XXI Olympics Podium – it belongs to the winner, not the wannabe/Le podium appartient aux gagnants et non pas aux Elvis en herbe.

Au désarroi d’un nombre de Canadiens, les organismes du VANOC et la presse s’étaient embarqués dans l’histoire du Own the Podium. En voici l’histoire.

To the embarrassment of some people, Canadian Sporting organisations had joined the Own the podium « technical program » back in 2005. Our lack of medals at the Vancouver games is drawing criticisms from the US, the UK and others. (see the links below).

C’est bien de se faire concurrence et c’est bien de gagner, mais s’affubler d’un slogan de ce genre me semble contraire à l’esprit de fair play que possédait le Canada auparavant.

La presse américaine et d’outremer vient de réagir. Ainsi le Chronicle de San Francisco suggère “ Own the Podium? Right phrase, wrong country ".

La presse anglaise (BBC) avait également trouvé à redire sur l’approche qu’avait adoptée le Canada.

Le Devoir explique les origines du programme; the Montreal Le Devoir provides an explanation.

Le Monde constate que vouloir n’est pas pouvoir. The French Le Monde takes a wait and see attitude.

Est-ce tellement difficile d’une part d’assurer une réception parfaite de tous les participants aux JO et d’encourager nos propres athlètes à atteindre de nouveaux sommets d’autre part?

Il me semble que nous avons presque saboté certains de nos concurrents en leur interdisant de s’entraîner sur le site des JO.

Is it really that hard to on one hand to provide the best facilities possible to all the Games participants while at the same time encourage our own athletes to do their best?

It appears as though we have almost sabotaged some of our competitors in not allowing them to train at the Games facilities. 

Vancouver XXI Olympics – XXI Jeux Olympiques de Vancouver

La presse a fait écho des problèmes de traduction vers le français – discours d’inauguration parsemés de mots français, etc. Ce n’est pas un problème inusité, surtout à Vancouver.

French translation problems during the opening ceremonies were brought out in the press. The speeches by the VANOC people contained token French words instead of having actual paragraphs or sentences in French.

I was visiting the web and found a very good cartoon which says it all:

 

Le dessins ci-dessus illustre bien la façon dont ce manque de français a été accueilli.

Dragon – Writing an article on the dictaphone! Création d’un article au Dictaphone

I have recently been asked to write a short  article for a professional publication.  I knew what I wanted to say so it was just a matter of putting it down on paper. That done, I wanted to hear it read and remembered that my Dragon Voice Recognition software has a text-to-speech feature.  So I opened the appropriate boxes and found the option for that function.  Cut & paste and I was listening to my article being read in English by an artificial voice!

L’article que je viens de composer pour une publication professionnelle était en anglais et je voulais voir quelle impression il donnait. Je me suis souvenu que le logiciel Dragon a également une fonction de synthèse vocale. Il suffit de copier-coller le texte dans une case appropriée et la machine vous donne la lecture de l’article par une voix artificielle.

Encouragé par ce succès, j’ai décidé de dicter une version française du même article. J’ai tout simplement modifié la langue dans Dragon (il y a un grand choix de langues dans chaque logiciel ) et j’ai commencé à dicter en français. Formidable, le français s’affiche à mesure que je dicte. J’ai dû revenir à quelques reprises pour faire des petites corrections, mais c’est surtout parce que je ne maîtrise pas encore la dictée à 100 pour cent.

Emboldened by the English results, I decided to create a translation of the same article but in French this time. In the same Dragon software, I selected French this time and just “talked” the translation through.  It was amazingly easy and only a few corrections were required because I am not quite used to the software yet. I can also select the text-to-speech feature and have the computer read the article back to me in French.

As with any tool, practice makes perfect and I intend to use dictation more often, both in English and in French. Comme pour tout nouvel outil, il suffit de s’en servir suffisamment pour l’apprivoiser.

It’s open on Mondays! Ils sont ouverts le lundi!

The beginning of the week in the last two months of the year can be a bit depressing, with the darkness starting earlier and most restaurants being closed.  A ray of sunshine: Simple Bistro is open on Mondays now. What a treat!

Avec le crépuscule arrivant plus tôt et la majorité des restaurants fermés le lundi soir, les deux derniers mois de l’année peuvent être déprimants. Heureusement, Simple Bistro vient de décider de rester ouvert les lundis soirs – quelle aubaine !

