Making Sense: Language and Translation blog
Rise 360, part of the Articulate 360 package, is a web-based app for authoring online courses.
After we were asked to translate a course created with it, we learned that it can export and import xliff files. Great, we thought, just the ticket. But later when we started processing the xliffs, we discovered that things were not quite as rosy as we’d hoped.
Continue reading “Translating Articulate Rise 360”
Just which countries do buy goods and services from the UK? And where do we as a country buy from? The Office of National Statistics have produced a neat visualisation of these UK trade partners, using a map of the world. Hover over a country to see how trade has varied over the past two decades, or move over the side bars to reveal partners in order of scale.
Continue reading “Who are the UK’s trading partners?”
What sound do you make when you snore? Or when you kiss? What about your eggs frying in the pan?
When drafting or designing a document that will be translated, it’s a given that your text will look (and sound) different once translated. But the same applies to our attempts to represent other noises we all make (yes, even snoring).
Continue reading “Sounds in translation are no snoring matter”
Have you heard of Tintin? How about Asterix or the Moomins? These are all classic books from our childhood, but did you know that they are also all translations? If you were asked to name any other translated children’s books, would you be able to? Continue reading “Under the covers of children’s literature translation”
Translated literature has a new hero in the form of Le French Book. Based in New York with the motto “if we love it, we’ll translate it”, they publish French translations, allowing readers from all over the world to enjoy the wide range of fiction currently being produced in France.
Rallying to the defence of translated fiction, they’ve recently put together a list dispelling the most common myths. We’ve summarised them here for your enjoyment. See if any of this sounds familiar!
Website admins and community outreach take note: even a first glance at the latest release of UK Census figures shows just how much of a global city London has become. (A more detailed blog looking at the picture across the UK will follow once we have crunched the numbers.)
The data released today reveals that in most parts of London over 100 languages are spoken Continue reading “Speaking the right language to reach Londoners”
Share multilingual goodwill with our translation of various greetings for the Christmas holiday.
With December firmly upon us, many around the world are preparing for Christmas Day on 25 December. In fact, as this map shows, the bulk of the countries in the world mark Christmas with some kind of holiday:
Continue reading “Merry Christmas translation: a round up of Seasons Greetings”
Our free phrase card for travelling vegetarians will help ensure a meat-free dinner by cutting through linguistic problems. And we have not forgotten vegans either!
We are launching the card today in celebration of World Vegetarian Day. It translates a simple phrase for both vegetarians and vegans to use in restaurants or when staying in guesthouses or with a family. Simply show your host the card on your phone or tablet – or print it out and pack a copy.
Continue reading “I am a vegetarian! Multilingual phrase card”
The last month has seen more diamonds of economic news than there are in Cullinan mine. While British retail remains patchy, UK and other European companies selling “luxury” have done phenomenally well on the global stage. They have reaped dividends of promotion in emerging economies, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, targeting High Net Worth Individuals or those aspiring to perceived luxury.
Translation plays no small part in this global success: research has shown that the majority of consumers will only buy from websites with information presented in their language. This effect becomes more pronounced the higher the value of the product or service. (see Can’t Read, Won’t Buy: Why Language Matters, Common Sense Advisory)
A few news snippets illustrate the trend:
Continue reading “Translating luxury brands into global success”
This year looks like continuing the success of translated fiction. In the mainstream, Jo Nesbø has picked up the baton of Stieg Larsson with his Harry Hole books going from strength to strength including the announcement of a film to be directed by Martin Scorsese.
Continue reading “Translated literature for the new year”