A World of Translation Work

"A World of Translation Work" Celebrates First Birthday

2008-02-01T10:21:00.001+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

February 7th marks the 1st anniversary of the first post on "A World of Translation Work". It's been an interesting year, filled with many new faces and exciting changes and projects.

Here are some of the highlights.

In February 2007, we announced Tarah McCarthy as the new Manager of Operations. Tarah has done a wonderful job throughout the past year, keeping a close eye on all projects, raising our quality standards, developing relationships with key customers and polishing up our invoicing procedures.

In March 2007, we announced the opening of our Chicago office by President of the Translatus North American Division, Matthew Miodonski. Matthew and our other Chicago staff have been enjoying the beauty and inspiration of the Michigan Avenue location.

In May 2007, we welcomed Veronika Svobodova to our Chicago office. Veronika had already been working successfully for Translatus for a year as a Project Manager at our Prague office, but she is really thriving in her role as a North American Account Manager, bringing in great new business. One of the blog's most popular posts is Veronika's piece about the culture shock she faced as a Czech moving to the big city.

Also in May 2007, we announced the expansion of our hours of operation. Project managers work from our Prague office between the hours of 9:00 and 22:00 CET, better serving our clients across multiple time zones.

In August 2007, we introduced a new-and-improved version of Translatus.com and also marked the 5-year anniversary of Matthew Miodonski's employment with Translatus.

In September 2007, we proudly announced the opening of Translatus China. Christine Kee currently serves as the Executive Vice President of the Translatus Asia division. Our Beijing office has been very successful in bringing new business from Asian companies and processing jobs. Translatus hopes to open a second office in the region soon.

In November 2007, I mentioned a new service that Translatus offers in a discussion about global brand names - Brand Name Analysis. Translatus launched other new services last year, including Intercultural Training, Expedited Translations, Foreign Market Lead Generation for B2B Services and Informed Advertisement Placement.

The year 2008 already shows promise of being a big year for Translatus. We have many exciting projects in the works and anticipate many significant changes. I look forward to sharing our 2008 news with you!

Some Blog Statistics from the Past Year:
Number of Posts: 90
Number of Authors: 5
Number of Visitors: 3,177 (since June)
Number of Countries Where Visitors Come From: 105
Number of Languages Spoken by Visitors: 47

Top Posts:
Beijing Prepares for 2008 Olympics by Correcting Bad Translations
International Business: Business Card Etiquette
Czech Culture
Cultural Dimensions: Individualism vs. Collectivism
Czech in the Big City
International Business: Dining Etiquette

Immigrant influx to Chicago suburbs spawns foreign language schools for kids

2008-01-04T10:07:00.000+01:00

This article from the Chicago Tribune explores the efforts made by suburban Chicago immigrants trying to instill their native heritage in their children, primarily through language study.

Immigrant influx to Chicago suburbs spawns foreign language schools for kids

By Russell Working |Tribune staff reporter

12:05 AM CST, January 4, 2008

Art and Maria Guelis are well-educated Russians who speak their native language at home, read Tolstoy and Dostoevski and watch Internet TV programs out of Moscow. But their 7-year-old son, George, always answers his parents in English.

Determined to pass on their linguistic heritage, the Guelises recently adopted a time-honored immigrant strategy that is burgeoning in Chicago's suburbs.

They enrolled their son in Saturday language classes in addition to his regular public schooling.

George attends a Russian school in Naperville, one of scores of weekend foreign language schools springing up in houses of worship and cultural centers as migration from Chicago and the high-tech industry in DuPage County bring a polyglot populace to the suburbs.

While embracing English as essential in America, these parents are striving to keep their own languages alive in their family for another generation. But history shows they face an uphill battle.

Read more.

Facebook's Translation Application

2007-12-31T10:51:00.000+01:00

From WebProNews:

Facebook Launches Self-Translation App

By Doug Caverly - Fri, 12/28/2007 - 9:29am.
Because what the world needs now is a social network
In order to make Facebook available in many different languages, the company could have paid dozens of professional translators rather large fees. Instead, in what we'll call an "accountant-approved alternative," Facebook has decided to involve its users and crowdsource the issue.

