Parallel structure in English

You have probably heard about the golden ratio in art, architecture, culture or religion. It is no different in language and the same recipe in writing can make your words more pleasing to the audience. Such effect can be created by the use of a parallel structure.

Speech writers know all about patterns because many common rhetorical devices rely on patterns. Some of the most famous pieces of writing use patterns, and that is probably one of the reasons we remember them. From Julius Caesar’s “I came, I saw, I conquered,” to Martin Luther King Junior’s “I have a dream” speech, patterns have helped speakers deliver a strong message.

When someone says, “It was the best of times,” almost everyone knows that it refers to Dickens’ historical fiction “A Tale of Two Cities” and what follows is “it was the worst of times.” You may not know this work or the rest of the opening lines by heart but let’s see how Dickens continued the pattern — the parallel sentence structure — to draw in his readers:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…

By following each clause with one that is its opposite (“best”/”worst”, “wisdom”/”foolishness”, etc.), Dickens is also using a rhetorical device called antithesis.

Winston Churchill used the same method of starting each clause with the same words (sometimes called anaphora) in one of his famous speeches from World War II:

…we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.

Note how similar each clause is. With Dickens, each clause starts with “it was the…” With Churchill, each clause starts with “we shall…”. Another word for this kind of pattern is parallelism.

You may not be writing a novel or writing a speech to rouse an entire country, and you may not always want to use heavy words such as anaphora and antithesis but you should still embrace parallelism whenever possible, not only because it makes your writing powerful and memorable but also because when it is missing, readers will often get a vague sense that something is wrong. Your writing will awaken more ideas for your readers instead of directing them to your desired goal.

Take this sentence, for example:

Kids these days are obsessed with taking pictures of themselves, hanging out with friends, and check Instagram to see if anyone liked their posts.

I stumble when I get to “check” because it is not parallel. I expect to read “checking…”. We have the gerunds “taking pictures” and “hanging out” but then the sentence switches to a verb — “check” — which does not follow the pattern. You can easily make that sentence better by replacing “check” with a gerund:

Kids these days are obsessed with taking pictures of themselves, hanging out with friends, and checking Instagram to see if anyone liked their posts.

Articles such as “a” and “the” can also throw off parallelism. They should come before all the items in a series, as in

For her birthday, we gave Ashley an iPhone, a ring light, and an Instagram account of her own.

If each item in the list takes the same article, you can use it just once before the whole list, as in the following sentence:

For her birthday, we gave Ashley a phone, ring light, and TikTok account of her own.

Parallelism — or the lack of it — becomes even more obvious when you have items in a bulleted list. Consider an example of an instruction for the staff to close the store after every workday:

When you close the store for the night

· The doors should be locked.

· Empty the till.

· Next, in the log book, record the money.

· Alarm: Set it.

None of those bulleted items used the same structure and the list was hard to read. You can improve the instructions by giving more detail in the introductory sentence and making each bullet use the same structure:

When you close the store for the night, take these steps in the following order:

· Lock the doors.

· Empty the till.

· Record the amount of money from the till in the log book.

· Set the alarm.

So much better! And it is even more obvious when you see it on the page.

Lack of parallelism is not just a common style problem in prose, it’s also one of the more common errors in resumes, so remembering to check your parallelism can help you get ahead in your current job — or help you find a new one.

Trend: Remote conference interpreting and the conditions for successful interpreting session

What is conference interpreting?

Simultaneous interpretation is defined by ISO, the International Standards Organization, as the process of rendering a spoken or signed message into another spoken or signed language, preserving the register and meaning of the source language.

Conference interpreting has two main forms of work, on-site interpretation and remote interpretation.

How does remote interpreting work?

Remote Interpreting or Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI) allows conference interpreters to work from anywhere in the world through a cloud-based platform.

That means it’s possible to add real-time live interpretation from vetted professional interpreters to any online meeting, hybrid conference, webinar, etc.

Elements of a remote interpretation.

Speaker

A presenter speaks in one language. Their voice and image are streamed live to a remote interpreter, typically through a web browser on a laptop or desktop computer.

Interpreter

The interpreter hears and sees the speaker on their device. Using a quality headset and microphone, they translate the speaker’s speech into another language, all in real-time.

Transmit

The interpreter’s speech is transmitted to a cloud-based Remote Simultaneous Interpretation platform from where it is then transmitted to the audience.

Headphone

Attendees and delegates can connect to the RSI platform or to a third-party web conferencing platform via a computer or mobile device and see and hear the speaker in their language of choice. The audience can also access interpretation through traditional IR headsets if needed.

Why use remote simultaneous interpretation service?

Traditional interpreting is outdated: it takes a lot of time and money to set up and manage, and requires an on-site interpreter.

Moving to a centralized venue is also an issue that needs to be taken care of, as globally, it is very expensive and time-consuming.

Improve the availability of the number of interpreted languages. This is an advantage for global conferences where attendees come from many countries around the world. Remote simultaneous interpretation eliminates the need for on-site interpreters and equipment. This allows you to run events on short notice with minimal infrastructure and go completely online if needed. And because events can be held remotely, you can increase the number of languages you offer because you no longer have to worry about flying rare language interpreters.

ChatGPT: what you need to become a professional translator

It can take a translator many years to become a professional one. And how to become a professional translator? Let’s see what chatGPT has to say.

ChatGPT: what you need to become a professional translator

To become a professional translator, there are some fundamental criteria that need to be met as follows:

1. Linguistic knowledge:

In the role of a translator, you need to have good and solid language knowledge. You need a deep understanding of grammatical structures, vocabulary, specific languages of different fields and other linguistic expressions.

2. Expertise:

If you want to translate specialized documents, you need to have specialized knowledge in that field, for example, technical, legal, medical, marketing, commercial, you must have good professional knowledge to be able to translate documents in that field. This helps you better understand the context and terminology of the document, and helps you provide more accurate and precise translations.

3. Translation skills:

You need to have good translation skills, make sure your translation is accurate, convey the original content and the style is suitable for the target language.

4. Technology skills:

Skills in using technology are an important factor in becoming a professional translator. You need to know how to use translation tools, translation software, text editors and other applications to improve your productivity and quality.

5. Communication skills:

Communication skills are a very important factor to become a professional translator. You need to be able to communicate well with customers, colleagues, project managers, and other interested parties. If you work with your clients or partners, you need good communication skills to exchange information and respond to requests.

6. Professional ethics:

Professional ethics is a very important factor in the translation industry. You need to ensure the accuracy, reliability and confidentiality of customer information.

7. Fluency in at least two languages:

Translation is the process of converting materials from one language into another. Therefore, to become a professional translator, you must have specialized skills in at least two languages, including the source language (the language to be translated) and the target language (the language to be translated into).

7. Use translation tools:

Translation is no longer a manual job. Translation tools such as machine translation software, dictionaries and other translation aids have been developed to help translators work more efficiently.

9. Search and research skills:

When translating, you will have to find information and do research on the terms, context and technical content in the document.

10. Carefulness and accuracy:

Translation is a job that requires great care and accuracy. A translation error can have serious consequences for a business, organization or individual.

Conclusions

In short, to become a professional translator, you need to have good professional knowledge and skills, translation skills, skills in using technology, etc.

ChatGPT: 5 recommendations for a good translation

A good translation needs to ensure more elements than the criteria of correct translation, correct comprehension, readability, appropriate style and on schedule. To ensure the above requirements, let’s see what ChatGPT recommends.

ChatGPT: 5 recommendations for a good translation

To be able to translate well, ChatGPT advises you to refer to the following steps:

1. Look into the context:

To have a good translation, you need to understand the context and purpose of the document. For example, a scientific and technical document will use a different style compared to a literary document.

2. Learn grammar and vocabulary structures:

To be able to translate correctly, you need to master the grammatical and lexical structures of both languages.

3. Using computer-assisted translation tools:

Tools like Google Translate, Babylon or Reverso can help you translate some simple words or sentences. However, if you want accurate technical document translation, you should use certified and professional translation tools.

4. Practice regularly:

As any other skills, you need to practice regularly to improve your translation ability. You can read documents, translate articles or share them with others for help and feedback.

5. Check and fix errors:

After completing the translation, you should read it again and correct any errors. You can use error-checking tools like Grammarly or ProWritingAid to find and correct grammar and spelling mistakes.

The above steps will help you improve your translation skills. However, to become a professional translator, you need to study and practice for a long time

Comments from AM Vietnam professional translators

Truong NV: ChatGPT offers basic steps included in the set of necessary conditions for a good translation of AM Vietnam.

Huong TT: These may not make up a good translation process, but they are factors to consider for a translator to do his or her job well.

How does English connect our world?

English is the most common language in the world, with around 20% of the total population able to communicate using it. It became a lingua franca, used by international communities to speak in a unified language. It is common knowledge that the impact of English in our society is huge. It has transformed our lives on many different levels.

How does English connect our world?

The best way to understand how English connects in the world is to take a look at the most impactful real life examples and use cases.

1. English is used in Global Communication and International Dialogue

When it comes to international communication, both in personal and official situations, English is most likely the language we choose to enable direct or indirect communication. Every country uses it commonly when they want to send messages to international community.

Most international organizations present their official statements in English, which granted English some prestige. In the modern world, we consider it a fundamental skill for participants in international dialogue.

In personal situations, English enables mutual understanding through communication, learning and sharing. It allows us to form friendships beyond borders.

2. English can benefit your career

Knowledge of English is a required skill in many companies. Individuals who are able to communicate in this language have vast work opportunities. Plus, they are not only tied to national market. They can look for their dream job across many different countries.

English has had a huge impact on the job market in Vietnam. Nowadays, many businesses these days consist of international teams which work in regional economic hubs. English helps expand opportunities to recruit talent for companies to build a team of outstanding efficiency.

3. The impact of English language transforming cultures

This trend is especially strong among younger generations, due to English being most common language on the internet. However, this may not be the best side of English being lingua franca. Nonetheless, this feature is considered by some people to have negative impact in some areas. As more and more cultures are influenced by Western Society language, native and diverse cultural heritage may be damaged.

4. The importance of English in education

English has had a huge impact on international education. It is currently mandatory subject in most schools across the world and for good reason, as some of the world best universities teach lessons in this language. English can also help students in their personal lives. Learning a new language can help broaden students minds, while also help them develop emotional skills. As we already mentioned, it provides job opportunities and help people communicate through the internet.

