Since the posting of “What the translation industry can do for Haiti”, much has been accomplished by language service providers, associations and individual interpreters seeking to provide service and support to Haiti’s earthquake-devastated populace. Of particular note, Doug Green of Translation Source has launched the Interpreters & Translators for Haiti (IT4H) group on Facebook and Twitter, and successfully coordinated the first meeting of our vendor companies and professionals looking to take a lead role.
You can read more about Doug’s efforts for our industry and those of other companies, as well as specific calls for translation support from Haiti relief organizations in the summaries below.
Providing Aid
Note: This section describes those companies in the language services, translation and localization industry that are providing support or offers to NGOs working on the ground in Haiti. Government-level mobilization of translators is not included.
Lingotek is offering free unlimited usage of their online, collaborative translation software environment for Haiti work. Twitter @RobVandenberg
Language Line Services is offering free Haitian interpretation, document translation, tools and training over this month to its customers directly involved in the Haiti relief effort. In addition, relief agencies aiding the Haitian people, though not current Language Line Services customers, can also use its Haitian Creole interpreters at no charge for the next month. Restrictions apply; see http://www.languageline.com/page/news/178/ or email disasterrelief@languageline.com for further details.
One Hour Translation will translate up to 250 words (around 1 page) for free to all organizations aiding in Haiti and all victims of the disaster; projects above 250 words will only be charged at cost price. +1-(646) 845-9597; Haiti-aid@onehourtranslation.com
Pacific Interpreters is offering free Haitian/English interpreting services to aid organizations involved in the Haiti relief efforts. Contact Sheila Turcotte, Director of Operations, with the contact information for the organization in need. +1 (800) 311-1232; Sheila.Turcotte@pacificinterpreters.com
Eriksen Translations in NY is currently translating critical triage and treatment phrases to populate the Machine Translation base of Creole terms developed by Jeff Allen and now hosted by the Language Technologies Institute of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science. More than 1,600 terms have already been delivered. Contact President & CEO Vigdis Erikse at vigdis.eriksen@eriksen.com
Ccaps is offering pro-bono translations for those volunteers, soldiers and police officers who will be joining the already established Brazilian-led UN peacekeeping force in Haiti and who need translations from English to Portuguese and vice versa. Contact: Fabiano Cid, +55 (21) 2507-5989, fcid@ccaps.net
Organizing Online
Doug Green’s Interpreters and Translators for Haiti (IT4) group is a collaborative initiative to centralize resources for translators, interpreters, and language companies that are willing to donate their time, services and expertise in Haiti relief efforts. On Facebook at Facebook/IT4H
Also on Facebook: Nicholas Ferreira launched “Together we can find 100,000 translators and interpreters” which has already rallied hundreds of translators and interpreters. Add yourself at Facebook/Together 100K. Nicolas will also manage social media/communication efforts for IT4.
NGO Need
The American Red Cross wants to recruit a Haitian Creole and French interpreter and translator to work at its National Headquarters Office in Washington for periods of between one to three weeks. The volunteer will support the International Services Department (ISD) in response to the earthquake in Haiti by sharing information with Haitian Creole speakers in the United States, translating documents from various ISD offices and/or American Red Cross chapters around the country, may be called upon to record messages in Haitian Creole or respond to inquiries from Haitian Creole speakers by telephone or in writing.
The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) is seeking qualified interpreters who are willing to travel to Haiti. IMIA continues to take the lead for on-site interpreting in Haiti. You must be a current IMIA member or a participant in one of its member organizations for this call. Contact Izabel Arocha at info@imiaweb.org; visit http://www.imiaweb.org/basic/HaitiRelief.asp
Related, the director of the Japan Red Cross is looking for one Haitian Creole > English interpreter who is already in Haiti or has lodging in Haiti and wants to assist on a voluntary basis under their supervision. Email IMIAJapan@imiaweb.org.
