Medical Translation Insight

"Do you translate Mandarin or Cantonese?" "Does everyone write characters the same?" "How many characters do you need to know to read a Chinese newspaper?" "I've heard that Chinese doesn't have any grammar. Is that true?"

These are examples of the sorts of questions people ask about Chinese, which—largely because of its writing system—is often thought to be a mysterious system of communication. So, here are some facts to clear up the confusion.

Languages vs. dialects
First, Chinese is actually the name of a group of related languages, including Mandarin (modern standard Chinese), Wu (spoken in the Shanghai region), Cantonese (spoken in Guangdong), and Min (spoken in Fujian and Taiwan), among a host of others. People who speak different forms of Chinese may not be able to understand each other and may need to use an interpreter to communicate. The Romance languages are a useful analogy: Spanish and Portuguese are close, but not quite the same thing. French and Romanian are mutually unintelligible. One should remember that there isn't a clear distinction between a "language" and a "dialect," and for some reason China ended up with dialects while Europe got languages.

The "alphabet"
Fortunately for translators, all of the Chinese languages share a common script—they are all written in Chinese characters. Therefore, unless one is dealing with literature, it doesn't matter whether a text to be translated is from Guangdong, Shanghai, or Beijing. The characters were written in essentially the same form for over two thousand years. However, in order to promote literacy, the mainland government initiated a series of language reforms in the 1950s. These reforms resulted in mainland China adopting simplified characters, characters that are based on traditional characters but that use fewer individual strokes to write each character. Taiwan still uses the traditional characters. When requesting a translation, it's important to know whether a given text is being translated into or from simplified or traditional characters.

An educated reader of Chinese can recognize about 6,000 characters. A person needs to know 3,000 characters to read a newspaper. Some of the largest dictionaries contain over 40,000 characters. Each character corresponds to one syllable. Many words in modern Chinese consist of two characters, and so have two syllables.

Pronunciation
Chinese is a tonal language. Each syllable can be pronounced in one of four tones in Mandarin; some forms of Southern Chinese have up to 10 tones. The meaning of a word changes depending on the tone. For example, ma in first tone means mother; in second tone, hemp; in third tone, horse; and in fourth tone, to scold.

Ma in the paragraph above is a transliteration or romanization of the Chinese pronunciation of the character. There are several romanization systems, which is why one sometimes sees the same Chinese name written in different ways (Chao and Zhou are pronounced the same, but represent different romanization systems). The most commonly used system at the moment is pinyin (that's the one with all the z's and x's).

Grammar
The idea that Chinese has no grammar came about because there are no conjugations or declensions in Chinese. Another way of saying this is that the form of words doesn't change, while in English and other Indo-European languages such changes are used to express grammatical relationships (e.g., go/goes; she/her). Chinese, on the other hand, relies on word order and independent grammatical particles. This is typical of isolating languages.

Another grammatical feature of Chinese is that it is a head noun language. All the words that modify a noun come before it. In contrast, English makes frequent use of dependent and independent clauses, which follow the noun being modified. Chinese is also a null-subject, pro-drop language, which means that it is possible to omit the subject of a clause and to leave out pronouns when they can be inferred from context. Translators need to be aware of these features in order to create a natural-sounding target language document.

Chinese is a lovely and fascinating group of languages. We hope this quick overview of linguistic facts has made people want to learn more about this group of languages.

[Thanks to linguist Diane Howard for her help with this blog entry.]

For further reading on Chinese and China, take a look at the following articles:

• English-Chinese medical dictionary
• China to update list of simplified Chinese characters
• Language in China: Divided by a (not really) common language
• What does a Chinese keyboard look like?

ForeignExchange provides Chinese medical translation services to leading drug and device companies. Contact us to find out more!
 
 

It’s no secret that social media is hot these days. Everyone from Governor Schwarzenegger to your neighbor's grandchild blogs and tweets. Now, the traditionally conservative Mayo Clinic is jumping into the fray in a big way, opening up a Center for Social Media. The new center will run workshops, offer consulting and host conferences.

