Languages similar to other languages: proceed with caution!

Yesterday I did a translation from Portuguese to Spanish. A written translation, of course. Because, as a matter of fact, I don’t speak Portuguese. Never in my life have I studied it. But being a Spanish native speaker, and having studied Italian, French, Latin and other Romance languages, understanding written Portuguese is sort of a given.

Am I writing this text to turn this usual assumption around? No. I did understand it, and I did deliver a good translation, if I can say so myself. But an important part of the reason why the translation was a success, was that I had a talented proofreader who understood the intricacies of both languages and the subtle differences that can mean a world of difference in a translated text.

Romance languages are effectively very close to one another. But precisely because of their similarities, the people who are familiar with only some of them tend to get a little overconfident in understanding them all. Especially when we are talking about Spanish, Portuguese and Italian speakers.

These three cases are so similar that if three people native to any country where these languages are spoken met and talked to each other in their own languages slowly and clearly, they could probably understand most of what the other is saying without much trouble. Reading is usually not that big of a problem, either. They share most their word origins, and the verb tenses are similar in their structures.

But not identical.

Words like “burro” (butter), “salire” (go up) o “genero” (son-in-law) in Italian; “suceso” (event), “vaso” (glass) or “aceite” (oil) in Spanish; and “cena” (scene), criança (child) or “seta” (arrow) in Portuguese; they are all tiny examples that can confuse a translator to the point of delivering a final product that can only be good for a laugh. And whereas that might sound fun for a hobby, it is simply not acceptable for a professional translation agency. After all, they can mean the difference between a choppy job and a translation that can grant you trust and more potential clients.

That is why it is a professional translator’s and proofreader's job to be aware of this, and to put into a translation all the care and the caution that it deserves, even –or maybe “even more so” would be more fitting- when it is a translation from a language that is especially similar to one's own. Because we are not doing something that just looks and sounds “right”. We are providing a service that only we can do, and our knowledge, our added value, is key.

And if you are not sure that you can deal with all of this, then don’t be shy to admit it. Always focus on what you do best: don’t go wandering into uncharted territory when you don’t have a proper map. If you are fluent in only two languages, then stick to those.

Better to deliver one high quality product than a thousand mediocre ones, right?

iWL and FIFA: the new team for the World Cup!

inWhatLanguage is currently celebrating one of the greatest projects this translation agency has ever had the chance to undertake!

FIFA, as in, the Fédération Internationalede Football Association -the international governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer, comprised of 209 national associations and responsible for the organization of football's major international tournaments-, has chosen us to translate its materials into 10+ languages in preparation for the upcoming World Cup. Just how awesome is that?!

We were selected after a two month competitive process against 15 other pre-selected translation companies, so I guess we could say that iWL’s quality and its employees’ skills really shone through - enough for the seasoned professionals at the FIFA headquarters to finally pick us as their trusted provider of translation services.

We are already translating website content, magazines and print media, and we will also begin translating news and press releases periodically until next April. We will then continue to translate throughout the world cup and beyond.

So congratulations, iWL! This is the real deal!!

Since we are on the subject, I would like to take the chance to ponder a question that has been bugging me for a while. As a European citizen, I never understood why what we call “football” here is called “soccer” in America. Well, after doing a little research, I found the answer in Yellow How To – quite an interesting example of how new words can be created out of the less significant events. Namely, a word joke, in this case.

“In the mid 1800s in England, two styles of football were emerging and becoming codified. One, based on passing the ball with the hands, originated in the posh public school, Rugby, and took that name for its own. The other, based on dribbling the ball with the feet, came to be called “association” football after its parent body the Football Association.

Once the forms of football had their identities and official names, the English penchant for slang and abbreviation came into play. Rugby was often known colloquially as “rugger” and association football was shortened to “assoc”.

There is a story that Charles Wreford-Brown, an official in the Football Association, was once asked by some university friends to play a game of “rugger” with them. Making a play on that word, he told them that he’d rather play “soccer” instead.

Whether this story describes the real origin of the name “soccer”, or whether the abbreviation “assoc” simply evolved into the more rhythmic and euphonious “soccer” over time, will probably never be known.”

There are more interesting facts surrounding this football/soccer phenomenon that you can read directly in the source article.

For now, let us just rejoice in iWL’s latest –and possibly greatest!- project, and await even more eagerly the next World Cup in Brazil. It’s gonna rock!!

inWhatLanguage goes to Brazil!

For those of us who knew inWhatLanguage when it was still a tiny new company trying to find a place in the competitive world of translation services, it is truly amazing to see how the agency has grown – in size, in reach, and in reputation.

