TranslationToolkit
hefollowingstep-by-step documentisguidanceforMDPH staffinvolvedwithtranslatingmaterials.
TheOfficeofPublicHealth StrategyandCommunications(OPHSC)iscommittedtoensuringquality fortheDepartment’stranslatedmaterials.AlltranslationprojectsmustbeundertakeninconsultationwiththeOPHSC.PleasecontactOPHSCpriortofinalapprovaloftheEnglishdocumenttoensurethatmaterialsaretranslation-ready.
OfficeofPublicHealthStrategyandCommunications
RevisedOctober 2010
Introduction
InMassachusetts,almostoneinfiveindividualsfiveyearsandolderspeaksa languageotherthanEnglishathome(18.2%,Census2000).Ofthese,41% speakEnglishlessthanverywell.Toensurethatpublichealthmessagesare accessibletopopulationswithlimitedEnglishproficiency,theDepartmentof PublicHealthtranslatesprogrammaterialsintomultiplelanguages.The followingdocumentdescribesaprocessfortranslatingmaterials.Itbuildsontranslationguidancedeveloped bytheformerOfficeofRefugeeandImmigrantHealth(ORIH)andasubsequent versionbytheformerOfficeofMulticulturalHealth.
ThefieldoftranslationhaschangedsincethelastrevisionoftheORIHtranslationguidance.Whereoncethebestpracticewastodoa“back-to-English”translation,todaypromisingpracticesemphasizea conceptualtranslationtoensurethatmessagesareculturallyandlinguistically appropriate.Thisdocument,developedbytheOPHSC,incorporatesthesenew approaches.Althoughinternet-basedtranslationservicesareavailable,OPHSC doesnotrecommendtheiruseforpublichealthdocumentsingeneral,andfor DepartmentofPublicHealthdocumentsspecifically.
ThisTranslationToolkitiscomprisedofthefollowingsixtools,developedby OPHSCtoassistyouthroughthetranslationprocess:
1.ForeignLanguageGuide:Providesspecificresourcesforidentifyingthe appropriatelanguagefortranslation,andtheyprovideinformationonthetop sixlanguagesspokeninMAandtheirpopulation.
2.TranslationGuidelines:Provideguidanceonhow totranslateaDPHdocument.
3.TranslationRequestWorksheet:Tobecompletedbefore contractingwithatranslator.Oncecompleted,thisdocument provides youwiththenecessaryinformationfortalkingwiththe translatoraboutyourproject.
4.TranslationChecklist:Ensuresthatallthestepsofthetranslationare completed.
5.TranslationQualityAssuranceForm:Forreviewerstousewhenprovidingfeedbackonthequalityofthetranslateddocument.Itisausefultoolwhenhavingtonegotiatediscrepancieswiththetranslator.OPHSCkeepsperformance recordsofitscontractedvendors.
6.In-HouseTranslationReview:Providesguidanceforpeersreviewing translations,aswellasforstaffrequestingthereviews.Forwardthis one-pagedocumenttotherevieweralongwiththetranslation,theEnglish original,andtheOPHSCTranslationQualityAssuranceForm.OPHSChas glossariesoftermsinSpanish,Portuguese, andFrenchcommonlyusedby DPHprograms.Whenappropriate,referreviewerstotheseglossaries, whichcanbefoundat:
TranslationToolkit
ForeignLanguage Guide
hepurposeofthissectionistohelpyouidentifythe appropriatelanguage(s)totranslateyour
writtenmaterialsinto,sothatyoucancommunicatemost effectivelywithpeoplewho preferlanguagesotherthan English.
Thisdocumentprovidesinformationonthetopsixlanguages spokeninMA,andisageneralreference.Therefore,itcannot adequatelycharacterizeanypopulationandthedifferences withinit.Pleaseuseit incombinationwithotherdataspecifictothegroupor population youaretryingtoreach.
Forastep-by-stepguideontheoveralltranslationprocess,seethedocumententitled“TranslationToolkit.”
OfficeofPublicHealthStrategyandCommunications
RevisedOctober 2010
Resources
FirstLanguage isNotEnglish(FLNE)Report
Informationonpublicschoolstudentsforwhom Englishisnottheirfirst language andthosewho haveLimitedEnglishProficiency(LEP).Goto: languagesare:
Spanish Portuguese Chinese Haitian Creole Vietnamese Khmer
CapeVerdean
Russian Arabic Korean
InterpreterServicesinMAAcute CareHospitals
ADPHreportdocumentingtheinterpreterservicesprovidedat
72MAhospitalsduringtheFederalFiscalYear2007. Hospitalinterpreter servicesdataaregood indicatorsofpopulationsthatlacksufficientEnglish proficiencyandneedlanguageaccessservices.Thesepopulationsarelikely tohaveaneedforwrittentranslations
ofhealthinformation.Goto: “InterpreterServices,”thenclickon“InterpreterServicesin Massachusetts AcuteCareHospitals.”Toptenlanguagesare:
SpanishPortugueseRussianChineseHaitianCreoleCapeVerdean Vietnamese Arabic
AmericanSignLanguage
Albanian
ModernLanguageAssociationLanguageMapDataCenterMapsand tablesbasedonthe2000 USCensusand2005 AmericanCommunitySurvey. Goto: drop-downmenus.ToptenlanguagesinMAare:
Spanish Portuguese Chinese French
FrenchCreole Italian Vietnamese Russian
Greek
Khmer
Resources
BirthRegistry
WhenmothersgivebirthinaMAhospital,theyareaskedthelanguagein whichtheyprefertoreadordiscusshealth-relatedmaterials.Contactthe RegistryofVitalRecordsandStatisticsat617-740-2620formoreinformation. Fortheperiodof2006-2008 thetoptenlanguageswere:
English
Spanish
Portuguese
Other(aggregateofalllanguagesexceptEnglish,Spanish,and
Portuguese)
HaitianCreole
Mandarin
Vietnamese
Arabic
Russian
Cantonese
Cambodian
Surveillanceand Program-SpecificData
Programswithadisease-specificfocusmayusesurveillance, enrollment,andhospitaldischargedatatoidentifypatient demographics.
