Machine Translation - How To Get A Good Machine Translation (2)

A machine translator produces the translation, using rules that transfer the grammatical structure from the origin language to the destination language. A good translation depends on the quality of the analysis of the translation and of the size of the used dictionary.

The most important factors that define a professional translator are:

• Wide vocabulary : possess the biggest quantity possible of words of a language.
• Powerful analysis : possess the biggest quantity possible of semantic and grammatical rules.

These are the two fundamental elements of a machine translator. Better they are implemented, better the translation.

Vocabulary:
If a machine translator doesn't recognize the words, the grammatical structure of the sentence won't be understood. Let us see an example of Spanish to English:

Original sentence in Spanish:

Aunque esta definici?n es muy simplista, es conveniente al prop?sito que se persigue.

Correctly translated sentence:

Although this definition is very simplistic, it is convenient to the purpose that is pursued.

Translated sentence using the on-line most popular translator:

Although this definition is very simplista, is advisable to the intention that is persecuted.

Here we find two vocabulary problems:

• it doesn't recognize the word: simplista.
• the meanings of the words: conveniente and persigue, are erroneous in the context.

Analysis:
If a machine translator doesn't understand the grammatical structure of the sentence, the words won't be located correctly, altering the meaning of the original sentence.

Original sentence in Spanish:

Sintaxis: El orden y la relaci?n entre palabras y otros elementos estructurales en las oraciones.

Correctly translated sentence:

Syntax: The order and the relationship between words and other structural elements in the sentences.

Translated sentence using the on-line most popular translator:

Syntax: The order and the relation between structural words and other elements in the orations.

Locating a word incorrectly, the structure of the sentence is modified.

In the two analyzed cases, the sentence lacks sense.

How to recognize a professional translator.
The test of the inverse translation is the best way to know if a translator is good, that is to say to check that the translation of the translation maintains the main idea. The vocabulary errors and analysis errors, will appear clearly in the inverse translation. Let us see a good example:

Original sentence in Spanish:

Un traductor autom?tico produce la traducci?n, usando reglas que transfieren la estructura gramatical del lenguaje de origen al lenguaje de destino.

Correctly translated sentence:

A machine translator produces the translation, using rules that transfer the grammatical structure from the origin language to the destination language.

Translation of the translation:

Un traductor de m?quina produce la traducci?n, usando reglas que transfieren la estructura gramatical de la lengua de origen a la lengua de destino.

Although the produced sentence is not exactly similar to the original one, it maintains the concept.

To get a good machine translation:

• Avoid the informal language.
• Avoid long and complex sentences.
• Use the active voice.
• Don't use capital letter unnecessarily.
• Make sure that the original document is grammatically correct.
• Use a spelling checker.

The most common errors:

• Incorrect use of the accents. (Spanish to English).
• Incorrect use of the commas.
• Incorrect use of the punctuation that separates sentences
• Words incorrectly spelled.

Conclusion:
Following the suggestions and avoiding the errors, the best satisfaction that gives a good translation is obtained: the test of the inverse translation.

Don't translate the complete document, translate paragraphs carrying out the inverse validation. If is necessary, change some word or invert the order of the sentence. The final result will surprise you.

To proof it, this article was written in Spanish and it was translated with a professional machine translator.

Author is a freelance writer. If you want to see the original text in Spanish and to learn more about machine translators, visit this page

Machine Translation - How To Get A Good Machine Translation

Offshore Translation Agencies - Reducing Your Translation Costs

Naturally, the language centers are aware of the existing cultural differences and the possible difficulties that may arise during the process of negotiations.

The offshore translation agencies usually cooperate with other language agencies, and they will gladly assist you in finding a translator of a certain language, if they cannot offer the services of the translator themselves. Besides the quality of translations, offshore translation offices can offer cost-reduction options, just like many IT outsourcing services due to their location in low-economy countries.

As for the most common services, provided by offshore translation services, this is first of all translation, interpretation, localization, reviewing of documents in various languages. Most translators specialize in a certain area of knowledge, for example, engineering, software and IT, advertising and marketing, economy, finance, tourism, medicine and many others.

The jobs, outsourced to offshore translation offices, can be performed in a short period of time, or they can be done in a few hours. The ready made projects are forwarded to the customer using the most modern techniques, available today. Also there is a chance to communicate with an employee of an offshore translation agency, using all the possible means of communication.

The rates for the translations can be more than competitive if compared with the rates in, say, America. The rates are usually based on the per-word model; however there are offshore translation agencies, which prefer the per-page model (usually 1800 characters). You can also request a quote per book or article.

Offshore translation agencies are very handy if you plan to visit the country, in which it is located. If you are in need of a language assistant, you can also make a request to an offshore translation agency. Consider employing an offshore translation agency and see how you will benefit from it.

Olga Makhnach, copywriter for MoveYourWeb, Offshore Translation Services

Starting a Medical Translation Service Business

There are many people who are experienced in providing the translation services out of which very few of them are into medical translation. Reason, because medical field is completely filled with lots of scientific terms and those who are not aware of there English meaning are either avoiding them or are unable to understand. Non English lingual people will find it difficult unless they have the matter printed in their local language. Thus, the need for a medical translator service arises and it?s slowly picking up in no time. The best way for you to get more income is to start a new medical translation service business as soon as possible.

Skills would matter here as well as it would under any conditions or situations. The business is going to be very profitable if you have the expertise and quality translators. Catch hold of those people ho are fluent in their own local language and can work for you in no time provided you compensate them accordingly. Most of the native speakers who have grown in a bilingual surrounding are the best match as they can understand English and the other language. Not only that, if you find someone who has been living the country for a long and has good skills can also do this work for you as well. But keep in mind that they must have a medical background. As a matter of fact, you don?t need an expert, but someone who can handle a discipline and is aware of the medical imaging supplies and more or less medical surgical supplies can do this job. Get some employees to start with and monitor there performance to identify potential long runners than short timers.

Now since you have finalized how you are going to proceed, the very next thing is the place or location where you would like to setup your infrastructure or office. There are few others already in the market which do home to home translation service as well. This kind of marketing helps you grow your business faster than any other publicity stunt.

Get other things worked up faster as you can like the business name, its registration followed by the bank account and a credit card which will help you begin in no time. Don?t forget to place your business license number in the premises for any future checks and investigation to prove its identity and legitimacy. Keep your paperwork neat and clean. Collect the employment forms for all your employees as they would also need to provide proof of their income to the government.

Now start advertising your translation services through different medium like the internet, newspapers, promotions at hospitals and doctor?s clinics etc. Specify scheduled hours when the translation would be done and try and explain your business to patients as much as you can.

Finally, the medical translation services right now are in great demand and your work will certainly bring out mush anticipated results. Keep adding the languages as you progress.

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. There are many people who are experienced in providing the translation services out of which very few of them are into medical translation. As a matter of fact, you don?t need an expert, but someone who can handle a discipline and is aware of the medical imaging supplies and more or less medical surgical supplies can do this job. Get some employees to start with and monitor there performance to identify potential long runners than short timers.

Spatial Requirements for an Effective Translation Agency

In principle, translation, like mathematics, is an abstract art that requires no more than a pencil and a piece of paper. However, rather more in the way of equipment and space is required for a modern commercial translation agency to function properly. In this article we will direct our focus towards the spatial facilities that will need to be in place to ensure the proper separation and cooperation between the various functions that make up your translation business.

Any independent translation agency that employs more than one or two persons should have an office plan that allows for the segregation of the three basic operations: translation, marketing and sales. Anyone who plans to combine these three functions in a single space ? or indeed within a single person ? will soon discover his mistake. The concentration required for high-quality translation work is such that it needs to be performed in a space that is free from ambient interference. At the same time, the marketing and sales functions ? or departments if you like ? by their nature involve a great deal of verbal communication, telephone calls, consultation and discussion. Clearly, the three operations do not go together, and the basic spatial layout of a translation agency should reflect this simple fact. Below we will describe each of these three spheres in some more detail.

More than anything else, the people in the translation department will require silence. They cannot work, or at least not properly, if they are unable to concentrate. So positioning your translation area at the front of a building with windows opening on to a major thoroughfare is obviously not a good idea. Despite fashionable trends in office design, moreover, it is our strong conviction that the translation department should have a spatial structure that effectively discourages people from physically communicating with one another. Ideally speaking, each translator should have his or her own room where they can work in peace and quiet. If that is not feasible, at least make sure to provide an environment where people can work quietly and independently, rather like a library reading room. We are not suggesting that there should not be any communication at all; obviously, professionals need to consult with each other to improve their knowledge and skills. The important point, however, is that the translators should be able to communicate on their own initiative, rather than being disturbed at random and distracted, unpredictably, from the constant attention that the translation process requires.