A new application called Facebook Translations allows people to suggest translations and vote alternatives up and down. Or would allow them, anyway - the accountants may have pinched a few too many pennies, as the app isn't in working order at the moment.

Still, we know it was running, because Rodney Rumford reports, "There are already 839 people translating the site to Spanish. All for a whopping cost of ZERO Dollars." And he offers several screenshots of Facebook Translations if you can't get the link to function, either.

Once working, the app should make Facebook more accessible in a number of countries; this will likely translate into a large number of new users. The project should, at the least, result in added dedication from its participants, since they'll have something invested in the outcome.

On a less optimistic note, given its failures in English, we have to wonder how well Facebook can handle privacy issues in multiple languages.

"Guerilla Translating in China, a Labor of Love"

2007-12-28T11:58:00.000+01:00

Rick Martin of the "Little Red Blog" explains how the Chinese are keeping up with the high demand for translations of western entertainment.

Guerilla Translating in China, a Labor of Love

Dec 26, 2007 19:04

The Chinese are by far the best in the world at being numerous. The country has a near-infinite workforce which will naturally drive the economy for years to come. Also, Yao Ming can get voted an All Star starter every year by legions of Chinese fans, whether he's deserving or not. Yi Jianlian is likely not far behind. Such are the perks of being numerous. No surprises though, right?

How about this then? What if I told you China has one of the world's best and most efficient language translation networks that this world has ever seen. And the secret to it's success lies in numbers. Read more »

"Mystery" Mandarin Interpreter Discusses Career with NBC News

2007-12-21T15:21:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

A few days ago, the MSN News World Blog posted about a "mystery" top-level interpreter who expertly rendered U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's speech into fluent Mandarin at U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing.

I was amused by the post, thinking that the author (NBC News Producer Adrienne Mong) made the interpreter seem like a rock-star of the interpreting world, marveling at his proficiency and pointing out that it is rare for an interpreter working at such a high-level Chinese diplomatic function to be anything other than ethnic Chinese. Indeed, Mandarin is a difficult language for Westerners to master, especially because of its multiple tones, and it is surely more common to see ethnic Chinese interpreters at these kinds of functions. But let's not go throwing our knickers on stage just yet, ladies...

Ms. Mong was able to track down the elusive Mr. Brown for a phone interview. And it turns out he's a very modest guy with an interesting education and career path that accidentally led him to this specialty. You can read all about it on the MSN News World Blog here: Mystery Interpreter Reveals Disappearing Act

Interpreter Jim Brown sits behind Henry Paulson, U.S. Treasury Secretary, during a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Brown has been called "mysterious" and "shy", but Brown insists that keeping a low profile is part of the job, saying, "When they forget I was there interpreting, then that is the highest compliment." Photo: AFP - Getty Images.

Cool tool: Google translation bots

2007-12-20T14:20:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

I know that Google has been offering a machine translation tool for translations of text and web pages, called "Google Translate", though I've never used it and haven't really been following the news about its advances or anything.

(As a side note, click here to read about how Google's translation of "flippant" into Chinese came out as "the assassin who stabbed Bush" - Oops!).

But today I stumbled upon a blog post at the "Google talkabout" blog discussing Google's release of a machine translation robot, or "bot", that translates text in "instant message" or "chat" online conversations. Anyone with a Gmail account can use this functionality.

It sounded so cool, I had to check it out.

The conversation started out well.. The robots translated the text well enough (not that greetings are difficult for MT software) and within seconds...

...But, it didn't work flawlessly. Perhaps it was user error, but you can see in this next image that the "en2fr" robot jumped in with some weird text of its own before my "fr2en" robot had a chance to translate my pricing question.
Regardless of the hiccup, I think this is a nifty tool that can be very helpful in overcoming language barriers- when the quality of the translation is not crucial. Things like this allow us to communicate with almost anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Anyway, these bots are available to Google chat users in 24 language pairs: ar2en, bg2en, de2en, de2fr, el2en, en2ar, en2de, en2el, en2es, en2fr, en2it, en2ja, en2ko, en2nl, en2ru, es2en, fi2en, fr2de, fr2en, hi2en, hr2en, it2en, ja2en, ko2en, nl2en, ru2en, uk2en, ur2en, zh2en. (Don't understand the language codes? Look them up here.)