The move into social media is an unusual one in the hospital industry. Hospitals tend to be conservative organizations and social media makes many hospital executives uncomfortable: What if an employee puts his foot in his cyber-mouth? What if a patient tweets something bad about the hospital? But Mayo sees social media as an extension of the old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing.

A presence on Twitter and Facebook can make a an organization or company appear progressive, current and popular. It is a cheap, quick way to spread messages and followers and Facebook friends can bolster support and spur discussions. These days, friends’ opinions matter more than official sound bites and the Mayo Clinic obviously recognizes that.

You can find the Mayo on Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube.


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translations for clinical research - from patient recruitment to ICFs to diaries, ForeignExchange supports sponsors in 40+ languages. Contact us for more information.
 
 

The web is becoming the research tool of choice for translators. Need a definition for a term? Search for it. Want to see if a marketing brochure was previously translated? Google is your friend.

The vastness of multilingual materials available on the web is both a source of wonder and frustration. For many expressions or passages, users need some pretty advanced knowledge to craft a search that returns usable information. A couple of new tools are hoping to make this easier for linguists.

Linguee and MyMemory, for instance, scour the Internet for documents that are available in several languages (for example, on corporate sites or on sites of the European Union). The tools' algorithms then try to analyze the quality of these sources.

What is really nice about these tools is that they offer context. Both tools allow users to add their own suggested translation and to rate the quality of existing translations. And that's the beauty of it - with every user's rating or addition, the tool gets better.

Both tools allow for some off-site work. Linguee provides an iPhone app and MyMemory makes available an API and CAT integration.

But there are significant drawbacks too. Linguee is available for German and English only. It is very good in those two languages but if you happen to work in different languages, then you're out of luck (for now).

MyMemory supports many more languages but in my informal tests, MyMemory seems to have a much smaller base of user-supplied content. If it can't find user-generated translations, the site shows results from Wikipedia, Google Translate, and other sites. A good idea in theory but it significantly dilutes the premise of quality through human contributions.

A mixed bag for now but it will be interesting to see how these tools develop.

[Thanks to Roberto Savelli and Fidus Interpres for the leads!]

Want to read a bit more? Here are three related articles:

• Primer: Translation memory vs. glossary
• List of pharmaceutical glossaries
• Medical glossary in nine European languages

ForeignExchange supports clients' medical translation needs with comprehensive terminology management services and technology. Contact us to find out more!
 
 

The other day we reported on a good article on translating humor that was published in The Journal of Specialised Translations. The same issue contains a piece on Teaching Medical Students to work with Interpreters, which is also a good read.

The article reports on a study about first year medical students' knowledge of interpreting issues, before and after attending a workshop on how to effectively work with interpreters. While the study was small in size, it nonetheless demonstrated the value of exposing students to theoretical and practical aspects of interpreting

Unfortunately, realizing the value of professional interpreters is only one of the challenges facing medical students and healthcare providers in general. The following comment was made by one of the survey respondents:

Interpreters have an important role to play in the multicultural nation that is Australia. It is a shame that we have bureaucrats managing the system who can only treat patients and staff as commodities and view interpreters as a waste of money. Keep up the good work Interpreters!

Now who will educate administrators to the value of professional interpreters?

Take a look at some of our other articles on language, culture and healthcare:

• Patients at risk due to lack of translations
• Certification for medical interpreters becomes reality
• Translating healthcare

ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translation and software localization services to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Contact us to learn more.
 
 

Humor, jokes, and idioms are notoriously difficult to translate. Ask any translation professional about ways to streamline and improve a translated text and one of the pearls of wisdom you are likely to get will be along the lines of "avoid humor in the source text".

That's good and fine for marketing brochures or informed consent forms. But what about materials where humor and jokes are an integral part of the text? An interview in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of Specialised Translation tackles this issue.

The 30 minute interview is with Patrick Zabalbaescoa, professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. His argument is that humor absolutely can be translated.