Across the globe, many international schools offer English classes. This allows to train international professionals and future skilled experts which are not limited by their native country borders.

5. Globalization with English as the focus

English has a huge impact on globalization, as it allows all of us to speak in one common language. This is something unique that has never been possible before in history. We are able to communicate and understand each other’s point of view, which supports trade, international dialogue and cooperation. People are now roaming freely across countries, English being global language allows them to look for help at airports or tourist information points.

6. Basic English for Tourism

English has a huge impact on the tourism sector. You can even argue that this is what enabled this industry to grow so exceptionally across past 50 years.

English is a second language for most of both tourists and local communities. This enables them to benefit from tourism while minimizing unnecessary conflicts and misunderstanding. Furthermore, it helps communities offer better tourism experience for visitors. It can be considered as a type of symbiosis, which brings great benefits to both local community and tourists.

Remote locations and countries can also enter the market using the “international language”, which will allow them to attract wider audience and further boost local economy.

7. English, the dominant language in Scientific Research

Science is a broad field, and it requires international collaboration in order to deliver the best results possible. The use of English as a lingua franca enables scientists from every part of the world to access research findings, which are necessary to further propel development of global science. If any research discovers something which could lead to a breakthrough in an important field such as medicine, sharing research in English will enable global scientific community to quickly integrate it into their work.

This is the primary reason for which most research findings are presented in two versions: in the language native to the researcher and in English. This enables global scientific community to work together and propel world science development.

8. English in translation

Due to English being lingua franca, English translators are the most common from all translators. There are many rare or small languages which are not commonly translated.

However, we can even translate those languages into English, and then translate them from English to another language if needed. Therefore, this global language is like a bridge in translation, which enables us to eventually translate any languages.

9. Language of the Internet

Internet is surely what enabled our global, interconnected modern lifestyle. English had a huge impact on the internet, but the internet may have even bigger impact on English.

Possibly due to the fact that more than 50% of internet content represents this language. This could also be a major motivation for all the modern English learners to actually study this language.

10. English is the language of business

In the era of globalization many companies decided to expand to foreign markets. This is not an easy task and requires an extensive search for possible partners and knowledge of local law, etc. English allows swift communication between both parties involved.

English is crucial not only for expanding abroad but also for attracting international clients and investors into one’s economy. This allows businesses to generate huge profit and expand their network of international partners which greatly improves their future opportunities for growth. Through enabling swift and consistent flow of international investment, English has a direct, positive impact on countries’ economies and private businesses’ opportunities.

What is the impact of English language in an interconnected world?

English is what propels the global community, business, science and opportunities across societies. It allows humanity to speak in one language and understand one another better than ever before. In an interconnected world, English impacts every aspect of our lives.

It shaped the economy as we know it today, it gave the global politics new face and made borders irrelevant. From culture, through science, to education and even shopping – English is responsible for the shape of our modern reality. Its impact is permanent and is most likely to grow as humanity gets further in the process of globalization.

Why is communication important in translation?

Translation services still play an important role in today’s world where the vision of a borderless world is becoming increasingly clear. As much as translation might not be necessary in regular conversation due to popularity of English worldwide and the wide range of technologies that support instant translation, it is crucial in more serious cases. It is true that English is getting more popular, but many people worldwide use it on a basic level, that does not allow them to truly communicate.

What do we understand by “truly communicate”? It refers to the goal of professional translations, which is to translate intent and sense of a statement, or to convey the messages in a beautiful way instead of translating every single word separately.

What is communication in translation?

It refers to the process of communication between the translator and the author of the source text. It is a crucial process, as without it a translation job can face the serious consequences of a wrong translation.

If you are the author of the text you need to clearly explain the context of your message in case there is any doubts. The translator will then use his/her expertise to change phrases and words in your text in a way that will ensure that the meaning and sense of the text is fully preserved.

In order to fully understand the importance of communication in translation, we need to be aware that, while looking at the text, translator would see something else than the rest of us. Regular people would see a text that needs to be translated, probably word by word, into another language. A good translator sees possible untranslatable words, hours of work it will take for the text to be translated, even seek help from people who are capable to translate text, sometimes words and phrases that can be problematic or words that he translator can’t understand or misinterpret… All while understanding the context, cultural background, and trying to make the most sense in the target language.

Translation is Communication

Translation is indeed a type of communication – not only interlingual, but also intercultural. Its goal is to truly communicate the original message, preserving its meaning, while also taking into account the cultural and historical context of the text. Well-executed translation will make your target audience understand your message as precisely as if they could read your mind.

Professional translation experts can convert messages to a language that is completely different than the original one and preserve its sense, meaning and even cultural context.

How important is communication in translation?

Efficient and constant communication is important as it helps the translator to do the work faster and better. The professional you hire must know what style to use and translate according to it. Sometimes he or she might need to completely change sentence structure and words in order to preserve the context, but thanks to communicating with you he will be fully aware of any changes and the way in which they will affect the meaning of text.

As we already mentioned, unsuccessful interpretation of customer requirements can lead to bad translation. This can have very serious consequences at very different levels.

How does translation affect the communication process?

A good translator bridges the communication gap between people from different cultures speaking different languages. Translation is also a mediating process, a process with very serious implications that is bridging or sometimes even directional.

Some languages are so different from each other that direct translation would deliver wrong message. There are language rules that can exist in one language, but not in another. Therefore, bad translation can possibly destroy our communication efforts.

These days demand for precise translation is bigger than ever. Documents of individuals or businesses, legal documents or medical translations… These things require professional translation approach.

Fast and accurate methods to translate scanned documents

As an experienced translator, you must have been asked by a client to translate scanned documents. In an impromptu survey of 10 translators working for AM Vietnam on how they translate this type of document, up to 8 out of 10 people answered that they translate it directly, 2 others again choose to convert it to editable document (word format) for translation. So which is the optimal method in the above answers or is there another option? Let’s find out in this article!

What is a scanned document?

A scanned document is a document that is converted from print to electronic form such as pdf or img format. Scanned documents are quite common and useful in the easy and quick electronic storage and dissemination of documents.

Scanned documents have characteristics that distinguish them from other common electronic documents such as word documents, for example, their content cannot be selected, copied or edited in common ways. For this reason, in modern translation we can list this as hard-copy and as a type of scan of printed documents.

How fast and accurate is the translation of scanned documents?

In the introduction, I mentioned 2 translation options provided by our collaborators. Those are actually two main options for translating this type of document, but they also have certain risks.

Method 1: Translating scanned documents directly

Before 2010, this method was quite popular in Vietnam and around the world. It is so popular that no matter how long or short the scanned document is, it is directly translated by one or more translators. Is this still true today? The answer is it is still applied, but only for short documents such as resumes or letters. And here are the pros and cons of translating directly:

Pros:

· Allow simple and fast translation process

· Be effective in translating scanned documents of less than 5 pages requiring translation in a short period of time

Cons:

· Difficult to control quality, likely to delivery lacking translation

· Difficult to operate teamwork due to the impossibility of direct cross-reference

· Difficult to maintain consistency with multi-page documents

· More time for translation and proofreading may be required if the document is too long (20 pages or more).

Method 2: Converting the documents before translation

In recent years, the converting option has been recommended by international translation standards and should be considered the preferred method. Pre-translated scanned documents need to be converted to word or excel format or the original text format in which they were created. This stage will take a lot of time, but in return, it shortens the time to implement a quality translation process and overall, it will bring many benefits:

· This allows translators analyze documents in detail to assess volume and organize appropriate translation team

· Translators cam translate on advanced online systems with full database

· Machine translation and automated QA processes can be used to reduce costs

· Translation quality is guaranteed because the application of modern translation processes is possible.

This method also requires accurate document conversion in terms of spelling and completeness. If these two factors are not guaranteed, the translation may contain errors, especially when the language of the scan is Vietnamese or other languages with diacritics.

Some common types of scanned documents in translation

Any printed document can be scanned and emailed for translation. In reality, we usually deal with this type of documents in translation of the following:

· Financial statements and annual reports of the business

· The contract and contract performance documents have been signed and accepted by the parties

· Laws or legal documents that have been promulgated

· Personal records such as identity cards, passports, household registration books, certificate of land use rights, birth certificates, medical records, etc

· Academic records such as academic records, certificates of merit, diplomas, etc

· Records of service, technical or transfer acceptance, etc.

How to use the translation alignment tool in Trados Studio 2019

Alignment is a great way to make use of your existing translations to leverage on future projects. Trados Studio users benefit from a directly integrated translation alignment tool which turns your previous translations into translation units. You can then either efficiently create a translation memory (TM) with the results or add them to an existing TM.

However, the source and target results aren’t always perfectly aligned. Often a review and some editing need to be done to ensure high-quality aligned segments are added to your TM to work with in the future.

With the release of Service Release 1 for Trados Studio 2019, we have made the aligning process much easier by adding great new capabilities and enhancing existing functionality in the translation alignment editor. So let’s get into the details.

Easier translation alignment connections

Previously the ‘Alignment Edit Mode’ was needed to perform more intricate alignment editing. This has now been removed and as a result, you can now easily select and amend multiple segments straight in the ‘Alignment Editor’.

This can be particularly useful when you want the flexibility to target a problem area in your alignment. Freely select which segments you want to be disconnected using ‘shift +click’ and then correct the connection as needed.

There are also new segment connection possibilities to select and create new segment connections. Besides the previous 1:1, 2:2, 1:3, 3:1 connections, you can now also create 1:4, 4:1, 1:5, and 5:1 connections. For example, 1:4 means one source segment is connected up to and aligned with four target segments.

For when you’re working with a particularly lengthy aligned document you will now have more responsive connections when scrolling, resulting in a smoother editing experience.

Split and Insert segments options

To give you complete control over how segments are aligned we have added new functionality to split an existing segment and to insert new segments.

If you want to split aligned segments before they are imported into a translation memory you can do this by placing your cursor in the source or target segment at the splitting point in the text, right clicking and selecting ‘Split Segment’. Segments will need to be disconnected before you can split them if they are 1:1 connections.

In translation alignment scenarios where you have a disconnected target segment with no corresponding source text, you can now manually insert a new blank segment then fill in the matching text for a cleaner alignment result. To do this, select the source segment directly opposite the disconnected target, right click and choose the option to ‘Insert before’ or ‘Insert after’ the selected segment. This can also be done the other way round when the source document has translations that the target document does not have.

