BrauerTraining One voice Forum # 1

Open Forum In Pursuit of One Voice
On May 25, 2013 BrauerTraining
hosted its first open monthly virtual
forum for translators & interpreters to
talk about the future of the profession
in the 21st
Century.
21st
Century Translators and Interpreters

The purpose of these informal forums
is the exchange of opinions, in the
hopes of eventually having “action-
able” ideas to participate in the design
our own future.
21st

Background to the forum:
Claudia Brauer believes the profession
of translation and interpreting could
become extinct in the next decades if
translators and interpreters don’t wake
up to the reality of the world today.
21st

• BrauerTraining premises
• Productivity is replacing Quality
(#s above content)
• Utility is replacing Eloquence
(usefulness above expression)
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Translators and interpreters need to
adapt quickly to the digital, virtual,
instant, mobile world of the 21st
century.
Further reading :
http://brauertraining.com/blog/neo-luddites-or-technocrats
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- There is a “food chain” with an
ecosystem in itself, this means there
are people at the bottom of the food
chain and others at the top
- Translators and interpreters are
almost at the bottom
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21st

1. What makes us – translators and
interpreters – relevant in the 21st
Century (i.e. what makes us unique)?
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2. What new skills do we need in order
to adapt to the new roles of
translators and interpreters?
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3. How do we create a power broker for
the profession to speak with one
voice?
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- In-house translators vs. freelancers –
different needs, different perspectives
- How can we help? (ask in-house T&I)
21st

- T&I really want to know what is going
on in the industry, understand it
- Clients do not understand what
translation entails - impossible to
price it right
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- Also, the market has changed
dramatically in the last decade
- We are loosing clients to other
markets
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- Quality is not the target for many
users – they just want the gist
- Google translate and Bing translate
used by people AND companies - if
they can get the gist, even not
congruent, it is OK for them
21st

- Clients think first of all of bottom line,
they will go for the lower cost
- Price competition drives the market
- Clients want agility, fast response,
immediate product delivery, low cost
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- Younger generations want Tweeter,
Facebook, social media translated
fast - they accept things as they
come, no grammar, no spelling – “sort
of” a translation suits the needs of the
new user
21st

- The role of interpreting is also
changing because of text-to-voice-to-
text. The user does not mind that it is
“kind-of” incorrect as long as they
“kind-of” understand the content
21st

- Users speak to their phone, the
phone converts to text, the text is
google-translated, the phone returns
the sentences spoken in another
language.
- The user is OK with the “gist”
21st

- Only way to market yourself to
compete with CAT and MT is
becoming a specialist
- T&I now have to understand and
pursue filling “specific” needs of the
clients
21st

- Market your experience and capability
to adjust the final version –
Localization is the new role of the
translator
21st

- Market your “being human” and being
able to differentiate content, culture,
audience, nuances
- Our uniqueness is in being human,
that is what makes us special.
21st

- How can we market that capability to
a “bottom-line” (price-based) client
base?
- Many clients like to “know” humans
are the translators, but do not want to
pay the price
21st

- How do we reach a market that does
not know what to expect from us
- How do we compete with the “bottom
line”
21st

- How do we keep our part of the market
share when immediacy is vital in
today’s business world
- The client wants to have results now
and here, within the hour, or “same
day” service
21st

- Will CAT replace humans?
- Not in the immediate future
- Yes for basic translation within the
next decade
- Probably for basic interpreting too
(voice-to-text-to-voice)
21st

- We have an attitude of denial
- Many people have been saying "that
will not happen”…
- It has already happened
- We must stop the denial to move
forward as a profession (as a group)
21st

- CAT was expected to grow pursuant
to storage capabilities - now
computers can store more in smaller
spaces
- CAT and MTs have gone mobile
21st

- MTs have been uploaded with good
CAT info that was once translated by
Humans, so many are starting to
have good levels of quality
21st

- Today humans can TRAIN machines,
that is why CAT and MT are
becoming more sophisticated,
exponentially
- There is no stopping technology
21st

- Machines are replacing humans in
many parts of the world
- This is a worldwide trend even with
professions established for centuries.
21st

- Why can’t we make translation and
interpreting a reputable profession
again?
- How do we become important for the
LSP an the end client?
21st

- For example, nurses do not perform
surgeries:
Why are bilinguals performing
translation and interpreting?
How do we adapt to the changes in
our competition?
21st

21st
- Our client is no longer found on a
person-to-person relationship but
rather on a person-to email or
freelance-to-corporation for
assignments anywhere in the world

21st
- Many colleagues worldwide are highly
trained translators and interpreters
who live in countries where GDP is
much lower and therefore their rates
are sustainably lower than ours

21st
- Other untrained and un-experienced
newcomers to the field are competing
with low quality but high rate of
market penetration
- They are using the “business” aspect
of the profession

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- All in all, our largest competitors are
not our peers but the software and
technology industries that have
entered the T&I industry with
technology and huge negotiating
(leverage) power

- Looking for a relationship human-to-
human is now time consuming and
client/LSP do not want to be
“dragged” into it – they prefer their
own anonymity to be able to have you
or discard you at will
21st

- The sharing of information is at every
level of the human experience today.
Skype, Facebook, create video, etc.,
gadgets
- Crowdsourcing is going viral
- “In your language of preference”
21st

What do we need, then?
-Train the end user about what T&I
entails
-How do we do that?
21st

What do we need, then?
-Train ourselves to respond to the new
millennium
-Training is vital to our survival, but,
what do we need to learn
21st

- Translators and interpreters need to
train in code of ethics and standards
of practice to have a unified minimum
quality and requirements
- Newcomers need to be forced to
acquire training – how?
21st

21st
- Translators an interpreters need to
learn about the technology of our day,
about communication tools (the new
mobile devices), networking (social
media), cloud computing and virtual
world “stuff”

- We have to become proficient using
the tools of our trade today (which
include devices everyone uses!)
- For example, smartphones are now
networking devices, not just
“communication” tools
21st

- T&I also need to learn who to trust in
the cyber world:
how to contract
how to ensure payment
how to protect identity
21st

- T&I need to understand underlying
factors of jurisdiction in the virtual
world
- What is the jurisdiction of the cloud?
- It affects legal and privacy issues
21st

- Confidentiality is key – books that
have not been published for example
cannot be translated with on the cloud
tools
- Privacy issues in most realms of
translation and interpreting
21st

- Legal possession of data is a great
concern
- Public vs. nonpublic issues must be
fully understood
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- But # 1: We need representation in the
big scenario of the decision makers
- Some T&I associations do not prioritize
needs of translators and interpreters
(they are also catering to the LSP)
21st

- End of discussion in Forum #1 at the
top of the hour.
- Notes taken on power point will be
made public via YouTube and
Slideshare
21st

Attending Forum # 1
May 25, 2013
EGS
FN
PC
AB
CB
21st
Excused
DR
LD
SA

Monthly meetings
On the 25th
at 11 a.m. EST USA
(check your local time)
Want to participate?
21st

• Register for our newsletter at
www.Brauertraining.com and you will
be automatically invited, or
• Send us an email to
claudia@brauertraining.com
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21st
• If you registered for our Newsletter or the
First Forum, you do NOT need to register
again.
• You should receive your invitation to the
Forum #2 by June 15
• If you don’t, claim it at:
claudia@brauertraining.com

Forum # 2
June 25, 2013
at 11 a.m. EST USA
(check your local time)
See you there…
21st

Credits – instrumental music
•http://www.royalty-free-music-room
•Instrumental Eduardo Paniagua
•Instrumental War of Ages
•Instrumental Various Artists
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BrauerTraining One voice Forum # 1

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