This is, of course, thanks to the collective effort of the amazing iWL team. Each and every member of the iWL family does his/her bit to turn the company into one of the best, most reliable translation agencies one can find out there.

There is, though, a factor of chance, as well. Or a factor of chance-taking, perhaps. Great opportunities don’t come in huge numbers, and that makes it all the more important to realize when one comes your way. Such is the case of iWL’s latest adventure: a visit to the wonderful country of Brazil.

iWL CEO Cody Broderick didn’t hesitate when he was offered the chance to go there on a trade mission with the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development to promote Utah, along with approximately 30 more people from different industries of the state. Not only was it a great opportunity to discover the wonders that this paradisiacal country has to offer, but also “to create new relationships, explore business opportunities, help represent the state, and most importantly, explore and open new business development ideas for iWL,” Broderick states.

In the six days that iWL CEO was in Brazil (September 22nd – 28th), he got to visit Sao Paulo, Campinas, Curitiba, Londrina, and Rio de Janeiro. In each of these cities, he met with government officials, and discussed ways in which they couldn collaborate for business opportunities. “These discussions included every sector I can think of: gas and oil, finance, energy, telecom, agriculture, retail, services, etcetera,” Broderick explains. “After these talks, we attended dinner and networking events in the evenings."

“Business ideas and collaborations were definitely flowing!” Cody Broderick adds. “It helped to mention that we work with IBM, Harvard, MIT, and other reputable organizations that already have a presence in Brazil.”

That, and the fact that Broderick speaks fluent Brazilian Portuguese. In the true spirit of a professional translation agency, he got to speak with the locals in their own language, achieving a degree of closeness befitting of the Hard at work!representative of inWhatLanguage. Sure enough, though, not everything was business-related: “The people, weather, food, and cities were all wonderful!” Broderick stresses emphatically.

“I am grateful for the relationships I created with the other Utah delegation members and I’m confident that we will have a lot of business that will come from this adventure,” he concludes. “It truly was a trip of a lifetime!”

About languages and dialects

I originally come from Spain, a land where dialects are almost as important as the actual official national language. These are taught in public schools, are used in public events, on TV and other media. They are revered as part of our cultural heritage, and as such, the authorities invest time and money in having people remember them, study and practice them daily, achieving at the end of the day the main goal: for them to be a normal part of society, not a luxury or a rarity.

In Germany, where I live, dialects have a different connotation. Perhaps not everywhere – Bavarians love and gladly preserve their own dialect, and it is very likely being to be spoken in many parts of Munich these days, as the Oktoberfest goes moves into  its second week. But in Rheinland, the area where I live, Kölsch, the regional dialect of Cologne, is nowadays exclusively used in Carnival festivities and in traditional folk songs.

People no longer use it to communicate as a general rule. And even if that is something that German students like me should feel thankful for, since it can really be a nightmare to understand for non-fluent German speakers (and even fluent ones), I can’t help feeling sorrowful, as well. Its fate seems linked to that of extinct languages such as Latin, with practically no speakers and only remembered among the general public in popular songs.

That being said, it is still a better fate than to be completely forgotten. Kölsch people love their Kölsch dialect, and they sing it with all their hearts whenever the opportunity arises. Yesterday I got a chance to see it with my very own eyes when a band started playing folk songs in a brewery. They also gave us booklets so that we could read the text and sing along. For me, thought, it turned into an actual deciphering exercise: I read the text aloud and tried to understand the meaning of the words, comparing them to the German language. For a language lover such as myself, it was an immensely enjoyable experience, and hence, I decided to share it with you.

Here are the lyrics of a Kölsch song by the local band Höhner:

Blootwoosch, kölsch un e lecker mädche!

Dä Pitter, dä wor eines Dachs plötzlich fott.
Erus us Kölle op nem urahle Pott.
Sing Mamm, die krät ald richtich dr Zidder,
doch dä Ühm meinte nur: "Kein Angs, dä kütt widder"!

Refrain:
Blootwoosch, Kölsch un e lecker Mädche,
dat bruch ene Kölsche, öm jlöcklich zo sin.
Blootwoosch, Kölsch un e lecker Mädche,
dat fings do nur he, en Kölle am Rhing.

Hück wor'e he, un morje ald do,
doch dann wod däm Pitter no Monate klor.
Im dät jet fähle, dat sat im sie Hätz,
do es hä janz flöck Richtung Kölle jewätz.

Refrain:
Blootwoosch, Kölsch un e lecker Mädche...

