Fast and Easy Translation of a 3-Dimension Experience into an Online 2-D Format

What do you get when you cross a reasonable price and market-leading 3d technologies? Right now, the answer is Anything 3D software, which is a kind of supreme being when it comes to software for creation 3d virtual panoramas and images that meet your most demanding needs. Our digitally networked society creates an ever increasing demand for accurate information. We regard it as an important challenge for the e-commerce to aid the user in close understanding of the information about the product presented on the site. Since comparatively recent time 3D computer technologies has become the application that delivers all the power you need today and remains competitive against these challenges. It's intuitively obvious that 3D data enables better and faster comprehension, better retention, communication and collaboration. Anything 3D brings this latest technology within effortless reach of even the most novice computer user offering the market excellent 3d Panorama stitching and 3d image composing software and an array of easy-to-use hardware solutions.

To create a 3D Image or 3D Panorama the only effort you need to take is to shoot a series of pictures of the object. If you use A3D Turntable or A3D Panhead together with 3D Photo Builder, or A3D Panhead together with 3D Stitcher this process is as easy as 1,2,3.All you have to do after that is to import the series of pictures to the program and you can relax in chair like a cat lounging in a patch of sunlight while 3D Image or 3D Panorama is being created automatically. All tools are made in a convenient and nice environment. You can adjust working environment for the maximal convenience of your work, change a set of buttons on toolbars, set shortcut keys, etc. A3D's advanced prospective capabilities are flexible, powerful and sophisticated. The flexible system of import/export allows to operate easily with graphical objects of any resolution and size on any type of media. The extended system of the web-publications allows to generate web pages with 3D objects interactively, to preview the results with integrated tools and to publish them on the WEB. And the icing on the cake is that you get this high-quality product at a quite moderate price. Just get a sneak peek at any other related products and you will surely see what the compatible price on this market is. Someone will try to sell you junk and someone else will attempt to make you pay an exorbitant price for software that barely meets your exact requirements; be therefore vigilant so as not to fatten crooks at your expense! A3D insures you in easy upgrade path to keep you at the front of 3D technology. So make the most important decision first, choose A3D. You'll receive the best 3D imaging to meet your needs today and offer you the brightest future tomorrow.

Sevilia Amir, sales manager, Anything 3D Corporation

http://anything3d.com

hotharsiph@anything3d.com

Expending client base in interpretation and translation services: Have you ever thought of working with a Speech - Language Pathologist?

Networking with another professionals and companies is the key to grow freelance translation or interpretation business sector. It is also very challenging to develop steady cooperation with perspective clients since the market is overwhelmed with any type of translation services. However, if one possesses creativity, and knows which domains are demanding, and less competitive, he or she may find networking and self-promotion easier to conduct. By brainstorming an interpreter or a translator may discover, for instance that a Speech- Language Pathologist will need his or her services.

What does a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) do? SLP evaluates, diagnoses and treats individuals who exhibit speech, language, voice, fluency, and swallowing disorders. Now, you may wonder why this professional needs your interpretation or translation services. SLP who works in culturally diverse areas such as Australia, Canada or United States (USA), he/she finds working face-to-face with an interpreter necessary. For instance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau there are approximately 50 million people in the USA who speak a language other then English at home. (American Community Survey, 2002). In Los Angeles, one of the most diverse cities in the USA there are 150 languages spoken in public schools, and many cultural communities such as: African American, Armenian, Chinese, Korean, Polish, Russian and other. When working in US public schools, SLP is required by the law (Special Education Legislation) to conduct assessment in student's native language. That's when an interpreter or a translator plays an important role. An interpreter can be involved in many different tasks such as participating in process of evaluation, diagnosis and treatment when collaborating with SLP. One of the responsibilities is to translate spoken words from one language to another when SLP performs the standardized or non-standardized testing, and gives instructions to a patient. In addition, an interpreter will be involved in some type of analysis that will help SLP to distinguish between language difference and language disorder. An interpreter therefore, will not only interpret words but also pay close attention to the production of sounds, language competence such as grammar, pragmatics of given culture and cognitive behavior of a patient. An interpreter will help SLP to determine if a mother tongue of a client is deviant, and if the "errors" that occur in second language are due to interference of first language. Moreover, an interpreter will be needed during an interview when SLP collects background information from a client such as medical, developmental history, speech/language acquisition history, and family and social history. Furthermore, an interpreter may be needed during treatment when SLP or a client decides that therapy in native language is necessary and beneficial. A translator may offer his/ her services to SLP since the questionnaire forms, consent forms, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment and progress reports should also be presented in native language of a client who may not be able to read in his second language. How can I network with those professionals? First of all find places that are cultural and linguistically diverse. Promote your services by contacting or even visiting public schools, private practices that offer speech/language therapy, hospitals, local clinics, rehabilitation centers, nursing care facilities, colleges and universities, state and local health departments, state and federal government agencies, home health agencies. Also, visit ASHA (American Speech Hearing Association) website.

The author Marian Marcinkowski is the President of http://www.verbumsoft.com He is the owner of http://www.translatorsbase.com and http://www.directfreelance.com Translatorsbase.com it is a global provider in translation solutions, providing translation services via network of professional freelance translators and translation agencies located around the world. Directfreelance.com it is a directory of freelance professionals.

The most common complaints about translation services

Within past years modern electronic communication has created extensive business opportunities for freelance translators. They are able to reach clients from all over the world and perform their jobs at their own convenience. It appears to be a dream profession, but yet so many translators report that it's challenging to keep their previous clients, and that the number of clients they served has diminished. One would like to know why this takes place.

