What exactly does a translation agency do? At TSI, we are asked this question quite frequently. We’ve put together a one minute video that outlines the services we provide and how they can benefit you and your company. Here’s a link:
More Than Translators
A classic scenario: you have documents you need translated into Spanish. It turns out you have a cousin who lived in Spain for 5 years. Why not just use them to do the work? No knock to your cousin, but a lot more goes into translating a document than converting words on a page. If the process was that simple, TSI along with the hundreds of other translation agencies would not exist. In addition to having a team of extremely talented translators, we do more than translate. Translation Project Management From sourcing documents to delivery, translation project management is an essential portion of each and every job we take on. Our group of talented project managers understand each integral step of the process, like preparing accurate quotes for clients, determining which translator is the right people for the job, overseeing the integration of your translated text into your original file with our graphic design team, and helping you understand the billing process - our project managers handle it all. Our project managers are not translators. Getting your job done properly requires a team of uniquely skilled individuals. The Document Translation Process Once we receive documents for a quote, we enlist a handful of translators to process each job. Why? This is because each job requires numerous steps during translation to ensure it’s done properly and without errors. Step like proofreading, translating, reviewing and editing all add up to complete the actual translating portion of the job. By bringing on different translators to complete each of these steps, it affords us the brain capacity of 3 talented foreign language speakers as opposed to just one. Naturally, this helps catch any mistakes or overlooked aspects of the document translation. 
Graphic Design Formatting Once our language experts and project managers approve the new text, it is sent off to our graphic design team. Their job is to integrate the new language text into the original document formatting. This means adhering to your margins, spacing, typeface, colors, etc. It’s a job that doesn’t get enough credit, as many languages require extra words and have longer sentences, which forces graphic designers to think creatively in order to fit the new text and still have it look professional and on your brand guidelines. 
Translation Document Delivery Arguably the most important part of the translation process is getting the final document back into the customer’s hands -- and of course, doing it on time and on budget. This means coordinating with the client about the formats in which they need their files, be it PDF, DOC, PSD, TXT, etc. There’s no format we can’t do! These steps in the process are all essential to ensuring that your final translated document is up to the standard we at TSI consistently deliver to our clients. For assistance with document translation, consultation or a free quote, we would be more than happy to enter a dialogue with you. Feel free to contact us via phone, email, or our contact form on our company website.  When producing video content for customers or potential clients, sometimes your audience is overseas or simply speaks a different language. If this is the case, subtitle translation is an excellent idea. The process is more complicated than slapping words on the bottom of the screen- it involves translation, revisions, and adherence to international subtitling standards to work properly. Thankfully, we have over 28 years worth of experience offering translation and subtitling services for videos. When Should You Use Subtitles? For the average subtitling services project, typically we follow the clients’ lead. If they send us a video that already has subtitles, we provide video subtitling translation services. However there are situations where this might not be the best choice. An effective use of subtitles is when a person is seen speaking on-screen. It’s quite awkward and amateurish to see a person speaking one language and hear the translation in another language. Subconsciously we are trying to match the sound of the words to the movement of the speaker’s lips and it becomes frustrating and even annoying. Most clients will agree to the use of subtitles in this situation, but at times there are those who insist on what’s called the United Nations method, whereby we hear the first few seconds of the person speaking in his or her native language and then a narrator’s voice quickly fades in as the source language is left barely audible in the background. This approach doesn’t appear to be so annoying to the viewing public.  The Importance of Subtitle Formatting and Standards International and company standards exist for the amount of words or characters that are allotted in a line of text. The number of characters generally agreed to is 42. An average English word consists of 6 characters that includes 5 letters and a space at the end. Dividing 42 characters by 6 gives us 7 words per line of subtitle. A maximum of two lines per scene is recommended. If there are more than 2 lines of subtitles, most people would not be able to finish reading before the scene ends and the next scene begins. Let’s analyze the use of subtitles in a English version of a 10 minute video. On average, there are 150 words spoken in normal conversation, that is a delivery not too slow and not too fast. Therefore a 10 minute video would require 1,500 words of text. Assuming that there are 6 words per line of subtitles and that the limit is two lines of subtitles per scene, a 10 minute video would require 125 scene changes. Many people find this amount of changes difficult and tiresome to read. In addition, when someone is focusing on the subtitles, it’s nearly impossible to see what’s going on in the video. If one is reading the subtitles, they are missing the images on the screen. If they are looking at the images on the screen, they are not able to read the subtitles at the same time. This creates a real dilemma and most people will tune out and stop watching. The parameters change somewhat depending on the language that’s being used for the subtitles. Character based languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean (there are others) typically use symbols rather than letters. One character might represent a whole word. For example, a 400 word English subtitle will require 2,400 characters, while the Chinese character count would be 640. This is a dramatic difference. But we also have to consider the size of the characters compared to the size of the letters. A single Chinese character might be the size of two English letters depending on the font sizes used. There’s a considerable amount of planning that has to be considered when using subtitles.  