Technolex Translation Studio

Recently, we conducted the "What is the most difficult and easiest part of being a translator?" survey. It turned out that the pace of work and large volumes of translation are both the most difficult and the easiest things for translators. This situation demonstrates an interesting dynamic: what is a challenge for some translators is an advantage for others. The conclusions are as follows. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. A fast pace stimulates focus and efficiency for translators working better under pressure. However, it can be stressful for those used to a quieter pace of work. This suggests the need to take individual work styles into account. 𝑳𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. Large volumes of work can be stimulating for those seeking challenges and having a good organisational system. However, for less experienced translators or those working at a slower pace, it can feel overwhelming. These results show the importance of a personalised approach to ensure both comfort and productivity for the whole team.

💬 Drifting through various forums (student forums, just life forums/chats), you often come across the following stereotypes that are quite old, but still exist. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒔. It goes without saying that 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆. No, well, theoretically, yes. But teaching and translating are completely different processes. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 😶. No comments. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. Despite the seemingly common vocabulary and translation experience, each of these tasks requires a different set of skills. And last, our "favorite" one: 𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔. 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚. Well, let's see😉 (by the way, we already had a post about machine translation as an alternative to a human translator).

Question for translators Second part of the survey

Question for translators Feel free to add your own version in the comments. There will be another similar survey. Then we will compare the answers.

🙌 Тим часом у Technolex відбувся тренінг із надання першої домедичної допомоги. Тренінг підготовлено для нашої команди Всеукраїнською спілкою парамедиків. Дуже важлива ініціатива у такий непростий час.

"If you think it’s easy, you’re doing it wrong" perfectly captures the essence of professional translation. True mastery lies in the unseen complexities — cultural nuances, linguistic precision, and context adaptation. If it feels too simple, you might be overlooking the details that make all the difference.

Black Friday, White Friday, or Yellow Friday? ♟"Black Friday" is a day of massive sales that falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November). In many languages, translation is a literal adaptation (black + Friday). Thus, it is important to take into account the cultural context when translating: for many countries, the term is not associated with the US history, but is perceived as a marketing ploy. It is important that "black" here carries a metaphorical meaning associated with chaos or excess (in the financial sector, "black" can also mean a profitable day). Sometimes the term is adapted to the cultural context of a country. For example, some countries use alternative terms that do not have a negative connotation. ☀️ Some brands use unique names for their promotions, for example, "Yellow Friday" is their color that is associated with the brand. 🤍 In Arab countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia, UAE), Black Friday is renamed White Friday, as black is often associated with mourning. White, on the other hand, symbolizes purity and positivity. 🥇 "Golden Friday". In China and other countries, this term can be used to emphasize bargains and the "golden" sales season.

Translation ethics — accuracy, confidentiality, responsibility to the reader? What else? Translation ethics is about preserving contexts, expressions of individuality, cultural past and present, professional responsibility and competence. ❗️In addition, it is crucial to respect intellectual property rights, confidentiality and neutrality, and objectivity in translation. The main goal of translation ethics is to ensure that the translation preserves the essence, tone and meaning of the original text and does not distort its meaning. And what if the client asks to change the context and meaning slightly to adapt it to an advertising campaign? Is the translation ethics preserved? * * * Antoine Berman (The Experience of the Foreign): "The ethical aim of translation is to respect the otherness of the text, to let the foreign speak without neutralizing or domesticating it."

Why you can't ignore context in translation Imagine translating "I brought a date." Without context, this could mean you showed up with a romantic partner, a fruit, or even a specific day circled on the calendar. If you’re bringing a "date" to a dinner party, let's hope it’s the person, not the fruit! Context isn’t just useful in translation — it’s a dealbreaker. Ignoring it can lead to results that range from confusing to downright hilarious. Here are some reasons that illustrate why context is king in translation: 🔷 Literal translations without context can be funny, but not always intentional. Think of "spring rolls" translated as "rolls of spring." Looks like someone’s serving up the season instead of a meal! 🔷 Phrases can get weird without cultural context. Take "break the ice" — you might translate it literally as smashing ice if you’re not know it means to make people comfortable. Your team could end up confused, waiting for a drink instead of a friendly chat.

📅 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 11 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 17, 2024: 𝘛𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 12 🔹Nimdzi: webinar L10n in the Age of AI: Building Web 3.0 Products feat. Mo Ly, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dp9jExVg 🔹XTM: webinar XTM Cloud 13.9, online, free: https://lnkd.in/d7-JJqtb 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 13 🔹European Commission: workshop Generative AI in translation and specialised communication, online, free: https://lnkd.in/daAENZ_f 🔹GALA: webinar Cultivating Partnerships: Is Your Revenue Stream Flowing at Its Maximum Capacity?, online, $0*–$75: https://lnkd.in/d2brVkEc 🔹Griffin Poetry Prize: webinar Translation Talks: George McWhirter and Emilie Moorhouse, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dDAPeRf3 🔹Intento: webinar LLMs vs. Traditional MT Systems: A Quality and Cost Comparison, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dDx8zZZA 🔹Languages & Media: conference 15th International Conference and Exhibition on Language Transfer in Audiovisual Media (November 13–15), Budapest (Hungary), €265–€575: https://lnkd.in/dVh5GKtX 🔹Plunet: webinar Maximizing Productivity with Plunet’s Custom Templates and Automation, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dkh5RgPD 🔹RWS: webinar Transitioning from MultiTrans to Trados, online, free: https://lnkd.in/d_k72JuS 🔹Slator: webinar Uncovering the True Cost of Poor Interpretation, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dM6fMtCX 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 14 🔹CIOL: webinar Interpreting applications for asylum - how, when, where, online, free: https://lnkd.in/enYmrT-W 🔹CITLoB: webinar An Entrepreneurial Strategy for Freelance Translators, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dX3iZWys 🔹Pangeanic: webinar Multilingual Agents, Deeply Adapted MT, and Knowledge Retrieval, online, free: https://lnkd.in/ddzhACim 🔹RWS: webinar AI Regulations: a blessing in disguise?, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dmpf8wBt 🔹RWS: webinar Will AI take my job?, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dAw8_tuY 🔹Smartling: webinar What’s New and What’s Next | Fall Product Webinar, online, free: https://lnkd.in/dccTaTXN ⬇️⬇️⬇️ #usefullinks #events