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LingoStar’s Blog 
Welcome to LingoStar’s blog! On this page, you can find a lot of interesting and useful information about the translation industry. Explore topics on website translation and localization and how successful localization can influence your business to help your company grow and go global.
Language Blog Topics
On this blog, you can also learn about professional translators and interpreters, multilingual search engine optimization (SEO), the importance of socializing and networking and translators’ professional ethics. Quite often we write posts about the languages of the world, other cultures, and their traditions. Not only do translators convert texts from a source language to a target language, but they also help people communicate with each other, help establish international contacts, and are often prominent figures in the social, economic, and political life. Lastly, of course, we want you to have fun, so on our blog, you can find many posts that will entertain you and, hopefully, make you smile!
We hope you enjoy our blog and discover a lot of interesting things!
All Shades of Spanish: Spanish Translation – Part IV
Spanish Translation The increase of the Spanish speaking population in North America has resulted in an increased demand for professional Spanish translation and interpretation, especially in the legal and medical fields. Certainly, a translator has to have native or near-native fluency in one of the two languages if he or she wants to work with English – Spanish language pair. Excellent grammar and wide vocabulary are a couple traits that will make someone a good professional translator. However, these skills are just not enough to provide high-quality translation, especially in such important fields as medicine and law. To provide successful legal translation from Spanish to English, it is necessary to be familiar with nuances of all the legal procedures, otherwise you risk getting confused while translating. These include for instance, Spanish and English cognates. Read the following example: Las partes han acordado celebrar el presente contrato con el fin de construir un puente. The parties have agreed to celebrate this contract for the purpose of building a bridge. Do you think this is an incorrect translation? It looks quite adequate. However, in the case of contracts translation, such a translation is unacceptable. As this sentence refers to the formation of the contract, the word ‘celebrate’ is not appropriate, and a translator should use the word ‘enter into’ instead. This verb will denote the actual meaning of the sentence, and the result we will get will be more professional: The parties have agreed to enter into this contract for the purpose of building a bridge. It is also very important to know how to localize the text into English from... read more
To Translate or Not To Translate: Translation of Proper Names
Translation of Proper Names There is a common misconception that proper names are never translated. However, if you ever paid attention to various newspaper articles in foreign language or to some magazines, you may have noticed that, for instance, Queen Elizabeth II is translated as Reina Isabel II and Alliance Française is translated as Instituto Británico in Spanish. Translators actually do a lot of things with proper names. Sometimes they keep proper names non-translated, which leads to different pronunciation in a target language; sometimes they use transcription and transliteration, cultural adaptation, substitution, and so on. As you can see, there are a lot of ways to translate a proper name, and it requires very sensitive decision-making on the part of a translator. Besides, it depends on the type of translation. If one is specializing in the certified translation of official documents, one is unlikely to look for the meaning of the client’s name and just use transliteration to make it sound the same in the target language as it does in the source language. However, in literature we can often find examples of successfully (and unsuccessfully) translated proper names that have the same effect on the target audience as the original name does. For example, the most controversial and one of the most interesting characters of the Harry Potter book series – Severus Snape – doesn’t have the same name in other languages. In Romanian he is Severus Plesneală, in Hungarian – Perselus Piton, in Italian – Severus Piton, in French – Severus Rogue, and in Russian – Северус Снегг (Severus Snegg). For many translators it was more important... read more
Check Out Today’s Positive Message Translation
Positive Message Translation Into French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, And Slovak Today, with this positive message translation, we want to remind you one more time that this life is beautiful. Just look around! Wherever you are, you can see life around you. And if for some reason you do not like this reality, do not start hating it. Try to think about what you can do to make it a little bit better. As soon as you make someone happier, you become happier too. Sometimes we get confused and believe that to be happy we need material things. These include huge houses, fancy cars, private jets. Moreover, we believe that we need to be successful, get a well-paid job, and have perfect bodies. All these things are just great! However, don’t forget that happiness is unsteady. In other words, one moment it is there and then you are so busy with all your routine problems that you just forget to live. Keep going, keep dreaming, keep achieving your goals! Above all, remember those simple moments that make you happy and smile. For instance, remember those mornings when you wake up and feel that everything will be just fine. That is to say when you are full of energy and ready to conquer this world. Therefore, no matter how hard it is, remember those moments and be sure: if you felt it before, you will feel it again. In short: smile, work, be active, laugh, love, and be HAPPY! Today LingoStar has prepared this amazing positive message for you and translated it into seven languages. Make your contribution, don’t... read more
