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Proofreader or proof reader – it’s a dog’s life

The Proofreader or Proof Reader is a Sick Puppy They say that every proofreader or proof reader suffers from OCD. Do they? Jokes aside, being thorough is a fundamental condition for those who long to pursue this profession. In addition to the high degree of attention to detail, liking reading should also be part of the package. But liking alone is not enough – you must love it. Unconditionally. After all, your days of proofreading texts could alternate between so many topics: vampires, zombies (that’s right, it happened to me. Dealing with the topic, I mean), chemical formulas, maps, cake recipes, sadomasochistic millionaires and there’s no way for you to escape! The Proofreader or Proof Reader is a Suspicious Dog It is also recommended that the proofreader or proof reader should have a chip on his/her shoulder: doubting everything and everyone. No data or spelling can be beaten. At the slightest sign of mistrust, one must leave all the supposed certainties behind and search as if there were no tomorrow. “Seetle down” - Why and When to Seek And this is leading to a delicate point in the process: how to know when (and to define a real need) to intervene in the text and the time to respect the choices of others? * dramatic pause * Proofreaders are a Strange Breed Reviewers are definitely a breed on their own. Why is that? Because they need to take a critical look at a text and at the same time accept other people’s choices, even if they do not agree with them. Read the full article

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The Beginning & Remember Why You Started

Talking about translation and the beginning of a translation business is the easiest and most difficult thing for me to do. Easier because it is one of my favourite subjects (please don’t judge 😊) and harder, because there are so many things to talk about, still so many things to experience that I barely know where to start. So let’s start with … the beginning: Do you need to train in translation to become a translator? I have been participating in groups, forums, email lists about the translation industry for many years and there have always been people wanting to join the career, but having doubts about how to go about it. The main one being always – "Do I need to train in translation to become a translator?". Well, let’s face it, if we are only talking about the practicality of things, you simply don’t. Translation Is Not a Regulated Profession Regardless of all the controversies in this regard, translation is not a regulated profession, like so many others in which you need a degree in the field to be a translator. Whoever is in the translation market knows that regulating the translation industry between so many different languages would be somewhat difficult. But that’s another matter, right? Translator as a Choice or as a Change of Career For this very reason, starting a career as a translator is very particular. There are translators (yours truly) who knew very soon that they wanted to be a translator. Read the full article

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...Not That Kind of Professional Translator

When I say I am a Professional Translator… Oh, you're a professional translator? You translate books? Can you translate this song for me? A friend: Can you translate this email for me? (You answer yes, and get pretty much an entire report from a chemical company to translate…) A Very Vague Idea of Translation After I graduated, I became accustomed to always explaining what my profession really is, but I would not judge. When I was in University, I also had a very different and vague idea of what ​​the real world of the translation was and everything it involved. In my imagination, I thought I would graduate and translate books (novels, of course!). The Hidden Translator Also, when facing questions from people curious about the profession, in their defence, I also think that the professional translator is always a little hidden, and many people forget that behind the movies, books, manuals, magazines, articles, there is always someone who is shaking their head so that they always receive exactly the message that the author wants to communicate. Translating to Learn New Things Every Day The reality, and what I think is fantastic, is that quite contrary to what I used to think, the translation profession allows us to learn new things every day, from the most varied subjects. And that boy who hated technology, today loves the more technical subjects and those manuals that before seemed impossible to be understood. Read the full article

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Translation work – R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me I have a lot of translation work to do. It’s Easter today and my kids are home, not at school. After hours of playing on their Ipad, they are getting bored and suddenly feel that I should become their personal entertainer. As a result, it looks like my productivity is going down the drain. Sound familiar? Time to gain some respect for my translation work and have my job as a translator taken seriously. A Little Respect (Just a Little Bit) Many people complain that the work of a translator is not recognised or valued by clients and the labour market, and that we are increasingly underestimated mainly when it comes to values. However, we barely realise that it is equally important to educate those who spend the most time with us i.e our family. When doing translation work, let’s agree that no one deserves to hear from relatives things like "But you do not work!" Or "You simply stay on your computer all day!". Not to mention having to deal with gatherings of all sorts, whenever it seems that everyone has decided to meet and share party dips and you have a very tight deadline. And you have to fence the occasional "When will you stop what you’re doing and have some fun for once? This can wait" Or even worse – "When will you get a real job?". Well, here are some tips for you to impose your chosen profession and get rid of those unpleasant questions. Read the full article