Which is More Expensive, Voiceovers or Subtitles? We get this question all of the time. In the long run, they are very close in cost. The ten minute voiceover which would include recording studio rental, audio engineer, professional narrator and final editing would cost around $1,000. The audio track would be delivered to the client in either .mp3 or .wav format and would be timed to the exact length of the video. The video editor would line up the foreign language audio file with the first audio of the source, lay in the file and violà, the job is done. Subtitles, on the other hand, would require a video editor who knows how to break the language down into the appropriate lines. The editor would most likely work alongside a native speaker of the language, either in person or remotely, to verify that the lines of text are placed correctly. Working from a Word document or an Excel file, they would cut and paste the two lines of subtitles into 125 separate scenes. If the editor could cut and past 12 scenes per hour (5 minutes each) it would take approximately 10 hours to complete the job. The fees involved would be for the video studio rental, editor and language consultant. The advantage of one method over the other would depend on the experience of the people involved. In most cases, the difference in fees would not be enough to choose one method over the other compared to the cost of the entire production. A Client Subtitle Case Study Recently we received a request from a client to translate an eight-minute video that describes the function and operation of a newly designed forklift truck that was being used in the logging business. The machine looked like something out of World War II. It was large, ominous looking and instead of wheels and tires, it rode on heavy duty steel tracks. It didn’t have the typical two pronged forks, but instead, a device that looked like giant tongs that could lift and carry ten tree trunks at a time. It could also navigate mountainous terrain, deep, rugged valleys and cross rivers four feet deep. Subtitles were used to describe the movement and operation of the machine, but there were also captions naming the essential components of the equipment. Our client decided to use voiceovers for the description of the machine’s operation, as we suggested, and translate the captions. In this manner the viewer could listen to the soundtrack and read the captions at the same time. No matter which method is selected, “planning ahead” is the most important part of the job. Give us a ring or shoot us an email. At TSI, our experienced translators and project managers have the experience to ensure your video subtitles and translations are done properly.  Language translation is a delicate process. In a world obsessed with technology, native speaking human translators are still the gold standard when it comes to document translation services. While there are various computer aided translation programs available today (commonly referred to as ‘machine translations’), they typically offer a subpar end product that can result in translation errors and lost business. This is why here at TSI, we only use translators who speak the native languages specific to their jobs. We take this role seriously and it sets us apart from other translation service providers. 1. Localization Most common computer translation programs cannot distinguish between a document whose final destination is France versus French speaking Algeria or many of the other countries that include French as an official language. Each language has its own variations from region to region, as we’ve discussed in previous articles. 2. Words With Multiple Meanings We encounter this often, especially with English into Spanish translations. There are many English words, spelled exactly the same, that have different meanings. A professional translator will read the words in context and understand their precise meaning. However, machine translation programs, although having made great strides in the past several years, are not nearly as effective as humans. For example, let’s look at wind (to turn) and wind (flowing air). The main issue with these examples is their counterparts in other languages are not identical. To ‘turn’ in Spanish is enrollar and flowing air is viento. Machine translation programs cannot always differentiate words like this in context. Native speaking human translators are far superior in this scenario.  3. Machine Translations Lack Human Touch In addition to just completely getting definitions wrong, computer translated documents often read dry and stilted. Reading is one of the most essential forms of communication. Anyone who has read a best selling novel understands that good writing can evoke true emotion from the reader. Some are so powerful that they bring readers to tears. While this may not be the goal of your business document translation, HR document translations or legal translations, it’s still essential that your company can connect with your target audience on a personal level.  