Sugar and Spice - Holiday Cookies from Around the World

2007-12-17T11:11:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

I love to bake, and this time of year is one of the best for baking. This Christmas, not only have I baked some typical American cookies to share with my friends, family and colleagues, but I've also had plenty of opportunities to sample Christmas sweets made by Czech families- for example, "Linecke", or "Linzer cookies" (the "Na Zdravi" blog written by a Czech living in the U.S.A. offers a recipe for this popular Czech Christmas cookie) .

Why not sweeten your own holidays with a cookie recipe from another country?

"Food Blogga" has a whopping list of Christmas cookies from around the world, at "Christmas Cookies from around the World 2007".

My own personal favorite- the Chocolate Crunch Brownie- hails from the southern USA and isn't really a cookie, but my mother has baked it for Christmas for years, and is always one of the first to run out!

Chocolate Crunch Brownies, photo courtesy: La Mia Cucina

1 c  Butter or margarine; soften

2 c  Sugar

4    Eggs

6 tb Baking cocoa

1 c  Flour

2 ts Vanilla extract

1/2 ts Salt

7 oz Marshmallow crème

1 c  Creamy peanut butter

12 oz Semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

3 c  Crisp rice cereal

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar; add eggs.
Stir in cocoa, flour, vanilla and salt.  
Spread into a greased 13-inch x 9-inch x 2-inch baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 175 degrees Celsius)
for 25 minutes or until brownies test done. 
Cool.
Spread marshmallow creme over cooled brownies. 
In a small saucepan, melt peanut butter and chocolate chips
over low heat, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat; stir in the cereal.  
Spread over marshmallow layer.
Chill before cutting.  
Store in the refrigerator.  

Source: Country Woman; Collector's Edition.

Don't use cups or tablespoons? Allrecipes.com offers a handy conversion chart from standard U.S. systems to Metric. Or try this ounces to grams calculator.

Happy Holidays, and Happy Baking!

What kind of American English do you speak?

2007-12-14T11:37:00.001+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

Take this quick quiz to see what kind of American English you speak.

Then share your results:

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Here are my results:

Lauren's Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

20% Upper Midwestern

10% Dixie

5% Yankee

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Having been born in Chicago to Midwestern parents, but raised in Texas, I suppose my accent and use of American English got neutralized.. or warped. I'm without the nasal accent or long drawl often associated with each region. And I suppose it's a little weird that both "y'all" and "pop" are in my vocabulary instead of "you guys" and "pop" (upper Midwest) or "y'all" and "coke" (South).

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Telephone Interpreting

2007-12-12T14:03:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

"Lost without Translation", written by Mario Cacciottolo for BBC news, follows the linguistic and cultural challenges in the day-to-day work of a British midwife named Jayne Cozens. Though it's fascinating to read about the cross-cultural aspects of the job (ex: advising women of certain cultures to avoid SIDS/cot death by refraining from sleeping with their babies and other family members in the same bed), what is particularly interesting and relevant about this story regards the methods that Ms. Cozens uses to meet her language needs- and their drawbacks.

Ms. Cozens works with many immigrant mothers and expectant mothers, many of whom speak and understand little or no English. In order to communicate effectively with her patients, she often requires the assistance of language interpreters. Sometimes she is able to find interpreters for her patients quite easily, but sometimes interpreters must come from many miles away - and they're not cheap. She laments, "The costs are phenomenal, absolutely huge, and they get their travel expenses paid as well."

Since she cannot always have an interpreter physically present during hospital appointments, antenatal classes, or house calls, Ms. Cozens often relies on a telephone interpreting service. But even that is not without hassles and complications- "...you have to call the interpreter on the phone, speak to her, hand the receiver to the woman, get it back, and hear the translated reply. Everything takes three times as long."

While Ms. Cozens finds that the telephone interpreting service can be time-consuming and perhaps inefficient, many people in corporations, governmental agencies and non-profits find this kind of service to be an incredible asset to their organizations.

