Foundation Seminar Series
Workshop / Webinar #2
20 March, 2014
TED
Open Translation Project
Translating TED Talks
Into Albanian
Elvira Peço
TED Speakers
What is TED?
Private
nonprofit foundation
TED is owned by The Sapling Foundation
501(c)3 organization under US tax code
It was established in 1996 by Chris
Anderson
The TED staff is headquartered in New
York City and Vancouver
Goals of Foundation
Foster the spread of great ideas
 It aims to provide a platform for the
world's smartest thinkers
 provide a platform for greatest visionaries
and most inspiring teachers
 millions of people can gain a better
understanding of the biggest issues faced
by the world
 desire to help create a better future

What an Idea means for TED
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An idea can be created out of nothing except an
inspired imagination.
An idea weighs nothing.
It can be transferred across the world at the
speed of light for virtually zero cost.
And yet an idea, when received by a prepared
mind, can have extraordinary impact.
It can reshape that mind's view of the world.
It can dramatically alter the behavior of the
mind's owner.
It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to
others.
4 ways to effect beneficial change to
the world
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The TED Prize takes a great idea each
year and seeks to achieve goals of global
impact.
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TED.com allows the great ideas shared
at TED to be easily accessible anywhere in
the world, in more than 100 languages.
4 ways to effect beneficial change to
the world
The TED Fellows program brings
extraordinary new voices into the TED
community.
 TEDx supports the creation of
independent TED-like events in
communities around the world
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Who can translate for TED
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Language skill: We ask that all
translators be fluently bilingual. It is
essential that your language skills enable
you to translate not only the words of
speakers, but the tone, style, personality
and of course – the underlying meaning.
Who can translate for TED
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Time commitment: We don’t require
an advance commitment, in terms of
speed or number of talks translated.
You’re welcome to translate just a single,
favourite talk! But we do require each
volunteer to translate an entire talk
(partial translations aren’t useful to us),
and to complete each translation within a
month of when it was assigned
Who can translate for TED
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Collaboration: To ensure quality, we
require a second pair of eyes on each
translation. Pairs can work together, or
we can assign a reviewer. In either case,
the translator and reviewer are expected
to confer with each other on any changes,
and respectfully navigate any
disagreements that may arise
Translation procedure
TED provides an authoritative English transcript,
tips for effective translation and a simple online
interface for line-by-line translation of subtitles.
 new open translation platform, Amara, where you
can translate and review TED Talks (see the Quick
Start on Amara guide)
 Once you're approved as a TED translator, you
can volunteer to translate on Amara and you'll
immediately receive the assignments you request.
 Before publishing your translation on TED.com,
we will have another translator review it.
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Translating with Amara
Translating with Amara
Translating with Amara
Translating with Amara
Translating with Amara
Translating with Amara
Getting credit for your work
This is a volunteer effort, so we don't pay
translators for their contributions
(similarly, TED speakers aren't paid to
present)
 All translators and reviewers are credited
on the web page for a talk they've
translated
 if you translate or review a translation
your name will appear on that web page
when someone is watching the translation
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Getting credit for your work
All translators and reviewers are listed on
Our translators page, as well as the index
page for their individual languages.
 All translators and reviewers have a
special page on their TED member profile,
listing their translations
 every translator will be taking part in our
global effort to spread ideas and engage in
a global dialogue
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How do I register as a new TED
translator?
Sign in to TED.com
 visit the TED page on Amara and click
"Apply to Join" in the left column
 Complete the application form and you'll
receive notice of approval within 5 days.
 Please be sure to confirm your email
address through the email sent by Amara
in order to receive the approval
notification.
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TED Style
Informal over formal. The talks given at
TED are geared toward an intelligent,
general audience. So informal, colloquial
terms should be chosen over those that are
more formal or academic.
 Modern over traditional. TED speakers
are each at the forefront of their respective
fields, and often at the forefront of language.
For this reason, modern terms and phrases
should be chosen over the traditional, and
translators should strive to be up-to-date in
the topics covered
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TED Style
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Personal over generic. Translators
should strive to match the tone and flow
of the speaker's original talk as closely as
possible. Rather than produce a hyperformal, word-for-word translation,
translators should aim to find the color,
energy and "poetry" in the speaker's
organic style and to emulate it in the
target language, using words and phrases
that match the gist of the speaker's points
TED Style
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Global over regional. The global nature
of TED’s audience has implications for
translation. Within each individual
language, idioms, slang and technical terms
all vary place-to-place. TED style
emphasizes words and phrases that can
be most universally understood among all
dialects.
Guidelines for Technical Style
TED uses the AP Style Guide
 Translators should use this (or the closest
equivalent) for all questions relating to
the text's technical form
 For any specific questions, or in cases
where the source text appears to divert
from this established style, consult the
TED editorial staff directly by email.
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Specific Guidelines
Idioms: In most cases, idioms (such as
puns, culture-specific phrasing,
metaphorical expressions) should not be
translated word for word. Rather, an
equivalent or similar expression should be
found and used as a substitution
 TED: TED is always written as "TED" and
should not be translated.
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Specific Guidelines
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Titles of works: For books, movies,
magazines, poems: Do your best to
determine whether the work has been
translated into your language; if it has,
then use the translated title in the talk. If
no official translation can be found,
translate the title in a way that’s as close
to the original meaning as possible.
Specific Guidelines
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Proper nouns: For people's names: always
transliterate if the target language uses a
non-Latin alphabet.
For places: use the name of the place that is
in most common usage in your language. If
the name is not found in your lexicon,
transliterate.
Try to find the punctuation that best
enhances readability while keeping as close
to the original flow and direction as possible.
Always use the target language's native
punctuation
Specific Guidelines
Character sets: Please use standard
unicode characters and avoid those that
are platform-specific.
 Units of measurement: You may
convert units of measurement to make
them more understandable to speakers of
your language. We recommend the
Google unit conversion tool
 Visit the translator wiki for additional
guidelines
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Behind the TED Talk
Share your favorite talks! The share
buttons under each video make it easy:
Your social network is only one click away
 Join the conversation. Help us by
starting a conversation here or on your
favorite social network.
 Translate a TED Talk. Volunteer to
become a TED.com translator and spread
ideas globally
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Behind the TED Talk
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If you're a teacher, consider
incorporating TED Talks into your
courses. Distributed under a Creative
Commons license, TED Talks are freely
available for use in the classroom -- just
credit the source and don’t distort the
speaker's intended meaning.
TED Open Translation Project
Generously supported by a visionary
sponsorship from Nokia.
 The TED Open Translation Project is one
of the most comprehensive attempts by a
major media platform to subtitle and
index online video content.
 It’s also a groundbreaking effort in the
public, professional use of volunteer
translation
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TED
TED MOTIVATION
IDEAS WORTH
SPREADING
All rights reserved to
http://www.ted.com/