4. Humans Excel at Technical Terminology Translation If you think a computer can decipher hundreds of parts that make up modern medical instruments and devices, think again. You need a human translator who specializes in precise terminology associated with this field. Terminology that is industry specific does not typically exist in most dictionaries. This means computers can’t correctly process these terms. Even most human translators cannot accomplish this. For this reason, we are sure to pair our projects with native translators who have a robust understanding of the industry in question. For example, when we are dealing with architectural document translations we assign the project to a translator with a degree and several years experience in architecture or structural engineering. A similar rule applies to technical operating and maintenance manuals, to HR and OSHA regulations and legal briefs. Understanding how to properly pair a translator with a job is akin to casting the right actor in an academy award-winning movie. There are hundreds of actors available and eager for their next big role, but it’s the subtle details and demands of the part that makes their role really shine on the silver screen. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Johnny Depp are both great actors, but would never be up for the same role. 5. Human Translators Lead to Cost Savings One myth is that using computer software to translate documents saves customers a lot of money. This is not necessarily the case, for a few reasons. The actual translation procedure from one language to the next is merely one step in the translation supply chain. Due to the increased errors when using computer software, it requires more detailed rounds of revisions (assuming companies even do them to begin with). This additional proofreading and revising adds up. Machine translations do not eliminate the project management costs or graphic design costs, which leads us to our next issue…  6. Improper Formatting for Internationalization
As we’ve discussed in previous articles, internationalization is the design and layout of a document or product so that translation and localization can be easily implemented. When using computer aided translation software, there is no way to know if the final translation will fit within the allotted space on product packaging or pages. This can lead to even more unforeseen costs, like having to send the translated document back to your graphic design team to reformat the file to conform to the layout of the original document. Human translators can make these formatting adjustments while they are working on the files and avoid these additional costs. At TSI, we ensure that our professional translators are made aware of spacing and other formatting issues before they even begin the job. This means that they occasionally may have to substitute words that are shorter or more concise to reflect the correct layout of the document. Machine translation programs cannot do this. If you’re searching for a translation company or online translation services, please contact us for more information or a free quote on your project. Human translations are the correct choice.  After decades in the translation and localization industry, we have helped clients expand overseas by translating anything from human resource documents, OSHA translations, Amazon FBA translations, medical industry translations, HTML translations, the list goes on! But like every story, there has to be a beginning. For me, it was my own personal journey with learning a second language. It started many years ago when I was studying Spanish for my eventual tour of duty in South America for the Peace Corps. Our cultural training had ended and it was time to get serious about improving language skills for those of us who were going to be volunteering in a country where English was not the official language. Although I had studied Spanish for two years in university, my real life experience speaking the language was nil. Other volunteers and I who were going to Latin America were sent individually to Puerto Rico for six weeks of intensive language training. I wound up in a small village called Coamo, located in the south central part of the island. I was the only volunteer sent to this location. Others were scattered about the island in small groups or if married, in pairs. I had been working hard on perfecting my grammar, trying to piece together complicated sentences, so as to appear accomplished in Spanish. A favorite thing for me to do was go to a small restaurant from where I was staying at a small clinic and eat with some of the locals. One day at lunch, I was feeling quite confident in my ability to appear fluent, so I approached the owner, who also served as cook, waitress and cashier. She looked directly at me, as she usually did every afternoon and said “¿Qué quieres comer?” (What do you want to eat?). I puffed up my chest and said “Me gustaría pedir un tazón de sopa del día y por favor que le ponga un huevo.” (I would like to order a bowl of soup of the day and would you please put in an egg”) She leaned forward across the counter with her face inches from mine and with a sly smile said, “sopa con huevo”. This might have been the most important Spanish lesson I ever learned. She replaced my 17 words with 3 very short ones. I was both humbled and grateful at the same time. These long, convoluted sentences might be appropriate for literature, but for everyday conversation, it’s better to keep it simple and to the point. I find a lot of similar uses of language every day as clients contact us or send us documents for translation. It’s not our position to tell them how to write. However, if their verbiage distracts from the intended meaning of the document, we will point this out and suggest revisions to make the translation more reliable and effective. Another key example of when keeping it simple is preferred deals with sentence length. A sentence in English is much shorter that its translated pair in Spanish or many other languages. If the amount of text gets too long, it creates formatting issues when our graphic design team needs to go back and replace the original text with the newly translated text. This holds true with video subtitles and voice overs as well. How do you know if your document language will be too long for translation? The best way to find out is to contact TSI for an estimate, quote or just advice. We are more that happy to walk you through the steps of the process to determine if our services are right for your business. In closing, my message to future and present corporate writers: “put some love into your work and remember to KISS.” Transcreation: Why Translating for the Advertising and Marketing Industry is a Bundle of Joy8/18/2018
