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Jonathan Powell

Olympics organisers express growing concern over an acute shortage of skilled translators
An acute shortage of skilled translators in the mainland has become a major cause for concern. The mainland's fledgling translation industry is struggling to cope with the huge demand for services in all sectors. Organisers of August's Beijing Olympics are particularly worried about the quality that is on offer.
Thousands of companies nationwide are being flooded with demand for Chinese to English and English to Chinese translation services, but without an established regulatory body, or official training system, suitably qualified translators - especially for corporate services - are in short supply.
Yuanpei Translation Services, the official translation and interpretation supplier to the Beijing Olympics, is among those calling for companies to conduct stricter monitoring of quality and for more standardisation.
'Translation is important in the exchange of knowledge and, with the increase of global information flow, the industry has experienced a great increase in demand. The industry is developing fast in China,' said Jiang Xiaolin,  president of Yuanpei.
'What is restricting development is not the market but the shortage of qualified translators.
'At big companies like ours, management is standardised. Smaller companies are less well regulated. Companies should at least demand Catti [China Aptitude Test for Translators and Interpreters] certification,' he said.
The world's focus will be on the nation for this year's Olympics, encouraging industry leaders in the mainland  to raise standards. The XVIII World Congress of the International Federation of Translators  will be held in Shanghai the week before the Olympics open.  It will be the first time for an Asian country to host the forum.
Organised by the Translators Association of China, it will be an opportunity for academic exchange, and will focus on corporate operation, software development, and training systems and methods.
This event and others, such as the Forum on Translating from Chinese into Foreign Languages, held in Beijing last year, will boost the industry. But there's a long way to go.
Thousands of companies offer translation services in the mainland,  but it is a young industry, especially in terms of branding and quality control.
The industry is in transition from a simple exchange of culture to the exchange of knowledge. This is especially so in the areas of information technology,  finance and law.
Meeting the needs of these sectors is a problem faced by all companies, and this year's  Games present another challenge entirely.
The Olympics will be Yuanpei's largest project. It has already carried out  test events in Beijing and other Olympic cities Qingdao and Hong Kong.
The work involves simultaneous and consecutive translation at press conferences, and official translation of documents in the lead up to and during the Games.
Yuanpei, which has 600 staff at offices in Beijing and Shanghai, will supply interpretation services in 10 languages.
'A translator may know sports but may not know translation skills, or vice versa,' Mr Jiang said. 'Sport is a special field requiring special knowledge and there are many rules and terminologies.  We are working closely with Bocog [Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad]. Of course there will be many challenges and difficulties, but we are determined to meet the demand.'
In terms of recruitment for the Olympics, Mr Jiang said,  'we are especially looking for people who can translate from a second language to another foreign language'.
'We will recruit many translators from Britain, Australia and the United States. Hong Kong people would certainly have an advantage, being comfortable speaking both Chinese and English and with their understanding of western and Chinese culture,' he said.
The standard of official translation services for the Olympics is a major concern for organisers.
Zhang Yong, Bocog language services division chief, said the organisation would require 100 translators for documents and another 100 for spoken word during the Games. Eighty per cent would come from international services with experience in sports. The other 20 per cent would be locally recruited.
'Some of the services we have received to date have not been good,' Mr Zhang said.
'The reason is many are not qualified for sports events. It is a specialised area. Translators must receive training in the techniques required.
'There needs to be an awareness of the cultural differences, expressions and an ability to understand the audience or readership. Documents must be readable or understandable.'
Bocog language services will include translating languages into English, French and Chinese.
'Reaction during the test events was positive, but we know there is a lot of room for improvement,' Mr Zhang said. 'We need to provide more training as there is not enough experience for sports specific translation. Sports such as rowing, wrestling or baseball include special terminology, which our service must be familiar with. We are building a terminology database for this.'
This is the first of a five-part series on the Beijing 2008 and hiring trends. It is published once a month.



Race to break huge language barrier