But he also admits that the combination of humor and multimedia can make it extremely challenging to translate jokes. Think Simpsons or Family Guy. In these instances, the translator is essentially a "slave to the image" and must deal with multiple layers of meanings that the director intended. For instance, the language translation will be impacted by lip-syncing issues, color, and even the body language of the characters doing the talking.

Patrick's argument that the translation of humor can be done effectively seems to rest on two pillars. First, the translator needs to have a good bit of "AV literacy". Translation of funny stuff is definitely not a mechanical, one-pass linguist task.

Second, Patrick points out that the quality standard for movie translation, for instance, is relatively low. It needs to be good enough but the most important thing is that the translation not draw any attention to itself (which, usually, would be the in bad kind of attention).

If you want to hear more from Patrick himself, sit back and watch the complete video interview. It's well worth it. And if you want to see truly masterful translations of humor, pick up an Asterix comic in any two languages.

[Thanks to Ruben de la Fuente for the tip!]

And since it's Friday, why don't you take a few more minutes to look at other articles that we've written?

• Can puns be translated?
• Space sperm (funny stuff from the pharma industry)
• The weekly adventures of Mox the translator

For a detailed proposal on your next clinical, regulatory, or marketing medical translation assignment, contact ForeignExchange Translations.
 
 

Abortion. War. Religion. Sex. Torture.

Those are subjects that most translation service providers don't translate on a regular basis. And for many translation companies and freelancers, a request to translate questionable or offensive materials can raise difficult personal questions.

Our recent articles When politics and translation collide and Translators in harm's way are good examples of how deep-rooted beliefs can come into conflict with the reality of day-to-day life and running a business.

In order to stimulate further discussion, we are conducting a wholly unscientific poll. So go ahead - get on the soap box and let us know where you stand on this subject.

As with past surveys, participation is completely anonymous. But if you want to add some depth to your vote, leave us a comment below!


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Medical device clients who are new to translation are often surprised when they receive an estimate to translate documents, and they see desktop publishing (DTP) or production hours on their proposal. Typically, they think something along the lines of, "we already spent money with the advertising and regulatory agencies to create these files, we don't need any more work done on them; they just need to be translated".

In reality, both "DTP" and "production" are misnomers in the translation and localization industry. A better definition would be document reconstruction.

The ideal document translation process goes through four steps:

1. A DTP specialist manually cleans up the file to make it more translation friendly (removes bad line breaks, extra spaces, etc.), and then uses automatic software tools to extract the text into a translation file format.
2. Next, linguists use a Computer Aided Translation tool to open and translate this extracted text.
3. Reviewers and Editors further refine the translation in this same file format.
4. And finally, the DTP Specialist imports the translated and edited text back into the layout using the same automatic tools that extracted the text.

At this point, the document reconstruction tasks begin. Typically, the translated text can increase in word and line count by up to 30%. Some languages, like Russian or Bulgarian can even take up to 50% more room on the page, due to the shape of the Cyrillic characters and wider character spacing. If the layout size or the page count cannot be increased, it may require fussy cleanup-work to produce an acceptable translated document.

Uncommon and old DTP software, or complex regulatory procedures only adds difficulty, because there are fewer automatic software tools to speed up the process resulting in more manual production tasks. In worse case scenarios, word-by-word or character-by-character are copy and pasted back into the layout.

In the dream world of the future, XML with a Content Management System likely will eliminate much of the DTP time during a translation project, because content separates from the format. But for the time being, DTP remains an important (and sizable) part of the translation process.


Take a look at ForeignExchange's desktop publishing and multimedia services for medical device and pharmaceutical companies and request a detailed proposal for your next multilingual desktop publishing project.
 
 

It's been a couple of years since CAN/CGSB-131.10-2008 was published by the Canadian General Standards Board. While a handful of translation companies have become certified to the standard, mostly it's been a non-issue in the translation industry.

For those of you that have missed the standard altogether, here is a quick overview.

