A TRANSLATION SERVICES SURVIVAL STUDY: HOW TO PRODUCE AND EDIT A SOURCE DOCUMENT WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY TRANSLATING IT INTO 21 LANGUAGES

Transcription

1 A TRANSLATION SERVICES SURVIVAL STUDY: HOW TO PRODUCE AND EDIT A SOURCE DOCUMENT WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY TRANSLATING IT INTO 21 LANGUAGES

2 The European Union is a unique economic and political partnership between 27 democratic European countries

3 Europe is a continent of many languages The European Union currently has 23 official languages As the EU expands, this number will increase further

4 Official EU language since Dutch French German Italian Danish English Greek Portuguese Spanish Finnish Swedish Czech Estonian Hungarian Latvian Lithuanian Maltese Polish Slovak Slovene Bulgarian Irish Romanian

5 The EU policy of communicating in 23 official languages (multilingualism policy) is unique in the world. All official languages enjoy equal status. EU citizens in the 27 Member States can use any of them to communicate with the European institutions, which helps to make the Union more open and more effective.

6 Selective translation Not everything is translated into every official language. Other documents (e.g. correspondence with national authorities and individual citizens, reports, internal papers) are translated only into the languages needed in each case. Internal documents are all drafted in (and sometimes translated into) English, French and German. The only documents produced in all 22 official languages are pieces of legislation and policy documents of major public importance. Only Regulations are also in Gaelic. At the Commission Incoming documents which may be drafted in any language are translated into one of these three languages so they can be generally understood within the Commission

7 The Directorate General for Regional Policy The Commission Report on economic, social and territorial cohesion The adoption process of the Cohesion Report

8 What is DG REGIO? Purpose Reduction of the economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions: Bring out the best in every region Make all regions more competitive Create more and better jobs

9 What is DG REGIO? The funds ERDF Cohesion Fund ISPA (pre accession) EUSF (Solidarity Fund) EFS (DG EMPL) Budget billion = >1/3 of the EU s overall budget

10 The Cohesion Report Report by the Commission on economic, social and territorial cohesion Article 175 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (Lisbon Treaty) requires reports from the Commission about the progress made in economic, social and territorial cohesion The Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions every three years on the progress made towards achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion and on the manner in which the various means provided for in this Article have contributed to it. This report shall, if necessary, be accompanied by appropriate proposals.

11 The Cohesion Report What is it? Progress made on economic, social and territorial cohesion The right integration in the programmes of EU priorities The role of the Funds, the EIB and the other financial instruments The impact of other EU policies and national policies on the progress made Proposals, guidance, questions on the future of the CP (political message) Why DG REGIO? Major part of the funds dedicated to cohesion are managed by DG REGIO

12 The Cohesion Report What does it look like? Communication from the Commission (official document subject to approval/adoption by the College of the Commissioners) Analytical part (Commission Staff Working Document) Up to translation pages Official document translated in all EU languages by DGT No limit Technical assistance during the conception process Outsourced translation in all EU languages (except Gaelic)

13 The Cohesion Report 3 years printed copies 108 maps & 78 graphs and 20 tables Some numbers 300 pages 35 people 31 DG s

14 The Cohesion Report Compulsory consultations of hierarchy & other DG s Specificity of the terminology The constraints Deadlines Style guides

15 The Cohesion Report birth process Before drafting Various studies on chosen topics by third parties Sketching of the structure of the future report, distribution of tasks, setting of timescale Call for tender procedure for technical assistance

16 The Cohesion Report birth process From scratch to Communication First draft based on the analysis of the results of the studies Teamwork with the contractor for the analysis, drafting, layout Submission for approval by DG & Cabinet Revision/correction

17 The Cohesion Report birth process Interservice Consultation (minimum 2 weeks) Revision/correction Green light from Cabinets Launch of the adoption process and translation request (4 weeks) Transmission of the final documents to the Secretary General Adoption

18 The Cohesion Report birth process Adoption Transmission of the final documents to SG Launch of the adoption process and translation request Revision post ISC + OK Cabinets Interservice Consultation (2 weeks) Revision/correction Submission for approval by DG & Cabinet Technical assistance for the analysis, the drafting, the layout First draft based on the analysis of the results of the studies Sketching of the future report, distribution of tasks, setting of timescale Call for tender procedure for technical assistance needed Call for tender for various studies on chosen topics D day 7 days 4 weeks 6 weeks 8 weeks 10 weeks 3 months 6 months 1 year 1 ½ years 3 years

