memoQ&A in Porto - good people, great bagels!

Last night from 6:00 to 9:30 I enjoyed a "memoQ&A Evening" at the Porto Bagel Café as a reward for surviving the long bus ride to Porto/Gaia from Évora to attend the JABA Partner Summit. About 25 local colleagues attended to hear my not-as-short-as-promised presentation and discuss approaches to memoQ and other translation technologies as our working tools. The evening was part of the Translators in Residence initiative and a good start to my second visit to the area after my whirlwind tour last month to investigate venues for teaching events. Many thanks to the sponsors. the International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters and Chip7 of Évora for providing the funding and tools (an excellent LCD projector - thank you, Carlos!) to do this.

I very much appreciate IAPTI's commitment to the professional education and continuing development of my good colleagues in Portugal, particularly in difficult economic times when many findit difficult to attend translators' events in faraway places. The evening was free for all attendees, who only had to pay for whatever they drank (great coffee - I had my usual galão) and ate (the best bagels in Portugal!).

After an initial hour of snacks, coffee and chat, the evening began with a discussion of the game-changing implications of speech recognition technologies for our working lives. Not only is it now possible for colleagues to use high-quality speech recognition on desktop computer and laptops in languages such as Hungarian and Portuguese, which are not currently supported by Dragon NaturallySpeaking (using, for example, the integrated recognition tools in the Mac Yosemite OS, as demonstrated with SDL Trados Studio and memoQ in Lisbon the day that SDL conquered Portuguese translation), smartphones are part of the game now too. Since picking up an older iPhone model (4S) for a few hundred euros about a month ago, I have had excellent results testing it with English, German, Russian and Portuguese and e-mailing texts to myself with just a few taps on the phone's screen. Once transferred as an e-mail, the text is then aligned in a CAT tool such as memoQ and subjected to tagging, QA and other procedures of the usual virtual translation working environments.

The use of memoQ and other CAT tools for single-language original authoring and text revision was also discussed. This flexible workflow extends the relevance of translation environment tools well beyond the usual limits within which translators and translation companies live and operate and offers interesting prospects for collaboration and re-use of creative resources. This topic willalso be covered next week in a lecture and workshop at Universidade de Évora and in an eCPD webinar on June 2, 2015.

Interoperability is another important topic for translators; I discussed different ways in which I use SDL Trados Studio and other tools to prepare projects to work in memoQ and vice versa as well as mz highly profitable use of SDL Multiterm to enhance customer loyalty and my professional image with this terminology management ssystem's excellent output management features.

Other tips and tricks in the memoQ&A included the untapped potential of LiveDocs, tracked changes and row histories in memoQ, dealing with embedded objects, graphics and transcription, PDF 3-ways and new tricks for nasty and/or illegible image PDFs, versioning and a concept for transforming translation memory concordancing into something much, much more useful and less prone to errors in editing and translation.

Copies of the slides from the evening's presentation are available here. It is, however, merely a palimpsest of the evening.

Many thanks also to colleague and translation tools teacher Felix do Carmo for kindly chauffeuring me around town and for the interesting tour of the training and production facilities at his company, TIPS.

The Bookshelf: a London-style hangout in the heart of Alentejo

I knew I was in the right place when, as I described the farm to which I would be moving and my satisfaction over the many rosebushes there, which would enable me to make rosewater for my mint tea, my conversation partner said "Oh, you need rosewater? I have some extra!", then fumbled around in his inventory and sent me off with half a bottle of good Algerian rosewater brought from London. I had given up on finding anything like that in the Alentejo. But then I knew it was the right place long before, with the many delicious herb teas, coffees and good food, sometimes vegetarian, offered at this very metropolitan hangout in my sleepy Portuguese university town. The couple who own and operate the business, a local woman and her Kosovar husband, lived for a few decades in London and brought some of that city's style with them to this unique café in Évora.

So when I need a quiet, air-conditioned retreat to enjoy a book, brandy and coffee or perhaps a good curry, I know where to go. And it's great to have a good chat in English about common interests in cuisine and beverages and share the latest delicious infusions of Aswan hibiscus, doum palm fruit and mint from herbs kindly provided by a colleague in Egypt. And who knows? Perhaps some of those cookies for the Portuguese will make an appearance there.