The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators and the American Red Cross are seeking Haitian Creole and French interpreters and translators to assist in this time of great need. Interpreters are needed for two types of assignments – either at the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington DC (immediate need) or on the hospital ship USNS Comfort off the coast of Haiti (anticipated future need). Volunteers will remain on the ship throughout the duration of the assignment and will not deploy to the mainland of Haiti. Both assignments are on a volunteer basis and the American Red Cross will cover all travel expenses. Send all responses to christina@najit.org or phone +1 (202) 293-0342 for further information.
Translators Without Borders has an urgent and immediate need for French translators for Haiti relief efforts, primarily for Doctors Without Borders. If you are willing please contact Yuliana Hernandez-Anfray at TSF@lexcelera.com for details. ***UPDATE: After an overwhelming response, much of the need has been filled. SDL and other LSPs are contributing to urgent projects on demand.
***UPDATE: The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) has launched a wiki to gather news on additional industry support efforts and on-the-ground needs.
Photo credit: DVIDSHUB
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Milengo exceeds marketplace demands and requirements for full-scale testing services by uniting the power of the Milengo TestLabs for multilingual localization and hardware testing.
The Milengo TestLabs are located in Argentina, Hungary and China. The in-house teams of certified professionals, programmers, developers and engineers have the skills and expertise to test the client’s localized product and follow strict performance rating requirements. Alternatively, we are positioned to assist our client with “black-box” testing solutions, meaning that we build the testing protocols and scenarios.
Milengo is further well positioned to increase the human, technical and hardware capital for integrated and wide ranging testing solutions. Our work model remains open and flexible from initial development to the final QA testing stages. Milengo TestLabs interact directly with client QA specialists to ensure that the workflow expectations for all testing protocols are properly followed.
The following are some of the services that Milengo provides:
Globalization – Internationalization: The additional engineering and modification of a product to support other languages and locales. The Milengo TestLabs and offices distributed worldwide work in unison to ensure the proper localization of details such as currency, date formats, measurement units as well as colors and icons.
Localization Test Validation: During the visual validation process, specialized engineers and layout specialists ensure that the user interface does not contain truncated dialog boxes, that menus and headers are resized correctly and that the entire visual design is suited to local standards. Likewise, our linguistic team of native speakers performs the linguistic validation after acquiring extensive knowledge of the client’s product, further ensuring translation precision.
Functional Test Validation: This process is designed to guarantee the elimination of any unexpected errors, results or defects in the software or hardware. The test procedures can be implemented through ad hoc testing, test case scenarios and regression testing.
Multilingual Interface and OS Testing: The Milengo TestLabs work with localized operating systems in real-word set-up to test the client’s product, further reducing any compatibility issues.
Tags: globalization, localization, testing, translation
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Friday, October 2nd, 2009
1 GLOBAL PARTNER, 19 LOCAL OFFICES
Milengo delivers translation and related localization services to the world’s most successful, international businesses. Our team of over 350 translators, project managers, engineers and more work alongside clients from 19 offices located across the Americas, Europe and Asia. Milengo has won the business and praise of global leaders that include AMD, Cisco Systems, the Walt Disney Company and Saba Software.
At Milengo client satisfaction is central to everything we do. Our flexible, technology-independent approach to localization workflow and project management allows us to easily adapt to the needs of our clients. We’re proud to be different.
We know that every translation, testing and engineering assignment is unique, including both the technical and human aspect responsible for bringing projects from conception to distribution. For this reason we continually evaluate our approach, ensuring even the most complex, multi-language projects are delivered free from technological conundrums or hidden linguistic surprises.
At Milengo we believe in partnerships. We pair technical know-how with cultural sensitivity, and linguistic accuracy with open and transparent workflow. And because we understand the value of your time, we make sure that your projects are delivered exactly as you intended.
A great working partnership is the bedrock upon which our clients rely.
Tags: Asia, eLearning, Europe, globalization, Latin America, localization, software engineering, testing, translation
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