Korean translation for Apple vs. Samsung

LA Translation has translated volumes of patents and strategic documents for Apple vs. Samsung lawsuit thazat began this month, August 2012. In a big lawsuitt, sometimes attorneys send humanly impossible volume of work two or three days before the trial. An ideal situation is to have enough time for translators, editors, and proofreaders to produce the best quality. But with such a huge volume in such a short time, maintaining a consistently high quality translation is a challenging task. Some translators drop out, some send in wrong formats despite repeated instruction by the PM on the correct format, and some send in highlighted and partially translated documents. With a team of the best translators, proofreaders, and editors, it is still a very strenuous job. The most essential are that the invidivudlas involved in the task should be reliable and responsible people. Then they would stay up for days trying to produce perfect translation. In this day and time when the trade disputes among nations are increasing, there is a high demand for well trained professional translators who know what they are doing and are responsible enough to submit a complete product by the deadline. In this project where LA translation mobilized the best of Korean translators from all over the world, three translators in particular did not meet the deadline and presented problems for LA Translation. And they were people holding MA’s and PhDs from Harvard and Standford. They just don’t submit work o time. It is too bad that their talent don’t match up with their sense of responsiblity. “There is nothing difficult to transaltor,” says Dr. Jenny Park, the lead translator of the team. “But the difficult part is always the time pressure, that you are always given so little time to proofread.”

Copycat or competitor? A U.S. jury’s choice of descriptor for Samsung Electronics (005930) will determine whether Apple (AAPL) defeats its Korean rival in the global patent war’s biggest battle yet. For two years, Apple has fought with other mobile device makers in courts on four continents. On July 31, the Apple litigation juggernaut went before a U.S. jury for the first time in the federal courthouse in San Jose, Calif., a short drive from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. Seeking $2.5 billion in damages, Apple has accused Samsung of unlawfully imitating the design and software of its iPhone and iPad. “As we all know, it’s easier to copy than to innovate,” Harold McElhinny, Apple’s lead trial lawyer, told jurors in his opening argument.

Samsung’s attorney, Charles Verhoeven, fired back that while his client may have been “inspired” by Apple, such imitation is perfectly appropriate. “Being inspired by a good product and seeking to make even better products is called competition,” Verhoeven said. “Everybody does it in the commercial marketplace.” Then he foreshadowed evidence that purports to show that the iPhone, introduced in 2007, itself resembled earlier products designed by Sony (SNE) and others.

Apple filed the case as part of a much broader offensive against Samsung, Motorola Mobility, and HTC—all device makers that use Android, a mobile operating system made by Google (GOOG) that competes with Apple’s iOS. Apple says that Samsung infringed patents for the design of its devices, as well as for functions such as “rubberbanding,” the way the screen on an Apple device seems to bounce back when the user scrolls to the bottom of a file.

The animus driving the litigation runs deep, especially on Apple’s side. In the last 18 months of his life, founder Steve Jobs, who died last fall, was obsessed with crushing Android, which Google gives away to manufacturers—and which challenges Apple’s pitch that its exclusive, walled-garden offerings are different and better. According to his authorized biographer, Walter Isaacson, Jobs swore: “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go to thermonuclear war on this.”

The emotion on the other side was evident in the San Jose courtroom even before opening arguments. John Quinn, another Samsung lawyer, reiterated its desire to use evidence it says would show that it was developing rounded rectangular-shaped phones before Apple introduced the iPhone. Quinn told U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh that in 36 years of law practice he had never begged, but was “begging now.”

Koh rejected the request for what she said was at least the third time. “Don’t make me sanction you, please,” the judge said when Quinn persisted. “I want you to sit down, please.” The judge based her ruling on Samsung’s failure to disclose the evidence in a timely way.

Samsung said in an e-mailed statement that Koh’s procedural decision meant that “Samsung was not allowed to tell the jury the full story and show the pre-iPhone design for that and other phones that were being developed by Samsung in 2006, before the iPhone.” Also included in the release: Pictures of some of the evidence that Koh had disallowed.

McElhinny, the Apple lawyer, told Koh the release appeared to be “an intentional attempt to pollute this jury,” rising to “contempt of court.” In response, Samsung’s legal team said in a court filing that the company’s statement was merely intended to answer questions from the media. The trial is expected to continue through August.

The bottom line: Apple is trying to convice a jury that Samsung is copying its innovations. Samsung says its devices were “inspired” by, not a ripoff of, Apple.

