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 DISAGREE
Loyalty: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.