 At TSI, many of our long term clients come from the advertising industry. For decades, we’ve worked closely with both third party as well as internal ad agencies and firms to ensure their campaign’s message isn’t lost in translation. From our experience, the most difficult part of translating for the advertising and marketing industry is transcreation. We touched on the concept of transcreation in a previous article, but to recap, transcreation deals primarily with copy written for the advertising industry. It is used to create an understanding of the meaning of the message and not simply a translation of the individual words. Let’s look at some common business slogans that word for word have little meaning in a foreign language, without being transcreated into a slogan that would reflect the meaning in that other language. Heinz – “Beanz Meanz Heinz” Due to the clever and unusual spelling, this works only in English. If one were to try and find a translation using any of the well-known online translation programs the answer would come back as “Beanz Meanz Heinz”. I asked different translators to ‘transcreate’ this slogan into Spanish and received the following results. Frijoles favoritos Heinz --- Heinz beans are favorites Cuándo quiera frijoles pida Heinz --- When you want beans ask for Heinz Frijoles significan Heinz --- Beans mean Heinz This last one is not quite as clever as the English, but you get the picture. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes – “They’re GR-R-R-reat” This slogan is difficult to translate. It’s based on the fictitious character Tony the Tiger. Why Kellogg’s featured a tiger eating Frosted Flakes is anybody’s guess, but apparently it works. Frosted Flakes have been around for a long time and are still a popular breakfast cereal. I imagine it’s due to the crunchy feeling and the sugar rush associated with the sweetened cereal. The reason this is difficult to translate or to come close with transcreation is due to the GR-R-R-reat that emulates a tiger’s growl. I sent this to to different translators and received the following. Un rugido de energía – A roar of energy ¡GR-R-R-andiosos! – GR-R-R-reat! (my favorite) Ten un día salvaje - Have a wild day Son lo MÁS de lo MÁS - They are the MOST of the MOST Simplemente geniales - Simply great Skittles – “Taste the Rainbow” I really like this slogan, although I’ve never eaten a Skittle. The word sounds a little too much like spittle to pique my appetite. But apparently it has been successful throughout the years. After all, rainbows are beautiful and somewhat mysterious the way they appear during a rain shower. Here are the translations to this happy slogan. Un arco iris de sabor – A rainbow of flavor El gusto multicolor – The multicolored taste Saborea el arcoíris - Taste the rainbow Disfruta con el Arco Iris - Enjoy the Rainbow Dejate llevar por el Arco Iris - Get carried away by the Rainbow Despega con el Arco Iris - Take off with the Rainbow It’s not often that we get requests for such popular slogans as the foregoing examples, but we do come close with companies wanting a special slant on their branding. When these requests come in, we choose translators who work in advertising or who are creative writing specialists. We want them to let their imaginations soar and create solutions that are unique and effective. Using non-native speakers for translations that rely on transcreation is a risky bet. Much like idioms presenting difficult issues when crossing languages, transcreation has the same potential pitfalls. Our translators at TSI are native speakers and specialize in the industry for which they are translating. Do you have a product or a campaign that is being expanded overseas? Do you want to freshen up previously translated advertising collateral? Reach out to us for a consultation or a quote. We are more than happy to get you the help you need: TSI - We're GR-R-R-owing your business internationally.   Of course most of us have heard and have even used the common expression “The customer is always right”. Well, it isn’t necessarily so, especially in the world of translations. This is a difficult and delicate subject to talk about, but it must be addressed in a professional manner.
To begin, let’s look at a typical translation project.
Several years ago we translated a 62-page operation and maintenance manual for a complex mechanical system into French for one of our long term clients. In the five prior years working for this client, we had never received a negative review of our work. However this time, they sent back the translation with several pages of changes, all dealing with terminology and style. I shared the revised document with our translator, a retired mechanical engineer who was born, raised, educated and employed for 35 years in France. His first indication was to laugh, because the changes, according to him, “were nothing short of childish”. Whoever performed the review had no background in mechanical terminology. In addition, the changes in style were strictly preferential, quite “flowery” and not suitable for a technical manual. I then sent the original translation and the revised version to another technical translator on our team. He made the same comments as the original translator. But there was a very important issue that both translators pointed out that could have caused major technical damage or personal harm if the revised version was to be used. In one section, the reader was instructed to turn a compressor valve 90 degrees counterclockwise to stop the flow of high-pressure gas through the system. The person who reviewed the original translation apparently did not know the difference between clockwise and counterclockwise and instead changed the meaning to “turn the valve to the right”. We are not in a position to speculate what would have happened if those instructions were followed, but I immediately called our client in France and pointed out the obvious mistake made by the proofreader. Of course, he was grateful and relieved to find out that we had found the mistake. As I later