Doheim en Kölle, wor et ehts, wat hä sat:
Jetz e Kölsch un en Flönz, ich han lang drop jewat.
Un in Nippes, do hät hä jet kennejeliert.
Nächste Woch ald wed Huhzick gefiert.

Refrain:
Blootwoosch, Kölsch un e lecker Mädche...

And here is the translation in German:

Blutwurst, Kölsch und ein leckeres Mädchen!

Der Peter, der war eines Tages plötzlich weg.
Raus aus Köln auf einem uralten Schiff.
Seine Mutter zitterte schon richtig,
doch der Onkel sagte nur: Keine Angst, der kommt wieder!

Refrain:
Blutwurst, Kölsch und ein leckeres Mädchen,
das braucht ein Kölner um glücklich zu sein,
Blutwurst, Kölsch und ein leckeres Mädchen,
das findest du nur hier, in Köln am Rhein.

Heute war er hier, und morgen schon da,
doch dann wurde dem Peter nach Monaten klar,
ihm fehlte etwas, das sagte ihm sein Herz,
da ist er ganz schnell Richtung Köln gewetzt.

Refrain

Zuhause in Köln war das erste was er sagt:
Jetzt ein Kölsch und eine Blutwurst, ich habe lange drauf gewartet.
Auf der Kirmes da hat er eine kennengelernt,
nächste Woche schon wird Hochzeit gefeiert.

Refrain

You think you can sing it? Here is the actual song, so that you can sing along with the lyrics. Try it, seriously! It is a lot of fun!

Top 5 Translation Mistakes with Real Consequences

Translation mistakes are often just funny little errors, but sometimes they can also cause big headaches and cost big money to fix. We've combed the internet for stories of translations gone wrong, ranging from expensive snafus to true tragedies. Remember: the only way to avoid potentially disastrous translation mistakes is to use a true professional translation firm like inWhatLanguage.

5 Giant Translation Mistakes with Real-World Consequences

1. When a Global Bank Used a Depressing Catchphrase.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) is one of the largest banks in the world. Yet, even such a large and successful company can hit roadblocks when they're careless in multilingual translation. In 2009 their catchphrase "Assume Nothing" was translated in many global markets as "Do Nothing," which isn't really the kind of persuasive pitch a marketing campaign generally likes to make. HSBC immediately had to spend millions rebranding in the affected markets.

via Mental Floss

2. When a Mistranslation Almost Killed a Large Company.

In late 2012, when Sharp Corp. released its earnings report, the outlook was already bleak, as the company had been lagging significantly behind the electronic giants, consistently losing market share. However, when they translated their earnings report into English, they translated their acknowledgement of the company's struggles as "material doubt" that the company could continue to be a "going concern." The language in the English version was much stronger and gloomier than the original Japanese statement. Unintentionally, the company had basically predicted its own demise. Investors panicked and Sharp's stock plunged even farther to a total annual decline of 75%.

via the Wall Street Journal

3. When a Translation Error Made the Cold War a Little Colder.

In 1956, already rocky US-Soviet relations took a big hit when a speech by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was mistranslated as much more threatening than it intended to be. Khrushchev's speech was intended to critique capitalism and suggest that the Soviet Union would far outlive the American capitalist system. In Russian, he used an idiom that meant essentially "We will outlast you and live to see your burial." It was translated as the much more ominous "We will bury you." While approaching literal accuracy, the translation represented a very different message than Khrushchev's intention. As expected, American's didn't like being threatened and that mistranslation helped heighten the already frigid Cold War.

via Cracked.com

4. When One Word Had Huge, Tragic, Medical Consequences.

In 1980, a man was brought unconscious into a Florida emergency room. His friends who brought him in thought he had food poisoning. They didn't speak English, but used the Spanish word "intoxicado," meaning "poisoned," to describe his state. A staff member translated it incorrectly as "intoxicated" and the doctors proceeded to treat him for a drug overdose. The delay in his receiving proper treatment resulted in his becoming paralyzed. One tiny translation error cost a man his mobility and the hospital 71 million dollars in the subsequent lawsuit.

via Mental Floss

5. When It Seemed Like Japan Was Begging Us to Bomb Them, but They Really Weren't.

In July 1945, near the end of World War II, the Allied leaders met in Potsdam and drafted proposed terms to Japan's surrender and sent them to the Japanese government for their response. While Japan was still examining and weighing their options, the Japanese press asked them how they would respond. The word they used, "mokusatsu" can mean either "no comment" or "we're ignoring them with contempt." The context of the situation made it clear to the Japanese media that they meant "no comment," but American translators used the contemptuous response. The translation error directly influenced Truman's decision to use the atom bomb and made it seem more necessary than it would have otherwise. It's hard to imagine the stakes being higher for a translation error, and it's hard to imagine any more dire consequences.

