Category: Translation Tips

Corporate translations are all about providing corporate translation services for small and large corporations. The reality of business today is that much of it has had to deal with the rapid expansion of the global economy. Any business of any size that fails to respond to the presence and promise of the international market is unlikely to prosper and grow.

An essential factor that arises from this international business perspective is that communication must be effective across a multitude of language barriers. This, in a nutshell, explains the role of company translations. While many larger corporations maintain in-house teams of translators to do all their translations for them, other companies use independent translation agencies that are specialized in providing the business translation.

The breadth of corporate translation services

The main bulk of corporate translation services involve the translation of:

• accounting documents;
• business agreements;
• correspondence;
• financial documents;
• insurance documents; and
• marketing documents.

Varied skills for varied purposes

A lot of corporate translation is highly technical or at least uses highly technical language which means that translation services that provide services for corporations acting in the international arena need to have specialized translators. For example, the translation of business agreements, contracts, and deeds require knowledge of legal terminology in the languages involved in the translation.

Marketing documents and websites, on the other hand, require different skills that are more tuned towards cultural nuances and may require specialized localization services.
Similarly, corporate communication can involve the whole gamut of present-day means of communication from formal letters to email correspondence to the use of social media and the maintenance of helplines and technical support by telephone contact and through company websites. None of this would be possible without a diverse corporate translation service, which can adapt to the multitude of translation and language skills involved in business communication.

The most common languages in demand for corporate translations

It would be no secret which languages are in most demand when it comes to corporate translations. These languages are the languages of the most important of the world’s powerhouses: English, German, French, Japanese, Chinese and Russian. Some of the languages owe their popularity as a result of their international importance, such as English and French. Others are important because of the rapid growth in the local economy which has international significance such as Chinese. Others still are popular not so much because of the economic perspective but the sheer numbers of native speakers. Japanese, Hindi, Indonesian / Malay, and Arabic spring to mind.

The role of corporate interpreters

Interpreters are as important as translators when it comes to servicing the international communication needs of corporations. These two services are complementary. There are some professional agencies that can provide both translators and interpreters, although generally speaking, they tend to be separate entities. Translators mainly deal with converting text from one language to another, while interpreters are used to converting the spoken word from one language to another.

A business team that is visiting another country where the language is different is going to have to use an interpreting service to help them communicate, even though all the groundwork before the visit was probably helped by translators. Similarly, a company website may be translated into a number of other key languages, but its helpline must be manned by interpreters capable of handling questions in all those different languages.

Corporate translations for the Internet

Much of the business of corporations these days is via the Internet. All companies of any size will have a company website, part of which helps to explain what the company does, its size, history, and what it provides in services or products. It may also have a more dynamic interface in which international customers can communicate directly with the company, searching for information, ordering goods, making inquiries, and so on.

Many companies also use social media for promotional purposes. New developments, whether these are to do with the expansion of the company’s presence in a particular area or because of a new technological fix, can quickly be communicated by a social media presence. Many professionals and corporate executives these days use their social media presence, e.g. on sites like LinkedIn, for their personal profile. These profiles are avidly examined for promotional and appointment purposes. Because of the internationalization of much corporate business, this is another area that demands effective translation services.

The Internet is also widely used by corporations these days for conferencing purposes. It saves a lot of money on first-class air flights and accommodation. However, to be effective, an online conference has to be well set up with a multi-language interpreting team and good technology.

Conclusion

Corporations are increasingly international if they are not so already. The meaning of corporate translations is intrinsically tied to the need for effective cross-language communication for modern communications. This demand is not likely to diminish any time soon unless the world adopts one common international language or the international community goes into reverse economically, neither of which seems very likely.

One of the most important translations for international students is certified student documents translations. They are crucial when applying for a job overseas, getting a visa, or submitting an application for a university course. Many immigration authorities will only accept certified translated documents before they are accepted as legal documents to study at one of their country’s educational institutions.

There are several documents that will need translations before international students can begin to study in an overseas country. It is important for the university to evaluate international students’ academic credentials so they can decide if the international student has reached the equivalent standard to a local student. Translations are required for the following:

• school and college certificates;
• degree and diploma certificates if the course sought is at postgraduate level;
• academic transcripts showing the previous school or college course content.