Better navigation

You can use the new ‘Go To’ functionality to quickly navigate to alignment segments based on their alignment status, quality or connection type. For example, you could ‘Go To’ all segments with multiple segment connections or an unconfirmed status or with bad alignment quality.

This functionality can help you easily compare segment alignments which fall under the same criteria, as well as quickly spot inconsistencies, missing alignments, or identify a particular segment you are interested in.

You can also search and find text in the Alignment Editor using the new ‘Find’ functionality that supports simple text, regular expressions and wildcards. This functionality helps you navigate results per source or target area using the ‘Find Next’ button.

Freedom to omit alignment metadata fields

There is a new option to omit alignment metadata fields during the advanced import of aligned segments into a translation memory.

So what does this mean? Aligned segments have the following information attached to them: name of the source file, name of the target file and the quality level of the aligned segment. By default, this information (metadata) is displayed in the translations results window when you receive a TM match from an aligned document. If you uncheck the ‘Add alignment metadata’ box the alignment metadata won’t appear. This is useful if you want to add aligned documents to an existing TM and you already use a lot of custom fields so don’t want alignment metadata appearing.

I hope this helps you get the most out of your Trados investment!

How to translate a web page in your browser?

Assuming you just need to quickly translate a foreign-language web page for your own personal use and don’t need to worry about accuracy, there are a few different ways you can do it right in your web browser.

Most web browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox, have built-in translation tools that can automatically translate web pages for you.

Naturally, the content displayed in the preferred language won’t be perfect. In some cases (like minority languages), the output quality may even be poor.

However, in most cases, even if the translation isn’t optimal and the cultural references are wrong, it’s still possible to understand the key points of the content.

Depending on your browser, you’ll usually see a dialog box asking if you want to translate the page when you come across a web page written in a foreign language. Alternatively, in just a few clicks, you can typically access the translation options in your browser’s settings.

How to translate a web page in Google Chrome

Google owns one of the most popular automatic page translators, Google Translate. For this reason, using Google Chrome as a browser to carry out the automatic translation of websites is one of the most practical translation options.

Translating a page with Google Translate is quite straightforward:

Open a website in any foreign language.
Click on the Google Translate icon on the right in the address bar.
Select the language in which you want to read the content.
The content of the webpage will automatically appear in the selected language.
If you wish, save your settings for the future—this will save you a lot of time.

How to translate a web page in Firefox

To translate the content of a website in Firefox, it is necessary to install specific add-ons. The installation is easy and quick. The best way is to use the Google Translate add-on because it is simple and user-friendly.

To install the Google Translate add-on and translate a web page in Firefox, follow the steps below:

Launch the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Visit the Firefox add-ons page and search for Google Translate.
There are many options to choose from. In this case, we’ll go with “Simple Translate,” one of the best-rated ones, but feel free to try other extensions to find the one that works best for you.

Simple Translate Add-On For Mozilla Firefox | Phrase

Click on “Install” and follow the described steps to install the add-on.
On the address bar, enter the link to the web page you would like to translate.
Go to the Translate icon at the top right-hand corner shown by the letter ”T” and right-click on it.
Select the option “Translate page with Google Translate.”

How to translate a web page in Safari

In Safari, it’s possible to use the Smart Search function to translate a site. Here is how to do it:

Simply navigate to the website you need to get translated.
Select the “A” button at the top right of the browser’s address bar.
In the drop-down menu, you can select the language into which you wish to translate the content.

Three ways to translate your website.

Let’s do a quick thought experiment: Think of the website you visit the most. It could be a marketplace like Amazon or a social hangout like Facebook. Now, picture this: What if you couldn’t understand the language the website was created in—would it still be usable for you?

Chances are, for most of us, the answer tends to be negative. Even if a few words here and there might make sense, navigating foreign-language websites can quickly turn into a hassle. Thankfully, there are several methods available to effectively translate a website online.

Whether you’re a user trying to access content or a website owner aiming to expand reach, this guide will show you how to translate a web page in your preferred browser and on your mobile device—and even how to translate an entire website of your own step by step.

3 key approaches to translating a web page

To translate a web page, you first need to choose the right translation method for your needs. This might depend, for example, on how accurate you want the translation to be.

Let’s have a look at the 3 most common approaches to translating a site, what the pros and cons of each are, and how to implement them.

Human translation

One of the frequently used methods to translate a web page is to hire human translators to convert content from one language to another.

Professional website translation services have the advantage of being very accurate, as long as you find expert linguists who understand both the source and target languages well and who are familiar with the subject matter of the site.

On the flip side, human translation can often be costly, and it can take a while to get the translated pages back from the translator.

Advantages of human translation:

High accuracy
Understanding of context
Can adapt to specific registers and tones
Better understanding of the site’s purpose and how to communicate that to users in the target language
Creativity—translators can come up with catchy phrases or turns of phrase that will resonate with users
Can create SEO-friendly translations

Drawbacks of human translation:

Often costly
Time-consuming
Prone to human errors like typos
Potential to create bottlenecks when no translators are available

Machine translation

An alternative to human translation is machine translation (MT), which is where you use a computer program to translate the text on your site automatically. This has the advantage of being much faster and cheaper than human translation, but the downside is that it’s often not as accurate.

Benefits of machine translation:

Fast
Cost-effective
Can be used for large projects
Can be scaled up easily
Can be post-edited for enhanced accuracy

Limitations of machine translation:

Not suitable for all projects
Lower accuracy
Can’t adapt to specific registers or tones
Not as fluent or natural-sounding as human translation
Might need a lot of data to produce good results
Typically unable to pick up on text nuances and idiomatic expressions
Less creative than human translation
Potential legal risks—if the translation is not accurate, it could be considered misleading and you could be liable for damages

While the disadvantages of machine translation might seem to outweigh the advantages, it’s important to remember that machine translation has come a long way in recent years with the emergence of neural machine translation (NMT), and it continues to improve.

NMT typically delivers impressive results, especially for common language pairs like English to German, and it’s increasingly difficult to catch grammatical or punctuation mistakes in the machine-translated text.

Machine translation post-editing (MTPE)

A third option, which is a hybrid of human and machine translation, is machine translation post-editing (MTPE). MTPE is where you use machine translation tools to generate a draft translation, which is then edited and polished by a human translator to improve accuracy.

In recent years, post-editing has become quite popular in the translation industry. This is also due to the fact that many resources are being invested in the development of the so-called “neural machine translation engines.”

To sum it up, simply weigh the pros and cons based on your objectives and choose the translation approach that best meets your needs. Now, let’s go ahead and put this into action.

Translating a web page can be easier than you’d think

Regardless of whether you want a simple basic translation while browsing the web or you want a comprehensive website translation for your CMS system, there are many solutions available out there, for every budget and every need.

From free browser features or add-ons to comprehensive localization software with several useful features and professional human localization services, everything is possible. Just take your pick.

International SEO: Khái niệm về trang web tiếp cận toàn cầu

Thế giới ngày nay đa kết nối hơn bao giờ hết, bất kỳ doanh nghiệp nào muốn mở rộng ra quốc tế đều cần có một trang web có nội dung toàn cầu để thành công. Tuy nhiên, ngay cả trang web được thiết kế đẹp nhất cũng không thể đảm bảo thành công trừ khi thu hút được khách truy cập. Khách hàng khi cần đến một vài dịch vụ, sản phẩm của bạn họ sẽ tìm kiếm chúng bằng ngôn ngữ họ quen thuộc. Vậy mấu chốt là phải tối ưu hóa trang web của mình cho SEO quốc tế.

SEO quốc tế là một trong những cách hiệu quả nhất để tận dụng tìm kiếm không phải trả tiền để tiếp cận đối tượng mục tiêu ở các quốc gia khác nhau. Bài viết toàn diện này sẽ khám phá khái niệm SEO quốc tế, tại sao nó quan trọng đối với hoạt động kinh doanh toàn cầu và cách tạo chiến lược SEO quốc tế hiệu quả để đạt được thành công lâu dài.

SEO quốc tế là gì?

SEO quốc tế là hoạt động tối ưu hóa một trang web để làm cho nó hiển thị rõ hơn và xếp hạng cao hơn trong các công cụ tìm kiếm ở các quốc gia và ngôn ngữ khác nhau.

SEO quốc tế đảm bảo rằng các công cụ tìm kiếm có thể dễ dàng xác định quốc gia nào mà doanh nghiệp của bạn muốn nhắm mục tiêu. Nó cũng hiển thị cho các công cụ tìm kiếm những ngôn ngữ bạn sử dụng để thu hút khách hàng từ các quốc gia khác nhau.

Cho dù bạn là một thương hiệu thời trang đang tìm cách tiếp cận khán giả toàn cầu hay một công ty thương mại điện tử nhắm mục tiêu đến các quốc gia cụ thể, SEO quốc tế có thể giúp tăng khả năng hiển thị trực tuyến toàn cầu cho bạn.

SEO quốc tế hoạt động như thế nào?

Google, Bing và các công cụ tìm kiếm khác được thiết kế để khớp kết quả tìm kiếm với ngôn ngữ và vị trí của người dùng. SEO quốc tế hoạt động bằng cách cung cấp cho công cụ tìm kiếm biết rằng trang web của bạn có nội dung khớp với người đang tìm kiếm ở một quốc gia cụ thể—hoặc một ai đó đang tìm kiếm các sản phẩm hoặc dịch vụ giống như của bạn bằng một ngôn ngữ cụ thể.

SEO quốc tế sử dụng nội dung nhắm mục tiêu theo quốc gia hoặc ngôn ngữ, thẻ hreflang, cấu trúc URL được chỉ định và các tín hiệu bản địa hóa khác để nhắm mục tiêu nội dung đến người dùng của bạn đến bất cứ đâu có Internet trên toàn thế giới.

SEO quốc tế khác với SEO cục bộ như thế nào?

Mặc dù cả SEO quốc tế và SEO cục bộ đều nhằm mục đích cải thiện thứ bậc và số lượng hiển thị của trang web trong các công cụ tìm kiếm, nhưng cũng có một số khác biệt quan trọng giữa cả hai khái niệm.