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Translation Project Manager – a Busy Bee

What a Translation Project Manager does Much is said of the Translation Project Manager (the so-called PM) as the person who has control over everything that is happening inside a translation agency. It is believed that he or she is responsible for every aspect of the translation project, ranging from selecting the right translator to the translator’s payment date. The fact of the matter is that – more often than not – the person behind the PM position is not directly involved in all processes until delivery to the end client. As a matter of fact, many other people participate and have an even more determining role than the individual in charge of managing the project. Still, you’ll find out that your PM is a busy bee. So Many Bits and Bobs Before a Translation Starts As translators, when we receive a translation request from a PM, we usually do not think of everything that happened back then until our name is chosen for that particular project. We do not think about the negotiations that had to take place between the customer and the agency, all the bits and pieces that were put in place before the actual project went through. In an ideal world, the PM Would Have His Say Over the Value of a Translation For that client to have reached the agency, he had to be contacted by the agency’s sales man or had to contact the translation agency. Read the full article

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Translator "à la carte"

Healthy eating for freelance translators Translating from home and eating well You are a freelance translator and you're working from home? On a long assignment with a tight deadline? Then it's lunch and you don't have a lot of time on your hands. That's when you start taking shorcuts and making bad food choices. Yet, Healthy eating should be part of your routine as translators. Here's why: Well, healthy food can help in: Prevention and treatment of diseasesGood performance in sports and physical activityControlling body weightPreventing allergies and food intoleranceReducing the risk factors for chronic diseases. Food is also an important part of the treatment of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemias, heart diseases, kidney diseases, liver diseases, etc. Over the years, the body undergoes transformations. In addition, sedentarism has become a constant in people’s lives, mainly adults and the elderly. How to maintain a healthy diet these days, especially you spend days translating indoors? Here are some tips to get a healthy life as a translator: Organise meal times: Start with the first meal as soon as you wake up and try to organise them every 3 hours. By scheduling routines, you will feel hungry at normal hours, thus avoiding possible cravings or fast periods. Get your phone to wake you up at mealtime. When you get involved with work, you often forget about time, and suddenly, the day is over and you’ve just had one meal. Read the full article

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Natural Born (Dubbing) Translators

Dubbing for the French Market Dubbing – Netflix: "I thought a bond developed between us!"* For many years, dubbing has been part of the lives of many French moviegoers. Today it remains very strong and present in national TV stations sometimes, and in other vehicles such as Netflix, which already has conquered thousands of fans around the world. There is a lot to be said about this segment that involves a large chain of professionals, but first, I believe that a good way to introduce this theme is to give a brief definition of dubbing. There are many definitions, but for more didactic purposes, we can say that it is the process in which the original dialogues of a production are re-recorded with dialogues spoken in the target language. Dubbing – "I don't think I'm gonna make it. I feel so cold."* However, this transposition from one language to another does not happen magically, let alone in as a simple way as we can imagine. In fact, in addition to several other professionals working in dubbing studios, there is a once special character responsible for translating/adapting the lines of the most varied audiovisual productions into our language and creating a script for the voice actors to interpret: the translator responsible for dubbing. I like to say that such translator is a kind of storyteller, because it is his duty to try to keep the tone and the essence present in the original version of the audiovisual product is in charge of translating. Read the full article

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Work Translation with Agencies, Companies, LSPs – neither fish nor fowl