First of all, one need to be aware that nowadays there is a great competition on the market, and clients are very selective. So how do I make sure that clients will return to me, not to my competitor? There are clients who constantly need translation services, and they actually prefer to use the same translator for many different projects. They will only cooperate with you again if they were satisfied with your previous services. It is also to your advantage to be familiar with complains the clients have made about translation services in the past. The most common ones are:

1. The project was not finished on time. 2. The translator demonstrated poor language skills: grammar, spelling, punctuation, omitted words, etc. 3. The translator misunderstood the formation of the translation project. He/she used different font, style. He/she did not translate the images. He/she did not include tables, etc. 4. The translator showed poor communication skills. He/she was not flexible enough. He/she has never notified when a problem occurred during the translation process. 5. The translator was hard to reach at his/her office. He/she did not provide adequate mailing address and all the documents kept returning to the sender. 6. The translator turned out to be not reliable. He/she assured he/she knew the dialect of the language but did not demonstrate this skill. He/she advertised himself/herself as a legal translator but never certified his/her work. When returning the project he/she did not include the original seal. He/she never corrected his/her previous mistakes even though he/she promised to do so. 7. The translator was not culturally sensitive. He/she presented himself/herself as a native speaker but did not know all the aspects of the culture. 8. The translator never returned money. He/she admitted that the translation was poorly done and promised to recompense but never did. 9. The translator did not respond well to constrictive criticism.

In order to stand out from the competition, and have your previous clients come back to you, one ought to perform self -evaluation after each translation project. Be critical about your skills and ask your clients for feedbacks. Even the negative ones might provide you with another perspectives and ideas on how to improve your skills and develop your professional growth. Sometimes constrictive criticism leads to a positive change. And positive feedbacks guarantee good promotion, trust among clients, and more projects. Good luck.

The author Marian Marcinkowski is the President of VerbumSoft. He is the owner of http://www.translatorsbase.com and http://www.directfreelance.com Translatorsbase.com it is a global provider in translation solutions, providing translation services via network of professional freelance translators and translation agencies located around the world. Directfreelance.com it is a directory of freelance professionals searchable by category,

Tips to help you start your own all-round translation business

There is no shortage of translators who take the plunge and set up shop as self-employed freelancers, but few have the ambition or the spirit to start up their own all-round translation agency. This is not surprising, of course, as the establishment of a full- scale translation agency is a quantum leap compared with what it takes to launch a viable freelance practice. Nevertheless, the intellectual and financial rewards of business ownership can be substantial. Below I will discuss various aspects you will have to take into account should you consider beginning your own professional and all-round translation business.

All-round translations First of all, what is meant, in this particular context, by the term 'all-round'? Basically, it refers to the scope of your product. As a freelancer your output would be confined to your own language combination and degree of specialisation; as an agency owner you will be able to supply your clients with translations across a whole range of source and target languages and disciplines, including commercial, technical, medical and legal documents. In theory, your range would be limited only by the number of staff you would be prepare to contract.

Internal organisation If you want to establish your own translation company, you would be well advised to find a competent partner first - unless you are willing to hire staff right from the start (which, in most cases, is not a recommendable procedure). Ideally, your business partner should be a person whose qualities are complementary to your own, if only because in such cases the division of tasks is usually quite obvious (and a potential source of conflict is removed). There are good reasons to separate responsibility for product quality (i.e., the quality of the translations) from organisational responsibilities (order processing, account management, etc.). These two roles do not go together very well in practice, and the associated skills are not usually combined within one and the same person anyway.

Find suitable office accommodation that includes at least two rooms: one library-style room where you can work in peace, and one nerve centre where the business is done. Make sure you have at least three computer workstations (one spare station is no luxury) and an office printer, a telephone switchboard with at least two external lines and a fax. Get yourself a straightforward high-quality accounting programme with a CRM module and document your working methods in detailed systematic procedures.

Don't forget to lay down and formalise a number of essential agreements on tasks and responsibilities with your business partner, so as to prevent any misunderstandings.

Business Plan Once you have gathered all the information you need, you should draw up a Business Plan. Examples of such plans are available at your local Chamber of Commerce, or can be downloaded (for a fee) from the Internet. These specimen copies are structured in such a way that they will assist you in each step of your own Business Plan. One of the main advantages of having a reliable Business Plan is that it will present you with a realistic estimate of the money you will need to get your agency off the ground. If your capital requirements exceed your private budget (and it is quite likely that they will), you will have to present a thorough Business Plan to the bank in order to persuade them that your plans will pay off.

High-quality freelance translator network The main asset of any translation agency is obviously its network of reliable translators. Incidentally, you need not be a networking freak to build up such a freelance network. Many freelancers will present themselves to you spontaneously as soon as they get wind of your existence; alternatively, you can actively recruit them and check out CVs on a variety of collective freelance websites, such as Translators Caf? or GoTranslators. The snag is that you will be hard put to appraise a freelancer's skills if you do not master the language concerned. CV assessment is important, but by no means sufficient: you will need to be able to judge the quality of a freelancer's actual output before entrusting him or her to your clients!

To obviate this problem, check your own network of colleagues or friends for highly-educated native speakers of the language concerned, ask several freelancers to submit (free) trial translations, have them assessed and select the two or three most promising freelancers for each language combination you intend to offer. Carefully document the strengths and weaknesses of each selected freelancer and list the specialisations. Note that you won't get a truly reliable picture of a freelancer's capacity and skills until he/she has had the opportunity to do several translation jobs for you.

Once you have a pool of reliable freelance translators for each language combination, you can obviously also ask them to check and assess trial translations submitted by other candidates.

Another point to bear in mind is that the freelancers you decide to work with should comply with all the requirements imposed by your country's Tax & Customs Administration. Each freelancer should be able to produce a formal statement, issued by the tax authorities, attesting to his/her status as an independent translator.

Reliable network of suppliers Your freelance translators are obviously your most important suppliers, but the supply network comprises other parties as well that will need to be carefully selected as you will need to use their services on an ongoing basis. These include the bank, the accountant, the printer and the graphic designer.

Marketing Once the internal set-up of your agency is in place, your first priority should be to recruit clients in a systematic manner. For many start-ups in the translation business, this is the most difficult hurdle. Obviously there is a multitude of strategies that can help you attract clients in the business-to-business segment (which accounts for most of the turnover of any self-sufficient translation agency). One very helpful tool, if used correctly, is Direct Marketing. In principle, two different Direct Marketing strategies are available:

1. Internet marketing One effective and relatively cheap method of generating business in the short term is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), a term that refers to a variety of techniques to help you strengthen your presence on the Internet, and to help prospective clients find you there. A strong position in Internet search engines will increase the number of times you are invited to submit a quote for a translation job, for the simple reason that you will be more likely to be selected if you are easy to find on the Internet.

