Friday, April 2, 2021

Found in translation: A little piece of Hawaii has come to Peoria - Your Valley - Translation

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Thursday, April 1, 2021

Why is Translation Software So Important for Clinical Trial Translations? - Clinical Trials Arena - Translation

Translation software is essential for performing high-quality translation, especially in the clinical trial and medical field, as it facilitates and speeds up translators’ work by keeping terminology consistent throughout the file.

CAT stands for computer-aided translation, which means that a CAT tool is a computer program that helps to translate text documents more efficiently through four main functions:

  • A CAT tool divides sentences and phrases into segments in one environment, along with the source text. This segmentation facilitates work and makes the translation process easier and faster.
  • Another important point here is that the translation of each segment is saved together with the source text. The source text and translation are indicated as a translation unit.
  • One of the main functions of CAT tools is the ability to save the translated segments in translation memory (TM) so they can be used again when translating the same text, or text that is very similar to the one that has been already translated. Through special ‘fuzzy search’ features, the search functions of CAT tools even find segments that do not match 100%. This process saves a lot of time and effort and produces consistent translation.
  • The fourth basic function of a CAT tool is the reference the translator can make with the terminology database.

Besides these four main functions, many other functions are included in a CAT tool that also make translating easier and increase productivity:

  • Text search tools, index/concordance tools, statistical tools providing information about the translation process, and alignment tools. Many translations have not been translated with the help of a CAT tool, so they will not be found in the Translation memory. Therefore, we need to create a TM based on the already translated text, and this could be easily achieved with an alignment tool.

The greatest benefits of CAT tools include powerful translation memory, meaning that the translator never has to translate the same sentence twice; it also provides one integrated environment for all translation, review and project management needs.

TMs are databases that store source sentences and their translations as segment pairs, called translation units. The TM remembers each sentence that is translated so the translation can be easily retrieved from the TM database. If an identical or similar sentence comes up later, it does not need to be translated from scratch. This technology offers two main advantages:

  • Faster turnaround times
  • Full consistency and high quality: with TM technology, the translator will keep the same translation for text that is the same throughout the file, but it is placed in different parts of the main text.

Professional translators always work with CAT tools to produce work that is consistent in terminology and formatting. Every good translation company should invest in the latest technology and the most advanced versions of translation software to guarantee the best possible work.

Probably the most popular translation programs nowadays are Trados Studio, MemoQ, Wordfast and Across, as well as a great number of online CAT tools that could be easily accessed via your browser. However, every professional translator should have at least one CAT tool installed on his computer to guarantee that he has substantial experience on a vast number of projects and has created, saved and accumulated translation memories and termbases he could use in current and future projects.

Here we shall take a look at some of the Trados Studio features (most CAT tools have very similar functions) that will give some additional information on what has been mentioned above.

An important feature of Trados Studio is the AutoSuggest Dictionaries. TMs store whole segments, the AutoSuggest dictionaries function helps to extract segment fragments. When working with an AutoSuggest dictionary, it will give you the option to choose from segment fragments while typing.

Another feature of Trados Studio is the AutoPropagation process. This is the process when the confirmed translation from one segment is applied to other segments in the same document.

Terminology database (termbase) is another important feature of Trados Studio. This is similar to electronic dictionaries. They contain single words or expressions rather than storing whole sentences. Creating and maintaining termbases is used for storing specific terms that cannot be found in standard dictionaries.

Another feature of Trados Studio is the AutoPropagation process. This is the process when the confirmed translation from one segment is applied to other segments in the same document. This speeds up the translation workflow and keeps consistency throughout the text.

At NN Translations, we work with a number of CAT tools to provide our clients with impeccable quality for their clinical trial projects. Contact us for more information on how we can help you with your translation and/or cognitive debriefing needs today!

Spatial Adds iOS LiDAR Scans And Real-Time Translation - UploadVR - Translation

Cross-platform collaboration service Spatial added a series of features to strengthen its position as a remote work tool.

Updates include beta PC VR support and the addition of 3D scans captured on iOS devices — like those taken with LiDAR tech on the latest iPhone and iPad Pro — as well as live translation which can appear as text over avatars during conversation. There’s also casting support for MacOS so you can see the entire desktop and share content on those screens with others. All of the above was demonstrated live inside the Spatial app running on Quest 2, with Spatial going so far as to stream Zack Snyder’s Justice League to a group of six people playing from HBO Max in a Web browser on a Mac.

