aLanguageBank NYC

04/23/2026

aLanguageBank has received ISO18841:2018 for interpreting services.

aLB is keeping up with its commitment to quality as a language services provider by securing its third ISO certification – ISO 18841:2018 for Interpretation Services, acquired April 2026.

After obtaining ISO9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems and ISO17100:2015 for Translation Services in 2023, aLB decided to pursue ISO18841:2018 based on its growing business for interpreting services.

ISO 18841:2018 defines the core requirements and best practices for interpreting services. It sets an international benchmark for general interpreting services, ensuring interpreters and organizations uphold quality, ethics, and consistency across all modes and settings.

The latest addition of ISO certification will further enhance aLB’s continuous pursuit of being the “trusted language service provider” as we believe humanity is the most essential quality for the industry’s future growth.

03/04/2026

Ever thought about what actually happens to a book when it’s translated from a translation? What gets lost in translation?

Here's a really interesting post from NTNU GITI about "indirect" or relay translation. Think, a Brazillian novel that’s already been translated into English, and using that English version to translate it into a third language. 🇧🇷 ➡️🇺🇸 ➡️🌍
It’s basically the literary version of the "Telephone Game."

The further we get from the source, the higher the "translation tax." You lose that original Brazilian grit and fall into "semantic drift"—translating a previous translator’s choices rather than the author’s intent. By the end, the cultural soul has been filtered through an entirely different lens.

It’s a fascinating reminder of why direct translation is such an art form.

【間接翻譯到接力翻譯—語言經轉換再轉換的過程】

📖間接翻譯（Indirect translation）
小編在去年的文章曾介紹「接力傳譯」（Relay interpretation）是在口譯的時候，先將原始語言轉換成比較通用的語言，再轉換至其他語言。而在筆譯，這種二度轉換我們稱之為「間接翻譯」，代表翻譯並非直接依據原文進行，而是透過另一種語言的譯本作為媒介所完成的翻譯行為（Vinay & Darbelnet, [1958] 1995）。
以法蘭茲·卡夫卡的代表作《變形記》為例，這部作品原文是以德語撰寫，一直到2019年仍有出版從英文譯本翻至中文的版本。

💬採用間接翻譯的原因
採取間接翻譯的原因有很多種，可能是無法取得原文本、基於成本考量，或是找不到合適的譯者。亞森·羅蘋系列於1910年代傳進中國的時候，多使用英譯本、日譯本作為底本（陳碩文，2019），一部分原因就是無法取得法文原文。而相較於有廣泛使用者的中心語言（Central languages），邊緣語言（Peripheral languages）使用者較少，不僅翻譯成本更高，也不容易找到譯者翻譯，因此透過中心語言進行翻譯，可以被視為一種兼顧可行性與效率的折衷替代方案。

🔍間接翻譯會遇到哪些問題？
一直以來，都有人認為譯文不及原文（Dizdar, 2009），間接翻譯產出的譯文往往被視為更低一等的版本（Pięta, 2019），如今許多新譯本在推出的時候也紛紛強調為「直譯版」。
為何譯文不及原文？這是因為在翻譯的時候，原文資訊難以在譯文中完整呈現。每經歷一次翻譯的轉換，產出的譯文就會和原文的差距拉大。若是中間翻譯有誤，後面也可能跟著出錯；若是前一位譯者採取偏向歸化的翻譯策略，下一位接手的譯者最後呈現出來的語氣和風格，可能會更加偏離原文，與原文的文化背景不符。

🎥間接翻譯在影視翻譯中的挑戰
間接翻譯因在資訊的傳遞上具有便利性，在實務上仍被廣泛使用，然而其侷限在即時性與品質要求的情境中逐漸顯現，影視字幕翻譯便是一個具代表性的例子。
如今串流平台盛行，跨國串流平台除了上架已播畢節目、購買新推出節目的跟播權，也積極投入自製節目的開發與製作。因播放權為分區代理，有些節目僅能在特定地區播放，因此不需要提供所有語言的字幕，但獲得全球串流獨播權的節目以及自製節目不受此限，各國用戶皆能收看。如何管理數十種語言的翻譯內容和品質，以及處理影視翻譯最重要的文化要素，對平台乃一大挑戰。
在這種情況下，整個翻譯流程勢必需要多人協力完成。Cheong 與 Lim（2024）因此在論文《Relay Translation as Collaboration》提出「接力翻譯」（Relay translation）的概念，用以描述這種以協作為核心的翻譯模式。

