July 2014
Quick Ways to Brush Up Your Foreign Language Skills before You Travel!
Heading off to another country soon? If so, you'll find it useful to brush up on the native language of the country you're planning on visiting. Learning a few important phrases is helpful to make communicating with the locals much easier. With a little effort, you can use a few tools to pick up a foreign language quickly to make the most of your trip.
1. Take Advantage of Apps
There are apps for just about anything, including learning another language. Now you can take your language lessons on-the-go. The Pocket Languages apps are perfect to help you polish your skills by offering entire lessons filled with vocabulary lists, flashcards, audio tracks, and more. Versions are available for Chinese, German, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, French, and Japanese. Another app, dubbed iTranslate, instantly translates over 50 languages.
2. Join an Online Community
One of the best ways to learn a different language is to communicate with native speakers and become immersed in their unique culture. You can do this by joining an online community. Online communities such as Livemocha allow members to communicate in a fun way, such as through text, video and chat options. Engaging in conversations is one of the most effective ways to learn a new language.
3. Turn to Computer Software
Computer software can help you fine-tune your language skills. Rosetta Stone is often ranked the top language software, and it works well. TellMeMore is geared to advanced speakers looking to perfect their business vocabulary.
No matter your language proficiency, there are quick and easy ways to improve!
For Important Documents, Let a Professional Handle the Translation. Send Us Your Documents Today!
Technovate and Translation Teams – Do You Have a Pressing Deadline?
When you work in the translation business, you get more than a few clients calling to have documentation translated with deadlines that are very ambitious compared to the size of project. Fortunately, this isn’t a problem for us. At Technovate, by following our internal systems we can produce a high quality product. Let’s say that you have a 50,000 word operator’s manual that needs translation into Latin American Spanish from English. If you absolutely need it by a very ambitious date, then we start working to deliver by the deadline.
This is where translation teams come into the picture. Many translators have a colleague they work with or have worked with in the past; if so, we work with this existing team. Otherwise, we pair experts to ensure their specialty and level of knowledge are in line with one another. This allows us to reduce the time it would take to complete the project with only one translator by about 35% to 40% depending on the subject area. The quality control (QC) process may take a bit longer as a result of synchronizing and assimilating teamwork, but after the unification process the entire document works very well.
How can Technovate do this and still have high quality? Our translation experts work with translation memory, a glossary of terms that both translators agree on. We assign one translator to serve as the translation lead, take ownership of the document and perform the document unification at the end to meld the document together and give it any final touches before it enters the QC process. It’s then sent off for review, and a single translator will be in charge of making any necessary changes to the document before final completion. The QC reviewer will look closely at the technical aspects of the document as well as how well the translators’ work matches by reading the document from the reader’s point of view.
Communication, both internally and among translators, is essential and constant. If there ever is a question regarding terminology or a question for the client, our project coordinators are in the loop and handle resolving the matter quickly so that translation can continue. This also ensures a smooth process and transition from the English document into a document in your language of choice.
And that, in brief, is how we use translation teams to deliver quality work on ambitious deadlines.
Marketing, Legal and Emergency Documents
We get many calls for emergency translation under 2,000 words, including requests for same day, next day or weekend service. A single translator will be assigned to this type of project, but rest assured that it still goes through our rigorous QC process.
Do you have document(s) that need translation? Is there a project that you’ve been putting off that you would like to start this summer to have ready for the fall?
Call Or Send Us Your Document Now!
Understanding the Needs of Foreign Markets Where Your Products Are Sold
Selling a product or service in your local market is one thing, but selling them abroad is quite another. The cultures, languages and needs vary by location, making it essential to identify the market activity in the foreign location where you're expanding your business. It's critical to consider potential barriers and any necessary adjustments to be made before entering a foreign market, including the following:
Language Barriers
One obvious potential barrier to expanding overseas is language. Although you might want to translate word for word from one language to another, it's essential to take the context and culture into consideration. Subtle gestures, humour and jargon can be misconstrued if the language isn't translated well. That’s why you need a professional translation service for your foreign business strategy.
Marketing Barriers
Cultures vary greatly. While Americans love fast food for its convenience and speed in their on-the-go lifestyle, other cultures may demand more leisure to be able to enjoy their meal in a relaxed environment. Your marketing campaigns and the messages behind them need to appeal to consumers in the foreign market which you will be targeting.
Legal Barriers
Laws may be quite different in a foreign market. Laws such as those governing customs, taxation, liability, importing and exporting, and corporate organizations need to be thoroughly researched before taking your business abroad. It's also important to understand domestic legislation surrounding agency law, distributor liability provisions, labour law and other issues that could affect how your business is run.
Addressing these barriers can help you create a successful strategic plan when launching a global business program.
Use our professional industry experienced translators today!