Work Translation between Agencies, LSPs and translators Prioritising Clients You Are Best Suited With One of the main questions professional translators ask is: Should I work translation for direct clients or translation agencies? Undoubtedly, working for direct clients is more profitable, but it can often mean having to perform more tasks outside the scope of the translation itself: budget, file preparation, DTP (layout and formatting), final review, and more. Agencies pay less, but they take care of all of the collateral tasks of the project, and the translator can focus on his greatest talent: translating. In both situations, there are pros and cons, and it is up to each professional to prioritise the type of client they are best suited to work with. To do so, we must understand who our customers are, their role in the supply chain within the translation market and where we, as linguistic providers, position ourselves in that chain. Translation Agencies – What are They? There are two main types of clients: direct customers and translation agencies. Direct clients are individuals or companies that hire independent professionals or translation agencies for translation projects. Translation agencies can be global companies that operate in multiple languages ​​and have offices in several countries OR small translation agencies that work translation with a limited number of languages ​​and provide services to both direct clients and global agencies. Read the full article

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French Language: Don't just teach it, translate it

Translation as a French Language Teaching Tool Translation can be controversial when it comes to language teaching. Yet, as a former French language teacher in my youth, some of the best and unforgettable teaching moments came with the use of translation. Not Every Word Has Its Equivalent in Another Language The use of classroom translation with children might be counterproductive. Why is that? Because it makes students believe that every language has an equivalent word in its target language. Something that every translator (and French language teacher!) knows that it is far from true. However, it may be difficult to completely avoid translation with early-stage learners, especially when it comes to adults, since they are already able to express themselves using more sophisticated vocabulary. However, demonstrating what problems a "literal" translation brings can be a good teaching tool at basic and intermediate levels. It could help demonstrate not only the complexity of L1 (first language) and L2 (second language or non-native language) and the importance of understanding context and culture, along with grammar and vocabulary. Benefits of Translation Are Significant at Proficient Levels The pedagogical benefits of translation are even more significant at advanced levels as a tool to explore the complexities of the language and culture of texts that vary in type, perspective, and purpose. Read the full article

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Translator Productivity - Why haven’t you taken care of this yet?

What is your Translator Productivity IQ? Let’s talk a bit about translator productivity, organisation and quality of life. You have a small translation job that, from your experience, should not take more than 2 hours, with a 5 day deadline. When would you start the project? I’ll start right away unless…. If your answer is: "Right away. However, I will stop whenever there is a message notification on Facebook or I get a text message. After all, there is still plenty of time OR I know the subject by heart. Anyway, I have no reason to worry." If this is your answer. You’re not alone. Got plenty of time, right? If your answer was: "On the morning of the deadline, I open the file and start translating. I do not want to deliver the project to the customer too soon in advance. Translation is not like Domino Pizza. The customer will not value my work if I deliver too fast. And they’ll think it was too easy to do.” Well, you’d be surprised to know that many translators and other freelancers think just like that. Again, you’re not alone. Anyway, keep reading, it’s getting interesting. I’ll Start Translating Immediately and Deliver ASAP You answered that you would start the translation immediately and deliver the very same day? Then you are part of a very disciplined minority. Yet, even though you are in that category, keep on reading – I have some tips for you too. Why do we procrastinate? You know you have something to do. You know you have a deadline. Read the full article

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Freelance interpreter - Kill those "Faux Pas"

Understanding freelance interpreters: Sisyphus myth or an opportunity for bonding? Getting people to understand interpreting is something I do often when quoting an event, with both novice and veteran contractors. Yet, for a long time, I admit I felt a bit frustrated. I felt that explaining and defending my practices as a freelance interpreter closely resembled the task of Sisyphus. The myth of Sisyphus, belonging to Greek mythology, results from the posthumous punishment of Sisyphus for treason to the gods. In the land of the dead, he was forced to push a rock to the top of the mountain, from where it would roll back to the starting point. In the past, I used to feel that explaining my best practice would never really end. A New Approach in Explaining Best Practice in Interpreting Over the past few years, I decided to change my approach to explaining good practice. I began to think that I would put forward the benefits of real interpreting; defend good practices and negotiate in a favourable way for both parties with a guarantee of good working conditions for the good of the event. This new approach made me see this as an opportunity to strengthen my ties with potential contractors. This is how I did it and the actions I took in each situation detailed below: 1. I do not need a professional, only a person who is fluent in French and English The right approach: "The event has strategic value for the positioning of its company within its field of activity. Read the full article

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The Technical Language Translator - It all Comes Back to Translating