Something rather like the opposite applies to the marketing & sales department ? or at least to its marketing section. This is a far more dynamic part of the translation agency. The basic function of the marketing department is to fuel a constant flow of ideas to attract business, and of techniques to put those ideas into practice. This calls for a great deal of consultation and planning, either internally or externally over the phone. The people working there should obviously not be bothered with calls for silence and reproachful glances, but should be able to chat and telephone as they please. The marketing department should be positioned and equipped to reflect its dynamic nature.

The sales department is again a different story. In terms of spatial demands, it hovers somewhere between the pristine silence in the translation rooms and the dynamism of the marketing section. This has to do with the dichotomy between the verbal and written client contacts comprised within the sales function. On the one hand, sales employees will have to be able to answer client calls, canvass prospects and follow up quotations, amongst the myriad of other sales-related duties. As a result, this part of your business will look ? and sound ? rather like a call centre. On the other hand, sales employees need to be able to study client requests (especially the more complicated ones), calculate offers and draw up quotations, operations that are at least as error-sensitive as the translation process itself and require the same type of concentration.

To sum up, the design of your office will have to recognise the three basic functions which any professional translation agency, however small, should be able to accommodate: translation, marketing and sales. Ideally speaking, each of these functions should be granted a space of its own that does justice to the nature of its operations and provides an optimal environment for the associated work processes. In other words, the translation department should have as many rooms as there are translators, or otherwise consist of a communal working space with facilities, rules and customs similar to those in a library reading room. The marketing department should be equipped and designed to promote optimum internal and external communication, whereas the sales department also requires a separate space, if only to accommodate the non-verbal aspects of its processes.

Segregation is of the essence, and if you cherish any wish to use an open plan office design for your translation business you are well advised either to abandon that wish or move to a different profession.

Fester Leenstra is co-owner of Metamorfose Vertalingen, a translation agency in Utrecht (The Netherlands).

For further details about Metamorfose Vertalingen, visit:
VERTAALBUREAU
Oost-Europa Vertalingen
Scandinavie Vertalingen
Medisch Vertaalbureau
Technisch Vertaalbureau
Juridisch Vertaalbureau

Translation - The Key to Excellent Customer Service

How Translation Services Help You with Customer Service

There's a German saying that I love to quote: If I'm selling, I'll speak English, but if I'm buying, Sie mussen deutsch sprecken (you have to speak German). I like that sentence because it points out the one thing that American companies seem to get right domestically, but not internationally: customer service comes first.

Here in the land of "the customer is always right," we tend to think that the customer always speaks English. And, a lot of the time, we're right. In Denmark, for example, English is taught from elementary school up. English is the most popular foreign language taught to grade schoolers in the EU and has quickly become a powerful language of commerce throughout all of Asia. But just because someone speaks a language doesn't mean that they speak it well or that you should expect them to. Your customers may speak English, but when it comes to strengthening your sales, is English the language of customer service?

Papa Johns International, CNN, Wells Fargo, the American Lung Association, Lowe's, even the IRS--across multiple industries, through online and print advertising, American business are starting to tap into the 52 million people in this country who speak a language other than English at home. These people just aren't immigrants; they're a target market. That's why companies like Bank of America, DISH Network, and AT&T are offering their websites in Spanish--because they want to reach out to this market. Because if they don't reach out to them, someone else will and their money--that sale--will go to the competition. Trick of the matter is, however, if you want to reach them, you can't do it in English. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005, over 29 percent of all Spanish speakers, 22 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander speakers, and more than 13 percent of Indo-European speakers in the US today speak English "not well" or "not at all." This is in a country where English is the spoken vernacular, the language of education and commerce, the main language used for publishing and broadcasting news, as well as the language used in the medical field. This is the United States of America, where there is a higher concentration of English speakers than anywhere else in the world. Yet even here, you can not assume that your customer speaks English.

This is only if you do business domestically. If you want to do business on an international scale, you must also think and act internationally. You may not speak French, but if you are selling to the French, you need to at least learn how to say "Bonjour." Like the German saying I quoted earlier, a German business man looking to buy will buy from the salesman who uses German.

American companies are known worldwide for their superb capabilities for customer service. And while many might argue that it is harder to get waited on in a store than it used to be, that is still the mantra of sales in America today. The customer comes first. The customer is always right. The customer is our top priority. This is why I find it shocking that many companies doing business in non-English speaking countries fail to see the practicality of foreign language use. It's simply good customer service--communicating with them, marketing to them, and making deals with them in a language they can understand.

So, in a nation where many of our top execs and new hires do not speak a foreign language, where does this leave us? The world changes quickly. One minute, the popular business country is Japan. Then it's India. Then it's China, then it's India again. And not everyone is good at learning languages. Some people, no matter how hard they try, just can't get past lesson six. And it may not be cost or time effective to become fluent in the language of every company you have dealings with.

This is where translation comes in. This is why the translation industry exists--because someone has to be there to sort it all out. There is no way any single employee could become fluent in sixty different languages. Translation companies therefore save businesses time and money by doing the linguistic legwork for them. It's why we're here. It's our job. We speak those languages so you don't have to. For a just a few cents per word, translators can get your material in front your audience in a language they can understand.

Yes, translation costs money. But how much money could a good translation make you? If you made one dollar from every non-English speaking American, the US Census Bureau says you'd make 12 million bucks. 12 million. You may or may not see the benefits of reaching out to the non-English speaking market, but you can bet your competition does. And once they already have that market, there may not be much room in it left for you. We all know the power of brand loyalty. If your competition achieves brand loyalty before you do, you may one day have to spend money on translation just to stay alive. Wouldn't you rather spend that money on making a profit?

Translation services are therefore not just a way to provide customer service, but they're a way to increase your sales. Customer service does come first, but in this case, customer service goes out before you, paving your way to profits and sales success.

Terena Bell is the owner and operator of In Every Language (http://www.ineverylanguage.com), a Louisville-based translating and interpreting firm offering services in 60 different languages.

Why You Need a Translation Service

Getting a translation done can be a serious business. Maybe not if you are only having a brief email translated, but definitely so if you are dealing with business documents, reports of anything that will be printed. Many people however approach translation too lightly believing it is an easy, quick and straightforward process. This is far from the truth.

Translation is a complex affair and needs to be approached sensibly in order to avoid poor results. Before starting a project that involves translation, consider the following common thoughts people have about translation services. Do you think the same?

I know a foreign language, I can be a translator

This is perhaps the most common misconception about translation. Being able to read, speak and write a foreign language does not give anyone licence to undertake translation work. Firstly, a translator needs to have a proper, in-depth and fluent understanding of at least two languages: a foreign language and a mother tongue language. Secondly, translating is a skill. You must be able to write well and have an excellent command of linguistic nuances. Thirdly, language is all the more complex due to cultural influences. If the culture behind the language which is being translated is not appreciated, an accurate translation is extremely difficult.

Translation is easy

Translation is not easy at all. It can be very intricate, complex and painstaking work. It requires a great deal of concentration and patience, as well as a keen eye for detail. Translation is also mentally tiring; this is because a translator is continuously moving between two languages and mind frames. A translator must first read and register source information then manage to digest it and present it accurately in the target language.

Computers can now do translations

No CAT (computer assisted translation) will ever be able to translate anything with 100% accuracy. Some can and do provide impressive ?gist? translations but if you are relying on accuracy, no CAT can be trusted to deliver. This is because computers do not understand what language is, how it is used, the subtleties within it and the ever changing use of it.

Having a professional translation is not crucial

True, a professional translator may not always be necessary. However this depends on what the document is and how it will be used. If the translation is to be accurately and professionally prepared then an experienced translator is a must. Poor ?DIY? translations lead to many problems such as people misunderstanding texts, getting the wrong information or even having to pay to get the translation re-done. One can use the following analogy: If you want your car fixed you take it to a mechanic, not a car photographer. The latter may know a bit about cars but not enough to fix your engine.

In conclusion, if you are in need of a decent, professional translation then accept only the work of accredited, professional and reputable translation agencies or translators.

Neil Payne is Managing Director and Middle East trainer at the London based consultancy Kwintessential. For more information on their services please visit Translation Services

Understanding Japanese Name Translation

This article will help you understand the difference between Japanese name translation and English name translation, and help you understand what goes selecting a name, especially for kanji scripts.

There are three different Japanese scripts to write your name in Japanese. In Japanese, you can render your name phonetically, making use of the katakana, hiragana or even kanji.

Kanji script are always used for their meanings exclusively.

Hiragana script are primarily used for words whose kanji are excessively difficult and obscure, as ending for some kanji based words and for particles.

Katakana scripts are used mainly for foreign words and to emphasize native words, serving a role similar to that played by italics in English.

The most popular script for Westerners is the kanji.