Court interpreters hold critical role

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Erica De La Rosa is in court nearly every day, but she never speaks for herself. “We’re not supposed to exist,” she said. De La Rosa is a court certified Spanish interpreter for Twin Falls County 5th District Court. Interpreters are not lawyers or advocates and don’t give legal advice or even explain to defendants possible outcomes in their case. “You say what they say,” she said, no matter how shocking or strange it might be. Idaho law requires that courts ensure access to all people, including those with limited English proficiency or those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. The courts meet these requirements by developing programs that improve the quality of interpretation and increase the number of qualified interpreters in the courts, according to the Idaho Supreme Court website. Interpreters are under oath to completely and accurately translate what is said in court to the best of their ability, said Mary Jo Palma, the coordinator for translators in Twin Falls County, and a certified Spanish interpreter. “If an interpreter becomes aware they’ve made a mistake they’re under obligation to correct it,” Palma said. “If an interpreter is challenged, the judge will rule accordingly.”

One case where an interpreter was questioned is currently making its way through court in Twin Falls County. Valentin Calvillo was sentenced to serve 15 to 30 years in state prison in November 2011 after being convicted by a jury of eight counts of lewd conduct and sexual abuse of a minor in November 2010. His sentence was delayed for a year because Calvillo, 50, skipped his trial after showing up for the first few days. When he returned, Calvillo petitioned for a new trial, arguing he misunderstood instructions from his defense counsel when he was told to leave and seek medical treatment. With a new attorney, Calvillo unsuccessfully argued for a new trial during the summer and fall of 2011. Alli B party Calvillo’s attorney, Virginia Bond, was in court again two week ago asking Judge Richard Bevan for an independent translator to go over transcripts from the case and look for errors in translation. During one hearing, Calvillo’s family began gesturing to say there was a mistranslation about why Calvillo felt sick the day of the trial, Bond told the court. Twin Falls County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Suzanne Craig said Calvillo claimed he didn’t feel good about being in front of a jury, not that he was actually ill. Since Bond wasn’t the attorney during the hearing when the exchange occurred and doesn’t understand Spanish herself, she wanted someone else to listen to the audio recording of the hearing to see if the transcript matches up. Bevan agreed to take the request under advisement and a new court date was set for Aug. 2. When a translation is questioned, it can be a bit embarrassing, De La Rosa said. “You just say, ‘excuse me your honor, the interpreter made a mistake,'” she said. “If it’s a simple mistake it’s not a big deal, but it’s humbling.”

Occasionally interpreters have to translate for someone in a language other than the one they know best. A person might speak a language that’s difficult to find an interpreter for, with Spanish being their second language and English their third. The judge speaks in English, the interpreter translates to Spanish and the defendant must translate in their head to their own language and then the process starts again. “It’s an art,” De La Rosa said.To see original story

Glossary of Key Election Terminology (English to Korean)

This glossary of key election terminology is prepared by U.S. Election Assistance Commission. This glossary includes a total of 1,843 terms and phrases used in the administration of elections in the United States. This will be a good source for Korean to English translators and interpreters.

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OECD English / Korean Glossary of Terms

Being prepared to be a translator

By Ding Huang

Once you start learning a new language and get more and more fluent, you may want to become a translator. However, it is not that easy.

It is an attractive job to be a translator or interpreter for many bilinguals or multilinguals. It has many benefits compared with other kinds of work. Firstly, you will have great freedom to decide how you want to work. There are plenty of choices of working place, for example, at home, in the pub, or in the office. It can be a full-time job, which you need to be registered with a translation company, or you can work for yourself and be a freelance. It can also be a part-time job – you can do translation during your spare time.

Secondly, being a translator or interpreter brings you good income. In Shanghai, China, an interpreter can be paid up to 7,000 RMB (£700) per hour for providing Chinese-English simultaneous interpretation. Translation, however, is much cheaper. It ranges from £8 to £20 per thousand words, which depends on the translator’s skills.

Thirdly, it will never be catastrophically affected by things like economic crisis which always causes a high level of unemployment. Whether we are in great recession or prosperity, there’s always need for communication among countries and their people. Translators build a bridge for that communication. Indeed, translators are so important, as a joke says that a mistake in translation might start a war.

However, not everyone can be a translator. Being an interpreter is much more difficult. It needs years of intensive training. A translator or interpreter must be fluent in both source and target languages. You have to be excellent in all of the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. You must know the differences between two languages to avoid the awkward situation in which, for example, a Chinese sentence is translated into English but still keeps Chinese syntactical structure. Such translations always cause confusion among readers. What are they going say?

