tahiti

2008年07月25日

如果在国外旅行时迷失在了陌生的语言里，那么通常的解决办法是：疯狂打手势，就像是玩看手势猜字谜游戏；使用一本值得信赖的短语手册；或者寄希望于身旁有位懂外语的路人。

不过口译公司正在盼望着你能使用另一个工具：你的手机。他们的服务将向你提供24小时的双语口译；你通过手机拨打服务电话，用英语解释遇到的困难，然后将手机交给你需要交流的对象──出租车司机、服务生、警察、医生，甚至是在酒吧里遇到的心仪对象。

电话口译行业正在逐步扩张。他们的目标客户大多是那些使用多种语言做生意的公司。Common SenseAdvisory提供的数据显示，这一行业2007年的销售额为7亿美元，预计到2012年将增长到12亿美元。Common Sense Advisory是一家专业从事商业全球化和语言服务行业研究的公司。

我们在不同国家对四家公司进行了测试，为的是调查一下电话口译服务在处理两类游客遇到的典型场景时──复杂的餐厅点菜和乘出租车出行──能否称得上是一种不错的解决方式。我们的记者在餐厅点菜时使出了些小手段，比如在法国要求吃素食，而在印度尼西亚的雅加达则提出对花生过敏。出租车司机则被要求到达一个目的地，在我们办事期间等候，然后再前往下一个目的地。

我们的测试也有局限──我们不能假装突然生病、护照被偷或者是在国外购置房产，而口译公司表示，有些客户认为，在这类让人神经紧张的事情上面，他们的服务是最有用的。

整体而言，我们发现这项服务的收费颇高。在雅加达，我们为吃饭和乘出租车花了大约30美元，而在点餐和给出租车指路的10分钟左右的口译服务上面却花了大约 40美元。我们测试的公司中价格最便宜的是华译通(chinaONEcall)，每分钟初始收费1.48美元，随着分钟数的增加收费会变得便宜些。

此外，从打进电话到译员接听中间还有时间延迟──一次我们的等待时间超过了5分钟。所以我们认为，最好提早些打电话，而不要等到满脸困惑的出租车司机焦急地等待你说出目的地的时候。

在雅加达，我们对一家总部设在美国的翻译和口译服务公司、也是全球最大的电话口译服务公司LanguageLine Services进行了测试。他们的个人口译服务易于注册和使用。我们从打进电话到译员接听的等待时间从未超过两分钟。

我们从一家中餐馆打进电话，给译员列出了一长串我们希望点的菜品名称，并对每道菜提出了具体要求，还告诉译员说我们请来的客人对花生过敏。我们发现这名译员的表现令人印象深刻：她再三确认这家中餐馆的服务生不止会说中文，还会说印尼语，这显示了她对当地情况的熟悉。她向服务生介绍了自己的身份，在挂电话前还对我们说了句“祝你们好胃口”。而端上来的菜也十分符合我们的要求。

我们在雅加达乘出租车出行也非常顺利，翻译似乎了解当地情况，帮助司机找到了我们要去的目的地。

不过我们发觉，每分钟3.95美元的费用对于随意使用这项服务显得太过昂贵了。该公司表示，和标准国际呼叫收费而言，这项服务已经算是便宜了，而且呼叫人只需为与翻译实际交流的时间付费。该公司提供的免费号码只在北美地区以内有效。

在巴黎，我们对一家新创立的英国公司CallUma进行了测试。该公司通过一整套套餐服务为海外游客提供“帮助”，它的其他服务包括提供追踪行李的特殊行李标签、接待服务以及一项针对翻译和请求的短信息服务。

我们使用电话口译服务的做法在这里并没有受到特别的欢迎。我们在荣军院附近的一家巴黎餐厅通过电话口译服务要求点一餐素食，我们把手机递给服务生，当服务生和一名周到客气的译员进行了几分钟的对话之后，他放下电话，然后用英语问道，“你们喜欢吃鲑鱼吗？”脸上还带着近乎轻蔑的神情。

在出租车等候区，我们等了5分多钟才和法语译员通上话，这让等候的出租车司机们困惑不已，因为我们放过了好几辆车。该公司表示，我们的记者拨打了客户服务电话，而非我们在餐厅拨打的那个号码，因此延误了和译员的通话。

当终于和译员通上电话以后，我们好不容易才说服一名出租车司机让我们上了车。司机接过电话后不知所措，他先是在手机屏幕上查找短信息。最终，译员传达了我们的要求，我们得以上路了。该公司后来说，如果我们通过短信息来获得文字说明，事情会变得容易些。

该公司可将英语翻译成18种其他语言，最便宜的套餐服务年收费38.86美元，其中包括15分钟的电话协助，外加行李标签、无限的短信息翻译、紧急协助和一系列其他优惠。额外呼叫每分钟收费1.89美元。用户可以通过呼叫一个英国或美国的电话号码来获取这项服务，该公司计划增加更多的本地电话线路。