Like EN 15038 and ASTM F 2575-06, the Canadian standard deals explicitly with the provision of translation services by individuals or companies. It aims to ensure that:

• professional translators are employed
• a supplier's human and technical resources, as well as its quality standards, are consistently managed
• language, managerial and administrative processes are fully documented
• processes are adapted to the particular requirements of the language industry
• a framework for client/supplier relations and communications gets established

These are worthy goals, and they closely mirror the requirements in the American and European standards.

If you are interested in becoming certified, contact Association de l'industrie de la langue/Language Industry Association (AILIA). Last year AILIA launched a certification program for CAN/CGSB-131.10-2008 with Orion Assessment Services.

And to find out more about the standard, take a look at the AILIA-authored article in the July 2010 issue of tcworld.


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized translation services to drug and medical device companies - in Canadian French and dozens of other languages!
 
 

Every once in a while you come across a little tool that doesn't do all that much but elicits a response like "Wow - this is really handy!" Richard Ishida's Unicode Code Converter is just such a tool.

It does what it says: It converts between characters, Unicode code point numbers, UTF-8 and UTF-16 code units in hex, and Numeric Character References (hex and decimal). Just add one type of data, press tab, and see all the corresponding values.

So if you have a periodic need a tool for converting pretty much any Unicode representation to any other, bookmark the Unicode Code Converter now.

[Tip of the hat to IMUG]

Three more conversion utilities that you should check out:

1. Online file conversion with Zamzar
2. Binary translator for communicating with your CPU, friends
3. Converting PDF tables to Excel

Tweet much? Follow ForeignExchange on Twitter.
 
 

Medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are embracing the Web - not just for their corporate sites but increasingly for social networking and e-commerce. As do all companies with any sizable Web presence, drug and device companies think about, tweak, and track visitors, the success of different ad campaigns, conversions, and online sales.

Getting established on the global Web is relatively well understood - when to translate (and when not to), legal considerations, hosting, branding etc. But one of the things that is still challenging for many companies is how to setup web analytics for the different languages and countries a site now serves.

Questions like this one are commonplace:

My site (http://www.surveypirate.com) is being translated to about 10 languages.

Probably the structure will look something like
www.surveypirate.com/Welcome.aspx/lang=ru etc.

the original /Welcome.aspx is already being tracked.
What do I need to do to ensure tracking of all the new languages?

We have the .ru .se etc. sites registered to us also - should I track them separately?

Luckily, the Google Analytics blog has done a nice job demonstrating how to report for multilingual sites and e-commerce stores.

If you want to track performance across multilingual domains, language sites, and micro sites, be sure to take a look at Advanced: E-Commerce Roll Up Reporting For Websites With Different Languages - very helpful stuff!

For more insight into successful web localization, take a look at the following articles:

• Of color and culture
• Why international web sites fail
• How to prepare a CMS for website translation

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The European Machinery Directive was created twenty years ago as Directive 89/392/EEC and came into effect on January 1, 1995. Amendments followed in 1991 and 1993, and in 1998, the original Directive and its amendments were consolidated in the single Directive 98/37/EC.

The new directive 2006/42/EC [PDF link] addresses a number of problems with the original directive, such as overlap with other regulations. 2006/42/EC replaces 98/37/EC and came into force on December 29, 2009.

But the updated Machinery Directive also raises a number of questions. Chief among them are: Does it apply to me? What is covered under the definition of "incomplete machines"? And: What languages and translations are required?

The answer to the first question is pretty straight-forward: General and active implantable medical devices that also are machinery (as defined in 2006/42/EC) are, in fact, subject to the MDD and AIMDD, respectively - but also to the essential health and safety requirements in directive 2006/42/EC.

The requirements for so-called "incomplete machines" have been re-formulated in the new version of the directive. While a manufacturer declaration has sufficed in the past, moving forward a declaration of incorporation will be required. This declaration of incorporation must specify which requirements of the directive apply to the incomplete machine and have been complied with. And installation instructions must be included with the documentation.

That gets us to the third question: Language and translation requirements.

