بيئة الترجمة في السعودية: عشوائية ومعوقات – The Translation Environment in Saudi Arabia: Disorder and Obstacles

An Al-Hayat article on the translation environment in Saudi Arabia – haphazard, under-regulated and full of obstacles. Much of it applies across the Gulf.

الحياة – بيئة الترجمة في السعودية.. عشوائية ومعوقات

واقع الترجمة في العالم العربي – The State of Translation in the Arab World

An Arabic-language video discussion on the state of translation in the Arab world.

Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Shows a Little Localization Goes a Long Way | Rubric

Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Shows a Little Localization Goes a Long Way | Rubric

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Alignment in SDL Trados Studio 2014 SP1

An overview of the alignment feature in Studio 2014 SP1 – how to turn old translations into usable translation memory. Good material for a CAT tools class.

Translation Survey! We request your help! please devote 15 min of yoru team to fill up the survey.

Thanks

Create your own user feedback survey

How Do We Perceive Translation in the Arab World? A Research Questionnaire

How is translation understood in the Arab region, and how are translators perceived? A short questionnaire is gathering views for a research project, and your opinion counts.

Original post: How do we perceive translation and translators in the Arab world? (Research questionnaire)

Please take 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire at the link below. It is part of a research project on the notion of translation in the Arab region, and the results will feed into a chapter of the World Atlas of Translation (Benjamins). When you have finished, please press the 'Done' or 'Submit' button. Your opinion is highly valuable.

The link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tarjama

Many thanks for your cooperation. For any questions, please contact us:

• Fouad El Karnichi: fouadelkarnichi@gmail.com
• Salah Basalamah: salah.basalamah@uottawa.ca

Translation practices in Morocco ( historial view)

http://www.alalam.ma/def.asp?codelangue=23&id_info=50918&date_ar=2010-7-30

Translation in Language Teaching Is Not Translator Education

"Translation in language teaching has by no means the objective of educating translators; rather, it is an activity which might stimulate the cognitive potential of an adult or adolescent learner and is thus supposed to complement other activities, not to replace them." (Little et al., 2009, p. 2)

This quotation captures an ongoing issue in the orientation of many translation programmes I informally reviewed during my doctoral work. The stated objective of most translation programmes at Gulf universities is to prepare graduates for the translation market. Yet a language-oriented paradigm still reigns over the translatorial, mediation-oriented knowledge and competencies that future language mediators, translators and interpreters, will need when they enter the real world.

Translation Is a Discipline, Not a Language Exercise

Developing cognitive abilities is only one chunk of the complex set of skills, knowledge and abilities professional translators deploy, and which we should prepare our students to deploy. Translation is a disciplinary area of knowledge that has developed tremendously over the last three decades. The knowledge universe of translation as a phenomenon should be made clear to students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level: they should be introduced to the main constructs and concepts in the field and how they interrelate, and to their socio-economic and professional relevance.

Our survey taught us that the concept of translation needs to be re-examined among administrators, students and faculty alike in the region. Housing translation programmes in language faculties should be handled carefully; programme orientation and objectives must be rethought and not confused with the disciplinary boundaries of linguistics or literary studies. A thin, but complementary, disciplinary boundary needs to be drawn. As Durieux (2010) puts it, translation is about translations and translators; language studies is about the study of language.

What Programmes Need

Clarity about where we orient our programmes, and qualified human resources who can deliver praxis-oriented instruction, knowledge and skills, is a hurdle we must overcome. Wasting students' time on decontextualised knowledge, instead of profession-oriented skills and abilities that go beyond the cognitive and the linguistic, costs these programmes their socio-economic relevance.

We adopt a comprehensive, integrated approach to translator education in which all of the above elements are taken into account, in varying degrees, with the focus on the translatorial, mediation-oriented knowledge universe. A design-based model of instruction, centred on facilitating learning environments rather than transmitting knowledge, is ideal. Discipline-specific didactics and pedagogies should take precedence over the one-size-fits-all model higher education has promoted for so long. Lecturing is not the only way to enhance adult learning and transformation; there are active pedagogies that can empower students and instigate significant learning experiences.

Qualitative Analysis of Interview Data: A Step-by-Step Guide

A step-by-step guide to analysing qualitative interview data – I found it useful during my own PhD fieldwork, and I recommend it to research students.

Faking MURSI'S speech by the translator

التلفزيون الإيراني يحرّف عمداً خطاب الرئيس محمد مرسي

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq6d9BjKXeM

Translating as Risk Management

A talk on translating as risk management – the idea that translators constantly weigh which risks to take and which to avoid, which is a productive way to teach decision-making.

Interpreting for Television

A look at interpreting for television – a demanding specialisation that deserves more attention in interpreter training.

It has been a while !

Yes! It has been a while since I did not place any of my reflections in this Blog. Well! There has been a delay because I was so busy with my on-going doctoral work. Doing my studies at the faculty of education instead of Arts and Letters (Department of translation or linguistics), is challenging. Folks in the Education unit stress heavily on  the methodology and didactic elements and there is no way you can escape that. This has been a privilege for me, though. At least I gained something crucial I can transfer to the domain of translation studies in general, particularly applied translation studies (training, quality and technology). I have finished my seminars now and am preparing to deposit my research project, soon after (around summer) I will be doing my Data Collection, then analysis and then depositing my doctoral thesis.

Last year, while in Oman, I managed to network with key colleagues operating in the translation programs in many universities in the country. I am pleased that they showed interest in the project and were ready to collaborate. This year, however, I am heading to Qatar and see if I can give more scope to my data. The problem is that the teaching of translation at a university level in Qatar  can be seen only in two institutions and at various levels (1- Qatar University: minor in translation; 2- TII: Postgraduate (MA) level). So, Qatar has a different type of practice and context. Still, this could be interesting in the sense that it will allow me to cover the teachings and curricular practices in either one country or two. It seems that Qatar has a young experience in translator training and education; but, despite that, we can see that the only fully accredited postgraduate program in translation in the region is in Qatar (The Translation and Interpreting Institute), which is very interesting. 

Uwe Muegge: Cloud-Based Translation Memory Tools Are Changing the Way Translators Work

Uwe Muegge on how cloud-based translation memory tools are reshaping translators' workflows – and, by implication, what we should be teaching.

'Cloud-based translation memory tools are changing the way translators work' by Uwe Muegge

Translation Trends for 2015

A short forecast of translation industry trends for 2015 – interesting to revisit now to see which predictions held.

The lone translator no more

The lone translator no more

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ترجمة الأفلام بدون برامج – Subtitling Films Without Software

An Arabic tutorial on subtitling a film yourself without specialist software – a low-barrier way to introduce students to audiovisual translation.

شرح كيفية ترجمة الأفلام أو أي مقطع فيديو بدون برامج – How to Subtitle Any Video Without Software

A second Arabic tutorial on subtitling films or any video clip without software – a companion to the previous post.

دورة في الترجمة للصحفيين الرياضيين بقطر

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Carlos Teixeira: Doctoral Defence

The recorded doctoral defence of Carlos Teixeira – worth watching for research students who want to see what a translation studies viva looks like.