18 TheLinguistFEBRUARY/MARCHwww.iol.org.ukFEATURESWorking across 151 markets, transcreation servicetextappeal describes its language requirements Textappeal is based in London.Do you have offices in other partsof the world?We have a network of 1,500 experts in 151countries. They are strategists, brand experts,copywriters, editors. Contacts are made viaongoing talent identification and testing, andwe are always looking for fresh talent in everymarket, particularly emerging markets andsmaller countries. This takes tediousgroundwork away from clients, who can beserved through our network with the samelevel of quality in every market.Is English the company's lingua franca?Yes, but about 40 languages are used whencommunicating with our partners.Tell us about the multilingualaccount managers in yourLondon office.They act as single-points-of-contact for clientsand are accountable for the success ofassignments. They check all work to makesure it is on brief, appropriate for the localaudience and to the highest brand standards. They select talent and test them intheir languages for creativity, accuracy andbrand understanding.Our account managers speak 40languages corresponding to markets thatrepresent 90 percent of worldwide globalbrand ad spend, and they use theselanguages every day. We are always lookingfor project managers who speak a minimumof two or three languages. European, Asianand Indian languages are most in demand,and our current priorities are Turkish,Vietnamese and Arabic. same emotions and carries the sameimplications in the target language as it doesin the source language. We worked on the 'I am Nikon' campaign, transcreating the 'I amDon Juan' tagline for markets where Don Juanis not used to mean 'seducer'. The sloganbecame 'I am entertaining' in Polish and 'I willmake tonight happen' in Russian (pictured).Is the translation of ad slogansusually done from London?No. It is always done locally, undersupervision from our headquarters in London.What are some of the biggestlocalisation challenges today?The fragmenting of target market audiencesand media in local countries. The fastevolution of cultures and trends. The internalcomplexity of global brand organisations.Does textappeal run its ownpublicity campaigns in otherlanguages?No. We use English as our business language and we have English-speakingclients (global brands).Do you go to trade shows innon-English-speaking countries? Yes. As a leading specialist we are ofteninvited to give talks on cross-cultural topics inmarketing, such as at the Spikes Asia andDubai Lynx advertising festivals, and CannesLions International Festival of Creativity.Textappeal is looking for strategists, editorsand writers in local markets, and trilingualcross-cultural project managers in London.Email secretsFor languages that are not covered by our London team, projects are managedthrough our local network but controlled from London.How much do staff travel?From time to time, to see clients. They oftenspend time in their home countries onholidays to refresh and to stay in tune withtheir culture. This is important in terms ofkeeping up with localisation issues.Could you give an example of a slogan that was challenging to transcreate?Transcreation is the process of adapting amessage from one language to another whilemaintaining its intent, style and tone. Asuccessfully transcreated message evokes the

Vol/51 No/1 2012FEATURESChristophe Declercqlooks at thechallenges for translators working inthe field of anti-doping textsAlthough it is generally accepted thatspecialised translation requires thoroughtopical knowledge and, preferably, a networkof specialists, few specific fields offer as manycross-cultural sensitivities as doping. Themost important body of texts that involvesdoping as a subject are scientific reports andresearch reports on substances withperformance-enhancing capability. In thecontrolled environment of research anddevelopment (R&D) labs, both the researchprocess (including medical reports andspecialised papers) and the researchoutcome (ie, the product itself), as well as itsdocumentation, are written in a specificscientific style. Representations of R&D outcomes must be accurate as well as truthful;1unsupported opinions are to be excludedand any language that could cause apotential reader to question the authority ofthe scientist or the validity of the researchshould be avoided. Pharmaceutical-scientifictexts are, by default, disinterested and notemotive, as can be seen in the following e-publication on CERA, a substance I willdiscuss in more detail later on:Stimulation of erythropoiesis by thethird-generation erythropoietin drug CERA, a pegylated derivative of epoetin ?, has provided valuabletherapeutic benefits to patients sufferingfrom renal anaemia, but has also rapidly found application as an illicitperformance-enhancing strategy inendurance sports.2Translating a text such as this would notpose too many difficulties, as typicaltranslation solutions, for example addition,are already included in the source text. Thetranslator is also helped by the fact thatspecialised texts are, more often than not,informative rather than instrumental.Ethics and the mediaThe wider media are also eager to tap intothe world of doping. Many arguments havebeen printed in the media to defend oraccuse an athlete who is under suspicion butdid not test positive. An article from TheTimes, which, at first sight, seems perfectlydisinterested, reads as follows:Ricardo Ricco [sic], Saunier Duval's Italian rider, has tested positive forerythropoietin (EPO), according to theFrench national anti-doping agency (AFLD).The 24-year-old who has won twomountain stages in this year's race, testedpositive for the banned substance CERA(Continuous Erythropoietin ReceptorActivator) after a urine test.3But did Riccò test positive right after thosemountain stages? If so, the statementexplicitation is truthful rather than emotive. Ifnot, the addition is biased and the translatorhas to take that into account. Intratextualethics then come into play as to whether ornot to keep the bias, rectify the statement oradd a translator's note.The text on Riccò is typical of a newspapertext on doping issues in that acronyms areexplained or paraphrased, bringing into ageneral text some more specialisedterminology and clarifying information, which is seemingly additional but possiblymore comment-like. This is not popular scientific writing only.The text assumes that the reader has aworking knowledge of how EPO and CERAact, both as drugs and as doping products. On dopeTranslators will oftenbe confronted by amixture of styles andregisters: legalese,slang, technical jargon FEBRUARY/MARCHTheLinguist19© ISTOCKPHOTO