Rush translation? Relax - we are there for you!

The world spins fast, and sometimes we all feel the need to just slow down for a minute and relax, watch time go by while staying on auto-pilot. Unfortunately, chances to do this are few and far between, especially if you are responsible for a business and want to make it global. You need to increase production, you need a good marketing campaign, but above all, you need to be able to communicate all this in an understandable, timely fashion. That means having a trustworthy language agency that can provide quality results. And if it allows you to enjoy those little moments of time for yourself, because when they say they will deliver the service, they actually DO, with no one having to go after them, reminding them of their deadline and how vital it is to have the translation done in time… That is the agency you should settle for, a real keeper.

You can say a lot about a translation agency by the accuracy of its deadlines. Especially when you request a rush translation. Some agencies can provide good translations. Others can provide fast translations. But very few can combine these two services successfully. A good translation definitely needs some time. It requires thinking, consulting dictionaries and other sources, taking the best out of a translator and a writer, and it usually also needs a good amount of proofreading to make it perfect.

Within this time frame, though, there are ways to make the most out of a limited amount of time. 

Unless we are talking about a very brief instructions manual or a series of sentences that can be read separately and have meanings of their own, a translator can save time by first reading the whole text in order to comprehend core of its message. Once the basic is understood, the rest comes easily. This also helps not to make the translation too “literal”, which could sometimes be counterproductive: some things are better said with other words in other languages, or maybe with less embellishments and a more direct approach. Remember that the whole point of a translation is to make yourself understood.

Even though it can seem like a paradox, it is good to take breaks in the middle of a translation, no matter how rushed it is. Translating non-stop for a long time can be extremely taxing, and a lack of concentration and/or motivation is not going to do any good to the resulting text. A 15-minute break every hour to have a coffee, a short walk or just to look out the window can let your eyes rest and clear your mind a bit. And that will make the rest of the translation process go way faster.

There are other ways to accelerate a translation, but they generally depend on the person and on the languages, both the one being translated from and the one being translated to. The know-how generally comes with experience, and that is something that inWhatLanguage translators come with by default.

InWhatLanguage’s fast translation services are the best in the industry. When time is of the essence, our global infrastructure network and highly-efficient project managers, and lead translators allow our team to immediately respond to our clients’ needs. Combine that with our well-organized operating systems and our global follow-the- sun-model, and you have a translation partner that you can count on 24/7 to provide best results ahead of schedule.

On average, inWhatLanguage is twice as fast as the other translation companies. If you are in a rush to have something translated then HURRY and call us! We will be happy to help!

Tips To Succeed in Market Research

Management consulting and market research are huge multi-billion dollar industries; they are trendy, sleek and always in demand in today’s world. Corporations want get to know you, they want to learn more about how often you buy breakfast cereal and how likely you are to switch to a new brand of toothpaste after your 30th birthday. All this data is then used to formulate new company strategies or assess the risk factors of opening a new factory.

But, behind all the glamour of fancy corporate meetings, expensive suits and shiny slogans are actually people who have to gather all that information and translate quotes and opinions into numbers and charts. Sometimes such projects surpass country borders and demand that the researcher reach out to people and businesses in cultures he or she is not familiar with. Knowing several languages definitely comes in handy in this field. In other instances, the researcher is expected to project an aura of deep understanding of the subject of the research despite the fact the he or she might not even have heard about it. This is not as easy as it sounds. Say you are an Australian researcher trying to gather information about the shipbuilding industry in Denmark; if you speak Danish that's a plus, but if you can't distinguish a rudder from a mast, people will be reluctant to take you seriously, let alone give you the data you need.

The best way for a business to study the market in a specific country is through surveys and inquiries. After all it is much easier to ask a people what brands of cereal they like than read 20 financial reports on the subject. Just call someone up and ask them a few friendly questions - how difficult is that, right? Well it is. When your phone rings and you hear something like: “Good day sir, do you have 5 minutes to answer some questions?” you immediately think “annoying telemarketer” and feel like dropping the line.

Here are some tips if you are willing to test yourself in the field of market research:

1- Never use words like “survey”, “can I take a few moments of your time” or “would you mind telling me”. These “taboo” words are often associated with telemarketing and could disrupt the flow of the conversation. Always use softer alternatives like “we are trying to get a general understanding” or “gathering ideas and opinions”.

2- Never read from a scripted survey questionnaire. This makes you sound robotic. Always take the time to read the questions beforehand and restructure them into an easy flowing informal conversation. If you are talking in a language that is not your mother tongue, don't be afraid to use slang terms (in moderation of course) - this makes the interviewee feel like you know their culture well.

3- If you are conducting your research in different countries, try to get native speakers of those countries to translate the questionnaires and, if possible, to conduct the interviews, as well. The more local the language sounds to the interviewee, the better.

4- Never start doing phone surveys directly without a proper briefing and research on the topic in question, even if the deadline is drawing near. Always take some time off to read some Wikipedia articles about the subject. This will give you enough confidence to engage in conversation without the fear of stuttering at a critical point in the interview.

