IJET 24 in Hawaii

Aloha.

IJET-24 Program Chair Ben Tompkins here.

Where will you be on June 1 and 2, 2013? If your answer is “Hawaii,” you’ll get to enjoy some spectacular scenery and beaches as you network with fellow translators and attend informative sessions at the premiere E<>J translation conference of 2013: IJET-24.

All IJET-24 sessions will take place at the East-West Center. The official IJET-24 program begins on the morning of Saturday, June 1 with a Hawaiian-style blessing to be followed by short opening remarks and an introductory session. Attendees will then break for a delicious catered lunch. The afternoon breakout sessions to follow will be held in three different rooms at three different times for a total of nine sessions. After that you can meet JAT’s newly elected officers, thank outgoing board members, and hear about the current state of JAT at the JAT Annual General Meeting.

After the AGM, it’s time to freshen up and head to the Waikiki Aquarium for the IJET-24 banquet.

Another catered lunch and five more sets of concurrent breakout sessions will be held on Sunday. Translation as an entrepreneurial business, pharmaceuticals, ethics, law, and monozukuri are just some of the topics that will be covered. We have scheduled a five-session lineup of presentations on interpreting for beginning and advanced interpreters and for translators looking to learn more about interpreting. Professors from the University of Hawaii will present about academic and scholarly translation and teaching translation. Another session will be a translation workshop where you can test your translation skills in front of your peers. Abstracts and bios will be posted soon.

When planning your trip, consider coming on Friday, May 31 or even earlier so you can catch the JAT-LAW and JAT-PHARMA SIG meetings, which will be held on Friday afternoon, and the Zenyasai on Friday evening. The Queen Kapiolani is the official hotel of IJET-24 and is offering special rates to attendees.

Mahalo,

Ben Tompkins

IJET-24 Program Chair

Not Dead, Just on Life-Support

Dear Editorial Staff,

I stuck my hand up at the recent ATA conference to lead the charge to bring the JLD Times back to life.  Luckily, thanks to you with a few surgeons and nurses to help lead the charge, I hope we can make this a valuable, useful tool and resource for our language division. However, we need input, volunteers, writers and people who are maybe just willing to put those of us on the committee in contact with other resources that might have a contribution to make.  I would like to set up a discussion on skype or maybe start a thread in this blog.

Here's a few ideas to hopefully get the ball rolling:

• Regular report from conference committee 
• Industry reports 
• Borrowing from other resources (ATA makes some funds available for these purposes)
• Tools sharing corner (Have a good tool, report it here)

I hope this will get some discussion going.  I know we are all busy and have demands on our time besides translation, but we owe it to our colleagues and to the development of our profession to contribute whatever small part possible.  Thank you for volunteering to help.  

Please let me know if you would be available for a skype meeting on a regular basis (once a month?), or have other ideas about how to revive JLD Times.  I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Tracy Miller

Skype name:  tracymillertranslation

Phone: (269)601-9910

翻訳効率向上ツール (日本語<>多言語)(ATA 2012)

日本語への翻訳で「生産性向上」と聞けば、期待感が膨らむのは筆者だけではない。ヨーロッパ言語に比べ、ローマ字入力・カナ漢字変換が日本語の入力効率を大幅に落としている点は避けようもない。一方、洗練された日本語入力ソフトも近年現れてきたが、そうしたソフトを入手し、十分に時間を掛けて評価する機会は誰しも少ないのではないか。Windows とパッケージになっているMS-IMEで取りあえず日本語入力は間に合うし、新しいソフトの使い方を習っているほど暇でもないというのがおおかたの本音ではないかと思う。そうしたなか、丹羽恭子さんのツール紹介はおおいに参考になり、明日からでも試してみたい気持ちになった。

丹羽さんのプレゼンでは、まず、日本語入力補助ツールとして以下の３つを取り上げた。

l  ATOK （JUST SYSTEMS）　（有料ソフト）

l  GOOGLE 日本語入力　（無料ソフト）

l  Microsoft IME

丹羽さんのプレゼンで一番印象深かったのは、上記の入力ソフトを使った「長文一気変換の精度」を示してくれた点だ。以下の例文で一括変換の精度を比較した。

【ATOKおよびGOOGLEの入力例】

従来の鋳造金属工程だけでなく、コンテックの量産型鋳造工程を利用して、量産目的の方による試作品も提供しています。　* 「方」のみ変換エラー　本来「型（かた）」となるべき。

【MS IMEの入力例】

従来の鋳造金属こうていだけでなく、こんてっくの・・・　（以降、入力できず）

上の比較が示された際、ATOKとGOOGLE入力の良さに会場からはため息が漏れ、筆者の近くにいたベテラン翻訳者も「私は今までナニしていたのだろう・・・」と便利な入力ソフトを使わなかったことを悔いていた。ちなみに、筆者も同じ文を使って入力テストを試みたが、ATOKの場合、「かた」を「かながた（金型）」として入力すると１００％完璧な文が一括変換できた。まさに「スゴイ」のひと言である。

