Introduce Yourself!

[A.M.Sall]

It's cool to introduce yourself to the Forum and the Network!

[Claude Almansi]

Hi

Thank you for having created this translators' network. I'm 55, and am active in projects and initiatives aiming at bridging the knowledge divide in present day information society. And translation is important in this context - at least until automatic translation becomes readable :-)

Best

Claude

[A.M.Sall]

Welcome, Claude, and feel at home! Regarding automatic translation I don't think it'll pose a real threat any time soon: for example, the best ("the least bad") so far is Google, with only 60% accuracy - even though US Army researchers say they aim for 80% (see one of my posts in the Translator Power blog about this)

Thanks a lot for introducing yourself. And remember you can create your own blog, start a discussion, post music, videos, photos, etc

Best

A.M.Sall

[Claude Almansi]

Thank you, Amadou (1)

Re automated translation, I agree with you both on its inaccuracy. But I think that people should learn how to use these programs to get the gist of a text: if in a language they have some command of, they can then decide if it is worth the effort to look up what they don't understand. And if in a language they don't know at all, whether it's worth asking/paying for a translation.
I once wrote a blog post on this: Babelfish 101. And when I was in charge of the preliminary intensive French module to an MA in intercultural studies, last April, we merrily massacred one of the students' reading assignments with both Google language tools and Babelfish as an exercice (activity description - comparative table).

Best

Claude

(1) if I may? I found your first name in the Yahoo LinkedIn Translation group (which I found through the blog).

[A.M.Sall]

Sure you can call me Amadou. That's my name. In fact the full name is Amadou Moustapha Sall but for reasons of "cultural relativity" I thought some people would find that "unpronounceable" :-)

Re. MT (Machine Translation), I concur 100% with what you said. I also read your "Babel 101" post.

I see you're already on LinkedIn, now, why not join LinkedInTranslation group? (Vincent Wright just asked me to moderate it) I think Online Business Networks (or Social Networks) can be nicely integrated into the marketing of translation services - or any other type of marketing for that matter...

A bientôt!

A.M.Sall
My LinkedIn Profile

[Claude Almansi]

Your name is not unpronounceable at all - unless the final double L in your surname should be pronounced in the Welsh way (as in Llandudno) , which I can't, in effect.
My first introduction to Islam was through reading your compatriot Cheikh Hamidou Kane's L'aventure ambiguë in the mid 60's as a teen-ager. Then at the postgrad course in interpretation I did in London in 77-8, there were several Senegalese students who made me discover interesting idioms like "parler blanc" for "lying".
I'll join the LinkedIn Translation group, thanks. Marketing translation services is very important - and I have a lot to learn in this. For about 3 years, with some friends, we've been thinking of creating a translator's cooperative where translations would be mutually proof-read. We already do that anyway, but on a totally informal basis so far.

Best

Claude

[A.M.Sall]

Thanks a lot for your beautiful answer, Claude!

To tell you the truth, my relationship with Islam is "a bit complicated" :-) One thing is for sure: I'm not very much of a praying man! I am more into "spirituality" than "religion" per se. For example I am often heard to say "God unites, religions divide!". And I consider Universal Brotherhood as more important than any individual religion (Well, maybe we can talk about that later :-)

Thanks a lot for joining LinkedInTranslation. Now why not invite all your friends in the profession to join, LITranslation as well as this Network (Plus on est de fous, plus on rit ;-). Let's make this a vibrant, lively and merry community (The more, the merrier!)

Warmest greetings!

Amadou

[Tamara]

Hello,

I am 33, from Italy and like you, a freelance translator nearly getting an honorary degree in "Clients education", specialised in "pay me please the rate I deserve"!

Bye for now.

Tamara

[Rio Xu]

I will work in Singapore for a while, if anyone of you happen to visit here, let me know.

Rio

[Ramesh Kulandaivelu]

Hi

It's really nic to see such a forum on the net. First, I would like to thank Ms. Sall for his innovative idea. And, I am Ramesh, 35 years old Tamil translator from Chennai, the state capital of Tamilnadu of India. I am into this industry for 4 years and above. I feel very happy about being into this field. Tamil and Hindi are the target languages to which I translate. I can manage translating from all South Indian languages to English.

I am more interested in translating literar works and I feel that it would give me the real satisfaction.

Hope to work you folks extensively and render my service to the society.

Thanks.

Regards,

Ramesh

[A.M.Sall]

Once more welcome, Ramesh, and feel at home!

Amadou

[francesca rapetti]

Hello,
it's Francesca from Italy. It's a pleasure have the possibility to meet you.
May I ask a question?
I need founding translators from Italian into English, technical field for a big project that will last 6 months.
Could you help me?

[A.M.Sall]

Hello Francesca,

Once more welcome.

We are truly delighted to have you onboard here with us on the Translator Power network.

Regarding Italian/English translators, right now there is one I can recommend. Well, she is not a technical translator, but she is highly experienced in the field of general and literary translation. Maybe she can help you find technical translators, even if she can't do it herself. Her name is Maria Burnett (email: Maria Burnett), website http://www.mariaburnett.com/)

Anyway, I'll keep looking, and as soon as I find the right people I will recommend them to you.

Best wishes

Amadou