Difference between Japanese name and English name translation Unlike the English name translation, Japanese people used kanji only as phonetic symbols, with no regard for their actual meaning, when translating names in Japanese,

For example, a simple word like 体 (Karada) meaning "body", can also be written with other combination of kanji characters like, 華羅陀 (Ka - flower, ra - change, and da - buddha),

whose meanings bear no relevance at all to the intended meaning.

This method actually applies for the Japanese name translation.

So, can't we write English names with meaning? We have two different ways to write names in kanji with meaning.

Phonetic and eulogistic translation - This is the method that's got it all sound and meaning. It combines kanji characters whose sound approximate the English name being rendered into Japanese. Unlike the Purely phonetic translation called (Ategi) in Japanese, it cares the character's meaning.

For example, writing David in kanji is 出美奴 (Good looking fellow).

Purely denotative translation - This is the method which sorely on preserving the meaning of the original English name. To be able to do a denotative rendering, it is necessary to know the original meaning of the English name.

For example, if we translate Edward with this method, and the original meaning of Edward is rich guardian, we simply translate rich guardian into Japanese kanji symbols, 富裕保護者.

However, this method is NOT used even for Japanese names.

For more information about the Japanese name symbol translation.

Takanori Tomita is a professional Japanese translator who is specializing only in Japanese symbols. For more information about his, please see his Japanese Symbols and Culture Blog: http://takanoritomita.blogspot.com/

Origins Of The Chinese Language - Tips From A Translation Company

There are several dialects of the Chinese language with enough differences to make then unintelligible to speakers of a different dialect despite an identical written form. Fortunately for both the Chinese and those who try to understand them, most of them speak the same dialect: Mandarin.

What we call modern Chinese is actually about nine hundred years old, having evolved around the eleventh century from what we would call archaic Chinese and middle Chinese. Archaic Chinese differentiated consonant sounds by the use of heavy aspiration or breathing, and the sound of the language is thought to have been rich, but was not yet tonal. We know this because of the many writings that exist from that period in China, as well as from sounds borrowed from Chinese by Japanese or Korean.

Of course, languages continue to grow and change over time ? the Chinese of the eleventh century probably didn?t have a word for a computer ? but the basic structure has remained largely the same since that time. Sounds began to disappear from the language as it simplified so that more and more words became homonyms. Because of this, compound words arose to make distinctions between the many homonymic words, making compound words even more common than the traditional monosyllabic words of the language.

In more modern times, there has been an attempt to modernize Chinese even further to make it more compatible with Western society. A movement to create a standardized alphabet for the language was begun, however if successful it would be detrimental to the future understanding of historical texts and records as characters disappeared from use. Because of this danger to literature and records, it is unlikely that this measure will become effective any time soon.

The dialect of Mandarin is also a symbol of the attempt at linguistic unity within China, with many people in most of the regions of modern China versed in Mandarin now. It is the most common dialect by far, with over eight hundred thousand speakers versus, for example, Cantonese with only eighty thousand. As China becomes more of a global player, their attempts at standardization become stronger. This does not mean that the regional dialects are vanishing ? only that the people of China must also be able to communicate as a whole in order to stand up in the global marketplace.

The history of Chinese is rich and beautiful, with many historians contesting that it is the oldest language still in use today. While this may or may not be true, it is hard to argue that Chinese is not filled with history. This language, especially in written form, is also one of the most complicated languages around, making it the object of a lifetime?s worth of study for many scholars.

Patrick Stump writes for Lingo 24, a top international translation service agency. They have specialists in every language including Japanese, French, German & Chinese Translation For more information on accurate & professional translations please visit Lingo 24

How to Start a Medical Translation Service Business

While there are many people who provide translation services, only a few specialized firms can provide medical translation. This is because the medical field is filled with scientific terms which many people are not familiar with in English, much less in a different language. The need for good medical translators is high and now is a very good time to start a medical translation service business.

If you are skilled in medical translation, you can start the business with only yourself. If not, you will need to hire translators. You will want to find people who are fluent in the language they wish to translate. Native speakers or people who grew up in a bilingual home usually make the best candidates. However, there are some people who have trained in a language long enough to become fluent. As mentioned before, being able to speak the language is not enough when it comes to medical translation. You will need someone who has a background in medicine. They do not need to be experts in every field of medicine as many companies assign their employees to a particular discipline. They need to be familiar with basic medical supplies, as well as medical imaging supplies and medical surgical supplies. Most employers will have tests which they can administer to potential employees to ensure that their skills are top notch. On your job day one, you may need to take care of medical surgical supplies.

Next, you will want to find a location for your business. Some medical translation services are run out of private homes, but if you want your company to expand you will need to find office space. Starting a medical translation business is like starting any other business. You will need to speak with your state's department of revenue to make sure that you have completed all the necessary paperwork. You will need to get a business license and collect employment forms from your employees. You will need to set up a business banking account and apply for a business credit card.

You will also need to advertise your services. You should advertise through traditional methods such as the telephone book, the internet and newspapers. However, your primary source of revenue is going to come from hospitals, doctor's offices and their patients. Try to schedule appointments with the decision makers at these locations to explain your business and the quality of services you provide.

Medical translation services are in high demand and if you work hard at starting your business, you should find it to be a profitable endeavor and that soon you will be able to expand to cover many more languages.

Natalie Aranda is a freelance writer

Translation And Interpreting Methods And Approaches

The disciplines of language translation and interpreting serve the purpose of making communication possible between speakers of different languages.

In the past there has been a tendency to perceive interpreting as an area of translation, but from the second half of the 20th century differentiation between the two areas has become necessary.

As supported by many researchers, translation and interpreting can be perceived as the process that allows the transfer of sense from one language to another, rather than the transfer of the linguistic meaning of each word.

Firstly it is necessary to understand the difference between the concepts of linguistic meaning and sense.

According to the definition given by Bolinger and Sears, ?the word is the smallest unit of language that can be used by itself? (Bolinger and Sears, 1968:43). Each unit has a lexical meaning, which determines the value and the identity of each word in a specific language. However this does not necessarily mean that lexical units also correspond to the basic meaningful elements in a language, as meaning is usually carried by units that can be smaller or larger than the word.

Furthermore each word corresponds to a phoneme. However a phoneme can carry several linguistic meanings, depending on the way it relates to the rest of the speech. For example, the Italian translation of the English phoneme /nait/, isolated from its context, can be either ?cavaliere? (knight) or ?notte? (night). However if the speaker talked about a ?chivalrous and courageous knight?, there would be no hesitation in choosing the Italian translation ?cavaliere?, rather than ?notte?.

Therefore Seleskovitch points out that when drawing a difference between linguistic meaning and sense it is important to remember that in speech words lose some of the potential meanings attached to their phonemic structure and retain only their contextual relevant meaning.

However even whole utterances that have a clear linguistic meaning can raise problems if isolated from the context. Therefore during the act of communication the listener automatically attaches his previously acquired knowledge to the language sounds, which immediately clarifies the sense of the utterance. This cognitive addition is independent from the semantic components of the speech and represents another fundamental difference between linguistic meaning and sense.

This cognitive process is significantly reduced in translation compared to interpreting, especially when dealing with ancient or unfamiliar texts, as the translator can take his time to analyse every single word or phrase, preventing consciousness from immediately identifying the sense of the utterance. Interpreters instead are restricted by the immediacy of the process of communication and have to grasp the meaning regardless of the equivalence at the word-level.

Memory is another fundamental part of communication, as the listener retains his previously acquired knowledge to grasp the sense.

Seleskovitch also adds that sense is always conscious. When we speak our own language the choice of words is not deliberate. All we do is to convey the message in the best way we can, so the result can change from one speaker to another. As a consequence, there can be several ways to express the same idea but all the utterances produced with that purpose would reflect a particular shape, which results from the semantics of a specific language.

Nevertheless different languages do not express the same idea with the same semantic components and that is why a simple conversion of one language into another cannot be satisfactory in translation or interpreting.

Seleskovitch argues that words are meaningless unless there is a cognitive addition on behalf of both the sender and the recipient of the message. Words become meaningful only when referred to a specific object or concept. However words that have the same meaning in different languages do not associate with the same words in more complex contexts designing the same thing in different languages. This is because languages only reveal part of our knowledge, thus leaving implicit concepts unsaid.

Therefore the cognitive addition is necessary.

For example, the literary English translation of the of the Italian phrase:

Il presidente del Consiglio si ? recato a Mosca.

would be:

The President of the Council went to Moscow.

This translation would misinterpret a crucial information in the speech. In fact ?Presidente del Consiglio? is one of the ways to designate the Prime Minister in Italian.

Thus in most cases if the translation or the interpretation was carried out only on a word level it would either produce utterances that sound very unnatural to the native speaker of the target language or it would distort the meaning.

