Emily R.

What is a conference interpreter?

June 4, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

There are several needs for facilitating and allowing communication between different languages of the world in the present era of globalization. Bridging linguistic distances is done mostly by the use of translation services. However, not all communication occurs with a lag in time and place. Some of the most important and crucial decision making is done in real time, during meetings and conferences. A conference interpreter is a person who helps with communication by translating languages simultaneously.

The conference interpreter’s role in the success of any meeting is very important. He or she needs to be quick and effective in the choice and usage of words. Not only the meaning but the tone and intent is also to be conveyed without any delays. This has a bearing in discussions, negotiations, bargains and the final decision. Only those with a high level of experience and professional attitude are entrusted with this responsibility. Maintaining confidentiality and trust is also a part of the work for a conference interpreter. Needless to say, a familiarity and deep knowledge of many languages and oral skills of translation are few of the requisite skills of a conference interpreter.

A conference interpreter can rightly understand the difference in phrase by phrase verbatim translation and a meaningful communication that is pertinent to the context. Before responding to the communication delivered by an interpreter, one must consider a lag in time to account for and understand the complete message.

In conferences that deal with a technical or scientific subject, the role of the conference interpreter includes an overall grasp of the subject too. During such discussions, scientists communicate on research areas and topics which might be of mutual interest and might also result in valuable ideas as a result of brainstorming. Translation services by interpreters are a valuable contribution in such cases.

Filed Under: Interpretation

Website Localization and SEO Translation

May 29, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Thanks to its global popularity, there are few easier ways to reach out to consumers than through the internet. The World Wide Web has caused a revolution in international business, allowing entrepreneurs from every walk of life, big and small, to successfully engage with overseas audiences. Simply put, the opportunities to reach out on the internet know no bounds, but there are many challenges to be faced if one is to successfully penetrate a foreign market.

Website localization is key to everything – or translating your website and making its content culturally and linguistically appropriate for the target audience.

Who to Target?

First things first, we need to know which markets to focus on. It may be that you already have a specific target language in mind, if for example, you’re in the business of selling Chinese joss sticks, then it would make sense to target Chinese-speaking nations.

For those without a specific target market in mind however, it’s often better to play the numbers game. Taking a look at the latest figures from Internet World Stats, we can clearly see that there are ten languages which dominate the internet by a clear margin:

Language	Percentage of Internet Users	No. of Speakers Worldwide
English	26.8%	1,302,275,670
Chinese	24.2%	1,372,226,042
Spanish	7.8%	423,085,806
Japanese	4.7%	126,475,664
Portuguese	3.9%	253,947,594
German	3.6%	94,842,656
Arabic	3.3%	347,002,991
French	3.0%	347,932,305
Russian	3.0%	139,390,205
Korean	2.0%	71,393,343

Looking at the table above it’s apparent that anyone looking to establish a global presence simply has to take a proactive approach in localizing their website for multiple markets.

The above markets are important, for the simple reason that together they encompass almost 82% of all internet users online today. Translate your English language site into the next nine most common languages and suddenly you’ll be visible to three times as many users.

Even more compelling – several surveys have shown that as many as 90% of users, when they search for something online, do so using their native language. A growing number of businesses are already catching on to this, so much so that website localization has become one of the trends to watch this year.

The Art of Website Localization

Never make the mistake of thinking that localization is easy. There’s more to it than simply translating the text into the target language and hoping for the best. Content doesn’t just have to be translated, but it also needs to be made relevant to the target market, which means using colloquial terms and, where possible, a context that local readers will be able to relate to, to achieve maximum impact.

The website has to be localized from a visual aspect too. This is where many businesses make fatal errors, failing to realize that an image or ‘look and feel’ that is fine in their own country, is inappropriate or possibly even offensive in another culture. For example, an image of a scantily clad woman might go down pretty well in the UK or the US, but the majority of Saudi Arabian viewers probably wouldn’t appreciate this approach.