Some Internet facility agencies have specialised in Search Engine Optimisation and will be able to improve your search engine rating within a couple of months. Most of these companies charge annual subscription fees. If you want immediate results, ask for an adword campaign.

2. Database marketing This a rather more expensive client acquisition technique. Call large international corporations and government agencies likely to produce texts for translation on a regular basis, and ask for the name of the person who is responsible for translation services (usually an official at the Director's Office, Communications or the Marketing Department). Gather the information in a database and mail the contact persons four or five times a year. The mailing could comprise your company brochure, a letter of recommendation, flyers, a magazine for business relations or any other item that will help remind the reader of your name and the level of quality that you offer.

An effective database contains at least 1,000 companies or other organisations, and should also contain the names of the contact persons. It goes without saying that you will also have to invest in continually updating your database.

Fester Leenstra is co-owner of Metamorfose Vertalingen, a translation agency in Utrecht (The Netherlands). After having worked for several translation firms in paid employment, he took the plunge in 2004 and incorporated his own company. <br /> For further details about Metamorfose Vertalingen, visit VERTAALBUREAU

TRANSLATION SERVICE NOW OPEN ALL HOURS

Thanks to an exciting new service being launched by antipodean translation company New Lingo, no business need ever be lost for words again - whatever the time of day or night! For New Zealand's leading Internet language services company recently added a new string to its corporate bow, with the launch of a 24-hour translation service.

Given the 24/7 culture which prevails in international business circles, this news will undoubtedly be sweet music to the ears of New Lingo's many clients worldwide. New Lingo is a perfect example of the new breed of "virtual" company, and its pedigree is impeccable. Established only three years ago, the dynamic language services provider has a well-deserved reputation for excellence, due in no small part to a policy of having every translation independently proof-read. Moreover, with all staff home-based, New Lingo's operating costs are kept to a minimum - a benefit which is passed directly on to their clients in the form of highly competitive rates.

As language experts who pride themselves on their state-of-the-art translation technology solutions, New Lingo staff are renowned for their ultra-modern approach to business. Indeed, in the words of Christof Schneider, chief of operational improvements at New Lingo: "This new service is just the latest in a series of technology-enabled firsts. It offers organisations which operate under time-critical conditions an immense commercial advantage." He continues: "It also gives our clients complete peace of mind to know that while they're sleeping, the documents they require for their meeting the next morning are being translated!" Korean-born project manager Austin Kim explains: "The nature of our business lends itself perfectly to a 24-hour production system. Many of our clients are multi-nationals and operate 24 hours a day themselves. Moreover, our translation team already spans all time zones, so providing a round-the-clock service is simply a natural extension of what we already do." In-house (and at New Lingo, that means her own house!) German expert, Barbara B?umer adds: "We have a close reciprocal relationship with a respected UK translation company which works really well. Through them we regularly provide translations for prestigious end-clients such as Microsoft, Orange and Honda."

Impressive names certainly - but equally impressive is what New Lingo itself has achieved in a relatively short timescale. The maths is simple: a network of tried and tested translation professionals, all beavering away during "normal" working hours in their own time zones, but collectively working 24/7. Add to this equation the New Lingo factors of project management experience and state-of-the-art translation tools, and you have a winning formula: a round-the-clock stress-free professional translation service for members of the global business community.

Capitalizing On The Benefits Of A Foreign Language Translation Firm

In today?s ever-expanding world of business on an ever-shrinking planet, not only is it easy to market your organization?s products and services globally, but it is also just good business sense. With the prevalence of the Internet in every aspect of our English-speaking culture and society, it makes sense to reach out globally and put your products and/or services out for the whole world to take advantage of. Though it seems like the Internet has reduced the size of our world, marked cultural and language barriers still exist which make marketing a product or service from an English-speaking organization to a foreign market an immense challenge. In order to succeed globally, you must consider foreign language translation as a necessary faction of your organization. Whether you are considering opening offices internationally, or you just want to make your services available to foreign markets, consider employing the services of a professional foreign language translation firm in order to make every aspect of your business (both electronic and paper-based) understandable and user-friendly to whatever nationality you decide to promote your business to.

In order to fully make the most of the foreign expansion of your business, you might want to open offices in other countries in addition to providing services and products via the Internet. This might require you to hire staff members in those countries who are not native English speakers. Though this will no doubt be a benefit in helping your organization immerse itself into another culture, and help your products and/or services gain a foothold there, it will also prove challenging in trying to adapt your organization?s policies and procedures to a group of employees that will not be able to read manuals and documents in English, and not understand some of the informal grammar. For this reason, hiring a foreign language translation organization is a sensible business decision.

A foreign language translation firm typically employs native speakers from many different countries. Not only do their employees have an inherent grasp on one or more foreign languages, but they are also fluent in the English language. In addition, it is possible to hire staff that are specialists in particular areas of business, which helps to facilitate translations and allows the translators to convert your materials into understandable, relevant, and culturally sensitive documents. For your business, translators can adapt software, training and development materials, web sites, and internal organization documentation. Foreign language translation firms utilize the latest software that will translate documentation into nearly every language on Earth, as well as translate documentation into English, so that the lines of communication will be open and unhindered. Many different fields of industry utilize foreign language translation firms, including the medical field, the legal field, the computer industry, and of course, the business and marketing fields.

If you are considering the global development of your business, educating yourself on the cultures of those countries you plan to approach is very important. There are often strict differences among countries, even if they are neighbors to one another. There are also often strict differences between English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. Being sensitive to other cultural standards will help you to understand the business climate of whatever country you want to expand your business into. This is of utmost importance for successful expansion into non-English-speaking countries. For that reason, taking advantage of one of the many online foreign language translators that are available is a sensible method of education for yourself and your organization. There are several web page translators that are available online for free. Taking the time to research the demands of your potential customers will pay off for you in the long run.

For worldwide expansion of your business, there is no more sensible decision to make than to employ a foreign language translation organization to tend to the conversion of all of your English-based business documents into whatever foreign language you need. And taking the time to research the non-English speaking markets you wish to expand into will help you understand the cultural climates you intend to take your products and/or services into. Foreign language translators make the transition into the global business community easier for your business. http://www.foreign-languages-school.com

Find the essential information on where and how to learn a new or second language at Foreign Language Translation John is a director of numerous Internet companies and is a published author. Many articles have been produced on a variety of subjects with excellent content and depth. All his articles may be reproduced provided that an active link is included to http://www.foreign-languages-school.com

Translation Plez !