RefugeeResettlementProgram
RefugeesfromselectedcountriesandregionsareadmittedtotheUSyearly. TheRefugeeandImmigrantHealthProgramhasarrivalinformation.Upon request,datacanbeprovidedattheregionalorcitylevel.Goto andthen “RefugeeandImmigrantHealthProgram.”
Race,Ethnicityand Language (REL)DataCollection
DPHhasadoptedregulationsforthecollectionofrace,ethnicity,and languageinformation,requiringhospitalsinMassachusettstosubmit detaileddataonallpatientsinordertomorefullydescribethem.Thegoals aretoassesshealthdisparitiesandmoreeffectivelytargetprograms. Gradually,communitybasedhealthcentersandDPHprogramsareadapting theproposedRELcollectiontool,whicheventuallywillenableustoidentifyspecificlanguagesanddetailedethnicity backgroundsforthe populationsweserve.
TheMassachusettsCommunityHealthInformation Profile
(MassCHIP)
Free,onlineaccesstoMAhealthandsocialindicators,aswellas demographicinformationfromavarietyofsources.Community-leveldata areavailable.Goto
Background
TheRoyalAcademyofthe SpanishLanguagehasworkedtomaintaintheuniformityofthe language,atleastinitsformalwrittenform, bydecidingwhatconstitutes “standard”Spanish.With morethan20countriesusingSpanishas theirprimarylanguage,having uniform,mutuallyunderstandable writingischallenging.Toadd complexity,considerthatinthesecountries languagehasevolved independentlyformorethanfive hundredyears.Itisnosurprise,then, thatwhat
mightbestandard, everydaySpanishinone countrymaynothaveequal meaningoraffectinanother.
Written Spanish:NeutralSpanish,RegionalVariations,and Spanglish
WhendevelopingpublichealthmessagesforanEnglish-speakingaudience, wetendtofavorinformallanguage,everydayspeech,andevencolloquialisms. Thisposesachallengetotranslators.The bestwaytoensureuniformityin Spanishistoavoidregionalisms,slang,idiomaticexpressions,andmost ofthe techniqueswefavorwhenwritingourEnglishlanguagematerials.
Intheinterestofclarity,itispreferabletousealessstandardwordina translation,orinextremecasesevenSpanglish,thanitistoriskhinderingouraudience’sunderstandingofthemessagedueto increasingtheliteracylevel orusingregionalvariations.
Whenbuyingtranslationservices,ordevelopingSpanishlanguagematerials, “USSpanish”shouldberequested.However,alltranslationsshouldundergoareviewbynativeSpanishspeakersfromdifferentcountries. Forthose workingwithmedium-sizeandlargetranslationfirms,askspecificallyfor US-basedtranslators.Translationagenciestendtooutsourcetheirservices abroad,thereforeincreasingthechances thatyourSpanishtranslationmay havelotsofregionalflavor.
RegionalVariationsand EducationLevel
Weshouldrecognizethatourtargetaudience’s mainbarriertounderstanding ourmessagesisactuallyliteracyitself,notregionalvariations orwordchoice. InMA,46% ofHispanicadultshavealiteracylevel belowbasic.4 Therefore,we shoulduseplainlanguagewhenwriting allofourmaterials,especiallyifthey aregoingtobetranslated.
SpanishSpeakers inMassachusetts
Spanishisthesecondmostcommonlyspokenlanguageinourstate.5
Speakerscomefromavariety ofcountries,educationalbackgrounds,andhavevarying degreesofacculturation.ThecensuscollectsHispanicorLatinoraceinfourcategories:Mexican, PuertoRican,Cuban,andother.YoumayconsulttheU.S.CensusBureautofindoutthegeographicdistributionofHispanicorLatinoraceinMA.However,otherinformationsuggeststhattheprimarySpanish-speakinggroupsarethefollowing:
DominicansandPuertoRicans,who accountforthemajorityofthe
Spanish-speakingpopulationstatewide.
4 2003StateAssessmentofAdultLiteracyand2003 NationalAssessmentofAdultLiteracy.
5 Accordingtothe2005 AmericanCommunitySurvey,7% ofMassachusettsresidentsfiveyearsandolderspeakSpanish.
CentralAmericans,representedprimarilybySalvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans,andCostaRicans.
SouthAmericans,primarilyColombiansbutalsoVenezuelans, Peruvians, andEcuadorians.
Indigenousgroups.Itisworth mentioningthatthepopulationof indigenous groupsfromCentralandSouthAmericancountriesresidingin MAhasbeengrowingsteadilyinrecentyears.The Southeastern(Fall River,Brockton,NewBedford,andTaunton)andNortheastern(Milford) regionsaresaidtobehometothesegroups.Thereisindicationthatthese arespeakersofQuicheandQuechua,andthattheymaynotbeproficient inSpanish.
