On Globalization and Translation

?What are the roles of translators and interpreters in a highly globalized, multilingual, and interconnected world? When every second citizen in a big city claims to be fluent in more than one language, what can we (passionate language lovers and professional translators) offer? Globalization: is it a threat for many of us who rely on linguistic differences and communication barriers?

When you think of globalization, the first image that might pop into your head is a developed urban metropolis with unobstructed access to international media, education, contemporary culture and fashion. These industries offer a vibrant collage of words, terms, concepts that have conquered various continents and many hearts. As a result of this rapid spread of ideas, many of us know a phrase or two in a foreign language. However, the depths of our knowledge often ends with a refrain of a favourite song in Chinese or a business buzzword in a French newspaper.

Even if the number of multilingual speakers is increasing due to open access to information across the world, very rarely do they have a firm grasp of a foreign language. And only few of those who are, in fact, completely multilingual, can translate.

The art of translation – although rooted in the love for languages and communication – requires a unique set of skills and specialized knowledge to grow into profession. These skills are hard to master without a dedicated interest in translation studies.

How can translators benefit from a globalized world?

Quality over quantity. When everyone around you claims to speak more than one language, be someone who is flawlessly fluent, who chooses their words with care and consideration. Globalization did open doors to new concepts and ideas, but only to a fraction of them: oftentimes, we are only exposed to one variant of a foreign language, or, perhaps, one industry.

As a translator, strive to see the bigger picture of a language and enjoy its richness in full. Read voraciously and don’t shy away from new genres and authors to expand your expertise. A good way to get ahead of the curve is by exploring new emerging fields.

Let’s be analytical about it. Since the the end of the Second World War?, globalization has evolved through many stages. What is it going to look like tomorrow? Coming to grips with globalization in its current state and knowing its features is key to pinpointing the social and language gaps we’ve been facing. Most importantly, if you’re aware of the current social and political environment, it will be easier to predict which direction your profession might take. ?

Match your skills with the demand. Globalization is not your enemy – make an effort to understand it and the multilingual friends around you. What services do they need? How can you help our globalized world communicate better? Taking advantage of globalization means that you might need to re-evaluate your translation skill set and pick up new skills that address today’s needs and prepare your for the translation gaps of tomorrow. ?

Making Quality Interpreting Services Easier to Access: Interview with Mayagwe Director Bill Dodd

This month, ATIA sat down with Mayagwe founder and director Bill Dodd to talk about how the platform is revolutionizing access to professional interpreters. With numerous ATIA members represented on the tech platform, Mayagwe represents the way of the future for clients to connect with certified interpreters and procure their services.

What is Mayagwe?

mayagwe logoMayagwe is a software application that connects clients who need the assistance of language interpreters and professional language interpreters looking for job opportunities. Currently the way clients access interpreters is that they have to contact a company and submit a form. They get an invoice and have to pay a company who then has to issue payment to an interpreter. Mayagwe eliminates the middle person and clients are connected directly to interpreters who are independent contractors. It’s like the difference between taxi cab companies and Uber. The utilization of technology makes the system much faster, more efficient, and more cost effective. There is a reason “Uber” or similar apps like “Skip the Dishes” are is taking over from the traditional methods of doing business. Mayagwe is doing the same for the interpretation sector.

What does the name mean?

Mayagwe is an Ojibway word meaning “he or she who speaks a strange language”. Mayagwe is a Canadian company and nothing could be more Canadian than honouring an Indigenous language in the name of a language company.

Where did you get the idea for starting this organization?

When I was a member of the Calgary Police Service, an incident occurred where investigators required a language interpreter ASAP. A person had been detained in relation to a bomb threat at the Calgary Provincial Court building. As a result, the court building and surrounding area had to be evacuated, displacing thousands of people and tying up multiple police resources for hours. It took over 5 hours to find an interpreter so that the situation could be resolved. This exposed the inadequacies of the current methods of finding qualified language interpreters. The Chief of Police at the time tasked me with finding a solution to this issue. As a result, I discovered that the Calgary Police Service was not unique. No other police service or other organization in the country had an effective system for accessing in-person language interpreters. As a result of funding and contributions from the Calgary Police Service, Alberta Health Services, and the Calgary Foundation, Mayagwe was born and a custom-made software application developed in Calgary was created to address this need. What use to take multiple hours (like the court house incident), or sometimes even multiple days, can now be handled in literally minutes.