All Shades of Spanish: Spanish Translation – Part 3
Spanish Language And Translation Why is Spanish so cool? Why is it the most popular foreign language to learn in America and Europe? The answer is pretty obvious: this language is everywhere. At least three million people speak it as their native language in 44 countries. Thus, making it the fourth-most widely spoken language in the world behind English (112 countries), French (60), and Arabic (57). So, 500 million people speak Spanish. It is a growing trend that will reach 600 million speakers by 2050! Spanish is an amazing language. If you want to learn a foreign language, you should definitely think about choosing this one. Spanish in North America Knowledge of the Spanish language is especially valuable in the US and Canada today. Especially for young adults preparing to enter the professional world, the ability to speak this language is a great skill. More and more companies are establishing international contacts and attract investments from other countries. A person speaking the language of the target audience always has better chances to get the desired position. The US and Canada have extensive cooperation with Spain and the countries of Central and South America. That is why the language factor will be one of a set of factors that will influence an employer’s decision to offer you a job. It is not surprising at all: Spanish is not only the second language used for international communication but also an official language of 22 countries! Are you still hesitating about learning it? Don’t. This will be love from the first…sound. Here at LingoStar, we offer you professional Spanish language tutoring: private... read more
We Wish You A Happy Chinese New Year!
Chinese New Year As many of you know, on Thursday, February 19th Vancouver, as well as many other cities around the globe, celebrated Chinese New Year. For millions of people in Asia it is the biggest day of the year. In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival, the literal translation of the modern Chinese name. In this period we can see the world’s largest human migration as 2.8 billion people travel across China. Many students, migrant workers and employees living far from home make the journey back to their hometowns to celebrate this day with their families and friends. What do the Chinese do to be fully prepared for the New Year? First of all, several days before the New Year the Chinese do a complete cleaning of the house to get rid of all the old things and welcome the new ones. Then they decorate their house to welcome the New Year, mostly with red decorations. New Year’s dinner and fireworks are also two essential elements of a successful celebration. Moreover, children will receive red envelopes filled with money to bring happiness and good fortune. Some children sleep on their envelopes for seven days to increase their luck. It is important that only unmarried people can receive the red envelopes with money, and only married people can give them. Chinese New Year in Vancouver Cities like Vancouver are happy to celebrate the Chinese New Year. For instance, on February 22, 2015, events culminated in a full day of celebration in the heart of Chinatown. The annual Chinese New Year parade opens this fantastic day full of... read more
All Shades of Spanish: Spanish Translation – Part 2
Spanish Translation Spanish is one of the most requested languages for translation services in North America. This is no surprise. With a huge Spanish population living in the US and Canada, it is obvious why this is so important in these countries. As we have mentioned before, it is a huge mistake to think of Spanish as a singular, monolithic entity. Spanish has a lot of varieties, and most of them differ from each other to some extent. Therefore, Spanish of the US is no exception. Have you ever heard the term ‘founder effect’? The founder effect can trace linguistic features of modern dialects to dialect differences at the time of settlement. Linguists managed to identify a number of unique Spanish dialects in the territory of the US. These dialects have core features traceable to 16th – 17th century Spain. So, originally these dialects already had differences, and in the process of language evolution, these features became even more prominent. For instance, if you provide a translation into Mexican Spanish, you need to know that this dialect prefers ‘qué tanto’ to ‘cuánto’ for ‘how much’ and uses ‘qué tan + ADJECTIVE’ in expressing degree, as in ‘qué tan grande es?’ (how big is it?). Interpreters have to be ready for the strong sibilant pronunciation of the sound /s/ in the beginning of a word or syllable. This is the most prominent feature of Mexican Spanish, which it shares with northern Spain, central Colombia, and Andean countries. At LingoStar, we cooperate with professional translators who provide high-quality Spanish translation and interpretation services. Our translators are native speakers of various Spanish... read more