What makes it interesting and challenging for the technical language translator? Put simply, it is the translator's job to – at least – understand the source text, right? To convey the information it intends to communicate in a complete, accurate and appropriate way in the target language, while keeping in mind the function of the text and the audience. Translators must convey the information as if it was written in the target language Translators have to reproduce the messages and intentions of the original. Translations made for publication should be read as if they were written in the target language and even documents intended for less public uses should be convincing and legible. This requires a unique set of skills and aptitudes, and the complexity of the task is often underestimated. Inexperienced translators, and even subject-area experts, tend to produce literal or word-for-word translations that follow patterns of the source language rather than finding a more natural form of expression in the target language. Technical Language Translators Must Be Curious As a basic requirement, technical translators, for one, need to have an in-depth knowledge of the source language (including notion of their specific rhetorical patterns and speech structures). They must have native or near-target fluency, a vocation to write, and highly developed information compilation skills. Read the full article

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Search everything on the Net – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Search everything - Let the Duel Begin

The Web is a double-edged swordgun: the same ease of access offered by millions of texts on the most varied subjects allows you to search everything : the good, the bad and the ugly. Yet, it also allows the publication of all kinds of nonsense, whether intentional or not. Therefore, Internet searches should be done with the upmost care and confirmed at least once more in a relatively safe way. Discovering the missing information out there, replicating it and justifying it because it is “live on the Internet” is like saying, “a stranger on the street once told me”. Zero reliability.

Techniques to search for the right terminology

Several blogs have made references to Translation and Web Searching by Vanessa Enríquez Raído, in which she gives tips for searching and confirming the translation of an expression on the Internet. In summary, the method consists of: Search for the original expression requesting results in the other language and/or restricting the search to governmental sites or that inspire confidence. Take note of the translations (usually more than one). Review the translations found and compare their number of occurrences.

Searching for the right expression

When searching for expressions with more than one word and between quotation marks, the number of occurrences is much smaller than searching for single words. Therefore, this type of search is more reliable than single words. If one of the words in the expression is wrong or is not the most common use, very few occurrences will be found. Few occurrences, to me, are in the tens and a few hundred. Even something rather obscure appears at a minimum in about 1,000 texts on Google. In fact, two forms of “classic” research using the Internet corpus are expressions or “collocations” in biology/zoology, for example. The first occurs as explained above, looking for quoted expressions and comparing the number of results. The second is done in a very similar way to the above method: Research the animal or the plant in the original language and obtain the scientific name. Search everything by scientific name and get results in the target language. The hypothesis of all these methods, of course, is that most texts are written by native speakers and are correct. Still, as with any corpus search, the results need to be properly interpreted. Unfortunately, Google does not have a simultaneous search engine for different queries. The most practical way is to open two browser windows or tabs in Google Chrome or Firefox, one for each search.

Term1 vs. Term2 – Ready, set, fight!

There is an external mechanism, apparently developed for entertainment purposes, that makes this simultaneous search: Googlefight. Simply fill in the two search boxes and the program searches the two at the same time on Google. After a fight between two little figures, the number of occurrences of each search is displayed. Two points against: first, the search is done in English. Results can be totally distorted if words are inserted in other languages, as there is no way to report this except adding site domains as filters (e.g. “site:. Fr”) in the search window. Second, only the number of occurrences is provided, without further information. That is, we cannot interpret the results. Still, it’s an additional tool, which can complement the search on Google itself. But since I found out about it recently, I would expect something similar offered by Google itself very soon – then yes, this should bring us an interesting gunfight! Read the full article

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How to Surf a Brexit Tsunami on the Translation Market