For example, take a situation where a non-English speaking woman in the United States is in labor and not able to reach a hospital. Emergency response officials would need to communicate with her to get important information about the baby and her health, inform her of the situation, and keep her calm - but serious complications could arise in the time it takes to arrange for an interpreter to come to the scene. Solution? Many police departments, hospitals, call centers and emergency response agencies depend on subscriptions to telephone interpreting services to give them inexpensive, immediate access to interpreters in virtually any language. (Click here to watch a video of how telephone interpreting company "Language Line" would respond to this situation).

Opinion Polls & Market Research

In a business setting, when important deals hang in the balance, a telephone interpreter can help you to decipher not only your business counterpart's message, but the cultural context of that message as well. For example, a telephone interpreter could tell you that your Japanese client's response of "It would be difficult" or "I will consider it" most likely means that the answer is "no", since a direct negative response might cause discomfort or loss of face.

Telephone interpreting does not come without difficulties, as Ms. Cozens has realized. Telephone interpreters cannot see and interpret body language, which is quite a serious drawback considering that most of what we communicate is done non-verbally. The quality of the connection is not always ideal- echoes, static and other noise can interfere with the process. And interpreting via the telephone can leave more room for error.

However, this method of communication provides instant access to interpreters in all of the world's major languages. It saves the cost of paying an interpreter's travel expenses to be on site. Telephone interpreting can be a blessing - whether you're helping to deliver a woman's baby or trying to get a big contract with a company in a foreign country.

DynCorp Awarded $4.6 billion Translation Contract from US Army

2007-12-10T09:16:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

It looks like L-3 Communications' days in the sunny #1 spot of the Common Sense Advisory's Top 20 Translation Companies are numbered... or are they?

It was announced last Friday, December 9th that L-3's rival, DynCorp International Inc., has been awarded a disputed $4.6 billion contract from the U.S. Intelligence and Security Command. The contract was first awarded to DynCorp in December of 2006, but L-3 Communications protested the move through the Government Accountability Office.

When reporting on the top language services providers of 2006 back in May of 2007, the Common Sense Advisory pointed out that a contract loss for L-3 would likely boot the company off the top 20, saying "The U.S. Army voted L-3 off the Top 20. In late December 2006 the U.S. Army awarded DynCorp International and McNeil Technologies a five-year contract worth up to US$4.6 billion to provide linguists to the U.S. military in Iraq. L-3 (number 1) was the Army’s incumbent provider. The company could drop out of the Top 20 altogether if it loses its protest, while McNeil – on last year’s list, off this year – could be at the top of the heap next year. L-3 violated a cardinal rule of business by putting all of its wars in one basket."

Fortunately for L-3 Communications and its shareholders, L-3's contract with the army had a series of extensions while the protested $4.6 billion contract was being sorted out, netting them almost an entire year of revenues that otherwise would not have been. According to the Motley Fool, "The failure to win a re-up or a contract extension will not affect [L-3's] previous earnings guidance, which L-3 reaffirmed today: $13.7 billion in 2007 revenue, rising to between $14 billion and $14.2 billion next year; earnings of about $5.88 per share this year and $6.48 next year; and free cash flow of $1.1 billion or better in both years."

Dyncorp entered into a joint venture with McNeil Technologies to create "Global Linguistic Solutions (GLS)",which will provide translation and interpretation services to the U.S. Army in Iraq and other governmental agencies supporting "Operation Iraqi Freedom".

Further reading:
Common Sense Advisory's "Ranking of Top 20 Translation Companies" report for 2006
Yahoo's "L-3 Not Awarded Linguist Contract"
Forbes' "The Troops Support DynCorp"
The Motley Fool's "L-3's Anti-Pyrrhic Loss"

Il Lingue della ex Iugoslavia

2007-12-06T11:06:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

Today I stumbled across an article of mine on GlobeArticles.com that has been translated into Italian. I think it'd be great to get some multilingual content on the blog, so here you have it- my article "Languages of the Former Yugoslavia" in Italian. (*Please note: I don't happen to know more than a handful of phrases in Italian, and since Translatus did not manage the translation of this piece, I can't guarantee its quality.*)

**Update, December 8th:
A very special thanks goes to translator/interpreter Cristina Tabbia (www.intertranslation.it) for pointing out the poor quality of the translation of the article into Italian. I'm removing the Italian article from the blog, but if you would like to read the article anyway and don't mind MT quality, you can still find it at GlobeArticles.com here. I apologize for exposing the blog's readers to anything but the best translation work.
Thanks for your help, Cristina! **

Mobile Phone Translator

2007-12-04T16:54:00.000+01:00

The Japanese corporation NEC has created a mobile phone that can turn spoken Japanese words into written English words in a matter of seconds. It recognizes about 50,000 Japanese words and has been designed with travelers in mind.