📖接力翻譯的協作模式
廣義而言，接力翻譯與間接翻譯同樣都是「翻譯的翻譯」。兩者不同之處在於，接力翻譯引入了「樞紐模板」（Pivot template）與「文化註釋」（Cultural annotation）這兩個關鍵元素。
樞軸模板相當於前面間接翻譯所使用的「媒介」，也是一種譯本，和一般字幕翻譯不同，其特色在於多為直譯而較少採用歸化技巧。樞軸語言（Pivot language）是原文本傳換至樞軸模板使用的中介語，通常為英文，主要因為譯者數量充沛以及成本較低（Pięta et al., 2023）。為避免文化要素在兩次不同語言的轉換中消失，樞軸模板會有大量的文化註釋輔助第二位譯者翻譯。比如說，中文的阿姨、姑姑、嬸嬸、伯母翻成英文一律都是aunt，但是像韓文、越南文和阿拉伯文也像中文有所區分，此時文化註釋應註明該名角色的關係，以免譯者混淆，都譯成同一種稱呼。或是原文可能使用了雙關語或諧音梗，文化註釋應提醒譯者原文的意思、笑點和使用技巧。
接力翻譯一開始會先製作原始字幕與時間軸，接著外部譯者會先翻譯，完成樞紐模板初稿，平台內部的樞紐模板製作者（Pivot templator）再進行審校，補充文化註釋並調整模板的語意與格式，確認無誤後才會再交由其他語言的譯者進行第二次轉換。
儘管樞紐模板經過多人把關，Cheong 與 Lim（2024）在論文中指出，目前有關文化註釋的標準還不夠明確，多仰賴譯者經驗判斷且品質不一，仍有完善空間。

🌟當接力翻譯成為常態：實務上的挑戰與未來展望
接力翻譯目前讓許多原本受限於語言門檻的跨國影視作品，能夠被快速轉換為多種語言，讓來自不同文化背景的觀眾即時觀賞最新內容，加速全球影視作品的流通。接力翻譯雖然是影視產業發展出來的產物，但其系統流程化、多語同步的優勢，或許在未來有潛力拓展到其他領域應用，讓文化要素在轉換中得以保留。

參考資料：
Cheong, H.-J., & Lim, H.-K. (2024). Relay translation as collaboration: A case study of how multilingual subtitling for global streaming services showcases a new mode of collaborative translation. INContext Studies in Translation and Interculturalism, 4(2), 102–135. https://doi.org/10.54754/incontext.v4i2.115
Dizdar, Dilek. (2009). Translational transitions: “Translation proper” and translation studies in the humanities. Translation Studies, 2(1), 89-102. https://doi. org/10.1080/14781700802496274
Giuseppe Palumbo. (2009) Key Terms in Translation Studies
Pięta, Hanna. (2019). Indirect translation: Main trends in practice and research. Slovo.ru: Baltic Accent, 10(1), 21-36. https://doi.org/10.5922/2225-5346-2019-1-2
Pięta, H., Valdez, S., Torres-Simón, E., & Menezes, R. (2023). Pivot templators’ challenges and training: Insights from a survey study with subtitlers and subtitler trainers. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 28(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ikala.v28n2a02
Netflix, Inc. (n.d.). KNP Source Term Creation & Translation Guidelines. Netflix Partner Help Center. https://partnerhelp.netflixstudios.com/hc/en-us/articles/5106640597011-KNP-Source-Term-Creation-Translation-Guidelines
Riley, L. (2023, July 3). Pivot templates through the eyes of a Translation student. Leiden Translation Blog. https://leidentranslation.wordpress.com/2023/07/03/pivot-templates-through-the-eyes-of-a-translation-student/
陳碩文（2019）。「這奇異的旅程！」：周瘦鵑的亞森羅蘋小說翻譯與民初上海。政大中文學報，第三十二期，39–86。https://bdcl.nccu.edu.tw/zh_tw/paper/2016/%E6%94%BF%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87%E5%AD%B8%E5%A0%B1-%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%89%E5%8D%81%E4%BA%8C%E6%9C%9F-72243131
宋瑛堂（2021年3月10日）。〈小語種譯者難尋，「二手轉譯」又暗藏陷阱！〉，《宋瑛堂翻譯專欄》。取自 https://okapi.books.com.tw/article/14383

03/02/2026

Language Access matters!

02/27/2026

At the end of January, our Assistant Project Manager Samuel Haecker read six poems in translation originally by the German poet Curt Bloch as part of a presentation and exhibition on the poet's life at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Bloch was in hiding in the Netherlands during World War II and began to write poetry in both German and Dutch, creating a series of 96 collaged magazines under the title 'Het Onderwater Cabaret' (The Underwater Cabaret) which were circulated among a small, tight-knit group. Samuel Haecker's translations of his poems mark the first time his work has been translated into English, and this is the first Curt Bloch event presented to an English-speaking audience.