Weeks during and after the BreXit might bring a lull (with a momentary lapse – of reason?) in the translation market. Many projects might be on hold until the situation settles down for those of us translators who have several customers in the UK. But 2019 is promising a lot of work for translators and the expected lull, for those who will be feeling it, could look like that low tide before the tsunami. When the wave comes, it is necessary to be well prepared to be able to surf the crest and not be swallowed by the whirlpool. So this is an excellent time to upgrade and equip yourself to work harder and better. Here are a few suggestions to be ready for the translation market after Brexit. — Take the opportunity to read those texts lined up on the shelf and look for new books and blogs on translation and subjects of interest to us. ExtraSpeech blog about translators and translation (:)) and Between Translations, a website about translation by Jayne Fox, German-to-English translator has a large collection of articles. There is also the Translation Journal. For Facebook users, there are topics in the Translators and Interpreters forum that bring together quite a few suggestions for readings for translators. Remember: you are what you read. — Buy or subscribe to a few more dictionaries on CD or on the Web. Although I still find my dictionary books beautiful, looking at words on paper is not efficient at all and not fun any more. Most of the free Internet dictionaries are also incomplete. Also, it really pays to update your (Multiterm) glossaries and your TMs. — Make improvements in your workspace. To work well for many hours a day, you need to take care of ergonomics to prevent spine pain, circulation problems and RSI, and have your computer ready to work intensely for at least a year. It is not always necessary to spend a lot of money, but it can make all the difference. For example, treat yourself with a footrest (and I have a padded chair to make my life more comfortable), buy yourself a little more memory or disk space (HDD) for your computer, a new, soft keyboard with many smart shortcuts or an optical mouse. These small improvements greatly accelerate our work, take care of our health and – yes! – make us earn more. — Use it to test programs that you are not familiar with, such as SDL Trados or, for those of us who like to automate things, applications such as AutoHotkey to create scripts and automation. You never know when there will be an opportunity to use them professionally, and so it’s good to anticipate. — Renew your membership or join translators’ associations that match your profile, such as the Société Française des Traducteurs here in France. There is also the traditional ATA. And there are many others, more specialised or regional. — Last but not least, do you already have a website? It is now very easy to build one, using WordPress. There are numerous free hosting providers and buying your own domain is very cheap. It is extremely practical to have your updated service offer available to customers on your site, as well as other information they might need, such as pricing, services provided, etc. Those are just a few suggestions to tackle the After-Brexit translation market. If you have more tips, please add a comment. Good tsunami-surfing for everyone! Read the full article

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How do you become a translator?

How to become a translator?

How to become a translator? There is no simple answer to that question. A career in translation is like a book. It is made of several chapters, many stories. It is not just a question of knowing several languages. Otherwise, many people would become a translator.

What do I need to do to become a translator?

First of all, if I’m being honest, I would make sure that apart from the fact that you should like languages, you should enjoy being in front of a computer, translating all kinds of content. Particularly at the beginning, when you may have to translate different materials because you don’t have a lot of choice. So If you want to become a translator, you should really be curious about all sorts of things. What you are translating may not be a topic that you are passionate about, but you’ll learn a little from everything”

What does a translator translate?

I started translating very technical documents and later, I would read instruction manuals with more interest or even, after translating a gigantic project on oil prospecting, I would be very excited to visit an oil museum in United States, which contains all kinds of instruments that I would recognise thanks to what I had translated. As of today, I translate and review video games, marketing and a lot of software, and I love it, but before that, I translated things that were not ideal, but that interested me equally. Even sometimes, there are heavy things that I translate or review on a daily basis, but I like those things equally or at least, I do not dislike them. Therefore, before saying ‘how do I look for clients or companies to work as a translator’, I would like you to ask yourself if you really see yourself doing that. It’s easy to imagine translating the latest Resident Evil or the latest success series, but you always have to do a bit of everything; Ask other professional translators, to see what they tell you.

Do I need a degree to become a translator?

I say this because you will have to invest a lot of time in training. A degree in Translation or Interpreting or a specialised master’s degree if you come from another career is important today.

Is it possible to become a translator without a degree?

Of course, there are great translators who have not studied Translation. But today, what matters most is, most translation companies and clients already have many translators to choose from – there is a lot of competition – who have that basic training, so you will be at a disadvantage if you don’t own a degree. As you can see, it is very important that things are clear in your head about what it is to be a translator.

Should I become a translator?