discovered, the company had recently hired a new divisional supervisor who brought along his personal team, including his receptionist. He instructed her to proofread the manual and make changes as needed. She was told that a company in the USA did the translation and he wanted to make sure that the French was correct. After discussing the situation with my direct client, I found out that the receptionist was not fluent in English and hence unable to make a valid comparison of the two languages, but that she also had no experience in manufacturing and technical terminology. Fortunately the head of the facility readily understood the situation and approved the translation that we originally submitted. We have since created a formal procedure for reviewing future translation projects. We encourage all our clients, both new and old to establish an independent review process, especially when we are in the initial stages of developing a working relationship. This creates a solid business bond that is mutually beneficial. At TSI, we take a great deal of pride in bonds like this. Maintaining long term connections with our clients is tantamount to both their success as well as ours. We truly believe it’s a symbiotic relationship. Throughout every step of a job, we are here to answer questions to clients should there be any curiosity or confusion in our standard operating procedures; who thought an industry as mundane as translations could necessitate so much human interaction? It’s a good reminder of the power of the written word. If you are a previous client or a potential new client, you are always welcome to reach out for a consultation, quote or just to inquire more about our process, because remember, the customer is always right… right?  At TSI, we take pride in our years of experience translating documents for Amazon sellers. In today’s online sales market, its nearly impossible for vendors to do business without utilizing Amazon’s selling platform. Many brands who attempt to sell exclusively through their own website wind up seeing their products listed on Amazon eventually via third parties sold as used, or sometimes even counterfeited goods. Amazon offers brand protection services to help deal with counterfeiting and copyright infringement which helps to an extent, but there’s other lesser known programs they offer that help sellers: to expand their business internationally.
We are referring to Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA), known to the consumer as Amazon Prime. By joining the Amazon FBA program as a seller, your items are shipped to consumers free of charge domestically. While the United States is by far Amazon’s largest marketplace, what about other territories? Depending on who is counting, there’s roughly 195 countries in the world. Amazon currently operates in almost two dozen markets throughout the world, so why limit yourself to just one? One huge hurdle is language. Product pages have very tactically written copy that helps describe the item for sale, but still generate top notch search engine results. Keywords and descriptions are essential to having your product seen in searches before your competitors. Navigating this world in let’s say, Japan, would be nearly impossible as an English speaking seller. Where do you even start with translating your item description? And what about keywords? To rely on computer translation software such as google translate will leave your listing in the dust, and also give consumers the impression that you’re not a serious seller or even worse, a scammer yourself. Because we have extensive experience at TSI working with Amazon FBA sellers, we can assist in solving these issues for you. This way, you can put your mind at ease as a seller and focus on the other important aspect of business like retaining your buy box, managing reviews, and analyzing your sales conversion rates. While Amazon Global Selling (AGS) helps you expand to other territories, they do not offer their own translation services. This is why it’s essential that you choose wisely when using third party translation providers. However, third party providers open up a new can of worms. It’s no secret that Amazon has been plagued by seller scams and buy box wars between mom and pop sellers based in America who are now battling Chinese factories that are undercutting prices to unrealistically low levels. A similar predicament exists in the translation and localization industry. Dozens of low cost translation companies have been popping up in China and India offering unbeatable rates. But as the old idiom goes, it’s too good to be true. The quality of these translations are subpar. They are able to hit such low costs per word by employing computer translations which, as we’ve covered in previous articles, are dangerously unreliable. Another tactic they implement is using non-native language speakers who have no proficiency in the niche area for the document needed to be translated. A comparison would be hiring an electrician to fix your plumbing: while they both work as handymen, their skill sets are completely different. What sets TSI apart from other third party translation and localization providers is we never use computer translations. Additionally, we employ translators who are native in the output language and have a deep understanding of the industry at hand. While our rates are not rock bottom, they are in line with domestic industry standards. Taking it a step further, we strive to help guide our customers through the process so they understand exactly what they are paying for. At the end of the day, is paying a few dollars more worth the correct SEO, keywords and descriptions to lock in sales? We think it is. Feel free to reach out for an estimate on your project. In conjunction with Amazon’s Global Selling platform, we are eager to help you grow your business beyond North America.  At TSI, many of our clients need translations of website related content- particularly their company websites or web portals that employees or customers use to conduct business. Translating websites, particularly HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), adds an additional level of difficulty to the project. But why?