Apart from the knowledge of languages, translators and interpreters need to have knowledge of other disciplines. In other words, you are expected to know everything! I used to translate reports about biology. Those terminologies almost killed me. However, the lack of knowledge can be compensated by a great ability of learning. If you can grasp the main concept of some subjects, all you need is a few hours preparation before the work.

If you are interested in interpreting, you need to get started with practising taking notes. Approximately, you need to keep practising until you use 200 sheets of A4 paper before you can follow the speaker without missing any important information.

Personalities are another essential factor. You need to be concentrated during your interpretation. You need to keep calm and react quickly when there is an emergency, for example, the speaker forgets about the interpreter and keeps talking all the time, there is something you don’t understand, or occasionally you drop your pen.

Every year there is a large number of ambitious students trying to out do each other in the pursuit of a career as a translator or interpreter, but not all can succeed.

All in all, interpretation or translation is definitely a difficult task. But if you have native-like fluency in more than two languages, a great deal of knowledge, and practical translating or interpreting skills, and if you are a quick learner, then you are the right person for the job.

See original article at TheYorker

Glossary of Tax Terms (English to Korean)

This booklet is meant to assist Korean-speaking individuals who need help to understand the technical tax terms contained in the state income tax forms and instructions.

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Glossary of legal terms for English to Korean court interpreters/translators

This bilingual English-Korean glossary is designed to be used as a working document for English-Korean court interpreters. This glossary contains approximately 450 words selected as frequently used legal terms in states courts.

Download the glossary of legal terms for English to Korean court interpreters

Translator as a job

Translator as a job – written by Jenny Park, PhD

I am a college Poli Sci professor and started translation as a side job because there was so much demand for my Korean to English translation. My first job was from Alabama Power Company who wanted me to translate a brochure from English into Korean. At that time I was a Professor of International Relations at Emory University, and they couldn’t find a Korean translator, so they asked Korean Community Center. I had signed up at the local Korean Community Center as volunteers to help Korean people who don’t speak English. The KCC contacted me to do the job, and I did it with pleasure in two hours. I was going to do it for free, but they paid me $80 an hour…this was about 27 years ago….

Then I went back to Korea, where I got married and stayed for 10 years as college professor. I volunteered to interprete Korean sermons to English for foreign visitors to Youido Full Gospel Church, the mega church with 500,000 members.

One day I interpeted for an American professor, and people started asking me for all kinds of translation and interpreting… newsletters, journals, speeches… I was writing speeches for Ministers of Korean government…

The university that I was teaching International Relations had about 40 foreign students, and the school asked me to simultaneously interpret Korean sermons into English every Thursday. And I enjoyed translation and interpretation so much that it became a full time job and my college teaching was like my side job in terms of the time I spent.

When I went back to the U.S. to raise my kids there, I became a State of California court certified interpreter and started my own school teaching translation and interpretation. My translation company was doing so well it was growing 50% every year even during economic recession. So I am a full time translator and interpreter now. How do I like my job as translator?

I love it. I think it is the best job that benefits from the most recent technological developments.

First, I enjoy the freedom it brings to my life. No pressure, no boss, no competitors, and financial stability.

Thanks to the technological development, I can sit in my most comfortable chair, watching my favorite show, and communicate with my employees and colleagues online. Microsoft Word is such a great tool, compared to when I first started translating. At first I wrote down on a paper, and typed on Smith Corona which made so much noise and hurt my fingers. Printing took such a long time all night, and I had to tear off those dotted sides as well as each page.

But now, we have Microsoft. We have laser printer. My project managers receive an assignment from Israel by email and click it off to my translator in Korea, and click off the translation to a proofreader in Germany. No shipping, no warehouse, no custom, no hassle like in other trading businesses. It takes much shorter time to do translation thanks to the help of many softwares such as Trados and Nuance pdf converter. Online dictionaries are great. And I love how much I learn about other fields, how my vocabulrary is increasing, and how fast and accurate I can get. Translation is so much fun like a puzzle game and brings pleasure to my heart.

You do what you like, and what you are good in. Isn’t that the greatest job? This is the greatest time in human history to be a translator.

Standards Issued for Healthcare Interpreter Services

By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: February 19, 2011

All U.S. healthcare organizations must be able to talk with patients about their care in a language they can understand, according to new Joint Commission standards.