GeographicDistributioninMassachusetts
AccordingtoMADepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducationdata, the10 schooldistrictswiththehighestnumberofSpanish-speakingstudents inpublicschoolsduringthe2008-2009 schoolyear(indescending order)were Boston,Lawrence,Worcester,Springfield,Lynn,Chelsea,Holyoke, Lowell,NewBedford,andRevere.
BackgroundPortugueseis spokeninPortugal(including theislandsofAzores,Madeira andPortoSanto),Brazil, Angola,Mozambique,Guinea- Bissau,SãoTomé
andPríncipe,CapeVerde,EastTimor,andMacau. Inthat vastarea,thestandardwritten languageis
veryuniform,withsmall differencesinspellingand grammaticalstructure.Educated Portuguesespeakersusually haveno
difficultyunderstandingeach other’swriting(exceptwhen regionalvocabularyisused).
Asforthespokenlanguage, differencesaremore significant.1
Written Portuguese:Brazilianvs.European
Ratherthandevelopingortranslatingmaterialsinoneorboth variationsofthe language,programsshouldstudythetargetpopulationanddecidethebase varietyofPortuguesetouse.Materialsshouldalwaysundergoareview process thatincludesnativespeakers—preferablyfrom different Portuguese-speakingcountries—toensureappropriateusage. Forexample,ifa programisdevelopingmaterialstargetedforwomenofreproductiveage statewide,itispreferabletotranslateintoBrazilianPortuguese,because Brazilianimmigrantstendtobeyoungerinage.Particularvocabularythatisnot common tootherPortuguese-speakingcountriescanbecorrectedbyeither addingasecondwordorreplacingtheBraziliantermwithalternativewordsorphrasesthatreflectamoreuniversaltypeofPortuguese.
PortugueseSpeakers inMassachusetts
Portugueseisthethirdmost commonlyspokenlanguageinourstate.2
Speakerscanbegroupedinthreebroadcategories.
Braziliansaccountforthemajorityofrecentarrivalsandtendtobe younger adults(46%ages20-34;24% ages35-443).
EuropeanPortuguesespeakers(Portugal,Azores,andMadeira)belongtoapreviousmigrationperiod,withitsmajorityofPortuguese-onlyspeakers now olderadultsandseniorcitizens.Havingbeenestablished inthestate longer,EuropeanPortuguesespeakersaremorelikelytobeacculturatedand tohaveUS-bornadultchildren.
CapeVerdeansspeakaCreoledialect,buttheofficiallanguageofthe countryisPortuguese.Individualswho areliteratewillmost likelyspeak Portuguese.Forthosewho didnotattendschoolinCapeVerde,aswas oftenthecasewithwomen,Portuguesemaynotbeameaningfulmeansofcommunication.Duetoreportingoftenas“Portuguese,”CapeVerdeansinMAmightbeundercounted.
GeographicDistributioninMassachusetts
AccordingtoMADepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducationdata, the10 schooldistrictswiththehighestnumberofPortuguese-
1 AdaptedfromModernPortuguese,aReferenceGrammar.MárioA.Perini, YaleUniversityPress,
2002.
2 Accordingtothe2005 AmericanCommunitySurvey,3.54% ofMassachusettsresidentsfiveyearsandolderspeakPortuguese.Accordingtothesamesource,EnglishandSpanishmakeupthefirstandsecondmost commonlyspoken languages,respectively.
3 U.S.CensusBureau, 2000.
speakingstudentsinpublicschoolsduringthe2008-2009 school
year(indescending order)wereFallRiver,Framingham, NewBedford, Everett, Somerville,Marlborough,Lowell,Boston,Milford,andMalden.
Accordingtothe2000 census,Braziliansareconcentratedinthreemajor areas:
BostonandtheNorthShore–comprisingprincipallyAllston/Brighton, Somerville,Medford,Everett,Malden,Chelsea,andEastBoston.
MetroWest–Marlborough,Framingham,andMilford.
SouthShore,CapeCod, andTheIslands–Barnstable,Yarmouth, Martha’sVineyard,andNantucket.
EuropeanPortugueseareconcentratedmainlyintheCambridge,Fall
River,andNewBedfordareas.
CapeVerdeansareconcentratedintheBostonarea(Dorchester,Roxbury, Quincy,Mattapan,andRandolphandanonsetinSomerville/Cambridge), Brockton,Taunton,FallRiver, NewBedford,andCapeCod.
Background
Thereareninemain dialectgroupsinspokenChinese,
ofwhichMandarinandCantonesearethebiggest.Mostofthesedialectsarenot mutuallyunderstood;aCantonesespeakerandaHakkaspeakerwillnotnecessarily
understandoneanothereasily.MandarinistheofficialspokenlanguageofthePeople’sRepublic ofChina–itistaught
inschoolsandstrongly encouragedbytheChinesegovernment.Mosteducated
mainlandChinesespeak Mandarin,eventhosewhosenativetongueis
adifferentdialect.
Written Chinese:TraditionalVs.Simplified
Themost confusingthingaboutChinesetranslationisthatspoken
Chinesedialectsdonotcorresponddirectlywithwritingsystems.
TherearetwomainChinesewritingsystems inusetoday:TraditionalChineseandSimplifiedChinese.TheTraditionalscriptwasincommonuseeverywhereintheChinese-speakingworlduntilthe1950s,andisstillusedinTaiwan,HongKong,andmanyotherplaces outsidemainlandChina.