Motivational Quote by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar’s Motivational Quote Translation into French, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Czech, Ukrainian, Slovak Nobody tells you that having fun and relaxing in front of the TV is bad as all of us need some time to forget about all the stressful things in our life. Then, we just watch a new episode of the favourite show, go out with friends or simply spend an evening with family. However, one can appreciate these moments only when one works hard to achieve one’s goal. Otherwise, it is very hard to become successful. Therefore, if something goes wrong, stop complaining and start changing your life. It is impossible to become great if you don’t start moving towards your dream! In conclusion: Dream, learn, become a better person – and this life will help you succeed! Let’s translate today’s motivational quote together with LingoStar. Since the more translations we provide, the more people can read and understand it. Sometimes someone’s good words change people’s life. Therefore, don’t hesitate to contact us and send us your translation of the quote! Zig Ziglar’s Quote in English: You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. Motivational Quote Translation into French: Vous n’avez pas à être grand pour commencer, mais vous devez commencer pour être grand. – Zig Ziglar Translation into Japanese: 何かを始めるのに最初からうまくできる必要はないが、卓越できるようまずは始めなければならない。- ジグ・ジグラー Motivational Quote Translation into Italian: Non devi essere eccellente per cominciare, ma devi cominciare per diventare eccellente. – Zig Ziglar Translation into Russian: Не нужно быть великим, чтобы начать, но нужно начать, чтобы быть великим. – Зиг Зиглар Motivational Quote Translation into Czech: Nemusíte být úžasní... read more
All Shades of Spanish: Spanish Translation – Part 1
Spanish Translation Why does Spanish translation give rise to so many difficulties for translators and interpreters? This is probably because some of the regional varieties of the Spanish language are quite divergent from each other, especially in vocabulary and pronunciation. Only in the Americas can we enumerate many varieties of Spanish: Mexican Spanish, Guatemalan Spanish, Cuban Spanish, Amazonic Spanish, Colombian Spanish, Chilean Spanish, Peruvian Spanish, and many others. In the United States, for instance, Spanish is the most commonly used language after English. Spanish speakers in the US represent the fastest growing language minority in the country. Today the US is home to the fifth-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world (without undocumented Spanish speakers)! Although Spanish is all around us and we can hear it often, it differs from English a lot. Spanish is a romance language and its grammar causes most problems for translators from Spanish to English. What to keep in mind for a Spanish Translation Although the Spanish word order is similar to the English one, it has a different kind of information structure. Information structure is a very important aspect of every language. It describes how a sentence formally packages a sentence. As Spanish allows more flexibility, the words in the sentence can move from one position to the other. So, for instance, words that are to be stressed are usually placed at the end of the sentence. In English on the other hand, a word, and even a part of a word, can be stressed in any position. To avoid this mistake, interpreters need to be aware of the grammatical structure as well as... read more
Perspectives of Arabic Translation in Canada
AArabic Translation in Canada The crisis in Syria has resulted in the displacement of millions of people, both within Syria and in the neighbouring countries. The overwhelming majority (97%) of people who fled the country live in 5 neighbouring countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt. So now some towns in these regions have as many refugees as locals. According to the Canadian Council of Refugees, the huge influx of new residents leads to enormous strain on the local systems. As a result, the schools are overflowing, and many Syrian children cannot attend local schools. Health services are stretched beyond capacity. Besides, the water supply is insufficient. So the Government of Canada has made a choice to support the Syrian people in their quest for democratic change. According to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, Canada will resettle 10,000 more refugees over the next three year in frames of United Nations Refugee Agency’s global program of resettling 100,000 refugees worldwide. With such an inflow of Syrian refugees, Arabic translation services will be in great demand. Arabic Translation: Difficulties Translation from Arabic to English and vice versa may be problematic. Translators often find it difficult to bridge the cultural gap in rendering some Arabic utterances into English without distorting the meaning. The reason why Arabic – English translation is so confusing is that both Arabic and English belong to two absolutely different language families and have different cultures too. Often, a single English word is not enough to translate an Arabic word. Therefore, translators need to know this culture very well to give an adequate equivalent or descriptive translation. Arabic is a... read more
Jaroslav Dušek’s Motivational Quote Translation