Nous avons dégusté tout d’abord des rillettes de saumon très aromatiques servies en petites rondelles (comme du saucisson) parfumé d’une légère mousseline.  Pour le poisson, nous avons choisi du thazard atlantique (appelé Spanish Mackerel aux Barbades)  au beurre aux câpres, des pommes de terre nouvelles et des tomates miniatures au four. Le Riesling que l’on nous avait proposé nous avait semblé très bien assorti par sa fraîcheur et son pétillant. Comme dessert, un gâteau au chocolat exquis, agrémenté de crème fraîche et de framboises, suivi d’un bon cappuccino et d’un petit verre de Riesling plus doux.

The appetizer – salmon rillettes were surprising light and yet the texture was definitely that of rillettes. I cheated and peeked at some Internet recipes: the recipe uses both fresh and smoked salmon, that is why. They were served in small rounds, on top of a light mousseline sauce. The mains, Spanish mackerel in caper butter, new potatoes and mini tomatoes, was delicate and a fine balance of the different flavours. The suggested Riesling had a nice edge and complemented both the rillettes and the mackerel. 

 The gâteau au chocolat dessert came with a light crème Chantilly and fresh raspberries. Coffee and liqueur completed the meal. Not bad for a Monday!

Mondays do not need to be dull any more! Adieu les lundis ennuyeux!

Wrong définition - Définition érronée

Advertising copy is a challenge to translate, especially when one realizes that the writer has been blindsided by his perception of a meaning, not the customary meaning.

A recent example was an automotive ½ page ad purporting to extol the merits of one brand of car versus another. The text said:

"By Definition, An Accord is A Compromise"

Upon reading this heading , my immediate reaction was to ascertain that the word accord had indeed this meaning. Here is what I found:

From the WordWeb:
1. Harmony of people’s opinion or actions or characters
2. Concurrenc of opinion
3. A written agreement between two states or sovereigns
4. Sympathetic compatibility

Dictionary.reference.com
noun
5. proper relationship or proportion; harmony.
6. a harmonious union of sounds, colors, etc.
7. consent or concurrence of opinions or wills; agreement.
8. an international agreement; settlement of questions outstanding among nations.

Merriam-Webster
Main Entry: 2accord
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French acord, from acorder
Date: 14th century
1 a : agreement, conformity b : a formal reaching of agreement : compact, treaty
2 : balanced interrelationship : harmony
3 obsolete : assent
4 : voluntary or spontaneous impulse to act

Dictionary Babylon
accord
________________________________________
Noun
1. harmony of people's opinions or actions or characters; "the two parties were in agreement"
(synonym) agreement
(hypernym) harmony, concord, concordance
(hyponym) community, community of interests
2. concurrence of opinion; "we are in accord with your proposal"
(synonym) conformity, accordance
(hypernym) agreement
3. a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
(synonym) treaty, pact
(hypernym) written agreement
(hyponym) alliance
4. sympathetic compatibility
(synonym) rapport
(hypernym) compatibility
The Wordnetweb from Princeton University gives:
• agreement: harmony of people's opinions or actions or characters; "the two parties were in agreement"
• concurrence of opinion; "we are in accord with your proposal"
• harmonize: go together; "The colors don't harmonize"; "Their ideas concorded"
• treaty: a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
• allow to have; "grant a privilege"
• sympathetic compatibility

In Answers.com :

1. Agreement; harmony: act in accord with university policies.
2. A settlement or compromise of conflicting opinions.
3. A settlement of points at issue between nations.
4. Spontaneous or voluntary desire to take a certain action: The children returned on their own accord. He confessed of his own accord.

This appears to be the source of the meaning that the advertiser used in the ad.
On the French side, where the word Accord exists as well, we find:

1. État resultant d’une manière commune de sentir, de penser, d’agir, entre plusieurs personnes.
2. État résultat de la convenance qui existe entre plusieurs choses.

Dictionnaire Myriade – ProLexis.

Encyclopédie Linternaute :
accord, nom masculin
Sens 1 Entente entre personnes résultant de leur conformité de sentiments. Synonyme accommodement Anglais agreement

Sens 2 Acceptation, permission. Ex Le supérieur a donné son accord. Synonyme acceptation Anglais consent

Sens 3 Convention, arrangement formalisé entre personnes ou entités. Ex Un accord économique. Synonyme pacte Anglais agreement

Sens 4 Harmonie, concordance entre des choses. Synonyme adéquation Anglais agreement
Interestingly enough, this last source provides an English equivalent – agreement.


We appear to be very far from the word compromise. What do you think?

By the way, is criticizing your opponent the best way to emphasize your product?
Dénigrer le produit du concurrent ne donne pas nécessairement un avantage.