In support of this statement I would like to show an example of how a word-by-word translation from Italian into English can produce misleading utterances.

Let?s take into analysis the following Italian phrases:

Fammi avere tue notizie ogni giorno.

A back translation into English would produce:

Let me have your news every day.

Although the word news (notizie) can be used in both languages in a similar way the English translation sounds extremely unnatural. In English we can have news from somebody, but not your or his or their news. However, even if the utterances was translated as:

Let me have news from you every day,it would not sound spontaneous.

A native speaker would probably say:

I?d like to hear from you every day.

Therefore both the grammatical structure ?fammi? and the semantic components used in the original version would be replaced by more appropriate alternatives in English.

There are other cases where the lexical meaning of the word ?notizia? would not have an equivalent in English.

I giovani d?oggi non fanno pi? notizia.

A word-by-word English translation of this phrase would be:

The youth of today do no make the news anymore.

In English the same linguistic meanings cannot convey the sense of the original sentence. If translated as:

The youth of today does not appear in the news anymore,

the sense conveyed by the Italian ?fare notizia? would be misinterpreted. A more faithful translation would be:

The youth of today does not shock us anymore.

This shows that translation and interpreting go beyond the transfer of the linguistic meaning of each word from one language to another.

The author is a partner at Axis Translations http://www.axistranslations.com. He specialises in the management of Italian translation and technical projects.

Script based translation tools

Everyone who is knowledgeable about internet marketing has heard about it and at least once seen the results of them once: script based translation tools. A brilliant idea, so it seems, for all who speak only one language and webmasters that like to provide a multi-lingual website to a very broad audience.

Well, in theory it is a brilliant idea but unfortunately at this time with no real practical value. The idea behind these translation scripts is to produce massive content for ones website as well as to have a very broad AdSense platform, or any other context optimized advertising for that matter, to enhance click through income.

At this moment in time these translation scripts are sadly not good enough to deliver on either. In fact they produce a massive amount of translated pages but no useful content. Translations are only to comprehend for the original author. Any first time visitor to a script based translated page will have a hard time to make any sense of the texts provided. Take a look at this small example here.

One and the same translation script has been used for the following example. Text A is taken from a life website written in English. Text B is the resulting translation in German of that very same website.

A. Drive traffic to your website, ezine or blog and let the world know you are the expert in your niche. If you want to share your knowledge with the world and promote yourself, products or services at the same time, here is the place to do just that.

B. Fahren Sie Verkehr zu Ihrer Web site, zu ezine oder zu blog und informieren Sie die Welt Sie sind der Experte in Ihrer Nische. Wenn Sie Ihr Wissen mit der Welt teilen und sich f?rdern m?chten, ist Produkte oder Dienstleistungen gleichzeitig, hier der Platz, zum gerade das zu tun.

Now for those of you who do not speak German that looks pretty impressive. However, for those of you who do understand German that looks very, very poor to say the least. Rubbish comes to mind, too! Have a look at Text C., as this would be the correct German translation. Text D. is the script based translation back into English. Actually that is supposed be the same again as text A. but the end result is far from it.

C. Teilen Sie der Welt mit, dass Sie der Experte in Ihrem Spezialgebiet sind und ziehen Sie Besucher f?r Ihre Webseite, Ezine oder Blog an. Wenn Sie Ihr Wissen mit der Welt teilen m?chten, dann sind Sie hier an der richtigen Stelle. Werben Sie f?r sich und bewerben Sie hier Ihre Dienstleistungen und Produkte.

D. Communicate to the world the fact that you are the expert in your special field and tightens you visitors for your web page, ezine or blog. If you like to divide your knowledge with the world,, then you are here in the correct place. Recruit for itself and apply you here your service and products.

Now then this is only a small example on the basis of a very simple piece of text. Think about your expert articles and a more complex choice of words and phrases. You can try out these scripts with any language available the result is always the same.

Most webmaster who do use these translation scripts are trying to provide a useful added service for their international audience, not realising that in fact the provide only a massive amount of pages with no useful / comprehendible content at all. By the way, check AdSense blocks, even they show results completely of track. No relevance to the actual, intended context of the original text.

It is a known fact that visitors to a website decide in milliseconds whether to stay or to move on. Chances are that no international visitor will click any ads on the translated, not even out of pity as they will not remain long enough on the page to do so. Have a read of one of the many articles about who to write your websites text and the good advice of using the correct choice of words, grammar and the language as a whole. That advice is valid for any text in any language original or translation.

In time these translation tools might get better but surely not error free. In the same time search engine spiders and bots will get more intelligent too. Be careful that your script based translated pages, accepted now as additional content might be seen as duplicated nonsense in the future. International visitors see them already today as useless and any visitor entering your website through one of those translated pages is one visitor lost.

While testing the available translation scripts 7 languages were tested with native speakers of the respective languages. The result was always the same as in the small example above. While testing these scripts it became apparent that script based translations are widely used by webmasters that are coming from an English speaking country. In Europe for example it is very common for people to speak two or more languages fluently and with ease. The use of script based translations on European websites is non-existence.

If you as a webmaster belief that it will pay off to offer a multi-lingual website to your audience, have you website professionally translated by a human. Only then you are offering a real service and it will benefit your AdSense income, too.

Arnold S. is participating in a life Internet Experiment, Geld im Netz, about making money online and useful webtools

Spanish translation software, worth it or not?

People are always looking for the easiest solution. It's in our nature. And nothing changes when looking to translate documents or learn a language. Quite often I'm asked that if someone buys some translation software, will that mean they no longer have to deal with translators? I don't know where people read this kind of information, but it's shocking to see so many people telling me that translators are no longer needed. Apparently translation software has come so far in recent years that it knows all about context and is no longer just word for word. Well, I'm here to dispel that myth.

Sure, translation software has come a long way. They are able to do more than simple word for word translation, but that doesn't mean they can replace a translator. If you were to translate a long passage of writing in Spanish, into English, you would be able to understand what is being said, butyou wouldn't want to hand it in as an essay to an English Professor. It is for this reason that translators are still necessary if you are wanting accurate translations. And this will hold true for a long time to come. Perhaps in the future, software will become significantly improved and maybe then, you will be able to translate near perfectly from one language to another. But that technology is still a long way off.

However, as a learning tool, translation software can be pretty handy. Sure, grammar won't be perfect, but it is great for learning bits and pieces. The downside is the price. If you are on a reasonable budget, then I wouldn't recommend buying some software, which often costs a few hundred dollars. There are much better alternatives to this if you are looking to spend some money though. You can view my reviews of these products at my site listed below. However, if money is not a bother, then go for it. It's just another simple tool in your arsenal of language learning weapons.

Well, I hope this has cleared up some common misconceptions about Spanish language translation software. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact me by visiting my site in the bio box below.

Anthony Dwyer runs the popular and free website, Learn Spanish which has free lessons on how to speak Spanish, information on grammar, verbs, adjectives, culture and much, much more

Europe: Why professional translation is indispensible to your business.

With Bulgaria and Romania joining the European Union as of the 1st January 2007, it is more important that your business can cope with the ever expanding market available to you. The European Union provides businesses with a vast number of contacts which are vital to expansion in many sectors. It is possible, however, that there are language barriers to face.

Do you find that your clients or even your employees are natives of another European country? They may be based in England or possibly abroad, but you still need to make sure you understand them completely. You could be meeting someone who is not fluent in English, reading or sending documents to someone abroad or even needing to understand information on packaging. It is not always possible that you, or a colleague, can translate everything that comes into and leaves your business.

The best way to solve the problems in the International market is to use a translation service. Interlingua Translations provide a translation service for many international languages, including German translation and French translation. With specialists in many fields of business, Interlingua are able to provide a fast translation service for many businesses competing in the European and Worldwide markets.

Fiona Dutton is part of the team at Starsol Ltd who provide web marketing services for Interlingua Translations. Interlingua offer a professional translation and related services for businesses and governments, including interpreting

Fruits & Veggies: The Nutrient Translation

EXPLANATION OF TABLES

FRUITS

Fruits provide readily available energy in the form of sugars (both natural and added), as well as some vitamin A and vitamin C, depending on the fruit. Generally, fruits are good sources of fiber, most contributing about two grams or eight to 10 percent of the DRV. Canning and freezing don't do much to the fiber, so canned fruits are good sources for this vital compound. Choose fruits carefully for vitamins and minerals; but canned, fresh or frozen are comparable.

Applesauce

Applesauce is a good source of fiber, providing 1.5 to two grams per 1/2 cup serving. Applesauce is popular, but should not be regarded as a very good source of either vitamin A or C.

