Voice-Overs for Your Specific Target Market

Nov 29, 2013 | Blog

When marketing a video to a foreign market, companies have to think about making their material accessible by dubbing the audio and/or adding multilingual subtitles so that it is understood in the foreign language. The process of dubbing involves having a voice-over artist record the lines or narration and synchronizing it to the video. Voice-overs can be heard in feature films, television broadcasts, documentaries, training videos, advertising spots, and corporate videos and presentations. Check out our blog post on how to handle multilingual subtitles in YouTube >> At LingoStar we’ve done many voice-over projects as of late, and would like to share our process for researching voice demos with you. First, it is important to get as many details as possible from the client about the voice they are looking for, such as: -the language required and if the voice must have a particular dialect or accent (for example European or Canadian French); -the type of voice they are looking for in terms of gender, age and tone. If the client requires more than one voice, we ask for descriptions of each role/voice; -the purpose of the voice-over: commercials, audiobooks, documentaries, promotional material, training material, websites, TV shows or podcasts; -the length of the video or script; -whether an in-person audition and on-site voice recording is required, or if they require the voice file to be recorded remotely and delivered by email or file transfer service. If demos are required, which format they should be; -whether the client can provide some reference regarding their brand, as well as information on their marketing goals and any previous video material we...

The Rosetta Stone

Nov 29, 2013 | Blog

If you work in the languages industry, chances are you have heard about the so-called “Rosetta Stone”. It is one of the wonders of the multilingual community and has even inspired a very popular and renowned language-learning software as a namesake. But this stone has actually fascinated linguists as well as historians for centuries… The Rosetta Stone is an Egyptian stele inscribed in 196 BC, issuing a decree on behalf of King Ptolemy V who had just been crowned. The interesting part about this stele is the fact it provides an understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs, as the text is written in 3 different languages, respectively Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script and Ancient Greek. The stone was later moved to a location near the town of Rosetta and found later during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt. Upon its discovery, it was already referred to as Pierre de Rosette, the Rosetta Stone. Before the stone was discovered, there had been absolutely no understanding of the Ancient Egyptian language and script since just before the fall of the Roman Empire. As Ancient Greek was widely studied among scholars during the 17th and 18th centuries, it provided some sort of “dictionary” of Ancient Egyptian from which they could start to understand the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Two other fragment copies of the same decree were found later on, so therefore the stone is no longer unique, but its position as a symbol in the language community is emblematic. The term “Rosetta Stone” is sometimes used to refer to a very important clue in a specific field of knowledge or...

Common Mistranslations

Nov 29, 2013 | Blog

Nowadays, when people get confused by foreign languages, they usually use translation software to translate the text. For example, Google Translate provides free automatic translation in over sixty languages. Google Translate can help people understand messages. More and more, people are relying on it to help them with translation. However, when one wants quality work, translation software like Google Translate is incapable of doing the job. The results usually don’t make perfect sense and have some grammar mistakes and illogical connections. Funny mistranslations can occur. For example, there is a restaurant in Vienna serving fried milk, children sandwiches, roast cattle and boiled sheep on the menu. Another example is from a Rome doctor’s office: ‘We are specialist in women and other diseases’. As you can imagine, mistranslations can lead to hilarious consequences! Another example is a mistranslation from a Japanese chocolate company in the 1950s. A marketing manager mistranslated “men” to “women” for their advertising. Therefore, women started giving chocolate away to their beloved partners, co-workers and male friends on Valentine’s Day. One month after Valentine’s Day on March 14th, men are supposed to return the favor with sweets. In Japan, this is common practice now. Do not forget that LingoStar offers a wide range of translation with over 100 languages in different fields of specialization. We are committed to utilizing professionalism, resources and creativity to serve your multilingual needs and help you achieve successful communication in foreign languages. Our professional translators have years of experience in the translation field; they complete quality translations within short deadlines. If you need any help with language services, contact us today for...

Business Mandarin

Nov 29, 2013 | Blog

What would you say is the most important business language to learn nowadays? We agree with popular opinion: it’s Mandarin. English has been the global business language for decades. However, the importance of Mandarin is emerging as it is the most widely spoken language in the world. According to Bloomberg Rankings, Mandarin is spoken by over one billion people throughout the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Philippines and Mongolia. Mandarin has become a popular choice for a second language and surpassed the previous favorites: Spanish, French and German. To learn why Mandarin is becoming the most important business language after English, we can look at the following reasons: 1. The next superpower The Chinese economy is still growing at present and the economics of national growth in China will reach 123 trillion dollars in 2040. A recent study from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace predicts that the Chinese economy will be 20 percent larger than the United States by 2050. Based on these surveys, the Chinese market has become the biggest growing market. And if people would like to do business with China, don’t they need to know Mandarin? Mandarin has grown increasingly important to the overall global economy and many business owners are trying to break into the international market. This is why, more and more, people have started learning Mandarin all around the world. 2. To maintain competitiveness The number of students learning Mandarin is the fastest growing student base among all foreign languages. If everyone is learning Mandarin, people need to follow the current trends. Otherwise they can’t compete. Speaking...