While many of Spatial’s features have been attempted before — examples include Immersed, Bigscreen and most recently Microsoft’s Mesh — the live demonstration in standalone virtual reality still showed promise for real-time collaboration. Spatial is also adding support for joining via link from a Web browser without the need to setup an account. Taking notes in the app was pretty easy as well with nothing but hand tracking — a hovering menu made it easy to access a voice dictation feature that mutes you for a moment while you speak some words that are translated to text.

Spatial was one of the last startups we saw at an in-person event. The video above shot at CES 2020 was the last major technology conference held before the COVID-19 pandemic and the demo at the time was heavily geared toward AR technology, though it was also demonstrated in VR as well. In the year since, the startup has added a large number of features and aims to make its technology a ubiquitous collaboration tool available across a wide range of devices, including iPhone and Android.

Here’s the full list of features the company added recently, as listed by Spatial:

  • Custom environments – Import any 3D model or scan your own physical environment with LiDAR (using an iOS device) and set it as your room environment. Now your meetings can happen anywhere you can imagine.
  • Live translation – Accommodates 30+ languages for teams joining from multiple regions. Language never needs to be a barrier to communication in VR! (Pro only feature)
  • Private Rooms – Limit access to only those specified by a room admin, such as your immediate team or a specific group of friends
  • Host tools – Administrators of large meetings give the ability to mute users, lock content, remove participants and enable feature specific permissions
  • Better web experience – Better experience for web participants with moveable Spectator camera, allowing you to choose your view and position in the room
  • Selfie stick – Take pictures of objects or yourself that you can easily share with others via email
  • Spatial audio improvements – The farther you are from someone the harder it becomes to hear them, making it perfect for cocktail parties & breakout sessions
  • Outdoor campfire environment – A new beautifully designed outdoor campfire environment for large groups or intimate social settings and sing-a-longs!
  • Avatar customization – Includes skin and shirt color making avatars even more reflective of the real you
  • Simpler access via web
  • Join in one click – no account sign-up or user account required for web users. Great for quickly sharing meetings with new participants
  • Cast from macOS is a high-performance app that lets you stream your macOS screen into the space around you through VR, complete with audio. Work side by side with friends in virtual space, watch movies or play games together.

We’ll be live with Spatial CEO and co-founder Anand Agarawala in our studio at 12:30 pm Pacific on April 1, 2021, to discuss the suite of new features and the startup’s position as giants like Microsoft and Apple develop new AR and VR technologies.

New campaign to fuel global Bible translation efforts - Mission Network News - Translation

USA (MNN) — Tomorrow is Good Friday, observed each year in remembrance of what Christ did on Calvary. Wycliffe USA President John Chesnut says it also brings to mind those who are stuck in spiritual darkness. “It’s a reminder of the number of people around the world that have never heard this story ever,” Chesnut states.

“They don’t have that hope many of us do today.”

illumiNations is an alliance of Bible translation groups determined to shine God’s light into the world’s spiritually dark places. Wycliffe USA, along with its nine illumiNations partners, wants every language group in the world to have Scripture by 2033.

“That’s not only an ambitious goal, that is a God-sized goal,” Chesnut says.

The finish line is only 12 years away, and more than 2,000 language communities have no Scripture at all. To help accelerate the funding that makes translation work possible, illumiNations launched the “I Want to Know” campaign.

“It’s a social media campaign to get the word out there and then invite people to participate in what God’s doing around the world today,” Chesnut explains.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

For $35, participants in the “I Want to Know” campaign can sponsor one translated verse of Scripture. Learn more here. People can also post the Bible verse they “want the world to know” on social media using the hashtag #IWTKBible.

The illumiNations alliance envisions all people having access to Scripture by the year 2033 — a target they’re calling the “All Access Goals.” It means 95 percent of the world’s population will have access to a full Bible, 99.96 percent will have access to a New Testament and 100 percent will have access to at least some portion of Scripture.

“Prayer is absolutely essential to see this move forward,” Chesnut says.