SimplifiedChineseistheofficialwritingsystemofthePeople’sRepublicof China.Itwasintroducedbythegovernmentinthemid-1950sas
partofanefforttoincreaseliteracy.In1956 theChinesegovernment published theSchemeforSimplifyingChineseCharacters,andover
thenexttwodecadesthesystemwasrefined.Theresultwasthatover
2,000commonlyusedcharactersweremadelesscomplicated.
ChoosingTraditionalor SimplifiedChinese
SimplifiedcharactersareusedinmainlandChina,Singapore,and Malaysia.TraditionalChinesecharactersareusedinHongKong, Taiwan,Macauandinmost overseasChinesecommunities.This
meansthataCantonesespeakerfromCanton,ChinaandaCantonese speaker fromTaipei,Taiwanmightbeabletounderstandeachother
inaspokenconversation,butwouldnotbeabletocommunicateinwriting becauseeachusesadifferentsystem.Oftenpeoplewho grewupwith TraditionalChinesecanfigureout(withvaryinglevelsofdifficulty)Simplified characters,butpeoplewho learnedSimplifiedasachildwillnotunderstand TraditionalChinesewithoutsomestudy.
Althoughthewritingsystemscanbeusedbyspeakersofdifferentdialects,wordchoicesandthemeaningsofcharacters candifferbasedonthedialect.Dependingonwhereyourtranslationwillbeused,youmayneedtoadaptyourdocument.DifferentChinese-speakingaudienceshave differentvocabularies, aslanguagevariationscontinuetodevelopovertime.Unitsofmeasurement,currencies,localdemographics,brandnames, anddifferentgovernmentalstructuresmustbetakenintoaccount.
ChineseinMassachusetts
Asisthecasewithmost overseasChinesecommunities,the predominantwritingsystemusesTraditionalcharacters.
6 MostoftheinformationonthissheetwasprovidedbyCetra,Inc.
Accordingtothe2005-2006 FLNEReport,Cantonesewasthemost commonlyspokendialectofChineseinMApublicschools.Mandarinwas thesecondmost frequentlyencountereddialect,followedbytheTaiwan, Fukien,andShanghaidialects.
AccordingtoBirthRegistrydata,between1999and2005MandarinwasmorecommonlyspokenbymothersgivingbirthinMassachusettsthanCantoneseoranyotherChinesedialect.This informationmaysuggestthatMandarinistheemergingChinese dialectintheCommonwealth.
Dataonpreferredwritingsystemsarenotavailable.
GeographicDistributioninMassachusetts
AccordingtoMADepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,the 10 schooldistrictswiththehighestaggregatenumberofChinese-speaking studentsinpublicschoolsduringthe2008-2009 schoolyear(indescending order)wereBoston,Quincy,Newton,Malden,Lexington,Brookline,Winchester, Westford,Acton,andShrewsbury.
Background Massachusettsishometothousandsof Haitians.The twoofficiallanguages
ofHaitiareFrenchand HaitianCreole.AllHaitians speakHaitianCreole,while onlyasmallportion
ofthepopulationcanbe consideredfullybilingualin Frenchand HaitianCreole. Traditionally,thetwo languages served
differentfunctions,with
HaitianCreolebeingthe informal,everydaylanguageof allthepeople, regardless
ofsocialclass,andFrench beingthelanguageofformal situations: schools, newspapers, thelawandthecourts,etc.
Literacy
Haiti’seducationsystemwasreformedin1978. Onemajorchangewas the useofHaitianCreoleasthelanguageofinstructioninthefirstfourgrades.Until then,allgradesweretaughtinFrench.Accordingtothe1982 censusinHaiti, morethan60% oftheadultpopulationwasilliterate.Morerecentdata (2003-2008)showa62% adultliteracyrate.8
Thelowliteracyratescombinedwithseveralotherfactors–suchastheformal introductionofHaitianCreoleinschoolsasof1978 –hasattimesresultedin conflictinglanguagepreferenceamongHaitians.WhiletheuseofCreoleis popularfororalcommunication,itswrittenformmaynotbemeaningfulforthoseformallyeducatedinFrench,orforpeoplewho donothaveregular contact withwrittenCreole.
ChoosingtoTranslate Written Documents intoHaitian Creoleor French
AseriesoffocusgroupssponsoredbytheMDPHin2007 foundthatHaitians intheMetropolitanBostonareaprefertoreceivetheirwrittenhealth informationinCreole,notFrench.The focusgroupsfurtherreportedthat wheneverpossible,bilingualformatsshouldbeused.The languagepairsfor bilingualdocumentsshouldbeCreoleandFrenchorCreoleandEnglish.
Videoandaudioformatshaveshowntobesuccessfulmediato communicatehealthinformationtotheHaitianpopulation.
GeographicDistributioninMassachusetts
AccordingtoMADepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,the 10 schooldistrictswiththehighestaggregatenumberofHaitianCreole-speaking studentsinpublicschoolsduringthe2008-2009 schoolyear(indescending order)wereBoston,Brockton,Randolph,Everett,Malden,Cambridge, Somerville,Medford, Waltham,andLynn.
7 Mostinformationonthissheetcomesfrom“TheHaitians,TheirHistoryandCulture,”by Michele
BurtoffCivan,RefugeeServiceCenter,CenterforAppliedLinguistics(1994).
8 2010.
