Tag: TWB translators

TWB Community Survey Results 2021 are here!

Community members – what are you asking for?

In late 2021, we asked you to give feedback on your experience as part of the community. In the 2020 survey, we learned that we had a lot of new members join us that very year, and that you were all keen to work with us more.


Let’s see what changes we’ve made, and where there’s still room for improvement. We’re using your feedback to shape our plans for this year and beyond, because we want to make our community work well for you. So tell us, what is your number one priority for 2022?

The results

Here are our key takeaways from our 2021 community survey:

You can also visualize the dashboard here.

We shall keep on listening, learning, and working together as a community – because, managing, building, and engaging with this community is a never-ending process that we hope to keep improving. Thank you for your continued support and feedback.

Our survey highlights are below, and you can also watch this 3-minute video summary:

You are asking for more content to translate.

This is something we have heard consistently across the years and we are still looking for strategies to satisfy this popular request. In 2021, we created more chances for speakers of many languages to interact and engage with each other in our initiatives. We know that this isn’t enough, so we’ll keep working on it. If you know of an NGO that could benefit from our community’s language services, ask them to fill in our form. We’re committed to ensuring that all language communities have dedicated materials to translate.

“More tasks in my language pair would go a long way in helping me gain experience and upskill.”

Female, 18-24, from Cameroon
The TWB community preferences and expectations
The TWB community preferences and expectations

You kept volunteering through the COVID-19 pandemic

Most of you feel that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t changed the way you volunteer with TWB. Some of you have more free time or are more motivated to volunteer. And for some, volunteering has become complicated because of lifestyle changes.

“My husband lost his job and I had to engage myself in earning more which made me more exhausted. Struggling for a decent survival of my own family that has kids, I somehow lost the time, commitment, and tenacity to help others for free.“

Female, 35-44, from India

No contribution is too small or too big for us and for people in need. Ten percent of community members volunteer every week. Others volunteer once or twice per year (14% and 12%, respectively). It’s important that you feel you can contribute as much as your schedule allows, and that there are no expectations in terms of how much or how often you volunteer with us.

Graph showing TWB community members' motivations and availability
The TWB community members’ motivations and availability

You are staying with the organization longer. Thank you.

Retention rates are up. In 2020, most of our respondents (62%) had been volunteering for less than a year. In 2021, just 47% of you had been with us less than a year. We have more “veterans” who have been volunteering for more than 5 years (6% of respondents), as well as many people who have already been in the community for 1-2 years (24%). Whether you joined the organization just yesterday, or you have been with TWB for years now – thank you for your support. Your knowledge and skills are and always will be appreciated.

“I am happy to be a TWB translator. I do not regret for a single time that I chose to be one of your volunteers. Let’s keep that good work we are doing.“

Male, 25-34, from Haiti
A graph showing how much TWB Community Survey responders volunteer with TWB.
Time spent volunteering with TWB

You are eager to learn more.

Two-thirds of respondents indicated that you have a regular day job. We truly appreciate your desire to include TWB in your busy schedule. At the same time, we also get a lot of requests for more training and resources.

“I am very happy as it is. I would like more courses to improve the level of the translators and the tools. I really enjoy when we have a gathering in which we analyse some topic!!“

Female, 55+, from Uruguay

We already have plans to share new and exciting training and webinars in 2022. Seventy-one percent of respondents have used our resources already. Thanks to your feedback, we are expanding our training offers for the new year – stay tuned for more information.

TWB community training and resource participation statistics
TWB community training and resource participation

Overall, you are happy with your TWB experience.

Eighty-five percent of community members reported that you were “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with your TWB experience. Your main motivations for continued support are the satisfaction of helping people in need, and the ambition to gain professional experience and enrich your profiles.

“TWB offers a wonderful platform for freelance translators to build up themselves.“

Male, 35-44, from Kenya
The TWB community's satisfaction with their TWB experience (51.2% satisfied, 33.9% very satisfied, 13.1% dissatisfied, and 1.8% very dissatisfied).
The TWB community’s satisfaction

It’s a pleasure to hear from you, and to work with you to help people get information and be heard, whatever language they speak. 

Thank you for being part of this amazing journey with us. 