Translating websites requires an understanding of HTML, which is a set of markup symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a browser page. Each individual markup element is referred to as a tag.While some tags are self-closing, such as the <mg >; and <input > tags, most require code to denote the beginning and end of the tag (i.e. <p>My paragraph content<p>). In those cases, text or copy is inserted between tags. Think of the pulldown menu on a site as an example. What we see as someone browsing the site may only say “HOME” or “PORTFOLIO”, but there’s an entire list of words and symbols that are not visible to us. It is also common for there to be nested tags: (i.e. <p>Some regular text with a word I want <b>emphasized</b></p>). Every web browser has default "styles" for standard tags that dictate how the tag content will display. For example, <h1> tag content will be bold by default, and <p> tag content will not. Inline style properties on tags or CSS properties set in a <style> block or imported via an external CSS file can be used suggest to web browser how the copy appears on a page, what the color of the text will be, the size and type of font, whether it is bold, italic, etc., and whether it is indented, justified, left-aligned, centered or right-aligned, etc. A translator has to be careful not to inadvertently delete, move or otherwise disturb the tags, which would result in misalignment of the copy and the introduction of unintentional modifications to the visual language of the website, or even worse- rendering pages of the website unusable. When it comes to jobs requiring HTML translation, we have a talented team of native language translators who are not only proficient in language translation, but in code and HTML. This helps keeps translated websites free of any errors. If you’re interested in expanding your business abroad, HTML translation is a great place to start because in this day and age, most consumers use the internet to search for businesses. Don’t hesitate to reach out for a quote and consultation. The following are examples of HTML translations in several languages. English "Out of {{totalSelected}} line(s) selected, {{totalAdded}} added to the order list successfully!", "Process No. <b>{{processNo}}</b> for customer no. <b>{{customerNo}}</b> has been approved successfully with order no. ", "Showing <b>{{RESULTCOUNT}}</b> match for serial number <b>\"{{PARTNUMBER}}\"</b>", =============================================================================== Russian "Из общего числа выбранных строк ({{totalSelected}}) в список заказов было успешно добавлено {{totalAdded}}!", "Процесс № <b>{{processNo}}</b> для заказчика № <b>{{customerNo}}</b> был успешно утвержден с присвоением номера заказа", "Отображается <b>{{RESULTCOUNT}}</b> совпадение(ий) для серийного номера <b>\"{{PARTNUMBER}}\"</b>", =============================================================================== Simplified Chinese "已选择的 {{totalSelected}} 行中有 {{totalAdded}} 行已成功添加到订单列表！", "客户号 <b>{{customerNo}}</b> 的处理号 <b>{{processNo}}</b> 已成功核准，订单号为 ", "显示流水号 <b>\"{{PARTNUMBER}}\"</b> 的 <b>{{RESULTCOUNT}}</b> 个匹配项", =============================================================================== Portuguese "De {{totalSelected}} linha(s) selecionada, {{totalAdded}} foram adicionadas à lista de pedidos com sucesso!", "O processo n.º <b>{{processNo}}</b> para o cliente n.º <b>{{customerNo}}</b> foi aprovado com sucesso com o n.º do pedido ”, "Mostrando <b>{{RESULTCOUNT}}</b> correspondências para o número de série <b>\"{{PARTNUMBER}}\"</b>", =============================================================================== German "Von {{totalSelected}} ausgewählte(n) Zeile(n) wurden {{totalAdded}} erfolgreich zur Bestellliste hinzugefügt!", "Die Prozessnr. <b>{{processNo}}</b> für Kunde Nr. <b>{{customerNo}}</b> wurde erfolgreich mit Bestellnr. bestätigt. ", "Es wird das <b>{{RESULTCOUNT}}</b> Gegenstück für die Seriennummer <b>\"{{PARTNUMBER}}\"</b>" angezeigt, =============================================================================== Latin American Spanish "Fuera de {{totalSelected}} línea (s) seleccionada (s), {{totalAdded}} agregado a la lista de órdenes con éxito!", "Nº de proceso <b> {{procesoNo}} </ b> para el Nº de cliente <B> {{clienteNo}} </ b> se aprobó con éxito con Nº de orden", "Mostrando <b> {{RESULTCOUNT}} </ b> coincidencia para el número de serie <b> \" {{PARTNUMBER}} \ "</ b>", =============================================================================== European French " Du{{totalSelected}} de la (des) ligne(s) sélectionnée(s), {totalAdded}}} ajoutées à la liste des commandes avec succès. !", " Le nº de processus <b>{{{{processNo}}}</b> pour le n° de client. <b>{{{{customerNo}}}</b> a été approuvé avec succès avec le numéro de commande.. ", " Afficher <b>{{RESULTCOUNT}}}</b> correspondant au numéro de série. <b>\"{{PARTNUMBER}}\"</b>", =============================================================================== French Canadian "Sur un total de {{totalSelected}} ligne(s) sélectionnée(s), {{totalAdded}} ont été ajoutées à la liste de commande avec succès !", "Le no. de traitement <b>{{processNo}}</b> pour le client no. <b>{{customerNo}}</b> a correctement été approuvé avec le no. de commande ", "Affichage de <b>{{RESULTCOUNT}}</b> correspondances pour le numéro de série <b>\"{{PARTNUMBER}}\"</b>",  The absolute need to use only native speakers as translators
