We believe that we provide the students with an opportunity to enter the business world and get the much needed first experiences through our Summer School and Internship programs. Our cooperation with the regional universities showed that there is a great need for this type of programs. This is the reason why we strive to introduce positive changes in education, as well as in the further development of the students’ careers.

In addition to the students, we also need to thank Sara Demiri, our human resources manager.

“The gap between the higher education and the market needs is a frequent topic in every industry, including translation and localization. There are several reasons for this, but we are not focused on the reason, but on solutions and methods to narrow the gap between the linguistic and the technical skills.

We are extremely glad that eSTUDENT has recognized our contribution to the academic community for several years. One of the key values of our company is the partnership that we create in collaboration with the academic community, building a kind of a bridge between theory and practice and narrowing the gap between the academia and the industry.”

We are proud to receive this award and we thank all the students and the student associations who recognized our efforts to bring new knowledge and skills into their lives.

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The students were introduced to the technologies and procedures of a professional translation environment, including the introduction to the fundamentals of localization and globalization, different types of language solutions, language industry standards, CAT and QA tools, and possible occupations and career development in the translation industry.

Ciklopea Summer School is an extension of university education, providing the future translators and professional linguists with an opportunity to gain insight into the world of professional language services and practical knowledge before their first professional experiences. In addition, it provides us, as a language service provider, with an opportunity to recognize the needs and expectations of our younger colleagues and tailor the school program accordingly.

Download our eBook Ciklopea Summer School – Lessons Learned for more stories.

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The Department of Information and Communication Sciences of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb and Ciklopea have been collaborating for many years on internships, summer school and guest lectures and four of our students are now Ciklopea employees. They all work in the newly formed technical department and I believe one of your department managers is also our alumna.

To what extent do you believe that our universities prepare the students for work in the language industry?

Information and communication technologies have become irreplaceable in every field, including the language industry. Application of information and communication technologies represents an essential professional skill in today’s world of global communication, but it involves much more than knowing how to use specific tools. We strive to make our students competent by providing them with a vast knowledge base that will help them choose their desired career later on. The language industry demands a versatile person with technical, information-communicational, organizational, linguistic and marketing knowledge and skills. Knowledge and application of technologies, development of new solutions (such as databases and applications) and new models of integrated systems, quality assurance, process automation and business analysis are in high demand. This is a particularly multidisciplinary field that is continuously developing and we use the knowledge and experience acquired through scientific research and practice to improve education and teaching.

What are the skills that universities should be more focused on developing in students?

Practical experience is extremely important, as well as teamwork and independent research work. The students need to know theory to understand their current level of knowledge, and through their development they can recognize the different approach and application methods, limitations, assessments etc. Software licenses used to be much of an issue until very recently, but many software companies have come to understand the importance of their collaboration with the academia, so we have entered into different agreements on academic use of software packages and resources.

What is Ciklopea’s contribution to preparing young people for the job market through various projects such as the Summer School and internships?

Ciklopea has recognized the importance of such projects and the summer school provides young people with a set of new skills and knowledge, especially for those who didn’t have a similar curriculum at university.

Do you think such projects are useful?

I believe these projects are extremely useful both for the company and for young people, for whom they open up new opportunities.

Are the young graduates without any professional experience ready to work in the language industry?

I believe the students who study information and communication sciences and lingustics are a perfect match. There are various courses covering language engineering, technology application, the necessary technical skills, database development, programming etc. at the Department. The course on language technology is open to other students as well, as an optional course. Judging by the feedback that I received, our students are doing well, but it goes without saying that the required experience comes from work, with subsequent specialization and career development providing for further research work.

We’ve had a student from the Republic of Macedonia for the first time this year. What are your thoughts on that?

The language industry and global communication have no boundaries and collaboration is always welcome.

Do you think there is still room for improvement in the collaboration between Ciklopea and the university? What else do you think we could do for the academic community?

There is always room for improvement, which only serves to benefit everyone involved. I believe there is a significant interest for the summer school in areas of programming skills and business automation. We are also always open to collaboration through guest lectures, where students can ask questions, or through specific workshops.

What part of the Summer School do you think was the most useful to students?

Seeing the practical workflow of file processing – from order receipt, project management, application of technology, problem management, quality assurance, delivery and the importance of communication with the client at all stages. It is important to understand the technology, but it is also crucial to understand the work process and the importance of good communication.

What was the most interesting part of the Summer School for you? Was there a particularly interesting moment?

I was really pleasantly surprised with the working atmosphere in the company – it’s very professional and dynamic, but also positive and relaxed. Good human relations, good communication and sharing a cup of coffee surely contribute to the performance.

