As the internet shortens the intellectual distance between countries, worldwide patent information becomes easily accessible. In order to protect novel inventions, it is important to file a patent in patent offices and distribute patent information online. Since patents are granted for innovations, patents reflect economic growth of a country by illustrating creative activities and displaying the knowledge power of that particular country or region. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to promoting an international intellectual property system, asserts that patent activities reflect up-to-date changes of worldwide industries, and as a consequence, good-quality information is essential in the understanding of current developments (WIPO, 2007h).

The diversity in the languages used in patent applications has boosted translation demand.

With the number of worldwide patent filings on the rise, there is a growing demand for patent translations in order for the patents to be filed in foreign patent systems for patent right protection and international visibility. The similarity between patents and translations is that both contribute to internationalization by the increasing number of worldwide patent filings and the increasing use of international patent systems (Tsai, 2007) such as Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). PCT is a ‘simpler, easier, and more cost-effective’ (WIPO, 2006b, p. 3) way by filing one international patent in one language. The language used in the application should be acceptable to the receiving office or else translations of the applicationdocuments should be provided.

Translating patent documents into one of the publication languages enhances the effectiveness of processing applications in both the international and national phases. The improved search environments enable patent Offices and International Searching Authorities to easily access patent documentations for patentability evaluation of the invention. Translations of patent application documents further foster visibility by disseminating information to a wider readership throughout the world. The published international application thus serves as both a legaldocument that specifies rights protected in the Contracting States, and an information source that introduces new technology (Tsai, 2008).

This paper introduces the patent translation profession from a supply and demand point of view. The volume and the distribution of translation works within patent offices as well as the recruitment of translators will be discussed. Information provided will focus on three patent offices of different scales: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO). The analysis of the patent translation profession opens an additional opportunity for potential translators with underlying stress on the importance of incorporating technical translation in academic institutions in order to train specialized translators to cope with the demand for technical translation and patent translation.

Volume of translation work

There are currently eight publication languages used in WIPO to publish international patent applications, which includes Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. As of 2009, with the inclusion of Korean and Portuguese, a total 10 publication languages will be in use in WIPO to publish international patent applications (WIPO, 2008a, p. 1). According to PCT, patent applicants can file an application in any language as acceptable by the receiving office, and therefore, each receiving office would receive applications in various languages (WIPO, 2006b). The diversity in the languages used in patent applications has boosted translation demand.

In WIPO, requests for translation services in 2006 were 187,920 abstracts and 50,836 reports (WIPO, 2006a, p. 9). In 2007, there were 206,000 abstracts and 47,000 reports to be translated (WIPO, 2007d). In order for the technological information disclosed in international applications to become accessible in languages other than the ones in which the original documents were filed, translation is of great importance. Moreover, the translation of patent information also enhances the publicizing function of the patent system.

The largest receiving office on national level, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), receives an annual request of 4,000 to 5,000 translations, which are equivalent to around 15 million words per year (USPTO, 2006a). A large portion of the translation request is for Japanese and German, with translations from Japanese into English accounting for 70% of the demand. In terms of value, the estimated budget placed for translation services in USPTO was around US$1.6 million to US$2 million per year. The figure was derived from the most recent 5-year contract from 2007 to 2012, and the total price estimation for translation services is US$ 8 to $10 million over 5-year period (USPTO, 2006c).

The Translations Branch of USPTO provides written and oral translation services internally for patent examiners. Official statistics of USPTO show the number of written translations provided for patent examiners in 2007 was 7,104 documents, which was equivalent to approximately 22,814,832 words translated (USPTO, 2007b). The written materials to be translated could be from any of the foreign languages into English. The requests for oral translations in the same year were 5,996 documents, mostly from major European languages and Japanese into English (USPTO, 2007b).

In Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), annual translation demands on average are around 44,400 documents (TIPO, 2005b). This figure includes translations for patent abstracts and patent titles. The estimated value of translation work was around US$0.7 million per annum (TIPO, 2005b). Irrespective of the fact that non-resident application filings accounted for 39.4% of the total application filings in 2007 (TIPO, 2007a), Chinese is the only language accepted by TIPO, and so a Chinese version of the application documents should be submitted for application. As a result, translation requests are mainly for English translations of Chinese documents for publication purposes.

Distribution of translation work

Outsourcing translation works to translation firms or freelance translators has become a common practice in the industry, regardless of subject field. If the demand is high, some organizations would set up an in-house translation section. In the area of patent translation, large-scale patent offices such as WIPO and U.S. Patent Office, to name a few, have an exclusive division that solely handles translation work. Nevertheless, the recent years have seen a gradual shift to outsourcing (WIPO, 2007h).

Figure 1 Distribution of Translation Work (WIPO, 2008b)

The International Bureau is the translation unit within WIPO, translating and publishing abstracts, titles, and texts of PCT international applications into English and French, and reports into English. Due to the high translation demand, the International Bureau has outsourced most of their translation work, while producing a smaller amount of translation internally. In 2006, 63% of 187,920 abstracts were translated by in-house translators within the International Bureau while 84% of 50,836 reports were translated by outside agencies (see Figure 1). In 2007, over half of the translation work was transferred to outside agencies. Among 206,000 abstracts, 60% was translated externally, and only 10% of 47,000 reports were translated internally (WIPO, 2007h).

The Translation Branch under the Scientific and Technical Information Center of the USPTO is the division that offers scientific and technical translation services to USPTO. Translation services are also offered and provided for publication purposes within USPTO, and to other government agencies and external specialists, on condition that the material to be translated is relevant to patent application cases. The material translated was more diversified, from articles, documents, to letters, as long as it is of relevance to the Patent Office. The material could be from any country wishing to file a patent in the U.S., and can be of any subject area (USPTO, 2006c).

Like WIPO, the Translation Branch has worked together with external agencies on a long-term contract basis. Apart from internal translation demands for patent examiners, the USPTO has outsourced approximately 15 million words of translation loads per year to external agencies. This workload was shared between 3 contracts before their contracts expired in 2006, which indicated respective load of 5 million words per annum (USPTO, 2006b). In 2007, a total of four translation service providers were contracted, three of which were existing suppliers who were re-awarded the contracts after re-bidding (USPTO, 2007a).

Distributing translation work to outsourcing agencies is also common in smaller-scale national patent offices such as TIPO. Since 1993, TIPO has cooperated with scientific and technical experts from various subject areas to translate patent documents from Chinese to English. Without having a specialized division for translation work, TIPO has outsourced all translation work on a yearly contract basis in 2005, and has been heavily reliant on outside agencies since then. However, the assignment of work is random, depending on the workload of TIPO (Tsai, 2008).