Translation Plez !

 by: Tony Dean

While we are here sending messages in English, there are at least one third of the worlds population who can't read them, for English is not even a second language for them.

I refer to China.

More people in China are logging on to the net every day, but most of what has been put up on the net is in English, this can be very frustrating for them.

Very few web sites I visit, and I visit very many in any given week, don't have any way of giving translations into other languages, and I feel, this is a thing that webmasters have got to address as soon as possible.

On my own website, www.ebook-sales.com I have inserted a script code at the top of every html page to offer Alta Vista's translationservice - 'Babel Fish'.

This offers translation into eight languages at present, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, as well as European languages. As more languages become available automatically the script will activate them.

Since I put "Babel Fish' on my site I have noticed in the stats on my server that more people are logging on from China!

This problem of translation for web-sites I recently wrote up about in a article filed with IdeaMarketers.com called "Reach Out And Touch Billions", no sooner it was filed within minutes it was being read by users of the service, usually editors.

Take a look at the article and let me have some comments, and if you know of other translation services, why not give me some details about them for others to benefit from?

I will write another article to follow up.

Question 1.

Should it be a mandatory requirement that a translation should be made available for web-sites - incuding blogs?

Question 2.

Now that there is the technology available, should search engine's like Google and Yahoo rank sites lower if they have no translation available?

(Therefore rank sites higher if they do provide translation?)

Question 3.

Should all email service providers be made to provide translation services for all emails?

(Do you know of any that do?)

Tony Dean is a publshed author and writer of ezine articles. He runs a web site at:- http://www.ebook-sales.com

Procurement and Translation

 Procurement and Translation
Gavin Wheeldon of Applied Language Solutions

Background of eProcurement

The world of purchasing took a significant change with the introduction of eProcurement systems. Unbelievable ROI was promised and the whole purchasing world was about to revolutionise, all for a mere few million investment.

This would be done by rationalising the supply base to an absolute minimum and then ensuring no off contract buying was done by enforcing purchases through the system. There were additional savings in the reduction of administration from purchase orders through to invoice payment.
A small problem

Then along came the rather significant problem of supplier adoption onto these systems. Without a critical mass of spend there would be no real ROI. The problem came in that there were so many different proprietary systems including Oracles iProcurement, Ariba, Commerce One, SAP and a multitude of others that the cost of supporting multiple catalogue formats was prohibitive for suppliers. Even worse was when services or configurable products were attempted to be catalogued.
Punch Out

Then along came Punch out or Round Trip depending on which you prefer (This article will use punch out), however the principle is the same. This allows end users to browse a suppliers website and bring back into the system the details of the purchase, therefore allowing all the same business rules and processes to be applied. This solved problems for configurable products, volatile pricing and some other key supply chain issues.
Translation

The level of translation spend in a company is often underestimated and in most large organisations runs into many millions. It is estimated that through the correct use of technology and the consolidation of this spend savings of up to 60% can be achieved. Therefore the benefits of adding this spend to eProcurement can far outweigh even the larger spend categories.

There is however, still a problem when trying to add your translation supplier to eProcurement systems. This comes down to two reasons:

Translation purchases still need to go through a quotation stage in most instances. This is due to the fact there are so many variables that can change the price including such things as graphics with files.
Most agencies will use translation memory tools, which mean that the same document can be differently priced dependent upon when you get the quote. This works by storing translated units in a database and when this same unit is encountered again it is priced lower.

These problems make it almost impossible to purchase translation in a single punch out session.

How to eProcure Translation

Translation can be procured through the system with a slight adaptation of the normal punch out process. This is done by providing a standard link to the agencies secure server where a quotation can be requested and documents submitted. The quote is then emailed to the requisitioner with a link to return to the secure site via the eProcurement system. This will then start a punch out session and the quote can be added to a shopping basket in the normal way.


This article may be reproduced as long as information remains intact

About the company

Applied Language Solutions provide translation solutions for business of all size and have a range of solutions to meet all needs.

ALS
Translation<
Gavin Wheeldon of Applied Language Solutions

Background of eProcurement

The world of purchasing took a significant change with the introduction of eProcurement systems. Unbelievable ROI was promised and the whole purchasing world was about to revolutionise, all for a mere few million investment.

This would be done by rationalising the supply base to an absolute minimum and then ensuring no off contract buying was done by enforcing purchases through the system. There were additional savings in the reduction of administration from purchase orders through to invoice payment.
A small problem

Then along came the rather significant problem of supplier adoption onto these systems. Without a critical mass of spend there would be no real ROI. The problem came in that there were so many different proprietary systems including Oracles iProcurement, Ariba, Commerce One, SAP and a multitude of others that the cost of supporting multiple catalogue formats was prohibitive for suppliers. Even worse was when services or configurable products were attempted to be catalogued.
Punch Out

Then along came Punch out or Round Trip depending on which you prefer (This article will use punch out), however the principle is the same. This allows end users to browse a suppliers website and bring back into the system the details of the purchase, therefore allowing all the same business rules and processes to be applied. This solved problems for configurable products, volatile pricing and some other key supply chain issues.
Translation

The level of translation spend in a company is often underestimated and in most large organisations runs into many millions. It is estimated that through the correct use of technology and the consolidation of this spend savings of up to 60% can be achieved. Therefore the benefits of adding this spend to eProcurement can far outweigh even the larger spend categories.

There is however, still a problem when trying to add your translation supplier to eProcurement systems. This comes down to two reasons:

Translation purchases still need to go through a quotation stage in most instances. This is due to the fact there are so many variables that can change the price including such things as graphics with files.
Most agencies will use translation memory tools, which mean that the same document can be differently priced dependent upon when you get the quote. This works by storing translated units in a database and when this same unit is encountered again it is priced lower.

These problems make it almost impossible to purchase translation in a single punch out session.

How to eProcure Translation

Translation can be procured through the system with a slight adaptation of the normal punch out process. This is done by providing a standard link to the agencies secure server where a quotation can be requested and documents submitted. The quote is then emailed to the requisitioner with a link to return to the secure site via the eProcurement system. This will then start a punch out session and the quote can be added to a shopping basket in the normal way.