Semantic shift - Glissement sémantique

The written press in Quebec has covered the worrysome problems of school drop-outs and what society can do about this. Articles speak of the phenomenon of “décrochage”. The verb “décrocher” is used to express the idea of disengagement, of breaking off the action (like studies for example). In the physical world, décorcher may be used when meaning to take down (décrocher les rideaux, uncoupling (a car train). In the telecommunication parlance, décrochage means to switchover. In the financial world, le décorchage du franc par rapport au mark means the unpegging of the Franc from the Mark.

Dernièrement, j’ai remarqué dans plusieurs articles sur les abandons scolaires au Québec que les journalistes parlent des efforts d’encourager les jeunes à retourner à l’école, à reprendre leurs études. C’est là qu’apparaît le terme « raccrochage », utilisé comme antonyme (contraire) de décrochage. Ce qui est, dans mon esprit, un choix surprenant.

Is the use of raccrochage brought about by the influence of the English language? The closest English word for décrochage is “disconnect”, whereas raccrochage is reconnect. So in the context of drop-outs, instead of the idea of abandoning, or letting go (in French), the English uses the idea of leaving the scene.

The problem with raccrocher is that its usual meanings are to hang up (the phone), to retire (as from a sport), to put down (the telephone receiver), or to solicit or accost a customer (by a prostitute). It also means to reconnect or tie together (train cars, facts) or to rescue – a business deal, for example). Not an iota of an idea of resuming one’s studies in school.

The problem that I see with this situation is that if French-speaking Quebeckers continue to use raccrocher to mean resume studies, they will completely confuse the situation and the verbs accrocher, décrocher and raccrocher would have taken meanings which they did not originally have.

Translators have to be constantly aware of changing speech patterns and find solutions to problems that the unilingual users have not even considered.

Head Light – Lumière à tête (??)

Picked up a nifty little portable light at a sale the other day, but not because I was impressed by the French translation. In fact it is awful. I thought I would point out just a few of the bloopers.

On side A - the generic name of the product 1 Watt LED Head Light was transformed in a Light with a head. In addition, LED does have a French equivalent = DEL (diode électroluminescente).

Dans le sous-titre on trouve Bande de tête élastique ajustable – que doivent donc faire les gens qui ont la tête dure? Le fait que l’appareil est hydrofuge ne semble pas avoir mérité une traduction. La note sur la longueur du fonctionnement est de syntaxe anglaise.

On side B, adjectives qualifying nouns do not have proper endings.
Ampoules lumineuse (s?)
Ampoules blanche(s) several bulbs but the adjective is in singular form.
Bouton de pression control 4 modes de lumière – could not translate this word? - No problem, just leave it in English, customers will understand!
Flashing signal (press ON button for 2 sec) - Signal clignotant (appuyez SUR bouton pour 2 sec.)
There is no button with the marking SUR on the device– it is the on/off button! French could have said “appuyez sur l’interrupteur pendant 2 sec”.

A French-speaking customer who absolutely needs the light will buy it, but someone undecided will definitely be put off by the mistakes and the sloppy rendering. Who will be blamed – the importer, China?

World Famous Sales (Concord, Ont). who is looking after your packaging translations?

ADVENTURES IN BELL LAND- - AVENTURES AU PAYS DE BELL

Like many other Internet users in Canada, I have been using Bell Canada for many years.Le modem fourni par Bell et le router d’IBM que nous avions installé marchaient comme merveille.

At the beginning of July, the Internet connection started to act up – sporadic misconnects, lost emails. I called Technical Service and upon having explained all our trouble-shooting steps we had taken, was told that the matter had to do with a DNS – people felt frustrated but could not help.

Au milieu du mois, la situation s’est empirée. Le nombre sites Internet captés se réduit à trois ou quatre, et le courriel ne marche que sporadiquement. On nous envoie un technicien qui nous apprend que notre modem (de Bell) n’est plus capable de transmettre la masse de données que les câbles lui envoient mais également qu’il y a un problème de câble dans la rue.

A few days later, visit from the Bell Cable person who performs a small cable splice on the front lawn but who also tells us that the problem is inside, not in the cable. Third technician, who attempts to install a brand-new modem-router, discovers that it is defective. Bell sends us a second modem-router which their own Testing facility finds to be defective. Third router arrives and after days of fighting with it, we finally make it work. It appears as though not sufficient installation info was provided by Bell but we were able to find similar info from the manufacturer, 2-Wire.

Our internet connection is now ok again and Bell is reimbursing us for over a month of lost use. L’Internet est plein de forums qui discutent des difficultés rencontrées par les utilisateurs de cet appareil – donc nous ne sommes par les premiers. Nous nous considérons chanceux, au moins, la liaison est rétablie.

When to charge, when to not/Facturer ou ne pas facturer

Was able to observe and learn about a new process during a recent industry show – had a pleasant chat with the exhibitors and left them my card. Lo and behold, a few days later received a request to quote on the translation of their website. I was even provided some French text which they said would help me in the work.