More than just images, the style of a website must also fit. We need to consider local tastes. An obvious example is the Japanese, who tend to prefer cluttered websites with multiple colors, while UK and US audiences prefer a cleaner, simpler look.

Finally there are technical aspects, such as using a country-specific domain name. Users in Japan are much more likely to visit (and trust) a website that has a .jp domain.

The Importance of SEO Translation

One of the most overlooked aspects of website translation is search engine optimization. Many webmasters seem to think that localization and SEO translation are one and the same thing, but in fact, they couldn’t be more different.

Whilst localization is done to make a website appeal to humans, SEO translation is done to make the site visible to search engines. Let’s not forget, over 90% of internet users will be searching in their own language, and to be found, the fundamentals of your website’s SEO structure needs to be accurately translated – something that goes beyond just translating keyword, but also key attributes such as meta tags, script messages, anchor texts, image captions, file names and so on.

The benefits of SEO translation are the same as the benefits of localization. Quite simply, one cannot live without the other. Your website needs to be visible, and it must appeal the target audience.

As Willy Brandt put it:

“If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen sie Deutsch sprechen”

Filed Under: Localization

Translation in the Travel Industry

May 25, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

The travel industry is a sector that has witnessed great expansion ever since it has leveraged the services of translation. People all over the world enjoy taking a holiday to foreign destinations. Travel and holiday are always in demand and with the growing pressures at work and need to spend quality time with family, it is envisaged that this trend will continue to grow in the future as well.

While most people look forward to a foreign holiday, one of the facts most easily overlooked in the excitement of planning for the travel excursion is the barrier imposed by language. Not understanding or knowing the local language can inhibit the pleasure of travel. While it may be possible to convey basic needs such as asking for directions to a sightseeing spot, a hotel or the airport, there is a loss in time and interpretation that can upset many travel plans too. Besides the true cultural and holiday experience may be limited. By using translation services for many of the subsectors, the travel industry can really stand to benefit. Not only is the experience more comfortable and enjoyable for the tourist, it also allows him or her to appreciate the warmth and friendliness of the tourist destination.

The translational needs in the travel industry revolve around some of the essential requirements. First and foremost is the translation requirement while booking a hotel or accommodation. The place you stay in during your travel needs to essentially act as a home away from home. Only when the needs of the foreign tourist are well defined and understood in terms of budget, special requirements, the hotel can provide the necessary arrangements. Another key area is related to dining. The food offered in eateries and restaurants is listed on the menus, but unless it has an appropriate Italian translation or a German translation, for instance, the Italian or German tourist will not be able to understand and appreciate it. In case of medical assistance also, translation services can sometimes be a life savior. Besides, translation is also required for ticketing, passport or visa assistance. Even for foreign exchange transactions, it is helpful if suitable Italian translation or German translation is available at hand.

While most tourist destinations highlight the must-see places at various websites and in the form of advertisements or brochures, the relevant information most often does not have an equivalent Italian translation or German translation. This seriously jeopardizes the chances of attracting tourists from Italy or Germany. The travel industry must become conscious of this fact and leverage translational services to reach out to people speaking different languages across the globe, but who are eager to visit and explore different sights and experiences. Many sightseeing packages can be tailor-made as per the needs of Italian or German travelers. Guides conversant in the European languages can share the information about history and culture of a place as well as answer the queries of the tourists in a language they can understand. This makes the whole travel experience a wholesome and enjoyable one.

Filed Under: Industry

What Country Travels The Most?

May 18, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

As tourism has gradually developed into a leading internationally traded service in recent times, countries are recognizing the contribution of the tourism sector in economic growth. Although leisure continues to be one of the dominating reasons for travel, other factors such as health, medical, religious and business purposes are also on the rise.