This article may be reproduced as long as information remains intact

About the company

Applied Language Solutions provide translation solutions for business of all size and have a range of solutions to meet all needs.

ALS  Translation

Having worked in the technology industry including eProcurement and CMS systems, Gavin has in the past three t=years been working in the translation industry to bring technology and language together.

 

Don't Lose Your Foreign Web Site Visitors by Insulting Them With Brain-Dead Translation Services

For some internet marketers it's become a cutting
edge strategy to offer multi lingual navigation and
promo material on their sites in the hope of expanding
their client base. While it is true that international
users whose mother tongue is anything but English are
beginning to hit the web in hefty numbers, catering to
them in their own linguistic format is an art in
itself which doesn't lend itself to the cheap and easy
"no brainer" pseudo solutions currently being hawked
on the net. If you offer them one of those, chances
are you'll fend them off forever. Count it as a
well-meaning blunder as much as you will, fact is
these clients-to-be can be quite relentless if you
convey the impression that you couldn't care less
about offering first class services. Don't forget that
very many people actually love their mother tongue and
don't enjoy seeing it massacred.

Linguistics and translation are sciences in their own
right demanding due respect or - at the very least -
professional handling. One thing the non-expert should
get rid off - the sooner the better! - is the fond
myth that familiarity with your mother tongue implies
that you know all about language and its social
ramifications. And it's not about lack of command of
a foreign tongue either - more often than not, it's
the basic concepts which are flawed, such as the
belief that a word-by-word translation, though
admittedly not very elegant, will at least give you a
"general idea" of the source text's content. While
this may actually be true to some extent within the
very limited context of highly specialized technical
fields (academic papers on chemistry rich in formulae
and procedural descriptions being a case in point),
the old law school adage "a little knowledge is a
dangerous thing" rules even here. Needless to say,
relying on imperfect automatization can make matters
even worse.

Translation bots tend to reflect this faulty
reasoning, and their backing by popular opinion -
uneducated in these matters as it usually is - is no
great help either.

Here's just one example of what can happen if you
opt for less-than-professional (read: usually free)
"translation services". Let's take a real life German
site rich in textual content and have a look at what
the most popular translator bot makes of it.


"Welcomely
tsigaan soft systems
tsigaan news
Software and computer services, also very good, give
it meanwhile like the proverbial sand at the sea.
Thousands of companies and Hirnen compile world-wide
daily the most refined solutions, and although within
this area - like everywhere in the life - all gold is
long not, which probably shines there, then the
standards and the requirements of the users in the
last years nevertheless ever more rose."
Source:

"Translation":



Seriously - would you really want to see your site
represented in this manner? Welcomely, indeed!

And don't try to argue that this is, after all,
"better than nothing" - it's the seeming familiarity
of the language presented, the fond illusion of "at
least getting the gist of it" that's the really nasty
part. Because it can (and most certainly will!) lead
you astray in ever so many subtle ways, and in the end
you may be worse off by a long shot than if you hadn't
understood a single word in the first place. Simply
ask yourself if you would sign a million dollar
contract of this linguistic "quality" ...

With the current US dominance of the WWW clearly
waning (as all major studies and analyses will show),
getting linked internationally will become ever more
critical. World wide, surfers aren't content with
sticking to local or localized search engines in their
own language: rather, the English language is rapidly
gaining ground everywhere, even in the former
communist states, not mention in formerly French or
Spanish dominated regions. These people, more and more
of whom are well educated, bilingual and fairly well
versed in English, are increasingly making use of
stateside search engines. It is only a question of
time until even All-American engines will have to
adapt to this situation, if only to accomodate their
international advertisers. Hence, it stands to reason
that only link popularity based on real world web
demographics (as opposed to mere wishful thinking and
established political and cultural prejudices) will be
able to satisfy advertisers' and users' demands.

So do it right or do it not! Either employ a bona fide
professional translation service or get someone to
revamp your online copy to accomodate all those
international clients whose command of English, while
fairly well informed, is not quite up to par with your
US or UK biased industrial lingo, er, parlance.

This holds true vice versa for non-English sites as
well, of course: don't even dream of relying on one of
the translator bots doing a good job and permitting
you to cut one single sale! And while your English
teacher at school may have lauded your enthusiasm over
and again, don't delude yourself that this makes you a
native speaker.

If you are interested in English or American or
Australian or New Zealand clients at all, don't give
them the impression of amateurish incompetence by
refusing to acknowledge the fact that your command of
English may be less than perfect. This is, after all,
nothing to be ashamed of - whereas trying to get by
this problem on the cheap very well should be! If
there's one thing you want to avoid in marketing it's
getting laughed out of court.

The following sites offer "translation" services or,
rather, pretend to do so - use at own risk:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
http:/ ranslator.go.com/
http://www.dictionary.com ranslate/
http://www.voila.com/Services/Translate/
edge strategy to offer multi lingual navigation and
promo material on their sites in the hope of expanding
their client base. While it is true that international
users whose mother tongue is anything but English are
beginning to hit the web in hefty numbers, catering to
them in their own linguistic format is an art in
itself which doesn't lend itself to the cheap and easy
"no brainer" pseudo solutions currently being hawked
on the net. If you offer them one of those, chances
are you'll fend them off forever. Count it as a
well-meaning blunder as much as you will, fact is
these clients-to-be can be quite relentless if you
convey the impression that you couldn't care less
about offering first class services. Don't forget that
very many people actually love their mother tongue and
don't enjoy seeing it massacred.

Linguistics and translation are sciences in their own
right demanding due respect or - at the very least -
professional handling. One thing the non-expert should
get rid off - the sooner the better! - is the fond
myth that familiarity with your mother tongue implies
that you know all about language and its social
ramifications. And it's not about lack of command of
a foreign tongue either - more often than not, it's
the basic concepts which are flawed, such as the
belief that a word-by-word translation, though
admittedly not very elegant, will at least give you a
"general idea" of the source text's content. While
this may actually be true to some extent within the
very limited context of highly specialized technical
fields (academic papers on chemistry rich in formulae
and procedural descriptions being a case in point),
the old law school adage "a little knowledge is a
dangerous thing" rules even here. Needless to say,
relying on imperfect automatization can make matters
even worse.

