So, Abby - what do you do?
In the Boston social scene I get asked the question “So, Abby – what do you do (for work)” by every new person I meet.
Having spent my adult formative years in Colorado I still find the question to be an irritating contrast to what a Coloradan would ask, which most usually would be “what do you do for fun?” I suppose both questions are being asked with intent – for the Bostonian it’s to size up your pedigree and for the Coloradan it’s to size up your lifestyle. Inevitably the former leads to a predictable line of questioning. In an effort to put the question to bed and move onto non-work related topics, (because who wants to talk about work outside of work?) I try to answer in the simplest way that I can.
Here’s how the conversation goes 99% of the time…
Setting: Forty 1° North, Newport, RI – 4th of July weekend
Usual Suspect: So, Abby – what do you do?
Abby: (enjoying a beautiful night on a holiday weekend) What do I do….for what? (please don’t say for work, please don’t say for work)
Usual Suspect: For work.
Abby: (ugh, here we go again) I’m a consultant for a language translation division of a global information management company.
Usual Suspect: Oh, wow. (somewhat confused) So how many languages do you speak?
Abby: One.
Usual Suspect: (perplexed look) Oh! (light bulb goes off) My uncle just got that, he’s learning how to speak Spanish.
Abby: You’re thinking about Rosetta Stone which is a DVD that teaches you how to speak another language. That’s not what my company does.
We translate websites, documentation, software… for example, if you speak German and you want to book a hotel online- we’re the company that translates that website. If you buy a car and you look at the user manual – flip to the back of the book and you’ll find French, Spanish, Italian, German – we translate that manual. If you use a BlackBerry and you speak Korean – that phone interface will have been translated and tested so that you can use it. Anything that needs to be translated into any language, that’s what my company does.
Usual Suspect: Oh, ok, that makes sense. Isn’t a lot of that being automated now? How much is Google taking away from your business?
Abby: (double ugh) It’s not. You’re thinking about machine translation. While there are some very good applications for machine translation and specific cases where it is a good solution, companies still need human linguists to translate their communications to capture the appropriate voice, messaging and intent of the content.
Put it this way - imagine if you were going to purchase something online and there were spelling errors or grammar mistakes, or the wording was out of place – would you buy on that website? No, you would probably assume the company was fraudulent and you would click off that browser. The same is true for all types of multinational companies that sell into many markets. They need to translate their content into the language of the consumer and they need to do it in an accurate and communicative manner.
Usual Suspect: Ok, so what do you do?
Abby: I help companies develop solutions for how they communicate in global markets. Translating the materials is one thing but developing a solution for how it’s approached is another. For example - when a company wants to understand how to manage their brand on a global scale and their operations are the US and their global infrastructure consists of external agencies located worldwide– I work with them to craft the right solution. Or when a company is opening a retail store for the first time in a new or emerging market – I help them understand how to approach that market; or when they’re wondering how they can scale their software testing efforts into 35 languages and yet reduce their development and release cycle - I work with them to do this.
…so now you’ve seen it: a snapshot of the conversation that I probably had a few times this past weekend. First impression of the dude I’m talking to – not that much to talk about; impression of global language services – lots to talk about.
Everyone has questions so let’s hear yours @Abby_Porter