Jaroslav Dušek’s Motivational Quote Translation into English, French, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Slovak, and Ukrainian What do you feel when trees start blooming after a long cold winter? Do you feel happy and excited because you know that a new, amazing period of your life will start soon? Summer always brings joy and hope. Therefore, find summer in yourself. Don’t think about anything material – think about how wonderful it is when you discover something new in yourself and when you start blossoming, too. Keep going, keep growing, and this will bring you luck and success. Help us with our motivational quote translation. So let’s translate this beautiful quote together into as many languages as we can! Don’t hesitate to contact us. Try to be a translator! Adapted Quote of Jaroslav Dušek in Czech: Naším úkolem je rozkvést, ne něčeho docílit. (Jaroslav Dušek, upravený citát) Motivational Quote Translation into English: Our mission is to blossom, not to achieve anything. (Adapted quote by Jaroslav Dušek) Motivational Quote Translation into French: Notre mission est de nous épanouir, pas de accomplir quelque chose. (Citation adapté de Jaroslav Dušek) Motivational Quote Translation into Dutch: Ons doel is te bloeien en niet om iets te bereiken. (Aangepast citaat van Jaroslav Dušek) Translation into Italian: La nostra missione è crescere, non raggiungere qualcosa. (Citazione adattata da Jaroslav Dušek) Translation into Japanese: 私たちの使命は、成長していくことであり、何かを達成することではない。（翻案引用句 by Jaroslav Dušek） Translation into Russian: Наша миссия в том, чтобы расцветать, а не добиваться чего-либо. (Адаптированная цитата Ярослава Душека) Translation into Slovak: Našou úlohou je rozkvitnúť, nie niečo dosiahnuť. (Jaroslav Dušek, upravený citát) Translation into Ukrainian: Наша місія у тому, щоби розцвітати, а не добиватися... read more
Automotive Translation In Canada, World’s Largest Auto Producer
Automotive Translation in Canada Why is automotive translation such an important field in the translation industry of Canada? The answer is quite simple: Canada is currently the tenth largest auto producer in the world, producing 2.1 million cars a year. Top ten – isn’t it impressive? A lot of foreign automakers have their plants in Canada. These include, for example, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Hino, Toyota, Honda, and many others. Therefore, the Canadian automotive industry is a major contributor to the Canadian economy, employing over half a million people. Moreover, a big number of international partners and clients all over the world make it essential for Canada to have highly developed, professional automotive translation services. Automotive Translation: What to keep in mind What exactly does an automotive translator work with? The range of automotive documentation is pretty wide. It includes technical documentation, various handbooks and catalogs. Furthermore, diagnosis and maintenance instructions, electronic databases, contracts and website texts. Manuals, for instance, describe vehicles in much detail. Very often manuals are huge documents, hundreds or even thousands pages long. Certainly, it would be perfect if a machine could translate such a beast. However, a lot of manuals are written in such a way that important terms and expressions are ambiguous and obscure for a machine. Therefore, professional translators with expertise in the automotive industry are in high demand. As there are a lot of repetitive segments in automotive texts, translation companies help their customers save their time and money by using translation memory systems and standardizing and activating the translation in cooperation with clients. Here at LingoStar, we are happy... read more
Psychology of Translation: Factors Which Influence Translation Work
Psychology of Translation: Factors Which Influence Translation Work In our previous newsletters, we were talking a lot about the usability of translation, about localization and globalization, about differences in fiction and non-fiction translation and also about the way translation influences cross-cultural interaction and business. Today we would like to think about the things that influence translation itself, the psychology of translation. Translation is a complex process of converting a text from one language into another one. Therefore, to provide a good translation, knowledge of two languages is not enough. Translation requires that the meaning and the tone of the original text is preserved. This goes far beyond simplistic word-for-word exchange. Translation has to be natural and appropriate for the target audience, only then it can be called a successful one. However, a good translation does not depend only on the professionalism of the language specialist. There are some factors that affect quality and naturalness of translation significantly, and translators need to keep it in mind. The Psychology of Translation: Culture Firstly, culture is a factor that influences the naturalness of translation. It is said that people translate culture and not language. In other words, even great knowledge of two language structures and vocabularies will not help translators provide an adequate translation. So, language is not simply a system of signs and rules. Above all, it has its own history and cultural background, and not every native speaker of a language might know about all the nuances of his/her culture. This means that when you are looking for a professional to translate from, for example, French to... read more
Formula For Guaranteed Success: Agriculture Translation