Read more about it here.

NEC's vision is to "realise a society in which anybody can communicate with anyone else, anywhere, anytime".

Eastern Europe in the Translation Industry

2007-11-22T17:05:00.000+01:00

TranslationDirectory.com has a huge database of articles about translation and the language services industry. (In fact, if you look through it, you may find that some of my pieces from this blog have been published there).

Today I read an article there called "How Eastern Europe fits into the European Translation Market", by Kevin Fountoukidis, CEO of the Argos Company Ltd., which discusses the trends of and factors behind the emergence and growth of successful language companies in the low-cost region of Eastern Europe.

Highly recommend it.

What's the world's most beautiful language?

2007-11-19T17:00:00.000+01:00

I've been quite busy lately and haven't had much time for original posting. But here's a fun story from the AFP:

Estonian Minister announces language beauty contest

TALLINN (AFP) — Estonia is planning a beauty contest with a difference to mark its 90th birthday, according to a report Monday: the winner will be the world's prettiest language.

Education Minister Tonis Lukas wants his counterparts from around the world to get school pupils to enter recordings of sentences of up to seven words for the contest, the Baltic News Service (BNS) agency reported.

"There's a story that a world championship of beautiful languages was once held in which Estonian took second place after Italian with the sentence 'soida tasa ule silla', or 'go slowly over the bridge,'" Lukas said Monday.

"As part of the events for the anniversary of the republic, we're pleased to turn to other nations with a friendly call to check how our language sounds to others now," he added.

Estonian is a member of the Finno-Ugric group of languages and unrelated to most other European tongues.

It is spoken by only about 1.1 million people worldwide. Around 950,000 of them live in Estonia itself and many of the rest in neighbouring Finland and Russia, as well as Sweden, Germany, North America and Australia.

Preserving their language was a crucial part of Estonian opposition to foreign rule from the 19th century onwards, and remains an important plank of government policy.

Estonia is due to celebrate the 90th anniversary of its first period of independence from Russia on February 24 next year.

The country was taken over again by the Soviet Union during World War II, and became independent once more as the Moscow-ruled bloc crumbled in 1991.

Estonian is now an official language of the 27-nation European Union, which the country joined in 2004.

Dollar Woes and the Translation Industry

2007-11-15T09:25:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

The decreasing value of the Dollar against the Euro (currently $1.46 = €1) means that language service providers (LSPs) around the world are starting to make changes regarding how they buy and sell translations. Let's explore...

How translations are purchased:

Usally, most LSPs buy translations in the target language country in the local currency. So for a translation from English into German, the LSP would use a translator living and working in Germany and would pay that translator in Euro.

So what does this mean?

--If the LSP is based in Europe: The weakening dollar does not really affect this English to German purchase since the European LSP is probably buying and selling in Euro. However, if that European LSP wanted to do a translation from German to US English, the Dollar's exchange rate is making it cheaper and cheaper to buy translations into English from the United States, benefiting the LSP. Indeed, European LSPs are starting to take advantage of the weak dollar by buying translations even into European languages from U.S.-based translators.

--If the LSP is based in the United States: That German translation is becoming more and more expensive to purchase, which lowers margins if the LSP is unwilling to increase prices. But with the dollar continuing to weaken against the Euro, U.S.-based LSPs will have to consider charging higher rates or charging in Euro.

If you'd like to read more on this subject, Renato Beninatto of the Common Sense Advisory has posted on his organization's "Global Watchtower" blog two responses to this forex trend: "That Clinking, Clanking Sound of Money and its Impact on Translation" and "American LSPs Poised to Increase Rates for Translation Services".

Photo Credit: Joshua Velasquez

Forbes: Global Guide to Tipping

2007-11-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

Food, tourist attractions and local customs vary greatly from Berlin to Bangkok and Rio to Rome. So why should tipping practices be any different? If tipping practices around the world have you stumped, refer to this "Global Guide to Tipping" by Forbes.

