I know I've been away for a few weeks, but now I'm back with a vengeance. It's amazing how English has really come to dominate the party (balada) scene. Take this week's Veja São Paulo supplement: terms such as "drum n, bass", "big balada" and others. On the other hand, is Portuguese exaggerating in neologisms? It's difficult to know whether it's the IT market or the financial market which is hammering the local language.
I've already seen "interfacear", but this week's gold medal must go to the verb created by someone - a big thanks to my English language student, Lilian, for this one - in her words, her ears "bled' when she heard this - the verb "bypassear", the Brazilian Portuguese" adaptation of the English word bypass.
Which also brings me to MT (Machine Translation, to the uninitiated), be careful when using automatic suggestions from the Microsoft TM when using Wordfast, for example, especially with proper names, otherwise Pedro Chaves becomes Peter Keys. In fact there is currently a lot of discussion about the whole question of TM and MT. As algorithms become more sophisticated, will machine translation one day decree the demise of the interpreter? In my opinion, no. MT is a useful tool, and always has been, for gist translation, when we seek an understanding of the text, by it will never displace the sensitivity of a human translator, the nuances of when to use this verb/word instead of that one. Obviously there has to be peaceful coexistence between human translators and technology - today we use TM as a productivity tool. But I wonder how many translators/revisers have been asked to review and "touch up" texts translated using MT, because the owner of the project was too miserly or in too much of a hurry to contract a translator and have the job done properly. You can have a translation job done well, cheaply and quickly, but never all three at the same time. In recent exchanges of ideas with other professionals, the most common complaint is the elasticity of prices - there are companies paying a pittance to have files translated by "translators" who have no idea what they are doing, but see this is a chance to get their toe in the market.
I continue to argue that there is no room for half-measures. Serious translators, freelancers or agencies must make this clear to clients. I wonder how many companies have skimped on a project, only to have to pay twice to have it re-worked. I know because I was asked to do this recently.
I would welcome comments on these and other points. Help me keep this blog alive and contribute to the debate within our industry.
And just to finish ... the idea of "importing" Cuban doctors to make up the shortfall in professionals throughout Brazil. I wonder, will they also hire interpreters to ensure proper communication? Come on ...