SEO cục bộ nhắm mục tiêu từ khóa và đối tượng trong một khu vực cụ thể	SEO quốc tế nhắm mục tiêu từ khóa và đối tượng trên các khu vực địa lý
Nội dung trang web được tối ưu hóa để thu hút khách hàng tại một địa phương cụ thể.	Một cách tiếp cận toàn diện hơn được sử dụng để đáp ứng nhiều ngôn ngữ, văn hóa và thị trường.
Thông tin theo vị trí địa lý cụ thể có thể được kết hợp, chẳng hạn như tên thành phố hoặc khu vực, trong nội dung và siêu dữ liệu của bạn.	Ngoài việc cân nhắc về ngôn ngữ, SEO quốc tế còn liên quan đến việc điều chỉnh nội dung và trang web cho phù hợp với các chuẩn mực và sở thích văn hóa khác nhau.
Bao gồm tối ưu hóa trang web của bạn cho các danh mục và danh sách tại một địa phương, chẳng hạn như Google Doanh nghiệp của tôi, để cải thiện khả năng hiển thị trong kết quả tìm kiếm cục bộ.	Các trang web cũng được tùy chỉnh theo các yêu cầu pháp lý hoặc quy định tồn tại ở các quốc gia khác nhau.

Việc tùy chỉnh vốn có trong cả SEO cục bộ và SEO quốc tế cuối cùng đều nhằm mục đích giúp đỡ độc giả là con người, nhưng nó cũng hữu ích trong việc truyền đạt giá trị trang web của bạn tới các công cụ tìm kiếm.

Khi công cụ tìm kiếm hiểu rằng bạn đã bản địa hóa nội dung cho các quốc gia cụ thể, người dùng sẽ được chuyển hướng đến các phiên bản phù hợp nhất của trang web dựa trên vị trí của họ—cuối cùng là cải thiện trải nghiệm người dùng một cách tổng thể cho khách hàng của bạn ở các thị trường khác nhau.

Tại sao SEO quốc tế lại quan trọng đối với kinh doanh toàn cầu

Nếu đối thủ cạnh tranh của bạn không tối ưu hóa nội dung của họ cho một số quốc gia hoặc ngôn ngữ nhất định, bạn có thể tận dụng điều đó bằng cách điều chỉnh nội dung của mình cho phù hợp với các quốc gia đó để mang lại nhiều lượng truy cập hơn và đạt được lợi thế cạnh tranh. Hãy cùng đi sâu vào những lợi ích cốt lõi của SEO quốc tế đối với các doanh nghiệp đang muốn mở rộng toàn cầu.

Tăng vùng phủ sóng – tiếp cận đối tượng rộng hơn

Với tính chất toàn cầu của Internet, tiềm năng tiếp cận lượng khán giả rộng lớn và đa dạng là rất lớn. Bằng cách thực hiện chiến lược SEO quốc tế, doanh nghiệp có thể nhắm mục tiêu vào các thị trường thông qua một ngôn ngữ cụ thể, cho phép họ kết nối với khách hàng tiềm năng trên toàn thế giới. Phạm vi tiếp cận mở rộng này có thể dẫn đến tăng lưu lượng truy cập, độ phủ thương hiệu và doanh số bán hàng tiềm năng ở các thị trường khác nhau.

Seo Giúp Tăng Độ Phủ Toàn Cầu — International SEO giúp tăng độ phủ toàn cầu

Tăng lượt truy cập tự nhiên, tỷ lệ chuyển đổi và doanh thu

Xuất hiện trong kết quả tìm kiếm cho các từ khóa có liên quan ở các ngôn ngữ và vị trí địa lý khác nhau có thể làm tăng đáng kể lượt truy cập tự nhiên (không phải trả tiền). Khi SEO quốc tế được thực hiện chính xác và chiến lược, nó sẽ thu hút người dùng đang tích cực tìm kiếm sản phẩm hoặc dịch vụ bằng ngôn ngữ và khu vực bản địa của họ. Cách tiếp cận có mục tiêu này có thể dẫn đến tỷ lệ chuyển đổi cao hơn, cuối cùng thúc đẩy doanh thu và tăng trưởng kinh doanh.

Tăng độ phủ thương hiệu toàn cầu

Xây dựng sự hiện diện trực tuyến mạnh mẽ ở nhiều quốc gia và khu vực khác nhau giúp nâng cao khả năng hiển thị và độ tin cậy của thương hiệu trên phạm vi toàn cầu. Khi người dùng liên tục tìm thấy một thương hiệu được liệt kê trong kết quả tìm kiếm bằng ngôn ngữ quen thuộc của họ, điều đó sẽ tích tụ niềm tin và sự tin tưởng vào tính hợp pháp của thương hiệu đó. Trải nghiệm tích cực của người dùng và khả năng nhận diện thương hiệu thúc đẩy sự trung thành và khuyến khích truyền miệng, củng cố hơn nữa vị thế của thương hiệu trên thị trường quốc tế.

Với những lợi ích này, việc tạo chiến lược SEO quốc tế của riêng bạn rất đáng để bạn dành thời gian và đầu tư.

ATA Webinar – Translating & Interpreting the Future: Empowering Professionals to Innovate and Thrive

Webinar Agenda:

Date: 20 MAY 2023
Hour: 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Type: Online

Introduction

This ATA virtual conference will feature presentations from 4 industry- and thought-leading presenters who will share their experience, knowledge and insight into the present landscape, and future horizons for translation and interpreting.

The day will conclude with a Virtual Town Hall on MT, MTPE, AI and HT. Share your experience and hear how your ATA colleagues are leveraging technological advances, innovating, and thriving!

The virtual conference sessions will be recorded, and attendees will have access to recordings via the ATA website. Attendees can engage colleagues in the Virtual Conference “Lobby” and in networking sessions before the conference and “Happy Hour Networking” at the end of the day. Additionally, there will be a lunch break networking and Software/Tools Support hour in the middle of the day. Grab some lunch or a snack and meet colleagues from around the world in the networking lounge. Or learn about some of our technology sponsors and how they can enhance your workflow and productivity.

ATA-certified translators may earn up to a maximum of 5 CEPs.

To receive your CEPs, retain the Certificate of Attendance that you will receive by email after the conference.

Early-bird Information – Extended to May 8!

Early-bird registration rates are valid through May 8. Register now, and remember you’ll have access to all recorded sessions after the virtual conference.

International Federation of Translators (FIT):

If you are a member of a sister FIT Association, but not a member of ATA (subject to verification), you are eligible to register at the FIT Rate.

Student:

Rates are available to ATA Student Members and open to graduate and undergraduate college or university students enrolled full-time in any program or part-time in a translation- or interpreting-related program, including foreign language study. (subject to verification).

Cancellation Policy

Requests must be received in writing by April 30, 2023 to be eligible for a refund. Cancellations are subject to a $50 administrative fee. Refunds requests will not be honored after April 30.

Code of Conduct

ATA is committed to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all participants. By registering for this event, you agree to abide by the Code of Conduct for Virtual Programs.

Questions & registration

Questions about pricing or general conference information, please contact Adrian Aleckna at [email protected]

For registration changes or system (website) questions, please contact [email protected].

The Role of Terminology Management in the Translation Workflow

Using the correct terminology in all settings and markets is the cornerstone of better translation and localization. In this article, we will explore the topic of terminology management, and show you some tips on how to help your business globalize with the help of translation software.

Why companies use translation software

Translation management systems (or TMSs for short) such as memoQ TMS are created to help companies manage their localization processes. They are equipped with features for both translators and project managers, such as translation memories, terminology management, and project management.

When working with an excessive amount of text (including but not limited to website copy, UX texts, manuals, or any translated material), it is key for the organization to store, use, and manage its resources in a smart way. A TMS helps you keep all materials in the same system, reuse old translations and automate processes within the workflow so that your linguists can do what they do best, and not need to spend too much time on manual work.

According to SGK’s article, a localized experience significantly increases the likelihood of a purchase. This means that making your brand visible in as many markets as possible is one of the most important factors when it comes to going global. More awareness leads to more customers, and, eventually, more profit for your organization.

So, it can be concluded that the use of a TMS is a key building block to the globalization strategy of international companies. One factor that needs to be considered when it comes to localized experiences is terminology management.

What is terminology management?

According to Uwe Muegge, “terminology management enables organizations of any size to use the same terms consistently within and across all types of communication that accompany a product or service. Typical communication types include specifications, drawings, GUI, software strings, help systems, technical documentation, marketing materials, regulatory submissions, etc. As multiple authors typically contribute to each one of these communications, terminology management is the most efficient solution for ensuring that the organization communicates the same message and speaks with one voice.”

Terminology management matters most when you are translating texts of a specialized field since you must always use correct as well as consistent terminology within the given context. You need an up-to-date database of terms and phrases to be used by all your linguists within a specific project. You also need your translators to properly document all terms and translations to be used across the given text or even project.

Why terminology management matters

There can be many words or phrases in a source text that can be translated into many different words in the target language. A common understanding of terminology is crucial when more than one linguist is working on a text or project. You must make sure that the correct words and phrases are used within the same context to avoid confusion, make the quality assurance process easier, and ensure that the target text is always error-free.

Specialized jargon

It is well-known that translation can involve many fields of expertise, such as law, engineering, pharmaceuticals, etc. Many of these fields require specific jargon (and, of course, specialized translators). In these fields, it is even more important to use the correct terminology since one error can be a matter of life and death. By creating your term database beforehand, you have already made the first step towards consistent terminology, even before starting the actual translation process.

How to approach terminology management: the Kalcium-memoQ integration

If you’re using an external terminology management system, importing and exporting new or updated term bases each time can be time-consuming as well as prone to errors.

The Kalcium-memoQ integration is based on an API, so once you connect the two systems, the term bases will update automatically as they change. Kalcium Quickterm also allows you to keep track of the life cycle of your term base entries, so you can make sure that the most up-to-date terms are readily available in memoQ at all times. This makes the process faster, and it is not required to create a new termbase every time.

This way the customer can rely on the latest terminology versions to be available to the supply chain.

How terminology management can affect your business

Okay, so now you know what terminology management is and how to approach it within the localization workflow. But the story does not end there. Once you’ve mastered an area of translation management, you should put it to use everywhere. So, let’s see a few areas where you can utilize terminology management.