Photo courtesy: Andanson James/Corbis Sygma

Wow, the world really is flat....

2007-11-09T12:47:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

Today I finished reading Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat". It's a little funny, considering the date: November 9th, or 11/9. If you've read "The World is Flat", you'll understand the significance of this date. Today marks 18 years since checkpoints were opened along the Berlin Wall, allowing the citizens of East Germany to travel freely into the Western world. Friedman lists this event as one (in fact, as the first) of the 10 forces that has flattened the world. But I digress...

Anyway, for those who don't yet believe that the world is flat, here's an article that might change your mind: "Bangalore butler is latest development in outsourcing".

Global corporations have been looking to India to outsource non-core business operations like software development, human resource management, accounting and customer service. If you've ever had an airline lose your luggage or have needed help with your laptop, it's likely you've spoken with an Indian when calling the company's customer service line.

But now, individuals are starting to look to India for management of their daily tasks. Parents are purchasing tutoring services from India for their school-aged children using VoIP from their computers at home. For busy professionals in big U.S. cities, a personal assistant service in India can schedule appointments, make dinner reservations, provide wake-up calls, book flights, give directions, and even help their clients find love by searching online dating sites for people who match their requirements!

According to the article, this globalization of consumer services will eventually create a market of millions of households in the USA and other countries that will require services "like health and nutrition coaching, personal tax and legal advice, help with hobbies and cooking, learning new languages and skills, and more."

Does that mean when I can't remember an ingredient for my chocolate chip cookies, I can call someone in India and they will be able to help me? Really, the world is flat.

Global Brand Names - Is Yours Lost in Translation?

2007-11-08T10:58:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

Are you preparing to introduce a new product in a foreign market? Read this first.

Naseem Javed, an expert on Corporate Image and Global Branding, has written an informative and useful article on the subject of global brand names, called "Lost in Global Translation?". In it, he explains the challenges of naming a brand for the global market, focusing on Middle Eastern products branded in Arabic. Here are some interesting points from the article, if you don't have time to read through it.

Who are the leaders in global branding?

According to Javed, Japan laid the groundwork for the systematic naming of global brands. He says, "Decades ahead, Japan was on the forefront of creating global brands, like Toyota, Minolta, Sony, Pentax, Sharp, Panasonic, Canon and hundreds of other five star standard names, as names originating from Japanese language would have never allowed such global acceptance."

What are the components of a good global brand name?

Ideally, the best global brand names are those that adhere to international rules of translation, appeal to the masses, lack negative cultural connotations, and are easy to pronounce, spell and recall. This seems straightforward enough, but is easier said than done, as many global companies could tell you from experience.

Javed's Recommendations

According to Javed, "The best thing [companies can] do is conduct a highly professional third-party nomenclature audit. Check connotations and language issues to find out where the name could be rejected or taken as too confusing and forgettable."

Translatus Brand Name Analysis Services

This subject gives me ample opportunity to introduce a service offered by Translatus.

We understand that a brand is a valuable asset- one which should be evaluated before entering new foreign markets. Therefore, Translatus has designed a "Brand Name Analysis" service, which provide our clients with linguistic and cultural analysis of their brand names, slogans and logos.

Translatus will deliver a detailed, written analysis for each brand name in each target market. The analysis addresses the following issues:

Prior use of the brand name in the target market
Similarity of the brand name to other companies, products or services.
Direct translation or similarity of brand name to existing words in target language.
Negative cultural connotations or possible offensiveness.
Unclear use of colloquial language, slang, or idioms in the brand name or slogan.
Ease of pronunciation and recollection.

This global and market-specific analysis of your brands ensures accurate representation of your brand image and company message in your foreign markets. For more information, please visit our website or contact me at lnemec@translatus.com or +420 222 517 153.

Photo courtesy: The Trademark Blog

Localization of Video Games

2007-11-06T10:27:00.000+01:00

From the "Daily Yomiuri Online", this is the first of two articles explaining the process of video game localization.