Apricots

Apricots are very good sources of vitamin A (as carotene), providing 35 to 40 percent of the RDI per serving. Canned apricots are approximately equivalent to raw in their vitamin A content, and only slightly lower in vitamin C. Del Monte? brand, for example, provides 40 percent of the RDI for vitamin A and eight percent of the vitamin C, according to the label. The labeled values for Libby's? in juice may reflect conservative estimates of vitamin content or variety chosen by the processor.

Blackberries

Blackberries are very good sources of fiber, providing three to six grams per 1/2 cup serving, making them an excellent source. Canned blackberries provide six to eight percent of the RDI for vitamin C, and more vitamin A than raw berries.

Blueberries

Blueberries provide about two grams of fiber - canned or raw - per 1/2 cup serving. The vitamin A content is low in both raw and canned, because blueberries do not contain any carotenes. The higher vitamin C in fresh blueberries may be due to a varietal difference, as well as the effect of heat processing.

Grapefruit

This breakfast favorite is an excellent source of vitamin C, providing between 30 and 66 percent of the RDI per 1/2 cup serving. Although the canned fruit is lower in vitamin C than the fresh/raw, it is still high. Grapefruit also provides valuable amounts of folate and potassium. In addition, grapefruit is low in fat and calories, providing only about 40 calories per the same 1/2 cup serving.

Mandarin Oranges

According to values from the data bank, canned mandarin oranges are good sources of vitamin C and vitamin A, comparable to raw. The nutrition label for Dole? canned oranges indicates they are good sources of vitamin C, providing 35 percent of the RDI per 1/2 cup serving. No values are shown on the label for vitamin A, implying they do not contain any. But canned mandarin oranges are good sources of carotene, as indicated by the data bank values.

Peaches

A fresh-sliced peach (1/2 cup) weighs less than 1/2 cup of canned peaches. This is primarily because the canned peaches in syrup have absorbed the syrup and, therefore, weigh more and have more calories. Both fresh and canned peaches provide about the same percentage of the RDI for vitamin A (more than 300 percent of the RDI for carotene) and vitamin C, according to the nutrition labels. Values from the data bank are a little lower because they do not reflect actual analytical values as do can labels. Note the high amount of vitamin C in frozen comes from added ascorbic acid, used to maintain color.

Pears

Pears, like apples, are good sources of fiber, providing one to two grams per 1/2 cup serving, whether fresh or canned. The vitamin and mineral content is comparable regardless of form.

Pineapple

Fresh and canned pineapple are both very good sources of vitamin C, providing more than 12 percent of the RDI according to the data bank, and more than 20 percent according to the Dole? label. Calorie content of juice-packed pineapple is comparable to fresh. Canning in heavy syrup doubles the calories, but the vitamin content remains stable.

Purple Plums

This less common, but tasty fruit is a very good, unexpected source of vitamin A - especially canned, providing 20 percent of the RDI per 1/2 cup serving. In general, the vitamin and mineral content is comparable, regardless of form.

Ripe Olives

Botanically, these are fruits, but we use them as a vegetable or garnish. Ripe olives are similar to mushrooms in that their value comes as an addition to recipes, enhancing their color, texture and flavor.

Strawberries

This ever-popular fruit is a good source of vitamin C, providing between 35 and 136 percent of the RDI per 1/2 cup serving. In addition, strawberries are a good source of fiber and iron, providing about two percent and 3.5 percent respectively per 1/2 cup serving.

Sweet Bing Cherries

Sweet Bing cherries are a good source of fiber, providing approximately two grams per 1/2 cup serving. Like many other fruits, raw and canned cherries are not good sources of vitamins or minerals, but add to the color and flavor variety available.

Tomatoes: Stewed and Whole

Canned tomatoes are among the most popular canned "fruits." There is not much difference based on the form (diced or whole) or between canned and fresh-cooked tomatoes. Vitamin A content is similar, and vitamin C content is only slightly lower. Calcium is contributed by the added calcium chloride used to keep the tomato pieces firm. Although it is not on the label, canned tomatoes contain their carotene in the form of lycopene, which nutritionists believe is important in fighting prostate cancer. Some of the convenience products come with and without salt added; so if it is important to monitor sodium intake, choose the low-salt variety.

VEGETABLES

Vegetables are more nutrient-dense than fruits and provide more vitamins and minerals per calorie because they have less sugars. Generally, vegetables are good sources of fiber, vitamins A and C, potassium and occasionally folate. Some contribute iron to the diet, an important consideration, particularly for vegetarians.

Asparagus

The canning process usually results in some loss of vitamin C, due to the heat treatment the vegetables receive. In the case of asparagus, the canned form is very comparable and may be higher than fresh-cooked asparagus when comparisons are made on the basis of approximately the same weight of vegetables. Very little of the vitamin A or C is lost, so nutritionally, canned asparagus is very similar to fresh-cooked and frozen asparagus. The folate content - a nutrient identified as being important for pregnant women but not a label requirement - is high, contributing 20 to 48 percent of the RDI per serving.

Beets

Beets, in general, are not very nutrient-dense. A serving of cooked or canned beets provides about five percent of the RDI for vitamin C. But the folate content of beets is good, ranging from 8 to 18 percent of the RDI per 1/2 cup serving. Overall, beets probably add more to the aesthetics of the dinner plate than to nutrient intakes, but their high folate content distinguishes them.

Carrots

Everyone knows carrots provide carotene. And canned carrots are likely to provide at least 100 percent of the RDI for vitamin A as carotene, more than the frozen variety. According to the nutrition labels, Del Monte? carrots provide 300 percent of the RDI for vitamin A, and other brands were similar. Differences between the database and commercial label values may be due to varietal differences or methodologies in determining the vitamin. Some manufacturers may be conservative about their estimations for labeling purposes.

Corn

Corn is a favorite vegetable that provides less than 10 percent of the RDI for vitamin A and C. However, the fact that corn eaters often consume more than 1/2 cup as a serving makes it a reasonable source of vitamin C. Corn also provides folate, between 7 to 12 percent of the RDI, and has high niacin (another B-vitamin not included on the label). Canned, frozen and fresh values are similar.

Green Beans

Green beans are another favorite vegetable that provide relatively small amounts of vitamin A and vitamin C per serving. However, the percent of the RDI provided by canned green beans is comparable to fresh-cooked and frozen. About five to 10 percent of the RDI of vitamins A and C per serving is provided in canned green beans. Since these are popular vegetables, more than one serving is likely to be eaten at a sitting.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are favored vegetables in many mixed dishes. They are valued for their flavor, texture and appearance in enhancing recipes. However, they do provide small amounts of vitamins and minerals.

Peas

Cooked or canned peas provide similar amounts of vitamins A (four to 10 percent of the RDI) and C (10 to 20 percent) and are also a good source of folate and iron.

Pumpkin

Pumpkin is an excellent source of vitamin A (as carotene), providing over 300 percent of the RDI. And canned pumpkin appears to have much more vitamin A than fresh-cooked pumpkin. This may be due to the fact canned pumpkin has more water cooked out of it than boiled pumpkin, and the varieties used for canning have intense orange color, a sure sign of carotene. Pumpkin is a good source of fiber and adds a little iron and folate to the diet as well.

Spinach

Spinach is an excellent example of a nutrient-dense vegetable. Whether it is cooked, canned or frozen, spinach provides at least 50 percent of the RDI for vitamin A and 15 to 30 percent of the RDI for vitamin C. It also is a good source of iron, calcium and especially folate, whether it is fresh-cooked or canned.

Sweet Potatoes

Canned or fresh sweet potatoes are excellent sources of vitamin A, providing between 200 and 400 percent of the RDI. In addition, cooked or canned sweet potatoes are a fairly good source of both vitamin C and folate.

White Potatoes

White potatoes supply vitamin C in reasonable quantities, whether the product is fresh-cooked or canned. About 15 to 19 percent of the RDI is provided by a serving of canned potatoes. White potatoes also are a fairly good source of folate, providing between 1.7 and 2.4 percent of the RDI.

LEGUMES

As a class, beans are an excellent meat substitute and provide good quality protein, as well as many other nutrients. Their contribution to fiber intake is important, and they also are an important iron source, particularly in vegetarian diets.

Black Beans, Black-Eyed Peas, Garbanzo, Navy, Pinto, and Kidney Beans: White and Red

Legumes differ very little in their composition between varieties. In general, beans are very good sources of protein, fiber, iron, folate and thiamin. They are relatively poor sources of vitamins A and C. Data bank values for cooked beans are without salt added, so sodium levels tend to be higher in canned versions.

POULTRY AND FISH

These products provide a convenient source of high-protein foods. Like their fresh-cooked counterparts, they are eaten for their protein content, as well as for flavor and texture.

