Friday 31 July 2009

Proceedings of last year's translation conference

Dear all,

This is just to let you know that the proceedings of the 2008 Portsmouth Translation Conference have now been printed. The theme was "The Changing Face of Translation" and the proceedings include contributions by translation scholars, trainers and industry professionals. Copies are available for a special introductory price of £4 plus 50p postage. Please send a cheque made out to the University of Portsmouth for £4.50 to:

Naomi Britton
Translation Conference Secretary
School of Languages
University of Portsmouth
Park Building
King henry I Street
Portsmouth PO1 2DZ
United Kingdom

Thursday 30 July 2009

translation job opportunity

Dear all,

I have been contacted by a UK-based translation and interpreting company looking to add suitably qualified (graduate) linguists to their database. They are particularly looking for native speakers of English. They cover telephone interpreting, face-to-face interpreting and translation. If you are interested, please contact me at carol.osullivan@port.ac.uk for a registration form.

Carol

Friday 24 July 2009

Introduction to subtitling

Periodically I get asked for basic reading material on subtitling, so I thought this might be an opportunity to collect together some good sites for any interested parties. These will be about interlingual subtitling (from one language to another) rather than intralingual subtitling (for the deaf and hard of hearing, also known as captioning). Subtitling has been defined in a recently published textbook as

"a translation practice that consists of presenting a written text, generally on the lower part of the screen, that endeavours to recount the original dialogue of the speakers, as well as the discursive elements that appear in the image (letters, inserts, graffiti, inscriptions, placards, and the like), and the information that is contained on the soundtrack (songs, voices off)" (Díaz Cintas & Remael, Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling, 2007, p.8).

Swedish subtitler Jan Ivarsson keeps a useful page of subtitling resources here. There's a nice piece by the filmmaker Peter Thompson on subtitles here. There's a great mini-workshop on subtitling by Jorge Díaz Cintas here which I thoroughly recommend (and feel free to drop me a line here if you want to know the answers to the last bit of the workshop!).

Subtitlers, like translators, don't tend to get famous, but there are a few who are well-known. Linda Hoaglund has subtitled films by Kurosawa and others, and has an interesting website here with subtitled film clips. There's a nice piece from the 1950s by David Gunston about the British subtitler Mai Harris on the blog of the Association des Traducteurs et Adaptateurs de l'Audiovisuel. The site is in French but the article and various supporting materials are in English. The novelist and translator Anthony Burgess, inventor of Nadsat and of the strange, proto-Indo-European language of La Guerre du Feu, subtitled Jean-Paul Rappeneau's film of Rostand's rhyming play Cyrano de Bergerac in rhyme:



Lastly, allow me to recommend this subtitled short film by the Italian filmmaker Maxi Dejoie, which I saw a couple of years ago at the London sf film festival. Check it out - it's bleak post-apocalyptic sf (so, my favourite) but the subtitles are also surprising. And try to guess what language the subtitles are translating... :)

Monday 20 July 2009

conversation about ES-EN literary translation


Hi all,

I've just been listening to a very nice conversation between the translator Esther Allen and the novelist Jose Manuel Prieto at a literary lunch organised by the Centre for the Art of Translation. Have a listen to the audio recordings at their website. Of particular interest to those of you working with Spanish.


Monday 13 July 2009

working as a linguist at the UN

Just came across this film produced for last year's International Year of Languages which gives a nice overview of what it's like to work for the UN as a linguist:

http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/languageexam.htm

Sorry you'll have to copy and paste the link - must learn html one of these days... :(

Friday 10 July 2009

PhD bursaries deadline 24 July

Dear all,

Any of you who may be considering contining your studies in translation to doctoral level may like to know that the Faculty has made available substantial support for doctoral research beginning in October 2009. There are two more full bursaries including fees and maintenance, and details can be found at http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/faculties/facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences/mphilphdprogrammes/Bursaries/#d.en.98500. These are for several fields, not just translation, but there are also several fees-only bursaries available (for this year only), so it's well worth applying! There is a brief list of supervision areas on the website, but feel free to get in touch if you you're not sure whether your possible topic is included.
Carol

DE-EN translation job in Germany

Dear all,
I have recently learned of the following opportunity which may be of interest to those of you who work from German into English and are available to move to Germany. As always, please note the requirements carefully.

My name is Lucian Dumitrescu and I am a managing partner with altalingua. Our company is specialized in automotive translations working for customers like VW and Audi.

We have now a request for de > en on site translators in Wolfsburg, Germany [...]
Here are more details:

- contract to be signed for 01.09.2009 – 31.12.2010, with the possibility of it being renewed

- translator to work at the VW premises, with desk & PC to be provided by the customer

- working hours are flexible; basis is a 40h / week, with potential 9h-10h days when specific jobs require it; a 180h / month will be our contractual basis

- texts to be translated are diverse: from owner's documentation to service literature and marketing presentations

- extensive de > en glossary and TMs will support the translation process, plus in-house customer support for queries

Payment:

- our suggested payment is 4.000 Euros / month with potential overtime (weekends & co.) to be calculated separately

- translator to provide monthly invoices to altalingua

Requirements:

- university degree in translations or another university degree and at least 2 years hands-on experience in translations

- very good command of German and native proficiency in English (the exact words from VW: Englisch Muttersprache als Kultursprache)

- experience in working with CAT tools (Trados)

If you would be interested in this job, the steps we have been informed about are:

- sample translation

- interviews and a final test in Wolfsburg with the prospective candidates.

Just let me know if this position suits your interests.
I look forward to receiving your answer.

Best regards,
Lucian Dumitrescu
Managing Partner
altalingua
Eastern European Solutions

tel: +40 21 326.80.83
fax: +40 21 326.80.82
mobile: +40 742 154.254
lucian.dumitrescu@alta-lingua.com
www.alta-lingua.com

Monday 6 July 2009

call for freelance translators

Hello all!
Where did the sun go?!? Oh well. Have just received this email via a colleague which may be of interest to some of you.

Good morning,
I am writing to let you know that we are currently recruiting freelance translators at Orb Translations. We are very keen to work with translators at an early stage in their career as we understand how difficult it can be to start out as a freelancer therefore I would be grateful if you could pass this message on to your MA Translation students who may be interested in applying.

We are currently looking to recruit for all language combinations but are particularly interested in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Greek, Korean, Portuguese and Urdu. I have attached an application form which can be returned directly to me at this email address or there is also an online application form on the website (http://www.orbtranslations.com/form.htm). Obviously as your students will just be starting out, they do not need to worry too much about giving 2 referees.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kind regards,
Louise Clegg

Orb Translations
29 Otley Old Road, Leeds, LS16 6HB, UK
T: +44(0)1138154149
M: +44(0)7929207675
F: +44(0)1132987966
www.orbtranslations.com