I had a good look at the site and evaluated the length and complexity of the material. I then proceeded to look at the French material supplied to discover that it was a very well done translation of the English, done by the author.

Intrigué, j’ai decidé de comparer les deux textes ligne par ligne pour me rendre compte que c’était là bel et bien une traduction fidèle de l’anglais. Pourquoi me demandait-on de traduire ce qui était déjà fait? Intrigué, j’appelle le client et lui pose la question. Il me répond : « je suis ingénieur et non pas traducteur et je voulais m’assurer que tout était bien fait. »

The author told me that we was not comfortable with his translation and needed a certified translator’s blessing that everything was ok. I explained what I had done and confirmed, that from my vantage, no redo was necessary and that I would gladly confirm this in writing. I had performed a revision and would bill him for that instead of giving him back his translation with my comments and charging him for the actual translation.

He sounded amazed. As for me, a feeling of peace and happiness filled my heart for having helped a client and saved him money at the same time. Has this sort of thing happened to you?

Dépanner un collègue est gratifiant, surtout si on peut lui éviter du travail et des frais supplémentaires. Vous-est-il arrivé quelque chose de semblable?

Exposition-ese in French and in English/Texte en franglais d’une exposition

Picked up a brochure at a recent business conference which described the purpose of a particular exposition. Dépliant publicitaire donnant les grands traits d’une exposition industrielle :

« De la même manière, on remarquera sur le XXX Montréal que les promesses Santé sont plus mesurées. Des discours empreints de naturalité où le végétal, qu’il soit légume ou fruit, a une place de choix. Les promesses très techniques et complexes ont presque disparu, ce qui, de fait, apporte à ces produits des valeurs de plaisir ou de praticité qui leur faisait parfois défaut. »

Here is the English version along with my corrections & suggestions in italics. It is one thing to use English words, English syntax has to be used as well. The wording is sometimes stilted and sounds more like a treatise than an advertising text.

“In that spirit, XXX Montréal’s Health promises are (more gauged) scaled back. Approaches (boasting naturality) emphasizing natural plants, vegetables as much as fruits, are the center of attention. Very technical and complex promises have been (evacuated) almost disappeared, which thus (confers) gives to these products (values of) pleasure and practicality values that where sometimes lacking.”

What do you think? Commentaires?

Unhappy translation customer – Client mécontent d’une traduction

A fellow visitor to a recent business exhibit shared with me her disappointment and bewilderment when an established client complained about the quality of a translation that had been done by a freelancer the visitor’s company had hired.

Un collègue visiteur d’une récente exposition industrielle partagea avec moi ses déboires avec le travail fait par un pigiste que son entreprise avait engagé. Alors que le même client avait été satisfait du travail fait auparavant (par le même pigiste), il trouva cette fois-ci le travail inacceptable. Il fit donc appel à un autre traducteur pour lui fournir une autre opinion, ce qu’il fit et trouva la traduction acceptable.

The translation target was the Quebec market and the client requiring the translation was from France. The visitor explained that they had worked with this client for a number of years and had used the same freelancer but for some reason, the translation provided this time was not acceptable. A third party was asked to supply a third opinion and found the translation appropriate.

Dealing with a member of a professional association such as ATIO (in Ontario), the problem may have been solved differently. This is the explanation that I supply to my clients so that they know exactly what recourse they have:

“Any dispute between the Certified Translator

and the Client concerning the quality of work

may be submitted to the Evaluation and

Arbitration Committee of the Association of

Translators and Interpreters of Ontario for an

objective professional evaluation. Both

parties undertake to abide by the decision of

this Committee. If the work is considered

unsatisfactory, the liability of the Certified

Translator shall not exceed the amount of

the fees requested for the work.”

J’ai pu expliquer au visiteur l’avantage que présentait l’utilisation d’un traducteur agréé. En effet, l’association prévoit, en cas de besoin, la nomination d’un groupe d’évaluation qui est en mesure d’évaluer la traduction et donner un avis catégorique sur sa qualité.

In the case of my visitor colleague, his company appeared to have reached an impasse and could not see a way of satisfying the client. Not having studied any of the details, I could only offer to my visitor my own services which would be base on my long and extensive use of quality control systems to set translation quality benchmarks and criteria.

L'entreprise de mon interlocuteur se trouva dans une impasse. La seule solution que je puis lui proposer était de lui fournit une évaluation parallèle, basée sur mon expérience et mes travaux dans le domaine du contrôle de la qualité. Au moins mes analyses seraient sujettes à un contrôle de l'ATIO, si cela était nécessaire.