“The first prayer request is that people would have ears to hear that this is still a remaining need. Second of all, that the Lord would [break] down those barriers that have kept the Gospel message out of these communities.”

Pray that as God removes barriers, translation work can begin immediately in unreached language communities.

“The language communities around the world that still do not have Scripture are the least of the least and the hardest to reach.”

The “I Want to Know” campaign — the largest Bible translation campaign to be introduced on social and digital media — gives people the opportunity to sponsor one or more Bible verses in partnership with the 3,800 language communities worldwide that don’t yet have a complete Bible. (Photo courtesy of illumiNations)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: TRANSLATION SERVICES – FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT - ReliefWeb - Translation

Closing Date: Friday April 30th, 2021, at 17:00 EST

Action Against Hunger Canada is both a Canadian and International not-for-profit that fights hunger and its root causes worldwide. With 40 years of experience Action Against Hunger is a recognized leading organization specialized in addressing hunger and its underlying causes.

Action Against Hunger Canada is looking for vendors to support our organization’s communication goals through the provision of high-quality translation and interpretation in English, French and Spanish.

The aim of this RFP is to identify and select vendors for the purpose of establishing an annual Framework Agreement, not a service contract. Vendors with Framework Agreements may be contracted by Action Against Hunger Canada over the duration of the agreement based on rates set in the Framework Agreement.

SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Vendors may provide full or partial proposals for the services indicated below:

Written Translation

1. Translation of documents to and from English, French, Spanish and/or Arabic.

Instructions and additional information for vendors: Please include languages offered and the associated rates. Lengths of documents can vary.

Review and Editing of Written Content

2. Proofread, review, and edit written content in English, French, Spanish and/or Arabic.

Instructions and additional information for vendors: Please provide languages offered and the associated rates. Lengths of documents can vary.

Simultaneous Interpretation

3. Simultaneous verbal interpretation to and from English, French, Spanish and/or Arabic.

4. Simultaneous written interpretation to and from English, French, Spanish and/or Arabic.

Instructions and additional information for vendors: Please provide languages offered and the associated rates. In 2021, simultaneous verbal and written interpretation is anticipated to be done on virtual platforms ie. Zoom or Teams. Please note your familiarity with the software.

IMPORTANT DATES

April 1: Call Opens
April 23: Deadline for submitting questions.
April 27: Action Against Hunger Canada provides responses to questions.
April 30: Proposal Deadline
May 3-7: Sample Translations
May 10-12: Framework Agreements awarded to successful vendors.

dublab Presents No Translation | KCRW's 24 Hours of Serenity - KCRW - Translation

dublab presents a one-hour set from ambient artist No Translation. No Translation is the ambient electronic solo project of Taiwanese/American musician and visual artist, Emma Palm. Her music is a meditation on the relative nature of personal connection to environments and memories that collages melodic synths, field recordings, and vocals.

dublab is a non-profit radio station based in Los Angeles. Since 1999, dublab has been broadcasting wide-spectrum music from around the world. The station’s programming has expanded to include the production of original art exhibits, films, events, record releases, and educational programs related to health, youth, development, education, and creative processes.

More about KCRW’s 24 Hours of Serenity

Listen  — we’re not saying you’re stressed out and need some relaxation… but we’re not not telling you that either ; )

So, just in case, look what KCRW has in store for you! It’s 24 hours dedicated to wellness and relaxation. Join us on Sunday, April 18th for an all-day virtual festival of calm. Everything from guided meditation with Valerie June to kitten cams, art classes with Self Help Graphics to baguette shaping with Bub and Grandma’s, soothing sounds of dublab artists to comforting home haircuts with ProjectQ… along with many of the KCRW voices you love and so much more. Seriously, it’s 24 hours — check out the schedule and details at kcrw.com/serenity.

The Zoom link will stay the same for 24 hours, so you can jump in and out of what interests you most throughout the day like you would at a festival. Drop by for one segment or stay for the whole 24 hours! We guarantee, this will be the chillest party you’ve ever been to. So breathe deep, hold it, and breathe out.

24 Hours of Serenity is free and open to the public starting on Wednesday, March 31st at 12pm noon, you only need to RSVP to attend.