Many people think that being a translator would be an ideal job for them because you stay quietly at home and you make some money. Yet, translation can be laborious and goes well beyond being a simple hobby with a bonus in the end. If you think that, chances that you throw the towel after a few months is quite high because you can’t find what you’re looking for, because you do not like what you do or because you not making as much money as you think you would. Having said that, then how do you really start if you already have minimal training? Well, first of all, start consulting translation company directories for offers. I always like to recommend ProZ.com, not necessarily for the offers themselves (they are not all interesting and/or well-paid and there is a lot of competition), but because you can get a list of agencies, filter them and there you have a list of companies you can contact. I also recommend having a profile in ProZ. On the other hand, you should be well aware of social networks such as LinkedIn. Of course, I would recommend that you write down which companies you sent your curriculum to in an Excel spreadsheet, note if they responded. At the same time, try and customise your email, try to be creative. By the way, make sure your resume is well designed and that it really sets you apart from the rest of the candidates.

Make it piece by piece, and become a translator

Warren Buffet said: "Don’t Compare Your Chapter 1 to Someone Else’s Chapter 20!” Learn from others and from those who have more experience, but try not to compare yourself to them. At 22, I was a kid who did not know half of what I know now, but at least I knew I would do everything possible to devote myself to translation. In the meantime, best of wishes for your chapter 1 as a translator and do not worry if you write your chapter 2 later than expected, as long as you write those chapters of your translation career little by little until you reach chapter 20. Read the full article

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Videogame Translation in China

China: the Largest Videogame Market in the World

The Asian giant has now become the largest video game market in the world. According to the latest HIS report, the video game market in China represents a $38 billion in revenue in 2018. In addition, the income of the sector of Video games in China accounts for 25% of the world total: one in every four dollars of the video game industry is being billed in China. In 2017, most of the revenue came from PC titles. However, video games for mobile phones or tablets outperformed the rest of the platforms in 2018. Spending on mobile games grew 55% in 2018, and increases of 24% are announced for 2019. Meanwhile, consoles still cannot find their place in the Chinese market. The sales figures of the PS4 and Xbox, barely exceeded 500,000 units since they launch.

An Overpopulated Country

All this avalanche of figures is driven by the huge population of China. The Asian giant has a population of about 1400 million people. In addition, taking a closer look at the demographics of China, we see that about 21% of its population is between 15 and 40 years old. We could discuss what is the average age of a gamer, but surely many of us agree that it is probably in this range. This means almost 300 million potential gamers, with stable jobs and growing purchasing power. Recall that the unemployment rate in China is around 4% according to official figures, and that the country has an increasingly large and stable middle class.

A Generation Without Computers

Unlike what happens in the West, where many of us have our personal computer, in China the situation is very different. It is estimated that around 95% of Internet users in China access the network through their mobile phones. In France, cybercafes were a revolution for the year 2001, when high-speed connections still did not exist and we couldn’t play StarCraft games every time we would receive a call at home (damn 56 kbps connection!). Cybercafes in France were a hit in all cities. Neighbourhoods were filled with gamers’ nests. Tournaments, night marathons and birthdays were organised as well as all kinds of events. Cybercafes happened to become social centres for many young people. However, with the advancement of technology and the arrival of high-speed connections to French homes, cybercafes moved into the background and many of them had to close in 2003 or 2004. Today, China continues to have thousands of cybercafes throughout the country. In addition, Chinese cybercafes have gone one step further: they offer 35-inch screens, hundreds of games, sofas, home delivery and very low prices, even for Chinese stores. In fact, many Chinese decide to use cybercafes as hotels in some areas of the country: it is much cheaper to spend the night in the cyber than to sleep in a simple room in a hostel.

Mobile Phones as the Dominant Platform

The situation of cybercafes in China is a very important fact to understand the impact of mobile platforms in China. For the vast majority of Chinese people, their mobile phone is their personal computer. It’s the device they use every day, the one they take to work, to school and the one they still use when they go home. It is with what they use to read the news, follow their social networks, watch movies or series online. In addition, of course, it is becoming the favourite platform for Chinese to play video games. Honor of Kings, the mobile version of the League of Legends, is currently the most profitable game. According to official announcements, Honor of Kings is expected to report to Tencent, the developer of the videogame, a profit of more than 3 billion dollars. Such is the addiction and reception that the videogame received in China, that Tencent has decided to limit the number of hours of play per day to those under 18 years of age.

