Ho ho ho! iWL helps Santa bring happiness to the people this year!

The team preparing the gifts at the office! (From left to right, David Kasteler at the desk,
Karlie Bodine, Erin Millet, Marcus Broderick, Vanesa Broderick and Veronica Johnson.)

Dashing through the snow

In a one horse open sleigh

O'er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bob tails ring

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing

A sleighing song tonight...

Okay, so maybe our team didn’t dash through the snow, and maybe they preferred an actual car rather than a one horse open sleigh for speed and comfort purposes, but they certainly did laugh a lot, and bells jingled all the way on the day that the iWLteam went on their latest iWL Cares adventure: a sub-for-Santa initiative!

“This month, for inWhatLanguage Cares, we looked for a few families to help with Christmas! Families that are in tough situations and could really use and truly deserve the help,” explains Karlie Bodine, who once again organized the initiative this month. “I think all too often people forget the true spirit of Christmas: that is that Christmas is a time for giving and a time to remember others less fortunate than ourselves.”

Karlie Bodine wrapping up gifts!

Karlie went with iWL CEO Cody Broderick to get the gifts on Tuesday, December 16^th, and next day they went along with many other iWL team members to deliver them to the families. The experience was certainly something they will never forget.

“Seeing a mother of two cry and say ‘thank you’ over and over was very startling,” says Cody Broderick. “It serves as a reminder of why inWhatLanguage exists and motivates me to grow the company so we can have an even greater impact. I’m hopeful we brightened their holiday spirit and that they might also pay it forward.”

“It really makes you look at what you take for granted,” adds Karlie. “Some people don't know where they could be living next week or where their next meal is coming from. Meanwhile, some people are worried about whether or not they'll get the new iPhone that just came out.”

From left to right, Karlie Bodine, Cody and his son Markus Broderick, David Kasteler,
Brian Palmer, Veronica Johson and Erin Millet, all ready to deliver the gifts!

Perspective: that is one thing that Karlie acquired out of this experience. “We bought some essentials for the families like toilet paper, laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner, toothpaste and toothbrushes, winter clothes, and other necessary items that most of our team don't ever have a second thought about buying, along with some toys for the kids,” she explains.

“It's always important to remember those less fortunate than you, especially this time of year,” Karlie concludes. “Our team was really glad to help these two families have such a memorable Christmas! We hope everyone remembers those less fortunate this holiday season and be truly grateful for what you have. Our team hopes to inspire the holiday spirit in others in making a difference in another's life.”

“I wish I could see the faces of the families when they open their gifts,” Cody smiles. “Sub for Santa on behalf of inWhatLanguage Cares was awesome!”

Feedback from our clients: love for and from iWL!

Working at inWhatLanguage is a real pleasure, that is a fact. And a good part of it is because we have such amazing clients! Helping them to the best of our abilities when they need our services is the least we can do in exchange for their trust and support – as well as their constructive feedback!

This week, our blog post is dedicated to them. Here is a quick compilation of the best feedback comments we have received lately:

“We love inWhatLanguage. It is one of the best services we have ever seen. Being able to communicate with staff in languages from Farsi to Mandarin is such a huge asset to our property. Every agent I have been in contact with was professional and outstanding in their demeanor and assistance. I cannot say anything negative about the service. We love it.”

“Great attention and a really warm way of approaching.”

“inWhatLanguage was very fast to respond to our needs. They proved to be highly experienced and helped us understand the best ways in which our organization needed to address our international target markets. They went the extra mile to ensure our content (in over 18 languages!) was culturally adapted and aligned with our company branding, messaging and overall marketing styles. The pricing was great and I was also very pleased with the turnaround time. But what really stands out is the way they treated me and my marketing team. It felt like we had been working with them for years. I would highly recommend inWhatLanguage for any translation or language project.”

