside from translations by Mondo Agit, you’re going to need a lot of help. So, if you’re thinking of opening a branch office abroad, speak to us. Thanks to our knowledge of other cultures, we guarantee that we can become the partner you’re looking for on your foreign adventure.

In the next post, we interview Irena Domingo, who will tell us how to start a business in Russia. She’ll definitely have some interesting things to tell us.

Other interesting resources and services from Mondo Agit:

Adapting web pages to other languages and cultures

How to expand your business abroad

International Chamber of Commerce

Recognition and validation of certified translations

Advertising material translation service

Interview with Han Kruyswijk (Mr.), Secretary of the Marijke Foundation (December 17, 2014)

Aujourd’hui, l’intiative PerMondo, (qui offre des traductions gratuites pour les associations sans but lucratif) a un entretien avec M. Han Kruyswijk.

1. What exactly is it what you are doing?

The Symptomatrix Team of the Marijke Foundation, we have developed a dedicated and scientifically based symptom checker, the Symptomatrix, for Early Recognition and Early Diagnosis of two Rare Diseases: Giant Cell Arteriitis (GCA) and Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR). The diseases are usually hard to recognize and to diagnose for family doctors and specialists.

Both diseases are rheumatic inflammations of the arteries in the head and in other parts of the body. In particular GCA may develop fatally if not recognized in an early stage.

The diseases are more common in women than in men by a ratio of 3:1 and more common in white than colored patients, aged appr. 45 years and over.

The Symptomatrix is published on the internet in five languages: Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish and is easily accessible for anyone, including family doctors and medical specialists.

2. How long have you been working for the Marijke Foundation and what do you like most about your work there?

The Marijke Foundation was initiated in May 2003 by my wife, and formally established in July 2003 by me after my wife Marijke died from GCA. She could have stayed alive and cured if GCA had been recognized and treated earlier, specialists said.

Since then, I have been the center of activities as the secretary of the small team of five professionals.
Trying to help to prevent patients around the world from fatal progression of GCA is the most appealing part in my work.

3. What do you think to what extend impacts your individual work and the work of Marijke Foundation in general the society?

Every year appr. 4 million patients around the world come to suffer from the diseases. Not only the diseases hit them hard but also treatment with steroids (prednisolon) because of the irreversible side effects. So, the main impact of our work is to help to prevent patients from all of this.

4. How have you heard about PerMondo?

Accidentally I came across PerMondo by searching the internet for possibilities for translation of our Spanish website preferably without costs as we are a charity with limited financial funds. In the PerMondo / Mondo Agit formula we found the right mixture of charity and commercial values.

5. For what did you need the translation(s)?

For translation of updated texts for the Spanish websites.

What would you tell the voluntary translators?

In particular on behalf of the patients that may benefit from the Symptomatrix I am very grateful for their voluntary support of our work.

This monograph provides an overview of the artistic work and life of Willi Baumeister (1889-1955). The book is available as an eBook, PDF and as a print-on-demand and published under the BY-NO-SA CC licence.

The English version was created in close cooperation between the Willi Baumeister Foundation and Mondo Agit in 2014. Free downloadable PDF versions of the German and English book are made available by the Foundation

• Free download: Willi Baumeister book in English

The topic of education is something that has always interested me, but even more so now that I have children. So, one day, I began to wonder what the problem with the Spanish education system could be. Why do we in Spain not learn languages?

Teaching English in Spain is like many other things: a botched job. How can you hope to teach someone to speak a language without ever actually letting them speak?

But, obviously, teachers are scared of letting students interact in class because they may lose control. So, they continue with this top-down model of education, the teacher thinking: “I know it, so I’ll speak and the students will listen and repeat”.

Apart from the fact that you can’t learn any language like that (as I believe we have proven beyond all reasonable doubt over the past 30 years of language teaching in Spain), the education system has a very negative secondary effect, by which I mean the reward-punishment method.