Background
TheVietnamesehavebeeninMassachusettsfordecades.Differentwavesofrefugees settledintheCommonwealthduringthe‘70s, ‘80sandearly‘90s,and,morerecently,asimmigrants.Asaresult, theVietnamesecommunityinMAis diverseintermsofage,educational background,degreeofacculturation,etc.
LanguageVariation
Vietnamesehastraditionallybeendividedintothreedialectregions:North, Central,andSouth.Thesedialectregionsdiffermostlyintheirsoundsystems, butalsoinvocabulary(includingbasicvocabulary,non-basicvocabulary,and grammaticalwords)andgrammar.10
TranslatingWritten Documents intoVietnamese
HereareafewthingstoconsiderwhentranslatingintoVietnamese:
Sometranslationcompaniessendtheirtranslationjobsabroad.Similarto otherimmigrantgroups,thereisadifferencebetweenhow languageis usedinVietnamandhow itisusedbyVietnameseimmigrantsintheUS.Vietnameseliteracylevelsbetweenrefugeesorearly settlementimmigrantsmaybedifferentfromthatofthenewlyarrived. Make cleartothecompanythatyouraudienceisVietnamesereaderslivinginthe USand,assuch,neutral,standardtermsshouldbeused.Whenever possible,requestaUS-basedtranslator.Makesuretousesimple explanatorytermsandnothighlevelterminology.
Alwayshaveyourtranslationsreviewedinternallyorbyend-users.When possible,thetranslationmustbereviewedbymorethanoneperson.
VietnamesescriptusestheLatinalphabetwithanextensiveandcomplex combinationofdiacriticalsoverandbelowvowels.Therefore,most computers won’treadilydisplayit.AlwayshavePDFsofyourfinal documentsandasktranslatorstoprovideyouwiththefontstheyused. Also,asktohavethedocumentcompletedusingtheUNICODEfonttype.
Videoandaudioformatshaveshowntobesuccessfulmediato communicatehealthinformationtotheVietnamesepopulation.
GeographicDistributioninMassachusetts
AccordingtoMADepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,the 10 schooldistrictswiththehighestaggregatenumberofVietnamese-speaking studentsinpublicschoolsduringthe2008-2009 schoolyear(indescending order)wereBoston,Worcester,Quincy, Randolph,Malden,Springfield, Everett,Lowell,Lynn,andLawrence.
10 2010.
Exµr
Khmer /Cambodian
BackgroundThecityofLowellalone ishometo morethan25,000
Cambodians.Lowell, MassachusettshasthesecondlargestCambodianpopulationintheUS.Manyimmigratedtothe regionduringthelate1970s/early1980sresettlements,fleeingfrompoliticalpersecution andgenocide.
Literacy
AccordingtotheCIAWorldFactbooktheliteracyrateinCambodiais
73.6%.9 Othersourcescitemuchlowerrates.Adultliteracyratesformales areconsiderablyhigherthanthoseforfemales.Oneofthemost alarming factsaboutliteracyinCambodiaisthatrateshaveremainedunchangedfor manyyears.
TranslatingWritten Documents intoKhmer
HereareafewthingstoconsiderwhentranslatingintoKhmer:
Sometranslationcompaniessendtheirtranslationjobsabroad.However, there aredifferencesbetweenhow languageisusedinCambodiaandhow it isusedbyCambodianimmigrantsintheUS.Literacy betweenrefugeesor earlysettlementimmigrantsisdifferentfromthatofthenewlyarrived. Therefore,wheneverpossible,requestaUS-basedtranslator.Makesureto usesimpleexplanatorytermsandnothighlevelterminology
Therearesignificantdifferencesinhow languageisusedbydifferentage groups.Academiclanguageisoftenmoredifficulttounderstandthan lay termsortheeverydaylanguageusedinthecommunity.Therefore,make surethetargetaudienceisclearlydefinedtothetranslator,includingage group.
Alwayshaveyourtranslationsreviewedinternallyorbyend-users.When possible,thetranslationmustbereviewedbymorethanoneperson.
Khmerscript(abugida)iscomplexandmost computerswon’t
readilydisplayit.AlwayshavePDFsofyourfinaldocumentsandask translators toprovideyouwiththefontstheyused.Also,asktohavethe documentcompletedusingtheUNICODEfonttype.
Videoandaudioformatshaveshowntobesuccessfulmediato communicatehealthinformationtotheCambodianpopulation.
GeographicDistributioninMassachusetts
AccordingtoMADepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation,the 10 schooldistrictswiththehighestaggregatenumberofKhmer-speaking studentsinpublicschoolsduringthe2008-2009 schoolyear(indescending order)wereLowell,Lynn,FallRiver,Lawrence,Revere,Attleboro,Worcester, Boston,Chelsea,andEasthampton.
9
04/26/2010.
TranslationToolkit
TranslationGuidelines
heOPHSCcoordinatesthetranslationofwrittenmaterials department-wide.Ifyourprogramisin
theprocessofdevelopinghealtheducationmaterials,orhas developedmaterialsthatneedtobetranslated,pleasereadthe followingguidelines.
Forquestionsortechnical assistance,contacttheOfficeofPublicHealth StrategyandCommunications.
OfficeofPublicHealthStrategyandCommunications
RevisedOctober 2010
TranslationGuidelines
TheOPHSC’stranslationguidelinesarespecifictohealth-relateddocuments.Theprocesscanbedividedintothreebroadsteps.Theyare:
1.Preparingmaterials.TheEnglishtextisevaluatedforreadability,clarity andculturalappropriateness.Atranslatorischosen.
2.Translation.Theinitialtranslationisperformed.