ATOKとGOOGLEを比較した場合、一括変換の実力はほぼ互角。入力文字数はATOKが１００文字に対してGOOGLEは無制限。ただし、ＡＴＯＫにはさまざま校正機能があり、例えば、「防衛庁」と入力すると、自動で<<名称変更 「→防衛省」>>　と示してくれたり、「いらっしゃられた」と入力すると<<二重敬語「→いらっしゃる」>>と訂正候補を示し、また、連想変換機能では、「かれん」（可憐）と入力し　[Ctrl]+[Tab]キーを押すと、連想される変換候補（類義語）として「美人」「明眸」「器量好し」「見目好し」「粉黛」などが示される。機能面から判断するとＡＴＯＫに軍配があがりそうだが、ATOKが有料なのに対して、ＧＯＯＧＬＥが無料ソフトである点は代え難い強みだ。

ところで気になるトランスレーションメモリーとの相性だが、ATOK + SDL Trados Studioの組み合わせで問題なく使えるとの説明だった。(TradosのAuto Suggest機能がATOKの予測変換とぶつかるので、設定操作が少し必要との情報もある)

このプレゼンではＯＣＲソフトについても触れた。ＰＤＦ形式で受け取ったファイルをＯＣＲソフトでEditable形式に変換できれば、その後、ＴＭや機械翻訳ソフトなどのツールを使って作業の高速化が図れる。丹羽さんの推薦は「瞬間PDF OCR」だった。ただし、日本語の識字率はまだ中程度だそうだ。

続いて、音声入力ソフトの説明もあった。話すような速さで日本語の文字入力が可能になったらというのは翻訳者にとってまさに夢の世界であり、当然のことながら、丹羽さんの話に期待感が膨らむ。お薦めは「AmiVoice」と「ドランゴン・スピーチ１１日本語版」（販売代理店：アセンディア）。いずれも、以前のように音声の事前登録が必要なくなり、インストール後ただちに使用できる。またドラゴンスピーチ日本語版にはフルの英語版も一緒に付いてくる。こうしたソフトの音声認識による入力速度は、パソコン検定準１級のレベルの３倍程度になるそうだ。ちなみに、準１級の合格ラインは、１０分間で８００文字以上。その３倍の速さだと２４００文字になる。わずか10分で原稿用紙６枚分の速さである。

ところで、音声入力にはまだ克服すべき問題点もあるようだ。２０１２年６月に広島で開催されたＩＪＥＴのプレゼンで、数年前から音声入力ソフト（AmiVoice）を使用しているという翻訳者のコメントが丹羽さんから紹介されたが、入力後の修正はどうしても必要だとのこと。筆者の経験でも、日本語の場合、話し言葉と書き言葉の開きが大きく、特に翻訳の場合、重みのある表現が求められる（例：help→助ける→支援する）。音声入力で重みのある日本語表現ができるようになるまで、ある程度慣れが必要であることは言うまでもない。

一方、日英の場合、音声入力を１０年以上使っており、時間当たり１０００ワード以上も訳すというアメリカ人翻訳者の例も紹介された。一般的に日英で音声入力の場合、入力スピードが20 – 40%程度向上するようだ。またMS Word, Trados Studio, Memoなどと併用して使うことも可能である。

プレゼンのまとめとして、丹羽さんから今後おおいに注目すべきツールについて説明があった。

l  機械翻訳ソフト

l  日本語文字入力ツール（ＡＴＯＫ、ＧＯＯＧＬＥ）

l  音声認識入力ツール (ドランゴン・スピーチ11日本語版)

情報タップリのプレゼンで、今後、生産性向上ツールとじっくり向き合ってみたいと気持ちにさせてくれた。

丹羽恭子さんのプロフィール：　名古屋市出身。日本の大学を卒業後、アイオワ州立大学で日本語教授法を学ぶ。その後、ロサンゼルスのカレッジで２年間日本語を教える。１９８７年から約１０年間、ロサンゼルスにある日系企業で総務・秘書として勤務。１９９７年に日系自動車メーカーの社内通訳となり、フルタイムの通訳・翻訳者としてスタートを切る。２００５年バージニア州に移り、フリーランスの翻訳･通訳者として活動を開始。専門分野は、製造業、技術、エンジニアリング、法律、ビジネス。趣味は音楽（歌：ジャズ、クラシック）とガーデニング。

文責：　土屋裕敬(Hiroyuki Tsuchiya)

Terminology-Focused Basic Chemistry (ATA 2012)

Kozo Igi, PhD and Mizuho Iwamoto, PhD presented the JLD workshop, "Terminology-Focused Basic Chemistry." This workshop provided a general overview of chemistry terminology important for scientific translation.

During the first half of the workshop, Dr. Igi covered basic chemistry terms and concepts. He began by explaining the different branches of chemistry (organic, inorganic, etc.) as well as the differences between basic chemical units (elements, atoms, molecules). He also introduced the various types of chemical reactions, including acid-base, oxidation-reduction, substitution, and addition reactions. Next, Dr. Igi described how chemicals are named, beginning with the prefixes for alkanes (meth, eth, prop, etc.), as well as the difference between alkenes, alkynes, and alkyl groups. He proceeded to discuss how organic substances are classified (alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, esters, amines, amides, aromatic compounds, etc.). Finally, Dr. Igi summarized essential chemical laboratory techniques, including NMR spectroscopy, UV spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, HPLC, gas chromatography, and titration. He closed by offering a list of reference materials useful for chemical terminology.

