Translation Tips
Contents at a glance:
If you locate any links that are no longer available, please let me know.
Attention fellow translators: If you are interested in volunteering as a translator for German News (a free Internet news service with over 5,000 subscribers) from German into English or you live in Germany and would like to help the present team create the German edition one day a week, please get in touch with me. A couple of our teams could use your help. It doesn't take that much time and is great practice. The news service recently was honored with the LISTSERV Choice Awards as the most excellent electronic newsletter.
| Informational Sites and Portals for Translators | |
| Chantal Wilford | I highly recommend checking out her tips for translators. She offers a lot of good, solid advice for those just starting out, and experienced translators would also do themselves a service to read this page. |
Jost Zetzsche  |
His Translator's Tool Box for the 21st Century seminars at the ATA conferences are always well-attended. He also writes a biweekly newsletter for translators to help them use their computers more effectively. If you take translation seriously, you would be remiss not to subscribe. |
| Cecilia Faulk | This is also an excellent web site that contains information for and about translators. Her tool box is one of the best I've seen. |
| Accurapid | Accurapid is an excellent publication by language professionals for language professionals |
| Payment Practices | Ted Wozniak's listserv is invaluable and gives translators a heads up if an agency or client has a reputation as a non-payer or late payer BEFORE we accept the job. |
| Glenn's Guide to Translation Agencies | Comprehensive source of potential clients (although everyone seems to use it when they start out and agencies are starting to tire of being listed). Another source I recommend is to contact agencies in the ATA Membership Directory, which is available to all ATA members |
| Translatorscafe | An excellent resource for translators - and to find translators. Their rates survey is a good place to figure out what the average translator charges. |
| ProZ | A portal for translators that sends e-mails about jobs that are posted on the site. I haven't found it very useful due to the number of translators who bid on the same jobs at dumping prices, but some translators feel the forums are quite useful. |
| Aquarius | Another translator portal for those seeking work |
| Jobs for Translators | A weekly mailing list (for an annual fee of $30) with job offers for translators and interpreters in every language. You can receive a free sample here to see if it is of interest. |
| Macroconsulting's Resources for Translators | Excellent information on the payment practices mailing list (very important), a reputable agency database, agency info, a rates survey, glossaries, etc. |
| Trados tools | The official Trados site and www.translationzone.com offer tips and information on Trados Workbench and its various tools such as MultiTerm, TagEditor, and Winalign. |
| TW_users | Mailing list for users of CAT tools. The TW_users web site is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TW_users/ and you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to TW_users-subscribe@yahoogroups.com |
| Partnertrans | German translators discussion groups are my life link. They are great networking tools - not to mention lifesavers when you are struggling with a term or want to find a competent colleague to take over a translation. I am an active member of Partnertrans (I can't recommend them highly enough! The atmosphere on the list is extremely congenial and friendly - not a real common occurrence on the Internet. Find out more about us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/partnertrans. You can subscribe by sending a mail to partnertrans-subscribe@yahoogroups.com). |
| U-Forum and U-Jobs | The most commonly known translation discussion groups in German. Both (as well as U-litforum for literary translators) are moderated by Alexander von Obert. Herr von Obert allows no extraneous discussion and no posting of non-translation-related material or replies to jobs over the list. He doesn't hesitate to kick offenders of his rules off the list, however, it keeps people in line and everyone remains professional. Many people find his methods a bit Draconian, but it certainly keeps the traffic to a minimum. You can find at more about U-Forum or U-Jobs through the portal at http://www.tw-h.de or from http://www.techwriter.de/thema/u-forum.htm and http://www.techwriter.de/thema/u-jobs.htm respectively |
| Webgrrls | Webgrrls International was the first women's organization to fully utilize the Internet and World Wide Web as not only a means of international communication, but as a way to provide tangible benefits to Webgrrls chapters and members. Webgrrls is the German branch of the Webgrrls network, an international network of professional women on the Internet. You can find the U.S. group at www.webgrrls.com. |
| Professional Organizations | |
| American Translators Association (ATA) | |
| Northeast Ohio Translators Association (NOTA) | |
| Bundesverband der Dolmetscher und Übersetzer e.V. (BDÜ) | |
| Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) | |
| Online Dictionaries, Glossaries and Translation Resources | |
| Translator's Home Companion | |
| Eurodictautom and the EC's translation service | Two valuable terminology tools from the European Union |
| Research-it | The most comprehensive research site I have found yet |
| TransHub | a.k.a. "The Translator's Reference Desk" |
| Acronymsearch.com and AcronymFinder.com | Are handy tools if you are stymied by an acronym |
| The Phrase Finder | Another helpful tool |
| Information Please | Offers a wide variety of print references in one site - an almanac, atlas, dictionary and encyclopedia rolled into one |
| Proverbs in English and German | You never know when you might need a proverb in either language |
| World Wide Words | A quirky, surprising site that explains the meaning of obscure words (like astrobleme) and traces the origin of phrases. The site is edited by Michael Quinion, a researcher for the Oxford English Dictionary |
| Online German/English dictionaries and glossaries | |
| Frank Dietz's Glossary Collection | Should always be your first stop. He has links to over 1900 English, German and multilingual specialist glossaries. |
| Robert Beard | Was one of the first to compile a comprehensive list of dictionaries (monolingual and bilingual) |
| yourdictionary.com | Comprehensive listing of multilingual and specialized online dictionaries. |