A ride in the sun, rough roads and

"So what happened after he climbed up the tower and rescued her? She rescued him right back."

Mobility again at last! With power assistance for cobblestoned hills from Hell.

Got up after an hour and a half sleep, more or less, thought about work and decided instead to explore the bairros a bit before the morning's physical therapy. A sweet ride in the morning sun, past the aqueduct, the hay-harvested fields and ruins to an ATM, where I picked up cash and decided to enjoy pasteis nata and galão at Café Ebora before gymnastics, soothing fingers and hot packs on the knotted web of my back.

Alas, my Portuguese failed me for a simple order of coffee and pastry, where it worked so well for many hours of language private tuition, long chats to end the day and greet the morning sun, bake cookies, drink sangria, whiskey, learn the secrets of sopa de beldroegas and the right brew of bachalhau and spinach in my only pot, discussing facas, tendeiros and their murderous habits, the quality of local schools, the revolution to be finished, coca, heroin, speedballs and methadone, primos, sobrinhas, filhos, putas, baratas, children buying time for their mother to jump out the second story window and escape another beating, and when a knife in the leg can teach a husband to behave before he needs his throat cut. Still, as I sipped coffee (once the misunderstanding was resolved), I reflected on how, after nearly 15 years of living in cold places with too many cold people, Portugal, its bairros and people, their ability to get on with life and live it, their persistent search for another vein in which to inject some hope after all the blood has been drawn by German banks, have restored my will to live.

Indestructible Italian quality!

Language service providers like yours truly spend a lot of time talking about the high cost of crap quality. But that applies to most things, really. An old friend of mine who struggled at the start of his professional life paying his way with handyman work while creating beautiful custom furniture knew that he could afford only the finest tools though not always meat to go with the bread on his table.

I drink a lot of coffee, and I enjoy it in a variety of ways. As those who have visited my kitchen can attest, it's almost like a fetish with the various pots, presses and filters, each teasing different qualities of taste from a well-roasted bean. I thought by now I would have learned most of what I needed to know to ensure good results in the "coffee kitchen".

Distraction has taught me - or reminded me - of a few things lately. Three times now I have become involved in work or gone off shopping with friends and forgotten a moka pot on the fire. The first time, I returned to a house filled with toxic smoke from the burned plastic handles and top knob, and I was grateful the house had not burned down and the dogs were still alive. More recently I left my favorite Bialetti Brikka pot on the flame for several hours. Twice.

If anyone wants to say nasty things about Italian engineering, I will have to plead for the defense. In contrast to the complete destruction of the cheap moka pot after an hour, the Bialetti pot just needed a bit of scrubbing. Even the gasket was OK, which amazed me. The durability of the pots that cost me about €30 is so much beyond that of a €7 pot that to compare them is almost a crude joke. Oh yes, and I don't know any other manufacturer who offers such an excellent pressure valve for crema at that price.

Image from Alexandre Enkerli, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

There are obvious analogies to our work as translators, of course. But I don't need to insult anyone's intelligence by explaining them. I'll just go enjoy another shot of coffee from my indestructible Italian-engineered pot.

Kaffeekultur

There are many things that sustain us in our lives and work: good friends, healthy food and a balanced lifestyle in general are essential for coping with the inevitable storms of a freelance life. For those who work long, crazy hours, coffee may well be part of that sustaining balance. I remember with some amusement the declaration of my friend Peter, a drug and alcohol counselor for troubled youths, who declared to me "this is a good drug!" as he presented me with a wonderful book on coffee specialties for a birthday or some other occasion. As I have experienced more refined ways of making the brew, my stomach has become less tolerant of that acid bilge that most "coffee machines" produce, and I have come to value a shared appreciation for the good stuff so much that I had to restrain myself recently from falling on my knees and proposing marriage to a colleague whose kitchen is filled with wonderful Bialetti paraphernalia. But sometimes even the best brew alone cannot give me the boost I need, and I seek the right company or atmosphere to restore my center and clear my mind for the serious work of translation.

