1 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
What Were You Thinking?
Worst Translation
Practices
Keith Brooks
Chief Typo Officer

2 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Who am I
• Made Aliyah in August 2014 from Florida to Rehovot
• Managed translations for William Hill Online in Tel Aviv
• Worked with 100+ different organizations over the last 25+ years
• Have blogged in English, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian and “IBMese”
• Work in the field of Collaboration and Business Transformation
• Brand Ambassador/Evangelist and Product Marketer

3 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Today’s Goals
• Management Cares, But…
• Typos
• Plagiarized Errors (US/UK English)
• Machine Language Translation
• I speak English, Hebrew and Klingon
• Time Traveling Documents
• Management Requests of You

4 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Management Cares, But…
• May not have English or Hebrew or whatever
language as our mother tongue
• May not have very good grammar or spelling
skills
• Need someone to blame
• Rely on your expertise
• Do the 30-second sniff, if that much
• Edit, your edits…and don’t tell you…sometimes
We

5 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Typos
• Mea Culpa – I do this too, it happens, we are not machines…yet
• Make sure Word or whatever program used has a dictionary
with the correct languages inside it
• Turn it on…and trust it, but not entirely to do YOUR job, which
is…
• Proofread, Proofread, Proofread and when
in doubt….PROOFREAD again
http://cdn.pophangover.com/wp-content/uploads/funny-typo-24-300x167.jpg

6 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Plagiarized Errors (US/UK English)
• In our world (High Tech, Pharma, Finance, etc..) we
read other blogs and websites and writings
• Odd phrasing , specific examples catch our eye
• More common when English is not your mother
tongue language
• This will guarantee we never use you again

7 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Machine Language Translation
• Google may be your friend, but not here
• We use it to verify other languages but we don’t pay
you to rely on it
• It may put you out of a job, how good are your
editing skills?
• You will not make a living, with us or anyone else,
using MLT

8 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Come One, Come All to the Poorly
Translated Spanish Clitoris Festival
“..But when residents clicked onto the Castillian Spanish
version of the town’s website - provided by Google Translate -
to check the dates for next year’s fest they were shocked at
the new turn the festival had apparently taken.
"The clitoris is one of the typical products of Galician cuisine,"
read the description of the festival on the Castillian Spanish
version of the town hall’s website, whose original version is
written in Galician. ”
http://www.thelocal.es/20151102/galicia-celebrates-its-annual-clitoris-festival-thanks-to-google-translate
Don’t embarrass us, nor yourselves,
think about what you write!
8

9 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
I speak English, Hebrew and Klingon
• Let us know what other languages
you know
• We may (often) have other projects
for which we can recommend you
for….IF we trust/like you to do our
existing work
• Be creative; sometimes, we need
ideas and input too
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fXSLcYQHqFQ/maxresdefault.jpg

10 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Time Traveling Documents
• We provide deadlines for a
reason, not as a request
• Always verify dates and
formats of dates with us
• Past, Present and Future may
coexist in Star Trek….BUT
Not on documents you translate

11 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Management Requests of You
• Never send us back your work using the same file name
• Make sure you send us the right file or version of changes
• Include the item/code # and your name in the file name
• Bold or underline URLs and linked items
• Going on vacation, TELL US
• Make yourself contactable, don’t be a Government office

12 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
Today’s Completed Goals
Management Cares, But…
Typos
Plagiarized Errors (US/UK English)
Machine Language Translation
I speak English, Hebrew and Klingon
Time Traveling Documents
Management Requests of You
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p-9w59bzhaM/UelYRLiGReI/AAAAAAAAGhE/7lUZ5qVR4g4/s1600/thats-all-folks.jpg

13 Skype/Twitter: @lotusevangelistkeith@keithbrooks.com
ITA 2016 International ConferenceKeith Brooks
‫רבה‬ ‫תודה‬ Thank You
http://linkedin.com/in/keithbrooks
Enjoy the Rest of the Conference
Slides will be posted at
http://slideshare.net/kbmsg
Come to my 16:00 session
Grand Ballroom A:
My Dog Ate My Translation Assignment