Free BBC Online Learning Resources

Nov 29, 2013 | Blog

Learning a second language is a must in some parts of the world. Not only does it break cultural barriers, but it also creates potential business opportunities. Most start learning English in school because they believe that it will help their future careers. There are different ways of learning languages, such as studying abroad, acquiring language-learning software and private or group tutoring and classes. With the rise of the Internet, it is easy to find free courses online in most languages. In this article, we are going to talk about BBC Online Free Lessons, which provides good learning resources in a variety of languages. Online Learning Resources Provided The BBC learning website provides free learning resources in 40 languages based on different subjects. However they focus mainly on Mandarin, Spanish and French, three of the most useful languages in business besides English. For each language, there are several topics that beginners can pick up easily such as introducing yourself, ordering drinks and food, and numbers, etc.   Spanish Besides Spain in Europe, most Spanish speaking countries are located in South and Central America. Spanish is spoken in more than 20 countries including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Peru. It is the most studied foreign language in the United States and it is not uncommon to see Spanish signs and hear Spanish spoken in most American cities. Beginners can download key phrases in an MP3 file to learn the most common spoken Spanish in daily communication such as greetings, booking hotels and meeting people, etc. In addition, they also provide holiday phrases for people who want to travel to Spanish countries...

The Difference Between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese

Nov 29, 2013 | Blog

Mandarin is spoken by over one billion people throughout Asia, including China, Singapore and Taiwan. Mandarin has become an imperative language in business gradually replacing English on account of China’s growing economy. However, most people might ask what the difference between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese is and why Chinese people use different written text in different countries. In translation, oftentimes our clients are confused by Mandarin and Cantonese and where Chinese people speak them. We hope this article will work out your questions and clear up some of the complexities of one of the most difficult and oldest languages in the world. Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken languages. Maybe the most confusing of aspect is why we never see the words in either Mandarin or Cantonese, because they are two spoken dialects of Chinese language. Their difference is dependent on the region they are spoken in, not on their written characters. Mandarin is widely used in Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore as an official language whereas Cantonese is specifically targeted in China’s Guangdong Province and in Hong Kong. Simplified and Traditional Chinese are written languages. Written Chinese has been used for several thousand years and was standardized during Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BC). Until today, although there are many varieties of spoken Chinese dialects, but there are only two primary written systems: Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Simplified Chinese The proposal for simplified characters started as early as 1906. The purpose of simplified Chinese not only made the characters faster to write and easier to memorize, but also boosted literacy rate. After Chinese Civil War ended in...

Language Matters in November 2013: CAT Tools

Nov 29, 2013 | Translation News

Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) and CAT tools In our November newsletter, we will discuss Computer Assisted Translation tools. Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) refers to specialized computer software that helps human translators during the process of translating texts and any form of written content. Computer Assisted Translation is sometimes confused with Machine Translation (MT). Although the two have similarities, CAT and MT are different. There are numerous CAT tools and their aim is to help translators complete their work more efficiently. Their functions range from spell-checking to keeping translation memories. CATs are quite useful tools but will they one day replace human translators altogether? The question is up for discussion. Whatever the outcome, one thing is for sure: the future is bright for Computer Assisted Technology! Contributed by Sophie Roulland What is Computer Assisted Translation? As mentioned in the introduction, Computer Assisted Translation is the process of using computer programs and software to assist the translator in his/her work. How exactly do they help translators? First, they save the translators time and thereby increase their production outputs. Thanks to translation memory software, it is much faster to translate a text, especially if they have already worked with that company or industry before. Secondly, it can produce a more consistent quality of work. Some CAT tools, such as SDL Trados, help you find the appropriate terminology for technical texts with less effort. Some tools come with alignment of segments, which makes it easier and faster for reviewers to proofread texts. So if used correctly, CAT tools can be very efficient and a good support system for translators. Because technology is involved,...

Localizing Mobile Apps

Nov 28, 2013 | Blog

“Mobile computers are spreading faster than any other consumer technology in history.” With the fast development of mobile technology and especially smartphones during the last few years, mobile applications have boomed in a way that most mobile users are regular users of mobile applications. This is why app developers are very interested in localizing and translating their applications. It is certain that doing so will reach markets in other languages and countries and augment the number of people who know about and download their apps. To achieve this, it is best to make sure the user experience is up to the standard, in other words, go for a user-friendly localization technique. A mobile user is much more likely to download and use applications that are in his/her own native language, which is why localizing an application starts with translation. It is essential to find a good translator to do the job, as a bad translation is worse than no translation at all: poorly translated content will put off your clients and make them think the app is not worth downloading. Localizing mobile apps does not only consist of translating the information. There are other factors to take into account, for instance, the layout design. Some languages have words that are longer and take up more space than others, like German for example. Also, app developers should look out for languages with different character types such as Chinese or Korean. Localizing your app will make sure your layout design is appropriate for the type of language used while remaining stylish and retaining the original aesthetic. In addition, localizing your app...