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A goal of any translation project should be “perfection”. But squeezing that last 2% out of a delivery can be a big chore, to say the least. I asked my brother-in-law in the newspaper business what they do to ensure perfection there and here’s what he replied: Hey Steven, Here’s...
An associate asked me about studying to be a Korean translator recently. He did so in the context of trying to get a job in Korea. Unfortunately, while translation is a noble profession and one that pays well and for which there's a demand for good talent, it is not...
I've got a colleague here in Korea, Dong-Hyuk Kim (pictured at right), who always closes his emails with the most creative and charming expressions. I'm collecting some of them here for safekeeping: 달콤한 휴식을 즐기는행복한 저녁 보내세요. 가을의 정취와 더불어즐거운 하루 보내세요. 맑고 향기로운 하루 보내세요. 상쾌한 하루 보내세요. 좋은...
When working with direct clients, I make it a point to get a few matters clarified in advance, since I’ve found that the answers to certain questions are important in deciding on a project workflow that delivers the best work in the most efficient manner and meets client expectations. The...
Standard Korean used in Seoul is the only acceptable form of written Korean for 99.9% of translation projects Of course, the North Koreans would disagree with this and the forms of South and North Korean have changed a lot over the years such that they are really two different dialects...
It is often difficult for me to handle client feedback on my translation deliveries in a way that keeps everyone happy. I'm certainly willing to review a client's or proofreader's work on something I delivered. However, as I see it, reviewing these changes is a third step in the project...
I've got to admit, it's pretty irritating that they put "Semi-professional Level" in English on the certificate. It doesn't say anything like this on the Korean side and it has no correspondence with anything mentioned on the Society website. It was merely the second of three levels offered for the...
When I’m sent an NDA/vendor/project/work or other type of agreement by a client requesting my signature, I always take my responsibilities seriously and read through the text. Bless those clients who manage to keep their agreements to 1-2 pages; I’ve been known to lose patience with the 7-8 pagers and...
The following is my email discussion with Duncan Shaw of DTS Language Services, Inc. [EXPIRED LINK REMOVED: https://dtstrans.com/] regarding his agency’s transition to memoQ. Duncan kindly gave me permission to share these emails. It’s a little (well, a lot!) long, but if you use Trados or are considering using it...
Business cards often list the company name twice; once in the logo and once in the address. On an English card, the second time above the address generally shows the way it should appear on the outside of an envelope for mailing. But Korean business cards don’t show an exact...