Content marketing

Content marketing involves creating and managing all kinds of content that you want to use for marketing purposes, such as blog posts, infographics, social media posts, etc.

If you want your business to reach the widest audience possible, it is crucial that you don’t stick to one or two platforms or content formats. You must try different means and formats of communication to see what your audience responds to best. It is important that you’re consistent not only on your website but across all platforms so that your messaging is clear and consistent everywhere.

By introducing terminology management, you can make sure that all your content is aligned and that you are using the correct terminology across your communication.

SEO

If you rely on unpaid marketing and want your customers to find you organically, you’ve probably heard of search engine optimization. This means that you create content with not only your customers in mind but also search engines.

One of the cornerstones of SEO is centered around terminology management. You need to find the terms (or keywords) that your audience feels connected to, and you must always tailor it to the actual market and the cultural aspects of the region you are targeting.

By using the correct terminology in your search engine optimization strategy, you can significantly increase the organic traffic to your website.

Perception of your brand

The way your brand is seen in different cultural and linguistic contexts can heavily influence your reputation and sales in different parts of the world. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, more than 50% of consumers find communication in their own language more important than price.

So, localization, and within that, terminology management must be considered when creating and maintaining a brand localization strategy. Consistently using the correct expressions builds trust toward your brand, and it will more likely be successful in the global market.

Final thoughts

As you can see, terminology management can serve as one of the most important building blocks of your globalization strategy. This can lead to more awareness of your brand, better customer experience, and eventually, more leads and more profit for your company.

If you’re interested in introducing more efficient terminology management into your localization workflow, please contact us via the button below.

Zsófia Lelner, MEMOQ BLOG

What is a Translation Management System (TMS)?

What can I do with a Translation Management System?

Do you run content updates regularly? Are you spending too much time managing multiple files and documents? Are reports and statistics valuable to you? Do you rely on collaborative workflows?

If managed manually, complex translation workflows can be time-consuming and lead to an increased number of errors. With a language translation software, organizations can boost productivity and reduce costs by centralizing linguistic assets, automating processes and monitoring workflows.

1. Where is translation located?

When an organization produces content in multiple languages, linguistic assets need to be properly stored, managed and shared. A TMS enables the consolidation and management of these assets (translation memories, term bases, LiveDocs corpora, etc.) in a single system.

2. Automate processes

Translators and Project Managers carry out repetitive, time-consuming tasks on a daily basis. A TMS enables customized workflows and the automation of tasks that saves valuable time.

3. Monitor workflows

Project tracking is a critical resource to any Project Manager. A TMS provides this through a main dashboard centralizing critical information such as translation progress or missed deadlines.

4. Facilitated collaboration

A TMS provides efficient real-time communication and collaboration for translators and enterprises working on the same project.

5. Integration with other systems

You can connect TMS with business management tools like Plunet and XTRF, MemoQ, Trados Studio, Memsource, various machine translation engines (MT and NMT), Content Management Systems (e.g., WordPress), and external translation memory databases.

6. Compatibility

TMS is compatible with not just SDL but with most other translation tools.You can import, translate and export the proprietary files of other translation tools with memoQ

7. Quality Assurance

TMS offers two levels of quality assurance. Automatic Quality Assurance is checking machine-detectable mistakes during translation, while Linguistic Quality Assurance provides detailed feedback with different error levels and categories.

Different fields of translation and translation practices

Advances in technology have made our world smaller and larger at the same time. A person in Vietnam can simply access documents from the UK, which means the world is getting smaller. However, because of that, the knowledge we have access to has also become broader, and this is making our world larger. Either way, translating different languages as well as different types of content is therefore necessary.

When translators come across a term, they associate it with a particular field. Identifying the expertise of words will determine translating method applied for them because each word can have many translation options. Translators sometimes need to be researchers to see find the meaning for the word they are translating. Types of translations also vary in accordance with different types of content.

Fields with great needs for translation

Technical translation: This type of translation refers to the translation of technical documents, technical files, IT or manufacturing documents, etc. When translating technical documents, translators with relevant experience and technical knowledge are definitely needed. Sometimes they need the help of engineers or experts.
Scientific translation: It refers to the translation of scientific research, i.e. articles, journals, experimental experiments, etc., that will be specific to each field. The scientific documents are characterized by its novelty, academic and scholarly nature. It is really not easy to have a successful translation of a scientific document if the translator does not have the same qualifications or at least understand the basic content of the document to be able to ask for further assistance from the author.
Medical translation: Includes translation of documents related to healthcare, medical products, pharmaceuticals, as well as biotechnology. This field also includes the translation of many types of documents such as patient records, financial documents, etc. There are also many linguists who challenge the medical field but without any doubt it still needs the help of doctors and professionals.
Financial translation: This includes translations of documents related to banking, stock trading, forex, fintech, blockchain, financial statements, insurance, etc. Translations of other documents such as corporate financial regulations and taxes are also classified as financial translation.
Economic translation: It deals with the translation of documents related to economics and specific economic sectors.
Legal translation: This is a fairly broad field and governs many other fields. However, some specific cases such as legal documents, legal reports, legal contracts, litigation documents, court judgments, legal advice, are typical types of legal documents. This is one of the most difficult forms of translation because each country has its own legal system.
Patent translation: Patent translations are translations of documents related to patents or intellectual property. Patent filings are typically technical documents for specific designs or innovative ideas.
Literary translation: This type of translation is related to literary works such as novels, short stories, essays, poems, video games, etc. Literary translation is also a difficult type of translation, requiring the translator to have foreign language skills, abstract thinking and good language proficiency
Business translation: This type of translation deals with documents within a business. This type of translation covers a wide variety of documents such as operating, marketing, financial, technical, legal regulations, etc.
Marketing translation: This includes translating for advertising, marketing and promotional events. This type of translation is specifically designed for the target audience. Marketing materials nowadays are usually published in formats like pdf files or web pages, e-commerce, mobile apps, etc.
Energy translation: This is a fairly broad field including fossil energy, solar energy, hydroelectricity, wind energy, nuclear energy. Translating energy documents also requires translators with professional knowledge and long-term translation experience.
Environmental translation: Documents in the environmental field are often impact studies, environmental communication or clean-up technology transfer.

How to determine the type of document you are in need of translation?

Determining which type of document needs to be translated into is sometimes not easy. For example, you have a construction contract, which may include legal, technical, financial or sometimes environmental knowledge. To define the type of the translation we need to define two main fields of the document. Exactly determining the expertise of the document will help translation companies implement translation projects with quality assurance and accurate cost estimates.

In general, it would be true that translators only need knowledge of languages to translate a text from one language to another, but that is only a necessary condition. In fact, there are many different types of content, each of which usually contains at least some knowledge about a specific field, such as medical, financial, legal, scientific, technical fields, etc. The translation process will become more challenge and require more than knowledge of the language from the translator.

World’s most spoken languages

#1 – Chinese

Chinese is a common language worldwide, with more than 1.3 billion speakers. It is the main language of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and some other parts of the world. Chinese is written with Chinese characters, each character representing a syllable. In addition, Chinese also has phonemes and tones to distinguish different words with the same pronunciation.

Chinese is one of the oldest languages and has a rich historical culture. It is also an important language in the economic field, especially in trade and investment with China, one of the world’s largest economies.

#2 – English

English is one of the most popular languages in the world, with around 1.1 billion people using it as a second or foreign language. English is the primary language of a host of countries, including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is also widely used as a second language in many countries around the world.

English is one of the primary languages used in many fields, including economics, science, technology, education and the arts. It is an important language in international trade and communication, with many global companies using English as the primary language to communicate with international customers and partners. In addition, English is also the primary language used in many international organizations, including the United Nations and NATO.

English has a rich culture and history, with many famous works of literature, scientific research and films written and produced in English. Therefore, learning English is very important to be able to access and understand a wide range of international knowledge and cultures.

#3 – Spanish

Spanish is one of the most popular languages in the world, with about 580 million speakers worldwide. It is the main language of Spain and a number of countries in the Americas such as Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Chile. In addition, Spanish is also widely spoken as a second or foreign language in many other countries around the world.

Spanish is an important language in many fields, including education, culture, science and economics. It is one of the main languages in the economic and political union of Europe, and is the second most common language in the US after English. Spanish is also an important language in international tourism and trade.

Spanish has a rich culture and history, with many famous literary, musical, cinematic and artistic works written and produced in Spanish. Therefore, learning Spanish not only gives you access to a wide range of international knowledge and cultures, but it also helps you connect and communicate with Spanish speakers all over the world.

#4 – Arabic

Arabic is the primary language in Islam and has a rich culture and history, with many literary, scientific and artistic works written and produced in Arabic. It is also one of the main languages in the study and study of the Quran.

Arabic is also an important language in many fields, including economics, commerce, politics and foreign affairs. It is the primary language in the Union of Arab States and is used in international organizations such as the United Nations and the Conference on Economic Cooperation and Development.

#5 – Portuguese

Portuguese has a rich history and culture, with many literary, artistic and scientific works written and produced in Portuguese. It is also the primary language of Catholicism and is used in many fields, including economics, commerce, politics and foreign affairs.

#6 – Russian

Russian has its own alphabet called the Kirillic alphabet, and is a European language that is related to many other languages on the continent. It has a rich history and culture, with many literary, artistic and scientific works written and produced in Russian.

#7 – Japanese

With a large economy and many international companies, Japan is one of the popular destinations for people who want to learn Japanese. In addition, Japanese is also used in many fields such as information technology, music, movies, sports and manga/anime.

#8 – German

German is also one of the main languages in the European Union (EU) and is the official language of international organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In addition, German is also taught and used in universities and educational establishments around the world. As a result, German is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and plays an important role in international economics, culture and politics.

#9 – French

French is one of the main languages in the European Union (EU), the United Nations and is the official language of the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), Forestry and Environmental Protection Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In addition, French is also the language of culture and the arts, with some world-class literature, film, music and art composed in French. French is also one of the languages widely taught in universities and educational establishments around the world.

Therefore, French plays an important role in international economy, culture and politics and is one of the most important languages in the world.

Vietnamese around the world

Vietnamese is the official and most common language in Vietnam. However, the Vietnamese language also has a presence in a number of other countries, especially among Vietnamese diasporas.