Breast of Chicken, Chunk Light Tuna and Pink Salmon

In general, both poultry and fish are low in sodium and cholesterol. The chicken, tuna and salmon provide between 16 and 26 grams of protein per three-ounce serving. In addition, all three products are relatively low in fat and calories. It is especially important with the canned tuna, that the health-conscious consumer choose the water-packed instead of the oil-packed varieties.

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Benefits Of Starting A Translation Service Business In Philadelphia

Starting a translation service business in Philadelphia is a wise decision. With the innovations and development in technology, we now live in a global age where it becomes imperative that people of different nationalities can work together as one.

Fast Growing Industry:

Translation service is an industry that is growing at a very fast pace because of the globalization of trade and a growing interest of venture capitalists in it. The figures of the membership of the American Translators Association (ATA) are enough to prove this. ATA has witnessed more than 100% growth in the membership in the last few years. Thousands of people from several different countries have joined the ATA. With $11 billion in the year 1999, the translation industry has grown by leaps and bounds to do business worth $ 20 billion in the year 2004. With more and more people now being able to use the Internet, this year the figure is expected to cross even the expectations of experts in the industry.

Globalization Has Increased the Demand for Translators:

If you have a command over more than one foreign language then you can easily start a translation service business in Philadelphia. Any company that wishes to improve its business globally by making use of the Internet has to take the help of translators because most of the web pages are in English. If a company wants to reach out to people in the other countries where people do not speak or even understand English then they have to first hire translators to localize their websites giving the details of their products and services to the world.

You Can Start With a Small Investment:

If you want to start a translation service in Philadelphia, you need not make much initial investment. Here it is worth mentioning that most of the companies already providing translation services are running their business from their home and are very small in size. All you need to a start translation service business is a computer system with a modem; a fax machine, some dictionaries and a business phone. However, you should register your business with the Philadelphia Department State Corporation Bureau. No matter what kind of structure you choose to start the business, you can download the application form from the official web site.

Run From Anywhere in the World:

It is possible for the translation service provider to run his business from anywhere in the world. There are people running this business from the Miami Beach and offering their services to the customers in Latin America, United States, and Europe. They are earning more than 100,000 dollars per annum by translating in Spanish, French and Chinese languages.

How to Market Your Services:

For a translation service business in Philadelphia, you can do the marketing in different ways. One very effective method is simply offering brochures to the galleries, museums, and the numerous public relation agencies. However, nothing is better than the word of mouth publicity for beginners in the translation service business. So, just go ahead and start your business. Let your work speak for you.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

Business Owners all across the country are joining "The Community of Small Business Owners? to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences.

Enhance Your Website With Language Translation Tool

With the advent of the Internet and the leveling of playing fields through the medium of the World Wide Web, we have entered an era where communication is possible even if the other person does not speak your language. I am talking about the number of translation tools available on the net these days. Never mind, the human translators where you have to send a quote and get price. Nowadays, even that is automated. You can send a quote online with your material and receive a price.

The Internet has enabled us to broaden our market and serve a larger group of consumers. English was the primary medium of communication before and the majority of the websites were in English. But apart from a few countries, there were other countries which did not speak English. So the world got divided into two groups, English and non-English speaking consumers. So what was the best way to reach out to the other section of the market?

The advent of translation tools made the life of website owner easier and they could begin marketing their products and services to overseas markets in non-English speaking countries. Babel fish was one of the more popular tools used for a quick translation.

If you have a web page, you can get a wider audience with the site contents converted to multiple languages. Language translation is easy now with the Google translator or Babel fish, however these do not appear as content native to your site. For a global site that I own, I had to overcome this problem. Imagine if you could get a web page translated with the click of a button. This is now possible using Google translate to work behind the scenes and get your contents translated in real time. If you have a HTML or PhP page you can get your web pages translated into ten languages - German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese & Arabic. Additionally if you own a Wordpress blog site, you can get your blogs translated as well.

Here are additional advantages to having language translation on your site:

Increase traffic through foreign search engines

Submit your foreign language webpages to countries which speak these languages and see your traffic double.

Multiply your content 10 times over. This content is not considered as duplicate contents as it is in another language. It is all unique content.

Communication is no longer a barrier. People speaking languages other than English will still be able to comprehend what you have to offer. This multiplies your chances of getting new customers.

Lesser competition. There is less competition is non-English speaking countries as compared to English speaking countries.

The advantage of having an online translator is that it is instantly displayed and using it does not cost you anything. With a combination of a good marketing strategy, customer service and communication you can take your website to greater heights. You just have to be willing to work hard to make your online business a roaring success.

Catherine comes from a recruitment background and is an entrepreneur. She is also a Google Adwords professional and the CEO of a global freelance services site that provides a free service for employers and freelancers to connect and make a living.

Tips for web site translation

Your company is expanding to foreign markets and you've been chosen to oversee the localization of your company's web site. You built the web site and you know all about it: every page, each navigation button; scripting, coding, applets, cascading style sheets, etc. But you don't have a clue about the translation process. At this point, you are doing some research about translation and localization and may seek some guidance. You need a plan - identifying possible challenges and implementing the most cost-effective processes.

Here are some tips that can help with your website translation:

1. Do not translate your web site only because everybody is doing it. Carefully evaluate your business needs and establish performance indicators to measure your success (or lack thereof). Most managers these days demand return investment on all marketing activities. It will be to your advantage to be able to show bottom line improvements (i.e. online sales in Germany increased 20% or support calls dropped by 10% after we launched the German web site).

2. Identify which section of the web site needs to be translated and define a handoff process to your translation vendor. Some of the web pages are simple HTML files which can be easily opened and translated. But with anything non-HTML, the text often has to be extracted. This category includes all the graphics that contain text, Flash files, and PDF files.

3. Try to provide your translator with all of the source files from the very beginning (such as cost estimating). Do not copy and paste every page of your web site in a Word file. It is not necessary and can be time consuming. Even though your translator can download all the files from your web site, it is still a much better practice to hand over all the files relating to the web site. Word count and cost estimates can be very inaccurate if the translator doesn't have all of the files to work with. Actually, if you have a dynamic web site, the word counting could be off by a long shot because of the unnecessary repetitions.

4. Make sure that your translator uses a translation memory (TM) tool. A TM tool keeps all the translated material in a database and makes it available for any future updates. Using a TM tool can help you save money, improve consistency, and speed up turnaround. In addition, working within a TM tool, tags and script code are recognized and protected during content translation. Provide your translator with any available reference material such as translation guidelines, previous translations and glossaries. The guidelines can address issues such as what terms should be left in English, punctuation, adaptation of date/time format, addresses, symbols, and measurement systems. A glossary is a multilingual terminology list that defines how abbreviations, product names, or industry specific terms should be translated. If the translator is using a translation memory tool, these glossaries can be imported to ensure consistency.

5. Provide your translation vendor with original graphic files including navigation buttons, Flash objects, textual graphics, and PDF files. These will have to be localized as well. It's in your best interest to send the native PhotoShop and Illustrator files that were used to create the GIFs and JPEGs on your web site! Also, some languages such as French and Spanish are often longer than English. So, you should keep this text expansion in mind when you create your initial graphics to allow for longer text. The desktop publishing specialist at your localization company will keep the background image and will reconstruct the layers containing text and merge them to make the target language images for web.

6. Do some testing after the initial localization is done to make sure that the site looks good and works properly. Check the visuals first. Then do some functionality testing (such as creating and filling out a test form) to see if any function was lost during the translation process. Check to make sure that all necessary pages have been uploaded and translated, all the links are working, and that the translated text can be viewed properly (your developer should change the character encoding according to the target language).

In addition, you should perform testing to ensure that your web site works well on different platforms, operating systems and browsers at this phase. Make sure that the translator or agency understands how browsers work with special characters (diacritics). If your localizer is working or making revisions on the translated text in HTML mode, be careful to never enter characters with accents into the code itself. Certain browsers could display the web page incorrectly.

7. Some translators will try to differentiate the localized files from the source files by adding a distinguishing extension for each language (the French file for home.html will be named home_fr.html). When this happens, every link reference in every file will need to be renamed to point to the right link. This will be time consuming and it will increase the possibility of creating errors. Instead of doing this, it is better to store each language version in its own folder.

8. Almost every target language requires localization of measurement systems, date format, punctuation, the thousands/decimal system, and colours. Everyone involved in the localization process should have cultural sensitivity to avoid offensive content.

9. Pay attention to web site layout when localizing in a language like Arabic or Hebrew. Because these are right to left languages, it is most likely necessary to redesign the layout (especially when your web site has navigation bars on the left).

10. If you want to optimize your multilingual site you should be aware that not all major search engines are working properly with foreign pages and your web site may not be listed in many of them. Also, the terminology your translators prefer (however correct or appropriate) might be VERY different from what your customers are using to find you. You must understand how your customers search online to effectively achieve high rankings and good online results. You should do research on what the major local search engines are and what your competition is doing.