Playing games with the world: It takes more than just translation

Andrew Sharp / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer

The global video games industry is not bigger than Hollywood. But it's not far behind. More money will be spent on video games than on music this year, and the gaming market is projected to be worth 48.9 billion dollars by 2011, according to consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Many games are written by Japanese game producers, then translated and adapted for the large gaming markets of North America, Britain and the FIGS countries (France, Italy, Germany and Spain), in a process known as localization, a process that has to please the notoriously persnickety creature known as the gamer.

"Localization isn't just about the translation of words, its about the other elements that make up the game: the difficulty level, any cultural references," explains Richard Honeywood, localization director at Square Enix Co. "All these factors have to be changed from one culture to another."

An example of this would be the skirts of the female characters in a popular tennis game that were shortened for the Japanese version of the game--no doubt pleasing the kind of gentleman you could find frequenting the less family-oriented areas of Akihabara.

Translatus at Productronica

2007-11-05T10:09:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

Translatus representatives will be at the Productronica trade fair in Munich, Germany on November 14th and 15th. Productronica is the world's leading trade fair for electronics production.
If you will be attending Productronica and would like to speak with a Translatus representative, please email our Business to Business Services Manager, Joanna Nelson at jnleson @translatus.com to set up a meeting.

We hope to see you there!

Prague Post: The customer is always wrong

2007-11-02T11:45:00.000+01:00

In September, I posted an article I wrote about Czech culture. In it, I very briefly mentioned Czech customer service and Czech envy.

The Prague Post put up an article the other day that delves into these concepts more fully, providing insightful commentary on how the shadows Communism still linger in the new service economy:

The customer is always wrong.

10-Year-Old Boy Speaks 11 Languages

2007-11-01T09:46:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

A boy living in England has my dream superpower.

Arpan Sharma, a 10-year-old British Indian boy, has a gift for learning languages. He has learned 11 languages so far and is eager to learn more.

Arpan's mother tongue is Hindi, which he learned from his parents growing up. He also speaks English, and learned French, German, Italian and Spanish at school. Using interactive CD-Roms, Arpan has taught himself Swahili, Mandarin, Polish, and Thai. Most recently, the young language genius has been learning the difficult language of Uganda- Lugandan.

He says learning Swahili was the biggest challenge, and that Mandarin was difficult, too. Hindi is his favorite.

The young boy enjoys studying music in school, in addition to learning languages. His headmaster believes that his musical training has helped him develop his talent for picking up languages, saying "Arpan is a language genius, a natural when it comes to listening to the exact pronunciation and repeating them perfectly. I think some of his talent is twinned with his ability as a musician. His good ear for music and tone is used for languages as well."

So what does Arpan plan to do with his talent and passion? He says, "When I'm an adult, I want to be a surgeon who can work in all the hospitals of the world and speak the language of the country I'm in."

Arpan came in 3rd place last year at the national Junior Language Challenge, and has reached the final round again this year, which will be held on Friday.

Good luck Arpan!

Photo Courtesy: Daily Times, Pakistan

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T09:37:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

It's October 31st, which means that tonight across the United States, children will be running from door to door asking for candy, dressed up in their Shrek, Harry Potter and Star Wars costumes. But Halloween is not just for children. Adults will enthusiastically don ridiculous costumes to attend Halloween parties. They'll compete with their neighbors to see who can turn their home into the scariest haunted house on the block; manicured lawns will be transformed into cemeteries, complete with spider webs, gravestones, spooky music, fog, and any other Halloween-themed novelty Wal-Mart can sell. Yes- in the United States, it seems Halloween has exploded into a major holiday, rivaling Christmas in its commercialism.

So, U.S. Americans celebrate Halloween by doing what we do best - spending money and eating. But how does the rest of the world celebrate Halloween? According to PumpkinPatchesAndMore.org, "Halloween is one of the world's oldest holidays, dating back to pagan times. But it is celebrated today by more people in more countries than ever before."

Let's take a look at Halloween traditions around the world.

Ireland - Where it All Began

In Ireland, where the holiday supposedly originated, children receive a one-week holiday from school for the Halloween celebration. Both adults and children dress up as goblins, ghosts and other creatures, much like in the United States. Bonfires are lit to ward off evil spirits and people sometimes also set off fireworks.