Translation: After H&M Incident, Netizens Reflect on the Meaning of Patriotism - China Digital Times - Translation

Multinational clothing retailer H&M last week found itself the target of a state-sponsored storm of nationalistic scorn and a widespread boycott by Chinese consumers over a (recently deleted) October 2020 statement expressing “deep concern” about persistent allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang.

The Swedish retailer was the first and primary focus of the online rage, but other major companies who had previously made statements about ceasing use of Xinjiang cotton—including Nike, Adidas, Burberry, and Uniqlo—were also targeted by online ire. Subsequently, several Chinese celebrities and companies announced plans to terminate contracts with the brands. In reaction to the global tide of companies pledging to do their part in mitigating ongoing atrocities in Xinjiang—atrocities that the Chinese government continues to deny despite a growing body of evidence—many Chinese brands and influential figures joined nationalistic netizens in an online “support Xinjiang cotton” movement.

Meanwhile, authorities and state media played their part in fanning the flames of outrage. CDT Chinese editors found tight control of search results and social media commentary surrounding H&M and Xinjiang.

At the South China Morning Post, Celia Chen and Iris Deng reported on the role played by Chinese e-commerce firms’ in the boycott:

On Friday morning, an order placed for food to be delivered to an H&M store was denied by on-demand service giant Meituan. Hailing a car with an H&M store as the destination was not possible on ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing, which did not recognise the store address as being valid. Users were also not able to find H&M stores as destinations on China’s major online maps including Baidu, Tencent and AutoNavi maps.

[…] Further, H&M products were blocked for purchase on China’s leading e-commerce platforms including Taobao, owned by Alibaba Group Holding (owner of the Post), JD.com, and Pinduoduo.

[…On] Thursday, internet giant Tencent removed two Burberry-designed “skins”, outfits worn by video game characters, from its popular title Honour of Kings, just days after it unveiled a deal with the brand to promote its outfits in online games.

Tencent’s decision, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, was related to Burberry’s position on Xinjiang-produced cotton as a member of the Better Cotton Initiative. London-based Burberry said last year that it did not use any raw materials from Xinjiang, where Beijing denies claims of genocide and forced labour in the region. [Source]

“The hate-fest part is not sophisticated; it’s the same logic they’ve followed going back decades,” said Xiao Qiang, a research scientist at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, and the founder of China Digital Times, a website that tracks Chinese internet controls. But “their ability to control it is getting better,” he said.

[…] Squirrel Video, a Weibo account dedicated to silly videos, shared the Communist Youth League’s original post on H&M with its 10 million followers. A gadget blogger in Chengdu with 1.4 million followers shared a clip showing a worker removing an H&M sign from a mall. A user in Beijing who posts about television stars highlighted entertainers who had ended their contracts with Adidas and other targeted brands.

[…]Many web users who speak up during such campaigns are motivated by genuine patriotism, even if China’s government does pay some people to post party-line comments. Others, such as the traffic-hungry blog accounts derided in China as “marketing accounts,” are probably more pragmatic. They just want the clicks.

In these moments of mass fervor, it can be hard to say where official propaganda ends and opportunistic profit seeking begins. [Source]

Also at The New York Times, in a “user’s guide” to the Chinese movement to cancel Western fashion brands, Vanessa Friedman and Elizabeth Paton highlight the importance of the issue:

The issue has growing political and economic implications. On the one hand, as the pandemic continues to roil global retail, consumers have become more attuned to who makes their clothes and how they are treated, putting pressure on brands to put their values where their products are. One the other, China has become an evermore important sales hub to the fashion industry, given its scale and the fact that there is less disruption there than in other key markets, like Europe. Then, too, international politicians are getting in on the act, imposing bans and sanctions. Fashion has become a diplomatic football.

This is a perfect case study of what happens when market imperatives come up against global morality. […] [Source]

For a detailed roundup of the “support Xinjiang cotton” movement—who’s associated hashtag as of March 28 had garnered more than six billion views on Weibo—and Beijing’s activities over the last year that led to it, read “Support Xinjiang MianHua!” – China’s Social Media Storm over Xinjiang Cotton Ban at What’s on Weibo. In the article, Manya Koetse noted that amid the chaos, another hashtag emerged reminding angry netizens of the impact this has on many ordinary Chinese:

In light of the heated discussions and calls for boycotts, there was also another hashtag that popped up on Weibo, namely that of “don’t make it hard for the workers” (不要为难打工人). The hashtag came up after some Chinese staff members at Nike and Adidas stores were scolded on a live stream, with netizens calling on people to stay rational and not let the boycott turn into personal attacks on people. But another popular video showed a man in Chongqing calling customers out in an H&M store for buying their “trash.” [Source]

CDT earlier translated examples of Chinese web users who criticized the “support Xinjiang cotton” movement, including some from commenters who urged their angry compatriots to support Chinese workers and also the Xinjiang people.