“I needed about 30 official certified translations done for our adoption and inwhatlanguage provided all the translation in the same formats and certified in amazing time. I was amazed at the turn around, the pricing and the level of professionalism for just an individual. Highly recommended.”

“Great quality! I wish I had found InWhatLanguage sooner. I recently needed to change to a new translation firm. I was referred to InWhatLanguage through a friend. They completed my request much faster than I had anticipated. They were friendly, easy to deal with, and not too expensive. I was blown away by the quality of the work and the time in which it took. I would highly recommend InWhatLanguage to anyone needing translations services.”

“Very helpful customer service from IWL. They took the time to get things right and deliver good quality. Prices are competitive and they make you feel confident in the work their providing.”

Thank you so VERY much for all of your love! You are the reason why we do what we do, and thanks to your comments, we are more motivated than ever!

Let’s keep on rockin’!!

Second languages: a market share you don’t want to miss out on!

Checking language-related articles yesterday, I came upon this very interesting infographic that made me think about the importance of this “second languages” in the translation industry.

Let me give you an example: India. When we think about translating documents for the Indian market, usually the first thought that comes to mind is to go for Hindi translation, since Hindi is the most widely spoken language in the country, with more than 400 million speakers.

Truth is, however, that Hindi is mainly spoken in the regions of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. There are parts of India missing here. Look at that map!

India has a total of 22 official languages, and some of them are actually spoken in regions where Hindi is not that extended, like Kashmiri, Assamese, Bengali, Kannada or Urdu. Their numbers of speakers are well in the millions, despite not being comparable to the number of Hindi speakers.

Another example is the US. While English is undoubtedly predominant in the country as a whole, each state is definitely a world of its own, and in some regions it is currently hardly spoken. 229 million people speak English in the US. 35 million speak Spanish. 

There is a big difference, yes. But take out the first part of the comparison, and focus on the second:  35 million Spanish speakers in the US! 

If that number doesn’t make you think twice about the language strategy for your communications in the US, I don’t know what will.

My point is that translation is not black and white anymore. It is not as simple as choosing a country and simply translating your documents to the language that is mainly or traditionally spoken there. Statistically speaking, you will probably reach a wider audience. But is it really the audience you are aiming to target?

Furthermore, you don’t have to choose just one language: it is not an elimination game. Not when you can work with an agency that can provide you with the means to target all the different communities in their respective local languages. The investment will be a little bigger, but the number of potential customers that you will reach will grow exponentially. 

And if the agency is trustworthy and manages its translators efficiently, really, the costs won’t rise all that much.

Do you need proof? Try inWhatLanguage. We are the living example of excellent localizationservices for the most affordable prices!

iWL Cares helps families celebrate Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As the official day to give thanks, we want to express our gratitude to all of you – a big fat THANK YOU to all of our clients and translators who every day make inWhatLanguage what it is! It is thanks to you that we strive every day to be a little better and to do greater things for our community.

And speaking of which, Thanksgiving has also been a wonderful opportunity to give back to society with a new iWL Cares initiative! Once again, Karlie Bodine has been in charge of organization.

“We visited three families the day before Thanksgiving”, she explains. “Each family has had their own hardships they have faced and continue to face every single day- whether it was extreme health problems, abuse, single parenthood, or other adversities. Each family genuinely deserved the help and we were all extremely grateful to help them, as they were grateful to receive the help.”

The experience was particularly moving, according to Karlie: “Through tears, we delivered hams, rolls, pies, salads, yams, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, food cans, and many other Thanksgiving day goodies along with a grocery store gift card to each family. Perhaps one of the most inspiring moments, was when one of the people we visited offered to pay it forward, stating that she knows others who could use the help more than her.”

Everybody deserves a plentiful Thanksgiving dinner, and the team at inWhatLanguage cannot feel more proud to have contributed to this beautiful tradition in these three homes. “While we all live our day-to-day lives with have our own struggles, it is important to remember what you have and be mindful that there are always others who may be less fortunate,” says Karlie Bodine. “It is then crucial to remember to reach out to those people. This is an idea that I think is being lost as our world advances, but at inWhatLanguage we don't want people to ever forget that there are always going to be people there for them and to remember to help and inspire those around you.”