| Lexicool | Comprehensive listing of multilingual and specialized online glossaries and dictionaries. |
| Microsoft multilingual glossaries | A must-have link for any serious translator specializing in computers, software & IT |
| Pons | Pons (my favorite basic German-English dictionary - it's the Collins dictionary in America) is now online! |
| Langenscheidt online | in English or German |
| LEO - Link Everything Online | A large collection of German-English dictionaries, an extensive software archive, a ton of important links, and much more. Highly recommended (in German). |
| The Technical University of Chemnitz Dictionary | Another great online dictionary |
| Duden online | The German classic is also now available online |
| Robert Beard's German dictionaries | His dictionary & glossary collection is also subdivided into language (with many different language combinations available). |
| Web-trans dictionary | Helps you translate German and English |
| The Alternative German Dictionary (Slang) | An absolute must-see for students of German |
| The Online German Dictionary | Is another helpful dictionary |
| Quickdic online | You can translate words and idioms from German to English and vice versa |
| Acronyms online dictionary | |
| Duden Online's new spelling rules (die Rechtscreibregeln) | A great tool for anyone writing in German and unfamiliar with the new spelling rules |
| German business dictionary (Wirtschaftsbegriffe) | |
| QuickDic | It offers a German-English dictionary online, but also offers the dictionary for download on your computer. It definitely saves a lot of time-consuming work physically looking up words in the dictionary and has quite a good selection. Some of the entries aren't 100%, but an experienced translator should recognize that this is just another tool he or she can use. |
| Quality management glossaries |
A colleague and I recently did a rather large translation on quality management and found a lot of excellent references online that I would like to share with you.
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| Merriam-Webster's English Dictionary | |
| Webster's Dictionary | |
| Roget's Thesaurus |
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| Thesaurus.com | |
| Webster's revised unabridged dictionary from 1913 | |
| Encyclopedia Britannica online | |
| www.onelook.com | Explains English business terms and slang |
| English grammar aids |
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| Slang dictionaries | |
| General medical on-line help |
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| British vs. American |
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| Online bookstores | |
| Amazon | Both amazon.com and amazon.de are great online bookstores with a wide selection of dictionaries, books, and movies |
| I.B.D., Ltd. | I always buy at least one dictionary from Freek at the ATA conference, but he also delivers. His site also offers a great selection of related publications and style guides for interpreters and translators alike.. |
| Kater-Verlag | Contains an excellent selection of Kater Verlag's bilingual specialist dictionaries |
| Other sites of interest for German translators | |
| German News | A daily Internet news service, which has internal glossaries. A great way to keep up with what is going on in Germany. |
| Miscellaneous dictionaries | |
| Mike Seymour | In my opinion, this is by far the best web site of a language professional out there. I met Mike while I lived in Bonn. He works as a translator and English language consultant - be sure to check out his English language Tips & Tricks. |
| Paypal | Wire money without hassling with foreign-money senders. Currently available for six currencies. |
| Moneybookers.com | is another affordable option to transfer money |
On to the fun stuff, but first a joke...
The President of the United States is having a summit meeting with the Chancellor of Germany. The Chancellor begins speaking and goes on and on and on. The President wonders why his interpreter isn't translating, and whispers "Why aren't you translating this as he speaks?" The interpreter whispers back, "I'm waiting for the verb."
Here's another one:
A fellow is walking down the street, when a masked gunman stops
and
says: "Hey, you! Give me your watch!"
The fellow hands over the watch, which is a counterfeit Rolex. The
robber complains: "What is this, a fake watch? Son of a ... give me
your wallet!"
The fellow pulls out a billfold, made of plastic with an imitation
leather finish, an imitation of a Pierre Cardin. He opens it,
showing 3 euro cents, a couple of bus tickets and a black and white
picture.
The robber scoffs: "What the hell is this? Your clothes are cheap,
your watch is crap, you got nothing, you're worse off than I am.
What kind of work do you do?"
The fellow answers, "I'm a translator."
The robber responds, "Really!" He pulls off his mask, and asks,
"Me
too. Where did you go to school?"
Translation-related humor and other rants
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Übersetzerklage by Kathrin Passig, published in die tageszeitung on September 23, 2004
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An Open Letter from a Literary Translator by Lydia Razran Stone
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Does not translate by Sean Silverthorne - translation programs
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Language Permutations - fun mistranslations
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Jokes according to translation programs
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Last but not least, the Madonna interview (translated from Hungarian)
International Translators Day is September 30th
September 30th is St. Jerome's feast day (Born in Dalmatia about 347; died in Bethlehem about 420). He is the patron saint of translators because he translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, a version known as the Vulgate for Vulgar Latin, around 382-402 A.D., which is still used, with some modifications, by the Catholic Church. The translation is free and highly literate. His text was used for the first printed Bible, the Mazarin Bible, by Gutenberg, 1455. Saint Jerome is one of the fathers of the Western Church, generally represented as an aged man in a cardinal's dress, writing or studying, with a lion seated beside him. Legend has it that a lion entered his classroom when he was teaching; all the disciples fled, but Jerome removed a thorn from its paw and dressed the wound. The lion remained with him thereafter, out of gratitude.