3.Revision/Editing. The translationisgiventoasecondtranslatorfor revision,andthenisfieldtestedwiththetargetaudience.Inthepast,the department’seffortstoensurequalitytranslationincludeda ‘back-to-English’ translation.However,experiencesuggeststhatback translationisineffective.
HowtheOfficeof PublicHealthStrategy and Communications
CanHelp
OPHSCcanassistyouthroughoutthetranslationprocessto:
IncludelanguageinyourScopeofServicestoassuretranslationcostis incorporatedinyourproject.
Ensurecorrectreadinglevel,appropriateculturalcontent,and translatabilityoftheEnglishdocument.
Identifyappropriatelanguagesfortranslatingyourdocument.
Developatranslationbudget.
Identifyacompetentandhighqualitytranslatorfromthestate-wide vendor list.
GeneralRecommendations
OPHSCrecommendsthattranslationcostsbeincludedwhen planning ordevelopinghealtheducationmaterials.Ifyouareworking withamarketingagencyforthecreationofyourmaterials,OPHSC willhelp youdevelopanappropriateScopeofServicesthatincludestranslation andreview.
OPHSCrecommendsthataconceptualtranslationbe used
forhealtheducationmaterials,asopposedtoaword-for-word, sentence-by-sentencetranslation.Thismethodallowsthetranslatortoselectfromavarietyof waystoexpressthemessagetothetargetaudience.Theuseofanon-literalmethodologyconveystheintendedmessagein amoreculturallyrelevant waythantheuseofliteraloraword-for-wordtranslation.
Usetwotranslators–onefortheinitialtranslationandthesecondtoreview andeditthetranslation,checkingforaccuracy,tone,and appropriateness.Thetranslatorsshouldbefromdifferentsources:either translationagenciesorindependenttranslators.Utilizetheservicesof paidprofessionaltranslatorsonly.
Wheneverpossibleandappropriate,youshouldhaveyourEnglishmaterialsfield-testedpriortogettingthemtranslated.Translatedmaterials, too,should betested.Asimplewayofdoingthisisbyworking withcommunity providers,communityresidents,and/orDPHstaff.Theycanreviewyour documentsandprovidevaluableinput.UtilizeOPHSC’sin-housetranslation reviewguidelineswhenworkingwith peerreviewers.OPHSCcanhelpyou planthisprocess.
TranslationGuidelines
StepsintheTranslationProcess
1.Priortotheassignmentofwork toatranslator:
a. MaterialsReview:Programstaffshouldcarefullyreviewthe documenttobetranslatedtoensure:
Appropriatereadinglevelforthetargetpopulation.
Thelanguageissimpleandclear.
Messagesandillustrationsareculturallyappropriate.
Documentisappropriatelyformattedforaccessibility,as recommendedbytheHealthyAgingHealthandDisabilityUnit. Formoreinformationcontact themat617-624-5070.
Documentprintsclearlyinblackandwhiteifitwillbepostedon theinternetforpublicdownload.
Ifcontact informationislisted,programmusthavecapacitytointerface withpeoplewho areLEP.Inmost cases,havingTelephonic InterpreterServicessolvestheissue.Theavailabilityofsuchservices shouldbelistedonyourmaterials.
Availablespaceforthetranslatedtext(textmayincreaseor decreasedependingonthetargetlanguagefortranslation).
Thedocumenttobetranslatedhasbeenfinalized.
b. ContractingwithaTranslator/Agency:TheOPHSCmaintainsalistofindividualtranslatorsandtranslationagenciesfromwhichprogramstaffshould maketheirselection.This isthelistofvendorsunderOSDcontractPRF30,ForeignLanguageInterpretation(In-Person)andTranslationServices.PRF30isduetoexpirein2011,whenitwill bereplacedbycontractPRF48.Acompletelistoflanguagesandmaximumratescanbefoundon isimportantthattranslationsbeperformedbyanindividualorthroughanagencyunderthisvendorlist.
c. BudgetTimeline:The OPHSCcanhelpyoudetermine an appropriatebudgetforthetranslationproject.Currentstate approvedcontractratesmayvary,butareanywherebetween$0.18and$0.50pertranslated worddependingonthetarget language.Similarratesarechargedtoreview/edit.Additional costsfordesktoppublishing andformattingmaybecharged.Programstaffshouldrequestadetailed, itemized estimate inwritingfromthetranslator/agencyincluding turnaroundtime,perwordprice,formatting,editing,implementationofpeerreviewedits,andprojectmanagementfeespriortocontractingwithatranslator.Programstaffshoulddevelop arealistictimetable forthe completionofatranslation, including timeforreviewandrevisions.
TranslationGuidelines
Pleasenote:toensurea qualitytranslation,youshouldhaveitproofread/editedbya secondtranslator.Toreiterate,the secondtranslatorreviewsand/oreditsthetranslationcheckingfor accuracy,tone,andappropriateness.
When workingwitha translationagency,ensurethateditingby a secondtranslatorisprovidedandthatthiscostis includedinthepriceestimate.
When workingwithanindependenttranslator,bemindfulthatthe costfora secondtranslator/editorneedstobeincludedin thebudget.
