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Last entries
31/05/2021
Translation
In English, we use the expression “It’s all Greek to me” when something sounds confusing or incomprehensible. However, a Greek person—and many other Europeans for that matter—would say the same expression but with Chinese ! In reality, we should not speak of Chinese, but of Chinese languages, as there are 7 main families of Chinese languages with various dialects (the figures vary according to...
26/05/2021
Translation
White papers are an essential communication tool for promoting your company and form part of inbound marketing strategies. In this article, you will see their benefits to use them optimally for lead generation . [TOC] 1. What is a white paper? A white paper is a professional document written by a company. This digital communication medium provides information and/or advice to its reader on a...
24/05/2021
Translation
You may have wondered why translation rates vary in quote depending on the language combination. The rate for languages in combination with English, the most translated language in the world , is usually lower than other language combinations. Let's see why the least common combinations are also the most expensive, even if there are many language speakers. [TOC] 1. The calculation of translation...
18/05/2021
Translation
Technical manuals have a purely functional purpose and do not form part of what we would call great literature. However, it must be acknowledged that they are essential in today's world of devices, intelligent systems and software. Moreover, they also have a legal purpose. [TOC] Technical manuals must comply with the established standards for the technical documentation of products. Their...
11/05/2021
Translation
Although the discipline is relatively young, for a long time video game translation (or localisation in industry jargon) was entrusted to players rather than professional translators. Nowadays, video game localisers are increasingly specialised in their field, and some even work in a translation agency that receives direct commissions from game publishers. The differences between standard...
07/05/2021
Translation
If your company has already been looking for a translator to revise/edit a text that was translated in-house, you may have some experience of how difficult it can be to find one. Without having official statistics, I would say that most translators, if given the choice between doing a translation job or an editing job (revision), they would choose translation . On the contrary, only very few...
27/04/2021
Translation
There is no doubt that free online translation tools are making great strides and are regularly used for understanding texts in unknown languages. Unfortunately, for translations that are to be published or sent to third parties in a professional context, it is better to think twice. Here are 3 good reasons to avoid free online translation , which I have chosen among many others. [TOC] 1. Avoid...
23/04/2021
Translation
One of the principles taught in translation faculties is that you should always translate from the original text . This is a reasonable idea , because in general nothing is more accurate than the original. However, the translation market reality is a little different. That’s why we as translation companies often recommend our clients to work from English . In many cases, it is the best way to get...
20/04/2021
Translation
On occasion, I have faced this tricky question from a potential client as to why we charged more for translation from Spanish to English than from Spanish to Portuguese. After working in the same field for so many years, one loses perspective of things. I suppose that this is what they call “discontinuing education” . [TOC] Naturally, someone who unfamiliar with professional translation services...
16/04/2021
Translation
When that potential client told me “how can I trust a translation that needs to be revised?”, I was caught up in his reasoning: Even I thought he was right! It's been a long time since that day, but I still remember as if it happened yesterday. I was then a recent graduate with a theoretical framework forged in the translation faculty, still in the process of adjusting university teaching to the...