You are a highly knowledgeable and competent person. But was there something that you learned at the Summer School? 🙂

Of course. That’s the challenge in this line of work – continuous improvement and finding new opportunities. Is there any better news than the all-round satisfaction of the academia, and the industry, and young people deciding to remain in Croatia?

The post Collaboration between the Language Industry and the Academic Community: Interview with Sanja Seljan appeared first on Ciklopea.

Do you have any aggregated data that show or indicate cost/time savings effect of Verifika QA? 

We rely on our client’s feedback.

They found Verifika to be effective in different applications. A client used Verifika to check terminology in 1041 files instead of a built-in QA feature in the CAT software. Verifika does this swiftly, while processing of a large number of files in a standard CAT tool may take hours and there is always a risk of program freezes.

Although QA software has a great traction in the market, applications may vary from one company to another. A client can benefit a lot from one particular feature. For example, a pharmaceutical giant highly values our back terminology check and powerful check for untranslatable terms. Proofreading had always been a bottleneck in their process, but Verifika made their localization process highly scalable and unified.

Aleksander Gilev

What’s your estimate of cost/time expenses of translation double-checking without using a tool like Verifika QA? 

I’ll share our client’s opinion: five people did the proofreading of practical manuals at a time. They all experienced decrease of attention after 3.5-4 hours of this tedious work and started omitting mistakes. When they started using Verifika, the decrease of attention was no longer an issue. Verifika embraces a system of multiple rechecks, which prevents proofreaders from making a wrong correction.

What features are unique to Verifika? 

Verifika does not only detects errors but also let you correct them from within the software.

Therefore, users perform corrections without hopping around from one software to another. To make this possible, Verifika has a thorough support of all popular file formats. If a client has already switched to a cloud CAT tool, Verifika offers integration with the four most popular cloud CAT tools on the market.

What are the common translation errors that Verifika always detects?

Verifika leverages 49 quality checks pre-set with language specific standards. It enables Verifika to detect accuracy, fluency, terminology errors, and even some stylistic errors (in case there is a customer’s style guide).

What is your vision of the future of software solutions for the language industry and of the language industry itself?

Personally, I think that people in the language industry should be aware of the arrival of the AI age.

AI-assisted translation will lead rapid transformation and eventually ease communication to the extent when “translation” becomes an archaic word. Translation QA software derives from translation imperfections, which is a human factor. For example, translators usually make typos trying to keep up with the fast business pace to make a living. AI technologies are developing very fast. Fewer people are involved in translation, they make less errors, there is less demand for QA. In short terms QA will transform and it will eventually disappear.

Are there any interesting trends among your users that you have noticed?

Automation of everything that can be autoamted. Unification.

What’s Verifika’s greatest challenge in development of their QA tool?

Performing a QA of software designed for QA. People are relying on Verifika, so you need to make sure that every nuance of the check counts.

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We invite the degree candidates and the graduate students of language studies (English and German studies) from the region of Southeast Europe (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia), who are willing to expand their knowledge and advance in their profession to submit their applications via the form below until 15 July 2017.

This year, Ciklopea is sponsoring two students, one from Albania and one from Macedonia, because we want to provide an opportunity for the best students from these countries.

The aim of the Summer School is to establish the first contact between the students of the linguistic studies and the language industry, their development and advancement, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience, all to make the students – the future professional translators – ready for the professional challenges lying ahead and to make their transition to the professional world as successful as possible.

Submit your CV (in English, Croatian, Serbian or Slovenian) and explain why it is you who should be selected as a student of our summer school!

We are looking forward to your application!

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This year’s Ciklopea Summer School took place in Zagreb from 22nd August to 2nd September 2016 and was attended by 11 linguistics students from Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. The second edition of the Summer School was a continuation of Ciklopea’s efforts to enhance cooperation between the academic communities and the translation industry in the region of Southeast Europe.

The students were introduced to the technologies and procedures of a professional translation environment, including the introduction to the fundamentals of localization and globalization, different types of language services, language industry standards, CAT and QA tools, and possible occupations and career development in the translation industry.

Ciklopea Summer School represents an extension of university education, providing the future translators and professional linguists with an opportunity to gain insight into the world of professional language services and practical knowledge before their first professional experiences. In addition, it provides us, as a language service provider, with an opportunity to recognize the needs and expectations of our younger colleagues and tailor the school programme accordingly.

We are happy to report that this year’s Summer School repeated the success of the first one on all levels. We would like to thank our attendees from Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, the Ciklopea team and our technical partners for making Ciklopea Summer School 2016 another great experience. We hope the next year’s Summer School will attract even more students from all countries of the Southeast Europe.