2. Atthetimeofassignmentofworktoa translator:
a. SelectingTranslators:Onceyou’vechosenatranslator/agency, programstaffshoulddiscussthefollowingwiththetranslators:the purposeofthematerial,theappropriatereadinglevelofthetargetpopulation,keyhealthmessages,andterminologyspecifictothe message.Thetranslatorneedstobeencouragedtoaskquestions, becausethequalityofthetranslationisdependentuponthetranslator’s understandingoftheEnglishdocument.IfEnglishmaterialswerecreatedbyamarketingcompany,acontact personfromthecompanyandaphonenumberneedtobeidentified forthetranslatortocontact shouldhe/shehaveanyquestionsabout theEnglishdocument.
3. Afterreceivingtheinitialtranslation:
a. Thesecondtranslatorwillcheckstyle,grammar,accuracy,and comprehensionofthemessages.The secondtranslatorwillalsoreviewtheliteracylevel ofthetranslation.Duringthereview process,thefollowingmustbenoted:
Back-to-Englishtranslationisnotagood qualityassurance practiceforDPHmaterials.Theliteracylevelofatranslation cannotbeassessedbyanalyzingaback translation.
Translator’s footnotesmaybeusedtoexplaindifficult concepts. Theyshouldbeusedjudiciously,astheycan interferewithreadability.
Programcontact informationshoulddisclaimtheavailabilityof Telephonic InterpreterServices(TIS).Forexample,“Assistancein otherlanguagesisavailable”shouldsuffice.ContacttheOPHSCfor assistancewithTIS.
Whenlistingotherresources,placeadisclaimertoinform readers thatsomeoftheoptionstocommunicatewiththelisted resourcesmayonlybeavailableinEnglish.
b. Ifdiscrepanciesoccur betweenthefirsttranslationandtherevisions donebythesecondtranslator/agency,pleasecontact theOPHSC.To maintainconsistencyfromonetranslationtoanother,OPHSChas glossariesoftermscommonlyusedinSpanish,Portuguese,and FrenchbyDPHprograms.Youcanfindtheseglossariesat:
TranslationGuidelines
c. Thefinalizedcopy ofthetranslateddocumentmustindicate(inEnglish) thelanguageinwhichitiswritten,sothatthetranslationcanbe identifiedeasilybydistributorsandDPHstaff.Thedateorversionnumbershouldalsobeindicated.
d. Alwayskeepbackupcopiesofalltranslations.Askyour translator/translation agencytoprovideyouwiththefinaltranslation filesonaCD.Whenyourmaterialsgo totheprinter,youwillusually needtoprovideanydesignfiles,aswellas
theforeignfontsusedinthetranslation.Ifyourmaterialswillbeposted onastateWebsite,youwillbeaskedtoprovideadditional, accessible formatsforalldocuments.Forinstance,ifyourfinaldocumentisaPDF, youwillhavetoprovideatext-onlyWordorRTFdocumentforvisually impairedreaderswho usescreenreadersoftware.
TranslationToolkit
TranslationRequest Worksheet
Contactand FiscalInformation
1. Date:
2. Program:
3. Bureau:
4. ContactPerson:
5. Phone:
7. ProjectTitle:
8. Deadline:
9. MarketingAgencyorSubcontractor:
10. Havefundsbeenidentifiedforthisproject?:
6. E-mail:
□Yes
□No
ProjectInformation
11. Inadditiontotranslation,willyouneedanyofthe following?:
□Formatting
□Printing
□Other:
Audience
14. Whoareyourprimaryandsecondaryaudiences?
Pleaseidentifythefollowing:gender,agegroup, ethnicity,race,countryoforigin,literacylevel,etc:
12. Whatformatwillbeusedtodeliverthemessage?:
□Brochure □FactSheet □Poster
□Radio/TVAd
□Other:
15. Whatisthecriticalmessageyouaretryingto convey?Pleaselistatleastthreemainpoints you’retryingtomake?
13. Languagestotranslateinto(selectallthatapply):
□Spanish□French
□Russian □Haitian Creole
□Vietnamese□Khmer
□Chinese (Simplified)□Arabic
□Chinese (Traditional)
□Portuguese (Brazilian)
□Portuguese (European)
□Other:
16. Havethesematerialsbeenpre-testedwiththe target audience?
□Yes
□No
17. Whichcities/regionsareyourmaterialsgoingto beusedin?
18. Whatisthecontextinwhichyourmaterialswillbe presentedtotheaudience?
□Face-to-face(healthcareprofessionalsto patient,peers,familymembers)
□Groupdelivery(worksiteorclassroom)
□Massmedia(radio,television,magazines, directmail,billboards,newspapers)
□Community(libraries,employers,schools, malls,healthfairs,localgovernmentagencies)
TranslationToolkitTranslationChecklist
Preparing todo Translations:
1.ContacttheOfficeofPublicHealthStrategyand Communications(OPHSC)atfortechnical assistance andtoobtain alistofqualifiedtranslators/agencies.Alltranslationprojectsmustbe undertakeninconsultationwiththeOPHSC.
StepsintheTranslationProcess:
1. Determinetargetaudience,theirlanguage,ethnicity,reading
level,andotherfactors.RefertotheForeignLanguageGuideinthe
TranslationToolkit.
2. Developalistofkeyhealthmessagesthedocumentwillconvey.
3. ContacttheOPHSCtocoordinatedevelopmentofmaterials.
4. Workwithindividualsfromtheidentifiedlanguage/ethnicgroupto ensurematerialsareappropriate.
5. Choosepotentialtranslatorsformthestatewidecontract.
6. CompleteTranslationRequestWorksheet.
7. Obtainanitemizedestimateinwritingfromthetranslator/agency
toestablishperwordcost, turnaroundtimeandprojectmanagement fees,andtodocumentanyspecialinstructionspriortoassigningthe projecttothetranslator.