Outsourcing is considered as more cost-effective, efficient, and economical than having to support an internal independent translation division, and therefore has undoubtedly become the trend in the distribution of translation works. Due to budget and administrative concerns, patent offices would only benefit from better management and lower costs in both human and technical resources when they had procured qualified agents to produce quality works. The competency requirements to be met the highlight the importance of the procurement process for translation services.

Procurement of translation services

Before setting out to search for the right service provider, it is essential to list the criteria as the minimum requisite for satisfactory translation performance. Other considerations with regard to delivering translations with the expected quality include the availability of software and hardware resources to support the translation work, quality control methods, and time management. Different patent offices may have different concerns. Some are more inclined to hand over the task to large-scale translation agencies and grant them the right to follow-up assignments. Some prefer to have direct communication with and management of the translators, and thus commission work to several freelance translators. Defining and detailing the essential requirements right from the outset is thus the first filtration process of the procurement.

WIPO

Translation activities in the WIPO are of a broader scope. Not only are the translators responsible for translating legal documents that were not directly related to patents, such as treaties, conference reports, working papers, promotional materials, official publications and so on, but also for providing text-related services as well. It was also the duty of the translators to work with the Secretariat in editing, revising, and correcting texts, responding to language-related questions from other divisions, and reviewing and developing linguistic policies. In addition, translators were also involved in the development of online terminology databases and the evaluation of adopting computer-assisted translation and voice recognition systems in the translation process (WIPO, 2001, pp. 168-169).

Publication Language	% of filings (2009 estimate)	Abstract translation into English	Abstract translation into French	Patentability Report	Search Report (average)	Total
Chinese	4.5%	65.00	38.00	65.00	0.00	168.00
English	60.1%		38.00			38.00
French	3.3%	38.00		160.00	9.50	207.50
German	11.2%	38.00	38.00	160.00	9.50	245.50
Japanese	19.7%	65.00	38.00	125.00	28.00	256.00
Russian	0.5%	38.00	38.00	160.00	9.50	245.50
Spanish	0.7%	38.00	38.00	160.00	9.50	245.50

Table 1 Translation Costs in CHF (WIPO, 2007c, p. 3)

As regulated in Rule 48.3 (c) of Regulations under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the title, abstract and any relevant texts of the invention should be published both in English and in any other language accepted by the Receiving Office. It is thus the responsibility of the International Bureau to prepare translations of the title and abstract of the application, as well as the international search report into English. Table 1 provides an estimation of translation costs for 2009, in particular the costs of translation of abstracts into the core languages of the WIPO, English and French. It is estimated that the total translation cost for Chinese as a publication language in 2009 is CHF 168.00 per PCT international application (WIPO, 2007c).

In coping with the significantly increasing demand for technical language capability, WIPO has built up competencies using the existing staff and contracted workforce (WIPO, 2007g, pp. 27-28). Consequently, translations of the title, abstract, and relevant texts, as well as translations of WIPO Official publications, are being outsourced to external contractors.

The increasing reliance on outsourcing translation workload by the International Bureau started in 2004. Before then, there were around 22 translators working into six publication languages, two of which were working into Chinese. Some of the translation work was also shared between freelance translators and outside agencies. Translation workload was increased as a result of the continuous PCT reform in WIPO since 2000. An additional demand for English translations of the international preliminary report on patentability for every international application gave rise to the heavy reliance on outsourcing as a means of absorbing the considerable workload (WIPO, 2007c, p. 2).

Outsourcing activities were administered and monitored by the Secretariat of the WIPO based on an open international tender for translation services in the publication languages (WIPO, 2007b, p. 4). Regardless of the complexities and the fact that outsourcing would not necessarily cut down cost in the short-term, the Secretariat was still positive in the flexibility that outsourcing brings to cope with workload fluctuations without having to readjust the workforce (ibid.). Thereby, the International Bureau has strictly limited the recruitment of additional staff to handle increases in the translation workload, but has significantly increased the amount of financial resources to translation (WIPO, 2007c, p. 2).

In 2006, the financial resources placed for the Language Service unit was CHF 6,122,000 (WIPO, 2005). The unit cost of production for translation services was CHF 262,000, which accounted for 40% of the PCT system budget, of which CHF 125,000 were allocated for internal translation service and CHF 137,000 were for outsourced translation activities. The 95 staffs housed in the PCT translation service processed approximately 118,390 abstract translations and 8,134 report translations in 2006.

The 5-year projected expenditure of the International Bureau provided a clearer picture of the financial resources allocated to in-house translations and outsourced translations (see Table 2). On average, the ratio of outsourced translations over in-house translations was 4.6:1. The indication is that 4.6 translation projects are outsourced for every translation completed within the International Bureau.

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Examinations & Publications	CHF 136,000	CHF 557,000	CHF 693,000	CHF 829,000	CHF 829,000
Outsourced translations	CHF 1,585,000	CHF 2,272,000	CHF 2,958,000	CHF 3,677,000	CHF 4,344,000
In-house translations	CHF 398,000	CHF 398,000	CHF 597,800	CHF 796,000	CHF 996,000

Table 2 Projected expenditure¹ for the International Bureau (WIPO, 2007a)

Along with the growing capacity of outsourced translation comes the demand for management skills in handling contracts and a quality assurance mechanism for outsourced work. The International Bureau has a comparable amount of translations produced internally and externally, and is devising control measures to ensure the quality of outsourced translations. Nevertheless, the workforce for managing outsourcing contracts and controlling translation quality has been appropriately allocated without having to increase the number of staff in the translation section (WIPO, 2007c, p. 2).

USPTO

Translation requests in the USPTO include both ‘patent literature’ and ‘non-patent literature’. Patent literature refers to documents that are of great relevance to patents, such as patents, utility models, published patent applications, abstracts, and so forth. Non-patent literature, though only accounts for 10% of the total volume, embraces a wider range, from scientific and technical articles, legal documents, reports, to letters. Most of the material to be translated are described as ‘frequently difficult linguistically and in content’ by the USPTO (USPTO, 2006c). As the work flow is controlled by patent examiners, there are no seasonal variations in the amount of work assigned to respective contractors.

The procurement of translation service is for all languages other than English, mostly Japanese and German, with Japanese documents being responsible for 70% of the total volume (USPTO, 2006b). Most of the work relates to translations into English (to be more precise, ‘Standard American English’ according to USPTO terminology), although occasional requests into other foreign languages still occur. Venders who are capable of providing translation service for only one or two languages, regardless of their share in the total volume, would not stand a good chance to succeed, as the requirements of the USPTO would not be fulfilled.

This explains why the USPTO has targeted the bidding to businesses instead of individuals. First, it is more manageable to interact with one contact than hundreds and thousands of translators, each working on different language pairs. Second, translation agencies usually have a database of translators working in various language combinations. In the case of urgent need for rare languages, translator agencies would need less effort to readily access and locate the right talent. Finally, with the built-in quality control system within the agency, translation quality is checked before delivery.