Translation bots tend to reflect this faulty
reasoning, and their backing by popular opinion -
uneducated in these matters as it usually is - is no
great help either.

Here's just one example of what can happen if you
opt for less-than-professional (read: usually free)
"translation services". Let's take a real life German
site rich in textual content and have a look at what
the most popular translator bot makes of it.


"Welcomely
tsigaan soft systems
tsigaan news
Software and computer services, also very good, give
it meanwhile like the proverbial sand at the sea.
Thousands of companies and Hirnen compile world-wide
daily the most refined solutions, and although within
this area - like everywhere in the life - all gold is
long not, which probably shines there, then the
standards and the requirements of the users in the
last years nevertheless ever more rose."
Source:

"Translation":



Seriously - would you really want to see your site
represented in this manner? Welcomely, indeed!

And don't try to argue that this is, after all,
"better than nothing" - it's the seeming familiarity
of the language presented, the fond illusion of "at
least getting the gist of it" that's the really nasty
part. Because it can (and most certainly will!) lead
you astray in ever so many subtle ways, and in the end
you may be worse off by a long shot than if you hadn't
understood a single word in the first place. Simply
ask yourself if you would sign a million dollar
contract of this linguistic "quality" ...

With the current US dominance of the WWW clearly
waning (as all major studies and analyses will show),
getting linked internationally will become ever more
critical. World wide, surfers aren't content with
sticking to local or localized search engines in their
own language: rather, the English language is rapidly
gaining ground everywhere, even in the former
communist states, not mention in formerly French or
Spanish dominated regions. These people, more and more
of whom are well educated, bilingual and fairly well
versed in English, are increasingly making use of
stateside search engines. It is only a question of
time until even All-American engines will have to
adapt to this situation, if only to accomodate their
international advertisers. Hence, it stands to reason
that only link popularity based on real world web
demographics (as opposed to mere wishful thinking and
established political and cultural prejudices) will be
able to satisfy advertisers' and users' demands.

So do it right or do it not! Either employ a bona fide
professional translation service or get someone to
revamp your online copy to accomodate all those
international clients whose command of English, while
fairly well informed, is not quite up to par with your
US or UK biased industrial lingo, er, parlance.

This holds true vice versa for non-English sites as
well, of course: don't even dream of relying on one of
the translator bots doing a good job and permitting
you to cut one single sale! And while your English
teacher at school may have lauded your enthusiasm over
and again, don't delude yourself that this makes you a
native speaker.

If you are interested in English or American or
Australian or New Zealand clients at all, don't give
them the impression of amateurish incompetence by
refusing to acknowledge the fact that your command of
English may be less than perfect. This is, after all,
nothing to be ashamed of - whereas trying to get by
this problem on the cheap very well should be! If
there's one thing you want to avoid in marketing it's
getting laughed out of court.

The following sites offer "translation" services or,
rather, pretend to do so - use at own risk:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
http:/ ranslator.go.com/
http://www.dictionary.com ranslate/
http://www.voila.com/Services/Translate/

Ralph Tegtmeier is the co-founder and principal of
fantomaster.com Ltd. (UK) and fantomaster.com GmbH
(Belgium), a company specializing in webmasters
software development, industrial-strength cloaking and
search engine positioning services. You can contact him at
mailto:fneditor@fantomaster.com

Lost in Translation? How to get your marketing message to an international audience

Did you know that only 28% of the entire European population can read English? This percentage is even lower in South America and Asia. Even the growing Hispanic community in the U.S. still prefers to read in Spanish for the most part. This means that if you want to sell your products and services to these markets, you will need to be able to communicate effectively in their languages.Naturally, if you choose to expand into international markets, language will be only one of many challenges. Youll be busy with market research, finding distribution channels and dealing with legal and banking issues. Despite all these challenges, dont make translation an afterthought the consequences could be disastrous.

The U. S. State Department says that U. S. companies stand to lose $50 billion in potential sales from poor translations. Companies get themselves into trouble with translations that are inaccurate or culturally inappropriate. Professional translations on the other hand will convey a high quality image of your products or services, leverage your marketing message and help you keep your company clear of legal difficulties.

How do you get good translations? First of all, computer-generated translations wont do. Dont take my word for it. Go online, look up a free translation website and then have a few sentences translated into a foreign language. Then, take the translation that was generated, and have it translated back into English with the free service. Read it, and youll see why its not a good idea to use computer-generated translations for your marketing messages. Your texts will look unprofessional and less than competent to native speakers.

So if a computer wont do the job, youll need a person - but who can you trust? There are literally thousands of translation businesses out there, which vary greatly in size, price and professionalism. The translation industry is a highly unregulated market, and common quality standards are hard to find. What makes the problem worse is that, even after you receive a translation, you will probably not be able to judge its quality, unless of course you speak the language yourself.

So how can you find a trustworthy and reliable translation service? In the age of electronic communications, you need not limit yourself to a local search. Translations can be easily delivered by e-mail, and under most circumstances, you can discuss all project details over the phone. For legal reasons and also for ease of payment processing you might find it more convenient to work with a provider in your country. Most every translation company will provide you a free consultation and a free price proposal for your project. Besides the cost, heres a checklist of things to inquire about:

1) Native Speakers: Does the provider work with translators who are native speakers of the languages? There are plenty of fluent, non-native speakers of second languages, but only native speakers have a perfect feel for their language. Working with native speakers will ensure that your translations sound natural to your audiences, and not like a translation from a foreigner.

2) Specialist Knowledge: Its not enough to speak the language. The people who translate your material must know your industry. Translating for a technology firm requires different expertise than translating for a pharmaceutical company.

3) Location: The best translators are those who work from their native countries. They are up-to-date with current developments and changes in the languages. If you choose a translation firm that has translators in exactly the countries you are targeting, you can be sure that your translations will be linguistically and culturally appropriate.

4) File Formats: To avoid extra work and costs, make sure you choose a translation firm that can work with exactly the same file formats you use and require.

5) Technology: Find out what kind of technology the translation firm uses. For example, state-of-the-art translation memory tools allow the re-use of previously translated material. For example, if you make changes or update your material over time, youll only want those changes translated, and not the complete documents.