The Machinery Directive relies on some standard EU language in this regard. For instance, section 1.7.4 states that

All machinery must be accompanied by instructions in the official Community language or languages of the Member State in which it is placed on the market and/or put into service."

But in the updated directive, the requirements for instructions for use have been considerably extended. The words "Original instructions" or "Translation of the original instructions" must now be used, as appropriate.

Section 1.7.4 of the directive goes on to specify general principles and minimum requirements for the contents of the instructions but, also in typical EU fashion, does not provide black-and-white guidance on translation requirements. For that, we need to rely on others [PDF link], like consultants and translation providers.

Just this morning, a lab equipment manufacturer asked me:

If a geography has more than one community language, is it sufficient to provide translation in just one of those languages, or should translations be available in ALL of those languages?

In these kinds of situations, I generally recommend a two-step approach:

1. You should assume that you need to provide translations in all of the languages of a given country.
2. Everything is negotiable. With other directives, I have been amazed to see what manufacturers have been able to "get away with" at times. If you think that you have a good case for providing French but no Dutch in Belgium, have your regulatory group make the case to the Belgian competent authority. They may or may not agree but it's likely that a compromise of some sort can be worked out. (One question, of course, is: Does that effort take longer/cost more than simply doing a Dutch translation?)

It will take a while longer before manufacturers subject to the Machinery Directive become "old hands" like medical device manufacturers. The good news is: You will get there. The bad news? Translation requirements are likely to increase, not decrease.

ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized software localization and regulatory translation services to pharma, medical device, and lab equipment companies. Contact us to learn more.
 
 

I have been meaning to write about the folks and educational resources of Eisner Safety Consultants for a while.

Eisner Safety Consultants provides a quarterly email newsletter that should be on the reading list for all regulatory and safety folks. The most recent issue of ESC News covers updates on IEC 60601-1, clinical data requirements, and the MDD. Take a look and sign up!

Leo Eisner has over 25 years experience in product safety and has co-authored numerous articles on IEC 60601-1 and medical device safety. He also has presented a half-dozen audio conferences on topics ranging from labeling devices under IEC 60601-1 to MDD amendments and 510k submissions. When it comes to helping medical device, IVD, and high-tech device clients navigate international product safety and regulatory processes, few organizations can keep up with Eisner Safety Consultants!


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translation for regulatory affairs groups at medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Contact us to learn more.
 
 

When working in any sort of multicultural environment, it is important to realize that people from different backgrounds have differing approaches to fundamental issues such as communication, personal relationships, and success. For many American drug and device companies who employ people from Spanish-speaking countries, this can be a particular challenge.

On occasion, even when materials and instructions are translated well, employers do not get the response that they need from Spanish-speaking employees. This happens not because of a lack of desire to be a valuable employee, but because of Spanish speakers' misconceptions about what it takes to be a valuable employee in the United States. Overcoming the challenges of engaging Spanish-speaking employees can have a positive and long-lasting impact on your company's success.

Hmmm... the above paraphrases some of Melissa Burkhardt's advise in an well-attended conference that she did for us. It's a timely and important topic; pharma and medical device companies expend significant resources to hire and retain "diverse" employees (for an example, see BMS' web site).

It makes me scratch my head, though. Where is the line between giving useful insight on the topic of Hispanic employees and demeaning another culture through generalizations?

Melissa and other cultural consultants provide a valuable and much needed service. The challenge, I believe, lies with the companies that get that advice. How it is heard and implemented affects the company's bottom line but also the morale of Spanish-speaking employees.

So, what do you think? Is it possible for companies and employees to bridge cultural gaps without resorting to generalizations? Or should we see generalizations as a good, helpful thing?


And while you're here, take a look at the following:

• Trying to reach Hispanics online? Content is king
• Drug, device firms asleep when it comes to Hispanics
• Language fact: Universal Spanish
• Achieving Benefits Plan Buy-In from Spanish-Speaking Employees

For expert medical translations of regulatory, clinical, and marketing content in 40 languages - including Spanish - request a detailed proposal from ForeignExchange Translations.
 