Firms operating in the travel industry must be anxious to know what country travels the most so as to provide services that cater to needs of visitors from those regions. As per a report published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization for 2011, the outbound tourism trends reveal that Europe is still the largest source of tourism market in the world, followed by the Asia and the Pacific. In terms of spending, Germany leads the list, followed by the USA and China at the third spot. In terms of international expenditure, Germany, the USA and China accounted for nearly 22% of the global market share. The highest number of foreign tourists was from China at 1341 million travelers in 2010. The report also projects some interesting trends. By 2020, the most popular tourist destinations would be Europe, (717 million tourists), East Asia (397 million) and the Americas (282 million).

All this data indicates is that while there is promising growth for international travel, the local travel and tourism industry should be suitably geared to leverage this attractive opportunity.

Are you from the travel, tourism or hospitality sector? Then you would surely know that capturing the international travel and tourism market is attractive but would be possible only when you have added some service capabilities that you were not providing before.

If your career is closely related to these sectors then you must build up your strength and accessibility to address the needs of foreign tourists. Addressing the language barrier is a significant need. Perhaps you can partner with a translation agency to bring an innovative marketing approach. How about language translation services that help your customer feel totally at home in a foreign location? German translation of your restaurant menu or hotel website can help you serve your German speaking tourists better. What better way exists to impress your guests with the feeling that you truly care about their well-being and comfort? A conversation in a native language builds a rapport and bond of familiarity in a short time. Use the strength of languages to connect with your customers in the travel and tourism industry.

Filed Under: Industry

Choosing a CAT Tool

May 9, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Any person keen on a career in translation services should be aware that proficiency in different languages is not the only skill needed. Familiarity and expertise in using CAT tools is also important to add that extra edge to your knowledgebase. CAT tools can expedite the time taken for translation. Besides they also provide a consistency in the translation services, thereby ensuring that the quality standards are met.

For a beginner in the field of translation services, selecting the right CAT tool can be a difficult choice. There are many CAT tools available currently, but before you choose any one of them you need to make sure whether they serve your translational needs. Some of the freely available CAT tools can act as a good starting point since they offer good scope to try, to experiment and to learn the tool without making any investment. Some of these are Wordfast Anywhere, OmegaT and Anaphraseus. One can also evaluate the suitability by downloading the trial versions of CAT tools such as Trados, Alchemy, MemoQ, or Fluency. Across is a tool that works for all Microsoft applications.

Another factor that needs to be considered before you decide on a given CAT tool is whether the translation services you routinely offer are related to heavily formatted word documents. Also if you are working on ppt files needs to be checked. Some CAT tools do not support the language pair that you might be required to work on, so check this fact beforehand. Also whether support is there for languages with a non-Latin script or right-to-left writing style is important.

Using CAT tools to support translation services is an effective way of leveraging technology to simplify your routine tasks. The more you train and learn the usage of these tools, the more value will be derived. However, do remember that CAT tools use the basic principle of translation memory, so it might take up a bit of time to build up your own database, and you might need to collaborate with other translators.

Filed Under: Software

Annex Russian to Your Hotel Websites Language Menu

May 7, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Attracting customers online can be competitive. Especially if you happen to be one of the new entrants in the hospitality industry, then you need to keep thinking of innovative ways to serve a larger number of customers, and of course, serve them better. Possibly, one of the ways is to reach out to tourists and travelers who are visiting your location for the first time. With a rise in the amount spent on travel and tourism these days, why restrict to serving only local customers, when your hotel is equipped to serve foreign visitors as well.

It is common knowledge now that people turn to popular search engines to get answers and clarifications to most of their queries. With e-commerce driving the way the world functions currently, you can convey the facilities your hotel can offer just by leveraging the power of translation services.

You can use the services of a translation company and have your website available to users all over the world in multiple languages. It is as easy as that, but of course, you need to consider which languages you need to have your website translated into. Make use of your local market research and you will get a reasonably fair idea as to which geographical regions most of the travelers to your city are from.

Russian is a language that you simply cannot afford to miss. With its wide outreach and dissimilarity with English, it is a language where translation services can really add value for travelers. With the help of high quality Russian translation, you can make sure that your hotel website can convey its features and address the queries and concerns of Russian travelers. It conveys your serious intent of welcoming the Russian visitors to your hotel and makes them feel well-understood and cared for. This is an important aspect in the hospitality industry, i.e. to make the guest feel welcome and valuable right from the beginning.