6) Quality Assurance: Ask the company for their quality assurance procedures. Find out if all translated material gets reviewed before it is sent out to you.

7) Check references: Find out which clients the translation company has worked for in the past. Call those references and find out how satisfied they are with customer service and translation quality.

Once you have selected a translation provider make sure you work together with them closely in order to maximize the quality of your translations. One rule is to allow sufficient time. Rushing a job always risks compromising its quality. Also, make sure the source material is well written. You can never generate a great translation from a mediocre source text. Provide as much background material as possible to help the translators understand your product-specific context and learn your organizations jargon.

Finally, its a good idea to remain available for questions and feedback during the translation project. Good translators are like good students they will always ask you questions.

Martin Heimann is the project manager for the US Office of OCE Translations Network, an international language services company (www.foreign-language-translation.com). He can be reached at +1-336-272-3557 or martin@oce-translations.com.

Free Stuff: Translation Services

 One of very cool facts about the internet is that it is truly global in
scope. You can send emails to people all over the planet, visit newsgroups
and find posts in different languages, and you can rest assured that your
web site will probably be seen by people of other cultures and
nationalities.

It still boggles my mind when I surf to a Russian or Czechoslovakian site. I
still feel a thrill when I find pages from the People's Republic of China,
Hungary and Vietnam. This is because I grew up during the Cold War era, and
clearly remember speeches where Ronald Reagan referred to Russia as the evil
empire. Yet now we can surf their web sites at will, and people in Russia
can look at ours as often as they like.

Personally, I think this is the true purpose of the internet, and it's great
promise - to help people communicate with one another. By talking (or
sending emails or whatever) we can become more in tune with each other's
needs, desires, lifestyles, hopes, dreams and other emotions, which in turn
allows us all to understand what's going on and why people act the way that
they do.

Surfing the internet I have come to know people in Russia, one of the most
powerful countries in the world, had to stand in line to get potatoes,
something that I eat everyday and take for granted. I have come to tears
learning about famines in Africa and felt joy learning of a South African
woman's new child. These are experiences that I may never have shared had I
not been surfing the internet.

However, one of the frustrations of this vast melding of cultures and
communications is language. Many of these pages, emails and postings are
written in languages which are not known to me. I am sure that virtually
everyone has felt the same frustration of seeing a wonderful web page and
not being able to understand what the author was attempting to communicate.

You will be happy to know that you can use any of the following free
translation services to translate text from one language to another.

Babelfish
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
In a strange and wonderful book called "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", a
small creature known as a Babelfish allows you to understand
(telepathically) the speech of any other race in the entire galaxy. All you
need to do is put this small fish into your ear. The fish "eats" speech
(more or less) and excretes a telepathic translation into your brain.

If only it were that simple. Needless to say, the Babelfish service (which
was purchased by Altavista) is not that good, but nonetheless, it serves the
purpose. Simply paste some text into the box (or choose a webpage), select
the "To" and "From" languages and click a button. Within a short time the
text will be translated for you. It's not perfect but it works.

T-Mail
http://www.t-mail.com/index2.shtml
You can use this service two ways: by registering, you get a mail address of
your_name@t-mail.com. Messages send to that mail address are automatically
converted from one language to your preferred language. T-Mail forwards the
translation to your current e-mail address.

If you don't want to register, you can use your current e-mail account and
send a message to a buddy (or yourself perhaps). By typing the appropriate
T-Mail address on the Cc: line of the same message before sending it, you
instruct T-Mail to translate the email message from one language to another.
The original message is delivered as usual to the person on the To: line.
The copy is sent to the translator, translated and sent to the person on the
To: line.

T-Sail
http://www.t-mail.com/cgi-bin sail
Similar to Babelfish, this service allows you to translate a web page (or
search engine results) from one language to another.

T-Text
http://www.t-mail.com -text.shtml
With T-Text, you simply paste some text in a box, select the translation,
click a button and viola, you have the translation.
scope. You can send emails to people all over the planet, visit newsgroups
and find posts in different languages, and you can rest assured that your
web site will probably be seen by people of other cultures and
nationalities.

It still boggles my mind when I surf to a Russian or Czechoslovakian site. I
still feel a thrill when I find pages from the People's Republic of China,
Hungary and Vietnam. This is because I grew up during the Cold War era, and
clearly remember speeches where Ronald Reagan referred to Russia as the evil
empire. Yet now we can surf their web sites at will, and people in Russia
can look at ours as often as they like.

Personally, I think this is the true purpose of the internet, and it's great
promise - to help people communicate with one another. By talking (or
sending emails or whatever) we can become more in tune with each other's
needs, desires, lifestyles, hopes, dreams and other emotions, which in turn
allows us all to understand what's going on and why people act the way that
they do.

Surfing the internet I have come to know people in Russia, one of the most
powerful countries in the world, had to stand in line to get potatoes,
something that I eat everyday and take for granted. I have come to tears
learning about famines in Africa and felt joy learning of a South African
woman's new child. These are experiences that I may never have shared had I
not been surfing the internet.

However, one of the frustrations of this vast melding of cultures and
communications is language. Many of these pages, emails and postings are
written in languages which are not known to me. I am sure that virtually
everyone has felt the same frustration of seeing a wonderful web page and
not being able to understand what the author was attempting to communicate.

You will be happy to know that you can use any of the following free
translation services to translate text from one language to another.

Babelfish
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
In a strange and wonderful book called "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", a
small creature known as a Babelfish allows you to understand
(telepathically) the speech of any other race in the entire galaxy. All you
need to do is put this small fish into your ear. The fish "eats" speech
(more or less) and excretes a telepathic translation into your brain.

If only it were that simple. Needless to say, the Babelfish service (which
was purchased by Altavista) is not that good, but nonetheless, it serves the
purpose. Simply paste some text into the box (or choose a webpage), select
the "To" and "From" languages and click a button. Within a short time the
text will be translated for you. It's not perfect but it works.

T-Mail
http://www.t-mail.com/index2.shtml
You can use this service two ways: by registering, you get a mail address of
your_name@t-mail.com. Messages send to that mail address are automatically
converted from one language to your preferred language. T-Mail forwards the
translation to your current e-mail address.