 

Stab me. Please, somebody stab me. Put me out of my misery.

So begins the recent post Whose fault is this? over at The Marketing Mix blog. It's a humorous look at what happens when a service provider takes on a project or client that, in retrospect, they should have passed on. "Chasing the big paycheck" - a sure way towards stress, hassle, and reduced profits.

And which translation company hasn't been there? We all hear it: "translation is translation is translation - how hard can it be?". But the reality is that different subjects, services, and applications do require a substantial amount of expertise.

The Marketing Mix post highlights that there is a fine line between stretching and growing and overextending. That is why my tongue-in-cheek "5 steps when taking on the wrong project" might look familiar:

1. Elation
2. Doubt
3. Greed
4. Anger
5. Blame

If you haven't experienced them first-hand, you haven't tried to grow your business or yourself.

The real challenge is not that a translation company might take on a wrong client or project. It's difficult and unpleasant, yes, but as long as you can learn from it, these experiences prove extremely helpful. But that's the challenge, isn't it: How do you know which assignments to say "yes" to and which to turn away?


Related content:

• Customized medical translation is a hairy knuckle dragger
• What's so difficult about providing context?
• Customized medical translation is the wave of the future

Do you tweet? Follow ForeignExchange on Twitter at @fxtrans.
 
 

Hello Q3! It's hard to believe that June and with it Q2 and with that, the first half of 2010, are already history...

For ForeignExchange's educational arm, June was a terrific month. Great topics, engaging speakers, and lots of attendees. The audio conferences that drew the largest audiences in June were:

1. The New HIPAA and its Impact on Drug and Device Manufacturers
2. Beyond Using SharePoint to Manage Regulatory Documents
3. Recent Perspectives on Trial Design - Minimizing Patients for Oncology Trials
4. CGMP Guidance for Phase 1 Clinical Supplies
5. Localization Tools for eLearning: Articulate, Flash and Captivate

If you have any suggestions for audio conference topics, send us a note!

Interested in other popular educational events? Take a look at our top audio conferences for May, April, and March.


For a detailed proposal on your next clinical, regulatory, or marketing medical translation project, contact ForeignExchange Translations.

The Brave New Words blog recently ran a post on the Multilingual Eye Chart developed by John Yunker. It raised a good question: In non-Latin-alphabet-employing countries, what do people use for eye charts when they go to the optometrist?

Interested, I searched for eye chart from around the world. Here is what I found:

English

Japanese


Yiddish


Korean


Arabic


Want to have more fun and build your own eye chart? With the SUNY/University at Buffalo's Interactive Visual Acuity Chart, you can.

For more answers to perplexing questions, take a look at:

• What does a Chinese keyboard look like?
• Helvetica - The life and times of a typeface
• Binary translator for communicating with your CPU, geeky friends

Like this post? Be sure to subscribe to Medical Translation Insight via email or RSS!

Even with the MDD firmly in place, new regulations are afoot. A current example comes from Ireland.

MPO Magazine reported that health officials in Ireland are soliciting feedback from medical device manufacturers and the business community on a proposal to regulate the distribution of medical devices.

Specifically, the legislation proposed by the Irish Minister for Health and Children covers issues such as:

• Registration of distributors with the Competent Authority for Medical Devices – The Irish Medicines Board
• Requirements for record keeping by Distributors and Retailers of medical devices to ensure a full system of traceability and capability to react in the event of recalls/withdrawals or field safety corrective actions.
• Requirements to ensure distributor’s have suitable facilities, personnel and equipment to maintain medical device quality during storage, transport and distribution, and to enable the conduct of an effective recall/withdrawal or field safety corrective action
• Requirements to ensure medical devices are CE marked and meet the mandatory labeling requirements when supplied.
• Requirements for maintaining a quality system in medical device distribution operations to an appropriate standard.
• Possibility of fees being charged to distributors of medical devices by the Competent Authority for Medical Devices, The Irish Medicines Board.
• Enforcement measures to allow Irish Medicines Board to suspend / revoke a distributors registration when appropriate.