8. Developabudgetandtime-linefortranslationcompletion.
9. Makearrangementstoensuretranslationwillbeproofread/edited by asecondtranslator,eitherbyrequestingthisservicefromthe translationagencywhenobtainingacostestimateor,ifworkingwith anindividualtranslator,byselectingasecondtranslatortoperform proofreading/editingservices.
10. Reviewkeymessagesandtechnicaltermswiththetranslator andgo overtranslationprocess.
11. Field-testthefirstdraftofthetranslationwithcommunity providers,communityresidents,and/orDPHstaff.Whenperforming peerreviews,forwardtheIn-houseTranslationReviewGuidelines andQualityAssuranceFormtothereviewer,alongwiththe translationandtheEnglishoriginals.
12. Negotiateanychangesordiscrepancies,ifneeded,byutilizing DPH’sglossariesat contactingtheOPHSC.
13. Makesurethatthefinaltranslationdocumentincludesa reference, inEnglish,tothedocumenttitleandthelanguageinto whichithasbeentranslated.ThiswillallowDPHstaffanddistributors toidentifythelanguagefordistributionpurposes.
14. Havefinaltypesetcopy proofreadbytranslatorbeforethe documentisprinted.
15. Makeabackupcopy offinaltranslation,designfiles, andfonts– especiallyforeignlanguagefonts.Besuretohavealternative, accessibleformats(e.g.PDF,.doc)foralldocumentsthatwillbe postedonline.
TranslationToolkit
TranslationQualityAssuranceForm
Date:
ProjectTitle: Agency/Translator’s Name: Edited/ProofreadBy:
How wouldyouratethistranslationoverall?:
□Excellent
□Good
□Average
□BelowAverage
□Unacceptable
Languages(selectallthatapplybyholdingdown CTRL):
□Other:
PleaseCheckOff theAppropriateBoxfor Each:
STATEMENTS / STRONGLY AGREE / AGREE / NOTSURE / DISAGREE / STRONGLY DISAGREELoyalty:Ireadboth thetranslatedand
EnglishtextsandIunderstand thesame
messagefromboth documents. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
Accuracy:Ireadthetranslatedtext
andIgetmoreinformationordifferent
informationthanreadingtheEnglishtext. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
Register:Ifindthelanguageinthe
translatedtextmoredifficulttoread/
understandthantheEnglish. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
False Cognates:Ireadthetranslated
textandthinkIwouldnotunderstandit
aswellifIdidn’tknow English. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
Appropriateness forCulture/
Audience:The translatedmessage
soundsoffensiveorinappropriatetome. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
GrammarandStyle:The translatedtext
hasgrammaticalmistakes,punctuation
errorsandformatproblems. / □ / □ / □ / □ / □
Recommendations/Comments:
TranslationToolkitIn-HouseTranslationReview
Employeesreviewingtranslationsandthoserequestinginternalreviewsshould followtheseguidelinestoensurequalityandtorecordtranslationvendor performance.
Pleaseforwardtoyourinternalreviewer:thetranslateddocuments,a copy oftheEnglishoriginals,theseguidelines,andtheOPHSCTranslationQualityAssuranceform.
Peerreviewersshouldfocusontwoareas:errorsandcontextbarriers.Thereviewer’staskistocorrectmistakesandtopointoutcontextualbarriers byofferingconstructivefeedbackandsuggestionsforimprovement. Reviewersshouldnotconcentrateonstyle.Askyourself:isthisreallyanissue orisitamatteroftaste?
Peerreviewersshouldbenativespeakers.Pleaseconsiderregional differencesofthelanguage.Forexample,Spanishvariesgreatlyamong countriesandregions.Beforedecidingthatawordorexpressionisincorrect, doublechecktomakesurethatwordisinfactincorrectandnotawordthat soundsforeignonlybecauseyouarenotaccustomed tousingit.Remember thatourUSaudiencecomprises
avarietyofspeakersfromdifferentcountriesandregions.Therefore,we mustmakeaconsciouseffortatincludingthosevariationsinour translations.
Observelanguagelevel.Most materialsarewritteninalowreadinglevel (below8th grade).Makesurethetranslationmaintainsthe
sametoneandreadinglevelastheoriginal,aslongasthisisnot inappropriateoroffensiveforyouraudience.Lookforwordsand phrasesthatourUSimmigrantpopulationmaynotunderstand because ofliteracyissues.
Usethetrackchangesandcommentingtooltoannotateyour changes. Clickonthe“tools”menuandchoose“track changes”.Ifyour computerdoesn’thavethecapacityforcertainalphabetsandcharacters, contact theOPHSCforassistance.IfyouarereviewingPDF documents, Adobecompletehascommentingtools.Ifyoudonothavethefullversionof Adobe,printoutthedocumentsandhandmark themclearly.Most translators/translationagenciesaccept handwrittencommentsaslongas theyarelegible.
Maintainconsistency. The OPHSCkeepsglossariesoftermsinSpanish, Portuguese,andFrenchcommonlyusedbyDPHprograms.Visit: referencematerials.
Footnotes.Youmaysuggesttheuseofatranslator’s footnoteto clarify difficultconcepts.
Ifyouhave manyconcernsorextensivecomments,write themdownandcontactthetranslator/translationagency todiscussthemfurther.
Forquestionsortechnical assistance,contacttheOfficeofPublic Health
StrategyandCommunications.