There are currently about 4 million Vietnamese people living and working all over the world, especially in the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and other Asian countries. Vietnamese is spoken in Vietnamese communities in these countries, and becomes an integral part of the daily lives of these communities.

In addition, Vietnamese is also taught in some universities and educational establishments in other countries such as the US, France and Australia, to help foreigners learn Vietnamese and better understand its culture.

However, Vietnamese still pales in comparison to other languages in the use and international communication.

ChatGPT: The Best Translation Tools Today

ChatGPT is a machine learning and artificial intelligence-powered language model that generates automatic answers to inquiries and provides responses on a chatbot platform. And here’s ChatGPT’s list of the top translation tools available now.

Note: This post is based on ChatGPT’s response to a similar question. These answers may be inaccurate and are provided solely for reference purposes. Ignore this notice.

Currently, there are numerous online translation tools and translation support software. Here are some of the most effective translation tools available today:

Google Translate: 

Google Translate is one of the world’s most popular online translation applications, supporting text, speech, and image translation.

Microsoft Translator: 

Microsoft Translator is also a leading online translation service, including text, speech and image translation.

DeepL: 

DeepL is an online translation tool that is widely regarded for its translation quality. It can translate text, documents, and websites.

SDL Trados: 

SDL Trados is a professional translation software that is commonly used in the translation industry. It facilitates translation project management and includes professional translation technologies including machine translation, word pair translation, and contextual translation.

MemoQ: 

MemoQ is another professional translation software, utilized for translation project management and delivering professional translation technologies such as machine translation, word pair translation, and contextual translation.

However, selecting the appropriate translation tool is dependent on your intended usage. If you need to translate normal text, you can use online translation programs like Google Translate and Microsoft Translator. If you require specialized document translation or professional translation, technologies like SDL Trados and MemoQ may be more appropriate.

Measuring Language Proficiency through Eye Movements

A study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers has uncovered a new way of telling how well people are learning English by tracking their eyes. The findings of this study could lead to the development of a method to determine if people are really ready to understand a new language. It also helps measure people’s ability to learn language.

Overview

This study was conducted by MIT researchers Yevgeni Berzak, Boris Katz and Roger Levy. Berzak is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. Katz is the leader of MIT’s InfoLab Group and one of the prominent principal research scientists in the academy. And Levy is the director of the Computational Psycholinguistics Laboratory in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

This study is detailed in the report “Gauging language proficiency through eye movement: Study tracks eye movement to determine how well people understand English as a foreign language.” The study was sponsored in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation and by MIT’s Center for Brains, Minds and Machines. The report was published in the Proceedings of the 16th Annual Meeting of the North American Region of the Society for Computational Linguistics: Human Language Technology.

How was the study conducted?

For this study, records from previous work done by Berzak were examined. Berzak’s previous work involved 145 student volunteers who were learning English as a second language and 37 native English speakers. Those foreign learners were divided into 4 groups based on their native language: Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.

Berzak’s earlier research collected eye movements from volunteers while they were reading texts in English, including 156 sentences, half of which were the same to every volunteer. Their eye movements were recorded on video and analyzed.

EyeScore

The study (“Assessing Language Proficiency from Eye Movements in Reading”) assigned an “EyeScore” for each participant who was made to read the 156 sentences. This score was based on how the participants’ eyes reacted to the words they were reading, as they were observed to intensively focus their sight on certain words. There were specific focus durations or patterns in their eye movements noted as they went along reading the sentences they were asked to read.

The EyeScore is anchored on how the eye movement patterns of English as a second language learners compare to those of native English speakers. Higher scores are given to those whose eye movement patterns were closely matched to the eye movement patterns of those who speak fluent English (as their first language). As mentioned, the study used a group of people who were learning English as a second language as well as a group of native English speakers.

After evaluating the EyeScore of the participants in the study, the researchers found a direct correlation (of the EyeScore results) with the Michigan English Test as well as the TOEFL or the Test of English as a Foreign Language. This led the researchers to conclude that EyeScore can be used as a metric for gauging language proficiency as it appeared to generate results that were comparable to those of standardized English proficiency tests.

The authors of the study consider this as the initial proof of concept that can be used to develop a system based on eye tracking for the evaluation of linguistic ability. It can bring about the development of a formal system that can be used alongside other language proficiency tests or as a standalone test.

Berzak, for his part, says that eye movement tends to reveal language proficiency to a large extent based on how the EyeScore can be measured against standardized test benchmarks. He thinks that eye movement data obtained while a person is reading is “very rich and very informative.”

Breaking into the illusion of continuity

Studying eye movements while reading is like an attempt to dig deep into the illusion of continuity in reading. There’s this phenomenon in reading wherein eye movements actually fluctuate depending on what is being read, something that hardly anyone notices and nobody may have noticed if not for the study conducted by Berzak.

As Berzak’s dataset revealed, the eyes do not move continuously upon reading a line of texts. The eyes don’t smoothly and continuously pass over words. What happens is that the eyes focus on certain words for up to 250 milliseconds. Likewise, the eyes tend to jump from one word to another for a duration of about a twentieth of a second.

According to Roger Levy, one of the three researchers, the eyes are leaping around, usually forward and occasionally backward. The brain then stitches together the information the eyes obtain and creates the illusion of a smooth and continuous reading experience. Levy says this is a demonstration of the mind’s ability to trick itself, to produce illusions.

Things are a little different, though, when it comes to learning a new language. When reading texts in a new language in particular, the eyes may dwell longer on certain words as the reader takes slightly more time to understand them or to try recalling what they mean. The eye movements of those who use English as a second or as a new language can reveal patterns that reflect their level of comprehension of the language.

Applications of the study

To emphasize, the findings of the research present a novel approach in measuring a person’s second language proficiency. As described by the researchers, this approach can provide standalone English proficiency scores based on eye-tracking data. This may introduce a new way to evaluate the English proficiency of immigrants entering the United States, especially in light of recent immigration policy changes in the country.

The EyeScore can serve as an objective and reliable way to test English proficiency, which can be used alongside written and spoken tests. It can even be better than written tests since it’s not possible to use a test “leak” to prepare for it. Eye movements when reading tend to be instinctive and may not be faked to imitate the eye movements of native English speakers.

Using reading eye movement tests to evaluate English proficiency might be an overkill for immigration screening, though. It entails additional costs and may not produce significant benefits. As mentioned in the description of the research, the EyeScore only shows strong correlation with standardized tests for English proficiency. Hence, it only predicts the results of such proficiency tests or affirms these results. It’s farfetched for it to become a replacement for the written tests for English proficiency.

Perhaps, it would be more applicable in the scrutiny of those who are expected to perform special language services. Providers of translation services including those working in the government, for example, can employ the EyeScore approach to ascertain that the translators they are getting are truly proficient or fluent in the foreign languages they are specializing in.

It would be great if the study included information on the cost of doing the test. The cost factor is certainly something that will be considered by users in deciding whether or not to adopt this test. The EyeScore can be used to evaluate how students are learning a new language. Language learning schools may want to consider using it as it can help them scrutinize in-depth the learning progress of students and implement pedagogical changes to achieve better learning results.

Outlook of the study

The findings of this study opens new questions that are worth exploring. Boris Katz, one of the researchers, notes that the human reading ability exemplifies the “amazing plasticity” of the brain, pointing out that humans only started processing written texts in the last several millennia. This sounds like a long time ago but it actually does not compare to the time when humans started demonstrating learning skills. Katz thinks the bigger question in all of these is how language affects the human brain.

Roger Levy, on the other hand, thinks that their eye test study can be extended beyond 156 sentences to explore more potential new information about human intelligence. It can be made more specific so experts can come up with more definitive judgments concerning even smaller strings of texts.

Levy is optimistic of the possibility that in the future, a person’s understanding of written texts can be determined on a sentence-by-sentence basis. Through the eye movement test, it may be possible to gauge how well someone understands a sentence by monitoring the movements of the eyes while a person is made to read a sentence.

Incorporating eye movement tracking in English proficiency gauging is a good demonstration of how technology improves various things or processes. Hopefully, this is something that can be done cheaply, with just a smartphone and a special app for example, so it can be adopted by more users.

Conversion rate: Measure the success of your website

Conversion rate is no stranger to digital content marketing. It helps digital marketing strategists measure exactly how effective a website is in achieving its target. So what is conversion rate? And why is it so important? In this article, I will focus on these two questions to help you find the right strategies for your website.

First things first, what is conversion rate?

Conversion rate (CR): is the percentage of website visitors converting into customers. Actual conversion rates fall into two categories:

Direct Conversion Rate (DCR): is the percentage of customers who takes direct action to buy the product they are interested in.

Indirect Conversion rate (IDCR): is the percentage of customers who buy other products that were not initially their intention when visiting your website.

To better understand, let’s take an example. Given that there are 100 customers visiting AM Vietnam’s website to ask for professional translation services. After that, 50 other people request AM Vietnam for translation services and another 30 request for interpretation services. DCR would be 50/100 or 50% and IDCR would be 30/100 or 30%.

So what is the CR here? It would range between 50% and 80%.

No matter your purpose for developing a website, one thing you should always keep in mind is the “conversion rate”. To put it simple, conversion rate measures how successful a website is.

Why is conversion rate important for website operators?

Website operators are usually the sales businesses themselves. Some of them are e-commerce service providers like Amazon or Expedia. To answer this question, I’m going to dive deeper into the meaning and benefits of conversion rate.

#1. Sales strategy planning

A higher conversion rate means you need to prepare a larger scale sales plan for future purposes. Your customers accumulates, which means the total demand for services will probably grow beyond your business capacity.

#2. Building the right digital marketing strategies

If the conversion rate is lower than expected, your current strategy require further consideration. You will have to find out the reason why it happens and make changes in time before being surpassed by your opponent.

#3. Items strategy and integrated marketing

If you are concerned with IDCR, you will see which items you need to focus more on. The relevance of your items is also evident in helping you develop suitable sales programs and encourage multiple product purchases from buyers.

#4. More productive stimulus programs

It is a good practice to analyze the correlation between DCR and IDCR to better understand inventory risks and opportunities to increase product sales. A product having high sales result also means lower inventory level. Promotions can also be effective because you know customers are interest in your products.

Conclusion

The goal for building a commercial website is to get more people to visit it and buy products from you. The combination of advertising, SEO and conversion rate analysis is a great toolkit to help you achieve successful sales efforts. You can seek further advice and assistance from AM Vietnam.