With the purpose to receive ‘accurate, high-quality translations,’ the USPTO has positioned the procurement as ‘high-level solicitation’ (USPTO, 2006c). Bidders were invited to ‘demonstrate their competency in fulfilling the requirements of the USPTO with a Capability Statement (USPTO, 2006b). Information regarding the size, scope, and specific features of the business should be detailed. The evaluation of vendors focused on four aspects: the source and qualification of translators, quality control measures, past experience and performance, and pricing.

To bid on this job, the bidder should describe the education, experience, and source of proposed translators for this contract; quality control measures used to monitor and examine translation quality; relevant experience in patent translation or legal translation; and price estimation. In the pre-proposal submission phase, the bidders should submit cost/word estimates based on 1000 words for each language, turnaround times, and should include all applicable costs. The three types of delivery are ‘rush,’ ‘standard,’ and ‘economy.’ The definition of rush refers to 1~2 days, standard means 1~3 days, and economy would be 2~4 days (USPTO, 2006b).

The pre-proposal submission phase is the first round of the procurement process. The USPTO evaluates the responses relating to the four areas received from the bidders and down-selects five suppliers. In the second round, the selected 5 bidders should provide additional information and fill in a Request for Proposal. Adjustments in pricing or other matters can be made in Request for Proposal. Ultimate decisions are determined by the probability of fulfilling the requests at the best value offered (USPTO, 2006b).

TIPO

In TIPO, translation services are required for patent documents, including patents, utility models, published patent applications, abstracts, and titles. A large proportion of work relates to Chinese to English translations of patent abstracts and patent titles. Due to an annual demand of 44,400 documents (TIPO, 2005a) to be translated, TIPO outsourced translation work in 2005. The procurement replaced a team of scholars and experts that had been recruited from various fields to cope with translation requests in patent documents since 1993. The procurement was set for a base period of 2 years from 2005 to 2007, with a possible one-year extension (TIPO, 2005b).

The assignment of the type of translation work will be decided in terms of the number of granted patents during that period. Once the work has been assigned, the translator is provided with full documentation of the patents that need to be translated. The entire patent documentation includes “patents for inventions, plant patents, design patents, inventors’ certificates, utility models, patents of addition, inventors’ certificates of addition, utility certificates of addition, and published applications” (WIPO, 1998). The same information can be found in TIPO’s online database, and is freely accessible to all. Once completed, the translation is proofread by proofreaders and published online.

Unlike the USPTO, the procurement was open for all, inviting small businesses, as well as individuals to bid. However, conditions were stipulated with regards to the education level and working experience of the potential bidders. Bidders should have at least a college degree, and should have at least two years of working experience in a patent-related field. In the pre-proposal submission phase, bidders should submit a personal profile stating education level, previous working experiences, and a sample translation of a patent abstract (TIPO, 2005b). Timeframe and quotations for translation work are unnecessary as the deadline of each assignment is set by TIPO and the price is fixed, regardless of the word count.

Potential bidders are requested to choose a specific field classified under the International Patent Classification system, and provide sample translations of patent abstracts accordingly. Bidders should also list areas of interest in accordance with translation competency. Each sample translation is assessed by two evaluators, and in the case of doffering opinions, a third evaluator is invited. The evaluation of bidders depends on qualification review and translation work review. Ultimate decisions are made by the supplier evaluation team. In 2005, approximately 60 contracts were awarded (cf. Tsai, 2008).

Recruitment of in-house translators

Most of the patent offices have recruited in-house translators, or have redeployed existing staff with language competencies to deal with translation requests. The responsibilities of in-house translators were not necessarily based on translating documents, but were more diversified, mostly having to do with managing outsourced contracts and controlling the quality of the translations. Occasionally, in-house translators would need to take on urgent translation requests within the office, or provide oral interpreting instead of working solely on written translations.

WIPO

Recruitment activity in WIPO is centralized with detailed processes and authority levels. At the peak of the recruitment activity in 2001 and 2002, WIPO advertised over 150 positions and attracted 7,000 applications (WIPO, 2007g, p. 39). Thanks to information technology, low staff turnover rate, and the distribution of workload to outside agencies and short-term contractors, staff recruitment was reduced to approximately 50 positions in 2007 (WIPO, 2007e, p. 67). A WIPO report in 2007 shows a 15% to 30% of growth in demand for services in the language sector, but only one additional position was created, which reflects the increasing reliance on outsourced services for translation (WIPO, 2007f, p. 14).

According to an internal review report, as at January 2007, there were a total of 1,249 staff employed in WIPO, of which 37.5% were full time staff working in the Administration of the PCT system. As compared with a Swiss public sector benchmark, WIPO has a low staff turnover level, representing a high level of staff retention. In 2006, the staff turnover rate at WIPO was 2.6% while the Swiss public sector experienced 7.5% to 10% of staff turnover (WIPO, 2007g, p. 9). The impact of the long staff tenure in WIPO, as indicated in the final review report, increased costs in human resources yet the performance and competence of the staff were not entirely sufficient to meet the standard.

A list of required skills and competencies for Professional level staff was generated from internal interviews within the WIPO with the middle management in 2007. These skills and competencies include management skills, knowledge of WIPO and UN, higher university degree, IP knowledge, language skills, professional experience, communication and diplomatic skills, and IT skills. By and large, the middle management considers language skills the competency that was insufficient in P level staff (cf. WIPO, 2007g).

Looking at the language skills of WIPO staff at Professional level and General Services level, as presented in Figure 2, more G level staff had proper language skills than P level staff. However, competencies in this area are more focused on English-language competency, especially for G level staff. When it comes to technical language support, WIPO is well equipped to meet the demands for European technical languages. For non-European technical languages, WIPO has also redeployed existing staff in conjunction with outsourcing and contracting work. (WIPO, 2007g, pp. 27-28).

Figure 2 Language Skills of P and G staff at WIPO (WIPO, 2007g, p. 30)

The fact that not all staff fulfill the competencies and skills required in WIPO or deliver a satisfactory performance added staff frustrations over a lack of on-the-job achievement and opportunities for promotion. Due to the current system that discourages disciplinary actions, it was reported that no full-time staff was dismissed since 2002 (WIPO, 2007g, p. 9). Although the introduction of information technology and outsourcing activities improve efficiencies and performance for translation and related services, it is still recommended to extend language training for existing WIPO staff in addition to outsourcing, for the need for technical support in languages cannot be completely replaced (WIPO, 2007g, p. 28).