The Viennese coffee house in the town where I lived until late last year, Morgenrot, is one such place. This charming café in a restored Jugendstil house in Hohen Neuendorf near Berlin-Frohnau is among my favorite places to relax, enjoy superb coffee or wine and excellent food with friends or alone. The competent staff and lovely proprietress and her husband make each visit a pleasant experience, a bit like a home I wouldn't mind enjoying more often. Today on this beautiful Easter morning, with nerves a bit frayed from the charged task of taking another load of stuff from my former home, I realized that returning straight to my desk at the Schloss was a non-starter, and something quick but special was needed to relax and focus on the work ahead. I stopped off at a nursery and got some strawberries for the garden as well as a few herbs I need for cooking; the garden is a very special part of my translation routine, providing a welcome break for exercise and the anticipation of delicious dividends later in the year. As I loaded a sack of rhododendron soil for the blueberries into the car, I realized that I was parked just a short way from the Kaffehaus. Übersturzter Neumann!!! I thought. Just what I need. It was a beautiful spring day, so I sat outside with Ajax to enjoy the vital restorative. The subtle mix of textures in the poured coffee played lightly across my tongue as the caffeine slowly kicked in, and small sips of water refreshed my palate to enjoy the experience fresh time and again. Another cup, and I was ready for the rest of the day.

Working with a laptop in Starbucks or other mass-market outlets for better-than average coffee and tea has almost become a cliché for mobile professionals. However, a place like Kaffeehaus Morgenrot adds a special dimension that is well worth seeking out if there is such a place near you. So take your laptop and enjoy a relaxing few hours. Or better yet, leave the damned computer in the office and just enjoy the good coffee and atmosphere.

A sitting room at the Kaffeehaus. Grab a book and enjoy the afternoon!

Cheap translation, like coffee

Coffee is a commodity. Except when it isn't. A recent set of articles in the New York Times explored the economics and problems of the international coffee trade. Like many agricultural commodities, coffee is subject to boom/bust cycles in which high demand leads to overproduction, which causes prices to drop to unsustainable levels, with production capacities eventually diminishing again through neglect. The overproduction, unsustainability and crash part may sound familiar to some in the translation industry, though the campesinos struggling in the fields of words seem to have little hope for boom years again.

But Übersetzung ist nicht gleich Übersetzung, and the same is true for coffee. There is a culture of specialty coffee, which emphasizes balance and quality and is fit for the purpose of drinking. One author making a case for drinking better coffee wrote:

"Here’s my advice: stop drinking cheap coffee. It’s getting worse, as those who deal in bargain-basement coffees blend in more and more of the 'bad stuff' to meet a price point. The “good stuff” will get better and better, as food lovers recognize the miracle that great coffee is, and value it as such. It’s a truism in food: eating less but better leads to maximum health, happiness and value."

This is rather good advice for translation consumers as well. If cost is really an issue, commission less translation work, but consider carefully the content to be translated and look for a real professional to do it to protect your image and the health of your business. The hash pipe dream peddled by the MT vendors, who tell you they can translate millions of articles with "acceptable" quality, requiring just a bit of post-edit tweaking by the campesinos who work for beans, is an amusing, but unrealistic hallucination that can take you on a very bad trip. But what of the masses of bilinguals ready to take on big volume projects assigned in the care of major, lion-hearted LSPs promising a single point of contact, top quality, fast service and low cost? Equally bogus. In some submarkets of translation there are surely some good translators willing to scratch in the dirt like chickens for a few grains to survive on, but any purchasing agent willing to risk is employer's health on this unsustainable situation had better have a Plan B for when it doesn't work out and he gets fired for incompetence. While price does not necessarily correlate with value, other issues such as timing, short lines of communication, availability and trust are usually - among intelligent beings - more important than price. Or would you rather send a highly confidential employment contract to an industry "leader" who sends out copies by unsecured e-mail to 400 translators around the world asking for their best price? You would? You're fired!

Like the producers of cheap coffee, major LSPs doing hundreds of thousands of words in a matter of days pour anything into the mix to meet a deadline and a price point. The only thing that usually gets left out is the quality needed to produce an usable result. To those who find this situation adequate, I would like to point out greater potential savings with much less hassle: Google Translate is free. Of course it's crap, but if you think what you'll get from a language service provider paying translators one to three cents a word is any better, it's time to stop hitting the pipe.