Remember, in today’s digital era, the customer experience does not merely begin when the guest steps into your hotel, it starts the moment the visitor arrives at your website.

Filed Under: Trendy

Translation Services: The Importance of Editing and Proofreading

April 25, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

The need for high quality translation services are on the rise all over the world. Largely this trend is due to the increasingly smaller and closely related world that we live in. Economies, businesses and political strategies are making it necessary for people to understand and familiarize themselves with foreign cultures. Services of a translation company can go a long way in winning a business deal or conducting a successful negotiation. Every good translation company uses a set of well-established quality processes to ensure that there are no errors introduced during translation. While having an almost zero-defect deliverable is the normal requirement for most service sector industries, a mistake in the translated document can be costly to rectify and often to detect.

Often many a translation company relies on a good combination of manual translation equipped with translation memory aids such as software or glossaries that are either developed in-house with experience or are purchased. While usage of software tools is good to maintain consistency and cut down on the deliverable time, there is a good deal of chances that words or phrases with more than one meaning are used erroneously. A thorough review of the translated work during editing or proofreading ensures that such defects are carefully weeded out. During editing and proofreading, any mistakes in the original document are also often detected.

Editing ensures that there are no superfluous words that distort the actual meaning as compared to the original piece. Proofreading is necessary so as to present the final translated work in a grammatically and syntactically correct manner. Needless to say a translation company with a strong experience understands that the activities of editing and proofreading are as important as the translational task itself.

You are welcome to contact us for a translation quote any time. We have solid experience in the translation industry and in delivering faultless translations.

Filed Under: Professional

Consecutive or Simultaneous Interpretation

April 19, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Consecutive and simultaneous interpretation is two of the most commonly used forms of interpretation practiced in situations where linguist barriers need to be overcome. There are some differences between the two and which form is more suitable depends on the nature and demands of a given situation. Spanish to English translation is frequently required in situations where businesses are keen to enter new markets that involve Spanish speaking users. Whether to go in for consecutive or simultaneous interpretation is decided based on the type of the meeting, the number of listeners and the nature of the business. Confidentiality of the matters being discussed also plays a role in the kind of interpretation one would like to have.

In case of consecutive interpretation, there is a pause after the speaker delivers a single or few sentences, followed by a translated rendering of the original content by the interpreter. If the meeting is a formal one, the sentences are longer. At any point of time, there is only one person who is speaking, either the original speaker or the interpreter. The translator needs to be an expert not only in the two languages but should also be well versed in taking notes and memory techniques that enable him or her to remember the actual content and translate it accurately and within a short time. This is used when the number of people is not very large, such as in case of meetings, press conference or diplomatic or business meetings. The time available between interpretation and original content delivery is used by the listeners to reflect upon and understand the meaning of the speech. The tone and context of the original speech is captured effectively.

This is different from the case of simultaneous interpretation, wherein the speaker’s speech is translated simultaneously involving as little delay in translation as possible. The audience uses head-phones to hear the translated content directly. For example, a listener who is more comfortable hearing an English speech in its Spanish translation would switch on his headphone connected to multichannel wireless receptors, to hear the Spanish content instead of the original English version. Similar is the case when a listener prefers Spanish to English translation rather than hearing the original Spanish version. This form of interpretation is commonly used in places such as United Nations, where delegates from different countries are present. The advantage is that only people who are interested in listening to the speech in a given language need to put on their headphones with receivers. A multidisciplinary team of sound technicians, multilingual experts and engineers are needed here along with lot of specialized and sophisticated equipment. The interpreters work in sound proof booths to ensure that the listener gets to hear the translated speech without any disturbance or distortion.

Consecutive and simultaneous interpretation techniques for Spanish translation are increasingly in demand, considering the large number of people who can understand only one of the two languages and yet share several common interests in business, finance, economics, education and politics.