A traditional Halloween cake called "barmbrack" will be eaten. Various objects are usually baked into the cake, and tell the fortune of the one who gets the item in his or her piece. For example, a ring indicates a wedding in one's future.

Austria

From PumpkinPatchesAndMore.org: In Austria, some people will leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on the table before retiring on Halloween night. It was once believed that these would welcome the dead souls back to earth on a night that Austrians considered to be magical.

China

There is no "Halloween" celebration in China, but they have a very similar celebration called the "Ghost Festival" which is held on the thirteen day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Chinese families will prepare feasts and leave empty seats at the table for their deceased family members. The Chinese also burn things made of paper to remember the dead and bring comfort to the ghosts. For example, "Hell Money" is offered to ancestors for use in the afterlife.

Hong Kong

People in Hong Kong do celebrate Halloween, unlike maChristine Kee, Executive Vice President of the Translatus Asia division and native of Hong Kong explains, "In Hong Kong, children head to local theme parks like Disneyland or Ocean Park to participate in western Halloween traditions."

Halloween's "Jack-O'-Lanterns" in Asia.
Photo from Travelogger.

Korea

From PumpkinPatchesAndMore.org: In Korea, the festival similar to Halloween is known as "Chusok." It is at this time that families thank their ancestors for the fruits of their labor. The family pays respect to these ancestors by visiting their tombs and making offerings of rice and fruits. The "Chusok" festival takes place in the month of August.

Mexico

Halloween kicks off three days of celebration in Mexico, and is celebrated much in the same way as it is in the United States. Children dress up for trick-or-treating while teens and adults throw costume parties. The Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), which occurs the following two days, honors the lives of the deceased and celebrates the continuation of life. The traditions of the celebration differ across regions, but common elements include providing offerings for the departed, preparing special foods, lighting candles in honor of the departed, and spending time at desceased relatives' grave sites. It's a fascinating celebration, and you can read more about it here.

Photo by Ruben Cordova, from UTSA.edu.

ABC News: Found in Translation, on a Chinese Flight

2007-10-26T08:18:00.000+01:00

The following article, from the ABC News Travel Section , gives us some fun on this Friday with examples of interesting translations from an in-flight entertainment guide in China.

Found in Translation, on a Chinese Flight

An In-Flight Entertainment Pamplet Gains Much in Translation

Reporter's Notebook by DAVID KERLEY and CLAYTON SANDELL
Oct. 23, 2007

ABC News correspondent David Kerley and producer Clayton Sandell, currently on assignment in China, couldn't resist sharing these English translations found while perusing the in-flight entertainment pamphlet on a flight from Guangzhou to Beijing.

Making Sense of the Music Program

JAZZ & ROCK "They are vigorous music; they can't be defined to be something belonging to the furious young people only. Listen to Jazz & Rock and release yourselves!"

LIGHT MUSIC "If you feel tired on the journey, you can fling yourself in the light music to relax. In this peaceful music world, you can smell the fragrance of the greens, hear the bickering of the streams and enjoy the beauty of the blooming flowers."

FOREIGN POP MUSIC "When you wake up in the morning, trying to figure out whether you are in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, you hear the harmonic voice of the Backstreet Boys on the radio. You suddenly forget where you are — because music is boundless! This is the power of Foreign POP Music."

Figuring out the Films

CLASSICAL MOVIE "Those movies are so impressive. They attract you to walk into an imaginary world. You can't move your eyes away from the beautiful scenes; you can't help laughing or crying. You are totally moved by those romances."

ART MOVIE "They are the explorers or seekers to art and beauty. They are trying to show you something from their movies that they might not know by themselves. But you will definitely get something from their movies that you can feel."

UT's Profile of the Arab World

2007-10-25T10:34:00.000+01:00

by Lauren Nemec

The University of Texas at Austin (my Alma Mater) usually has some wonderful feature stories posted on the homepage of their website. Their current feature story offers insight into the language, religion and culture of the Arab world. The story is called "Translating the Arab World: Language, religion and culture are keys to understanding diverse region".

The story has a section where you can listen to some pieces in Arabic.

The National Security Education Program recently awarded the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Middle Eastern Studies with $700k to set up an Arabic language program, in hopes the program will produce more proficient Arabic speakers in the United States.