在北京，我们的测试对象是华译通。这是一家新近开业的总部设在英、中两地的公司，面向独立用户提供英语和汉语普通话的双向翻译。前60分钟的初始收费为89 美元，也就是大约每分钟1.48美元，不过之后的收费要便宜些。而且，用户只需拨打一个中国本地号码就可使用这一服务。

不过，我们的记者发现这家公司的口译水平还有所欠缺。我们要求译员告诉司机带我们去摩码大厦(MomaTowers)，不过没有马上得到译员的响应，我们推测这名译员并不知道这个地名的正确译法。这样打了一个回合之后，我们提到了大厦的中文名字，出租车这才顺利地上了路。

后来，该公司又听取了我们记者的来电录音。（在我们事后找到这些口译公司、要求他们对我们的测试置评时，好几家公司都存有我们的电话记录。）他们说，那名译员当时正在上网查找我们到底希望前往北京两处摩码大厦中的哪一处，这导致了交流的不畅。该公司的营运负责人格雷格•辛克莱(Greg Sinclair)表示，这名译员应该表现得更加“自信，向客户解释自己在做什么，不过我感觉译员达到了客户的目标，也控制了局面。”

我们又来到了北京的一家中东餐厅，不过当我们要求译员帮我们点豆酱、烤肉和薄荷茶的时候，这名译员完全不知道这些食品的译法，即便在我们拼出几个单词之后也如是。最后，这名译员让我们告诉他我们看中的那些菜品的编号，再由他来告诉服务生。该公司表示，由于客户是按分钟付费的，译员希望尽快结束通话，于是决定询问客户这道菜的编号，这样就比查找菜名的翻译更为快捷了。

在印度新德里，我们测试的公司是Language Translation Inc.，这是一家美国的翻译和口译服务公司，在年年初开辟了24小时电话口译服务。在南部德里的一家餐厅落座之后，我们打电话告诉译员说，我们希望服务生推荐一种不含小麦的菜品。电话很快接通，我们将电话交给服务生，服务生立即将电话交给了领班，由他和译员交流了几分钟。在询问了一系列问题、交换了几次意见之后，我们决定点煎饼（一种大大的南印度风味的薄饼），服务生通过译员再三许诺说这道菜一直以来都是用大米制作的。而各方对这种反反复复的沟通似乎都并不介意。

乘出租车出行也很顺利，不过当我们想在搭乘机动三轮时使用这项服务时，发现嘈杂的街道让我们难以和译员交流，而且时断时续的手机信号也意味着我们必须几次打进电话才能向司机传达出完整的信息，并就价格达成一致。这家公司提供150多种语言的口译服务，收费为每分钟2.20美元。

总而言之，在日常活动中，我们仍然更喜欢打手势或者使用一本好的短语手册，尤其是在口译服务的价码如此高昂的情况下。不过，我们绝对相信，对于处理国外的紧急状况或者是在要求精准翻译的情况下，这项服务还是派得上用场的。

Sarah Nassauer

If you find yourself lost in translation while traveling abroad there are the usual fixes — gesturing wildly as if playing the game charades, using a trusty phrase book, or hoping for the help of a bilingual bystander.

But interpretation companies are hoping you use another tool: your cellphone. These services aim to give you access to a 24-hour bilingual interpreter; you call the service on your cellphone, explain your dilemma in English, then hand over the phone to whomever you need to speak with — cab driver, waiter, police officer, doctor, or the ob<x>ject of your affection in a bar.

Over-the-phone interpretation, mostly aimed at companies that conduct business in several languages, is expanding. The industry saw $700 million in sales in 2007, and is expected to grow to $1.2 billion by 2012, according to Common Sense Advisory, a research firm specializing in business globalization and the language-services industry.

We tested four companies in different countries to see if the over-the-phone interpretation services proved a good way to deal with two classic traveler scenarios — a complex restaurant order and a taxi ride. Our reporters placed restaurant orders with a twist like a vegetarian meal in France and factored in a peanut allergy in Jakarta, Indonesia. And our taxi drivers were asked to go to a destination, wait outside while we attended to our business, then head to another destination.

Our tests had some limitations — we couldn’t fake a medical emergency, a stolen passport or buying a home abroad — the types of stressful things for which interpretation companies say some customers find their service most useful.

Across the board we found the services fairly expensive. In Jakarta, we spent about $30 on dinner and the cab ride, but about $40 for 10 minutes or so of the interpretation service we used to order dinner and direct the taxi. The cheapest service we tested was chinaONEcall, at $1.48 per minute initially but cheaper as minutes are added.

And there was a lag between the moment a call is placed and the moment an interpreter comes on the phone — in one case more than five minutes. So we learned it is best to call slightly before you find yourself face-to-face with a confused cab driver waiting anxiously for your direction.