Full details and information on how to provide input can be found on the web site for the Department of Health and Children.


ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized software translation and localization services to medical device companies. Contact us to learn more.

Calling all North American English speakers: Students at Yale's Department of Linguistics are running an online survey of different accents in American English.

Who can participate? Anyone who has grown up speaking English in America or Canada.

As we noted previously, the U.S. Library of Congress maintains more than 500 American speech samples to help identify American English dialects. Some of the voices will be quite familiar (e.g., Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt) while most are seldom heard (Amelia Earhart) or completely unknown. Interesting but limited in its usefulness.

In contrast, this new survey is likely give a broader and more well-rounded view of North American dialects. Maybe it will even put to rest the Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy.

So, use your voice and your Skype microphone and help out the researchers!

[Tip of the hat to Johnson!]


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Last Tuesday morning, ForeignExchange hosted the first event in its Multilingual Compliance Learning series in the Twin Cities. The successful half-day event, entitled, "World class translation quality: from vendor selection to in-country review," was held in a conference center north of Minneapolis. The featured speaker, Inna Geller, worked at Twin Cities medical device stalwart Medtronic for 18 years before leaving to become an independent localization consultant.

The event drew 24 attendees from a variety of Twin Cities medical device companies, including Medtronic, Boston Scientific, American Medical Systems, and St. Jude Medical, among others. There were a range of job titles present as well, from Regulatory Affairs to Quality to Purchasing. After a light breakfast during which attendees got to network with their counterparts, the presentation began.

Inna spoke about the challenges, pitfalls and best practices in the quest for translation quality, and provided some real-world examples from her time at Medtronic. The presentation was interactive, with the audience asking many questions along the way and relating their own experiences working in the localization field. At one point, a small group activity allowed the audience to work together and get to know each other.

Based on evaluation results, feedback on the event was very positive. One anonymous comment read, "I thought this was one of the better sessions I've attended regarding translations" and several participants mentioned afterward a strong interest in more events like this in the future. Stay tuned!

Thanks to Inna Geller for her great presentation and to all participants for making it a productive, engaging and friendly event.


For a detailed proposal on your next clinical, regulatory, or marketing medical translation assignment, contact ForeignExchange Translations.
 
 

June was a busy month in the translation industry. Between conferences and getting work done before summer break, who has time to read a blog?

It turns out that lots of our readers checked in to read our musings, post comments, and provide feedback. As always - thank you very much for your readership and participation!

For the month of June, the most popular articles were:

1. Medical Translation Step by Step - In response to the question "How do I get started?", we suggest a terrific book
2. Of color and culture - A handy reference to keep track of what different colors mean around the world
3. How the world's largest device company manages translation - Our inaugural Multilingual Compliance Learning Series event drew a lot of attention
4. What's the fuss about IEC 62304? - IEC 62304 has enjoyed broad acceptance among medical device manufacturers, that's what
5. What's so difficult about providing context? - Clients who don't provide reference materials: to keep or not to keep?

Looking for more good articles to read? Take a look at our top articles for May, April, and March. Happy reading!

Part of the fun that a linguist has in watching the World Cup is seeing how folks from all around the world communicate with each other. The two teams playing and the referees often don't speak the same language. It's understandable that this situation sometimes creates difficulties.

It's also fun to note how Asian teams, in particular, are struggling with language. Like fans all around the world, Korean soccer fans are buying merchandise to support their home team. The T shirts for Korean soccer fans shout "Korea Legend! Begin to 2010."

While these are all real words, in this order they make no sense. "Begin to 2010" - what? A linguistic own goal, for sure.

[Tip of the hat to Übersetzungsfehler.]

Have 5 more minutes to kill? Take a look at Typos? What, me worry?, Cultural differences when using maternal insults, Down is the new up, and subscribe to the ongoing adventures of Mox the Translator.


OK, back to work now! ForeignExchange Translations provides specialized medical translation and software localization services to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Contact us to learn more.