The post Ciklopea Summer School 2016: The Story Goes On (Video) appeared first on Ciklopea.

The aim of the Summer School is to establish the first contact between the students of the linguistic studies and the language industry, their development and advancement, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience, all to make the students, i.e. the professional translators to be, as ready as possible to keep up with the professional challenges lying ahead of them and to make their transition to the working world as successful as possible.

We are taking this opportunity to invite the degree candidates and graduate students of language studies (English and German language) from the entire region of Southeast Europe (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania), who are willing to expand their knowledge and advance in their profession to apply for Ciklopea Summer School in Zagreb, taking place between 22 August and 2 September 2016.

For more information about the application and the deadline, please click here.

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Mirza Dindić, Bosnia and Herzegovina

„Coming from a country which lacks a real agency and by that fact alone, all the necessary tools a translator needs to possess as a part of his/her knowledge, Ciklopea Summer School 2015 provided me with key knowledge every student, not only student but also people who graduated, needs to have in order to be competitive on the market. I have acquired knowledge about CAT tools and QA tools as well. However, all of that knowledge would mean nothing, if we have not had a practice which involved translating texts from different areas (from medicine, technology, industry, IT to basic manuals of different sort) while working in CAT and QA tools. Also, I had unique experience of seeing firsthand how one agency works and what kind of jobs one could aim for in the future. It gave me an opportunity to see that, contrary to popular belief that one who decides to study English language and literature must be a teacher, I can opt for being a translator and be successful as well..“

Barbara Omahen, Slovenia

„ I have to admit that I had had my doubts about the whole thing before the school started, as my previous experiences from similar projects were not really great. The supervisors used to be busy and never seemed to have the time enough for the attendees who were left on their own. However, all my doubts were gone really soon. We learned how to work in CAT tools that I had never used beore and attended the useful lectures and workshops that helped us understand the work at a professional translation agency.

The attitude of the employees was largely relaxed and positive and the good working atmosphere that could be felt in the air spread on the attendees. I was pleasantly surprised. A supervisor was always there for us, ready to advise us on various technical matters and dilemmas. We followed the guidelines and received feedback information.”

Ana Mateja Vuković, Croatia

„The lectures were exceptionally conceived, interesting and informative. After we had been introduced to the professional terminology of translating and to the basics of CAT tools, we had the practice work on texts from various areas – tourism, marketing, medicine, IT and many more. What really helped us make a steady progress during the two weeks of the Summer school was the analysis of our translated texts and the proofreading reports we received daily. Thus, we had clear feedback information on good linguistic solutions, but also about the areas we may have improve at. In addition to the real translation and proofreading projects, we also got introduced to the professional translation work and the possible occupations and career developments. Being a soon-to-graduate student on the threshold of the professional world, the school gave me an excellent insight into what is ahead of me and helped me decide on my future occupation.“

And all the Summer school attendees agree on the final opinion:

„We heartily recommend Ciklopea summer school to all who consider the career of a professional translator, as it provides an important, professional and educational experience that will surely help in further achievement of professional goals.“

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Jitters, anxiety, would I manage, would I meet the expectations – all of that subsided as soon as I met the Ciklopea team. Relaxed (but working) atmosphere of a day in a translation agency and a warm welcome made me feel impatient for the next morning to begin and new assignments to receive.

Jitters, anxiety, would I manage, would I meet the expectations – all of that subsided as soon as I met the Ciklopea team.

The concept of the Summer School consisted of two parts, where we used the first half of a day for lectures, and the second half for translation practice. We started with general lectures on translation and got to know very important terms in a translation agency, such as localization, computer assisted translation, proofreading, the importance of client‘s instructions… During the translation practice, we translated all those types of text we can receive as an agency translator: marketing and tourism texts, instructions for use, medical text…

I wish to underline that although I familiarized myself at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad with the majority of texts we may work with, Ciklopea provided me with the opportunity to find out about the terms and types of texts I almost knew nothing about. This led to reducing the large gap between the theory lessons in the University and concrete demands of the market.

Mentors and lecturers were full of understanding and patience for the newbies who used the translation tools for the first time. We learned a lot from them as we were talking about translation and some translation tricks, but also about the work in the translation industry.

We also had time to do some sightseeing in Zagreb. The Ciklopea team prepared many surprises for us, such as a visit to the Zagreb Exe viewpoint in the centre of Zagreb, which I will always remember. Just like I won‘t forget the days spent at the Agency, I also won‘t forget the time spent with the rest of the participants and our linguistic discussions.