As Merche rightly says (thank you, Merche, for giving me the idea for this post), the reward-punishment method has a negative effect on motivation (which is one of the big difficulties with classical education: motivating students to learn something that a lot of the time doesn’t interest them). As a solution, Merche suggests refraining from punishments and only using rewards. The problem with this is that giving rewards can be just as demotivating as punishments.

Let me explain. If I always tell you how well you structure sentences in English, and one day I don’t tell you (because on that particular day, you haven’t done so well), you will take the lack of praise (the reward) as a punishment. And if I’m always telling Joe how much effort he makes or how good he is, but not you, you may take it as a punishment, which could demotivate you. In other words, the reward-punishment method is inseparable: you can’t reward without punishment, or punish without reward.

Aside from demotivation, giving punishments or rewards according to what a student says has yet another negative effect, and this is what concerns me most. Teaching using this method puts an end to creativity, as Ken Robinson explains in this ted talk and Peter Gray in this post. When a student worries about the feedback they are due to receive (the reward or punishment), they don’t only struggle to learn, but they also daren’t take risks, which is the basis for creative thinking.

There are, of course, other obstacles apart from teaching methods that make learning languages difficult for Spanish people. You can read about them here, here and here (but only if you understand Spanish…).

1. As well as not differentiating between long and short vowels, many English sounds do not exist in Spanish (try saying in English that you want to go to the “bitch” instead of the “beach”).

2. The vast majority of films in Spain are dubbed, which is great for the translation industry, but makes it even more difficult for our ears to adjust to English (all this may lead the attentive reader to ask: is it the translators, after all, who are conspiring against Spanish people speaking English?)

3.  In Spanish, you say things as they are written. It’s anyone’s guess how you say “although”, “schedule” and “rhythm”!

4. Spanish people themselves. Not to discourage anyone, but below is an extract from the book by Richard Vaughan, a very famous English teacher in Spain, who has taught here since 1974 and has had over 6,000 students.

License: GFDL; Source: Wikipedia

Question:

how many of your students have truly managed to learn English?

Answer: Ten.

Question: Does your method not work?

Answer: No, it’s not that. In order to learn English, the most important thing is having the right attitude*. Treat it like a job. Most people treat it like a hobby, thinking that a couple of hours a week is enough.

I don’t know if Vaughan’s marketing team read these paragraphs of his book before it was published, but they definitely should have said something when they found them!

Anyway, good luck to him. We already know the importance of learning languages thanks to our last post on how to fine-tune your brain.

And hey, as a last resort, there’s always our English translation service ;-).

Now it’s your turn: How have your experiences with other languages been? How is language teaching in your country?

Today, we have another post on the brain. It’s based on a really interesting course that shares its name with a post I did a while ago. I have tried to not make it too technical, but have included some links for those who wish to read more on the topic. Anyway, I hope you find this as interesting as I do!

How can we optimise brain function?

The brain’s ability to adapt to our experiences (plasticity) allows us, through our own efforts, to increase our intellectual capacity.

Our brains rely on experiences and, contrary to popular belief, continue to develop throughout our lives (even creating new neurons, as recent studies have shown). Therefore, it doesn’t matter how old we are, we always have time to modify the structure of our brains.

The “enriched” areas (with their many stimuli) seem to provide us with a way of achieving optimal brain development.

It has been observed that, when given toys, companions and more spacious living conditions, the animals under study generate more cells, seem to become more intelligent and perform better in behavioural tests.

Sensory and social isolation in the first years of life makes people less intelligent and affects their emotional health, as well as their ability to adapt. However, the development of our brain does not just rely on stimuli in the early years of life; our activities and thoughts are constantly modifying our brains. Intelligence is not something we are born with, but is rather something we can change. It is a dynamic process that we may influence either for better or worse, according to what we do throughout the course of our lives.