Filed Under: Interpretation

“If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen sie Deutsch sprechen” : Willy Brandt

April 11, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

This famous quote by Willy Brandt is very true. It clearly demonstrates the power of the buyer over the seller in any transaction and the importance of the language in which the deal is made.

The buyer or the customer is one who commands the bargain, while this may not be an eternal truth; it happens to be valid in a majority of cases. Clearly, it is the seller who must showcase his products or services in an attractive manner, listing out its features and making it rather simple for the prospective buyer to understand the benefits of buying the product.

Shopping is always a favorite activity during travel. Many tourists like to strike good bargains while they purchase gifts, mementos and souvenirs during their trips. The interest to buy is very high, especially if the travel involves a foreign destination, and many a times this is a once in a life opportunity. Who does not like to buy a product which is very characteristically associated with a given place? However alluring though this may sound, shopping in foreign tourist spots can turn out to be an experience dotted with miscommunication and misunderstanding.

If one does not understand the language of the seller, one is prone to move on to the next shop where hopefully there is a smart seller who can fluently explain the particular handicraft or art work his shop sells. Isn’t it sad that after you spent a fortune showcasing your shop and stocking it with some of the best products available, you still have a huge chance of missing out an interested customer? Sometimes it is the small things that count in clinching a deal and most often these are intangible aspects, pretty easy to ignore and miss out. Have you noticed that there are many tourists eager to spend but hesitant to get more information because of language constraint and also a shortage of time?

Want to figure out how to attract potential buyers by speaking to them in their own language? Now you need not bother about acquiring new linguistic skills because translation companies can easily perform this task for you. Have all your product information translated in some of the popular foreign languages. If you are selling high value products then you might prefer availing translation services on a regular basis before and during any major business transaction.

Filed Under: Professional

Translations Preserve Brand Strength in Global Markets

April 6, 2012 By Emily R. Leave a Comment

Brand building as a corporate exercise involves tremendous foresight and continuously sustained business efforts over a long period of time. The brand strength of a product is gradually and patiently created in the minds of the customer and is one of the most important intangible assets of a company. The brand strength may be in the form of a well familiar logo, a trade name or a popular tag line. As companies try to grow and expand their presence in global markets, an important challenge faced by the marketing management is how to leverage their already established brand presence to create new markets.

Using the existing brand name of the product in global markets may sometimes result in embarrassing mistakes that have the potential to destroy the brand strength. This usually happens due to “lost in translation” kind of situations. A meaningless word or phrase may have an unintended meaning in a foreign language. How does one make sure that such silly and costly blunders do not occur? Getting a translation quote for verifying, translating or coming up with a similar sounding brand name is one of the simplest and economical way of ensuring that such mistakes do not happen.

A popular business case involves the near goof-up that would have happened when Coca-Cola was about to be launched in the Chinese market. The existing brand name when translated into the local Chinese dialect would have referred to “biting a wax tadpole”. This was prevented by selecting a different name for the product in China which sounds like Coca-Cola but when translated means “joy in the mouth”. Such examples clearly demonstrate the need to be in touch with the local terms and their usage in a foreign culture while introducing a brand whose strength needs to be well-preserved and not eroded in poor translations. Literal translations can be amusing, comical and embarrassing; not to mention the cost incurred in correction.

Global companies are increasingly recognizing the crucial role that a translation company can play in positioning and differentiating well established brands in new markets. The linguistic experts need to work in tandem and in close cooperation with marketing and advertising professionals so that the true meaning of the brand is conveyed effectively and appropriately to the customer. The translation company needs to be involved in all stages of the product life cycle, right from an advertisement in the print media to a user manual.

Sometimes a language may not be able to rightly capture the essence of a product in the brand name. A translation company can offer valuable alternatives to propose a new brand name for such situations. Ultimately, whether the existing brand name is used or a slightly modified one is created or it is replaced by a totally new brand name, the main goal is to preserve brand strength in global markets.

Filed Under: Professional