Of course, the best advice of them all is to actually hire competent people who know what they are doing, whose translation services are up to the task, who speak the target language fluently and who are capable of throwing in the necessary amount of charm to get the job done. inWhatLanguage has all this, plus an extra dose of communication with the clients, great prices AND an amazing, unbelievable skill: we can make EVEN market research FUN! Yeah, we are THAT good. Get a free quote now and see it for yourself!

Carnival, a festival of languages

Picture by Muu-karhu (Wikipedia Commons)

Carnival season is upon us, and that means many things. First, obviously the wild parties going on in many countries around the world right at this moment, where masks, costumes and music rule the day. And second, that each Carnival celebrating region is also celebrating and honoring, among other things, its own individuality and uniqueness.

It might be hard to see, what with all the glitter, the colors and the cheerfulness all around, but Carnival is a cultural statement – and as such, it is a festival of languages, as well. As a person who is writing from the epicenter of one of the most famous Carnivals in Europe, the Cologne Carnival, I can assure you that if I walk down the street right now and listen to some of the conversations taking place, and I will probably understand only a small percentage of what is being said. And not only because of all the beer that’s being consumed as a general rule, but also, because Carnival is a time to speak and sing in the regional dialect of the area, Kölsch.

It’s not even taught at schools, and very few actually speak it fluently, but Kölsch survives thanks to local pride and festivities such as this one. Music groups sing songs that sound German, but are not; people greet each other on the street with a very Kölsch “Alaaf!”, instead of a “Guten Morgen”. That is the Kölsch spirit; that is the Kölsch individuality.

And the same happens with other Carnivals, of course. Take the Carnival of Venice. You will probably learn more Venetan if you happen to be there at this time of the year than at any other. Or go to Rio de Janeiro: apart from dancing to the rhythms of the Samba (which actually originated in Africa), you will hear bands singing in African dialects, a commemoration of their own identity as opposed to the traditional Carnival that was brought upon them during the Portuguese colonization. African and Native American dialects can also be heard in the famous Mardi Gras in New Orleans during the big Parade. In Spain, different parts of the country –Canary Islands, Northen Navarre, Catalonia- celebrate different kinds of Carnivals emphasizing their own dialects and idioms. The examples could go on forever.

It is clear that the world does not have an official language. Even countries which do have an official language most often have uncountable variables, dialects and accents that account for an impossible-to-grasp variety of cultures, identities and whole different languages.

And that is why translation is vital and important to keep this flow going. Because people love to have fun with their own individual language. Because languages are fun, and worth celebrating. inWhatLanguage enjoys offering the best translation services to make this world a little more fun and colorful – and with amazing offers, like our time-limited 20% off discount for Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Chineseprojects until the end of February!

Let’s celebrate languages together!

Interpretation: an art for the chosen ones

I really admire interpreters.

I am no interpreter myself. I am simply unable to master this craft. When I have to switch from one language to the other, say some foreign language that I don’t speak well and my mother tongue, I  need an adaptation period. And when I try to do it instantaneously, my brain freezes. ‘Error: Does not compute’. It’s frustrating.

That is why whenever I am attending a convention or a conference where the services of an interpreter are needed, more often than not I cannot help but observe him/her, marveling at their capacity to memorize long strings of information, process them and say them out loud in a completely different language, with different words, different sentence structures and different pronunciations, all the while still listening to the speaker to keep on translating what he is saying in real time.

And that is why, even though most people look at me weirdly when I do, I usually go to the stage at the end of the speech to congratulate the interpreter, while the rest rush to congratulate the speaker. To me, they both merit great respect, but the former doesn’t always get the credit he/she deserves.

Interpreting is an art form in itself, and only a chosen few are apt for the task. It’s not just about speaking several languages; it’s about memory and improvisation. It’s about hearing something and trying to make sense of it in a whole other dimension, molding a cube to make it fit into a sphere, and all of that in mere seconds.

Some languages are harder to interpret than others, but generally speaking, every language has a personality of its own. Some are faster, some slower; some are more practical, some are more prosaic; some are more prone to metaphors, and some others are straight to the point. And what makes it even harder is when the interpreted speaker doesn’t understand this. As witty and charismatic as a person may be, when translating his/her words into another language, the jokes can turn into inappropriate comments, or a play on words can turn into a forced, unnecessary conversation twist. And of course, when a long speech is interpreted for an audience, that speech will turn into an even longer, less dynamic and with slower rhythm.

When you are thinking of using the services of an interpreter, it is important to keep in mind all of these details, and act accordingly:

• Keep your sentences short and concise.
• Delete parts of the speech that can be avoided, like long strings of adjectives, or repetitions.
• Speak clearly and slowly, so that your interpreter can understand every word correctly.
• Try to make pauses between sentences to give the interpreter some time to finish the translation.
• Keep jokes very generic, making sure that your audience will understand them. In case of doubt, ask your interpreter.

In case of doubt, you can always rely on the best, most professional interpreters in the industry. It’s easy, really: just check out inWhatLanguage Interpreting Services, and there you go. You can rest assured: even though it’s one of the toughest jobs out there, you are bound to get the best quality interpretation you can ever get. Guaranteed! Contact inWhatLangage today for a free interpreting quote or for more information about our translation services.