That involves hiring interpreters, ensuring proper training, identifying patient communication needs, and keeping a written policy that emphasizes respect of cultural values, according to a white paper written by the Commission “in conjunction with Language Line Services” — a telephone-based interpretation service.

The white paper notes that the company’s “customer regulatory readiness program” — “much of which is free” — includes consultation, support, and instructional materials.

The standards are being implemented in a one-year pilot phase, according to the Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that surveys and accredits hospitals.

More patients with limited English proficiency are seeking treatment at U.S. healthcare institutions, and these facilities have tried to accommodate them by adding bilingual staff, hiring interpreters, and using telephone and video conferencing interpretation services, according to the white paper.

Yet they haven’t been able to keep pace with the “growing needs of an increasingly diverse patient community” — nearly 3,000 unexpected deaths, catastrophic injuries, and other sentinel events have been tied to communication breakdowns, the report said.

In addition, patients with limited English proficiency “suffer a greater percentage of adverse events as a result of such language breakdowns,” the report noted.

This happens because hospitals typically rely on patients’ family members and untrained bilingual staff for translation, the agency says.

So the Joint Commission created a set of standards for ensuring that all patients can receive appropriate information about their care, which calls for healthcare organizations to:

Define and confirm staff interpreters‘ qualifications
Document interpreters‘ proficiency and training
Identify each patient’s communication needs
Keep a written policy on patients’ rights that includes being respectful of cultural and personal values

The white paper offers tips for ensuring compliance with the new Joint Commission standards:

Implement a language plan that establishes access at every patient point of contact
Implement ongoing training and education for interpreters
Update existing protocols to incorporate the language standards

The Joint Commission says it will conduct unscheduled accreditation surveys every three years to monitor compliance with the standards.

Hospitals that come up short risk jeopardizing the accreditation process, incurring unexpected costs, and taxing limited resources, the report said.

It noted that the greatest consequence of failing to enforce the standards is the “potential delivery of substandard care that could lead to irreversible harm caused solely by the inability to communicate.”

Primary source: Joint Commission
Source reference:
Arocha O, Moore DY “The new Joint Commission standards for patient-centered communication” Joint Commission 2011.

Interpreters help provide court access

Debbie Wachter Morris
New Castle News
July 22, 2011

NEW CASTLE — There are times in the Lawrence County courts when a participant doesn’t speak or understand English.

Then the courts are responsible for hiring an interpreter for the proceeding.

Such was the case earlier this month in the court of District Judge Melissa A. Amodie, where a Spanish translator was needed to assist a man at his hearing for a traffic offense.

Translators of various languages are used in the courts to serve those who cannot speak English.

The cost is borne by the courts, and it can get quite expensive, according to Mary Kelly, a court adminstrator’s secretary who arranges for their appearances.

Kelly noted it’s a rare occurence in the district courts, such as Amodie’s. But she said she arranges for interpreters about twice a month for common pleas court — mostly for family cases.

“I think we’re going to start seeing more of it,” Amodie said.

She explained that, by law, the courts have to provide intepreters, because everyone has to have fair access to the courts.

She recalls once having arraigned a woman by telephone, who spoke only Russian and needed a translator.

It can be a difficult process, because the courts have to talk directly to the defendants, instead of addressing the interpreter, Amodie said. Then the interpreter translates what the judge or other court officials say.

“We’re lucky we haven’t had to do it more,” she said, because of the cost.

The interpreters must be specially trained and certified through the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts, explained Michael Occhibone, Lawrence County’s court administrator.

“It’s getting to be more frequent,” he added.

“Once they are on a case, they stay with a case,” he said of the interpreters. And in the event a case has multiple proceedings, the interpreter is needed for all of them.

Although the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts has a list of translators on its Web site, Kelly arranges for them through an agency called Languages by Nicole in Industry, Pa., which has all state-certified interpreters.

The cost is $75 per hour, plus mileage.

The translator’s recent bill for the traffic hearing at Amodie’s office was $292.71.

There are times Kelly also must hire someone certified in sign language, and she uses a different Pittsburgh agency for those interpreters.

She has a Vietnamese interpeter arranged for this week and a Cambodian translator for Aug. 29, both for family court.

Other interpreters available speak Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, French, German, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog and Thai.

Kelly noted she has to keep close watch over when court proceedings are canceled or postponed so she can notify the interpreter as soon as possible, because they require 48 hours notice for cancellation. Otherwise their charge applies.

She recalled a day last winter when there was a heavy snowfall and she was forced to cancel the translator for the proceeding within 24 hours. She said the courts were billed for it anyway.