Tencent, the Largest Videogame Company in the World

The Chinese company Tencent is the largest technology company in the country and one of the most important in the world (Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, that says it all). For the last few years, they have been investing very strongly in the videogame industry. As you may know, Tencent today owns large Western companies such as Supercell, Riot Games and is a large shareholder of other major companies in the sector, such as Epic Games or Activision Blizzard.

According to specialists, Tencent’s greatest competitive advantage lies in the enormous social network infrastructure available to it. The two largest instant messaging platforms in China are owned by Tencent: Wechat and QQ. These Chinese social networks have nearly 1,000 million active users per month, of which more than 700 million daily use their services daily. In addition, Tencent is one of the pioneers in the implementation of applications called hub. This type of application integrate different services or programs within the same application. In this way, you do not have to change application to use maps, view images, read the news or play mobile games. This is a total revolution in China, and Tencent is one of the leaders. To make matters worse, Tencent announced the re-launch of Wegame in 2018. Wegame is a video game download platform that will compete with Steam in China. Tencent’s game publishing platform now has more than 200 million registered players. Tencent’s monopoly in China is slightly threatened by its biggest competitor, NetEase, another giant technology group in charge of operating games such as StarCraft II, Overwatch and Diablo III in China, among other titles.

Videogame Translation in China

According to the latest Chinajoy convention, the most important videogame fair in China, the Asian giant develops and publishes more than 30,000 mobile games every year, almost 2500 new games every month. However, not all of these games go through localisation processes. Some are not even translated into other languages. The Chinese game developer and entrepreneur still does not understand the importance of localisation and translation of video games. In my opinion, this is mainly due to two reasons. First, that the domestic demand of the country continues to grow year after year. There is still room for growth by exploiting the internal market and many developers prefer to invest their money in national promotion. Second, the lack of national competence to locate games in other languages. The Chinese developer has today two basic alternatives for the translation of video games: foreign companies or Chinese companies. The first one, the big international translation companies based in China, are very expensive. They suppose an investment too big for a service that for many videogames companies, today, is complementary and optional. Secondly, specialised translation companies in China are very young and have little resources. Most of these companies are pretty recent, founded 4 or 5 years ago. The services they offer are economically affordable, but their results are far from satisfactory. The number of foreigners living in China is very low today. If you’re looking for experienced video game translators, you are looking at a tiny professional population. Videogame translation in China is being carried out mostly by people without training or experience in the sector. The mere fact of being native and proficient in English is usually enough to enter into a selection processes for any Chinese video game translation company. As China’s domestic demand is satisfied and profit margins within China are shrinking, Chinese videogame companies will begin to attach much more importance to international markets and to the localisation and translation of content. Given the low competition that exists in the sector, today China is a world full of possibilities for video game translators.

Videogame Translation: What Language?

Due to proximity and ease of work, the majority of localisation work from Chinese are done in Asian languages, such as Korean, Japanese or Thai. The adaptation of contents tends to be much more discreet when it comes to marketing products regionally. However, French is rising as one of the most important languages ​​for the gaming sector in China. The growth of emerging economies such as the French-speaking African countries is raising the demand for French translators in China.