There are many translation agencies that use recently graduated language students with a proficiency in a foreign language in order to keep their operating costs to a minimum. Generally speaking, these students, with fluency in a second language, have something to offer in the translation business, but not necessarily working in a target language that is different from their native speech. The nuances and subtleties in all languages can create hurdles for anyone trying to learn a new form of speech. When someone tries to translate into a language that is not native to them, the result can be anything from humorous to devastating. It’s a common error to think that a word that sounds the same in two different languages means the same thing. However, “it’s not necessarily so”. I found out the hard way. Shortly after graduating from college I joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to a public health program in La Paz, Bolivia. I had taken 4 years of Spanish in college and had additional language training before arriving in South America. I earned a Spanish language competency score of 4.5, which at the time was considered fluent, but not native. A week after arrival, our group of volunteers was invited to a local university to meet the students and tell them about our backgrounds and the programs we were involved with. The school auditorium was packed with over 500 students. One by one volunteers walked onto the stage, were handed a microphone and addressed the audience in Spanish. When it came my turn, I walked up the rickety wooden stairs, reached for the microphone and inadvertently dropped it on the floor. As I picked it up, red faced and all (I wanted to say, excuse me; I’m embarrassed), I said in my best Spanish possible, “Discúlpame, estoy embarazado.” The entire audience erupted in laughter. Now I was really embarrassed, not knowing what I had said to create such an uproar. The Peace Corps Director leaned over and whispered in my ear. “You just told them that you’re pregnant.” Such are the perils of knowing a language, but not quite enough to avoid potentially embarrassing situations. There are many similar sound alike words called homophones in many languages. For example, ropa in Spanish means clothing and sopa means soup. In French pain means bread and pin means pine. In my case, the error was harmless, but when translating a document or a website, a seemingly simple mistake can cause equipment to malfunction, personal injury if operating instructions are misunderstood or a company website to look amateurish casting a bad light on the company’s image. Avoid these potential problems by using a professional agency with a long history of successful translations. At TSI, we take pride in using native speakers as our translators. It helps avoid simple mistakes and saves money for our clients down the road. Contact us if you’re in the market for document translation. We can help guide you through the process step-by-step and explain what makes our business model and team unique in the translation industry.  Many people love to write, but one aspect of writing whether creative or technical is the editing process; rarely is a first draft ever good enough. Anyone who has worked as a copywriter understands the amount of tedious reviews their work needs to go through before it hits the press (or the web). But there’s many times when the quality of writing isn’t up to par for translation. A solid source document is the first and most important part of the translation process. The following three tips are ones that we live by at Translation Services International and serve as a great guide to cleaning up your copy.
1. Purpose? What is the purpose of the document, letter, brochure, manual, video, advertisement, training program, etc.? Typically it depends on the company’s division requesting a quote. Are you selling a product or service, describing the function of a computer program, training someone how to operate and maintain a compressor, informing employees about company policy, etc.? 2. Who is writing? It has come to our attention that quite often, writing assignments are handed off to employees who might not have proper training or experience. This will be illustrated in the continuation of this section. The Internet has many sources to help understand the basics of most writing assignments. For help writing business letters check out this guide from Purdue. Here’s a helpful scriptwriting guide from Column Five Media. There are obstacles involved in video scripts that will be explained in a future article. If the company you work for sells products or services and you are writing the advertising copy, here are 5 helpful tips for advertising copy. It is not uncommon for the documents we receive to have major spelling or grammatical errors. We also see this on company websites, which in turn create a negative image of the company. If they don’t care enough to exhibit high quality writing, a reader might wonder if they care enough about the products and services they are selling. Some errors are simple typos wherein the wrong key is inadvertently typed, while others are basic misspellings. Words that are commonly misspelled are loose for lose, it’s for its, recieve for receive, seperate for separate, embarrased for embarrassed, — — you get the picture. If you feel that spelling is one of the areas where you need help, here is a link to the most common misspelled English words. 3. How to review and proofread a document Writers need to put themselves in the position of readers. A writer may have a vast amount of knowledge in the material they want to communicate. But this can be both a boon and a bane when it comes to communicating their thoughts. Because what seems to be quite clear or easy for them to understand might be totally misunderstood by a reader. Writing coaches suggest the following:
When following these three tips, your copy will be primed and ready to pass of to our agency to commence the translation process. It will save you time, money and ultimately result in a greater experience with the reader.  When you think of document translation, harassment is probably the last thing that comes to mind but in this day and age, it’s a delicate area that needs to be addressed not just for English speaking employees, but everyone. Thinking internationally, it’s also essential to make sure offices beyond the U.S. borders are dealt with properly. It’s rather common for us at TSI to translate anti-harassment human resources documentation for clients across the globe.
As of late the national news has been focusing on the issues of sexual harassment. However in the broad scope of employee relationships, anti-harassment covers a wide range of behaviors including all forms of discrimination and conduct that can be considered harassing, coercive, or disruptive. The task at hand for companies at home in the USA, as well as abroad is to prohibit any actions, words, jokes, or comments based on a person's sex, race, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any legally protected characteristic. The latter includes gender reassignment, belief, civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity. Specific examples of harassment include:
The list above accounts for the majority of harassment issues in the USA, however what may be acceptable in this country may well be totally out-of-bounds elsewhere. It’s important for U.S. based companies to check with the proper authorities where they have offices abroad in order to tailor their anti-harassment policies to include behaviors that are not permitted in the host country. When a conflict occurs in this area the response “We didn’t know” is not an acceptable or appropriate answer. Improper handling of sexual harassment accusations can lead to costly legal battles and sometimes public relations nightmares. We have experience translating manuals and documentation dealing directly with human resources training for employees, and employee manuals relating to anti-harassment guidelines. If your company has non-english speaking employees or international offices, feel free to contact us for a quote. Handling this now can avoid costly mistakes down the road.  I’ve often heard clients ask, “What’s the most important thing I need to understand about translation? Is it the size of the project or the difficulty of the language or the country where the document will be used, etc.” The short answer is, none of the above. In a few words, translation involves converting the source language (eg. English) into a target language (eg. Chinese). I use Chinese as an example because it is one of the fastest growing languages in our field of work and it comes with specific issues that will be discussed later on. The answer to the main question is the source language. You’ve most likely heard the expression “garbage in, garbage out (GIGO).” Although this typically relates to the scientific and mathematical world, it also has significance when it comes to translations. Making Sense Out of Nonsense I’m not writing about nonsense in a pejorative or derogatory way, but rather to indicate writing that is not understandable. It’s like reading a paragraph, a sentence or even a phrase and not knowing what the writer is attempting to convey. This happens more often than not, and for this reason, among others, at Translation Services International we thoroughly proofread every document that comes in. If we are given a document in English that for whatever reason we can’t understand, how could we possibly expect a translator, whose native language is not English to understand it. That’s why it is imperative and absolutely necessary for us to take the time to make sure that we don’t have garbage or poorly written documents going into the process. What are the causes of bad source documents?
In this business there’s no room for garbage in, garbage out. If we don’t understand it, it doesn’t get delivered to our team of translators. For those reading this blog who are writers and want to hone your proofreading skills, I’ll be adding a section called, “How to prepare your documents for translation into any and all languages.” Feel free to reach out for a quote.  Idioms, a common form of everyday speech, are often found in formal business language. They exist is all major languages and often have as bizarre a meaning as they do in English. Let’s take the familiar idiom, I’m pulling your leg. Of course almost all native English speakers know it means, I’m kidding you or I’m joking with you. The common translation in Spanish is, Estoy tomando tu pelo. Which translates as I’m taking your hair. It makes sense to Spanish speakers, but a word for word translation into English would have us stymied. Because of this, we carefully read all documents we receive for translation checking for idioms, slang, grammar, unique terminology and any phrasing that might create an obstacle to the translation process. Here is a short list of common idioms we have encountered in the past few years.
Of the six examples, only one “At the drop of a hat” comes close to the Spanish meaning. We encourage our clients to try and avoid idioms whenever possible as they may lead to misunderstanding that might confuse not only the translator, but the intended target audience. Here is an in-depth list of idioms. The following link explores the differences between slang, idioms and figures of speech, all which come into play in the translation process. Finally, this link showcases some of the more unique and off times humorous cases of idioms. At TSI, we have extensive understanding as to how idiom translation works, especially considering our team of highly skilled translators are native speakers of the output language. Please reach out via email, phone or our contact page for more information on our services or if you need an estimate. |
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Francis Semmens is the founder of TSI and author of all blog posts with a focus on translation for clients and translators alike. 
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email: tsi@tsi.world Phone: 239.821.1724 Fax: 775.361.0926
Translation Services International LLC © 2019
email: tsi@tsi.world Phone: 239.821.1724 Fax: 775.361.0926
Translation Services International LLC © 2019