A certified translation is a requirement so that every class, grade, course credit and the cumulative grade averages can be properly converted to match the standard of local qualifications.

International Students and the Immigration Process

International students will not be able to enter a country to study unless s/he has been thoroughly vetted by the country’s immigration service. For this to take place translated copies of key documents are requested by most immigration authorities. These include birth certificate, marriage certificate (if applicable), bank statements, police clearance certificate and any other documents you may get asked to translate. The visa application will need to include the offer of a place on a course but this will be in the host country’s language so it will not need a certified translation. Each of the certified translations will typically have a signed certification form attached to each it.

What is a Certified Student Documents Translation for International Students?

A certified student document translation is when an international student is asked to get a translation of documents required both for acceptance on a course by the college/university concerned and for the immigration authority responsible for issuing a study visa for the student. Depending on the country the international student may or may not be required to use a qualified translator to do the certified translations.

In Australia, for example, all translations need to be done by an accredited NAATI translator who has the certificate to prove it. However, in the United States, it is not necessary to get translations done by an accredited translator. All the translator has to do is write a statement for each student documents translation to say the translation is accurate and then sign it. This statement is attached to the specific translation.

International students may also use their certified translations of degrees and other qualifications when submitting applications for employment in the U.S. Some recruiters and human resource managers could ask you for these translated documents in order to confirm that you are both certified and experienced to take up the position you have applied for.

Who Should do International Students Translations?

A student needs the best translator that money can buy so that means using someone who can prove their competence in both the source and target languages. There are many translation services available who offer online human translators who are not only competent translators but can get the job done quickly without the accuracy suffering. Many have certificates to prove their ability to translate. Some have degrees and postgraduate qualifications in their second language. They use their vast experience of translating international students’ documents to get the perfect translation.

If you are unsure whether you have chosen the right translator you can ask to see testimonials that prove the person’s competence. The chosen translator needs experience with translating legal documents such as marriage and birth certificates as well as academic documents like degree and diploma certificates. Speed is important too as you do not want your application to study or your visa application rejected because you are too late. There is always someone ready to take your place.

Many businesses and individuals use blogs to provide information and market products while individuals describe the flow of events in their life in the hope that readers will be enlightened. Businesses use blog posts to attract customers because blog topics which are added to regularly are often about news or breakthroughs related to the blog writer’s business. If for example, the blog owner is a travel agent the blogs may be about the appraising of great travel destinations. For the ardent traveller, this may be a blog post they go to regularly. The travel agent, of course, hopes to attract customers as a result of interest in reading the business’s blog page. Of course, these day’s businesses and individuals want their blog posts to be read around the world so this means accurate professional translators are required to undertake an accurate blog translation.

The Blog Title Determines the Number of Readers:-

The blog title is a blog’s key tool and should not be overlooked. It helps people to find your blog on the internet. It determines if anyone wants to actually read your blog. If you spend a minute getting your blog title translated your blog reader could be reading your blog for hours.

A Blog Translation may be Required

The importance of a blog translation is if the blog draws interest from the local market this is the time to get a professional translation of the blog. This draws in more readers of the targeted languages who may not otherwise bother reading a blog in a language they have little knowledge of. Many businesses depend upon blogs as a way of showcasing who they are on the international market. This will never work unless a blog translation is done first. A good blog translation would be one that looks like the translation is natural and has no sign of mistranslation or awkward wording.

Do not go for the Cheapest Blog Translation Option:-

There is always this attraction to translating a business’s documents using machine translators like Google Translate; after all, it is free. This is not an option if you really want to gain from your translation investment. Too many clumsy mistakes and misunderstood language takes place when online tools like Google Translate are used for translations.

Use a human Translator to Translate your blog’s title

There are so many examples showing how serious blog titles have been turned into comical titles because the translation was done by machine translation tools like Google Translate. Blog writers can be very talented and produce text that is so creative that readers are keen to share. Using a machine translation tool can change their catchy style and destroy their creativity. Human translators create the best result as they use their translation skills so that the blog writer’s creativity is not lost. Machine translators do not have the capability to do this yet.