Creating a system that makes using interpreters was not easy. Many problems needed to be overcome, including issues around what constituted a “professional” interpreter, favoritism, a lack of transparency, a lack of cooperation between agencies competing for government funding, siloing of resources, exploitation of new immigrants or as some immigrant service agencies like to call them “volunteers” etc. Mayagwe addresses these issues by creating a democratic and transparent system that protects the needs of clients requiring language assistance and the needs of interpreters providing that assistance. Language assistance is a professional service where people need to be treated fairly.

There was also the issue of out sourcing of  interpretation services, meaning either over the phone interpretation or in-person interpretation. Because of the arduous old process of contacting many “interpreter providers” who don’t cooperate with each other and don’t share their “interpreter lists,”  big clients such as Alberta Health Services began to outsource thousands and thousands of tax payer dollars to foreign companies – money and resources that could instead stay here in Alberta and support the local economy while creating good paying jobs. Everyone who uses an interpreter agrees that in-person interpretation provides better outcomes and the research also support it. The justification for over the phone is that it is more convenient and less expensive. Although there are times where over the phone may be a better option, with the Mayagwe system, we are demonstrating that using an in-person interpreter can be just as easy, and as cost effective as other options.

What’s your background?

My background is that I was born and raised in Calgary and am a unilingual English speaker so it may seem odd for me to be working in a company that is all about other languages, but I don’t think it is at all. I became a police officer because I wanted to help people and make a difference in my community and I truly admire those who can communicate in multiple languages. (they are so much smarter than me). Mayagwe is a way to continue to contribute to my community.

How did you get into this?

During my work I saw that language can be a huge barrier to providing critical services to under-served Calgarians. I met many people in our community who also wanted to help and who had the languages skills that could make a difference. One powerful example of this occurred a few years ago. The Calgary Police Service has a team who assist victims of crime called the Victims Assistance Unit or VAU. The members of this team contact Calgarians who have been the victim of a crime and offers assistance. This team does absolutely fantastic work on a daily basis and one of the people who has worked on this team is a wonderful woman named Amina.  Not only is Amina a terrifically smart and empathetic person, she also has the added ability to converse in multiple languages. A few years ago a situation occurred  where a woman who had recently come to Canada was the victim of a terrible crime, and the police were needed. The officers who attended to her did their best,  got her to place of safety and filed a report. By chance Amina was the person from VAU who got the file and contacted this women offering assistance. During the conversation Amina recognized that she spoke the same language as the victim. Once they could fully converse it became clear that so much more had happened than the initial investigating officers had been able to determine. The victim was able to tell her whole story which was so much more complicated. As a result, more appropriate and much more serious criminal charges could be brought against the perpetrator of this crime. Amina was able to help this person navigate an unfamiliar system, help with her family situation, her immigration situation and so forth. It is a long story and brings people to tears when they hear it, but it is no exaggeration to say that Amina’s intervention and her ability to communicate fully with the victim literally saved this person’s life (the victim’s own words). Unfortunately many people still fall through the cracks and even though there are many examples like this, leadership of critical social serving agencies such as the police still do not provide their front line workers with the tools they need to provide the best service possible. We hope to help fill some of those cracks.

What are the principles and vision behind what you do?

Mayagwe is a nonprofit whose vision is to make language assistance as efficient as possible to anyone who requires it, create good paying local jobs and contribute to a better quality of life for everyone in our community.

What are the benefits for participating Interpreters?