Of course it's difficult to generalize about the diverse world of text to be translated. A recent discussion on another blog about whether freelance translators earn "enough" discussed some of the differences between the axis of FIGES and those translating in more exotic language pairs. I live in the "GE" part of FIGES, so my perspectives on the world are inevitably influenced by this. However, certain basic principles do seem to apply across languages and borders even when the absolute numbers differ.

"Ah," you say, "But sometimes that cheap work really is good, even better!" True. One of my best "competitors", a better translator in my best specialties with more experience as a translator and a better work ethic, charged significantly less than I did in most cases for many years. She was the preferred choice for many projects and rightly so: I would even recommend that clients call her first and contact me if she had no capacity (often that was why they were calling in the first place). Well, eventually this person woke up to the reality of the market, and from our last chat a few weeks ago I gather that she often charges significantly more than I do and still has her capacity booked out. She just needed to learn to take the "risk" of asking for more and justifying it.

So I do not believe that it is a sustainable strategy to rely on cheap and good to stay that way. And those who are addicted to the low price of translation brew will inevitably end up sipping bitter dregs if they don't consider carefully what they really need from the experience of language transformation and focus on the real costs of getting it wrong.

A better fix....

Some time ago I wrote about my addiction to caffèlatte. This is still my mainstay to make it through long days, but how I make it has undergone a significant change. For the past 13 years or so I have been drinking French press coffee most of the time. Lately, however, I've been reading about the single-cup, slow drip methods that were developed by the Japanese and are now popular in the US and UK, and I tried to find a source of the equipment in Germany. No luck. However, I found something else that looked interesting: a special press for strong, well-balanced coffee without sediment. I've been getting a little tired of the dregs at the bottom of my French press, so I thought I would give the Aerobie Aeropress Coffee Maker a try. I ordered one from the German Amazon site (it's also available in the UK and US, probably elsewhere as well). Wow. This is the most interesting coffee I've had since a friend treated me to some from a cold process extractor years ago. It's simple, fast and very, very easy to clean. Beats the heck out of a French press for taste and ease of use and maintenance.

And since Christmas will be upon us once again in less than ten months, I've gone back to an old vice with this wonderful brew: egg nog latte. No commercial egg nog mix available here AFAIK, but several shots of Eierlikör (egg liquor) cut with an equal portion of milk, dosed liberally with ground nutmeg and heated blends wonderfully with the good coffee. Just the thing for a busy day of translation.

For those living in places where egg liquor is unavailable, here's a recipe from my late father-in-law, an old-time pharmacist from the days when they mixed lots of things interesting and alcoholic for the health and delight of their customers:

Herr Urban's Egg Liquor
Shake six egg yolks with 300 g sugar in a bottle (or use a blender). Add 350 ml brandy (the best quality you can afford), add vanilla sugar or tincture to taste as well as 50 ml of 90% grain alcohol. Prost!

In search of the perfect caffèlatte

There are rumors in Budapest that this blog is powered by Unicum. That is only occasionally true. For the most part, inspiration comes from steady, massive doses of caffeine, administered in a variety of ways as teas or coffee, most especially caffèlatte. If I'm feeling ambitious I might do a nice cezve of Turkish coffee, but my comfort drink is the latte, with strong coffee made in my French press. My espresso machine and steamer died long ago (worn out), and I prefer the greater control that the press gives me over the quality of the brew. For quite a while after the steamer got tossed out I used an electric whisk to foam the milk to varying degrees of stiffness until I discovered the pleasures of milk foam prepared in a ceramic frother for hot chocolate that I bought under the mistaken impression that it was another version of a French press. There are apparently milk frothers widely available for this very purpose, and foam prepared in this manner has superior stability and texture. Foamed hot chocolate milk in combination with coffee so strong you can stand a spoon in it is definitely the thing to keep one charged up for a long evening of patent translation. And usually the preparations are topped with a grind of spices obtained from our local Viennese coffee house.

I find that the rituals in our office for preparing teas and coffees, with each of us relieving the other under pressure with a fresh cup of a favorite brew, provide a bit of needed sanity and friendly communication on days when it's hard to speak two sentences before the phone rings.