TRANSLATION SAMPLE
Project background: we are assembling a team of some 20 highly qualified English to Russian
translators (preferably native Russian speakers) to translate materials of 17 university-level
courses (over 2 million words total) for a major international organization.
Subject areas:
Agriculture & Food, Government Policy, Natural Resources Management
Note to the translators: the translated content will be used in an educational setting -- to teach
university students. Therefore -- in addition to correct terminology -- readability and good
Russian style are essential. The translation should sound natural in Russian and read as if the text
was originally composed in Russian. If, when reading the Russian translation, I can tell it's a
translation, then it is probably not good enough! :)
Types of material:
journal articles, course syllabi, lecture notes, slide presentations and other
types of content and readings typical for a university-level course
Translation pair:
English to Russian
PLEASE FILL IN THE FOLLOWING:
Translator's name:
Translator's email:
Translator's phone (include country and area code):
What is your rate?
US dollars per English (source language) word
What is your availability (thousand words per month) during the following months?
January 2016:
February 2016:
March 2016:
April 2016:
May 2016:
Are you a native Russian speaker?
What degrees and in what areas do you hold?
A short summary of your translation qualifications and experience:
Will you be able to provide references if requested?
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PLEASE TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING EXTRACTS & EMAIL THEM TO:
Dr. Leo Sharashkin, Content Editor: editor@deepsnowpress.com
You may translate less than the entire document. But the full translation will enable us to give
your services the best possible consideration. Thank you!
EXTRACT #1 [Journal Paper]
ENGLISH ORIGINAL:
RUSSIAN TRANSLATION:
1.1 Agricultural policy reforms and food security
in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan
1.3 Assessing the impact of agricultural policy
reforms could be done in one of two ways: by
considering whether the initially formulated goal was
achieved and what price was paid to achieve it or by
analyzing changes in the level of economic and social
development of the agroindustrial complex. If we
take the first viewpoint, admittedly positive results
took place. Institutional transformations have been
undertaken in the agroindustrial complex, and there is
movement toward developing market relations,
allowing business units to choose their activities, and
overcoming administrative problems in organization
and management methods.
1.4. A majority of farms in Turkmenistan operate on
the basis of internal lease agreements, which is the
natural mechanism for gradual land privatization.
Land leases are intended to be long-term and can be
inherited by family members.
1.5. The reductions in crop area, populations of
livestock and poultry, crop yields and livestock
productivity have resulted in a dramatic reduction in
total crop and livestock production and,
consequently, in the food consumption of
Kazakhstan’s population.
1.7. Finally, several problems constrain the use of
Kazakhstan’s natural resources, namely, the difficulty
of agricultural work in rural areas, the lack of social
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conveniences, and inefficiencies in production. As an
incentive, special compensation and subsidies may be
needed to encourage people to enter and remain in
agricultural work.
1.8. Land reform has been the most successful of
Kazakhstan’s economic reform packages. In
Kazakhstan, instead of the 2500 state and collective
farms in existence in 1991, at present there are more
than 62 000 individual farming units, 8754
production cooperatives, 1169 business partnerships,
578 joint stock companies, and only 89 state
enterprises; there are also subsidiary farming units
belonging to different departments.
EXTRACT 2 [Course Syllabus]
2.1. Fundamentals of Food Security. Course
Curriculum. This course aims to explore various
national and international approaches to food security
via examining the following: aspects and
manifestations of, factors affecting, the current status
and trends in the world and region, the history and
drivers of changes to, the role of nutrition and food
safety, risks and mitigation and prevention
approaches, and political, legal and regulatory
aspects of food security.
2.2. Skills: Students will be able to: 1. Collect and
evaluate data about food security. 2.Explain possible
causal factors affecting food security. 3. Describe
trends in food security globally and in a specific
region (e.g., Russia).4.Propose possible solutions to
food security concerns and methods of implementing
them.
2.3. Topics Addressed:
 Dimensions of food security—availability,
accessibility, suitability, stability
 Acute and chronic crises
 Ideal metrics and measurement axioms
 Assessing measures and sources of data
 Wicked problems
 Understanding human needs
 Poverty and agricultural production
 Political, social, cultural, geographical
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


contributors of food security
Tradeoffs resulting from a focus on
consumption, production or income
Improving agricultural productivity
Land sharing, ownership, use
EXTRACT #3 [Course Syllabus]
3.1. International Agrofood Trade - Course
Curriculum
Topics Addressed:
 Why you should care about trade when
considering food security
 Comparative advantage
 Winners and losers from trade, including
budgetary effects of trade policy
 Introduction to selected other theoretical
topics related to trade, including law of one
price
 Quantitative methods for commodity market
analysis
 Interaction of domestic and other markets
through trade, including the implications for
levels and variability of prices, consumption,
and production
EXTRACT #4 [Journal Article]
4.1. Nested institutions and the need to improve
international water institutions
In this paper we identify a number of critical water
problems and discuss the key role institutions can
play in their resolution... We discuss the problems of
designing institutions. This is followed by a section
arguing that we have, in the past, overinvested in
water infrastructure and underinvested in water
institutions. Next, we discuss some of the changes
that have occurred in the developing world as it has
become integrated into world markets and the
implications this has for water. We then list five
priority areas where new water institutions need to be
developed and old ones modified or discarded.
Finally, we conclude with a call for a greater
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emphasis on the development of new and improved
water institutions, particularly water rights.
4.2. The second level of institutional analysis
discussed by Williamson is the formal rules of the
game or the institutional environment. This is the
realm of constitutions that establish rules for making
rules, as well as property rights, laws, and policies.
These institutions are the result of both evolution and
design.
4.3. In Williamson’s framework, both bounded
rationality (imperfect information) and opportunism
exist, so contracts must involve enforcement and
dispute resolution aspects. This differs from agency
theory, which only focuses on the ex-ante aspects of
a contract. One of the main issues in transaction cost
economics is to determine in what dimensions
transactions differ. Typically the literature focuses on
frequency, asset specificity, and uncertainty as key
attributes that determine which governance structure
will minimize transaction costs.
4.4. It is now apparent that the large irrigation
investment made in less developed countries during
the 1950–1980 period, to increase food production, is
not sustainable in a number of areas. One key reason
for this lack of sustainability is that the investment in
dams and irrigation canals was made without
concomitant investments to change or develop the
institutions (laws, policies, policy instruments) and
organizations needed to effectively manage water
allocation, and to provide for basic system operation
and maintenance.
EXTRACT # 5 [Slide presentation]
5.1 Observations about Eurasian Food Security
 Food security and nutrition problems in this
region are complex.
 Child malnutrition and deficient diets among
low income people are a persistent problem.
 Generally, the region produces enough food
to meet dietary energy needs, although
differences among countries exist.
 The correlation between income growth and
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food security is not always high.
5.2. Differences in Progress Among Regions
 Sub-Saharan Africa: some success stories, but
the international hunger targets are far from
being met
 Northern Africa: international hunger targets
are met, despite potential instability
 Southern Asia: some progress, but too slow to
meet the international hunger targets
THANK YOU!
PLEASE EMAIL TO:
editor@deepsnowpress.com (Dr. Leo Sharashkin, Content Editor)
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