Subtitling project: territorial marketing video for a Portuguese municipality

This is our most recent project for translation and subtitling, but we also intervened to some extent in the production of this documentary. In this case the video piece is over 28 minutes long and features a medium-sized Portuguese municipality (something like 50.000 inhabitants in 350 km2) in central Portugal. The original language is Portuguese.

Check it for yourself!

RTP - PORTUGUESE NATIONAL RADIO BROADCAST feat. LUIS ARRUDA aka TRANSLATION WITH COLOUR

It's been quite a while from my previous post... Truth is that I've been quite busy with different projects and other job related chores (I want to much to post about these!). But I could not let go without posting about the live interview i had today from RTP, the Portuguese national radio, on my work assignment as an expatriate translator-interpreter in Barbados.

You may listen to the interview (very short: a bit over 2 minutes) right here.

The interview is in Portuguese language...

Assignment for the Portuguese One-Stop Shop Business Portal

Today I have finished translating into English a series of texts for the Portuguese Administration online One-Stop Shop for Businesses. In order not to escape terminological consistency I had to research quite a bit, e.g. the English translation already in use of the names of different government agencies and services, especially related with taxes, gambling, permits and licenses. 
What is really interesting in all this process is that there is not a single place where one may find a public resource outlining nomenclatures and other linguistic data which might help harmonise translation and terminology in the universe of Portuguese public administration. But why should one be surprised? After all Portugal is one of the few countries in European Union (and beyond) which has not granted translators their legal rights. For instance, in Portugal one will not find sworn translators, which indicates the translator's work is not respected as one can not legally certify his/her own work, which can only be made according to law by a notary, a lawyer, chambers of commerce... Technological and cultural leaps forward require recognised linguistic mediators.

"Juvenes Translatores 2008" - National winners have received their awards

Twenty-seven "young translators" (one from each EU Member State) travelled to Brussels to receive the prizes of the first ever European translation contest for schools. The prizes for the "Juvenes Translatores" contest were handed in a special ceremony by Leonard Orban, Member of the EC in charge of Mulitilingualism.

The contest was organised by the Translation Directorate-General of the European Commission and took place simultaneously in all Member States under the supervision of the schools involved. Participants were given two hours to translate one of the 23 different original texts into any other official language of the EU.

Below we offer a scan from a local Portuguese newspaper about the national winner, Luís Costa.

European Comission has selected the Best Young Portuguese Translator

The winner was Luís Filipe Machado Costa.

You can check his work right here.

Go here to know more about this initiative by the European Commission.

Localisation ventures in Portugal target the African market (and elsewhere!)

Diversify! That's the word of order and that means new market, and new markets often mean adapting to reality and local needs. This Portuguese software house has a growing presence in foreign markets, especially in Portuguese-speaking African countries, such as Angola. From the position they have in the regional market they can target new countries with the established partners. It doesn't take long to understand localisation is part of the process. In this case the software was worked into the French language so the French-speaking Sub-Saharan countries could be approached successfully.

Generally speaking the user prefers to deal with software in his/her native language, and quite frankly no one can blame people for escaping the intellectual exercise of living in-between languages, homeless in a off-the-hook lifestyle. Who has the time to endure academia and semantic discussions when the boss is waiting the monthly report?

So, whether you believe or not that your software solution is the best just localise it or no one will be there to let you know about the ups and downs of... the help file. How many times will have I have to say that help files are vital for the user? Don't be lame; do the help file or get the blame!

Water-Hyacinth infestion control at Pateira de Fermentelos / Processo de controlo do jacinto-de-água na Pateira de Fermentelos (Águeda, Portugal)

Get your own - Open publication

I've been having some publications "on the streets", and this leaflet is one of them. It's about the intervention for the control of the water-hyacinth infestation we have here in a beautiful lake named "Pateira de Fermentelos". "Pateira" derives from the Portuguese word "pato" for duck, and the lake received this name for the abundance of this type of water fowl. Also, I've made a number of translations and other linguistic chores related with this environmental project, which involved bringing an aquatic harvester from Canada.

But now about the leaflet, I really enjoyed this project as it made me recollect many things related with the object of the leaflet and my grassroots involvement in its implementation and success. I honestly hope the leaflet becomes a great vehicle for information and action against this aquatic infestation. In terms of translation-specific issues I simply had to establish some criteria about keeping the colourfulness of the text so that the idiosyncrasies of the specific environment were maintained on the English output.

I'm working in the English translation of a book related with the lake "Pateira de Fermentelos". I'll keep you updated about this...

Presentation about the Municipality of Águeda, Portugal (Portuguese and English texts)

Get your own - Open publication

A small translation project into English; nevertheless, the final purpose was important and the translation was obviously crucial...

Saramago books sold out in Beijing / Livros de Saramago esgotados em Pequim

Get your own - Open publication

Saramago sells in Beijing for two euros. Who wouldn't buy a bargain?... Strangely enough the front page of the newspaper warns "Drug abuse is rampant"... Is it a coincidence?...

On Portuguese Legislation about Translation / Acerca da Legislação Portuguesa sobre Tradução

Get your own - Open publication

Collection and Brief Commentary on the Portuguese Legislation about Translation: The translator and the translation / Recolha e Breve Comentário à Legislação sobre Tradução em Portugal: O tradutor e a tradução