The quarterly of the University of Helsinki

Tapio Ollikainen

Back to spring issue 2004

The Language Services is a case in point of the internationalisation of the University. In 1983 when it was set up within the Language Centre, it received some 300 commissions annually. Today, it gets about 2,000 translation and checking jobs a year. "From 2001 to 2002, the number of revised pages grew 30%," says Annikki Harris, the amanuensis of the unit and coordinator of the revision service, to illustrate the current pace.

Initially, there was only one full-time employee and a few freelancers but today, there are 60 full and part-time people translating and revising in 30 different languages. Courses tailored to staff and businesses, as well as those open to everyone, are also arranged in 30 different languages with a staff of some 70 full and part-time teachers.

A few years ago, a fee was introduced for certain services for University staff and students. At the same time, it became sensible to merge the unit with the fee services unit that had for 10 years charged for translation and training services at the University. The current name of the unit is Language Services. "The good thing about charging a fee is that it became possible to expand our services from units and staff to revising the doctoral dissertations of graduate students. Previously, free revision was available only to those employed by the University and then only for the first 100 pages," Harris says. "In fact, a dissertation of several hundred pages is now cheaper to revise than before because we offer our services at 70% under the market rates."

Titles on the Internet

The full-time English translators at Language Services do not translate research papers but texts from central administration and faculties. The head English translator Irma Hallberg-Rautalin is familiar with the tangles of translating administrative texts. "Terms that are often culture-specific are a challenge. Educational systems differ so much from country to country that you really have to be careful to get the message right," Hallberg-Rautalin says.

The major translation jobs from central administration include research and teaching evaluations. Departments request translations of brochures, conferences programmes, letters of recommendation and websites.

"We are always open to suggestions and try to satisfy our customers' wishes as best we can," unit director Seija Korhonen says. For example, the long-awaited glossary of English titles at the University of Helsinki is available on the net, with a translation for everything from janitor to dean.

"Someone said people have been waiting for this for at least 270 years," says Korhonen.

Another eagerly awaited glossary, one for meeting terminology, will also be published on the net but the work has only just started.

Different beat

Language Services is a multicultural and bi-lingual work community. Of all staff members, less than half were born in Finland and only ten per cent of the revisers. English is the second language in the community. There is a separate unit for Swedish translations of administrative texts at the University.

The multicultural setting is such an integral part of life at Language Services that different cultural backgrounds rarely cause confusion even in practical matters, with the exception of minor schedule-related differences. "People with different cultural backgrounds have a wide range of very interesting backgrounds, which gives our daily life a completely different beat than in a totally Finnish community," Korhonen sums up.

Activities are likely to expand in the future. There is ample demand and interest for jobs. "The work interests young people, which is good because it's time we got some fresh blood, too," Korhonen concludes.

From Kansas to Helsinki

Reviser Henry Fullenwider has a solid academic background. Originally from California, he was a professor of Germanic philology and literature in Kansas for 25 years.

Eventually, Fullenwider grew tired of the difficult-to-teach basic courses; since anyone could get into university, most students lacked motivation. In fact, around 40% of first year students never continued the second year.

Twelve years ago Fullenwider met his wife, a Finnish lady, and they decided to settle in Finland. His career as a reviser of English doctoral dissertations at the University began a couple of years later.

Fullenwider has immense respect for the English skills of Finnish academics. Obviously, there is a need for his services, but he emphasises that writing in a language other than your own is always a daunting task. People think differently in different languages and this shows in the structure of the text.

"When you write in English you should think in English. Not in Finnish first and then translate your thoughts in your head," Fullenwider says.

He says there is a change taking place in the structure of texts between generations. "Thirty-something writers have a train of thought and a way of organising their texts that is more familiar to me. They have quickly adapted to the stylistic demands of increasingly international fields of study. For those in their sixties, the structure of their papers is clearly more Finnish and their beginnings and ends are laborious to change."

So what is a Finnish research paper like, then?

"When I first came to Finland, everyone kept reminding me that Finns write their papers like they were stories. They never say everything in the beginning in order not to reveal the ending - their results - but instead gradually unravel their narrative."

Avoid the passive

Fullenwider says the passive form, so common in Finnish writing, which emphasises the virtue of modesty, is best avoided. "Anglo-American papers almost shout out 'I exist', 'in my opinion', 'I intend to prove' and so on. It makes sense to adopt the same attitude because it conveys a sense of a scholar who stands behind his word and takes responsibility for his work. Passive works the opposite way."

Even when they write in English, many Finns think their primary audience comprises other Finns. Fullenwider recommends that they think of the international scientific community. "This way, you'll automatically explain where, say, Poh-janmaa is. A reader from India or New Zealand probably won't know..."

How does Fullenwider keep in touch with current English, having lived so long in Helsinki?

"That's a good question."

He admits his tool - the English language - is not quite as sharp as when he arrived. On the other hand, his many years of living and working in Finland have given him other assets.

An understanding of Finnish culture and way of thinking helps to identify and explain many problems. Fullenwider knows, for example, that Finns like to use the verb 'to develop' in place of 'to improve'. "When a Finn wants to improve a course he's teaching, he might write 'I'm going to develop this course'. To an American this means that the writer is in the process of creating an entirely new course. To Finnish tastes, the correct verb 'to improve' seems to be too blunt and negative in implying that there's room for improvement. Today, I automatically check whether the course already exists. Earlier, I might have not even thought there was a problem."