Machine Translations could Spoil a brand’s name

If you really have no idea what a translation of a language looks like you should never use a machine translator. A Chinese restaurant owner found this out the hard way when in his blog post he tried to change his Chinese restaurant name into English but the machine translator could not find any equivalent words so it came up with ‘Translate server error’ As the restaurant owner could not speak any English he thought the translation must be correct. He used the words in his campaign blog to attract customers, so the advert came out like this ‘Sichuan pork shoulder and noodle soup, only 30¥ today through to Saturday at our restaurant, Translate server error!’This is definitely a mistake that would never have occurred if a human translator had done the translation. No doubt for anyone who understood English they would have difficulty finding a restaurant with such an unusual name.

Google Does not like Machine Translations

If Google detects you have used a machine translation tool it could affect the ranking of your blog. You can take the risk and begin your translation with a machine translator and then revise it accordingly. This should work if you use a human translator to do the revisions. If you prefer to use free Google translations on your site, you could display the widget for the Google translation website. Google does support this way of doing a blog post translation.

Translate your blog posts the easy way

If your blog post is in WordPress and you add articles often, it is often hard to manage all the translations you require. An easy solution is the use of a WPML plugin. This will create for you a multilingual website. If you use WPML’s translation services, you may have access to experienced human translators so your blog posts can be translated by a professional human translator. This is a tool accepted by Google.

Summary

Language translation is increasingly a part of daily life, from doing business in overseas countries to reporting worldwide events and providing information on any topic to an international audience. The importance of blog translation cannot be underestimated as blogs are commonly used as a way of transmitting the information which promotes products and services. Because language use is continually in flux no computer programme has yet been invented that can deal with the varieties of language used in blog posts. This means that the role of professional human translators for blog post translation is guaranteed at least for the moment.

Why the French Language is Important Today

You might not realize this, but French is spoken in places that are across the other side of the world from France. In fact, French is spoken in 5 continents by 220 million or more speakers. The OIF, which is the international organization for French-speaking countries, has 88 members. French is the 2nd most commonly learned language after English, and it comes 6th for the number of people who speak it. It is estimated that at any one time there are one million people engaged in learning French. There is every good reason why the French language is important today.

French Opens Doors to Jobs

If you can speak both English and French and do French language translation as well, it opens many doors in the world of jobs, especially in developed countries like Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and of course France itself.

French opens doors to culture

French is well known in so many different international environments, such as in cooking, theatre, fashion, dance, visual arts, and architecture. French is the language of philosophers, scientists, poets, and authors that have become international names such as Victor Hugo, Molière, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Their works have had a French language translation into all the world’s most prominent languages.

France is a Top Tourist Destination

This answers the question of why the French language is important. More than 87 million people visit France every year. It’s great to get more of an insight into French culture by knowing just a little French. Any French knowledge can be used in such countries as Switzerland, Monaco, and Canada, as well as some African countries like Morocco. Far-flung island residents, like those of the Seychelles, Reunion, and Mauritius, speak French as well.

A Language for Higher Education

If you can do any French language translation it opens up opportunities to study at France’s highly ranked universities. French government grants are available to students who have achieved high levels of French and they can enroll in postgraduate courses in French universities in virtually any discipline.

French is a Key Language in International Relations

You will hear French spoken at key venues in the European Union. Also, it’s an official United Nations language and UNESCO and NATO as well as the international Red Cross, the International Olympic Committee, and in international courts.

French is a Window on the World

TV5, Radio France Internationale, and France 24 are broadcast all over the world in French. They cover all aspects of world affairs. This means French language translation is important, so we can see France’s world view.

French isn’t Difficult to Learn

With some perseverance, it doesn’t take long to learn how to speak French, so that you can be understood.

Knowing French makes some other languages easier to learn

There are similarities between French and other languages, like Italian, Romanian, Spanish, English, and Portuguese.

French is Romantic and Analytical

French is from time to time referred to as the language of love. It’s also known for its analysis of world issues, which is increasingly valuable in this changing world.

If you are an English language speaker and really want to learn another language, it can be frustrating hearing all those Europeans and others who seem to be able to speak English, and often one or more other languages, so fluently, when you stumble over the simplest conversations.

We have probably all had the experience of trying out our newly learned new language expressions on a native speaker and finding they switch to our language because it is so much easier to communicate.

But if they can do it, so surely we can, too! In fact, the fact that as children we pick up language learning without any formal training should indicate that just about every human being has the innate ability to learn a language.