The addition of a publication language increases translation load for both internal staff and external contractors. Considerations of criteria for additional publication languages include the number of both native and non-native speakers of the language, the number of States that use the language as an official language, the number of PCT applications filed in that language, the number of domestic applications made in that language, and whether the language is supported by at least one PCT International Authority (WIPO, 2008a, p. 4). Chinese for example, is the language spoken by most people in the world, and is used in China and Taiwan as the official language. The number of PCT patents filed with and accepted by the International Authority in 2007 was 4,887.

Increasing reliance on translated rather than original reports would have consequential effects in the national phase, especially if the quality of translation were not carefully monitored. In order to strike a balance between cost-effectiveness and quality in translation and revision of documents, productivity standards have been developed, and continue to be met. According to the productivity standards of WIPO, each in-house translator would be expected to translate 1,500 words of general text, or 1,000 words of legal text a day. Translations and edited or proofread documents represented an output of 30,000 standard pages of text. With a streamlined and formalized translation procedure for translation, an 8% of efficiency gain was achieved in 2006 (WIPO, 2007e).

The cost of outsourced translations for the International Bureau is largely dependent on the number of applications involved and covered by the international filing fee. In 2006, the ratio of the number of PCT applications to PCT staff and ouside translators was 1:606. As compared to 2005, the translation workload increased by 20% (WIPO, 2007e). While most of the workload was outsourced to experienced translators, it is necessary to keep at least a minimum capacity within the International Bureau for quality control and urgent needs. As a result, translation capacity in each publication language for abstracts, search reports, and written opinions has been maintained. As of 2007, 30 translators were contracted on Special Service Agreements in WIPO through competition. Other in-house positions include translator reviser, senior translator, assistant translator, and translation assistant (cf. WIPO, 2007g).

USPTO

In-house translators within the USPTO are responsible for quality control of outsourced translations and coping with urgent requests within the office. In-house translators were also in charge of managing contracts, which include assigning works to translation service suppliers, tracing the completion of translation, liaising between the translation service provider and quality control team, and evaluating the services of the provider. Recruitment activities for in-house translators are infrequent, but positions were mostly filled by U.S. citizens with specific foreign language competencies.

TIPO

While translations of abstracts and titles were produced by contracted translators, TIPO has started recruiting native speakers of English in 2007 to draft English documents, proofread, and revise English translations. This short-term contract is for a base period of two years from 2007 to 2009, with three months’ trial period. According to the contract, staff recruited on short-term contract should work 8 hours a day. Their responsibilities include drafting, translating, and revising English documents. A total budget of US$114,752 has been put aside for this recruitment (TIPO, 2007b).

Concluding remarks

Patent translation bridges linguistic barriers for worldwide readers, and constant updates of newly published patent information online satisfy the need of a larger group of people with different languages and backgrounds. Due to the complexity and technical features of patent translation, academic training in this area is rare, and this is often the area that instructors are reluctant to handle. However, the increasing demand brings forth job opportunities. Training specifically designed for patent translation provides translators with background knowledge and translation competency in patent documentation and prepares patent translators for patent offices and legal firms.

The need to train students for the job market has been suggested by Bamberger in as early as the 1960s. During the period when the translation demand soared in the USPTO, Bamberger indicated that “these critical times make it mandatory for the colleges to do everything in their power to promote international exchange of scientific and technical as well as cultural information by making translators available to industry, government and scientific institutions” (1962, p. 36). Academic participation in meeting the needs of the industry enhances the importance of collaboration between industry and university in addition to integrating theory and practice.

By analyzing the patent translation profession from a supply and demand perspective, it is expected that more competent translators can be trained for patent offices, legal firms, and translation agencies. In addition, more research is encouraged to contribute to the literature of technical translation and translation studies as a whole.

Humphrey Davies speaks about translating Ahmad Faris Al Shidyaq’s ‘Leg Over Leg’ at the Abu Dhabi InterContinental Hotel

Translator Humphrey Davies talks about his work and its challenges

Literature is universal, and its virtues appeal to everyone, regardless of the subject it deals with. Transferring the meaning, tone, rhythm and musicality of one narrative from one language to another is a complex endeavour and capturing the spirit of a book of art in a language in which it was not originally written is deemed simply unattainable by some.

Humphrey Davies, literary translator and consultant to the School of Humanities at the American University of Cairo, spoke to Weekend Review about the challenges of translating classical Arabic. “The difficulty in offering classical Arabic literature to an English audience is greater than when offering classical English literature to an English audience,” Davies said.

“With regard to historical background and cultural distance, the challenges faced in both cases are essentially the same, but the degree is greater when it comes to the former.

“For example, reading Dickens now is not as straightforward as it was in the days that Dickens was writing. You need to do a certain amount of explaining — that’s where footnotes come in. You need to give an amount of information that is enough to clarify the details, but you need to be careful not to be too officious. It is important to remember how intelligent readers are; people can often get things quite quickly.”

Pattern and morphology

Can rhythm be translated? I asked. The beauty of classical Arabic is not just in its words but in its rhythm as well, that which cannot be translated and maintained in another language. But there are ways to make up for the loss of poetic cadence in translation, he said.

“Rhythm depends to a large extent on the specific morphology of a language — the way in which words are built up. Arabic has words of the same pattern. You can play with this and produce a rhythm and rhyme that you can’t in English. However, there are other things you can use in English, such as alliteration and assonance, which to some extent can be employed to provide an echo at least in the reader’s mind of the sound of classical Arabic,” Davies said.

Another aspect of translation is the transfer of old lexicology into new-world vocabulary. “Classical Arabic consciously tries to maintain elements of the older language. This is especially the case in the book I am translating now, by [Ahmad Faris] Al Shidyaq; part of its purpose is to glorify the older language,” he said.

“However, generally speaking, there is an obsession with accuracy that is often out of place. How can someone ever understand what a shisha really is in English unless you draw a picture of it? However, in literature it’s a little different. It’s enough to know that it is a water pipe — the reader doesn’t need to be given a lecture on what everything exactly is,” he added.

Obtaining clarity about obscure meanings is a challenge compounded by the translator sometimes unconsciously becoming subjective, rather than objective, in his opinion. Understanding what the original author said may require thorough research and multiple cross-references.

“There are a number of references which present some Arabic poets in their time and which try to explain obscurity in poetry. Sometimes, however, it does get very difficult. But there are other resources and scholars one can go to for interpretation,” Davies said.

At present he is working on a book called Al-Saq ‘ala al-Saq (Leg Over Leg) by Ahmad Faris Al Shidyaq, who is considered a pioneer in modern Arabic literature, a reviver of classical forms, the father of Arabic journalism and a moderniser of formal Arabic. He was an author, editor, journalist, lexicographer, grammarian, translator, literary historian and travel writer, and has about eight published works of literary prose to his credit, along with ten linguistic studies of Arabic, Turkish, English and French, more than 20,000 verses of poetry and at least four unpublished manuscripts — not to mention his many translations, and journalistic and critical articles.