Keep up to date with community news by following TWB on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Follow CLEAR Global on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Written by Ambra Sottile, Senior Community Officer

TWB’s first Arabic translation contest 

We recently held our very first translation contest for Translators without Borders’ thriving community of Arabic translators. Ninety-two talented translators submitted a total of 124 translations on a mixture of humanitarian and literary topics. Each translation was evaluated by fellow community members for accuracy, terminology, and style in order to provide constructive feedback and create greater engagement among the Arabic community.

The winners: humanitarian translation

Shaimaa Elhosan is an English to Arabic translator specializing in humanitarian translation because of her desire to help others. She studied UN translation at the American University in Cairo, which helped her follow her passion.

“I want to help other people, especially children, victims of conflicts, and abused women, people affected by natural disasters. Thus, I volunteered with Translators without Borders (TWB).”

A career highlight as a freelance translator was working on a book titled The Happy Healthy Nonprofit, by Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman. At that point, Shaimaa realized what a leading role nonprofits play in improving difficult situations.

Shaimaa Elhosan, Arabic translator for Translators without Borders
Shaimaa Elhosan, Arabic translator for TWB

The first story she encountered with TWB was poignant: it told of the daily suffering of victims of war. And it highlighted the misleading images of a comfortable life in camps which too often circulate on social media.

She went on to translate the toolkit for the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster, a TWB partner. The toolkit aimed to improve the quality of life and dignity for displaced people living in communal settings. 

Since 2017, Shaimaa has used her skills to translate 8,951 words for TWB and has acquired more valuable experience in humanitarian translation in the process. She continues to study in a constant effort to improve and expand her knowledge.

“I study because I care so much about whether or not the translation communicates the meaning clearly to readers. The TWB team appreciates my know-how and they ask me to participate in more projects. They try hard to support us in translation by providing references and glossaries as much as possible.”

Shaimaa explained that the challenge of communication was made more exciting by this competition. “How could I render the meaning to the readership clearly with such a tricky text? The experience spurred me on to participate in more projects. I’d like to continue to support displaced people, children, and abused women with my work.”

Literary translation

Nabil Salibi won the literary translation category, having received the highest score from his fellow community members. 

Graduation photo from Nabil's Masters in Interpreting and Translating, 2018
Graduation photo from Nabil’s Masters in Interpreting and Translating, 2018

This professional translator is as dedicated to his volunteer projects as he is to his paid work. By volunteering, he hopes to bridge the communication gap between humanitarian organizations and those who seek their support. For Nabil, this means dedicating four to five hours at a time to translate or proof-read texts from his home in Australia.

Since joining TWB in 2016, Nabil has translated 13,592 words. He has focused on projects related to refugees and the conditions in refugee camps, as well as news articles. Nabil also helped translate IFRC’s Global Response Tools Review. That review analyzed the tools we use to respond to disasters, and the risks and challenges related to humanitarian response.

He takes each of these projects seriously:

“Volunteering allows me to appreciate the difficulties imposed by language barriers and the impact on the wellbeing of people who live in communities where they don’t understand the local language.” 

Numerous other translators earned honorable mentions for their efforts. Learn more about their work, and the translation process on the Kató Community Forum.

A shared reward: the language equality initiative

Our highly skilled translators, including Nabil and Shaimaa, will have the opportunity to contribute to Gamayun, the language equality initiative. The goal is to shift control of communication, to allow everyone to share their voice and access information in a language and format they can understand. Using advanced language technology, we’re working with marginalized communities and language specialists to increase language equality and improve two-way communication. Over half of the world’s population simply doesn’t have access to knowledge and information in their own language. Our translators and supporters address this language gap which can prevent people from lifting themselves out of poverty, getting health care, recovering from a crisis, or understanding their rights. Our translators’ efforts enable people to proactively share their needs, concerns, and ideas.

To learn more, click here. 

What’s next? 

We recently announced two new translation contests open to our French and Swahili translator communities.  If you are already a TWB translator please check the Kató Community Forum for more information. Otherwise, why not join TWB today so you can take part? Entries close on 5 August 2019.

In case you’re looking to take part in a contest, or improve your own translations, our first translation contest winners share some words of advice:  

  • “Make sure you understand the whole article. Context is key.” – Nabil  
  • “I love to translate on paper first.” – Nabil
  • “Never stop reading.” – Shaimaa

 

Written by Danielle Moore, Communications Officer for Translators without Borders.

Interview responses by Shaimaa Elhosan and Nabil Salibi, Translators for 
Translators without Borders.