Felicia Bratu is a translation project manager with WTB Language Group. WTB provides website translation and localization services

Lost in Translation - California Community Dispute Resolution Programs Denied Funding

In 1986, the California legislature enacted a statute to fund a Dispute Resolution Program. In enacting this statute the Legislature recognized that the resolution of many disputes is unnecessarily costly, time consuming and complex when achieved through formal court proceedings. As a result, the legislature intended for the funds to be directed to the community to develop an informal resolution of disputes in a non-coercive dispute resolution forum, outside of the court system. The intent of the legislature has been lost and the funds are being directed toward court programs that favor the economically well off, specifically claims over $25,000, who have the financial resources to maintain costly and protracted litigation. The Dispute Resolution Program Act must be amended to restore the legislature's intent that the funds be used for Community programs for persons of all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. The Legislature states in Business and Professions Code section 465 that the purpose of the program is to seek alternatives to costly legal process, by funding community-based dispute resolution programs reflective of the diversity of the communities to be served, funded partly by public funding and partly by users of these services on a sliding scale basis, but without cost to indigents.

However, some of the counties have lost sight of the Legislature's intent and have misdirected the funds away from under funded community programs to the detriment of the diverse communities and the socio-economically challenged. Some counties have chosen instead to fund court-connected programs, particularly claims over $25,000 that can generally only be accessed by economically sufficient persons.

For example, Los Angeles County ignores the legislative intent by giving priority to unlimited jurisdiction civil claims (over $25,000) by providing free services indiscriminately to all comers provided they are already in the litigation system. The Los Angeles court connected program specifically discriminates against Small Claims and low value ?limited jurisdiction' cases (under $25,000 cases), by giving them the least priority and fails altogether to provide services ?on a sliding scale basis'. The violation of legislative intent could hardly be clearer. Los Angeles County specifically limits funding for Small Claims and ignores the statutory purpose of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic diversity. By diverting funds to already well-funded unlimited jurisdiction cases, the County circumvents the statutory purpose by failing adequately to provide funding to programs for Small Claims and limited jurisdiction cases that involve disputes "between neighbors, domestic disputes and consumer-merchant disputes,' as specified by legislative intent.

Thus, the programs intended by the legislature to benefit from the funds, namely community programs involving disputes that have not already entered the court system and similar court-connected programs involving socio-economically challenged persons involved in low value limited jurisdiction and Small Claims disputes, and Youth Peer Programs, are suffering because funds are being diverted to programs serving economically prosperous, who receive dispute resolution services free of charge while paying handsomely for all other aspects of their litigation.

An enumeration of specific matters that may be referred to government-funded programs will prevent misuse of funds and uphold the statutory purpose. Business and Professions Code section 467.2 outlining the county's eligibility requirements for funding should be revised as follows: (b) Provision of neutral person, reflective of the diversity of the community in which they serve, adequately trained in conflict resolution techniques as required by the rules??. (c) Provision of dispute resolution programs on a sliding scale fee-paying basis, and without cost to indigents, with respect to any disputes that have not yet entered the court system, and limited jurisdiction and small claims cases.

By incorporating the Legislative intent of diversity of community volunteers and enumerating the specific disputes that can be eligible for Dispute Resolution Funds, the Legislature will finally create what it originally envisioned: a funded community-based dispute resolution forum for all persons of all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The intent of the legislature has been lost and the funds are being directed toward court programs that favor the economically well off, specifically claims over $25,000, who have the financial resources to maintain costly and protracted litigation. The Dispute Resolution Program Act must be amended to restore the legislature?s intent that the funds be used for Community Dispute Resolution programs for persons of all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Niche Marketing Opportunity In Ebook Translation

Frankly speaking, I have no idea how well I would have done when I first launched my first ebook in Malay (my mother tongue). As far as I know, there has been no one using this technique to sell an ebook in my country.

So, can I claim the pioneer status of translating a best-seller book into an online ebook business? :)

To update you on the sales, well, it's not as much as you would have done in the international market (English language) as the market here is limited and the currency is about 3.62 to $1 USD. But, roughly I'm more than happy to see that people are accepting this ebook and they are buying it online.

USD$450 of over 50 orders in 2 days is not that bad for my first attempt - for the market which is still uncomfortable to buy online.

A lot of people are talking about niche marketing on the internet, but less people cover this topic because not many people are doing it anyway.

So, I'm opening up an opportunity for you to venture into another niche which is not so much tapped into yet.

Get together with those who are in your niche and probably exchange your existing product to be translated into a different language.

For example, you might have a friend who could speak Spanish and he has an ebook in the Spanish language. You have an ebook of the same niche in English. Well, you can now exchange the ebook, allow rights to each other to sell the translated versions and suddenly 2 ebooks have become 4.

What more? Your original author status stays and you can become popular in a new foreign market.

Just because your translated version has less market compare to yours (assuming that your market is huge), you might think that it is a losing deal for you.

No! It's really the opposite.

A lot of people are multilingual. I am bilingual and there are millions of them like me in my country.

I'm sure my introduction to the translated ebook will spark a lot of interest on the original author of the ebook. And, guess what? They will look for this author online and find out more about his products out of curiosity or because they want to learn more from him.

Since language is not a problem to these bilinguals, they will buy more products from him.

Can you see the beauty of this business approach?

My translated ebook helps to promote the original author and I get to be associated with a great person in my industry. What more can you ask for?

Zamri Nanyan has been marketing online since 2003. For more great business tips, go to http://www.zamrinanyan.com and subscribe to his "Online Profit" e-course for FREE. To see an example of his translation project, visit http://www.RahsiaMLM.com

Good Translation: Voice of the Business

I think, on this point, you also agree with me. Every growing business needs to present their existence in the market. For this, they require a mean by which they can reach directly to their prospective customers. A business can achieve its goals successfully in less time if they easily make their customer understand that what they are presenting and how it will be useful for them? I mean to say that if you start a business in Russia, your progress graph will go high in less time, if your business uses the regional Russian language rather than English.

The language of your business matters a lot. It helps you to directly approach to your prospective customers in better way. So, if you want a fast growing business, try to keep your business near to your customer. In this situation, a regional language will be a strongest tool for your business growth. By this, you can present your product and services in better way in front of the prospective customers.

Your way of presentation decides your area of business, targeted audience, competition level and future of your business. Now a day, media is a powerful advertising tool. From local to international business all are getting a great advantage from them. Increasing competition leads huge investment for the advertising. It is not always easy to every business to invest a lot of money only on the advertisement.

Every word for your products or services must be precisely presents them properly. Sentence must be clearer, easier to translate, and easier for the end user to understand. Consider hiring a translator or specialized translation editor to eliminate redundancies and standardize style.

As you know, in media every word has its worth. In this case, translation quality identifies your product in the market so, translation cost increase. For a good business, it is need to increase the translation quality with decrease in translation cost. For this I am presenting some tips here.

* Sentence should be condense and clear. * Use multilingual glossary. * Remove the duplicate words. * Provide context for confusing words. * Provide the document in read and write format. * Collaborate with the translation team. * Use audio or video to explain the process rather than text.

Try these, may be they help you. Never take your business lightly. A right translator can present your business efficiently and effectively. They will help you in many business fields like medical, technical, legal and marketing etc. It's a really true that a good translation is a voice of the Business.

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Lost in Translation: California Community Dispute Resolution Programs Denied Funding

In 1986, the California legislature enacted a statute to fund a Dispute Resolution Program. In enacting this statute the Legislature recognized that the resolution of many disputes is unnecessarily costly, time consuming and complex when achieved through formal court proceedings. As a result, the legislature intended for the funds to be directed to the community to develop an informal resolution of disputes in a non-coercive dispute resolution forum, outside of the court system. The intent of the legislature has been lost and the funds are being directed toward court programs that favor the economically well off, specifically claims over $25,000, who have the financial resources to maintain costly and protracted litigation. The Dispute Resolution Program Act must be amended to restore the legislature's intent that the funds be used for Community programs for persons of all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. The Legislature states in Business and Professions Code section 465 that the purpose of the program is to seek alternatives to costly legal process, by funding community-based dispute resolution programs reflective of the diversity of the communities to be served, funded partly by public funding and partly by users of these services on a sliding scale basis, but without cost to indigents.

However, some of the counties have lost sight of the Legislature's intent and have misdirected the funds away from under funded community programs to the detriment of the diverse communities and the socio-economically challenged. Some counties have chosen instead to fund court-connected programs, particularly claims over $25,000 that can generally only be accessed by economically sufficient persons.

