Language dilution. Language dilution can be defined by using a word with a strong meaning to express a much less strong idea. For example, one can use the word ‘literally’ even when something is not literally true, just to emphasize it. It happens because people use the words ‘awesome’, ‘wonderful’ and ‘amazing’ even when they do not really mean them. They do so because they want to make their statements as effective as possible without using too much effort. Doing so, people waste the meaning of words, which are one of our most precious resources. If you use ‘literally’ when you don’t mean ‘literally’, you are not only adding a useless word to your sentence, you are also devaluing the word, so that when it is to be used in its proper meaning, it no longer means anything. We only have one word for ‘literally’, and if ‘literally’ no longer means ‘literally’ then we’ve lost a word. On the other hand, words take on connotations with passing time and according to the social group using them. It has become acceptable to use the word ‘awesome’ to describe a cake, because everyone does it. In this case, ‘awesome’ does not mean ‘inspiring awe’ anymore. Language Dilution also makes people more creative when they do intend to say that something is awe inspiring, because we all know that nowadays, ‘awesome’ means ‘quite good’. If you need translation services without language dilution, call LingoStar today or send us an email for a free quote! Here we have qualified translators from all over the world able to work on any kind of...
Sometimes, one single word in German has the meaning of several words in English. For example, “bitte” means at once “pardon”, “please”, “go ahead”, “here you go”, “you’re welcome” and “not at all”. That is why, when translating, you have to be careful and figure out what is the appropriate meaning for each word in every sentence. This phenomenon can be explained by the German language only having 185,000 words whereas the English language has over 1,000,000,000 words. This represents 2,000 times as many words as the Chinese language has and 10,000 times as many words as the French language has. The German language uses so few words because words are made of several words put together. For example, “Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz” means “the law for the delegation of monitoring beef labeling”. Also, in German there are 6 types of definite articles you can use (“der”, “den”, “dem”, “des”, “die” and “das”) depending on the gender and number of the noun, whereas in English, there is only one: “the”. In addition, all of the nouns have a gender which must be learned separately by heart. This is a good overview of why Mark twain used to say: “A gifted person ought to learn English in 30 hours, French in 30 days, and German in 30 years”. Here at LingoStar, we can offer high quality translation from and into German. Call us today or email us for a free...
How big is the American Translation market? Despite the current economic situation, the translation industry has done well over the past few years (annual growth rate has been greater than 2.5%). This can be explained by different factors. First, more and more immigrants come to the United States without necessarily being capable of speaking fluent English. Then, more and more American companies do business with overseas companies and consequently have to communicate regularly in several languages with customers, partners or employees located in other countries. Finally, a great deal of business is generated from the government and in particular, the military. Nowadays, the American translation market is the largest single market for translation services (Europe is the second) What is the value of the American Translation market? Today, more than 52,500 companies employing more than 74,600 people generate $5 billion a year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, the translation industry is expected to grow by 42% between 2010 and 2020 and reach $37 billion in 2018. If you need translation services from or to English, call LingoStar today or send us an email for a free quote! Here we have qualified translators from all over the world able to work on any kind of document....
Some Figures about the Canadian Translation Market. How big is the Canadian Translation Market? According to Statistics Canada, the number of individuals who declare revenue from translation in the whole country is greater than 12,000, and few professions have as much growth potential as this one. Quebec is the leading region, with 5,325 translators, followed by Ontario with 4,155. The two provinces combined account for 80% of all translators and interpreters in Canada. However, British Columbia is also a leading province for translation, with over 600 translators just in Vancouver. What is the value of the Canadian Translation Market? The value of the Canadian Translation Market is estimated at about $450 million, excluding the value of translations provided by the in-house translation services of Canadian businesses and organizations. This market is served by over 800 firms and some 4,500 independent workers. 48% of firms are in Quebec (which represents 382 translation agencies), 37% are in Ontario (296 translation agencies) and 6% are in British Columbia (52 translation agencies). Prospective growth of the Canadian Translation Market looks excellent as the expected rate of annual growth ranges between 5% and 10%. If you need translation services in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, call LingoStar today or send us an email for a free quote! Here we have qualified translators from all over the world able to work on any kind of...
During the 5th century, three Germanic tribes (the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes) invaded Britain. The Celtic speakers that lived there were pushed west and north and the language spoken became known as “Englisc”, also called Old English. In 1066, Frenchman William the Conqueror invaded England and brought with him a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court and the ruling classes, whereas the lower classes spoke English. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. During the Renaissance, many new words and phrases entered the language. Also, with the invention of printing, books became cheaper and people learned how to read. The dialect of London, where most of the publishing houses were, became the standard. From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct variety of English. American English (and subsequently British English) was influenced by Spanish, French (through Louisiana) and West African languages (through the slave trade). Nowadays, most documents are written in English. Here at LingoStar, we can offer high quality translations from and to English. Call us today or send us an email for a free...