However, Al Shidyaq’s works have not yet been translated into English. In fact, the period in which he lived, known as the Nahda (often translated as the awakening or the revival), is not one that has been thoroughly studied.

A curious tome

Al-Saq ‘ala al-Saq is a 700-page distillation of his career in letters. His style, which includes frequent diversions, extended metaphors and long lists of synonyms, present a challenge for translators, who struggle to maintain coherent interpretations of his writings.

“Al-Saq ‘ala al-Saq demonstrates both linguistic prowess in Arabic and erudition in European literature, and at the same time lampoons them both. It is no wonder that it begins with 11 synonyms for the command ‘Be quiet!’” said Rebecca Johnson, assistant professor of English at the Alice Kaplan Institute for Humanities at Northwestern University.

“Al Shidyaq’s works, especially Al-Saq ‘ala al-Saq, has helped scholars understand the importance of both translation and philology in modern Arabic literature. The book defies categorisation and requires the use of no fewer than four dictionaries to read it, let alone translate it,” Johnson added.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

 Traveling abroad presents an ideal opportunity to master a foreign language. While the immersion process facilitates communication in a diverse world, people are often surprised to find they have difficulty returning to their native language. This phenomenon is referred to as first-language attrition and has University of Oregon psychologist Benjamin Levy wondering how it is possible to forget, even momentarily, words used fluently throughout one’s life.

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See Also:

Mind & Brain

• Language Acquisition
• Child Development
• Educational Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Relationships
• Racial Issues

Reference

• Great Ape language
• Psycholinguistics
• Dyslexia
• Noam Chomsky

In a study appearing in the January, 2007 issue of Psychological Science, Levy and his colleague Dr. Michael Anderson discovered that people do not forget their native language simply because of less use, but that such forgetfulness reflects active inhibition of native language words that distract us while we are speaking the new language. Therefore, this forgetfulness may actually be an adaptive strategy to better learn a second language.

In the study, native English speakers who had completed at least one year of college level Spanish were asked to repeatedly name objects in Spanish. The more the students were asked to repeat the Spanish words, the more difficulty they had generating the corresponding English labels for the objects. In other words, naming objects in another language inhibits the corresponding labels in the native language, making them more difficult to retrieve later.

Interestingly, the study also showed that the more fluent bilingual students were far less prone to experience these inhibitory effects. These findings suggest that native language inhibition plays a crucial role during the initial stages of second language learning. That is, when first learning a new language, we have to actively ignore our easily accessible native language words while struggling to express our thoughts in a novel tongue. As a speaker achieves bilingual fluency, native-language inhibition becomes less necessary, accounting for the better performances of fluent bilingual speakers in the study.

Although the value of suppressing previously learned knowledge to learn new concepts may appear counterintuitive, Levy explains that “first-language attrition provides a striking example of how it can be adaptive to (at least temporarily) forget things one has learned.”

For more information on this subject and about the research please visit the University of Oregon Memory Lab website athttp://memorycontrol.uoregon.edu.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

Just weeks into his sign-language lessons, Evan was easily signing “yes,” “no” and “more.”

The first time Mary-Kathryn Jackson got up to leave the Hewgleys’ Germantown apartment, the 3-year-old boy she had just begun to tutor clung to her and cried.

Before he met her, crying was about the only way Evan Hewgley-Peterson could communicate.

PHOTO BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT
BUY THIS PHOTO »Lindsey McGarrh-Hewgley tries to communicate with her stepson, Evan Hewgley-Peterson, who was born deaf. Mentor Mary-Kathryn Jackson works with parents Lindsey and Ted Hewgley, teaching them sign language.

“It was awful,” said his stepmother, Lindsey McGarrh-Hewgley. “We didn’t know what he wanted.”

But that has started to change as the family learns sign language with free help from their personal mentor, who is herself deaf.

The Hewgleys are one of 20 families enrolled in a new mentoring program for deaf children from the Deaf Family Literacy Academy of Memphis, sponsored by the Memphis City Schools Foundation and Dollar General.

Just weeks into lessons, Evan easily signs to his parents: “yes” and “no” and “more.”

By Jackson’s third trip to the household last week, tears had been replaced with hand motions, nods and grins.

The pink-cheeked boy sat in the middle of the living room, which has furniture and appliances labeled so he can begin to identify their names, and tapped on an iPad, matching colors.

Then he tucked his thumb into his hand and flicked his wrist twice. “Blue.”

Jackson said, through an interpreter, that the family-centered aspect of the program drew her in. The children she tutors will have different home lives than she did because her father never learned to sign, and her mother only knew basics.

About 95 percent of children born deaf have hearing parents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Deborah Carrier, assistant director at DFLA of Memphis, said many hearing parents “are afraid they can’t learn a second language.”

Mentoring from a non-hearing person helps bridge the divide between hearing parents and deaf children, she said.

“It forces us to learn so much more,” said McGarrh-Hewgley. “I love it,” she added in sign language, crossing her hands over her chest.

There are approximately 400 deaf and hard of hearing children in the Greater Memphis area, according to DFLA, and already there is a wait-list for the program. DFLA at Memphis hopes to serve 30 families next year, and 50 the following, said Carrier.

On top of sign language lessons, the mentors focus on reading comprehension with their pupils, who range in age from 0 to 12.

Deaf and hard of hearing students typically demonstrate low reading ability and according to DFLA, deaf high school seniors, on average, perform at a fourth-grade reading level.

“We want to help these children become equal with their peers,” signed Jackson. “We want to get them to college.”

And that night, as she signed about her time at Gallaudet University, a top school for deaf and hard of hearing students, Evan’s father, Ted, was all eyes.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

As one of the 50 Best Careers, this should have strong growth over the next decade

The rundown:

Pharmaceutical inserts, instruction manuals, and textbooks—these are just a few of the documents that translators rework in English or other languages. At courthouses around the country and conferences throughout the world, interpreters help people of different tongues communicate. While both interpreters and translators convert one language into another, interpreters work with the spoken word, and translators the written word. But choosing this occupation means learning more than a foreign language; you also must thoroughly understand the subject you’re communicating about. You’ll relay not only words, but complicated concepts and ideas, as well as the cultural subtleties that accompany them.

Interpreters and translators specialize in a variety of fields, including medical, judiciary, literary, or sign-language. About a quarter are self-employed, and many translators work fromhome.

[See a list of The 50 Best Careers.]

The outlook:

Excellent, although prospects vary by language and topical specialty. Employment of interpreters and translators is projected to increase 22 percent between 2008 and 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the Labor Department. Demand is driven by an increasingly global economy, as well as an increasingly large population of non-English speakers in the United States.