Agriculture Translation Agriculture is definitely a big industry in Canada. There are huge amounts of bountiful resources all over the country. Since it is such a large industry, reaching your target market effectively, even if it is through language barriers is an absolute necessity to thrive. Whether your company is in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, or even somewhere obscure, there is going to be a multilingual population that you must accommodate via agriculture translation to try and maximize your client base. Some common things that are translated include machinery user guides. Moreover, technical documentation related to transportation and logistics, shipping and packaging, as well as legal documentation. Here at LingoStar we have professional translators available for over 100 language pairs. Furthermore, we make sure that we enlist translators, specialized for your industry and location. This way, we can ensure that the content of your documents meets the specifications of your target demographic. A translator who is fully familiar with your specific industry will be privy to the various industry specific terms. Otherwise, they would be ambiguous and translated incorrectly by another translation company. LingoStar Language Services has a fantastic track record producing flawless translations for companies involved with agriculture all across Canada. We provide high-quality, professional translation, interpretation and localization services into over 100 languages. Furthermore, we cooperate with translators, voice-over talent, and many other language specialists all over the world. For more information, call us today at 604-629-8420 or send us an email at info@lingo-star.com. The photo by Nigel Lo, taken from... read more
Check Out Today’s Inspirational Message Translation
Inspirational Message Translation into Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian Today we want to say this one more time: never give up! Even if it seems that something goes wrong, don’t concentrate on the failure. Take a day off from all your problems and negative thoughts. Tomorrow it will be better because there is always room for a new plan and a new start! So, check out today’s inspirational message and help us translate it and share it with the world! If you speak a foreign language, don’t hesitate to send us your translation of this message or proofread the existing translations! Contact us today! The Inspirational Message in English: If plan ‘A’ didn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters! The Inspirational Message Translation into Spanish: ¡Sí el plano “A” no funcionó, el alfabeto tiene 26 letras más! The Inspirational Message Translation into French: Si le plan “A” ne marche pas, il reste encore 25 lettres dans l’alphabet! The Inspirational Message Translation into Italian: Se il piano “A” non funziona, l’alfabeto ha altre 25 lettere! Translation into Russian: Если план “A” не сработал, в алфавите есть еще 32 буквы! Translation into Japanese: もしプランAがうまくいかなかったとしても、アルファベットはまだ残り25個もある！ Translation into Czech: Pokud plán A nefungoval, existuje dalších 41 písmen v abecedě! Translation into Slovak: Ak nezafungoval plán A, ešte stále je tu ďalších 45 písmen abecedy! Translation into Ukrainian: Якщо план “А” не спрацював, в алфавіті є ще 32 літери! Here at LingoStar, we provide high-quality, professional translation, interpretation and localization services into over 100 languages. We cooperate with translators, voice-over talent, and many other language specialists all over the... read more
Becoming a Better Professional: Education For a Community Interpreter
Community Interpreters’ Development The issue of cross-cultural differences has been a subject of debate for quite a long time. The first Critical Link conference in Toronto in 1995 dedicated much of its time to discussions about whether the role of community interpreters included cultural brokerage. In Canada, for example, community interpreting has been labeled as ‘cultural interpreting’ and in Italy and Spain as ‘cultural mediation’. All of these terms denote that interpreters have to assist people they are working with in cultural communication. Useful Tips for Community Interpreters Language is changing rapidly as every day more and more new words and phrases appear. Therefore, it is important for interpreters to upgrade their skills and to increase their knowledge of language pairs they specialize in. There are a lot of ways to develop one’s professional skills. Firstly, many colleges and universities provide courses which teach about various translation and interpretation areas. Secondly, it can be very helpful to become a member of a professional organization and attend lectures, workshops, and seminars. These are often sponsored by local chapters of such organizations. Attending these events helps interpreters to not only learn new information about the industry but also network, meet a lot of interesting people and colleagues and become a part of a community. Finally, every interpreter can increase his/her knowledge working individually and reading and learning new terminology. Professional development is necessary in this field because community interpreters always deal with different cultures and help people from these cultures communicate, establish contact and get closer to each other. A single mistake can lead to conflicts and unexpected problems. That’s why... read moreTranslation Blog and News
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