Sol Language Services

[Julian-Dumitrascu]

1.1 What do you know about language services?
1.2 When did you use a language service how?

2. In Romania they started teaching me German in 1988 and English in 1989. Since the 1990s English content has flooded Romania (and other countries in Eastern Europe). I learned these languages until 2000. I was paid to use these languages until 2012. Most of the time I created or processed content in these languages. In 2003 I helped found the association of the Romanian translators.
   In 2012 I started building a team meant to help users of language services more than most other providers of such services (LSP).
   As a linguist I was fed up with how some LSPs served users and linguists.
   2.1 How do you want to be served when you use language services?
   This overlaps with how one wants to be treated when one orders other things. You can express yourself freely, even if you refer to other purchases.
   2.1.1 How well do you want to communicate?
   The main language service is translation.
   Linguists have translated mainly instructions e.g. on how to use products.
   A main reason for this may have been that some governments have obligated manufacturers to provide information about their products in the languages of the users of these products.
   Many things provided for in laws are useful or even worded well. How are we going to deal with the following psychological issue? When one is told that one must do something, one is inclined to exert an opposing force. Some people seemed to not give a damn about the quality of the translations they had to order and tried to pay as little as possible for them.
   What are the consequences?
   How did a translation help you?
   When did you find it difficult to understand (a part of) a translation?
   What costs have you incurred for the language services you have used?
   When did you feel that you wanted to benefit more from language services than your provider helped you to?
   I want people to pay for what they want. I want to serve people when they really want a certain service.
   It's useful to consult with us on how to manage your international communication. Let's see how much its benefit-cost ratio can increase!
   2.1.2 How well do you want to communicate with your provider?
   Some LSPs make it rather difficult for stakeholders to communicate: content authors, content users, linguists etc.
   We make it as easy as you like for them to communicate and collaborate, so that you benefit more from language services.
   When a linguist communicates with an author, the author can help the linguist understand their content better. They can agree to improve the original content.
   We can help you create content so that it is easier to translate into your target languages and easier to use.
   When a user communicates with a linguist, they can use the content more effectively or less costly.
   Instead of preventing people from interacting, we coordinate collaboration that improves your results.
   2.1.3 Some LSPs can use e-mail and understand computing rather poorly. This prevents them from working well and increases some costs.
   We try to use the most helpful computer programs.
   This helps us to maximise the quality of our work and to reduce costs.
   It doesn't seem helpful that some people still design software for linguists that is supposed to help them process files created with Microsoft Office. We can help authors use superior software.
   2.1.4 We can discuss entire content cycles.
   Who is going to use your content?
   What goals are you helping them reach? We can agree on how it is best for them to use the content and what we should do make the content available in those ways.
   We can agree on a procedure to create the content, a procedure to process the content, and a procedure for you to manage the content together with us and any other person you choose.
   2.1.5 We would correlate such procedures with how we are to manage any data that you share with us.
   Our business group plans on becoming one of the best data managers that one can hire.
   2.1.6 Many LSPs manage data in ways that prevent them from choosing the most appropriate linguists for each task. Some would need better methods to evaluate linguists.
   We do a better job than most LSPs.
   2.1.7 Many LSPs pay linguists a rather small share of your money or they simply pay them poorly.
   We can agree on how much linguists should earn after you let us know what costs you agree to incur for the benefits made possible by language services and we agree on how much you're going to pay us for such services.
   We are used to sharing with linguists more revenue than many LSPs do. This is one method to help you enjoy good results.
   2.1.8 Let's agree on the payment terms that would benefit most all the parties involved!
   We try to make it very easy for anybody to transfer money.
   2.2 Dear fellow linguist, how do you want to be served by LSPs?
   2.2.1 Many LSPs communicate rather poorly.
   To the extent that you want to communicate with an LSP who respects you more and communicates more usefully, join this conversation!
   2.2.2 Many LSPs manage data rather poorly.
   Has any of them asked you to translate into a language that you don't speak?
   Is any of them yet to provide information that you requested in order to carry out a certain order?
   Has any of them mismanaged a project or a translation memory?
   2.2.3 Let's agree on how to evaluate colleagues!
   2.2.3.1 Actual colleagues, not would-be linguists who make a mess.
   2.2.3.2 CVs continue to look bad, in our field of work, too. They seem a poor means to achieve anything anyway.
   One reason: Which means of data management do you find more useful than .pdf files? You've translated long enough to know that e.g. Trados didn't categorise .pdf files as translatable?
   2.2.4 What income do you want why?
   Was any payment from an LSP overdue?
   Many LSPs have pushed linguists' fees down.
   To the extent that you want payment terms that help you more, join this conversation!

3. To the representatives of LSPs who want to join this conversation:
   How do you want to be served e.g. when you happen to use a language service?
   To the extent that there is a difference between that and how you have served some clients or some linguists, we can help you to improve your relationships with them and some performance indicators.
   There is much more to discuss. Feel free to discuss anything related to language services!