Interpreters and translators held more than 50,900 jobs in 2008—although the actual number is likely much higher because many people in this field work sporadically. Urban areas, especially Washington, D.C., New York, and cities in California, provide the most employment possibilities, especially for interpreters. Interpreters and translators of Spanish should have solid opportunities because of expected increases in the Hispanic population in the United States, and demand is also expected to be strong for interpreters and translators specializing in healthcare and law. Interpreters for the deaf should continue to have favorable employment prospects because of low supply, while conference interpreters and literary translators can expect competition because of the small number of jobs in these specialties.

Other languages in demand include Asian languages—Chinese, Korean, and Japanese—as well as Arabic, Farsi, and indigenous African languages. So, too, are European languages like French, Italian, and German.

Money:

Salary varies greatly depending on language and subject matter. Interpreters and translators who speak languages that are in high demand or underrepresented in the field often have higher earnings, as do those who communicate about complicated topics. In 2009, the median annual salary was $40,860, and the median hourly wage, $19.65. Interpreters and translators in the bottom 10 percent earned less than $22,810, while those in the top 10 percent earned more than $74,150.

Upward mobility:

Once you’ve gained enough experience, you can transition to a more difficult or prestigious assignment—like conference interpreter—or start a translation agency.

Activity level:

Low. Most translation work is done on a computer, so many translators work from home or at an office. Interpreters work in a wider variety of settings, such as schools, hospitals, courtrooms, and conference centers, and may travel for the job.

[See a list of the best creative and service careers.]

Stress level:

Moderate. Expect to work under pressure of deadlines and tight schedules. Since many interpreters and translators work on a freelance basis, your schedule may vary, with weeks of limited work interspersed with weeks of long hours.

Education and preparation:

You’ll need to be fluent in at least two languages (including your native tongue). Though some interpreters and translators grow up in a bilingual home, it’s not necessary. Some interpreters and translators need a bachelor’s degree to find work, while others complete job-specific training programs. Formal programs are available at colleges nationwide and through non-university training programs and conferences. Federal courts require certification for interpreters of certain languages, as do state and municipals courts.

Interpreters and translators benefit from strong research and analytical skills, as well as a reliable memory.

Real advice from real people about landing a job as an interpreter or translator:

Interpreters and translators should master three skills: communicating in a foreign language, writing in their native language, and developing expertise in a field like law, engineering or physics—whatever topic you want to translate. You’ll likely need a degree in that field to understand it well enough to talk or write about it, which means you should expect to have a dual major in college or at least a major and minor: one in the foreign language, the other in your specialty.

Spending time abroad is valuable for aspiring translators. “Master your own language. You have to be a brilliant writer in English … You translate difficult things, like pharmaceutical inserts and physics textbooks and emergency medical procedures. So that requires you develop expertise in a technical field … Consider [in-demand] languages like Chinese and Arabic and Russian, and Urdu or Pashto if [you're] courageous. Or Korean … [But] it’s really more important to find a language you’re passionate about.” —Kevin Hendzel, spokesman for the American Translators Association

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

The armed forces have enlisted nearly 70,000 non-citizens since the attacks of 9/11 and, as a group, their washout rate is much lower than that of American citizens who enlist, according CNA, a think tank that studied attrition data gathered by the Defense Manpower Data Center.

Within three months of entering active service, 8.2 percent of citizen enlistees have been discharged. That is more than double the 4 percent attrition rate of non-citizens.

At the three-year mark, 28 percent of citizens have left before completing initial service obligations while the washout rate for non-citizens is 16 percent. The disparity widens at four years, with 32 percent of citizen recruits having been discharged versus only 18 percent of non-citizen accessions.

The results don’t change much when adjusted for age or other demographic differences, or even when comparisons are broken out by branch of service, CNA analysts found.

“These findings are consistent with the anecdotal evidence we gathered in our interviews of recruiters and non-citizen recruits,” wrote researchers Molly F. McIntosh and Seema Sayala.

“The interviews revealed that, relative to citizen recruits, non-citizen recruits generally have a stronger attachment to serving the United States, which they now consider to be ‘their country,’ and (they) have a better work ethic.”

Given their lower attrition rate, which saves on recruiting and training costs, and the diversity of language and cultural skills that non-citizens have, CNA recommends that the services develop strategies to recruit more non-citizens, particularly as the U.S. economy improves, recruiting gets more difficult and demand stays high for foreign language skills.  Suggested strategic targets are more non-citizens from India, Pakistan and China because of their educational attainment and command of English.

The report, Non-Citizens in the Enlisted U.S. Military, says that, given declining U.S. fertility rates, “the only source of net growth in the U.S. recruiting-age population is projected to be immigration” in coming decades. CNA estimates that the potential pool of eligible non-citizens, ages 18 to 29, is roughly 1.2 million.

Non-citizens can enlist if they hold legal permanent resident status, have education equivalent to a high school diploma and can speak acceptable English. And since July 2002, under an executive order signed by then-President George W. Bush, any non-citizen recruits is eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship after just a day of honorable service during a time of war.

Previously, non-citizen service members had to serve for three years to apply for citizenship.
Army, Navy and, most recently, Air Force have partnered with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) so that the naturalization process for non-citizen recruits can begin during basic training.

CNA recommends that the Marine Corps take a similar path. It notes that since the 2002 executive order, non-citizen Marines have had to wait longer to gain U.S. citizenship than recruits other branches.

Until members gain citizenship, they cannot get security clearances.  As a result, non-citizens can be assigned only to about one quarter of all Air Force enlisted positions, two-fifths of Navy jobs and about one half of all Army and Marine Corps enlisted slots.

Air Force is the only service that denies reenlistment those  who fail to gain citizenship by the end of their initial  obligation. That incentive results in about 70 percent of Air Force non-citizen recruits attaining citizenship during their first term, which is about 40 percentage points higher than the average reported across the branches.

More than 125 service members who enlisted as non-citizens since the attacks of 9/11 have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, a senior defense official told Congress last summer.

Among CNA recommendation is that the Department of Defense and USCIS share information more effectively.  Defense officials aren’t always told when citizenship for a member is approved.  And USCIS isn’t notified when non-citizen recruits wash out.

“USCIS has the authority to revoke citizenship if a service member leaves the military with other-than-honorable discharge before completing five years,” the report explains in a footnote.  “To our knowledge, however, USCIS does not have sufficient visibility on attrition [to] enforce this, nor does this currently seem to be a priority for USCIS.”

In November 2008 the services gained authority to recruit a total of 1,000 non-citizens who lack legal residency status but have skills “vital to the national interest” such as fluency in critical languages.  This program was expanded later to 1,500 more recruits in 2009.  Most are allocated to Army.