Dr. Iwamoto started the second half of the workshop by highlighting the broad significance of chemistry in numerous academic fields. These fields include life sciences such as pharmaceuticals and medicine; environmental topics such as industrial waste, recycling, and toxicity tests; and scientific patents. Dr. Iwamoto then discussed how certain chemical compounds create confusion during translation; specifically, how the word order for chlorides and bases is reversed between Japanese and English, how esters and salts often have the same names, etc. She provided a list of terms that are often confused (ex: in chemistry, the term "preparation" is usually 調製 or 合成 instead of 作成 or 作製). Later she showed English sentences with original Japanese translations and revised versions of those translations, describing why the revisions were necessary in each case. Lastly, she clarified the difference between the terms "accuracy" and "precision," the former referring to a value that is close to the "true value," and the latter referring to multiple values that only vary slightly from one another. Dr. Iwamoto closed by stating that chemistry is fundamental to all scientific translation and that scientific translators should have a high-school level chemistry text book available as they work.

Misunderstood and Undervalued Role of the Check (not Czech!) Interpreter (ATA 2012)

by Etsuko Yashiki Good, Japanese < > English Interpreter & Translator

Did you ever get a call or inquiry to be a Check Interpreter in a legal case?  You began to wonder what the Check Interpreter’s job is in a deposition setting.  So you begin asking your client questions…and you receive little information and no reference materials. But, you are still tempted to accept the assignment, and then you become uncomfortable and nervous about doing the job in the presence of another Interpreter.  Or you might have had a bad experience when the Check Interpreter was too confrontational in their objections and you felt that your rendition was unnecessarily challenged.  You probably wished that there could be a code of conduct for Check Interpreters.  Or maybe you couldn’t bear the stress when you thought about the tense atmosphere surrounding the Attorneys and another Interpreter, and you felt you were the one on trial.  Even though you may have a long career in the language industry, you might never have heard about the “Check Interpreter.”  One of the reasons this type of interpreting is not commonly known is that Interpreters are not at liberty to share the details of a case with anybody outside of the legal proceedings. 

When I saw the title, “Misunderstood and Undervalued Role of the Check (not Czech!) Interpreter,” I immediately thought - this is exactly the session that I am looking for.  In the past I have worked as both an Official (or Lead) Interpreter and Check Interpreter in depositions and I wanted to confirm my beliefs about the role of Interpreter in depositions. Ms. Seat first discussed the litigation process, focusing on depositions as the part of discovery process where the Check Interpreter is typically hired.

She further examined the role of the Check Interpreter from various viewpoints including:

·      The responsibility of both the Official interpreter and the Check Interpreter

·      Use of cultural insights to assist the attorneys in understanding  their witnesses

·      Neutral or advocate?  Assisting your client is your primary job, but you also have an obligation to the Court.

·      Collaborative effort with the Official interpreter and your Attorneys

At one time she remarked that the Check Interpreter is the eyes and ears of your client.  For example, when the witness and the Interpreter have “side conversations” which makes the opposing side uneasy, since they don’t know what is being said or going on, the Check Interpreter can advise the client about what is being said. You may think that the Check Interpreter doesn’t really have to do much and this is such an easy job since the Official Interpreter is the one who actually interprets for the witness.  This may not be the case, Ms. Seat said.

The value of the Check Interpreter is tremendous because they can keep the Official Interpreter on her/his toes in order to ensure that her/his rendition is complete and accurate, and what is occurring  in the deposition room can be monitored, especially for the purpose of cross cultural issues.

Unfortunately it is true that some Attorneys still believe that Interpreters are language machines that can just spit out another language.  As Ms. Seat stressed, it is absolutely critical that you request to have all necessary documents in advance so that you can familiarize yourself with the background of the litigation and terminology.  This can greatly improve the quality of interpreting and boost your confidence as a professional Interpreter.

Her presentation was short and sweet and she clearly illustrated the role of the Check Interpreter.  It was such a valuable presentation since Ms. Seat is a bilingual U.S. attorney with extensive litigation experience. The audience was so attentive that they didn’t seem to miss a word she said.  I think that Ms. Seat cleared away a lot of myths surrounding the role of the Check Interpreter.  It is so important to know what is expected of you and to know what to do and what not to do when accepting a job.  So will you be ready the next time the phone rings for Check Interpreter….!?

Profile of Brenda K. Seat, Esq.

Ms. Seat is a bilingual U.S. attorney with extensive litigation and negotiation experience. She established Shinshu Services, Inc., which focuses on the special requirements of counsel involved in Japanese litigation and negotiations with Japanese participants. She has worked on federal litigation in courtrooms from New York to Los Angeles and numerous international trade commission cases.

She grew up in Nagano city because her parents were missionaries. Our JLD member, Mina Seat is her sister-in-law.