Super Brain: 03 ways to get a photographic memory

Photographic memory is a type of memory surrounded by controversy. Some people think it’s just a joke, but some believe it’s real.

In the history, there was a person officially recorded as having a photographic memory, yet passed away. She was Elizabeth, a Harvard student.

Elizabeth was verified by Charles Stromeyer III in 1970. Stromeyer showed Elizabeth a set of 10,000 dots with her left eye. After 24 hours, Elizabeth was shown another set of 10,000 dots with her right eye.

From two images obtained with her left and right eye, Elizabeth’s brain combined them into a three-dimensional image, also known as a stereogram. How impressive it is!

However, Elizabeth was then married by Stromeyer, so she has never been verified again. Since then, scientists have made no new discoveries about the existence of photographic memory.

The closest manifestation of this type of memory is the extraordinary ability to retrieve information. If you’re looking for a way to get Elizabeth’s memory, no one can help you. Either you are born with it, or you’re not.

However, according to Oxford, visual memory is something achievable.

“The ability to remember information or visual images in great detail” – Oxford Dictionary

The method of Loci

This method dates back to the Roman Empire. It was written about in detail by Cicero. He is also an avid memory art enthusiast.

The Method of Loci is also known as the “Memory Palace” technique. It involves assigning information to a place for better memory storage.

Marcos Tullio Cicero, a former consul of the Roman Empire, is also one of the most influential proponents of this method. He wrote a nice anecdote, De Oratore, which tells the story about the poet named Simonides.

Legend has it that when Simonides was attending a banquet, a disaster struck while he was absent from the hall. The hall ceiling fell down on the guests, killing and making them unrecognizable.

The families of the victims were unwilling to risk taking the wrong body. They asked Simonides if he could identify any of the bodies.

To their rescue, Simonides said he could identify all of the guests. He did it by correlating the position where a guest was seated to his position.

And that’s what started the Method of Loci. In its essence, the Method of Loci has not changed – it has only been complemented.

Also called the journey method, it is probably the most effective mnemonic filing system ever devised. It uses locations as memory aids.

Basically, you will associate items to be memorized with places that are well known to you. It can be your house, neighborhood, workplace, or parts of your body.

How to use the method of Loci:

First, memorize a series of images of familiar locations in a natural logical order. The more familiar you are with the location, the easier it is for you to assign information.

This set of images is then used each time you use the Loci system. Actually, it isn’t important what images you choose as long as you can visualize them clearly and vividly.

For example, you want to memorize your grocery list: bread, chocolate, honey, tea, butter and eggs.

Assume that the location is your kitchen. Now, start by imagining yourself in the kitchen. The bread and chocolate spread are on the table. The honey and tea are inside the cupboard while the butter and eggs are in the fridge.

To recall the list, imagine yourself going through the locations ― in other words, taking a route. Imagine you are about to have breakfast so you go to the table first and get a slice of bread and put chocolate spread on it. Next, you will get honey as the sweetener for the tea that you are preparing. Lastly, you will cook eggs for breakfast so you’ll get the butter and eggs inside the fridge.

You will go to the table, cupboard and then fridge. So, you have to assign the items to these locations. Table – bread and chocolate spread. Cupboard – honey and tea. Fridge – butter and eggs.

Lastly, take a route as if you’re walking to the table, then to the cupboard, and lastly to the fridge. As you go through the places, you will recall the items.

Test yourself about your progress by going through the route until you can remember all the items in order.

Memory peg

This method is quite similar to the Loci system. But in this method, you use a list of numerical rhymes known as memory pegs instead of using locations to associate the information.

Here are the common numerical rhymes memory pegs:

1 = gun; 2 = zoo; 3 = tree; 4 = door; 5 = hive; 6 = bricks; 7 = heaven; 8 = plate; 9 = wine; 10 = hen

If you need more than 10 pegs, here’s a list that shows up to 1000 pegs.

It works by linking the number rhymes with something that you want to remember.

In our example, we have bread, chocolate, honey, tea, butter, and eggs. The more exaggerated the link is, the easier it is to remember. So, you could create the following links:

(1-gun): Bread – Picture a gun shooting bread

(2 – zoo): Chocolate – Imagine all the animals in the zoo covered in chocolate

(3 – tree): Honey – Imagine the honey dripping off the tree

(4-door): Tea – Picture a door made of teabags

(5-hive): Butter – Visualize a hive made of butter

(6-bricks): Eggs – Picture bricks made of eggs

This technique is similar to the Loci system because it links something you want to remember to a visual image. The difference is that you use a list of images that you’ve already memorized to link the information.

Military method

The military is always doing experiments to advance their scientific knowledge. One of their discoveries involves training their operatives to have a photographic memory.

This method will take you at least 1 month to develop. You must also practice it every day because one missed day will set you back a week.

Step 1: You must be in a windowless, dark room. You need to be free from distraction with only a bright lamp in the room.

Step 2: Sit in a position where you have easy access to turn your light on and off without getting up. Next, get a piece of paper and cut a rectangular hole out of it.

Step 3: Now, get whatever it is that you’re trying to memorize. Cover it with the piece of paper, exposing only 1 paragraph.

Then, adjust your distance from the book in a way that your eyes will automatically focus on the words instantly upon opening.

Step 4: Turn off the light and let your eyes adjust to the dark. Flip the light on for a split second and then off again.

By doing so, you will have a visual imprint in your eyes of the material that was in front of you.

Step 5: When the imprint is fading, flip the light on again for a split second, while again staring at the material.

Step 6: Rinse and repeat the process until you can memorize every word in the paragraph.

You will know you did it right if you’ll be able to see the paragraph and read from the imprint in your mind.

For the military method, you may not have success immediately- it can take a month or more. But if you commit to practicing this every day, for at least 15 minutes a day, then you will see impressive improvement.

Conclusion

Practicing the three methods mentioned above can also help you develop your brain. Giving your memory the nutrients, sleep, and exercise it needs will greatly improve its effectiveness. Practice will take time, but with this guide, and persistency, you can derive great strength from having an excellent memory.

Learn about language industry standards

Standard can simply be understood as a unified way of doing something. In other words, every job needs an order and rules of implementation. Standards help managers control work scientifically, control product quality or meet market criteria.

Standards help standardize processes, standardize products and becomes a symbol of quality. Or, as ISO puts it, the standards “make things work”.

We are familiar with many standards in different fields, such as ISO standards for quality management, medical devices, European standards, German standards, etc. There are also standards for the language industry. You may not know it, but many of these standards are being applied every day without being recognized.

1. The importance of standards

Imagine a world without standards…

That’s an interesting assumption. To start, there would presumably be no currency, so trade would be limited to barter, which would be further limited to only those things that one could create by hand. Getting to trade centers itself would also be an uncertain proposition. Would the road be wide enough for your cart when there are no width standards?

There is a great, early episode of the Radiolab podcast that describes life in the American Midwest in the 1800s before the practice of standardized timekeeping. Prior to the introduction of the railroad system, the clocks in banks, saloons and shops as well as people’s watches were set against the general rising and setting of the sun.

As these towns became connected through a network of rail lines, the absence of a time standard emerged as a problem. How to develop route paths with connections if one train’s “late” is another train’s “early”? It was a problem that ultimately required the adoption of the time standard “rail time”. Today, the world (and the trains) use Coordinated Universal Time.

Language industry also encountered problems during the non-standards era. When text had to be translated before the wide adoption of Unicode; every language and platform had its own encoding permutations. A paragraph of text in Czech would need to be encoded in Windows-1250 if it was to be read on a Windows machine, while for the Mac it would need to be “Code Page 10029”. Back then, we were constantly transcoding content, and character corruption was frequent.

It was a problem made worse by the fact that a lot of translation was done within Microsoft Word using the RTF format, a changing protocol that made encoding decisions based on the name of the font used when typing the text. Since fonts themselves could have different encoding variants, and people often did not have the same fonts on their computers, text that looked perfect in one instance of Microsoft Word could appear corrupted in another!

Fortunately, RTF as a bi-text format was replaced by XLIFF. Thanks to that, we hardly ever run into character corruption today.

2. Language industry standards

Unicode and XML are two very famous language display standards. You may also be familiar with the standards TMX, TBX and SRX —for the exchange of translation memory content, terminology assets and segmentation rules, respectively—developed by the now defunct Localization Industry Standards Association (or LISA).

Here are few that you might not be familiar with.

XLIFF 2

XLIFF 2 is a version of XLIFF, but it is technically its own standard because it is not backward compatible with its predecessor. XLIFF 2 is the result of years of real-world application of XLIFF, and therefore a response to some of XLIFF’s limitations. This solution provides greater extensibility (through modules), including the Metadata Module, a valuable capability in the context of content enrichment.

XLIFF 2 is called out because, as an industry that did a good job supporting the earlier XLIFF, we are under the misapprehension that we are already “standardized. XLIFF 1 is certainly better than no XLIFF, but XLIFF 2 is better that XLIFF 1. There is more work to be done.

TAPICC

TAPICC is the Translation API Cases and Classes, a standards-oriented project. TAPICC is an initiative sponsored by GALA (the Globalization and Localization Association) that seeks to standardize the API methods used by various CMS, TMS, LQA tools and other systems that need to exchange information during localization.

MQM/DQF

The Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM) standard and the MQM-harmonized Dynamic Quality Framework (DQF) from TAUS constitute a framework by which as an industry we can define and quantify language quality using, well, the same language.

Internationalization Tag Set (ITS)

The Internationalization Tag Set is a way of enriching XML and HTML documents with information that supports the localization effort (or can enrich such documents about the localization effort).

In our interview with Professor Dave Lewis from the ADAPT Research Centre on the subject of the Provenance of Global Content, the professor described some of the work he has done to support the notion of provenance tracking within the tag set.

We have been introduced to some of the most popular and commonly used standards in the language industry. Subscribe here to more learn more about language as well as digital content.

As a pioneer in the field of translation and language solutions in Vietnam, AM Vietnam always updates and applies the latest standards in the industry. With two basic foundations, ISO 9001 and ISO 17100, AM Vietnam is confident to meet all customer requirements, whether in terms of quality or technical factors.