The CNA study doesn’t touch on the DREAM Act, which the Obama administration supports but Republicans in Congress have blocked.  That bill would allow immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally at age 15 or younger to earn permanent resident status by completing at least two years of military service or two years of college.

Defense officials support the bill, citing history back to the Revolutionary War of non-citizens gaining citizenship through service.  Almost half of Army enlistees in the 1840s were non-citizens and more than 660,000 veterans became naturalized citizens from 1862 through 2000.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

Does one’s physical appearance have something to do with the language(s) he is expected to speak? Perhaps it does. A few weeks ago, I gave a talk on Korean culture at the State University of New York at Buffalo. I talked mainly about the positive elements of South Korean culture, such as the enormous popularity of hallyu, the remarkable success of Samsung, LG and Hyundai in the American market, and the bright prospect of globalizing Korea.

Borrowing from CNN.go.com, I even introduced, “50 Reasons Why Seoul is No. 1, the World’s Greatest City.” American professors and students were quite impressed by South Korea’s remarkably quick transformation from a poor, war-ridden country to an affluent advanced nation. Amazed, they exclaimed: “South Korea is a small country, and yet, so dynamic. Where on earth does her incredible energy come from?”

After the talk, a young Korean-American approached me and told me: “I was born in the States and wanted to learn about my parents’ country. So when I joined the U.S. army, I volunteered to serve in the 8th Army in Korea.”

“Did you enjoy your stay in Korea?” I asked.

“No, I didn’t,” he answered rather sadly. “In fact, it was the worst years of my life. I tried to make friends, but nobody wanted to be my friend. Wherever I went, I was not welcomed.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I tried to comfort him.

He continued, “To learn about Korean culture and make Korean friends, I even attended the Korean Language Institute at Yonsei University for six months, but it didn’t work out either.”

Then he concluded, “Koreans are friendly to white Americans only. To Korean-Americans, they are not only unfriendly, but even hostile. I don’t understand their psychology. I went to Korea with high expectations and warm affection for the people. But I came back to the States, frustrated and full of resentment.”

Listening to his unpleasant experience in Korea, I was as embarrassed as could be. Such a thing is not supposed to happen in a globalizing society where all boundaries collapse and all cultures blend. Surely, not all Korean-Americans’ experiences are as bad as this young man’s. Nevertheless, I often hear complaints from Korean-Americans who are living in Korea that they experience an identity crisis because Koreans think of them as neither Korean nor American.

Perhaps, then, such discrimination has something to do with Korean-Americans’ physical appearance? Since they look like us, we naturally expect them to speak Korean. When we find them unable to speak Korean, we lose interest in them (unless we want to practice English with them.) At the same time, there are those ultra-nationalists who assert, “Korean-Americans are essentially Korean, so they should be able to speak Korean. Otherwise, they are not Koreans.” It seems many people look first at others’ physical appearances to conjure up certain stereotypes and assumptions about languages the person can or should speak.

On the other hand, in Korean language classes at American universities, Korean-American students sometimes benefit unfairly due to their physical appearance. In his recent newspaper article entitled, “Red Alert: Korean Language Education in the United States,” professor Emanuel Pastreich at Kyung Hee University points out that Korean language instruction revolves around Korean-American students only, thereby alienating European or African-American students who want to learn the Korean language seriously. He argues that many Korean-American students, called “heritage students,” tend to take Korean language courses not because they are particularly interested in Korea, but in order to earn an easy “A.” And yet, language instructors, who are invariably graduate students from Korea, naturally assume that Korean-Americans are much better prepared to learn the Korean language than European or African-Americans, and thus favor the former in class.

Assumptions about one’s language abilities based on one’s physical appearance are common even in a “melting pot” nation like the United States. I have noticed that I get looks of surprise from some Americans when I speak in French. An American once told me, “I can’t imagine an Asian speaking French or German.” If I speak in either Japanese or Chinese, many people would find it “normal” and probably would not blink an eye. If I speak in a European language, however, the language does not “fit” my physical appearance and thus draws people’s attention. It’s unfortunate that one’s physical appearance delimits the languages one is supposed to speak.

It would be funny, and even exasperating, if someone asked me if I could speak English. I have been a professor of English for the past 36 years, and have lived in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada for more than 10 years. Besides, I have taught at American universities for about six years now. Since I look different from Caucasian Americans, however, sometimes funny things happen. When I sat down in a Delta airplane to New York City the other day, a flight attendant approached me and kindly asked, “Do you speak English?”

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon, a professor of English at Seoul National University, is editor of the literary quarterly “21st Century Literature.” ― Ed.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

Auerbach International, a San Francisco-based language services specialist offering a variety of translations services including Web/chat translation, explains top five reasons why native speakers of a language are not necessarily the best resource for translation and interpretation.

The first mistake committed by these native speakers,according to the language services specialist, is that they may choose the wrong descriptor or write in their native dialect, which can be extremely localized.

The second point, as noted by   Auerbach International, is that even if these people speak the company’s technical terminology, they may not truly know the proper translation for advanced technical terminology or will use non-standard speech.

Also, these in-house speakers or agents may commit mistake in the spelling of many words.

The next mistake comes in the form of mistranslations, according to Auerback International. This is especially found in brochures, Web sites and other promotion materials. It can easily happen with in-country contractors and machine (software) translation, often resulting in amateurish and embarrassing translation.

The last reason why you should not pick native speakers of a language is that the errors can lead to serious consequence if the products are misused as a result, the language and chat translation provider said.

The best practice when translating a professional document is to hire professional document translation providers who have expertise in language. They deliver professional document, Web or chat translation services by rendering concepts quickly and accurately. They focus on various aspects of translation such as subject-specialized expressions, acculturation, nuances, term consistency and discounts for repeated text.

Auerbach International suggests native speakers may only review, rather than to implement, language projects and then send the native speakers’ edits back to the language agency for final approval. While rephrasing and alternative technical word choices are acceptable, the language agency needs to warn the client of text omissions, additions or other edits that do not correspond to the source text.

In a related announcement in the chat translations services industry, SWANSEA Council has revealed that it has leveraged translators for 34 different languages last year. The council said that it required innovative chat translation solutions to help communicate with Polish, Bengali, Turkish and Vietnamese native speakers for a range of services such as social services, housing and education.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

Increasingly, basic job skills aren’t so basic.

Technology, global economy raise bar

Not so long ago, the basic skills sought by employers were pretty simple: be literate, speak English, know some math, and understand specific roles in the company.

 

But as technology has exploded, and competition has increased, basic skills demanded by employers today are more advanced. Carpenters need to know how to use a smartphone and Excel spreadsheets as well as a hammer. Librarians not only need to navigate book stacks, but also the Internet. Almost everyone should know how to type.