19 Applica s tasks Advise DG REGIO on structure and content of report incl. suggesting and/or carrying out further analysis and drafting Editing readability, accuracy of technical terms and uniformity of style Ensuring consistency and revising all graphic material (maps, charts, tables) Designing cover and layout Coordinating French and German translations Producing three language versions Monitoring and providing final check of all other languages coordinated by Seprotec 19

20 Challenges Overall project Illustrations and layout Four categories: Editing Parallel translations 20

21 Challenges 1. Project Large volume Large number of people involved, not only from DG REGIO but also from other DGs Tight deadlines Moving short and mediumterm deadlines BUT fixed final deadline (requiring continuous adaptation of work schedule) 22 languages Accurate monitoring of different drafts of each chapter or section sometimes multiple drafts in one single day and from different people (occasionally using different versions!!) 21

22 Ideal work cycle (usually first half of the project life!) When things get difficult (usually second half of the project life!) Author Author Author Author Author Author Author Author DG REGIO Author Applica Author Applica 22

23 Challenges 2. Editing Cutting significantly the text typically 20 30% but up to 50% without losing any relevant content or key messages Ensuring a consistent story is told throughout the report and that there are no contradictory messages when moving between chapters Producing an accurate and informative text, without excessive use of technical expressions, so as to be accessible to the widest possible audience Editing directly into English from French text without going through translation 23

24 Challenges 3. Parallel language versions Identifying skilled and reliable translation team, with knowledge of socioeconomic and EU vocabulary Two versions produced almost in parallel with EN version Significant number of changes Limiting the work of the translators by consolidating changes Revision of EN, FR and DE after last minute changes from Cabinet and Commission meetings. 24

25 Challenges 4. Illustrations and layout Doing parallel revisions of charts, tables and maps. Doing parallel revisions of the layout cannot wait until finalized EN form is available Different length of different languages but maintaining same number of pages 25

26 Seprotec s tasks Translation DTP Translating the Report into the remaining 19 official languages of the EU Union: Revision

27 Important to ensure: Linguistic quality (including technical, socio economic and European Union terminology) Stylistic uniformity and unity Readability Conformity with the English text, as well as typography

28 Challenges Overall project Selection process Tight deadlines Desktop publishing Finding the best human team of translators and reviewers with previous experience in socioeconomic and EU documents Especially with ES, IT and PL In 19 languages

29 Challenges 1. Selection Process More challenging the first time we translated the Report as we had to find 19 translators and 19 reviewers. This time we only had to find new resources in order to substitute: Translators/reviewers that caused problems in the previous Report (deadlines) Translators/reviewers not able to work with us on this project (maternity leave, illness)

30 Profile of translators and reviewers: Native speakers of the language into which they translate Availability for translating large volumes within the deadline established Familiar with the European Commission style and terminology Extensive knowledge of Trados or SDLX Ample experience translating socioeconomic documents

31 It may be considered as a simple task, but it was not. It was the key to making the project successful!

32 Difficulties encountered: Some of the official languages of the European Union were newly required, as the incorporation of new member states was very recent Czech Republic, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta and Poland 2007 Romania and Bulgaria

33 Short translation tests need to be performed, in order to verify the quality of the translators. Some of the translators selected were not used to working with translation memories; therefore, online courses and technical support were given to those translators.

34 Challenges 2. Meeting deadlines Spanish, Italian and Polish needed to be available in printed form in time for the Cohesion Forum. So the translation/revision/dtp had to be finished around 8 weeks after the adoption of the Report. In order to meet this deadline we had to start working from a draft version of the Report. Translating from a draft version Uploading this translation into a new TM Pretranslating the final version with the new TM created Sending the new ttx files to the translators for updating

35 Challenges 3. Desktop Publishing Desktop publishing is one of the last phases in a typical publication process, and one that gives the final look and feel to the localised materials. No matter how good the translation quality may be, layout or typographical mistakes may dramatically impact how users perceive the product. Because of this, multilingual desktop publishing is a step which cannot be underestimated.

36 DTP in 19 languages 3 DTP Specialists (no knowledge of most of the languages) Different length depending on the language

37 Best tips for success Assigning responsibilities to people with the right skills Strict supervision and coordination of the entire process Ensuring good working conditions including Understanding and dealing with translators different personalities Protecting members of the team from new urgent requests from the client Assessing what is important and occasionally saying NO to the client Automation and effective procedures help but the human factor is critical to success 37

38 As a project coordinator, do your best to maintain control and untangle any mess which occurs 38

39 and most importantly, don t panic and stay on top of things if you happen to get caught up in the mess 39

40 Thank you for your attention Cécile Hulet: Loredana Sementini: María Azqueta: