As trade globalization continues to fly like a bat out of hell, the translation industry in Canada is expected to rise for some time to come. For those companies operating internationally there is an on-going need for business translation services in order that their products and services are localized for the target market. However, the paradoxical challenge for many is this: as long as the seesaw economic environment continues, organizations will launch cost-cutting measures while at the same time continuing to push for growth. This draws attention to whether a company should invest in an internal translation department or start outsourcing to global language translation services.
First and foremost, it is worth mentioning the complexity of translation. An English speaker is not necessarily a good writer or a good communicator, just as a bilingual person is not necessarily trained or qualified to interpret or to translate. A certified translator in Vancouver or Quebec will have the advantage of best practice experience and the knowledge of the materials and processes required to successfully deliver content from English into French or from French into English. Moreover, professional translation agencies can positively influence an organization’s economies of scale by competitively pricing their services. Developing an internal translation department expends resources, time and people and is unlikely to work at the same level of productivity as a translation agency. For instance, a Vancouver-based company looking to expand its operations into South America would have to assign the task of coordinating a team of translators (carefully selected as per their experience in the particular field) to a project manager who would be responsible for overseeing the team and their deliverables. Management of any kind is a full-time job in itself and if a project is not managed closely, the consequence - especially when dealing with culturally sensitive translation - can be detrimental to the reputation and ‘shelf-life’ of an organization. To avoid such consequences, outsourcing to a translation agency in Vancouver would allow the organization of focus on its strengths during the expansion and restructuring process, while being supported by a professional partner at the same time.
Professional translation agencies focus on providing the best results at cost-effective rates, and, combined with invaluable experience in the field, can deliver translations accurately and quickly to even the most niche of markets. For on-going translation needs, advances in technology have speeded up translation processes without affecting accuracy. Leading solutions such as Trados/SDLX recycles previous translations when the same (or similar) content appears, significantly reducing the cost and turn-around time for a client.
For those organizations looking to rapidly expand on an international scale, outsourcing to business translation services, whether partial or full, is typically the best option. From a lean six-sigma perspective, it allows the organization to concentrate on its strengths, which is critical to overseas success.
What are your experiences when translating company collateral? Which process works best for your organization?
As Marshall McLuhan’s ‘Global Village’ hypothesis gathers more and more credence by the day, as does the need for effective translation and interpretation behind and beyond the firewalls of businesses expanding into foreign markets.
Although our world has been contracted into a village by Internet technologies, removing geographical barriers and bringing us closer together as a unified global community, translation and interpretation are two disciplines that are lengths apart. Consequently, it is important to understand the differences between the two in order to establish which service you require for your multilingual project(s).
Quite simply, translation deals with the written word, while interpretation deals with the spoken word. Each is a profession in its own right (they are not interchangeable) and a specialist will have skills specific to one or the other. However, effective translation and interpretation do share a common theme: both aim to communicate the message and the tone of the original content into another language. Translation is usually required for legal or financial documents, codes of practice or websites, while an interpreter if often required for training courses, meetings and speeches.
High quality translations will appear as authentic as the original when read. They will ensure that, along with the meaning, the tone and the register of the source document are kept and communicated to the new audience. Expertise in the grammatical, stylistic and culturally sensitive distinctions between the original and targeted language(s) is fundamental, allowing the translator to accurately convey a message to international constituents.
Interpretation, on the other hand, is more confronting and instinctive and requires high levels of delicacy and originality. The interpreter, whether interpreting for a meeting, conference speech or training session, is the voice of the speaker and will covey the speaker’s message as per the message spoken, with the same levels of intensity and authority.
It is important to choose your translators and interpreters wisely. Make sure the service provider has the right credentials and accreditations, such as professional membership, ISO and quality standards. Make sure they have healthy experience in the field, qualified native speakers in the target language(s) and decent testimonials.
Remember, effective translation and interpretation is only as good as the content you provide, so make sure the documents that require translation are complete, and your interpreter if fully briefed way before a project begins.
On 5 September 2008, the cost of mis-translation proved deadly as three workers who attempted to unclog a pipe on a compost machine at Langley Mushroom Farm, Vancouver, were killed due to a fatal release of hydrogen sulfide. The owner of the farm, Mr. Ha Quan Truong, who doesn't speak English despite 30 years living in Canada, pleased guilty in 2011 to operating without a permit on a property without the appropriate safeguards enforced.
On Wedneday this week, Mr. Ha Quan Truong spent most of his testimony blaming engineering consultants, the Township of Langley and his Manager, Mr. D'Arcy Ashe, who he hired to look after the facility in 2005. Ha Quan testified that he had left it up to his Mr. Ashe to ensure safety procedures were followed, and that both he and other consultants were responsible for writing the necessary permits and documents.
“I had the assumption that when I hired a manager, he would take care of everything”, said Ha Quan through an interpreter. “These people are all experts in the field, they have so much experience. I don’t have experience in making compost.”
However, one must question Mr. Ha Quan’s ability to be able to responsibly run a business without a good grasp of the English language. Ultimately, a lack of understanding of his own business lead to the loss of three lives, while putting dozens more at risk. It is a tragic, yet pertinent example of the cost of mis-translation, and the language related barriers and risks that can occur when an owner does not completely understand the legal responsibilities, requirements and instructions of his or her own business. Moreover, it is a reminder that similar or worse problems can happen when Canadian or US companies (or any other for that matter) operate abroad. Problems can range from environmental hazards, to property damage, to injuries and even to loss of life, causing financial losses, losses in productivity and penalties that can be devastating to the company and its owners (even when the owners were not directly involved and would engage “professional management”) to the point of completely wiping out the business.
The need for professional business translation is of paramount importance when operating abroad. Health and family are the two most important aspects of our lives, and professional translation can ensure that in working environements of any kind, unforseen and potentially catastrophic events that endanger our lives and those working around us, can be mitigated and ultimately avoided.
According to a recent survey commissioned by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a business research unit of Economist group, 572 senior executives from around the globe blamed communication breakdown as the blockade into foreign markets.
Just under half (49%) said that cultural communication barriers caused major international business deals to breakdown, leading to “significant loses”. Among the pool of participants, Chinese (61%) and Brazilian (74%) companies were affected most by financial losses as a result of misfired cross-border communication. Furthermore, 64% of the subjects surveyed believed differences in culture and language have made it increasingly difficult to break into international markets.
It is clear that there is a need for deeper understanding of cultural and linguistic differences. Although many multinational organizations do offer language classes to employees before they are sent abroad to close a deal, they largely underestimate the effect of such limited efforts. Last year, $31bn was spent on language services, a measly 0.05% of worldwide GDP. Although new social technologies have caused the World to ‘shrink’ over the past two decades, removing previous roadblocks into foreign markets, senior executives needs to realize that in order to be successful in such markets, they need to be prepared for cultural barriers of communication. After all, the language of business is not English but the language of the customer or client.
A pertinent example is the following:
A Chinese customer visited the Fox Hills branch of Wells Cargo Bank in Culver City recently to ask about several transactions on his checking account that he didn’t understand. However he spoke in Mandarin and nobody was able to interpret. Luckily for Wells Cargo, Language Line Services, a Monterey over-the-phone interpreting service, was at hand to provide assistance and explain the account transactions to the customer.
"We had a hard time communicating with him," said Maged Nashid, Branch Manager at Wells Cargo. "I took the customer to my desk, gave him some water and called the 800 number for assistance."
Over-the-phone language translation services have seen demand soar in recent years, partly because of the growth of immigration to the US and because of the recent boom in international business, however when dealing with business transactions with constituents overseas, especially monetary transactions, interpretation is only half the story. One needs to understand the opposite’s unspoken words, body language, customs and etiquette in order to become truly capable of gaining a partner’s respect, trust, and ultimately, their business.
In a recent broadcast, the BBC’s Michael Rosen reports that there is more to interpretation than just language skills. What do you think, and how does your business mitigate cultural communication barriers with your clients in foreign markets?
Make no mistake about it, the official language of Canada’s largest province, and second largest by population, is French. It isn’t, however, a simple spin-off of French spoken in France, but a credible alternative with subtle differences that, without careful consideration, can embarrass even the most talented global language translation services.