Translation corner: 7 “classic” cases of medical translation errors

1. Intoxicado and Intoxicated – a term costs $71 million.

This is perhaps one of the most “expensive” error in the history of medical translation. It happened when Willie Ramirez was only 18 years old, in one time the young man went out to gather with friends. Ramirez suddenly had a severe headache and almost passed out. He was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment. Waking up from a coma, Ramirez was informed that he would never walk again. A intracerebral hemorrhage left him a quadriplegic for life.But it did not have to be that way. The hemorrhage was completely treatable. Unfortunately, his family did not have the support of a Spanish interpreter. That’s why, when Ramirez’s family told doctors at the emergency room that they believed Willie had intoxicado, he was treated in the direction of intoxicated, or drug overdose.Intoxicated means inebriated or poisoned, and in this case, the emergency physician understood that Ramirez was poisoned from taking too much of a stimulant. However, among Cubans, “intoxicado” is kind of an all encompassing word that means there’s something wrong with you because of something you ate or drank.Doctors only discovered the hemorrhage after many days of improper treatment. And by then, it was too late. The hospital took responsible for and compensated about $ 71 million to pay for Ramirez’s care for the rest of his life, for not appointing a professional interpreter to assist the patient and the doctors in the process of examination.

2. Teresa Tarry and the unnecessary double mastectomy.

British housewife Teresa Tarry lost both of her breast after a double mastectomy in Spain in 2007. The worst part? Neither of these surgeries was necessary. The lump she initially sought help for wasn’t even cancerous! It all came from a error when translating medical records.According to the Daily Mail, she claimed doctors believed that both Teresa’s mother and sister had suffered from breast cancer after a translation error ended up on her medical records. Then she struggled in speaking to the doctors. In fact, Teresa’s family had no history of breast cancer, so her mastectomy was completely unnecessary.After losing her job and living in “hell” for eight years, in 2015, she decided to sue the hospital for a compensation of up to 600,000 euros.

3. The translation error resulting in 47 failed surgeries.

Medical translation errors don’t have to be fatal to have serious consequences. Between 2006 and 2007, 47 cases of failed surgeries for knee replacement occurred in Germany resulting from a translation error. The Journal of Specialised Translation describes this incident as follows:Knee prosthesis comes in two types that should be used with or without cement. In the source language of the prosthesis package information, it said that the femoral component should be non-modular cemented. The mistranslation said that the component was without cement or non-cemented.Knee replacement surgery is a painful procedure that takes months of recovery. Over the course of a year, 47 people had to undergo that ordeal twice for no reason.

4. George Vs. Biggs – Informed consent requires patient understanding

In 2015, Sandra George, a Macedonian woman with limited English, went to the hospital to be treated for her vestibular nerve tumor. During her first visit, she asked a friend to translate instead of hiring a professional interpreter. When she left the hospital, she assumed that her tumor was malignant. But that was not the case. And in later visits, despite being assisted by professional Macedonian interpreters, she still believed that she had malignant cancer.

Dr. Biggs, one of the doctors in charge of Mrs. George’s surgery, accidentally cut her facial nerve during the operation, resulting in palsy on one side of her face. Just imagine how upset she must have been to find out that the tumor was not even melanoma!

This case shows the importance of professional interpreters throughout the examination process. Sometimes, misunderstandings are easy to happen, but to correct them is extremely difficult. It is best to do it right from the start.

5. Francisco Torres and the removal of the wrong kidney.

In 2010, Riverside Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center in California performed surgery on a Spanish-speaking patient named Francisco Torres. The purpose of the surgery was to remove the bad kidney of this man.

Following the instructions of the hospital staff, Torres signed the consent form for surgery with information about the kidney to be removed. This form is written in English. Without a Spanish copy or an interpreter, Torres could not know that the kidney that would be removed was the healthy kidney. After realizing the mistake, the hospital proceeded to remove the diseased kidney as well. This left him with no kidneys.

According to NBC, the Department of Health cited the hospital “for errors leading up to the surgery, including failing to follow safety protocol and failing to communicate accurately with the Spanish-speaking patient”.

6. Tragedy of the Tran family.

In this case, the patient, a girl of only nine years, was asked to interpret for herself until she collapsed as a result of a reaction to one of her prescriptions. At that point, her 16-year-old brother took over and attempted to translate for his Vietnamese-speaking parents By the time the doctor understood what was going on, the little girl had passed away.

Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to have family members interpreting for patients. Relying on a child in distress to translate the information her parents need to make decisions about her care is even worse.

Additionally, when the girl was initially discharged from the hospital after being dosed with the drug that would kill her, none of the discharge instructions were translated into Vietnamese.

The patient’s family then sued and was awarded 200,000 USD. As an expert witness at the trial stated: “Conducting the communications without a professional medical interpreter failed to meet the standards of care applicable for the physician and the facility. The effect is [that] she did not receive the care she should have. The parents were not able to adequately understand and address her medical needs. In my opinion, the failure of the doctor and the facility to provide a professional medical interpreter was a substantial factor in causing [patient]’s death”.

7. Lin’s Case – When the interpreter was a minor patient.

In the Lin case, the patient, a 17-year-old girl originally from Taiwan but living in California, developed a brain abscess after being hit in the head with a tennis racquet. In the emergency room, she acted as interpreter for her parents until she went into respiratory arrest.

According to Pacific Interpreters: “Not only was the minor daughter acting as the interpreter for her parents, she was also interpreting complex medical terminology, and the life-threatening conditions she was communicating were her own”.

Since she did not receive timely treatment for the abscess, she died. There’s no way to tell whether or not better communication would have improved the outcome. But it is hard to imagine that the doctor, the patient, and her family were communicating effectively under those circumstances.

Conclusions

Professional medical translation and interpreting services save lives and improve quality of care. Controlling healthcare costs is on everyone’s minds these days, but translation and interpreting are not places to cut corners.

Learn French, Why Not?

Are you planning to learn French but still hesitant? Want to speak a second foreign language? Here are 5 reasons to help you decide!

#1. French – the language spoken all over the world

Around the world, about 200 million people on all 5 continents are speaking French. The Francophonie is an organization made up of 68 countries and governments. French is also the most widely chosen foreign language after English and is the 5th most spoken language in the world. In addition, France is currently the country with the largest network of cultural organizations abroad, spreading the French language with more than 750,000 participants.

#2. Advantages for your career

Nowadays, knowing a foreign language is no longer a big plus, especially when English has become popular. A second foreign language like French will make you stand out a lot in the eyes of employers. Job opportunities for French today also continue to expand in many fields such as tourism, education, culture, food processing, cosmetics, etc.

Looking further, using French fluently helps you open the door to the world with the opportunity to work in many French-speaking countries such as France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and some other African countries.

#3. The key to a great culture

French is often referred to as the language of the arts, this is reflected in many arts from food, fashion, theater to dance, architecture or the visual arts. We may have heard of the fashion capital Paris, the Louvre – the world’s largest museum, the Eiffel Tower or French cuisine with cheese wine and foie gras. But it will be much better when you learn about them in the language that makes them.

Another charming thing, the French are always proud that their language is considered the language of love. Many researchers around the world have said that there is rarely a language so beautiful and melodious. If you don’t believe it, listen to “la vie en rose” or watch an excerpt from “Notre Dame de Paris”, maybe you will fall in love with French in no time.

#4. Useful travel luggage

According to the latest figures published in the newspaper Les Echos, France was the most popular destination in the world in 2014 with more than 83 million visitors. The city of light Paris is a bit more modest with 2nd place in the top of the most attractive cities on the planet. With invaluable baggage is a bit of French, this will give visitors a wonderful experience when visiting Paris or every other part of this country from Bordeaux – the country of wine, Avignon – the city art or Fontainebleau – dream forest.

A little secret, the French are very fond of tourists who speak their language, unlike many European countries they are famously “lazy” to speak English. Besides, because this language is widely used in the world, they will also be very useful when you visit Switzerland, Belgium, Monaco, Canada or some African countries.

#5. French – the language is not too difficult to learn

It can be said that learning French is not difficult, especially for those of you who have studied another Latin language such as English. Learning methods, documents, textbooks, etc. about French are diverse and easily searchable. In Vietnam, you can also register for many clubs or “crabs” to learn French at a reasonable cost.

Whether the reasons that convince you to choose French are one, two, three or all five of the above! One thing is for sure, you will never regret it. And who knows, maybe you’ll love French as your mother tongue!

Overview of types of e-commerce

Since its start, E-commerce has been changing the way we live, shop and do business. After the development process, e-commerce is divided into many types.

Generally, there are six main models of ecommerce that businesses can be categorized into:

B2C.
B2B.
C2C.
C2B.
B2A.
C2A.

Let’s review each type of electronic commerce in a bit more detail.

1. B2C: Business-to-Consumer.

B2C ecommerce encompasses transactions made between a business and a consumer. B2C is one of the most popular sales models in the e-commerce context. Buying shoes from an online retailer is an example of this type.

2. B2B: Business-to-Business.

Unlike B2C, B2B ecommerce encompasses sales made between businesses, such as a manufacturer and a wholesaler or retailer. This type happens only between businesses and is not consumer-facing. Traded goods are usually raw materials or products that are packaged before being sold to customers.

3. C2C: Consumer-to-Consumer.

C2C is one of the earliest forms of e-commerce. Customer-to-customer relates to the sale of products or services between customers, including retail transactions commonly found on Shopee or Sendo.

4. C2B: Consumer-to-Business.

C2B reverses the traditional ecommerce model, meaning individual consumers make their products or services available for business buyers.

For example, the iStockPhoto business model in which stock photos are available online for business to purchase directly from different photographers.

5. B2G: Business-to-Government.

B2G covers the transactions made between online businesses and government with the products and services related to legal documents, social security, etc.

6. C2G: Consumer-to-Government.

C2G is similar to B2G, but consumers sell online products or services to a governmental agency. C2G might include online consulting for education, online tax preparation, etc.

In the history of e-commerce, four models B2C, B2B, C2B and C2C developed earliest, have the highest popularity and are also considered as traditional types of e-commerce. B2G and C2G are two types developed later, focusing on improving the efficiency of government agencies with the support of information technology, facilitating management, and helping public services operate more smoothly and bring more convenience to people. In particular, businesses should carefully consider if they want to develop with the goal of applying B2G as they need to strictly comply with the provisions of the Enterprise Law under the control of state agencies.