Can children teach us anything about learning a new language?

The fact that children learn languages easily doesn’t always help us, as they have unique advantages over older learners. For a start, they don’t have any other language they know (apart from body language) to confuse them. One of the problems that can be frustrating when an adult learns another language is that the syntax of their native language is often so different from the new language that it confuses them.

The incentive is a key Ingredient in Learning another Language

The key ingredient in learning another language is an incentive. Children have a huge incentive to learn the language of meaningful people around them. So do those whose native language is spoken by hardly anyone! Scandinavians and the Dutch, for example, learn English very quickly; otherwise, like children, they would be unintelligible to anyone else other than their own countrymen.

We can turn that around to help us learn another language more easily. Immersion in the language we want to learn is one of the best methods. Immersion can take many forms:

Make friends with those who speak another language. Even if you only mix some of the words and phrases you know, making conversation with friends whose native language is the one you want to learn can be a game changer. Of course, they may try and make it easier to communicate by talking only in your language, but if you make it known that you are trying to make an effort to learn their language, then you should get along just fine.

Read books, papers, websites, and magazines and watch the news or films that don’t have subtitles in the language you want to learn. If you do this with things you enjoy then you will find you are picking up useful vocabulary and even grammar more easily. For example, if you like sport, make an effort to read, watch and listen to the sport in the language of your choice.

Visit the Country where the Language is Spoken

This is the most expensive way to learn another language, but potentially the most fun and the most productive. Now, here is a word of warning. If the main purpose of your visit is to learn a language and not just go on holiday, then you are best going alone. If you visit another country with someone else you inevitably spend much more time talking in your own language and not in the language of the country you are visiting.

Another way of maximizing your learning experience is to find a way of ensuring you are forced to communicate in the language of the country you are visiting. An easy way to do that is to volunteer with a group or organization of your choice. This way, you will find that you are made welcome and you will certainly have an incentive (remember the key ingredient!) to learn as fast as possible.

Conclusion

Some people have a natural advantage over others when learning a new language. The younger you are, the quicker you will learn any language. The more incentive you have to learn another language, the faster you will pick it up. The key to learning another language then without reverting to becoming a child all over again (!) is to find an incentive that suits you and your pocket. Reading, watching and listening to foreign language media can be useful. Making friends and visiting other countries, preferably on your own and integrating with those that are there, are all tried and true methods of making language learning easy.

Choosing a foreign language and then trying to learn a foreign language at the best of times can sometimes be a challenge but on occasions, it’s worth putting yourself out and setting a day or a week or so to try to learn a foreign language, especially if you have been offered a job in a country that doesn’t speak your language as well as you do.

If your first language is English and you have been offered a job in Vietnam, for example, which involves working for an English speaking company, it’s still worth learning Vietnamese as it gives you more of a window onto Vietnam, which allows you to better integrate with Vietnamese people which may be good for your job. Many people go to Vietnam to teach English but this isn’t an excuse not to learn Vietnamese because it is itself a valuable tool for communication.

Is Vietnamese difficult to learn?

Learning Vietnamese can be a challenge because Vietnamese has six tones which makes it hard for English speakers. This means that even if the smallest mistake is made when speaking, the speaker won’t be understood. These sorts of hurdles have to be solved otherwise there are lost opportunities when overseas businesses invest in Vietnam’s business sector. The Vietnamese have to be more patient when listening to those who are struggling to learn the Vietnamese language while the new learner has to work harder at becoming more competent in Vietnamese. It’s certainly not an easy challenge but the rewards will come from the Vietnamese people who really appreciate people who try to learn they’re less than widespread language.

Inability to speak your host country’s language is your loss

Many English teachers In Vietnam spend most of their day speaking English because that’s what their role is. Even managers of English-owned businesses in Vietnam address their staff in English. In some situations, workers and temporary residents in Vietnam don’t necessarily need to speak or learn Vietnamese at all. As long as they don’t stray too far from the environment they feel comfortable in especially in relation to language. The question you have to ask yourself is it worth going to live and work in a country where you aren’t prepared to immerse yourself in the culture? You lose so much by not learning your host country’s language as language is the basis of culture and enables the speaker to learn more about the life of the people who speak it.