Syntax, for instance, is a domain of great confusion, not just for translators, but also for Quebecers. Take “lundi le 5 décembre” (Monday the fifth of December) for example. When Quebecers say this, they do not realize that they are adopting English sentence structure, and should in fact be saying “le lundi 5 décembre” (the Monday fifth of December). It is not to say that translators should do the same, only that some Quebecers may pick at such choices without realizing the delinquencies in their own word order. It is definitely worth sharing your work with a translator in Quebec in order to mitigate any anglicisms or expressions that don’t cut the mustard.
Other areas global language translation services should consider are word choice and, perhaps less obviously, capitalization. The latter is often treated as a luxury addition, placed temperately rather than intemperately among text, and not solely based on importance. In addition, there are many words that Quebecers use that the French don’t (and vice versa), as well as words with different meanings. For instance, déjeuner means “breakfast” in Quebec, but “lunch” in France. Similarly, expressions often offer food for thought for out-siders. C’est de valeur, for example, literally translates to “that is valuable”, but in actual fact means “that’s too bad” in Quebec.
In summary, if you are a global language translation service looking to go-to-market in Quebec, an invaluable first step is to go for a visit. Get localized, learn about its history, its culture and its concerns, and the better job you’ll do and therefore the more satisfied your clients will be.
Ever since I started to learn another language, those close to me often told me that my personality changed depending on which language I spoke in. At first, I placed the blame on inadequate comprehension rather than schizophrenia, yet research carried out by various cognitive scientists over the past few years has proclaimed direct links between languages and the way we think and perceive the world around us. As a result, among many linguists the debate between Google Translate and certified language translators had topped the agenda in the linguistic domain.
A pertinent example would be the difference in causality between the English and Spanish languages, an example with personal sentiment as I come ever closer to mastering the latter. In English, we often assign an agent to an action that has taken place, in order to signify to the recipient the responsible party (“Bob broke the guitar”). Consequently, we can remember who needs to put money aside at the end of the month to purchase a new guitar by placing the blame on a particular individual. In Spanish, however, the responsible party is often omitted from the sentence and blame is instead placed on the object (se rompío la guitarra). In an interesting study, scientists at Stanford analyzed this scenario first-hand by showing Spanish, Japanese and English speakers video clips of people breaking things. In their results they found that both the Japanese and Spanish-speaking subjects were less likely to remember who caused the accidental breakages than their English counterparts.
It’s strong linguist differences like these that give weight to services offered by certified language translators versus computer-generated results. Online tools like Google Translate, although useful for basic translation, often fail to take into account culturally sensitive scenarios like the one mentioned above, and as a result increase the risk of misinterpretation, message failure and potential crises.
The shift from old to new means of communication is a process still very much in-progress, however as the popularity of social media continues to gather pace, organizations both big and small are starting to understand the influence such ubiquity can have on their ability to communicate with key constituents effectively. While this shift in communication has broken down previous communication barriers allowing small companies the chance to broaden their portfolios from local to international audiences, the requirement to provide social media translation for all material published on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ et al. has never been more pertinent.
Apart from helping people, clients, and companies communicate with one another, social platforms allow businesses to connect with local and international constituencies regardless of location. While such platforms are designed to transcend the boundaries that would have otherwise separated people from different cultures, many sites are still heavily influenced by the culture in which they were first developed. As such, it is rarely enough to merely translate the contents of a social media platform into another language. Instead, reaching out to international clients often requires the use of both translation and localization services.
The translation of social media content for a company is meant to bridge the cultural gaps that tend to separate that company from its international clients. By tailoring the content of such social media platforms to better suit the needs of an international audience, a business can educate potential customers about the benefits of its products and services. Aside from making it easier for potential clients to learn all about the company and the various services it offers, a properly translated and localized social media profile allows both parties to experience an increase in effective and meaningful styles of communication.
The truth is, whatever organization you may be, small, large, cutting-edge or mainstream, you can no longer hide behind its walls. While it is vital to embrace the new social transformation in order to avoid 'strategic drift', the exposure an organisation has to third-parties online has heightened ten-fold. With over 800 million Facebook users and 100+ million Twitter accounts, it is of paramount importance that your social media translation is sensitive to the culture(s) in which you operate.