Bloch's poetry is particularly marked by its high emphasis on rhythm, meter, and rhyme, which resulted in a challenge for translation in order to capture both the poems' content as well as their musicality. The poems themselves deal with both humorous themes, such as the poem "The Animals' Beef' imagining animals' gripes with the war, as well as more somber ones, such as Bloch's poem-letter 'A Greeting' addressed to his sister, who was taken to a concentration camp in 1943.

After the event, Samuel received a poster with all of the magazine issues depicted on it as commemoration for his literary translation work. The Bloch project is looking to host further events on-site in New York in the fall of 2026 and Samuel is now working to translate more of Bloch's poetry for a possible English publication in the future.

You can learn more about the project and read Samuel's translations at curt-bloch.com.

01/30/2026

For common names and everyday phrases, equivalents usually exist. But in real-world language work, technical and institutional terms often don’t translate neatly. The rarer the language, the harder it is to find a true equivalent—whether for an agency name, a legal concept, or a technical expression.

It was a good reminder that language work isn’t just about accuracy—it’s about context, intent, and judgment, especially when no perfect match exists.
What’s your experience with hard-to-translate or hard-to-interpret terms?

Not everything is “translatable.” Our long-time collaborator Yiwen Chang (Kathy) recently shared insights on so-called “untranslatables.” (For clarity: the scenario she mentioned was not an aLB assignment.) For common names and everyday phrases, equivalents usually exist. But in real-world l...

12/20/2025

Being kind and willing to make a difference are the guiding principles for us in 2026. We may not be able to change the world nor stop its changes from happening, but perhaps the little difference in our daily work can make a bigger impact someday soon.

09/30/2025

At aLanguageBank, we are proud to have published translators, poets, writers, and a former translation professor among our team. Every day, we are blessed to work with so many language professionals who commit themselves to accuracy, nuance, and humanity. Through their renditions, translators and interpreters ensure that voices are heard, rights are protected, and creativity is shared in meaningful ways.

We want to give a big shoutout to our translators and interpreters — their expertise, resilience, and heart make aLB’s mission possible.

On this International Translation Day, as we reflect on the path behind us, we also want to highlight the vital role of translation in the years ahead. As technology and international collaboration grow, your work will be the essential link that bridges cultures and makes education, healthcare, and innovation accessible to people everywhere.

To all translators and interpreters: thank you for being guardians of meaning and conduits of communication.

Happy International Translation Day!

05/23/2025

The language industry is soaring with AI innovation. The May edition of MultiLingual: Language Technology dives into how large language models are revolutionizing translation, interpretation, and transcription, making global communication faster and more accessible. From real-time speech translation on platforms like Google Meet to AI-driven transcription, technology is transforming how we connect across cultures.

Yet, AI isn’t fully capable of catching all the nuances of certain cultures and languages, where human expertise remains vital. At aLanguageBank, we’re thrilled to harness these advancements alongside our human touch to deliver accurate and timely localization services!

I encourage everyone to check out the latest May 2025 edition of MultiLingual for a deeper insight on language technology!

🔗 https://multilingual.com/magazine/may-2025/

With the emergence of large language models in the 21st century, we find ourselves in the midst of another technology revolution. In the May edition of MultiLingual magazine, we explore the modern landscape of language technology.

05/16/2025

Language Fact Friday: The World’s Smallest Vocabulary

Did you know there’s a language out there that gets by without “one, two, three…”? Enter Pirahã, spoken by an Amazonian community, which famously uses only two quantity terms: “hói” (few) and “hoí” (many).

Why it matters:

Simplicity in Action: Pirahã speakers navigate daily life—trade, resource sharing, storytelling—without exact numbers.

Cultural Lens: It reminds us that language reflects what a community truly values and needs.

Innovation Spark: How might simplifying complex ideas drive clearer communication in our own work?

👇 Let’s discuss!
How could you apply the “less is more” mindset from Pirahã to:

Presentations that cut to the chase?

Project briefs that highlight only what truly matters?

Team communications that eliminate noise and ambiguity?

Share your thoughts or experiences below. 👇

03/20/2025

Our pledge to DEI https://conta.cc/4ij3Mk9

Email from Language Bank, Inc. Our pledge to DEI.   I picked up the book “Data-Driven DEI: The Tools and Metrics You Need to Measure, Analyze, and Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” by Dr. Rand