FAQ About the Videogame Translation Market in China

If you have come this far, surely you have many doubts about the videogame sector in China. I will try to answer some of the most frequent questions. If you have any other questions, leave your question in the comments! Is it necessary to know how to speak Chinese to work in China? No. It is advisable, though. As a general rule, knowing how to communicate in English is enough to survive in China. The new generations of Chinese learn English from a young age and are always eager to practise it with foreigners. What are the trends of mobile games this year in China? In recent months many games about the Second World War are coming out. PVP games with very good graphics. Games where you control ships or warplanes. A good example of this type of game is War Wings, by Tencent Games. How much does a freelance translator charge in China? It depends. It is estimated that the average should be around 200 RMB per 1000 words for English to French (about 26 euros per 1000 words) and a little more from Chinese to French. Nowadays, it seems to be difficult to live on freelance translations in China. Sometimes huge projects arrive, of 100,000 words. Other times, only small projects of 2,000 or 3000 words. How much does an in-house translator charge in China? In-house video game translator positions are very much required in China. Conditions are usually quite interesting, although salaries depend on the city and the experience of the translator. To give an indicative figure, a professional hired as "Specialist in localisation of video games" can make between 12,000 and 15,000 RMB per month (about 1600–2000 euros). What About Delivery Time? As you can imagine, in China there are hardly any labour regulations, agreements or standardisation in this sense. Much less if we talk about sectors as recent as the translation of video games. The goal of Chinese translation companies is to get the job out as soon as possible and in the best possible way. When working as a freelancer, you can almost always negotiate your availability with translation companies. However, the faster you complete the work, the more likely you are to collaborate with them again. Once again, each project is different and many times delivery depends solely on the deadline set out by the end client. Either way, translation companies expect an output of 2,500 words a day for part-time translators and about 5,000 words a day for in-house or full-time translators. As a general rule, Chinese companies do not differentiate repetitions from the rest of the text, so you will normally charge 100% of the work done. However, some companies might pay 50% for repetitions or that do not even count them or pay them. In the end, it is up to you to choose whom we want to work with. The time you devote to each translation is up to you. There will be people who are able to translate more than 1000 words per hour, while other people might need more time. There are many factors that determine the speed at which you do translation: your level of commitment, concentration, typing speed, how well you master your translation software, the familiarity you have with the type of game you are translating, et cetera. Personally, and as a reference, I think I can translate about 1000 words per hour from English to French. Of course, it is impossible for me to maintain this level of concentration for a long time. I need to unplug from time to time to avoid mistakes. What is the worst thing when working with Chinese translation companies? Working with Chinese companies can sometimes be a very exasperating experience. Rigour, consistency and precision are not usually attributes that are highly valued by Chinese translation companies. As I said before, times are fundamental in an economy that grows to more than 7% each year. Many times you can find yourself lacking in resources to do a good job. Sometimes, communication with the project manager or with the final client is not very good. For those who translate video games, software or applications, it is essential to know the context of a word. It is very important to have good communication with the client to know what this loose word refers to, without context. For example, attack or raid are widely used words in RTS games. However, seeing them loose in an Excel box, is it a verb? A noun? Who performs the action? Another problem that we can find is often confidentiality. When working as a freelancer for a translation company, it is unlikely that you will have any contact whatsoever with the videogame developer. Many Chinese translation companies have confidentiality agreements. How can you translate a video game if you have not had the opportunity to play it? How can you adjust your writing style if you don’t know what the game looks like? Unfortunately, consistency is sometimes secondary when translating for Chinese companies. However, there are other companies that much more sensible and determined to deliver a good job. Lately, I received some projects for which I was given some days to familiarise myself with the game before being given the document to translate. What is the best thing about working with Chinese translation companies? The lack of rigour and consistency can be unbearable for more experienced translators. In addition, translation rates in China are much lower than those offered in Western countries. However, China offers enormous possibilities for development and growth for any translator. To give you an idea, in just over two years working for Chinese translation companies, I must have translated more than 50 video games and as many mobile applications. Some of these projects are small card or casino games, but other projects had more than 250,000 words. Nowadays, China allows you to work whatever you want. There is a huge and growing demand in all sectors and very few professionals to cover it. It is an ideal country to train and get experience. Also, if you are willing to sacrifice part of your free time and become a multi-employer, you can start saving money and start making plans for the future, something that today does not seem so easy in European countries. How can I find a videogame translator job in China? Chinese translation companies are always looking for translators. Many translation offers are published on portals such as 51job (Chinese and English). Another way would be to directly contact some Chinese translation companies, such as Gametrans, among others. Read the full article

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If Only Everything in Life was as Reliable as a Translation

If Only Everything in Life was as Reliable as a Translation

You’ve hired a translator to have a document translated into French, thinking that all is tickety boo. Suddenly, everything goes so wrong.

Ever had some pretty Bad experiences with translators?

15 things that could go wrong with your translator Read more by visiting my blog about How you can grow your business with English to French translation at https://extraspeech.com/blog/ Read the full article