CDT Chinese editors have since archived further examples of online commentary deviating from the “anti-anti-forced labor” sentiment of the widely covered and state-sanctioned uproar of nationalism. In one WeChat essay that appears to still be live on the platform, @有病要讀書plus recalled the 2012 case of Li Jianli, who was left paralyzed and traumatized after being violently attacked during anti-Japanese protests in Xi’an for driving a Japanese car. CDT has translated a short excerpt from the article, in which the author points out a major contradiction in the conduct of  these self-described patriots:

I’m saying that some people these days are truly amazing. They are perpetually bursting with rage or exploding in tears as if they have some sort of mental illness.

Their naiveté and cynicism is extremely vicious. They are keen to make arrests among fellow ordinary citizens. They are very good at tagging others with unfair labels and collecting backup material. […]

Each and every one of them is like an accountant, looking to the whole wide world to settle accounts. They are not looking for the correct stance, but rather looking to fight with a team on their side. They want only to hear patriotic slogans being shouted, so that’s all they will allow.

I just wonder, how can these people have such a great sense of and urging for “justice” while maintaining indifference to the many injustices and abnormalities that surround them?

How does that work?

[…] Supporting something is of course the easiest and least costly thing one can do. But, what about supporting the tens of thousands of workers in the industrial supply chain that are facing unemployment?

Could it be that some people here are living a type of life that you can’t stand to believe?

Your boycotts only invite boycotts, your condemnation leads only to condemnation, and your resentment breeds only resentment.

[…] It is impossible for those with no love for their compatriots to truly be patriotic. If they care not for these specific individuals, then they don’t deserve to use the term “comrade.” […] [Chinese]

Also on WeChat, @南方找北 similarly analyzed the meaning of patriotism. After reminding the “protesters” who live broadcast themselves destroying Nike sneakers not to forget that “there are still 600 million people in China who make less than 1,000 yuan a month and can’t afford a pair of Nikes,” the author explains their understanding of patriotism with a long list of examples, including: “In my understanding, patriotism exists not only in people’s words, but in concrete actions that show love for those around them,” and “my understanding of patriotism is [shown in the words of] the whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang: ‘There should be more than one voice in a healthy society’.”

Another WeChat essay archived by CDT Chinese (but, apparently still online in China) is titled “Behind the H&M Incident Lies the Livelihoods of Countless Workers.” The post offers a detailed look at China’s position in the global textile and garment supply chain, and at the mainstream nature of ethical standards and multi-stakeholder governance organizations like the Better Cotton Initiative in modern international trade. The author concludes: “If our firms wish to continue engaging with Western markets, then rather than simply bullying they must comply with the guiding principles of supply chain risk management and maintain dialogue with the international community in transparency and trust.”

One Weibo user, @YvonnAlmond, spoke out against rampant online nationalism, writing: “A country where you can’t protest in the streets has raised a den of internet vigilantes… They’re always making trouble, making noise.” She was later detained by the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

The Wall Street Journal this week reported that Chinese propaganda authorities “quietly celebrated in Beijing two days after a Chinese social-media post helped ignite a frenzy of outrage against Western clothing brands […] in what they saw as a victory in a new effort to inoculate China against criticisms from the West.” At Bloomberg, opinion columnist Clara Ferreira Marques questions the accuracy of the reportedly victorious propagandists, noting a surefire result of the high profile nationalism Beijing has fanned over the last week: sustained focus on the situation in Xinjiang both in China and abroad:

For now, there’s only one clear outcome from this mess, and that’s noise. Boycotts will keep bringing attention to accusations of brutal abuse against Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in parts of China where too little light is shed.

That’s not necessarily what Beijing, for all its wolf-warrior aggression, was aiming for. [Source]