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Need Referral for Translation Service (Somali)
Well, I’ve just been snookered. I am producing a video for the state of Ohio and have to do subtitles and narration for a version in Somali. Apparently there is a large immigrant community there (go figure). I thought I had lined up a good outfit and just figured out they are not up to par.
My editor and I have done work in 18 languages including Hmong & Navajo which don’t even have written languages. When this Somali job came in I searched and searched and ended up with a company that seemed to be fine but I just figured out this morning they are really in India, adopted American name aliases and hide behind a US area code. My editor tried to warn me weeks ago because he felt that the misspellings, bad punctuation and unacceptable grammar were the beginning of a train wreck but I chalked it up to them composing on a phone at a red light, like I sometimes do. But alas I fired them this morning.
So, does anyone out there have any connection to any service dealing with Somali? The usual translation services (I tried a dozen) will do what I have done: search the Somali community groups, university professors, student associations, etc. and come up empty handed. Any ideas? There are a zillion companies that do translation for print but as we video peeps know doing it to match the pace of the English translation is an art, so I will only use a vendor experienced in video work.
If you have someone please have them contact me at:
ned (AT) nedmiller.com
Thanks!
Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com -
14 Replies
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Ned-
Try Mark Everson at Lifeline Language in the UK.
They’ve done lots of work for me in many, many languages with nothing but great results.
011 44 1 772 558 858
Mark@LifelineLanguageServices.co.uk
Tell Mark I sent you.
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IF that doesn’t work out, I’ve had good results with InterCom in London
https://www.intercom-translations.co.uk/
+44(0) 020 7731 8000
mail@intercom-translations.co.uk
INTER-COM Translations
Hurlingham Studios
Ranelagh Gardens
London SW6 3PA
Englan -
Hi Ned,
We provide translation services in any language. I’ve been a member of the cow for many years and feel that it would be great to keep business on the farm. I’ll email you more specifics.
Greg
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Just a wild stab, but Chicago being a large city, have you checked to see if there’s a Somali consulate there? If so, they likely have to translate spoken statements regularly and might have a solid local referral.
FWIW.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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Good idea, they will know of educated prospects. I placed an ad on Chicago’s Craigslist and someone wrote to me suggesting a cafe where all the Somali cabbies hang out but I don’t think their educational level will suffice, although I have met really intelligent cabbies all over the world who were underemployed.
I do think I struck pay dirt, the largest immigrant community of them is in Minneapolis and the social worker who helps place them in jobs contacted me and has three educated prospects, including one who was a DJ at a radio station so he may have good pipes. The challenge will be for them to condense the copy to not be too much longer than the English and Somali is way longer. I may fly up to MPLS and record scene by scene in my quiet hotel room where I can control the situation.
One area that has previously bit me in the butt are accents. If you ask someone if they have an accent (including myself) they will usually say No. So how does one figure out if a Somali has a regional accent unless diagnosed by at least two other Somalis? Right now on another job I’m producing for a cruise line my client said to make sure the Indonesian narrator uses the “Jakarta Dialect”. What a strange biz we are in!
Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com -
Ned, really?! You’re looking at cabbies or a radio station to translate your video and adapt it properly for timing it correctly? Good luck with that.
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My Dearest Gregory,
Please re-read the original post. I did not say I was going to use cabbies, I said a response from my CL ad had suggested such a solution.
Secondly, when dealing with voices from the Third World, if you don’t try their radio stations you’re a fool, I’m not saying you’re a fool, I’m saying if you don’t use their radio stations to find voice over people then you are a fool. As elsewhere throughout the world the best voices will try to making a living using their pipes, which often is in the radio biz.
Case study: Last winter I had to do a version in Malay. The first thing I did was googilize all the major radio stations in Kuala Lumpur (a 13 hour difference) and send emails asking what DJs would like to make a few bucks. The caveat was they had to watch the English cut of the video out of the corner of their eye while they laid down the tracks. I’m sure they pocketed the studio fee and just used the station’s booth after hours. Worked perfect! Had I gone through the normal channels of a service that did the translation finding the VO talent who knows what I would have gotten, plus imagine their mark up.
So in sum, if you need good voice over talent, especially of the developing nation variety, the absolute first place you should contact are the radio stations in their capitol city. I have done that MANY times.
Ned
Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com -
Write me at ned (AT) nedmiller.com although yesterday I think I found a Somali resource. I will need Mandarin next up.
Ned Miller
Chicago Videographer
http://www.nedmiller.com
www,bizvideo.com
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