“Thank you so much! All of you!! (...) I love you all! I know I didn't express it well...  Kind of overwhelmed by the love! Please let them all know! (...) What a blessed wonderful day!” This was a message we received from one of the families after iWL’s visit. The knowledge that we helped some families enjoy a more blissful Thanksgiving day is undoubtedly our greatest reward!

inWhatLanguage and FIFA: a team for posterity

Translating for FIFA is much more than a regular translation project: it is an honor. iWL was selected to work on specialized documents in preparation for the World Cup – and the results have granted the young translation agency the praise of the biggest football association in the world!

For any professional translation agency, there is always that “moment of truth” when it has to prove that it really is all that it promises to be - that it can really work with huge volumes, or that it can deliver expert translations with the quality and accuracy that it guarantees. Big words must be reflected in big results, and not all projects offer the chance for this to happen.

But thanks to FIFA, such a “moment of truth” came for inWhatLanguage.

It all started in October 2013, when the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) selected iWL after a two-month competitive process against 15 other preselected translation companies to translate all of its PR communications in preparation for the World Cup. From that point until the actual World Cup in Brazil took place, we worked on website content, magazines and print media, as well as news and press releases in more than 20 languages.

An “intimidating and overwhelming task”, in the words of actual FIFA representatives; a real Goliath of a translation project, admittedly, but one that inWhatLanguage was more than ready to undertake.

The intricacies of project management

“Working with FIFA has helped catapult inWhatLanguage to a higher level of customer interest,” says inWhatLanguage CEO Cody Broderick. “It has also validated questions from potential clients about our technical and volume capabilities.”

Certainly, managing this project has not been a walk in the park: it involved huge amounts of diverse and extremely technical content. This required a careful selection of professional and football-expert native translators, as well as constant quality control measures to make sure that the documents were delivered correctly, on time and with the right format.

But the effort has been absolutely worth it, according to Broderick: “We now use FIFA as a case study when engaging some of the top organizations in the world to prove that, if FIFA selected inWhatLanguage, they should do so as well. I’m confident we will get more volume from them as the sport picks up momentum for upcoming games.”

Positive feedback: our most valuable reward

Maybe it is too soon to predict iWL’s future with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, but there is one thing that we know for sure: FIFA was very satisfied with the addition of the young translation company to its ranks.

“inWhatLanguage proved to be fantastic partner as we worked hand-in-hand to translate hundreds of documents in over 20 languages – all on time and under budget. Thank you, inWhatLanguage!" This was the feedback we got from FIFA once the project came to an end - right when we were all at the edge of our seats, absorbed in the magic of the actual World Cup games, knowing that a little part of that amazing event had been possible thanks to the good work of iWL.

Translation agencies: definitely the way to go!

While modern translation technology might have driven many people to think that translation is a pretty straightforward science -as in, you input certain words, press “translate” and less than a second, your translation is “served”-, truth is, translation is a highly subjective art.

Many translations from one original text can differ significantly depending what their purpose is, the targeted audience, and the location of said audience. The style and tone change when addressing teenagers or veterans, architects or restaurant chefs, citizens from the North or people from the South of a country (usually).

To make a translation as localized and culturally adapted as possible is what truly makes a difference in a world dominated by instant machine translation.

Of course, that is nothing short of impossible when you are managing a global business with your own team of translators. No matter how many they are, they will never be enough.

The secret of a globalized, effective translation campaign is to have immense numbers of professional translators, not just one for each of the “big” languages. There are many different registers, dialects and varieties in every language, as well as innumerable minor communities that are sadly left behind if you only focus on the bigger picture.

