As of February 20, 2012, we are no longer working with translations. After years of working in the translation sector, with all its joys and frustrations, the language projects have absorbed all our attention and effort. Thanks to all the people who have recommended our work and all the clients who have stuck by us all these years. We will continue with some clients but will not take on new clients as of February 2012.
e-Advance Team – Translation Department
Closing of Translation Department
Filed under creating material
EngNet – Tips & Tools
Do you need engineering resources? Check out this amazing website with publications, directories, glossaries, jobsites, search engines and more.
Filed under glossaries and dictionaries
DICIONÁRIO TÉCNICO INGLÊS-PORTUGUÊS
DICIONÁRIO TÉCNICO INGLÊS-PORTUGUÊS.
This link also contains a list of other glossaries.
Filed under glossaries and dictionaries
Termos Técnicos Inglês-Português
Anexo II.5-2_Termos Técnicos Inglês-Português.pdf application/pdf Object.
I found this beauty by chance. It helped me a lot in a Petrobras translation.
Filed under creating material
Tough words to translate: diretoria
This one gets me every time.
Diretoria can be the board members or the board itself (singular or plural), but board is not always the best word to use when translating diretoria. My personal favourite is Executive Board, when talking of a company and Board of Directors, Board
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or Board Members when talking about an institution, etc. and Senior or Executive Management, when talking about a small company or organization. There is obviously a difference between a board and management (diretoria, gerencia), but board seems a little much if the company is very small or if its an agency or office of some sort.
Filed under translating
Tough words to translate: Desenvolvimento
This is another word that sound straightforward but is equally misleading.
In Portuguese, desenvolvimento, desenvolver is used for almost anything that is created, designed, produced and yes, developed, but in most cases just using development or developed does not sound right or is blatantly unpopular.
If you want to adapt a text as much as translating it, that is, make it “sound” as if it was originally written by a native English speaker, then you sometimes have to consider these words and try not to translate them literally or automatically. It all depends on the context, always, especially in English.
O desenvolvimiento da educação no Brasil foi lenta…
The development of education in Brazil was slow….
Ok, so maybe here you can use it, although growth, advancement is also good here.
A conversa/entrevista se desenvolveu com natualidade….
The conversation/interview developed smoothly/naturally…..
Errr no. In most cases, I have noticed that you can simply erase desenvolver…
The conversation/interview went smoothly….
That´s better.
Other examples:
Desenvolvimento de projetos – project development, but project design is better.
Desenvolvimento can be also replaced with words such as advancement, growth, boost (desenvolver a economia, boost the economy), expansion, improvement, progress, elaboration, etc.
For a full list of synonyms, check the Thesaurus website
Filed under translating
Online teaching platforms
If you don´t have the skills to create a Moodle or Claroline platform for your classes, there are some online teaching platforms that provide a virtual classroom and other interesting and useful features. The main problems with virtual teaching platforms are all based on compatibility. If you do not have the latest Flash player or browser installed or a decent compatible headset, you will encounter some problems. Here are some we have tried, still have to try or are currently trying:
Image via Wikipedia
Learnopedia (free)
This platform allows you to upload material, create courses and divide them into chapters. The only disadvantage is that it does not support all file types, and you cannot upload videos or audio. Another problem is that once you publish the course, you cannot make changes to it. We did not find the virtual classroom, so I suppose it must only be available after publishing. We also found this platform a little difficult to understand.
Udemy (free)
This platform is one of the most complete, although they are still making adjustments. In January, when we tried it, we could not see the videos in the virtual classroom. You can upload material in all formats and the classroom has various display options. It also has a chatroom, file sharing feature and all the usual marker, text and whiteboard features. The audio controls were a little complicated because you have to keep deciding if you want to press control to talk or just leave it on/off. We did not test this platform with a student.
WiziQ (free or paid plans for teachers, paid for companies)
We have been using this platform for a while in order to test it. The only issues we encountered were related to live two-way audio (delay, crackle), etc. The support is great and they have no problems in spending hours with you on the phone or in the classroom testing and checking to solve your problems. The uploading and visualization tools are very simple and they work very well. This platform is our favourite so far.
Odijoo (free)
This platform is in its Beta version. It allows SCORM integration and it has its own authoring tool to create courses from scratch, but if you already have a course book and material with videos, etc. it can be tricky. I personally found it very confusing to use, but that´s only a personal opinion. The authoring tool is not that flexible and it only supports two video formats.
We are currently doing the 30-day trial and so far this solution is one of the best. It´s simple, like WizIq, and you can quickly upload content in the middle of the class. We still have to test it with live students, so I´ll get back to you on this one.
If you have any more good online teaching platforms that we could use or test, please let us know.
Filed under in the classroom, learning
XTM International – Powerful translation software
I have just discovered a great website with great products for translators and agencies that are eager to venture into new, more affordable options. I could get myself to pay a small fortune for CAT tools like Trados, and am probably one of the only translators left that still uses good old dictionaries, glossaries and microsoft office programmes to translate. Well, XTM international has convinced me otherwise.
They also offer two great training webinars that you can download or watch on a scheduled date. Their XTM cloud is an affordable way to use CAT tools without overloading your budget.
Cipriana
Translator, content developer and account manager at e-Advance
Filed under tools and resources, translating
Military English – Portuguese Dictionary
portengdictionary.pdf (application/pdf Object).
This link is for the dictionary in PDF.
Filed under glossaries and dictionaries