Trends in Voice-Over Translation Businesses and organizations entering international markets naturally spend considerable time crafting their message and translating that message with care until the most fitting words and expressions can be found. Yet the act of translation is enhanced by voice-over translation professionals, artists that lend elements like tone and expressive nuances of voice to deliver the carefully-wrought message with an actor’s sensibility and a translator’s ability to convey meaning directly and accurately. Just as new technologies have complemented the field of translation services, voice-over translation has benefited from various trends that many companies with international interests may want to consider when they seek this viable service. It used to be that the main end of translation was to simply convey meaning between two languages. This is still the heart of translating services, but translated communication involving voice-over technique has advanced to encompass no small degree of art. While some will say that translation has always enjoyed an artistic component, it now features voice-over translation professionals who are also performers. Voice-over experts, for example, can embody a character that can bolster a marketing message. The voice-over translator may convey empathy in some way or create a connection with the audience that goes beyond translated speech. Performance elements aside, today’s voice-over translation and its translators are also increasingly supported by digital solutions that shorten or alternatively lengthen the performed translation. When a corporate video voice-over is needed, it’s important that the voice-over performer remain in sync with the video. Luckily, the technology allows for more ease of the syncing process. The result is a seamless representation...
Translation industry 1 – Cloud translation Cloud translation is the process of translating a document across the internet by using a portal that allows you to upload and manage files from just one location. You no longer need to use emails in order to send files, receive a quote, approve it and finally receive the translation. Thanks to this tool, you can now log on from any device to order a new translation job, approve a quote, check the progress of a project and download your translation. It will be really helpful for the translation industry 2 – Social media translation Social media is a good way for the translation industry to target a multi-national audience; however you have to take into account the differences between cultures in order for your campaign to be effective. Translating your content is just the first step. It is also useful to create a page / an account per country to communicate with customers on a local scale according to their interests, their cultures, the events they are going to, etc. 3 –Mobile apps translation Another way to target a multi-national audience for the translation, is to localize your mobile apps for different languages and different platforms. This way, you will be able to keep in touch with people from all over the world using different kinds of devices. Here at LingoStar, we specialize in localizing content to meet the specific cultural standards of your target market. If you want to make the best impression on your market, call us today at 604-629-8420, or email us at info@lingo-star.com for a free...
Language Translation Service We are living in a more and more globalized world, people tend to move to different countries much more than they used to do and this leads to having highly linguistically diverse cities all around the world. For example, in the United-States, more than 20% of people do not speak English at home. To reach these people, you may need to use a language translation service. So what are the main language melting pots on the planet? *New-York, US In New-York, over 800 different languages are spoken. Therefore, this is the most linguistically diverse city in the world. It shows in the subway, where the information signs are written in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, Italian, German and even Hebrew, It’s the perfect example of a situation where you may need to use a language translation service. *Manchester, UK In Manchester, you can hear more than 200 languages. This city is the most linguistically diverse city in Western Europe. You may need to use a language translation service to translate your files into these languages . Around 4 out of 10 people speak at least one language other than English. The most common languages there are English, Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, Bengali, Polish, Panjabi and Somali. *Toronto, Canada In Toronto, there are over 150 different languages spoken. This is the most linguistically diverse city in Canada. 45% of the residents speak a mother tongue other than French or English, which is likely to be Cantonese, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Mandarin or Portuguese. To reach these targets, you will need to use a language translation service....
Call-Center and Mistranslation. *Lack of language skills On one hand, the employee’s accent has to be easy to understand for your customer. You can achieve that by resorting to accent neutralization training. On the other hand, the employee has to be able to understand the caller perfectly as well. This is essential and they must be able to communicate effectively to avoid any mistranslation. *Lack of training Employees need to have sufficient knowledge of the product or services involved that they are selling, all the more if they are not available in their home country. It is important that they are experts of your industry, not to rely too much on scripts, and are able to manage efficiently the requests of the clients who are calling to avoid mistranslation or misunderstood. *Cultural differences Many behaviors your clients expect from a customer service employee (extra-politeness, empathy, etc.) are not common among foreign employees. You have to train them so that these behaviors become natural for them. *Poor location In some countries, the wages are low, which can be attractive. However you also have to take into consideration the government stability and the economic situation to make sure that hiring employees from those countries will not affect your business in the long term. *Lack of security The call center should have security guards on-duty 24/7 to provide a safe workplace for employees and to protect your data. You should also have the employees sign a nondisclosure agreement. If you are planning on outsourcing your call centre overseas and need documents translated, call LingoStar today or send us an email for a...
How valuable is website translation? Do you know how much international traffic your website gets? Have you ever asked yourself how much more it might receive if it was translated into multiple languages? A world class translation service with linguists and professional translators at its disposal can be worth its weight in gold. The fact is, in today’s global markets, a multilingual website is increasingly valuable. Its importance is such that it requires the dedication of professionals–human and not simply machines–to craft and perfect its message to appeal to local markets and effectively market to them. On the importance of human, professional translators There are many benefits to a well-translated website. Firstly, it has an authoritative advantage over competitors who may not rely on a professional service. They may rely on crowd-sourced or automatic translation. This is risky, however, because incorrect and even improper translation can undermine a company’s authority by making them appear ignorant or inept. Few would call the Coca-Cola brand and its marketers inept, of course, but even such major companies have endured language faux-pas and accidental mistakes that actually made headlines. Not so long ago, Coca-Cola spent a considerable amount of money printing signs that sounded like their brand name in Chinese but the wording actually told consumers to ‘bite the wax tadpole.’ Why use a translation agency? Some companies may choose to hire their own translator, but there are added benefits to working with a translation service. For one, website translation typically requires ongoing maintenance. Each time you add new content to the site, it will require professional translation. A translation service has teams...