Working with a translation agency, this is one load you can take off your shoulders. We have the manpower and the expertise to deal with a vast amount of languages, localizing each and every project and providing advice about the best, most efficient way to work.

Translation is a subjective art, but we know how to go about it!

With a translation agency, you can be sure that...

• ·        Your projects will be taken care of in a timely manner by the most suitable translators chosen specifically for you.
• ·        You can choose from a big pool of professionals and express your personal preferences any time.
• ·        The translation will be proofread and quality-checked prior to delivery.
• ·        The format will be as close to the original as possible, even when we are dealing with languages that use different scripts and directionalities.
• ·        You will always have a reliable person to talk to and who will inform you regularly about the development of the translation project.
• ·        You can send your comments and questions to the Project Manager whenever you want, who will answer directly as soon as possible, or transmit the message to the translators and get back to you with the reply.
• ·        You have the guarantee of a job well done.

Working with a translation agency is the easiest, safest way of getting your documents translated the right way. And if you are worried about the costs that this implies, just request a quote at inWhatLanguage - our prices are simply unbeatable!

DevLearn 2014: Great success and awesome nerdiness for iWL!

iWL's booth at DevLearn!

“As technologies continue to emerge and advance, new worlds of possibilities are opening up for learning and development. But new technologies also bring new challenges—and new expectations—for driving learning and performance. To keep up, you need to understand what’s possible today, as well as what’s coming next.”

This is the premise of DevLearn 2014, the big eLearning Conference and Expo that took place last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Of course, the message refers to online training and learning technologies, but it could just as easily be talking about the world of translation. Translators and translation agencies are facing the same challenges and the same need to adapt to the new formats and possibilities that new technologies bring along.

And that is why inWhatLanguage fits in DevLearn like a glove!

Once again, inWhatLanguage had a booth at DevLearn in Las Vegas, and once again, the outcome was more than positive. “It was great,” says iWL CEO Cody Broderick. “We talked to more than a hundred potential new clients. Going to DevLearn is definitely worth it!”

Maurice van Zutphen and Cody Broderick,
self-declared language nerds

It’s a nerdy world!

This year, the inWhatLanguage team went to DevLearn with a hilarious message printed on their T-shirts: “Talk Nerdy to Me”. That is what’s written on the back of the T-shirts that Cody and his team wore and gave away at the conference. Along with the complimentary glasses, the whole “nerdy” costume ended up being quite a hit.

“People loved it,” Broderick says with a smile. “Everybody wanted a T-shirt! It was crazy, and beautiful. Our booth was so warm and inviting. The people wanted to stop by and talk to us, and everybody was laughing when they saw the glasses and the message from the T-shirts.”

inWhatLanguage, all services in one great agency

Of course, the best thing that DevLearn has for inWhatLanguage is the people that attend the conference. They both share a common interest in eLearning and online formats, and inWhatLanguage has a capable team of experts fully dedicated to eLearning translation and its multimedia possibilities.

“In DevLearn we get to meet great potential clients, because their projects encompass translation, voiceover, multimedia localization, proofreading, editing, etcetera,” explains Broderick. “Instead of the typical document translation project, an eLearning project has many steps, a whole process that we can work on in its entirety, or just do some of the steps." 

From left to right, David Kasteler, Cody Broderick and Maurice van Zutphen.

"We have a full range of services, and they are a la carte. This means that we are the perfect option both for corporate organizations that offer and create their own eLearning training programs for their employees, and for the big eLearning companies that create custom training courses for other organizations. We have everything they might need on offer!”

To be continued...

Clearly, DevLearn is a 'must attend' event for inWhatLanguage. And Cody Broderick has already made sure that his translation agency will have a booth –and a big one!- in next year’s conference: “We have booked a booth for DevLearn 2015, which is going to be double the size of the one we had this year. And my wish is to bring more people with me, because seeing the traffic we had this year, it’s obvious that we are going to need the extra hands.”