A proper diet, exercise and enough hours of sleep are of vital importance to the proper functioning of the brain. Generally, what’s good for the body is good for the brain, too. By reducing your unnecessary calorie intake, you can avoid obesity, which nowadays is known to be a risk factor for dementia and other cognitive impairments in old age. Several studies show that doing regular exercise produces positive changes in brain function in both children and adults. Increasing the number of hours you sleep may also lead to a great improvement in intellectual capacity at any age. This is particularly relevant to students, who, when they sleep more, tend to get better grades. Short naps of between 10 and 20 minutes may also help to improve memory consolidation and cognitive performance.

Primary memory, also known as short-term memory, is the key element in the most important mental operation that the human brain can carry out: manipulating stored information. By improving your working memory, you can increase not only your IQ, but your creativity levels, too. Deliberate practice is the key to improving performance and creativity in all areas of human activity, including work and play.

In order to fully optimise the brain’s performance, we must have a large attention span. The brain’s ability to focus is equivalent to the body’s capacity for endurance – it’s something we can train.

In order to focus your attention, you have to keep two essential aspects of our culture under control: distractions and multi-tasking. This is something that translators and interpreters know all about. When we focus our attention on something, we find it less difficult to learn and work with that thing, and it’s more likely that we’ll remember it later. It’s important to stop working in “multi-tasking mode”, as the brain is actually unable to do two things at once.

A question a lot of people ask is “if we can find the answer to any question almost instantly on the internet, then why bother memorising or learning anything?”

The act of remembering something facilitates the activation and retention of brain circuits which contribute to optimal brain function. The abuse of electronic (and non-electronic) tools may result in atrophy, caused by the disuse of the faculties of our memory.

By forcing our brains to acquire new information throughout our lives, we create a cognitive reserve, and the bigger this reserve is, the less susceptible we are to cognitive impairment in old age. Our brains don’t have a “storage limit”.

Generally, the more we learn and the more knowledge we gain throughout our lives, the less likely we are to suffer from senile dementia in old age, and learning a foreign language (no matter the age at which we do it) can help us dramatically, not only to develop our brains, but also to avoid (or better, deal with) illnesses such as Alzheimer’s. It seems that translators and anyone else that has learnt a foreign language is in luck…

What are your experiences with learning? Have you tried to improve your brain using any of the “tricks” mentioned here? What was your experience like? As you know, we love to know what you think – leave your comments.

Translation from a neuropsychological perspective

As anyone who has tried it knows, translation requires a great deal of concentration and focus. In order to be able to translate, we must first gain an understanding of the text (generally in a language that is not our own) and later formulate it in another language (which, generally speaking, is our own).

Much is said about the quality management systems (ISO, UNE) in place for translators’ diplomas and qualifications, which is great, because, as I always say: a bad translator will never be able to do a good translation. But this doesn’t take into account the most important factor, which explains why the best translators may do a bad (or even terrible) translation. The golden rule for translators should be something like “don’t drink and translate”, or in other words: if you have reduced brain function, from tiredness, drugs (alcohol, medication, etc.) or maybe because your cat has died, do not try to translate. [Naturally, if you don’t know how to drive (i.e. you don’t have a perfect command of the language), better that you don’t take control of the vehicle (do the translation).]

I noticed that this “don’t drink and translate” rule has neuropsychological backing while reading “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman (a book that will no doubt feature in a future entry). It seems that the brain carries out two kinds of thought process; one is quick and almost automatic, and the other is slower and requires concentration and focus.

From what I understand, translation is a perfect mixture of both kinds of process. Once we reach a certain level and have gained enough experience in another language, these fast processes mean that words and phrases come to us with ease, almost automatically, when we’re translating. Meanwhile other processes, which allow us to understand the text first and later check that what we’ve written is correct and well-formulated, occur more slowly. The speed and intensity of these processes vary according to the knowledge and experience of the translator.

Anyway, in summary, some advice for our customers and project managers: the next time you send a text to be translated, remind the translator that if they’ve been drinking, not to translate.

And, if you were wondering, we at Mondo Agit already have it under control ;-).