If you don't want to register, you can use your current e-mail account and
send a message to a buddy (or yourself perhaps). By typing the appropriate
T-Mail address on the Cc: line of the same message before sending it, you
instruct T-Mail to translate the email message from one language to another.
The original message is delivered as usual to the person on the To: line.
The copy is sent to the translator, translated and sent to the person on the
To: line.

T-Sail
http://www.t-mail.com/cgi-bin sail
Similar to Babelfish, this service allows you to translate a web page (or
search engine results) from one language to another.

T-Text
http://www.t-mail.com -text.shtml
With T-Text, you simply paste some text in a box, select the translation,
click a button and viola, you have the translation.

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at
http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read
over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your
internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.

 

Choosing a Good Spanish English Translation Dictionary

English Spanish dictionaries come in all shapes, sizes, specialties, and mediums. There are paperback dictionaries, medical dictionaries, desktop dictionaries, electronic dictionaries, good dictionaries, and bad dictionaries.

All the options can be confusing for anybody deciding on how best to start (or improve) their Spanish translation resource library.

The most important thing to remember is that individual needs will (and very rightly should) vary. People who love Spanish translation (and English Spanish dictionaries) are a unique breed.

(It's what makes us special!)

What works for you or your buddy down the street or on the other side of the information highway might not work for you.

However, there are a list of guidelines that I like to follow when deciding how to spend my money on English Spanish dictionaries. I think this checklist can also help you.

1. Don't trust the Internet. Just because it's on the Internet, doesn't mean it's true. This is a warning call to be careful when doing research online for translations of specific words.

Due to the nature of the web, anyone can claim they know everything about Arctic ice fishing and how to translate every related word in both Spanish and English. Don't make your translation final until you've verified your sources and feel good about them.

2. Determine your needs. There are so many choices to choose from when deciding what to get. Narrow down what kind of work you'll be doing.

Are you interested in translating for the medical field? You'll need to invest in medical dictionaries.

Want a good generalized dictionary? Don't spend your time looking at specialized ones.

I always end up spending more on resources I don't need when I haven't determined what exactly I want. It's kind of like going to the grocery store when you're hungry. Not very good on the bank account.

3. Determine the format. Are you looking for just Spanish English translation equivalents or do you want definitions included?

That's usually the difference between glossaries and dictionaries. Glossaries are lists of translations while dictionaries have definitions included.

4. Determine the language(s). Obviously this article is all about English Spanish dictionaries. However, you do need to ask yourself:

Do I need (or want) the dictionary to be a monolingual one or a bilingual one?

This may sound like a silly question at first but it's important to realize that there are a lot of specialized dictionaries that are written in only Spanish or only English.

Legal dictionaries are an excellent example of this. Because laws are different in different parts of the Spanish-speaking world, inividualized resource books have been written which explain the laws of that particular region. These will undoubtedly be different from other regions and will usually be monolingual (as opposed to an English Spanish dictionary).

It's important, then, to have a good library of reference materials in both languages because that will help you translate more effectively.

For me personally, I like to have both bilingual and monolingual dictionaries in order to cross-reference them with each other on meanings of words.

5. Determine the medium. Where do you do most of your translation work?

Do you like to work at your home office?

At the park?

In the library?

Outside by the pool?

In your bed?

The last thing you want to be doing is carting around every English Spanish dictionary you own wherever you go to work on your translations.

Thanks to this technology age, however, there are many options to choose from. Electronic Spanish English dictionaries, computer software, or even programs for your pda all will help you with your needs.

There are still plenty of books, too, if you like the feel of having a book in your hand while your doing your research.

All the options can be confusing for anybody deciding on how best to start (or improve) their Spanish translation resource library.

The most important thing to remember is that individual needs will (and very rightly should) vary. People who love Spanish translation (and English Spanish dictionaries) are a unique breed.

(It's what makes us special!)

What works for you or your buddy down the street or on the other side of the information highway might not work for you.

However, there are a list of guidelines that I like to follow when deciding how to spend my money on English Spanish dictionaries. I think this checklist can also help you.

1. Don't trust the Internet. Just because it's on the Internet, doesn't mean it's true. This is a warning call to be careful when doing research online for translations of specific words.

Due to the nature of the web, anyone can claim they know everything about Arctic ice fishing and how to translate every related word in both Spanish and English. Don't make your translation final until you've verified your sources and feel good about them.

2. Determine your needs. There are so many choices to choose from when deciding what to get. Narrow down what kind of work you'll be doing.

Are you interested in translating for the medical field? You'll need to invest in medical dictionaries.

Want a good generalized dictionary? Don't spend your time looking at specialized ones.

I always end up spending more on resources I don't need when I haven't determined what exactly I want. It's kind of like going to the grocery store when you're hungry. Not very good on the bank account.

3. Determine the format. Are you looking for just Spanish English translation equivalents or do you want definitions included?

That's usually the difference between glossaries and dictionaries. Glossaries are lists of translations while dictionaries have definitions included.

4. Determine the language(s). Obviously this article is all about English Spanish dictionaries. However, you do need to ask yourself:

Do I need (or want) the dictionary to be a monolingual one or a bilingual one?

This may sound like a silly question at first but it's important to realize that there are a lot of specialized dictionaries that are written in only Spanish or only English.

Legal dictionaries are an excellent example of this. Because laws are different in different parts of the Spanish-speaking world, inividualized resource books have been written which explain the laws of that particular region. These will undoubtedly be different from other regions and will usually be monolingual (as opposed to an English Spanish dictionary).

It's important, then, to have a good library of reference materials in both languages because that will help you translate more effectively.

For me personally, I like to have both bilingual and monolingual dictionaries in order to cross-reference them with each other on meanings of words.

5. Determine the medium. Where do you do most of your translation work?

Do you like to work at your home office?

At the park?

In the library?

Outside by the pool?

In your bed?

The last thing you want to be doing is carting around every English Spanish dictionary you own wherever you go to work on your translations.

Thanks to this technology age, however, there are many options to choose from. Electronic Spanish English dictionaries, computer software, or even programs for your pda all will help you with your needs.

There are still plenty of books, too, if you like the feel of having a book in your hand while your doing your research.

Clint is a Spanish translation consultant specializing in helping others become better translators. His website can be found at http://www.spanish-translation-help.com