via the NSA

While most translation errors don't affect international relations, commerce, and individual lives the way these did, translation errors quite frequently cause a lot of trouble and cost a lot of money to fix. The only way to avoid these kind of errors is to entrust your translation to a careful, experienced translation agency like inWhatLanguage. We only use the most skilled translators for our clients' projects, and we pass all translation projects through our verification processes, best-practices, and optimizing operations. At inWhatLanguage, you get translations you can trust, quickly and affordably.

inWhatLanguage, investing in the future: bilingual schools

The new school year is upon us. A reason to celebrate, not only for children and adult students; but also for the inWhatLanguage team members, as well.

InWhatLanguage is a professional translation agency, and as such we provide high-quality translation and interpretation services to those who need accurate, fast results at an affordable price. This, however, can only be achieved by  the talent of thousands of extremely gifted linguists, translators and interpreters, for whom education, and more specifically, language education, has been a key part of their lives. Without a good understanding  of world culture, social skills, tolerance and foreign languages, our translators would probably lack the special touch they bring to our translations, and without it, we could not have reached the quality level we can pride ourselves in.

For these reasons, it is obvious that we at inWhatLanguage feel a special bond with the world of language education. We don’t teach language per se, but we eagerly support innovative, promising programs that offer alternatives for children and adults to improve their language skills and get ready for a globalized world.

And there is no better way to prove this than to actually invest in them.

Such is the case of Ken Garff Automotive Group’s community program “Road to Success”. A program of the “Success in Education Foundation”, as described on Ken Garff’s official website, Road to Success is “designed to reward students for making and reaching academic goals so they feel a sense of accomplishment, thereby building the foundation for future learning”, and it follows a strategy of offering many attractive prices for kids in exchange for their efforts in improving their reading skills. Road to Success has proven to be a success in itself in many many schools in the state of Utah.

In its commitment to education AND to languages, inWhatLanguage has decided to take part in this wonderful initiative by sponsoring one of those schools – a dual immersion school where children between the ages of 5 to 12 study for half the day in English and half the day in Spanish. Furthermore, iWL members visit these children once a month and read books to them –both in English and in Spanish-, play games and engage in all sorts of fun, interactive activities with them.

“Our sponsorship dollars are put towards incentives that the children can earn based on the amount of reading they complete,” says inWhatLanguage CEO, Cody Broderick. “It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

After participating in the amazing Rubber Ducky Derby, organized by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, whose main goal is to make sick children’s dreams come true, iWL’s commitment to  society and children has gotten even stronger. “Community involvement and non-profitable campaigns are also something that we will be highly involved with moving forward,” Broderick assures. “It really is the brand I want to build for inWhatLanguage.”

Man vs. Machine: The Difference Human Translation Makes

Machines can do amazing things, but they can't do everything. One thing they don't do so well? Communicate. Frankly, if your computer were a person, with those communication skills, he'd be on his third wife by now. So why would people trust a computer-generated translation with important personal and business translation projects? There's a time and place for automated translations, but for large and important translation projects, you need a real human translator with subject-matter expertise and cultural interpretation.

Automated Translation Tools: Fast & Free, but Sloppy

Automated translation tools, like the one we have on our site, are fine for small or unimportant translations. Their algorithms are simple and basically provide a one-for-one, literal word translation. If you just need to know how to say a single phrase or sentence, these tools are great. If you just want to get the general idea of a passage, online translation tools work great. However, if you're translating with the intent of communicating clearly and seamlessly across languages, these tools just don't get it done.

Real, Human Translation: Precise and Nuanced

Online translation tools frequently can't handle nuanced communication techniques, including idiomatic expressions, irony, and cultural references. For those, you need a live, human translator, like those we use at inWhatLanguage. A skilled human translator brings in a true, native mastery of the translating language, as well as the kind of cultural immersion and understanding that a translation application can never have. That means that live translation by humans can be done within the context of the subject matter and the culture of the intended audience.

Automatic Translation vs. Live Translation -- Who Wins?

In the end, it all comes down to what it is you're looking for. If you just need to translate a few words or sentences and the quality of the translation isn't a big deal, an automated online translation will work just fine. If you want to translate something in a way that reflects the work that went into creating the original, you should opt for a live, human translation. The good news is that while live translation isn't free, it's still surprisingly affordable and fast. At inWhatLanguage we've earned a reputation for providing high-quality translation at affordable rates. Give us a try today, and see the difference a human translation can make!