For example, Los Angeles County ignores the legislative intent by giving priority to unlimited jurisdiction civil claims (over $25,000) by providing free services indiscriminately to all comers provided they are already in the litigation system. The Los Angeles court connected program specifically discriminates against Small Claims and low value ?limited jurisdiction' cases (under $25,000 cases), by giving them the least priority and fails altogether to provide services ?on a sliding scale basis'. The violation of legislative intent could hardly be clearer. Los Angeles County specifically limits funding for Small Claims and ignores the statutory purpose of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic diversity. By diverting funds to already well-funded unlimited jurisdiction cases, the County circumvents the statutory purpose by failing adequately to provide funding to programs for Small Claims and limited jurisdiction cases that involve disputes "between neighbors, domestic disputes and consumer-merchant disputes,' as specified by legislative intent.

Thus, the programs intended by the legislature to benefit from the funds, namely community programs involving disputes that have not already entered the court system and similar court-connected programs involving socio-economically challenged persons involved in low value limited jurisdiction and Small Claims disputes, and Youth Peer Programs, are suffering because funds are being diverted to programs serving economically prosperous, who receive dispute resolution services free of charge while paying handsomely for all other aspects of their litigation.

An enumeration of specific matters that may be referred to government-funded programs will prevent misuse of funds and uphold the statutory purpose. Business and Professions Code section 467.2 outlining the county's eligibility requirements for funding should be revised as follows: (b) Provision of neutral person, reflective of the diversity of the community in which they serve, adequately trained in conflict resolution techniques as required by the rules??. (c) Provision of dispute resolution programs on a sliding scale fee-paying basis, and without cost to indigents, with respect to any disputes that have not yet entered the court system, and limited jurisdiction and small claims cases.

By incorporating the Legislative intent of diversity of community volunteers and enumerating the specific disputes that can be eligible for Dispute Resolution Funds, the Legislature will finally create what it originally envisioned: a funded community-based dispute resolution forum for all persons of all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The intent of the legislature has been lost and the funds are being directed toward court programs that favor the economically well off, specifically claims over $25,000, who have the financial resources to maintain costly and protracted litigation. TheDispute Resolution Program Act must be amended to restore the legislature’s intent that the funds be used for Community Dispute Resolution programs for persons of all ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

More Cheap Spanish Translation Advertising Techniques

A while ago I wrote an article about some free advertising techniques translators could use to get more translation business. While those techniques are useful, and many translators can use them to effectively increase their business, there are other techniques that can be useful as well.

Many of these techniques, however, might not be completely free. However, they aren't very expensive and can pay off big dividends down the road.

So here are some cheap Spanish translation advertising techniques that translators can use to increase their client base:

1) Advertise on craigslist.com: This is a very popular website that people use to buy anything imaginable. The number of cities represented is continually expanding and so more than likely you'll be able to advertise your translation business on the website.

2) Advertise your business on clothing: Landscapers and construction companies aren't the only businesses that can advertise their business on shirts or hats. Think up a catchy slogan and image for your translation business, along with a website or phone number and put it on shirts or hats to either wear or give away.

3) Ask current and former clients for referrals: This is something that my financial advisor always does. Every time I meet with him, he asks if I know anybody that he can talk to that would be interested in his services. Translators have as much right to do that as others.

4) Teach a class: Local community groups and libraries usually offer free classes to the public on a variety of topics. Volunteer to be a teacher and then hand out your business card to the class members. Community colleges also are always looking for teachers to teach all sorts of classes. If you're a Spanish translator, you could teach a class on learning Spanish, for example, and talk about your translation experiences in the class.

5) Use direct mail: I wouldn't recommend this advertising technique until you have some extra advertising money you can spend. What this entails is sending postcard advertisements or letters directly to businesses that you believe would be interested in your services. The cost is a little more because of the materials used for sending, as well as the cost of sending the letters. Again, this technique is something to think about when you have a little more money in your advertising budget.

All of these techniques are capable of bringing in new clients and some are cheaper than others. It's just a matter of how much effort you are willing to put into them.

Clint Tustison is a translator interested in helping other translators improve their businesses. His website, http://www.spanish-translation-help.com Spanish-translation-help.com is filled with information helpful to translators regarding the translation industry, and his free monthly newsletter, Translator Techniques, has tips and techniques for translators.

Importance Of Reputation In The Translations Industry

In this article I am considering reputation in the translations industry. These aspects are often intrinsically linked with customer services. But customer service is only a part of what makes a reputation.

I would argue that your personal reputation is one of the most valuable things that we will own regardless of where we are of what we do. It is something that is with you always, affects parts of your daily life and is very difficult to change.

Unfortunately nothing sticks to a reputation quicker or longer then mud (negative?s). So it is important to avoid such potential instance as much as possible and if possible quash any such occurrences irrevocably.


A) Reputation of a Translation Agency with its Clients ? Like all businesses, without your clients you don?t have a business. A translation agency must ensure it creates a good reputation with its clients. This can be achieved by:

1) Quality of Translation ? Using only qualified and experienced translators working into their mother-tongue. Proofreading of the translation. Testing translators and auditing of their translation work. Sticking with the tried and tested translation professionals

One way quality is sometimes lost is through subcontracting. The translation agency has lost control of the translation and is therefore not in control of the quality.

2) Quality of Service ? Quick response and general customer care.

3) Management of the Clients Expectations ? A translation professional cannot always expect someone who is not working in the industry to understand what is required. This particularly applies to deadlines.

In such cases it is better to offer options with the translation quotation rather then promises that you cannot keep. For instance: The options might be ?later delivery v no proofreading?
The general rule has to be that you only commit to what you can achieve.

B) Reputation of a Translation Agency with Freelance Translators ? Most agencies use a mixture of both employed and freelance translators. The freelancer only assists as and when required against won projects. A good freelance translator is pretty much like a good translation agency: ?They provide good quality of work and they work to mutually agreed deadlines?.

Having freelancers that you can rely on is part of being a good translation company and an integral part therefore of keeping the reputation of the agency with its clients.

You can most easily manage your translations agencies reputation with freelancers by:

1) Prompt Payment ? It seems that the translation industry is a minefield full of late paying translation agencies that need chasing repeatedly. Its completely bizarre to me as this takes additional resources of the agency to manage the late payments. After all, if payments of ?25 make a difference to your business, you may wish to address this matter through other means.

Paying your translator early or on time can therefore standout. They will feel good about the agency and be more willing to go that extra mile in quality and working hours to look after the translation agencies interests.

2) Agreement before commencement ? It is best that as many variables as possible are agreed in writing before the project commences. Ensure that in writing the translators has been informed of: i) Language Combination and Direction ii) Types of translation ? Is it medical for instance iii) Type of source document e.g. PDF iv) Format the translation is to be returned in. e.g. MS Word v) Translation Deadline vi) Fee or rate to be applied vii) Wordcount. (In some cases it is possible and necessary to send a copy of the translation in advance to the translators. But this is often restricted as prior to having a full agreement with the translator this could be deemed a breach of your clients confidentiality).

At this point the translation agency should require feedback from the translator. A written confirmation that they are capable of fulfilling the requirements set-out.

C) Reputation as a Freelance Translator ? The saying goes ?a salesman is only as good as his last sale?. A similar saying could also be applied to translators ?A translator is only as good as their last translation?. In both circumstances there is the detail to consider.

A freelance translator generally seeks a situation where they have a regular client base who consider them first. Ideally, if they are too busy the client will still come to them first for the next project and the next project.

Reputation for a freelancer allows them to earn better rates even though there will always be someone else offering to do the same job for less money. It allows the freelance translator to discuss the issues of a project openly with the client or translation project manager and have them work with them to complete their service.

The reputation of a freelance translator can be most easily maintained by:

1) Staying within their capabilities. It is not advisable to take on highly complicated specialised texts that you have no experience with unless you have discussed this with your client and have a clear plan how you will complete the project. Otherwise you might perform below what is reasonable.

2) Work to deadlines. Ensure that you assess the deadline and only agree to what is achievable. If you are upfront and say when the translation can be achievable this may well turnout fine and avoid loss of your personal standards for quality.

3) Check your work. It is advisable to take a short break and then review your translation before you send. You may have made some simple error or missed something that this last scan can pick up. This will also avoid you sending the wrong file. Checking you own work is not proofreading. Proofreading in my opinion involves a 2nd independent translator.

4) Problems ? If you have a problem or require extra time it is important to tell the client ASAP. This allows the issue to be addressed as soon as possible and a solution found. The problem might be legibility of part of the source text or you might be delayed due to a personal problem. If possible, the more warning notice the better for everybody.

I guess when reading this we must be reminded that with extra care and communication we should all be able to benefit from less problems and more stability from our lives in the translations industry. This care will guard our reputations.

Nigel has worked internationally for many years and is a partner at the Translations Agency - Axis Translations The author specialises in Translation Project Management for: Technical Translations, Legal Translations, Italian Translations, etc.