The Vietnamese involvement in you learning their language

The Vietnamese people often don’t even recognize when non-native Vietnamese are trying to speak their language because of the difficulty nonnative speakers have in pronouncing the language. They give little time to those who are trying to speak the language but aren’t getting it quite right. They have even been known to mock foreigners who try to speak Vietnamese but don’t get it quite right the first time. Sometimes this means many people stick to English rather than trying to speak Vietnamese. Mispronunciation in Vietnamese simply isn’t acceptable and many people just give up learning the language. But being persistent will eventually reap rewards. It’s just a case of learning words and phrases that are most useful in the environment that which the learner is likely to spend most of his or her time in Vietnam. Spending more time practicing Vietnamese with Vietnamese people after attending classes will accelerate the learning of the language and not the other way round. Classes in Vietnamese are only one route to competency in the language but they don’t necessarily give the learners the confidence to speak the language with ease.

There is no easy way to learn any language

For many, the Vietnamese language is actually quite easy to read, but the pronunciation is the stumbling block, stifling the language learner’s journey to competency. It’s not surprising because when finding out how many languages are spoken in Vietnam the answer is there are many local languages that have brought about the evolution of the Vietnamese language, resulting in a common language that’s widely spoken across the country which isn’t necessarily easy to learn.

There are teaching methods used to help the learner pronounce Vietnamese and if the stages are followed the route to competency will be shorter. With so many people from overseas wanting to move to Vietnam permanently, it’s a crucial time for language schools in Vietnam to recruit these eager learners and devise a course that focuses on solving some of the difficulties they have with pronunciation and other aspects of Vietnamese so they can genuinely become a part of this ever-popular destination.

Conclusion

When answering the question “is Vietnamese difficult to learn?” research has indicated that Vietnamese is a difficult language to learn and it’s not so much the vocabulary that creates the obstacle but the pronunciation and the wide variety of accents encountered in the country. Some people recommend learning the Hanoian accent because it is the most widespread across the country and at least the learner will be more likely to be understood.
The worst thing to do when living and working in Vietnam is to ditch learning the language altogether and just speak one’s native language which would most likely only extend to a small group. The world is a multilingual and multicultural place and there is no room for people to ignore languages just because they are hard to learn. Once a learner becomes more fluent he or she will reap the benefits of being able to access a multicultural environment that is more comfortable and makes the wider community more accepting.

All successful translation work depends on the outcome of the translation being accurate, but a financial translation requires far more attention to detail. This is because a simple mistake could lead to a serious problem. A financial translator must have a clear understanding of the targeted so as to make sure the right terminology is used in the financial translation.

If you are looking for a financial translation, you will need the experience and expertise of a financial translator. You can’t usually expect a good financial translation from a general translator.

Financial Terminology is Important in a Financial Translation

Precision and accuracy are extremely important in all financial translations. The translator must use the correct terminology depending on the targeted audience and target language as not all financial terms are universal. For example, in the U.S. ‘common stock’ is used while in Britain ‘called-up share capital’ is used. The ‘share of stock’ in France is called ‘action’ but ‘capital’ in Russia is called ‘share capital.’

Financial terms are full of unique and complex nuances which are quite a challenge for translators who haven’t yet build up experience in the financial translation industry. In the U.S. ‘accounts receivable’ is commonly heard, but it’s called ‘trade debtor’ in the UK, while in New Zealand, this is called ‘debtor.’ Additionally, in New Zealand, ‘stocks’ is a financial term, but the term ‘inventories’ is used in the U.S.

It’s not acceptable to directly translate terminology as this could confuse the meanings of different terms. The translator has to know what terms are applicable. For example, smart contracts and mining are commonly used terms in dealings with cryptocurrency. It is crucial for the translator to know which has to be used. A financial translator must be able to translate quickly fast and meet all deadlines set.

Confidentiality in Financial Translation

Financial documents have to be totally secure as they could reveal important confidential information about a company. They must be kept private and only passed onto to a translator who can be trusted.

Most professional translation services typically require both their translators and interpreters to sign a non-disclosure contract. Because translation companies often make use of translation memory tools, they have to ensure that no external sources can access them. This is crucial to clients who want financial translations.

Clients need to be sure that translators who have been assigned to conduct a financial translation are always professional, trustworthy and responsible because the information being translating is usually valuable.