All in all, the Ciklopea Summer School is a wonderful experience. You don‘t have to think twice about applying if it is organized again.

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The program Ciklopea offered looked promising and I expected to learn a lot. After the end of the Summer School I realized the amount of acquired knowledge went far beyond my expectations. We touched upon all the advantages as well as downsides of a translator’s job which altogether comprise an occasionally stressful and ever-demanding, but, more importantly, intriguing and fun experience.

Ciklopea showed how a great working atmosphere and pleasant and accessible co-workers can make your own work easier and more interesting.

Being surrounded by a group of enthusiastic fellow translators was a pleasant and stimulating circumstance. On one hand, we learned how to communicate with each other and how to help each other out. On the other hand, we learned how to be independent and be able to rely on no one but yourself. Ciklopea showed me what a translation agency is and how it works. I found out what types of jobs there are in the institution as well as what each of the jobs includes and how they are all interdependent. I realized that a carefully selected team can make a powerful human machinery that is able to cope with any problem.

The end of the Summer School came in a blink of an eye. During the school, Ciklopea showed how a great working atmosphere and pleasant and accessible co-workers can make your own work easier and more interesting. Also, I came to understand that there are certain rules a translator must follow, such as respecting deadlines and following clients’ instructions, of course, within the boudaries of what is reasonable.

As a translator, you are an adventurer. You mustn’t ever stop improving your abilities. To do so, you should constantly put yourself to test and eagerly accept new challenges. That is exactly what I intend to do. Therefore, I’m looking forward to future cooperation with Ciklopea team.

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The first Ciklopea Summer School has been attended by 10 students from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Slovenia who were introduced to the professional translation work, the challenges and requests of the professional translation environment, and learned the basics of working in CAT tools.

The pleasure has been mutual and during the following weeks you will have the opportunity to read the personal testimonies by some of the Summer School attendees in which our students and colleagues will share their impressions on collaboration, learning and working at Ciklopea.

The first Ciklopea Summer School ended on a high note and we are certain it will develop into a nice tradition we will continue to follow in the following years.

The post Ciklopea Summer School 2015 – Successful Ending and New Beginnings appeared first on Ciklopea.

In addition to learning to work in various CAT and QA tools, Ciklopea has enabled me to get acquainted with translation of different types of material, ranging from topics concerning industry and technology, business and marketing to medicine and pharmacy. This has enabled me to become experienced in different areas, but also to get orientation and specialization in certain areas, in accordance with my individual preferences.

The main advantages of working at Ciklopea are the excellent working atmosphere, as well as the collaborators who are always willing to help. In addition to supervisors who always provide the feedback required by continuous advancement and development, all the employees are always available to answer any question. The more experienced colleagues are always willing to share their experience and to solve any problem and answer every challenge in a joint effort with the newcomers. This is of utmost importance at the beginning of a career.

A priceless experience such as this one, together with the first step to the world of translation will be there for all who apply for Ciklopea Summer School taking place in August!

The post Professional Translating from a Student’s Perspective: the Story of Vlatka Stojaković appeared first on Ciklopea.

I have learned only here what it really means being a true translator, how to be a team member and cooperate with other translators on various translation projects, but how to be independent as well. I have learned to use the CAT tools and translated various types of material, thus gaining the experience that makes me a better translator with every passing day and that will surely help me in my further career.

Given the fact that the university education needs to be advanced with practice and deeper insights into the challenges translator face every day, I believe it is ideal to start work as early as possible, in a stimulating environment, with colleagues who are willing to share their knowledge and experience with others, and who are a pleasure to work with. I have found all of this at Ciklopea.

This priceless experience and the first step to the world of translation will be provided to all who apply for Ciklopea Summer School, taking place in August!

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In addition to the ongoing organization and giving lectures at the universities with the aim of training young translators and having the Doors Open Days, as well as providing conditions for internships, Ciklopea has taken a step forward and announces the Summer School for students from the region of Southeast Europe in August 2015.

The aim of the Summer School is to make the first contact between the students of the linguistic studies and the language industry, their development and advancement, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience, all to make the students, i.e. the professional translators to be, as ready as possible to keep up with the professional challenges lying ahead and to make their transition to the working world as successful as possible.

Ciklopea is taking this opportunity to invite the degree candidates and graduate students of the linguistic studies (English and German language) from the entire region of Southeast Europe (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania), who are willing to expand their knowledge and advance in their profession to apply for Ciklopea Summer School in Zagreb, taking place between 17th and 28th of August 2015.

For more information about the application and the deadline, please click on the following link.

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