Despite the constant and fast paced advances in technology, some tasks still remain relatively easier for humans than for computers. Certified translation is one of them. In Montreal, nearly 45% of the population speaks another language other than French, the city’s official language.
As the second most populous city, a major immigration hub and the economic center of Canada, Montreal offers interesting and financially viable opportunities to the companies that cater to its population. Given these demographics, there is sizable need for certified translators in Montreal in order for messages to be carried out to the market in an accurate and linguistically elegant way.
Whether you are a local citizen or foreigner, a national business or an international one, there are countless scenarios where certified translation is necessary. Studying and working abroad often requires translation of personal documents such as birth certificates, resumes, diplomas or other credentials in order for them to be recognized. In the same manner, a foreigner moving to Montreal will often require certified translation of his or her personal documents in order to be accepted in Canada.
The same issues arise for Montreal-based businesses wanting to expand nationally and internationally or for an international business looking to expand its operations into the Montreal marketplace. Ensuring that every possible interpretation and nuance of every translated word is carefully considered requires hard work and countless revisions. Having your certified translations handled by a professional eliminates the risk of miss-fired and potentially reputation-damaging messaging, while enabling you to reach your full potential as an individual or a business in this multilingual and multicultural metropolis.
Dealing with a professional and highly competent certified translator in Montreal in Montreal puts you ahead of the game and can open the door to important domestic and international markets in an error and stress-free way.
With only 93 days to go until Great Britain welcomes the world to its shores for the 2012 London Olympic games, preparations for the most anticipated global competition are entering the final stages. For the athletes and their support teams all the hard work has been done, but for the service responsible for sharing the message to all corners of the globe - the global translation industry - the hard graft has only just begun.
It has been estimated that 3.5 billion people will be watching the games during the month of August, and over 350,000 people predicted to visit the city of London to watch what promises to be a breathtaking (and expensive) opening ceremony at Olympic Park.
For events of such magnitude and international interest the demand for top quality linguists is tremendous. Back in 2008, at the Beijing games, every instruction, rulebook and official document was translated in 55 different languages. This, coupled with the hundreds of interviews with athletes and coaches whom required translation support to broadcast their messages to a watching audience, meant that many linguists remained continuously ‘on call’ over the course of the month. Following the games, The Chinese States wasted no time commemorating all global translation services for the “outstanding contributions” they made to the games.
“A team of more than 1,700 translators and interpreters, including 400 professionals and 1,300 volunteers, provided simultaneous interpretation, consecutive interpretation and written translation for some 2,000 international conferences and press conferences in up to 44 languages during the games, said Zhao Huimin, a committee official.
“They helped more than 11,000 athletes and some 25,000 registered media workers from some 200 nations and regions”, he continued.
It is abundantly clear that this year’s Olympic games is one of immense importance for athletes and Londoners alike, however it is set to be one of the most challenging for the global translation industry as well, as they communicate the greatest show on Earth to an audience hanging on every word.
Corporations and businesses trading globally are seeking to reduce the high costs of on-site interpretation. Many companies must deal with employees and customers located in various parts of the world. It is more and more common for companies to request interpretation over the phone services for employee training, labor negotiations, trials, legal proceedings, customer issues, partner discussions and medical consultations. From small business to government agencies interpretation over the phone has become a cost-effective alternative to on-site translation.
Over the past few years, a steady rise in demand for professional interpretation services has occured in Canada. Logistics is a big challenge and quality linguists are always in short supply, especially during major events such as the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, when schedules and locations can often be changed at a moment's notice.
Interpretation over the phone adds significant value businesses allowing them to communicate with their partners, clients and suppliers almost in real time as needs arise, thus drastically reducing wasted time and associated expenses which can run into thousands of dollars. As an example that Vancouver business translation agency ABC Language Solutions has experienced, an interpreter had to fly from Vancouver to Calgary on 1 hour notice just because no local interpreters were available.
Translation and interpretation are more than just a bunch of words. Regional differences, idiomatic expressions, dialects and cultural norms all affect the accuracy and the way a translation is understood. Many businesses that require over the phone interpretation services represent specialized fields. The interpretation over the phone service utilizes interpreters with specialized training and skill in the areas of technical, legal, medical and financial translation.
ABC language Solutions has recently added interpretation over the phone as one of their services.