  • Provides fairness and equal access to job opportunities.
  • Provides employment opportunities with maximum flexibility for participation.
  • Provides business experience as independent business operators.
  • Provides connection and understanding of social serving agencies, reducing any stigma which may exist about the roles of these agencies.
  • Eliminates favoritism or cronyism in offering employment opportunities to a select few.
  • Recognizes interpretation as a professional service.
  • Quick direct payment for service.

What are the benefits for Client Agencies?

  • Direct access to trained interpreters.
  • Maximum flexibility in scheduling, from immediate requests to long-term scheduling.
  • Ability to set criteria for interpreters unique to each organization.
  • Ability to customize interpreter requests.
  • Assurance of accreditation standards.
  • Cost-effectiveness by only paying for services provided.
  • Providing connection to people in the communities they serve.
  • Reducing risk of miscommunication and improper service.
  • Demonstrating commitment to inclusiveness.

What is a good story you have heard in relation to Mayagwe that you would like to share?

A good story about Mayagwe is that more and more people are recognizing the positive social impact this can have in our communities. A good example is the Canadian Western Bank who has recognized the positive social impact this will have in communities in which it operates and has provided generous financial assistance to help expand this service to Edmonton.

What is the future of Mayagwe?

The Mayagwe application is unique in Canada and plans to expand this service to social serving agencies across the country.

What’s one thing you would like interpreters to know?

If you are providing Interpretation services, you need to make certain that they are covered by professional liability insurance. If you are being contracted through a company or social serving agency to do this work, ask them to provide you the details of that insurance policy such as: the policy details, policy number, coverage amount etc. If you do not, you are potentially exposing yourself to personal risk of a lawsuit.

To join the database of interpreters on the Mayagwe system, just go to www.mayagwe.com and follow the easy steps detailed there

Important Tips for Working with Language Service Providers

As a new translator starting out or a seasoned professional who likes to keep things simple, it might be the case that you decide you want to work for a Language Service Provider (LSP) or translation agency rather than seeking out clients directly. Whatever your reasons for pursuing work with an LSP, there are some important tips that can make your time with them more productive and mutually successful.

Recently, ATIA held a webinar with the CEO of Alpha Translations Canada, Michele Hecken. Michele went through a ton of introductory tips for working with LSPs and we are picking out and adding to our favourites for all of you.

Deliver on what you promise to.

This might sound obvious but the snowball effect when working for LSPs is very real. The more solid work you produce, the more you will be offered. And the busier you will be. Note that LSPs sift through hundreds and hundreds of translation CVs regularly so your position there is always a bit tenuous, but one way to have job security is to be reliable for quality translations delivered on-tie, every time. As harsh as that sounds, this is the world of working for LSPs. They are usually producing work globally and generally have a very large translator database. Everyone has off-days but there is less opportunity to come back from a few of those when working for an LSP simply because of the size of these organizations and how in-demand they are by clients and professionals alike. Stay consistent and manage your time to deliver quality translations regularly.

Specialize!

This might seem counter-intuitive because you would think that the more types of translations you do would *translate* into more types of work offered, but this is generally not the case. The more you specialize in specific types of translations, the more work you are likely to build up in your area of expertise. You might even garner a reputation as the go-to translator for that specialization. Never be afraid to turn down translation work that you are not qualified to attend to – the LSP will likely respect your knowledge of your own boundaries and will appreciate that you don’t take on anything that is outside your areas of expertise, which could result in subpar translations.

Embrace the technological revolution!

Translations-by-hand are still often seen as the best method for accuracy but they may be more time-consuming than you or the LSP you work for would like. At ATIA, we know folks who recommend avoiding machine translations wherever possible. At the same time, there are some technological tools which make your work a lot easier – especially for everything but the translation itself! Use appropriate software for formatting, scheduling your work, storing your work, and invoicing at the end of the day. We have written about this previously, so be sure to check out the best online tools for professional translators.

Stay in your lane.

Knowing your place as a translator is important for keeping yourself sane and on-track. It isn’t your job to work on source texts so if you find errors, don’t edit them. Simply translate to the best of your ability the meaning of the text. You can introduce a translator’s note to draw attention to project manager about the original errors who can then advise the client.