According to a report by China Daily on April 17th, Guo Xiaoyong, the vice-president of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), indicated that translation of Chinese texts remains one of the greatest obstacles to exporting Chinese books, in an interview at the London Book Fair. Given the ascent of the Chinese economy,
What does a “literal translation” mean, and why would a client specify a literal translation? A literal translation is one that maintains the original content without changing the structure, form or style. For example, let’s examine a common Spanish idiom: Te estoy tomando el pelo. The literal English translation woul
If you were to mention the name “Barack Obama” to a Guarani, you would literally be telling them in their own language “I already moved the guitar” (Mbaraka Ovama). Despite this accidental fact, several English words actually have Guaraní roots, such as “tapioca”, “piranha,” “toucan” and
We get many phone calls and e-mail from clients interested in having their website translated. With the emergence of growing large markets and increasing internet penetration in various countries, the need to translate a website is just common sense. With the amount of speakers of Chinese, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian,
Globalization has effectively changed the scope and breadth of economic development throughout the world, pushing nations to find resolutions that would allow them to effectively integrate into the global economy. One of the most important examples of these resolutions for economic and even political integration is the Euro
Although not every business dedicates sufficient time to planning and projecting their finances for the next year, budgeting for makes good financial sense! So why not start by budgeting and planning ahead for next year’s translation projects? Get all of the information regarding turn-around times, regular retails rates,
Professor and researcher Jan Terje Faarlund recently caused quite a stir in the English-speaking world when he claimed that English is in fact a Scandinavian language. According to Faarlund, English has its roots in Old Norse, a North Germanic (Scandinavian) language, and therefore belongs in the linguistic family of Norweg
As clients rush to get translations in on tight deadlines, we as an account management team, production managers, and translator teams feel the same pressure to get your project completed in the best way possible, as quickly as possible. While some projects do not need to be as exact as others and require a lower […]
This weekend I watched two very interesting, although very different genre movies. One was the latest action Bond film from the renowned James bond franchise: Skyfall, and the other a drama film directed by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez: Biutiful. Not only was the content of these films very different but also the lan
As a translation company that provides multiple services to all sorts of different companies, organizations, and private clients, it is fundamental for our clients that our translations be specific and precise to the purposes and objectives of the documents. For this reason, it is important to calibrate the technical level
I was on the phone the other day contacting a client regarding a pending invoice. The company representative asked me this question, accounts payable or receivable? I was stumped, who exactly was I looking for? Do I need to get in touch with my contact and ask this question? Will I sound dim-witted? I pretended […]
Although the majority of websites are written in English, many assume that internet users already know English. However, as internet access has become near-universal, a huge untapped market of non English-speaking customers has emerged. For example, the Spanish-speaking market wields about $1 trillion worth of purchasing po
As a multilingual translation company, we regularly receive requests to translate into multiple and often very different languages. Although we do a tremendous amount of work to and from Spanish, our clients also regularly request French, Portuguese (both Brazilian and Portuguese), and other European languages. Increasingly
Desktop publishing (abbreviated DTP) is the creation of print ready materials using various industry standard software to combine and reorganize text and images for creating digital files. Desktop publishing can be used for designing brochures, flyers, posters, logos, letterheads, etc. Depending on your needs, Desktop publ
Among the various fields of translation, scientific or technical translation is a difficult task that requires knowledge of the industry and experience translating complex scientific or technical material. Many specialized technical companies choose to assign translations of material to bilingual employees, whom they believ
We receive many requests for a price quote on any given day, which of course require a good deal of effort on both the prospective client’s end, from the account managers, as well as from the back-office. The three parties involved have one thing in common: we are all collaborating together in order to produce […
The best approach while selecting a translation provider is to request a sample test from multiple agencies. Consider performing a paid test project starting with the most promising vendor. The test project should have similar requirements as your actual project in all aspects except volume. Measuring the success of your te
At many points during the day as an Account Manager – whether I have a price quote to provide, to ask or to answer project-specific questions, or to get feedback on a finalized project – I find myself asking whether I should call or e-mail a client. In general, phone communication serves as a much […]
When you contact a company offering translation/interpretation services, who exactly are you looking for? Do you want to a customer service rep or an actual project/account manager who is in direct contact with various sub-divisions of the production department and knows the inner workings of your project? Trusted Translat
One of the various aspects of the multifaceted translation industry involves Dubbing/Lip Synching. In essence, dubbing means taking a video sequence done in one language and replacing the source audio track with a new one in the target language. Lip Synching is the highest quality way of dubbing, using an adapted script