“The bar has been raised, and expectations are higher, even for entry level employment,’’ said Patricia Hunt Sinacole, chief executive of First Beacon Group, a human resources consulting firm in Hopkinton.

“We are becoming a more sophisticated, knowledge- and technology-based economy, so if people don’t adapt and rise to that, they are left behind,’’ said Sinacole, a regular contributor to Boston.com.

In addition to fundamental skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, career counselors and recruiters say job seekers should know commonly used software. The applications in Microsoft’s Office are at top of the list, including Word, the word processing program; Excel, a spreadsheet; and Powerpoint, used for making slides for presentations.

Nearly everyone should know how to navigate the Internet, and recognize that Facebook isn’t just for college students anymore. Familiarity with social media is increasingly important as companies are turning to sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to conduct business, connect with customers, and screen job candidates.

Classes to add or update computer skills are widely available through adult education and other programs. Each of the state’s 34 One-Stop Career Centers offer free introduction to basic computing workshops. Other classes on specific software such as Powerpoint have nominal fees, which can be waived for those who qualify.

With business communications largely conducted through e-mail, the ability to write clearly, carefully, and succinctly is more important than ever, said Phyllis Stein, an independent career counselor and coach in Cambridge. Many universities have online writing labs that feature style and grammar guides as well as templates for professional writing. Donald Anderson, director of Workforce Central Career Center in Worcester, suggests Purdue University’s online writing lab, OWL.

Communication skills, of course, have always been high on the list of job basics, but employers are beginning to raise expectations on this front, too. In a rapidly globalizing economy, knowledge of foreign languages is increasingly valued.

Foreign language classes are offered at adult education programs, as well as specialized schools such as The Boston Language Institute, which offers instruction in 140 languages. Other options are to audit a foreign language class at a local university or study-at-home programs such as Rosetta Stone.

“Today, when many American corporations receive as much as 50 percent or more of their profits from overseas business,’’ said Larry Elle, director of Success Associates Career Services in Boston, “it pays them to hire people with language skills.’’

Finally, career specialists say, job hunters today need a battery of so-called soft skills, such as empathy, cooperation with co-workers, and flexibility. The willingness to work outside normal business hours, adapt to changing circumstances, and take on additional responsibilities is increasingly sought after by employers competing in a global economy that never shuts down.

As a result, job seekers should hone organizational skills, which are vital in multitasking work environments. Employees can read up on how to be organized in books or online. The key is finding a method that works and sticking to it. Show up to a job interview with a neat folder with notes and your resume, instead of a messy pile of scraps of paper, and your potential boss will already see you’re organized, career specialists advise.

“In both the job search and success on the job, the more organized you are in what you’re doing and how you’re going about it, the more successful you’re going to be,’’ Stein said.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.

In an en banc decision this year, California’s Workers Compensation Appeals Board ruled that employers need to provide “reasonably required” interpreter services for injured workers during medical treatment appointments.

As the number of immigrant laborers grows nationwide, experts say interpreters are an increasing factor in helping injured employees get back on the job.

Interpreter costs are a hot-button issue in states such as California, which has a large population of immigrant laborers. However, the matter is becoming more standard for handling workers compensation claims across the country, say risk consultants and interpreters who specialize in such cases.

“It’s a basic (human resources) need,” said Rebecca Shafer, president of Amaxx Risk Solutions Inc. in Hartford, Conn. “You need to be able to speak to and communicate with your employees.”

There were 24.4 million foreign-born laborers in the U.S. workforce last year, up from 23.9 million in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hispanics represented nearly half of that population last year, while Asians accounted for nearly 22%.

The increase in workers who do not speak English, or who speak English as a second language, has become apparent in states such as Louisiana.

Paul Buffone, senior vp of risk management services for the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp., said about 10% of its claimants now require Spanish interpretation services during the investigation phase compared with “a handful” before 2008. That growth has leveled off recently, but LWCC, the state’s largest workers comp insurer, saw an uptick during the cleanup of last year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The mutual insurer decided three or four years ago to craft a plan to help non-English-speaking workers, Mr. Buffone said.

Much of that has meant hiring bilingual staff in various departments who can step in to help with claims.

“We got together and said…we need to hire Spanish-speaking people. We need to convert documents so people can have access to things that will help them in regard to safety,” Mr. Buffone said.

The insurer also pays for interpreters from several vendors that assist claimants at about $200 per session. So far, the cost has been “manageable,” Mr. Buffone said.

Interpretation costs have become a point of contention in California. In an en banc decision this year, California’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board ruled that employers need to provide “reasonably required” interpreter services for injured workers during medical treatment appointments. Interpreters are required to prove that their services were necessary before receiving payment.

The California State Compensation Insurance Fund, Travelers Indemnity Co. and other insurers have petitioned the state Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board to regulate payment liens for interpreter services in the state. They have argued, in court filings, that the market rate for interpreter services is unclear; that interpreters may not be needed in all types of medical appointments, such as for some massage therapy sessions; and that a fee schedule should be created for interpretation in workers comp cases.

Gilbert Calhoun, president of the California Workers’ Compensation Interpreters Assn., said the dispute over interpretation costs comes at a time when there is a growing need for language services in the state, particularly in Southern California.

“You’ve got the tug of war going on between the two sides over what should be paid for these services,” said Mr. Calhoun, who is based in Studio City, Calif.

STOPS Inc., a Titusville, Fla., company that specializes in workers comp interpretation, has seen 20% growth so far this year, Executive vp Gary Nelson said. The company works nationwide, with most of its interpreters providing service in Spanish and Asian languages, such as Chinese and Vietnamese.

STOPS’ pricing can range from $100 to $150 for two hours, depending on the state, while services for rarer languages, such as Somali and its dialects, typically cost more.

Some employers balk at the cost, Mr. Nelson said. But he contends that proper communication can help non-English-speaking employees adhere to a medical treatment plan, and ultimately, cut down on claim costs by getting workers well faster.

“If you miss an appointment, it has to be rescheduled and there’s a loss of money involved because you have to pay additional benefits,” Mr. Nelson said.

Ms. Shafer of Amaxx Risk Solutions agreed that interpretation can be an important factor in facilitating workers comp claims for employees who don’t speak English.

“It’s probably going to be cost-effective for you to do this, because you want to have the proper immediate post-injury procedure,” Ms. Shafer said.

As employers and insurers attempt to manage costs and needs for interpretation, experts expect language services to become an increasing focal point in the workers comp market.

“It’s going to continue to be an issue,” said Mr. Calhoun of the California interpreters group.

To find out how Bilingual Resources Group can support your interpretation, translation and bilingual staffing needs, please call 504-253-0364 or visit www.bilingualcare.com.