In Jakarta we tested Language Line Services, a U.S.-ba<x>sed translation and interpretation service and the largest telephone interpretation service in the world. Their Personal Interpretation Service was easy to sign up for and use. We never had to wait more than two minutes between the time we called and the moment an interpreter came on the line.

We called the service from a Chinese restaurant, giving the interpreter a long list of items we wanted to order, noting specifics about how we preferred each dish and informing the interpreter of our dinner guest’s peanut allergy. We found the interpreter impressive: She double-checked that the waiter at the Chinese restaurant spoke Indonesian, not only Chinese, showing local knowledge. She explained to the waiter who she was, adding ‘bon appetit,’ to us before saying goodbye. The order came exactly as requested.

Our Jakarta cab ride also went off without a hitch and the interpreter appeared to have local knowledge, helping the cab driver get to the location we requested.

But we felt the service was too expensive for casual use at $3.95 per minute. The company says the service is cheap compared with standard international calling charges, and the caller is billed only for the time actually spent with an interpreter. But the toll-free number provided by the company works only within North America.

In Paris, we tested CallUma, a new U.K.-ba<x>sed service that says it provides ‘help’ abroad by offering other types of traveler services in its packages, such as special luggage tags that track baggage, concierge service, and a text-messaging feature for translations and requests.

Our efforts weren’t particularly welcome. When we handed over our cellphone to ask for a vegetarian meal at a Paris restaurant near Invalides, the waiter spoke to a thorough and polite interpreter for several minutes, then put down the phone and asked us in English ‘do you like trout?’ with a look of almost contempt.

At a taxi stand, we had to wait more than five minutes to be connected to a French translator, causing confusion within the row of cab drivers as we passed up getting into several cars. The company says our reporter called a customer-service number, not the same number we used for our restaurant test, which delayed the connection to an interpreter.

It took some cajoling for a cab driver to let us into his car after we finally got an interpreter on the line. When the driver took the phone he didn’t know what to do with it, first looking for a text message on the screen. Eventually, an interpreter got our request across and we made the journey. The company later said it would have been easier if we had asked for written directions via text message.

The company translates from English into 18 other languages, and the cheapest package costs $38.86 per year, which includes 15 minutes of over-the-phone assistance, plus baggage tags, unlimited text translations, emergency assistance and a host of other benefits. Additional minutes are $1.89 per minute. Users can call a U.K. or U.S. number for service, but the company plans to add more local call-in lines.

In Beijing we tested chinaONEcall, a recently opened U.K./China-ba<x>sed company that translates only between English and Mandarin (and vice versa) and is geared toward independent users. The initial cost is $89 for 60 minutes, or about $1.48 per minute, but refills are cheaper. And users call a local Chinese number for service.

But our reporter found the quality of the interpretation lacking. We asked the interpreter to take us to the Moma Towers, but didn’t get an immediate translation, so we assumed the interpreter didn’t know the correct word in Mandarin. After a back and forth, we mentioned the Mandarin name and got on the road.

Later, the company went back and listened to a recording of our reporter’s calls. (Several companies had our calls on file when we checked in with them later to get their response to our tests.) They said the interpreter was online trying to figure out which of two Moma Towers in Beijing we wanted, causing a lag in communication. The interpreter should have been more ‘confident and explained to the customer exactly what they were doing but I feel they achieved the customer’s goals and managed the situation,’ says Greg Sinclair, operations director for the company.

We ate at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Beijing, but when we asked the interpreter to order humus, kebab and mint tea, the interpreter didn’t recognize those foods even after we spelled out a few of the words. In the end, the interpreter asked us to tell him the numbers next to the food we wanted and he told the waiter. The company says interpreters want to complete the call as quickly as possible because customers are paying per minute, so decided that asking the customer the numbers was faster then researching a translation for the cuisine.

In New Delhi, India, we tested Language Translation Inc., a U.S.-ba<x>sed translation and interpretation services that started a 24-hour telephone interpretation services early this year. After sitting down in a restaurant in southern Delhi, we called the interpreter to explain that we wanted a wheat-free recommendation from the waiter. After being connected quickly, we passed the phone to the waiter, who immediately gave it to a superior who spoke to the interpreter for several minutes. After a series of questions and passing the phone back and forth we decided to order a dosa (a large south Indian style crepe), which the waiter promised via the interpreter is ‘always, always’ made with rice. All parties seemed tolerant of the back and forth.

A cab ride also went smoothly, though when we attempted to use the service for an autorickshaw ride we found the loud street noise made it difficult for us to communicate with the interpreter, and a patchy cellphone connection meant we had to call back several times to complete our instructions to the driver and agree on a price. The company offers over 150 languages and costs $2.20 per minute.

In the end, we still prefer our old charades gestures or a good phrase book for communicating in most everyday situations, especially given the steep prices for the interpreter services. But we definitely think the services would come in handy in an out-of-country emergency or a situation where a precise translation is required.

Sarah Nassauer