Nowadays, in an era of globalization and constant rush, video materials for films, series, adverts, presentations or messages are the most easily digestible form of information. This means they are the preferred forms of disseminating content and information to a wide audience, distributed and viewed all over the world. The audiovisual translations that we provide for our clients enable them to reach recipients from every corner of the world, all in the recipients’ native languages, which further facilitates the understanding of the message being conveyed.
CARE International is a world-renowned humanitarian organization fighting poverty and discrimination. They place special emphasis on cooperating with girls and women, constantly and tirelessly taking actions for their benefit in every corner of the world. The motto of the organization is about tackling the root causes of poverty and offering support aimed at long-term change. This goal is accomplished through programs that empower women to lift families and even communities out of poverty. In 2022 alone, CARE International was present in over 111 countries, reaching 174 million people through almost 1,631 projects.
They came to us with a question about the possibility of providing a translation from Ukrainian into English of interviews conducted with a group of refugee women from Ukraine in a relatively short time. Their requirement was to prepare the translation in SRT/VTT files, ready to be uploaded to the prepared video materials. Of course, this is not a problem, because our translators use the latest software to easily obtain text files with timestamps in the appropriate format. The problem was the quality of the recordings, which differed greatly in their quality. Additional noises in the background were not surprising (considering where and under what conditions the recordings were made), but they certainly did not help. What is worse is that the statements of the traumatized women were often incoherent or unclear, they themselves were from different regions of Ukraine and often had different dialects and accents.
We knew that we could generate timestamps using the latest software available at our office. As for the text itself, it was especially important to us that the voice of people who, despite their difficult situations, found the strength to tell their stories, which should be conveyed as accurately as possible. The project manager therefore selected a group of linguists from Ukraine, and divided the material between them by matching the dialects to those that are best known to our translators. As a result, fragments that were unclear, incomprehensible or used nuances imperceptible to a foreigner were accurately deciphered by our native speakers. We deliberately chose to only use the transcription software to prepare the timestamps, knowing that it would be unlikely to cope with the quality and specificity of the text, plus we also wanted to convey the emotions that could be heard on the recordings.
Our experienced team of translators, along with the support from our new technologies, allowed us to achieve the efficient implementation of the task, with all the files in the desired format and within the expected time. For us, the most important element was that the stories of these people affected by the conflict in Ukraine were conveyed as faithfully as possible and, thanks to our client, can be published all over the world. Finally, the project provided an opportunity for translators, who often found themselves in a difficult financial situation while remaining in war-torn Ukraine, to earn money which, incidentally, coincided with our client’s aims as an aid organization.
Does your organization or company conduct activities aimed at people from different cultures and speaking different languages in Poland and abroad? If you seek to faithfully reproduce the content found in video materials using the latest technologies, while taking care to convey the emotions and intentions, please contact us. We can support you in the preparation of professional multilingual audiovisual materials that enable you to reach an international audience with your message.
